^a  w.  - 


& 


M'CRIE'S  LIVES. 


LIVES  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  REFORMERS : 

•  BY     THE     LATE 

THOMAS    M'CRIE,    D.  D. 

CONTAINING 

THE  LIVES  OF  KJVOX  AND  MELVILLE, 

TOGETHER     WITH    A 

MEMOIR    OF    WILLIAM    VEITCH, 

WRITFEN  BY  HIMSELF; 

m 

AND 

NARRATIVES    OF    THE    RISINGS 

AT 

BOTHWELANDPENTLAND: 

WITH    AN 

HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION, 

BY  AN  AMERICAN  EDITOR. 


XENIA: 
PUBLISHED  BY  THE  BOARD  OF  THE  CALVINISTIC  BOOK  CONCERN. 

STEREOTYPED   BY    J.  A.  JAMES,  CINCINNATI. 

1846. 


fT      ?'"f''"      i   ''■    *'f  " ''^•'  ~F 


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MS 


contents: 


KNOX. 

PERIOD  FIRST. 

Birth  and  parentage  of  Knox — his  education — state  of  litera- 
ture in  Scotland — introduction  of  Greek  language — political 
and  ecclesiastical  opinions  of  John  Major — their  probable  in- , 
fluence  on  Knox  and  Buchanan — Knox  teaches  scholastic 
philosophy  at  St.  Andrews — is  admitted  to  clerical  orders — 
change  in  his  studies  and  sentiments — state  of  religion  in 
Scotland — urgent  necessity  of  a  reformation — gratitude  due 
to  the  reformers— introduction  of  reformed  opinions  into  Scot- 
land— Patrick  Hamilton — many  suffer  martyrdom — others 
flee  the  kingdom — reformation  promoted  by  the  circulation 
of  the  scriptures — by  poetry — embraced  by  many  persons  of 
rank — its  critical  state  at  the  death  of  James  V.     -    Page  21 

PERIOD  SECOND. 

Knox  retires  from  St.  Andrews,  and  joins  himself  to  the  reform- 
ed— is  degraded  from  the  priesthood — reformation  favoured 
'  by  regent  Arran — Scottish  parliament  authorize  the  use  of 
the  Scriptures  in  the  vulgar  language — The  Regent  abjures 
the  reformed  religion — Thomas  Guiliaume- — George  Wishart 
— Knox  enters  the  family  of  Langniddrie  as  a  tutor — Cardi- 
nal Beatoun  assassinated — Knox  persecuted  by  Archbishop 
Hamilton  and  obliged  to  conceal  himself — averse  to  go  to 
England— takes  refuge  in  the  castle  of  St.  Andrews — his  sen- 
timents respecting  the  assassination  of  Beatoun — Sir  David 
Lindsay  of  the  Mount — Henry  Balnaves  of  Halhill — John 
Rough — Knox's  call  to  the  ministry — his  reluctance  to  com- 
ply with  it — reflections  on  this — his  first  sermon — his  dispu- 
tation before  a  convention  of  the  clergy — the  clergy  begin  to 
preach  at  St.  Andrews — degree  of  success  which  attended 
Knox's  labours  in  that  place — castle  taken  and  Knox  confined 
in  the  French  galleys — his  health  injured  by  the  rigour  of  his 
captivity — his  fortitude  of  mind — writes  a  confession  of  faith 
— extract  from  his  dedication  to  a  treatise  of  Balnaves — his 
humane  advice  to  his  fellow-prisoners — his  liberation.    -    28 

PERIOD  THIRD. 

Knox  arrives  in  England — state  of  the  Reformation  in  that  king- 
dom— Knox  sent  by  the  privy  council  to  preach  at  Berwick 
— his  great  exertions — character  of  bishop  Tonstal — Knox 
delivers  a  defence  of  his  doctrine  before  him — is  removed  to 
Newcastle — made  chaplain  to  Edward  VI. — consulted  in  the 
revisal  of  the  liturgy  and  articles — makes  proposals  of  mar- 
riage to  Miss  Marjory  Bowes — receives  marks  of  approbation 
from  the  privy  council — incurs  the  displeasure  of  Earl  of 
Northumberland — is  accused  by  the  papists — honourably  ac- 
quitted by  the  privy  council — bad  state  of  his  health — is  em- 
ployed to  preach  in  London — declines  accepting  a  benefice — 
assigns  his  reasons  to  the  privy  council — refuses  a  bishopric — 
disapproves  of  many  things  in  the  worshi[)  and  government  of 
the  church  of  England — private  sentiments  of  English  reform- 
ers very  similar  to  his — plan  of  Edward  for  improving  the 
church  of  England — state  of  his  court — boldness  and  honesty 
of  th#royal  chaplains — Knox's  sermons  at  court — his  distress 
at  the  death  of  Edward — he  retires  to  the  north  of  England 
on  the  accession  of  Mary — returns  to  the  south — his  prayer  for 
the  queen — the  relations  of  Miss  Bowes  displeased  at  her  mar- 
rying him — extracts  from  his  letters  on  this  affair — Roman 
Catholic  religion  restored  by  parliament — Knox  continues  to 
preach — his  letters  are  intercepted— he  is  forced  to  abscond— - 
and  retires  to  Dieppe  in  France. --36 

PERIOD  FOURTH. 

Knox's  uneasy  reflections  on  his  flight — his  serious  review  of 
his  conduct — letters  to  his  friends  in  England — his  eloquent 
exhortation  to  religious  constancy — he  visits  Switzerland — re- 
turns to  Dieppe  with  the  intention  of  venturing  into  England 
— visits  Geneva — forms  an  intimate  friendship  with  Calvin — 
rrturns  to  Dieppe — distressing  tidings  from  England — writes 
his  Admonition — apology  for  the  severity  of  its  language — 
take«  up  his  residence   at   Geneva  and   devotes  himself  to 


study — his  means  of  subsistence — called  to  be  minister  to  tbe 
English  exiles  at  Frankfort — dissentions  among  them  about 
the  liturgy — moderation  with  which  Knox  acted  in  these — 
harmony  restored — disorderly  conduct  of  the  sticklers  for  the 
liturgy — rebuked  by  Knox  — he  is  accused  of  high  treason 
— retires  to  Geneva — turns  his  thoughts  to  his  native  country 
retrospect  of  ecclesiastical  transactions  in  Scotland  from  the 
•  time  he  left  it — triumph  of  the  popish  clergy — execution 
of  Melville  of  Raith — martyrdom  of  Adam  Wallace — pro- 
vincial councils  of  the  clergy — canons  enacted  by  them  for 
reforming  abuses — catechism  in  the  vulgar  language  to  be 
read  instead  of  a  sermon — Queen  Dowager  made  Regent — 
she  privately  favours  the  protestants — violence  of  the  Eng- 
lish Queen  drives  preachers  into  Scotland — William  Harlow 
— John  Willock — Knox  visits  his  wife  at  Berwick — repairs 
to  Edinburgh,  and  preaches  in  a  private  house  to  the  protes- 
tants— John  Erskine  of  Dun — William  Maitland  of  Leth- 
ington — Knox's  letter  to  Mrs  Bowes — he  prevails  on  the  pro- 
testants to  abstain  from  hearing  mass — preaches  at  Dun — at 
Calder  house — Sir  James  Sandilands — John  Spottiswood — 
Lord  Lorn — Lord  Erskine — the  Prior  of  St  Andrews — Knox 
preaches  and  dispenses  the  sacrament  of  the  supper  in  Ayr- 
shire— Earl  of  Glencairn — first  religious  covenant  among  the 
protestants  of  Scotland — conversation  at  court  about  Knox — 
ne  is  summoned  before  a  convention  of  the  cler":y — appears  and 
the  process  is  dropped — preaches  more  public/ly  in  Edinburgh 
— his  letter  to  Mrs  Bowes — he  is  persuaded  to  write  a  letter  to 
the  queen  regent — extracts  from  this — her  reception  of  it — he 
receives  a  call  from  the  English  congregation  at  Geneva— re- 
solves to  go  there  with  his  family — leaves  Scotland — clergy 
condemn  him  as  a  heretic  and  burn  his  effigy — summary  of  the 
doctrine  which  he  had  taught— estimate  of  the  advantages 
which  accrued  to  the  reformation  from  this  visit — letter  of 
instructions  which  he  left  behind  him. 44 

PERIOD  FIFTH. 

Knox  arrives  at  Geneva — happiness  which  he  enjoyed  in  that 
city — his  passionate  desire  to  preach  the  gospel  in  his  native 
country — ^ne  receives  an  invitation  from  the  protestant  nobles 
to  return  to  Scotland — leaves  Geneva — receives  letters  at 
Dieppe  dissuading  him  from  prosecuting  the  journey — his  an- 
imated letter  to  the  nobility — goes  into  the  interior  of  France 
— severe  persecution  of  the  protestants  in  that  kingdom — 
Knox  preaches  in  Rochelle — resolves  to  abandon  his  iourney 
to  Scotland — private  reasons  which  led  to  this  resolution — 
he  writes  a  common  letter  to  the  protestants  of  Scotland — 
warns  them  against  the  erroneous  opinions  of  the  Anabap- 
tists— writes  to  the  nobility — his  prudent  advice  respecting 
resistance  to  the  government — he  returns  to  Geneva — assists 
in  a  translation  o?  the  bible — publishes  his  letter  to  the  queen 
regent — and  his  Appellation  from  the  sentence  of  the  clergy 
— and  his  First  Blast  of  the  Trumpet — reasons  which  led  to 
this  publication  against  female  government — offence  which 
it  gave — Aylmer's  answer  to  it — character  of  this  curious 
work — Knox  receives  a  second  invitation  from  the  protestant 
nobility  of  Scotland — progress  which  the  reformation  had 
made — formation  of  private  congregations — resolutions  of  a 
general  meeting — protestant  preachers  taken  into  the  families 
of  the  nobility — correspondence  between  the  archbishop  of 
St  Andrews  and  the  earl  of  Argyle— martyrdom  of  Walter 
Mill — important  effects  of  this — protestants  present  a  petition 
to  the  regent — her  fair  promises  to  them — death  of  queen 
Mary  of  England  and  accession  of  Elizabeth — Knox  leaves 
Geneva  for  Scotland — is  refused  a  passage  through  England 
— grounds  of  this  refusal — Knox's  reflections  on  it — impor- 
tant reasons  for  his  wishing  to  visit  England — he  writes  to 
Cecil  from  Dieppe — arrives  in  Scotland. 58 

PERIOD  SIXTH. 

Critical  situation  in  which  Knox  found  matters  at  his  arrival — 
dissimulation  of  the  Queen  Regent — differences  between  her 
and  archbishop  Hamilton  accommodated — a  provincial  coun- 
cil of  the  clergj' — reconciliation  of  the  two  archbishops — re- 
monstrance presented  by  some  members  of  the  popish  church 
— canons  of  the  council — treaty  between  the  Regent  and  cler- 
gy for  suppressing  the    Reformation — proclamation  by  the 

iii 


IV 


CONTENTS. 


queen  a^inst  the  protestanls — the  preachers  summoned  to 
stand  trial — Knox's  letter  to  Mrs  Lofke — clergy  alarmed  at 
his  arrival — he  is  outlawed — repairs  to  Dundee — protestants 
of  the  north  resolve  to  attend  the  trial  of  their  preachers — 
send  information  of  this  to  the  Regent — her  duplicity — Knox 
preaches  at  Perth — demolition  of  the  monasteries  in  that 
town — unjustly  imputed  to  Knox — Regent  threatens  the  des- 
truction of  Perth — protestants  resolve  to  defend  themselves 
— a  treaty — Knox's  interview  with  Argyle  and  Prior — treaty 
violated  by  the  Regent — the  name  of  The  Congregation  giv- 
en to  the  protestant  association  — Lords  of  the  Congregation 
resolve  on  more  decisive  measures — invite  Knox  to  preach  at 
St  Andrews — archbishop  threatens  to  oppose  this  by  arms — 
intrepidity  of  Knox — he  preaches  at  St  Andrews — magistrates 
and  inhabitants  agree  to  demolish  the  monasteries  auri  images, 
and  to  set  up  the  reformed  worship — this  example  followed 
in  other  parts  of  the  kingdom — apology  for  the  destruction 
of  the  monasteries — Lords  of  the  Congregation  take  posses- 
sion of  Edinburgh — Knox  is  chosen  minister  of  that  city — Wil- 
iock  supplies  his  place  after  the  capital  was  given  up  to  the 
Regent — archbishop  Hamilton  preaches — Knox  undertakes  a 
tour  of  preaching  through  the  kingdom — important  effects 
of  this — liis  family  arrive  in  Scotland — Christopher  Good- 
man— settlement  of  protestant  ministers  in  principal  towns 
— French  troops  come  to  the  assistance  of  the  Regent — Knox 
persuades  the  Congregation  to  seek  assistance  from  the  court 
of  England — apologizes  to  Elizabeth  for  his  book  against  fe- 
male government — undertakes  a  journey  to  Berwick — suc- 
ceeds in  the  negociation--reasons  for  his  taking  a  part  in  po- 
litical managements — embarrassments  in  which  this  involved 
him — his  political  casuistry — is  reprehended  by  Croft — pre- 
judices oi  the  English  court  against  him — their  great  confi- 
dence in  his  honesty — his  activity  and  imminent  danger — 
Lords  of  Congregation  consult  on  the  deposition  of  the  Re- 
gent— Knox  advises  her  suspension — influence  of  the  Refor- 
mation on  civil  libert}- — political  principles  of  Knox — resist- 
ance to  tyrants  not  forbidden  in  tne  New  Testament — Con- 
gregation meet  with  disasters — their  courage  revived  by  the 
eloquence  of  Knox — his  exertions  in  Fife — treaty  between 
Elizabeth  and  Congregation — expedition  of  the  French 
troops  against  Glasgow — English  army  enter  Scotland — death 
of  the  Queen  Regent — intrigues  of  the  French  court — civil 
war  concluded  by  a  treaty — exertions  of  protestant  preachers 
during  the  war — increase  of  their  number — conduct  of  po- 
pish clergy — their  pretended  miracle  at  Musselburgh — detec- 
tion of  the  imposture — the  treaty  fatal  to  popery — meeting 
of  parliament — petition  of  protestants — Confession  of  Faith 
presented — ratified  by  parliament — retrospective  view  of  the 
advancement  of  the  reformation.     -.-....      68 

PERIOD   SEVENTH. 

Knox  resumes  his  situation  as  minister  of  Edinburgh — presses 
the  settlement  of  ecclesiastical  polity — symptoms  of  aversion 
to  this  on  the  part  of  the  nobles — Knox  is  employed  in  com- 
piling the  Book  of  Discipline — this  is  approved  by  Gener- 
al Assembly,  and  subscribed  by  greater  part  of  Privy  Council 
— sketch  of  the  form  and  order  of  the  reformed  church  of 
Scotland — attention  to  the  state  of  education — avarice  of  the 
nobility — influence  of  the  reformation  on  literature — intro- 
duction of  Hebrew  language  into  Scotland — John  Row — re- 
turn oi'  Buchanan — remarks  on  Mr  Hume's  representation 
of  the  rudeness  of  Scotland — literary  hours  in  a  Scottish 
minister's  family — cultivation  of  the  vernacular  language — 
David  Ferguson — First  General  Assembly — Knox  loses  his 
wife — corresponds  with  Calvin — his  anxiety  for  the  safety 
of  the  reformed  church — Queen  Mary  arrives  in  Scotland 
— her  education — her  fixed  prepossessions  against  the  reform- 
ed religion,  and  determination  to  restore  popery — alarm  ex- 
cited by  her  setting  up  of  mnss  in  her  chapel — behaviour  of 
Knox  on  this  occasion — examination  of  the  grounds  of  the 
alarm  felt  by  the  protestants — sanguinary  spirit  and  proceed- 
ings of  Roman  Catholics — hostile  intentions  of  the  queen 
against  Knox — singular  conversation  between  them — Knox's 
opinion  of  her  character — his  austerity  and  vehemence  high- 
ly useful — he  vindicates  the  right  or  holding  ecclesiastical 
assemblies — inveighs  against  the  inadequate  provision  made 
for  the  ministers  of  the  church — his  own  stipend — attention 
of  town-council  to  his  support  and  accommodation — he  in- 
stalls two  superintendents — is  employed  in  reconciling  the 
nobility — the  queen  is  offended  at  one  of  his  sermons — in- 
terview between  them — his  great  labours  in  Edinburgh — he 
obtains  John  Craig  as  a  colleague — remarkable  incidents  in 
the  life  of  Craig — the  Prior  of  St  Andrews  created  Earl  of 
Murray,  and  made  prime  minister — insurrection  under  Hunt- 
ly — conduct  of  Knox  on  that  occasion — Quintin  Kennedy — 
challenges  Knox  to  a  dispute  on  the  mass — curious,  corres- 
pondence between  them — account  of  their  dispute — Ninian 
Wingate — excommunicating  of  Paul  Methven — public  re- 
pentance prescribed  to  him — reflections  on  the  severit3'  of 
the  protestant  discipline — Knox's  interview  with  the  queen  at 
Locnlevin — artifice  of  Mary — she  prevails  on  the  parliament 
not  to  ratify  the  protestant  religion — indignation  of  Knox  at 


this— breach  between  him  and  Earl  of  Murray — his  sermon 
at  the  dissolution  of  parliament — queen  incensed  at  it — he 
vindicates  it  in  her  presence — she  bursts  into  tears — apology 
for  the  sternness  of  his  behaviour — slander  against  his  cha- 
racter retracted — two  protestants  indicted  to  stand  trial  for 
breaking  into  the  Queen's  chapel — Knox  writes  a  circular 
letter  on  the  occasion — is  accused  of  high  treason — courtiers 
endeavour  to  intimidate  him  into  a  submission — his  trial  and 
defence — his  acquittal — indignation  of  the  queen  at  this.     86 

PERIOD  EIGHTH. 

The  courtiers  charge  Knox  with  usurping  a  papal  power  in  the 
church — the  General  Assembly  vindicate  him  from  this 
charge — he  marries  a  daughter  of  Lord  Ochiltree— splenetic 
reflections  of  the  papists  on  this  alliance — dissentious  between 
the  court  and  preachers — apology  for  the  liberty  of  the  pul- 
pit— debate  between  Knox  and  secretary  Maitland — on 
Knox's  form  of  prayer  for  the  queen — and  on  his  doctrine 
respecting  resistance  to  civil  rulers — Craig's  account  of  a 
similar  dispute  in  Bologna — the  Queen  marries  Lord  Darnly 
and  proclaims  him  King — change  in  the  court — reasons  which 
induced  the  nobles  who  opposed  the  marriage  to  take  up 
arms — Queen  amuses  the  protestant  ministers — Knox  is  rec- 
onciled to  Earl  of  Murray — does  not  take  part  with  him  in  his 
insurrection — gives  offence  to  the  King  by  one  of  his  sermons 
— is  inhibited  from  preaching  for  a  short  time — town-council 
remonstrate  against  this — he  resumes  his  employment — Good- 
man leaves  St  Andrews — petition  for  Knox's  translation  to 
that  town  refused  by  Assembly — he  is  employed  to  write  dif- 
ferent treatises  for  the  church — extract  from  the  treatise  of 
Fasting — measures  taken  by  the  Queen  for  restoring  popery 
— defeated — assassination  of  Rizio — sudden  changes  in  the 
court — Knox  retires  to  Kyle — queen  refuses  to  permit  his 
return  to  the  capital — he  resolves  to  visit  his  sons  in  England 
— receives  a  recommendation  from  the  General  Assembly — 
carries  a  letter  to  the  English  bishops — archbishop  Hamilton 
restored  to  his  ancient  jurisdiction — spirited  letter  of  Knox 
on  that  occasion — alienation  between  Mary  and  her  husband 
— the  King  murdered  by  Bothwell — the  Queen's  participation 
in  the  murder — her  marriage  to  Bothwell — independent  be- 
haviour of  John  Craig — the  queen  is  imprisoned  and  resigns 
the  crown  to  her  son — Knox  returns  to  Edinburgh — preaches 
at  the  coronation  of  James  VI. — his  opinion  concerning  the 
punishment  of  Mary — the  earl  of  Murray  is  installed  in  the 
Regency — act  of  parliament  in  favour  of  the  protestant 
church — comfortable  state  of  the  church  during  the  regency 
of  Murray — Knox  cherishes  the  desire  of  retiring  from  public 
life — the  regent  opposed  by  a  party  attached  to  Mary — at- 
tempts on  his  life — he  is  assassinated  by  Hamilton  of  Both- 
welhaugh — national  grief  at  this  event — character  of  Mur- 
ray— injustice  done  to  him  by  historians — Knox  bewail?  his 
loss — fabricated  conference  between  them — Thomas  Maitland 
insults  over  the  death  of  the  regent — Knox's  denunciation 
against  him — his  pathetic  sermon  before  the  regent's  funeral 
— he  is  requested  to  write  a  memoir  of  Murray — is  struck 
with   apoplexy.     -.--        -- 106 

PERIOD  NINTH. 

Knox  recovers  from  the  apoplectic  stroke — Kircaldj-  of  Grange 
goes  over  to  the  queen's  party — Knox  involved  in  a  personal 
quarrel  with  him — is  threatened  by  him — interposition  of  the 
gentlemen  of  the  west  in  his  favour — anonymous  libels  against 
him — his  spirited  answers  from  the  pulpit — queen's  party  take 
possession  of  the  capital — danger  to  which  Knox  is  exposed 
— he  is  prevailed  upon  to  leave  Edinburgh — retires  to  St  An- 
drews— the  kingdom  is  torn  with  intestine  war — hostility  of 
the  queen's  faction  against  Knox — he  is  opposed  by  their  ad- 
herents at  St  Andrews — John  Hamilton — Archibald  Hamil- 
ton— archbishop  Hamilton  executed — the  regent  Lennox 
slain- — is  succeeded  by  Earl  of  Mar — invasion  on  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  church — tuichan  bishops — not  approved  of  by  the 
General  Assembly — Knox's  letter  to  the  assembly  at^tirling 
— his  sentiments  unfavourable  to  episcopacy — he  refuses  to 
install  Douglas  as  archbishop  of  St  Andrews — gradual  decay 
of  his  health — striking  description  of  his  appearance  and  puf- 
pit-cloquence — his  condescending  familiarity  with  the  stu- 
dents at  the  university — he  publishes  an  answer  to  a  Scots 
Jesuit — ardently  desires  his  clissolution — his  last  letter  to  the 
General  Assembly — his  subscription  to  Ferguson's  sermon — 
he  is  invited  back  to  Edinburgh— condition  on  which  he  agreed 
to  return — he  arrives  in  the  capital — requests  a  smaller  place 
of  worship  to  be  fitted  up  (or  him — Craig  removes  from  Edin- 
burgh— Lawson  chosen  iiis  successor — Knox's  letter  to  him 
— Bartholomew  massacre  in  France — inflicts  a  deep  wound 
on  the  exhausted  spirit  of  Knox — his  denunciation  against 
Charles  IX. — he  begins  to  preach  in  the  Tolbooth  church — 
— preaches  for  the  last  time  at  the  admission  of  Lawson  as 
hi?  successor — he  sickens — affecting  interview  between  him 
and  his  session — his  message  to  Kircaldy — his  religious  ad- 
vices, nieditatioas  and  comfort  during  bis   last   illness — his 


CONTENTS 


death — his  funeral — opinions  entertained  respecting  him  by 
the  papists — by  foreign  reformers — by  Scottish  protestants — 
by  members  of  the  church  of  England — origin  and  causes  of 
the  prejudices  conceived  against  him — his  character — reflec- 
tions on  the  prophecies  ascribed  to  him — account  of  his  fam- 
ily— sufferings  of  John  Welch,  his  son-in-law — curious  inter- 
view between  him  and  Lewis  XIII. — singular  conversation 
between  Mrs.  Welsh  and  James  VI. — character  of  Knox's  wri- 
tings— conclusion.     ------------120 

Notes. 141 

Appendix. 189 

Supplement. -    199 


MELVILLE. 

CHAPTER  I. 
1545—1574. 

Origin  of  the  Family  of  Melville — Parentage  and  Birth  of  An- 
drew Melville — Death  of  his  Parents — Dutiful  conduct  of 
his  Eldest  Brother — His  Education  at  Montrose — Mode  of 
Instruction  in  Grammar  Schools — Remarks  on  the  Progress 
of  the  Reformation — Early  attachment  of  the  Melvilles  to  it 
— Andrew  Melville  acquires  the  Greek  language — His  aca- 
demical Education  at  St.  Andrews — His  connexion  with 
Buchanan — Compliment  paid  him  by  an  Italian  Poet — He 
goes  to  the  University  of  Paris — State  of  that  University' — 
Royal  Trilingual  College — Mercerus — Ramus — Jesuits'  Col- 
lege— Edmund  Hay — Melville  distinguishes  himself  in  the 
Public  Exhibitions — His  employment  in  the  University  of 
Poictiers — Incidents  there — He  goes  to  Geneva — Teaches  in 
the  Academy  there — Prosecutes  Oriental  Studies  under  Ber- 
tramus — Learned  Men  with  whom  he  became  acquainted  at 
Geneva;  Franciscus  Portus,  Beza,  Henry  Scrimger,  Joseph 
Scaliger,  Hottoman — Connexion  between  the  Studies  of  Law 
and  Theology — Writings  in  favour  of  Civil  Liberty — Influ- 
ence which  Melville's  residence  at  Geneva  had  upon  his  Polit- 
ical Sentiments — He  resolves  to  return  to  his  Native  Country 
— His  Testimonials  from  the  Academy  of  Geneva — His  Po- 
etical Encomium  upon  that  City — Occurrences  in  his  Jour- 
ney to  Scotland. 213 


CHAPTER  n. 

1574—1580. 

Melville  declines  an  offer  from  the  Regent  Morton — Retires  to 
Baldovy — Superintends  the  Studies  of  his  Nephew — James 
Melville — Application  to  the  General  Assembly  for  Melville's 
services — He  visits  Glasgow — Is  introduced  to  the  young 
King — Is  admitted  Principal  of  the  University  of  Glasgow — 
Ruinous  State  of  that  University — His  Plan  for  recovering 
it — New  Mode  of  Instruction  introduced  by  him — Effects  of 
it — Individuals  educated  under  him  at  Glasgow — Nova  Erec- 
tio — Literary  Conversation — Peter  Blackburn — John  Colville 
— College  discipline — Mark  Alexander  Boyd — Instance  of 
Melville's  intrepidity  in  maintaining  the  authority  of  the 
University — Charged  with  advising  the  demolition  of  the 
Cathedral  of  Glasgow — Receives  his  Library  from  Geneva  — 
His  first  Poetical  Work. 224 


CHAPTER  in. 

1574—1580. 

Interest  which  Melville  took  in  Public  Affairs — His  connexion 
with  the  Church — Character  of  the  Regent  Morton — State 
of  Ecclesiastical  Affairs  at  Melville's  Return  to  Scotland — 
Convention  at  Leith — Tulchan  Episcopacy — Not  approved 
by  the  General  Assembly — Consequences  of  its  Obtrusion — 
Melville  sits  in  the  General  Assembly — Episcopacy  attacked 
— Speech  of  Melville  on  that  occasion — Discussions  on  this 
Subject — Episcopacy  Condemned — Proceedings  with  the 
Bishops — Preparation  of  the  Second  Book  of  Discipline — 
Grounds  of  Opposition  to  it  on  the  part  of  the  Court  and 
Nobility — Approved  by  the  General  Assembly — Outline  of  it 
— Melville  Charged  with  bringing  the  Geneva  Discipline  in- 
to Scotland — Degree  in  which  the  Overthrow  of  Episcopacy 
was  owing  to  him — Remarks  on  his  Conduct  in  that  Affair 
— His  Benaviour  to  Archbishop  Boyd — Conduct  of  Patrick 
Adamson — the  Regent  endeavours  to  gain  Melville  — Propo- 
ses sending  him  to  a  General  Council  in  Germany — Interview 
between  them — Changes  in  the  Political  Administration — 
Death  of  the  Chancellor  Glammis — The  young  King  shews 
himself  favourable  to  the  Proceedings  of  the  Church — Mea- 
sures of  the  General  Assembly  for  Promoting  Learning — Pro- 
posal to  bring  Learned  Printers  into  the  Country — Scottish 


Edition  of  the  Bible — Proposed  Reformation  of  the  Uni- 
versities— Melville's  Translation  from  Glasgow  to  St.  An- 
drews.     230 


CHAPTER  IV. 

1580—1585. 

Melville  installed  Principal  of  the  New  College,  St.  Andrews 
— His  Colleagues — Character  of  his  Theological  Lectures — 
Meets  with  Opposition  from  the  Ejected  Teachers — Ofience 
taken  at  his  Censures  of  Aristotle — F'avourable  Change  on 
the  University — State  of  Politics — Dangerous  Schemes  of 
Lennox  and  Arran — National  Covenant — Episcopacy  revived 
— Montgomery  made  Archbishop  of  Glasgow — Prosecuted  by 
Melville — Excommunicated — Resentment  of  the  Court — Mel- 
ville's Sermon  before  the  General  Assembly — His  Intrepid 
Conduct  at  Perth — The  Raid  of  Ruthven — Melville  employ- 
ed in  Preaching  at  St.  Andrews — Arran  recovers  his  Interest 
at  Court — Death  of  Winram — Of  Buchanan — Of  Arbuthnot 
— Of  Smeton — Melville  Summoned  before  the  Privy  Council— 
His  Trial — His  Flight  into  England — Remarks  upon  his  Decli- 
nature— Conduct  of  Archbishop  Adamson  in  England — Over- 
throw of  Presbytery — Persecution  of  Ministers — State  of  the 
University  after  the  flight  of  Melville — He  visits  the  English 
Universities — Death  of  Lawson — Tyranny  of  the  Scottish 
Court — Melville  returns  to  Scotland  with  the  banished 
Lords. 244 


CHAPTER  V. 

1585—1592. 

Melville  exerts  himself  in  recovering  the  Liberties  of  the  Church 

— Difficulties  in  the  way  of  this — Selfishness  of  the  restored 

Noblemen — Threatened  Dissension  among  the  Ministers  of 

the  Church — Education  and  Character  of  the  King — Exara- 

f)les  of  his  Dogmatism — Restoration  of  the  Theological  Col- 
ege  of  St.  Andrews — Melville  invited  back  to  the  College  of 
Glasgow — Returns  to  his  place  at  St.  Andrews — His  Share  in 
the  Process  against  Adamson  — He  is  confined  beyond  theTay 
— Is  Restored — Disputes  on  the  Execution  of  Queen  Mary — 
The  French  Poet,  Du  Bartas,  Visits  the  University  of  St.  An- 
drews— Annexation  of  the  Temporalities  of  Bishoprics  to  the 
Crown — Exertions  of  Melville  at  the  Time  of  the  Spanish  Ar- 
mada— Interview  between  James  Melville  and  a  Spanish  Ad- 
miral— The  Court  Favourable  to  the  Church — Chancellor 
Maitland— Robert  Bruce— Melville's  Stephaniskion  Pronounc- 
ed at  the  Coronation  of  the  Queen — Royal  Encomium  on  the 
Church  of  Scotland — Bancroft's  Attack  on  it — Disgrace, 
Recantation,  and  Death  of  Adamson — Civil  Establishment 
of  Presbytery — Remarks  upon  it. 260 


CHAPTER  VL 


1592—1596. 


Change  of  Professors  in  the  New  College — James  Melville  be- 
comes Minister  at  Anstruther  and  Kilrinny — His  disinter- 
ested Conduct — John  Jonston — Learned  Englishmen  invited 
to  Scotland — Melville  elected  Rector  of  the  University — 
Firmness  displayed  by  him  in  that  Office — He  sits  as  an  Eld- 
er in  the  Kirk-Session  of  St.  Andrews — Peculiar  Practices  in 
Sessions  aud  Presbyteries — David  Black — Dissension  in  the 
Presbytery  of  St.  Andrews — Death  of  Erskine  of  Dun — 
Public  Affairs — Arran's  return  to  Court  frustrated  by  the 
Firmness  of  the  Ministers — Conspiracy  of  the  Popish  Lords 
— Their  Excommunication  and  Criminal  Process — Reasons 
of  the  King's  partiality  to  them — Melville  Calunmiated  as  a 
favourer  of  Bothwell — Loyal  Dispositions  of  the  Ministers 
of  the  Church — Melville's  reasoning  before  the  Lords  of  Ai-- 
ticles — He  accompanies  the  Expedition  against  the  Popish 
Lords — Who  leave  the  Kingdom — Melville's  Poem  on  the 
Birth  of  Prince  Henry — His  Broil  with  Balfour  of  Burley — 
Death  of  Chancellor  Maitland — Renovation  of  the  Covenant 
— Return  of  the  Popish  Lords — Singular  Interview  between 
the  King  and  Melville — The  Court  renew  their  Designs 
against  the  Liberties  of  the  Church — Black's  Declinature — 
Tumult  in  Edinburgh. 276 


CHAPTER  VII. 

1596—1603. 

The  Tumult  in  Edinburgh  made  a  Pretext  for  overthrowing 
the  Liberties  of  the  Church — Violent  Proceediijgs  against 
the  Capital — and  its  Ministers — the  King's  Questions  respect- 


VI 


CONTENTS. 


ing  the  Government  of  the  Church — Caution  of  the  Synod 
of  Fife — Ecclesiastical  Convention  at  Perth — Policy  ot'  the 
Court  in  gaining  over  Ministers  to  its  measures — New  Eccle- 
siastical Commission — Royal  Visitation  of  the  University  of 
St.  Andrews — Melville  restricted  from  attending  Cliurch 
Courts — Rights  of  Theological  Professors — Removal  of  the 
Ministers  of  St.  Andrews — Parliamentary  Restoration  of 
Bishops — Ministers'  Vote  in  Parliament — Opposition  to  it — 
Cautions  under  which  it  was  agreed  to — Bishops  nominated 
— Death  of  distinguished  Ministers — Archbishop  Beaton  re- 
stored to  the  Temporalities  of  the  See  of  Glasgow — Law  of 
free  Monarchies — Basilicon  Doron — Cowrie's  Conspiracj- — 
Suflerings  of  Bruce  on  Account  of  it — Anniversary  of  the 
King's  deliverance  from  it — The  Knig  renews  his  Vows — 
New  Translation  of  the  Bible  proposed — Measures  for  pro- 
jiagatint;  the  Gospel  in  the  Highlands  and  Islands — Melville 
confined  within  the  Precincts  of  his  College — Accession  of 
James  to  the  Throne  of  England.    .-...-.    293 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

1603—1607. 
Melville's  Correspondence  with  learned  Foreigners — His  Apol- 
ogy for  the  Nonconformist  Ministers  of  England — Hampton- 
Court  Conference — Proposed  Union  of  the  two  Kingdoms — 
Death  of  John  Davidson — Plan  of  the  Court  for  Supereeding 
the  General  Assembly — Ministers  Imprisoned  for  Holding  an 
Assembly  at  Aberdeen — Convicted  of  High  Treason — Mel- 
ville Protests  in  Parliament  against  Episcopacy — Extract  from 
Reasons  of  Protest — He  is  called  to  London  with  Seven  of 
his  Brethren — Their  Appearances  before  the  Scottish  Privy 
Council  there — Sermons  Preached  for  their  Conversion — 
They  are  Prohibited  from  Returning  to  Scotland — Melville's 
Epigram  on  the  Royal  Altar — He  is  called  before  the  Privy 
Council  of  England  for  it — Confined  to  the  House  of  the 
Dean  of  St.  Paul's — Convention  of  Ministers  at  Linlithgow 
— Constant  Moderators  apj)ointed — The  Ministers  at  London 
ordered  to  Lodge  with  English  Bishops — Interview  between 
them  and  Archbishop  Bancroft — Melville  called  a  Second 
Time  before  the  Council  of  England — Imprisoned  in  the 
Tower — Reflections  on  his  Treatment — His  Brethren  confined 
— Their  dignified  Behaviour. 312 


ville'8  Health   declines— His  Death— Character  and   Wri- 
tings.     3^6 


CHAPTER  IX. 

1607—1611. 
Melville  deprived  of  the  Office  of  Principal  at  St  Andrews — 
Succeeded  by  Robert  Howie — Rigour  of  his  Imprisonment 
in  the  Tower — Relaxed — College  of  Rochelle  in  France  ap- 
plies for  him — He  is  consulted  on  the  Arminian  Controversy 
— Fruitless  Negociation  for  his  Liberty — His  Fortitude  and 
Cheerfulness — Encourages  his  Brethren  in  Scotland  by  his 
Letters — His  Majesty's  Literary  Employments — New  At- 
tempts for  Melville's  Liberation — His  Design  of  going  to 
America — His  Literary  Recreations  in  the  Tower — His  Pe- 
cuniary Misfortune — Death  of  his  Friends — Matrimonial  Af- 
fair— Ecclesiastical  Proceedings  in  Scotlanil — Episcopacy  ap- 
proved by  General  Assembly  at  Glasgow — Reflections  on 
this — Melville's  fellow-)>risoners — He  is  Visited  by  Cameron 
and  Casaubon — Duke  of  Bouillon's  Application  for  him — Op- 
posed by  the  Court  of  France — He  seeks  Admission  into  the 
Family  of  Prince  Henry — His  I'rieiuls  at  Court — His  Pecuni- 
ary Enibarrassments — Sickness — Release  from  the  Tower, 
Departure  to  France. 329 


CHAPTER  X. 

1611—1622. 
Melville's  Reception  in  France — Scotchmen  in  the  Protestant 
Universities  tnere — University  of  Sedan — Melville's  Employ- 
ment in  it— His  Correspondence  with  his  Nephew — Death  of 
Robert  Wilkie  and  John  Jonston— Melville  leaves  Sedan  for 
a  short  time — Intelligence  from  Scotland — Constancy  of 
Forbes  and  other  banished  Ministers — Death  of  James  Mel- 
ville—Scottish Students  at  Sedan — Melville  opposes  the 
Arminian  Sentiments  of  Tilenus — His  opinion  of  the  Articles 
of  Perth  Assembly— Changes  on  University  of  St.  Andrews 
—Defence  of  the  Scottish  Church  against  Tilenus— Mel- 


CHAPTER  XI. 

STATE  OF  IJTERATURE  IN  SCOTL.iND  WHEN  MELVILIJE  WAS 
SETTLED  AT  ST.  ANDREWS,  ANNO   1580. 

Erection  of  University  of  St.  Andrews— Its  Constitution— Col- 
leges founded  in  it— State  of  the  Univei-sity  at  the  Reforma- 
tion— Mode  of  Teaching  and  conferring  Degrees  in  the  Fac- 
ulty of  ArU— And  of  Theology— New  plan  of  the  University 
in  the  First  Book  of  Discipline — By  Buchanan — By  Parlia- 
ment—Sketch of  the  New  Mode  of  Teaching— Melville's 
Share  in  Drawing  it  up — Reform  on  the  other  Universities — 
Parochial  Schools— High  School  of  Glasgow— Of  Edinburgh 
— Scholastic  Philosophy — John  Rutherford — Civil  Law — 
William  Skene — Edward  Henryson— Theology  and  Poetry 
— Alexander  Arbuthnot— Thomas  Snieton— Thomas  Mait- 
land — Patrick  Adarason — John  Davidson.     -     .     .     .       358 


CHAPTER  XII, 

STATE  OF  LITERATURE   IN  SCOTLAND  WHEN   MELVILLE  WAS 
B.\NISHED  TO  FRANCE,  ANNO  1611. 

Erection  of  New  Universities  and  Colleges — Resort  of  Foreign 
Students  to  Scotland — Literary  Labours  of  Scotchmen  in 
Dublin — Parochial  Schools  and  Grammatical  Education  in 
Scotland — Improvements  on  the  High  School  of  Edinbui-gh 
— Hercules  Rollock — Alexander  Hume — Raniean  Philosophy 
— Theology  and  Collateral  Branches  of  Study — Principal 
Rollock — Bruce — Pont — The  Simsons — Cowper — Civil  and 
Scots  Law — John  Skene — Thomas  Craig — Welwood — Other 
Studies — Napier  of  Merchiston — Hume  of  Godscroft — Ver- 
nacular Poetry — Extent  to  which  Latin  Poetry  was  Cultiva- 
ted— Advantages  and  Disadvantages  of  this — General  Esti- 
mate of  the  Progress  of  Learning  and  of  the  influence  which 
Melville  had  in  Promoting  it. 369 

Notes. 381 


ORIGINAL  PAPERS. 

Letter  from  George  Buchanan  to  Sir  Thomas  Randolph.    -  418 
Extract  of  a  Letter  from  Henry  Woddrington  to  Secreta- 
ry Walsingham.     ---------....   418 

Letter  of  Andrew  Melville  to  T.  Savile  and  G.  Carleton.      419 
Archbishop  Adamson  to  Archbishop  Whitgift.     ...        419 

Extract  ot  Letters  from  William  Davison  to  Secretary 

Walsingham,  concerning  the  Administration  of  Arran.      419 
Extract  of  a  Letter  from  Mr.  D.  Andersone  to  certain  Min- 
isters   in     Scotland,  conveying  information   respecting 
Scotch  Papists  in  Gernianj-.     ------     ...     420 

Letter  from  John,  Earl  of  Gowrie,  to  John  Malcolm.     -     -  421 
Melvinus  ad  Senatura  Anglicanum.     --.--..       422 
Letter  from  Andrew  Melville  to  Sir  James  Sempill  of  Bel- 
trees.    422 

Letter  from  Andrew  Melville  to  Robert  Durie  at  Leyden.     422 


VEITCH. 

Memoirs  of  Mr.  William  Veitch.    ---.-..  427 

Sup|)leinent  to  the  Memoirs  of  Mr.  William  Veitch.     -  462 

Biographical  Notices  of  Colonel  James  Wallace.  -  -  479 
Colonel  Wallace's  Narrative  of  the  Rising  suppressed  at 

Pentland. 485 

Ure  of  Shargarton's  Narrative  of  the  Rising  suppressed 

at  Bothwel  Bridge-    -.-.--..--  495 


NOTES. 


I.  Extracts  of  Letters  from  Mr.  Mackward  to  Mr.  Blacka- 
der  and  Mr.  Cargill. 501 

n.  Extracts  from  the  Diary  of  Sergeant  James  Nisbet.    -    501 


INTRODUCTION 


TO  THE 


AMERICAN   EDITION. 


Much  obscurity  rests  upon  the  early  history  of  Scotland.  Nor  will  this  uncertainty,  respecting 
the  introduction  and  progress  of  Christianity  among  a  people  so  remote  from  the  centre  of  civiliza- 
tion and  literature,  in  the  early  ages,  appear  surprising,  when  it  is  considered  that,  from  the  close 
of  the  inspired  history,  to  the  time  of  Constantine  the  Great,— a  space  of  more  than  two  hundred 
and  fifty  years, — we  have  no  cotemporary  historian  of  the  church.  Eusebius,  bishop  of  Cffisarea, 
in  Palestine,  seems  to  have  been  the  first  who  attempted  to  give  a  regular  history  of  ecclesiastical 
afiairs,  from  the  birth  of  our  Saviour  down  to  his  own  times.  His  history  appears  to  have  been 
published  a  very  short  time  before  the  Nicene  Council,  which  met,  A.  D.  325.  He  has  been  pro- 
nounced the  father  of  church  history  ;  and  as  he  entered  a  path  which  none  had  trod  before  him, 
we  are  more  inclined  to  admire  the  industry  and  research,  by  which  he  succeeded  so  well,  than  to 
complain  of  his  defects.  In  the  brief  outline  which  he  gives  of  the  history  of  the  christian  church, 
during  the  first  three  centuries,  it  would  be  unreasonable  to  expect  any  thing  particular,  concerning  a 
country  so  remote  from  Palestine,  and  so  little  known  to  him,  as  Scotland.  The  earliest  authorities 
to  which  the  ecclesiastical  writers  of  that  country  have  been  under  obligation  for  the  few  hints 
which  can  be  gathered  on  the  subject,  are  Prosper  of  Aquitania,  of  the  fifth  century ;  Bede,  of 
the  eighth ;  John  of  Fordoun,  of  the  fourteenth,  called  the  "  Father  of  Scottish  History ;"  and 
Boece,  of  the  fifteenth.  From  these,  and  some  other  sources,  later  writers,  such  as  Buchanan,  John 
Major,  McKenzie,  &c.,  have  collected  a  little  information,  and  formed  some  tolerable  conjectures. 
Although  the  more  recent  historians  do  not  agree  either  respecting  the  time,  or  the  circumstances,  of 
the  introduction  of  Christianity  into  the  northern  parts  of  Great  Britain  ;  yet  they  generally  admit, 
that  it  must  have  been  at  an  early  period.  In  attempting  to  place  before  the  reader  a  brief  sketch 
of  the  condition  of  the  church  in  Scotland,  previous  to  the  Reformation,  the  writer  regrets  that  he 
has  not  access  to  the  original  sources  of  information ;  but  in  the  absence  of  these,  he  has  endeavour- 
ed to  make  the  best  use  he  could  of  a  number  of  respectable  authors,  within  his  reach,  who  have 
more  or  less  successfully  investigated  the  history  of  Christianity,  in  the  earlier  and   the  middle  ages. 

It  is  not  improbable  that  Christianity,  to  a  small  extent,  was  introduced  into  Great  Britain,  about 
the  end  of  the  first,  or  the  beginning  of  the  second  century  ;  by  some  of  the  Asiatic  christians  who 
had  fled  from  the  persecution,  raised  by  Domitian.  From  England,  it  likely  found  its  way  into 
Scotland,  in  the  course  of  the  second  century.  As  its  introduction  was  not  connected  with  any 
political  event  of  sufficient  magnitude  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  secular  writers  of  that  age ;  so 
we  need  not  feel  disappointed  at  finding  no  notice  of  its  existence,  as  long  as  it  remained  in  humble 
obscurity,  a  stranger  to  the  homage  of  kings  and  courts.  That  christians  from  Asia  Minor,  how- 
ever, were  the  first  who  brought  the  gospel  into  Britain,  and  laid,  in  that  island,  the  foundation  of 
the  church,  seems  highly  probable  from  the  fact,  that  Easter  seems  to  have  been  observed  in  the 
British  churches  according  to  Asiatic  usage.  This  feast,  which  began  at  an  early  period  to  be  ob- 
served in  commemoration  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  was  annually  celebrated  by  the  churches  of 
Africa,  and  the  continent  of  Europe,  on  the  Lord's  day  after  the  passover,  which  occurred  on  the 
14th  day  of  the  March  moon.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Asiatic  churches  observed  this  feast,  on  the 
third  day  after  the  passover,  upon  whatever  day  of  the  week  it  might  occur ;  and  this,  also,  is  said 


Tiii  INTRODUCTION. 

to  have  been  the  custom  of  the  British  churches.  Now,  it  would  be  absurd  to  suppose,  that  any  of 
the  western  churches  in  Europe  or  Africa,  would  transfer  a  custom  to  England  and  Scotland,  which 
they  had  never  adopted,  or  obtrude  upon  the  observance  of  their  converts,  a  practice,  of  which  they 
themselves  disapproved.* 

The  tradition,  which  refers  to  the  beginning  of  the  second  century  as  the  time  when  the  first  rays 
of  gospel  light  glimmered  among  the  mountains  of  Scotland,  agrees  very  well  with  the  account 
transmitted  to  us,  of  king  Donald  I.,  who  is  said  to  have  embraced  the  christian  faith,  together  with 
his  queen  and  some  of  the  nobility,  about  A.  D.  203.  It  appears  that  Christianity  had  made  some 
progress  in  the  country,  before  Donald  publicly  avowed  himself  a  convert ;  as  it  is  not  very  probable 
that  he  would  have  ventured  to  incur  the  displeasure  of  the  Druids,  and  encounter  their  opposition, 
unless  a  considerable  number  of  the  people  had  been  previously  rescued  from  the  influence  of  these 
formidable  priests.  After  his  conversion,  the  king  earnestly  exerted  himself  to  provide  for  the  spi- 
ritual instruction  of  his  people :  but  all  his  plans  were  overthrown  by  the  destructive  invasion  of  the 
Romans,  led  by  their  emperor,  Severus.  For  more  than 'half  a  century  after  this  invasion,  we  hear 
nothing  of  the  state  of  Christianity  in  Scotland.  Towards  the  latter  part  of  the  century,  it  received  a 
new  impulse,  through  the  instrumentality  of  a  number  of  pious  Britons,  who  sought,  in  the  north,  a 
shelter  from  the  persecution,  which  took  place  under  the  emperor  Aurelian.  The  still  more  violent 
persecution,  under  Dioclesian,  greatly  increased  the  number  of  christian  refugees  ;  and  receiving  en- 
couragement from  the  court,  and  several  of  the  nobles,  the  pious  strangers  laboured  for  the  extension 
of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom,  and  through  the  divine  blessing,  their  labors  appear  to  have  been  attend- 
ed with  considerable  success. 

Concerning  this  period,  Buchanan, f  who  had  access  to  all  the  information  upon  the  subject  of  these 
early  times,  writes  as  follows,  in  his  History  of  Scotland,  under  the  reign  of  Fincormachus  : — "  Freed 
from  external  cares,  the  Scots  now  chiefly  exerted  themselves  for  the  promotion  of  the  christian  reli- 
gion, to  which  they  were  incited  by  the  following  occurrence.  Multitudes  of  Britons,  fearing  the 
cruelties  of  Dioclesian  towards  the  Christians,  sought  refuge  among  them  ;  of  whom  many,  illustrious 
for  the  piety  of  their  doctrines,  and  the  uprightness  of  their  lives,  remained  in  Scotland,  and  led  a 
solitary  life,  with  such  a  reputation  for  sanctity  among  all  ranks,  that,  upon  their  decease,  the  cells 
they  had  inhabited  were  changed  into  churches ;  and  from  that  custom  it  still  continues  that  the  an- 
cient Scots  call  churches  cells,  [Kils.]  This  species  of  religious  [persons]  they  called  Culdees  ; 
and  the  name  and  the  institution  remained,  until  a  more  recent  kind  of  monks,  divided  into  a  number 
of  orders,  expelled  them :  which  latter  were  as  much  their  inferiors  in  doctrine  and  piety,  as  their 
superiors  in  riches,  ceremonies,  and  other  external  rites,  by  which  the  eye  is  captivated  and  the  mind 
deceived." 

The  "  solitary,"  or  rather,  the  retired  habits  of  the  Culdees  were  probably  adopted  from  the  Druids, 
who  lived  in  caves  and  forests,  and  were  resorted  to  there,  for  counsel  or  instruction,  by  the  people, 
except  when  called  to  the  more  public  discharge  of  their  appropriate  functions.  As  the  people  had 
been  accustomed  to  see  this  retired  mode  of  life  observed  by  their  pagan  priesthood  ;  and  as  a  de- 
parture from  a  practice  deemed  essential  to  the  character  of  teachers  of  sacred  things,  would  probably 
have  created  obstacles  in  the  way  of  disseminating  the  hallowed  truths  of  Christianity,  tlie  southern 
exiles  followed  that  course,  which  might  innocently  aid  them  in  gaining  the  attention  of  those,  to 
whom  God  had  providentially  sent  them,  as  his  ministers.  Accustomed  to  the  language  of  their  con- 
querors, the  British  teachers  of  the  gospel  assumed  the  modest  title  of  ctdtores  Dei,  which  soon  be- 
came corrupted  into  Childei,  or  as  we  have  it,  GuWeee, 

*  From  certain  passages  in  Bede,  Hist  Eccles.  Lib.  III.  4 ;  IT.  2.  19,  it  is  alleged  that  the  British  were  not  quatuordedmani, 
although  in  the  course  of  their  controversy  with  the  Romanists,  they  appealed  to  the  apostle  John  and  the  Asiatics,  and  thus  were 
thought  to  adhere  to  the  Asiatic  practice.  According  to  Bede,  they  celebrated  Easter  on  the  Lord's  day,  that  fell  between  the 
14th  and  30th  of  the  March  moon,  inclusive,  while  the  Romanists  held  it  on  the  Lord's  day,  which  occurred  between  the  15th 
and  2  Ist  If  this  lie  so,  then  it  would  appear  that  they  regulated  that  feast  according  to  a  cycle  of  84  years,  which  had  been  in 
use  in  the  church,  before  the  latter  part  of  the  5th  century,  when  the  Victorian  cycle  was  introduced ;  and  consequently  before 
the  pretensions  of  the  Roman  bishop  were  acknowledged.  This  would  place  the  introduction  of  Christianity  into  Britain, 
probably  at  some  time  between  the  2d  and  4th  centuries. 

f  The  character  of  Buchanan,  like  other  worthies  of  his  age,  has  suffered,  both  as  a  man  and  a  historian,  from  the  misrepro. 
scntations  of  his  political  and  religious  adversaries;  and  these  have  been  retailed  by  succcctling  authors,  who  ought  to  have 
known  better ;  but  whose  prejudices  rendered  them  partial  judges  of  one,  who  was  the  unbending  advocate  of  civil  liberty,  the 
foe  of  courtly  conruption  and  sceptical  tyranny,  and  a  firm  friend  of  the  doctrines  and  church  order  of  the  Reformation.  That 
he  was  faultless  as  a  man,  or  without  his  prejudices  as  a  writer,  is  not  pretended.  But  he  was  probably  less  so,  in  both  respects, 
than  the  greater  part  of  those  who  have  undertaken  to  censure  him. 


INTRODUCTION. 


IX 


The  reign  of  Fincormachus,  who  appears  to  have  been  devoutly  attentive  to  the  extension  and  es- 
tablishment of  the  new  religion,  was,  for  those  warlike  and  barbarous  times,  uncommonly  long  and 
happy.  Under  his  patronage,  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  were  encouraged  in  their  efforts  to  instruct 
the  people ;  druidisra,  although  not  eradicated,  was  nevertheless  enfeebled  in  its  influence,  and  the 
number  of  its  subjects  was  diminished ;  and  the  faith  of  Christ,  through  the  operations  of  grace,  ani- 
mated many  a  heart.  About  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century,  Fincormachus  died ;  an  event  which 
was  succeeded  by  great  calamities  to  his  nation.  Three  competitors  appeared  for  the  crown,  and  the 
question,  which  of  them  should  wear  it,  was  unhappily  referred  to  the  decision  of  arms.  While  the 
Scots  were  thus  divided  among  themselves,  their  neighbours,  the  Picts  took  advantage  of  their  situa- 
tion to  make  war  upon  them.  The  war  was  bloody,  the  resistance  fierce,  and  the  issue  doubtful. 
But  the  Picts  called  to  their  assistance  the  Britons  and  the  Romans ;  and  overwhelmed  by  superior 
numbers,  the  Scots  were  every  where  defeated,  and  almost  exterminated.  "  The  survivors,"  says 
Buchanan,  (Book  iv.  c.  52,)  dispersed  themselves  wherever  chance  led  them,  through  the  Hebrides,  Ire- 
land, and  the  Cimbric  Chersonesus,  and  were  every  where  humanely  received  by  the  inhabitants. 
Their  priests  and  monks,  who  were  held  in  the  highest  honour,  were  severely  treated  by  the  Picts, 
(though  they  themselves  professed  to  be  Christians,)  being  driven  into  all  the  surrounding  countries. 
In  the  course  of  their  dispersions,  several  of  them  happened  to  land  upon  the  island  of  lona,  one  of 
the  Hebrides,  and  being  collected  there  in  a  monastery,  they  transmitted  the  great  fame  of  their  sanc- 
tity and  erudition  to  posterity." 

However  gratified  the  Picts  may  have  been  with  the  immediate  results  of  their  alliance  with  the 
Eomans,  they  had  reason,  before  long,  to  lament  the  impolicy  of  their  conduct.  They  were  com- 
manded to  adopt  the  Roman  laws,  do  homage  to  the  emperor,  and  receive  their  kings  from  Rome. 
In  this  state  of  degradation  and  dependence,  so  detestable  to  a  fierce  and  hitherto  free  people,  they  had 
leisure  to  regret  the  expulsion  of  their  Scottish  neighbours  ;  and  at  last  resolved  secretly  to  invite  them 
back  to  their  country,  which  had  been  divided  among  the  Picts  and  their  allies.  The  exiles  obeyed 
the  invitation,  and  bringing  with  them  adventurers  from  the  several  countries  in  which  they  had  found 
refuge,  they  united  their  forces  under  the  direction  of  Fergus,  who  was  chosen  their  king.  Joined 
by  the  Picts,  they  expelled  the  Britons ;  for  being  but  feebly  assisted  by  the  Romans,  whose  legions 
had  found  abundance  of  employment  nearer  home,  in  repelling  the  incursions  of  the  northern  barba- 
rians, they  were  unable  to  cope  with  their  fierce  and  warlike  adversaries.  Fergus  perished  in  battle, 
in  the  sixteenth  year  of  his  reign ;  and  his  father-in-law,  a  noble  Briton,  who  was  hostile  to  the  Ro- 
mans, and  to  that  portion  of  his  countrymen,  who  favoured  the  Romans,  was  appointed  tutor  to  the 
young  princes,  and  viceroy  of  the  kingdom.  Graeme,  as  he  is  called  by  ancient  chroniclers,  or  Gra- 
ham, as  he  is  named  in  an  inscription,  dated  1057,  was  by  profession  a  christian,  and  a  man  of  such 
energy,  wisdom,  and  justice,  that  scarcely  any  thing  disturbed  the  public  tranquillity  under  his  govern- 
ment. After  he  had  extended  the  kingdom  to  the  wall  of  Adrian,  its  ancient  boundary,  he  granted 
a  truce  to  the  Britons,  and  directed  his  attention  to  the  internal  prosperity  of  the  country.  "  In  order," 
says  Buchanan,  (B.  v.  c.  8,  Aikman's  transl.)  "  to  check,  by  proper  institutions,  that  licentiousness 
which  had  spread  so  widely  by  the  long  continuance  of  the  war,  he  ordained  that  the  monks  [Culdees] 
and  teachers  of  Christianity  should  be  recalled,  and,  lest  they  should  be  burdensome  to  the  poorer 
classes,  he  appointed  them  annual  stipends  from  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  which,  although  small  even 
then,  yet  to  the  moderation  and  temperance  of  these  men,  appeared  sufficiently  ample." 

After  the  death  of  Graham,  Eugene,  the  eldest  son  of  Fergus,  ascended  the  throne  ;  and  although 
much  engaged  in  war  with  the  Britons,  he  retained  the  instructions  of  his  grandfather,  and  maintain- 
ed a  creditable  character  for  religion  and  virtue.  Dungard,  his  brother,  who  succeeded  him,  was  of 
similar  disposition  and  habits  ;  and  the  Britons  being  divided  and  at  war  among  themselves,  he  was 
permitted  to  pass  his  reign  in  peace. 

During  this  period,  the  church  in  Scotland  received  a  more  regular  organization  than  it  had  pre- 
viously possessed.  The  Culdees  had  been  scattered,  as  already  stated,  into  various  countries  with 
their  countrymen;  and  those,  who  returned,  upon  the  invitation  of  Graham,  were  not  adequate  to 
supply  the  wants  of  the  people.  In  this  scarcity  of  competent  men,  an  expedient  similar  to  that 
which  was  afterwards  adopted  by  the  Scottish  Reformers,  in  circumstances  nearly  similar,  was  em- 
ployed to  remedy,  as  far  as  practicable,  the  defect.     A  select  number  of  the  ablest  of  the  Culdees  was 

appointed  to  traverse  the  kingdom,  labour  in  the  ministry,  ordain  as  teachers  the  fittest  they  could 
B 


X  INTRODUCTION. 

find,  and  superintend  the  general  concerns  of  the  church.  These  superinteudants  were  denominated 
Scoticorum  Episcopi,  the  Scottish  bishops,  by  the  Catholic  writers,  who,  accustomed  to  prelacy, 
imagined  them  to  be  officially  the  same  as  their  own  diocesan  bishops.  That  the  institution,  by  the 
civil  government,  of  a  class  of  ministers  with  higher  powers  than  their  brethren,  prepared  the  way  for 
diocesan  bishops,  is  obvious  enough  ;  but  that  the  superintendants  were  considered  a  distinct  and 
superior  orderj  in  the  church,  and  received  a  different  ordination  from  that  of  their  less  eminent  bre- 
thren, is  without  any  solid  evidence.  Fordun,  the  Father  of  Scottish  History,  himself  a  Roman 
Catholic,  and  sufficiently  credulous,  but,  at  the  same  time,  most  diligent  in  consulting  every  work 
and  monument,  extant  at  that  period,  which  could  throw  any  light  upon  the  early  history  of  his 
country,  unhesitatingly  admits  the  fact  of  their  ministerial  parity.  "  Before  the  arrival  of  Palladius," 
says  he,  "  the  Scots  had  for  teachers  of  the  faith,  and  ministers  of  the  sacraments,  presbyters  only, 
or  monks,  following  the  rites  and  customs  of  the  primitive  church."  (Scot.  Chron.  lib.  iii.  c.  8. 
apud  Willison's  Testimony.)  Bale,  also,  a  learned  writer  in  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
{Britt.  Script.  Cat.  Cent.  xiv.  c.  5.)  agrees  in  his  statement  with  Fiordun  ; — "  Before  Palladius  came, 
the  Scots,"  says  he,  "  had  their  bishops  and  ministers,  according  to  the  ministry  of  the  word  of 
God,  chosen  by  the  suffi-age  of  the  people,,  after  the  custom  of  those  of  Asia ;  but  these  things  did 
not  please  the  Romans,  who  hated  the  Asiatics." 

Palladius  was  sent  into  Scotland,  A.  D.  452,  by  Pope  Celestine,  in  order  to  oppose  the  tenets  of  Pela- 
gius,  and  bring  the  Scots  into  close  connection  with  the  See  of  Rome.  Pelagius  began  to  broach  his  here- 
sy, at  Rome,  A.  D.  405,  when  Fergus  had  already  eomraeneed  the  recovery  of  his  uncle's  kingdom 
from  the  Britons.  This  heresiarch  was  a  monk  of  Banchor,  in  England  ;  and  when  he  came  to 
Rome  in  A.  D.  400,  he  found  Caelestius  already  there,  a  Scottish  youth  of  noble  descent,  and  of  respecta- 
ble talents  and  acquirements,  who  had  gone  thither  to  perfect  his  studies,  and  who  afterwards  became 
the  disciple,  and  the  chief  co-adjutor  of  Pelagius,  in  spreading  his  opinions.  It  is  not  improbable,  that 
the  influence  of  Caelestius  procured  the  early,  introduction  of  the  Pelagian  tenets  to  the  attention  of 
his  countrymen,  and  promoted,  to  some  extent,  their  adoption.  However  this  may  have  been,  as 
the  creed  of  the  Roman  church,  and  of  the  other  churches  which  had  begun  to  regard  the  Roman 
bishop  as  possessing  some  degree  of  pre-eminence,  was  still  orthodox ;  considerable  zeal  was  mani- 
fested against  the  Pelagian  errors,  united  with  a  desire  of  increasing  the  number  of  adherents  to 
Rome. 

The  efforts  of  Palladius  were  attended  with  success  ;  and  he  also  succeeded  in  ingratiating  him- 
self so  far  with  the  court,  and  with  the  superintendants  and  other  ministers,  as  to  persuade  them  to 
remodel  the  church  after  the  pattern  of  those  which  were  in  connexion  with  the  church  of  Rome. 
Accordingly  he  received'  ordination  from  the  Roman  Bishop,  and  was  the  first  person  who  exercis- 
ed the  prelatical  office  in  Scotland.  On  this  subject,  Hector  Boece  says : — "  Palladius  was  the 
first  of  all  that  bore  the  holy  magistrature  among  the  Scots,  being  made  bishop  by  the  great  pontiff: 
for  till  then,  by  the  suffrages  of  the  people,  the  bishops  were  made  of  the  monks,  or  Culdees." 
(M' Gavin's  Jntrod.  to  Knox's  History.) 

It  was  in  this  manner  that  Scotland  became  allied  to  Rome,  and  for  many  centuries  afterwards,  he 
participated  in  the  ignorance,  superstition  and  corruption,  which  fiowed  from  that  fountain  of  impu- 
rity, and  for  ages  covered  Europe  with  darkness.  It  appears,  that  although  the  generality  of  the 
people  acquiesced  in  the  change  introduced  by  Palladius,  yet  a  number  of  the  Culdees  maintained 
their  former  independence,  until  time,  and  the  increase  of  corruption,  and  the  arts  and  efforts  of  ava- 
rice and  ambition,  left  scarcely  a  trace  of  their  existence.  We  find  some  scattered  notices  of  them 
down  to  the  seventh  or  eighth  centuries ;  but  after  that  period,  no  vestiges  of  them,  except  the 
names  of  their  cells,  conferred  on  towns,  villages,  and  other  localities,  where  some  of  the  most  emi- 
nent of  them  had  lived  and  laboured,  appear  on  the  page  of  history.  The  light  which  they  shed 
amidst  the  growing  gloom,  lingered  longest  in  the  little  island  of  lona,  or  I-Columkill,  one  of  the 
Hebrides,  where  a  number  of  them  had  retired  when  their  country  was  laid  waste  by  the  Picts  and 
Britons.  That  island  derives  its  name  from  Columba,  who  came,  accompanied  by  twelve  others, 
from  the  North  of  Ireland  in  A.  D.  563,  and  fixed  his  residence  there.  His  arrival  and  settlement 
in  that  Island  was  welcomed  with  the  consent  and  good  will,  both  of  the  king,  and  the  remnant  of 
the  Culdees,  who  still  remained.  He  organized  the  whole  brotherhood  into  a  regular  community, 
procured  the  erection  of  appropriate  buildings,  and  opened  a  school  for  instruction  in  divine  things. 


INTRODUCTION.  xi 

which  for  several  centuries  sent  forth  an  educated  and  pious  ministry  to  the  churches  of  Scotland, 
Ireland,  and  the  north  of  England,  and  to  many  parts  of  Gaul,  and  other  countries  on  the  continent 
of  Europe. 

Dr.  Jaraieson,  of  Edinburgh,  a  writer  of  learning,  and  deep  research  into  the  antiquities  of  his  coun- 
try, tells  us,  in  his  History  of  the  Culdees,  that  the  doctrine  taught  by  Columba  was  comparatively 
pure.  "  As  he  was  himself  much  given  to  the  study  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  he  taught  his  disciples 
to  confirm  their  doctrines  by  testimonies  brought  from  this  unpolluted  fountain  ;  and  declared  that 
only  to  be  the  divine  counsel,  which  he  found  there.  His  followers,  as  we  learn  from  Bede,  would 
receive  those  only  which  are  contained  in  the  writings  of  the  prophets,  evangelists,  and  apostles  ;  dili- 
gently observing  the  works  of  piety  and  purity.  Hence,  it  has  been  said,  that  for  several  generations, 
with  the  errors  which  at  that  time  prevailed  in  the  church  of  Rome,  they  seem  not  to  have  been  in 
the  least  tainted. 

"  They  observed  a  certain  rule  in  their  monasteries,  composed,  as  it  is  said,  by  Columba  himself, 
and  sometimes  denominated  the  Rule  of  lona.  For  a  considerable  time  before  this  era,  many  truly 
pious  men,  knowing  their  obligation  to  separate  from  the  world,  had,  from  human  weakness,  inter- 
preted the  divine  precept  in  a  sense  which  it  was  never  meant  to  bear ;  and  if  they  did  not  retire 
singly  to  solitudes  and  caves,  yet  viewed  it  as  most  subservient  to  the  interests  of  religion  to  form 
regular  monastic  societies.  But  their  mode  of  life  was  very  different  from  that  of  the  generality  of 
those  who  have  been  called  monks  in  later  ages.  According  to  Bede,  after  the  example  of  the 
venerable  fathers,  they  lived  by  the  labours  of  their  hands."  "  So  far  were  they  from  reckoning  the 
connubial  relation  inconsistent  with  their  character,  it  seems  to  have  been  held  in  honour."  After 
referring  to  several  proofs  and  instances  of  this  fact.  Dr.  Jamieson  proceeds:—"  Although  it  appears 
that  they  observed  a  certain  institute,  yet,  in  the  accounts  given  of  them,  we  cannot  overlook  this 
remarkable  distinction  between  them  and  those  societies  which  are  properly  called  monastic,  that  they 
were  not  associated  expressly  for  the  purpose  of  observing  this  rule.  They  might  deem  certain  reg- 
ulations necessary  for  the  preservation  of  order  ;  but  their  great  design  Was,  by  communicating  instruc- 
tion, to  train  up  others  for  the  work  of  the  ministry.  Hence  it  has  been  justly  observed,  that  they 
may  be  more  properly  viewed  as  colleges,  in  which  the  various  branches  of  useful  learning  were 
taught,  than  monasteries.  These  societies,  therefore,  were  in  fact  the  seminaries  of  the  church,  both 
in  North  Britain  and  Ireland.  As  the  presbyters  ministered  in  holy  things  to  those  in  their  vicinity, 
they  were  still  training  up  others,  and  sending  forth  missionaries,  whenever  they  had  a  call,  or  any 
prospects  of  success." 

Hospinian,  in  his  History  of  the  Origin,  Progress  and  Orders  of  Monkery,  gives  substantially  the 
same  account  of  what  he  calls  the  "  Apostolic  Order,"  as  that  given  above  relative  to  the  mode  of  life 
and  labours  of  the  monks  of  lona.  "  They  lived,"  he  says,  "  not  according  to  the  mode  prescribed 
by  Basil  or  Benedict,  but  according  to  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  and  the  rule  of  the  divine  word."  He 
traces  the  origin  of  this  Order  to  Congell  of  Bannacor,  or  Banchor,  in  the  north  east  of  Ireland,  where, 
for  a  considerable  period,  there  had  been  a  college,  or  community  of  learned  and  pious  men,  worthy 
of  the  name  of  Christian  philosophers,  who,  after  the  adoption  of  the  rule  prescribed  by  him,  became 
remarkably  useful  and  active  in  propagating  Christianity  in  several  countries,  especially  among  seve- 
ral of  the  German  nations. 

Columba  died,  A.  D.  597,  the  year  after  Augustine,  or  Austin,  the  monk,  had  been  sent  over  to 
Britain  by  Pope  Gregory  the  Great,  to  convert  the  Saxons,  and  bring  the  whole  island  under  the 
spiritual  jurisdiction  of  Rome.  This  monk,  who  was  afterwards  created  the  first  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury, brought  forty  monks  with  him,  to  assist  him  in  his  pious  attempt,  the  number  of  whom,  as 
soon  as  success  dawned  on  his  efforts,  were  increased.  He  endeavored  to  extend  his  spiritual  author- 
ity over  the  ancient  British  churches,  and  a  council  was  held  for  the  purpose  of  deciding  whether 
they  would  conform  to  the  Roman  customs  and  ritual  or  not.  But,  owing  to  the  degree  of  haughti- 
ness and  bigotry  incautiously  displayed  by  Austin,  the  project  failed.  Little  appears  to  have  been 
attempted  to  conciliate  the  Scottish  churches,  which  still  were  under  the  care  of  the  Culdees,  until 
after  Austin's  death,  in  A.  D.  607.  He  was  succeeded  by  Laurentius,  who  sent  for  one  of  their 
superintendents,  or  bishops,  as  they  were  called  by  the  adherents  of  Rome,  and  although  at  first 
unsuccessful,  yet  by  perseverance,  and  getting  access  to  some  who  were  more  tractable  than  this 
refractory  bishop,  he  at  length  gained  his  point  so  far  as,  after  a  warm  controversy,  to  get  the  clergy 


xii  INTRODUCTION. 

generally  to  adopt  the  Romau  tonsure,  and  observe  the  same  day  with  the  Roraish  church  in 
celebrating  Easter. 

Meanwhile,  the  Culdee  seminaries  still  continued  to  send  out  ministers  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the 
destitute.  Thus,  about  the  middle  of  the  seventh  century,  we  learn  from  Bode,  that  Donald,  at  that 
time  king,  at  the  request  of  Oswald,  king  of  Northumberland,  sent  teachers  from  Scotland,  distin- 
guished for  their  piety  and  learning.  About  the  year  670,  Buchanan  records  that  "  it  happened, 
that  after  the  Scottish  monks  had  disseminated  the  knowledge  of  the  christian  religion  widely  through 
England,  and  so  instructed  the  English  youth  in  letters,  that  they  appeared  sufficiently  capable  of 
preaching  the  gospel  to  their  countrymen,  a  spirit  of  envy  towards  their  instructors  arose,  in  propor- 
tion as  they  imagined  themselves  their  equals  in  learning ;  and  their  disinclination  towards  the  Scots 
proceeded  so  far,  that  they  forced  them  to  return  to  their  own  country ;  which  affront,  although  it 
disturbed  the  concord  of  the  kingdoms,  yet,  such  was  the  moderation  of  those  who  had  sustained  the 
wrong,  that  they  restrained  both  nations  from  decided  hostilities."      (Aikm.  Buck.  B.  V.  c.  A2.) 

In  the  desolating  wars  in  which  the  country  was  long  involved,  corruption  of  manners,  and  neglect 
of  education,  paved  the  way  for  ignorance  and  superstition.  The  clergy,  favoured  by  some  monarchs, 
and  neglected  or  curbed  by  others,  became  gradually  in  either  case,  more  independent  of  the  people, 
and  more  closely  allied  with  Rome  ;  until,  instead  of  being  a  spiritual  benefit  to  the  nation,  and  leaders 
in  the  path  of  piety  and  virtue,  they  became  notoriously  vicious,  and  deepened  the  darkness  of  that 
awful  night,  which,  for  several  centuries,  hung  upon  the  land.  It  is  true,  the  reputation  of  the  coun- 
try for  piety  and  learning  was  still  supported,  to  some  extent,  by  the  school  of  lona,  founded  by  Co- 
lumba,  which,  being  remote  from  the  influences  that  tended  to  the  moral  deterioration  of  the  popula- 
tion generally,  continued  for  some  time,  (like  a  star  glimmering  through  an  opening  of  the  clouds  in 
a  wintry  night,)  to  shed  a  lustre  on  Scotland.  But  in  general,  when  donations  to  the  church  and 
bodily  penances  were  substituted  for  unfeigned  repentance  and  vital  piety,  the  wealth,  ease,  and  hon- 
our, which  accrued  to  the  body  of  the  clergy,  was  such  as  to  render  them  shamefully  defective  in 
every  qualification  befitting  their  sacred  office.  As  early  as  the  latter  part  of  the  ninth  century,  the 
general  depravity  was  so  great  as  to  become  a  subject  of  legislation ;  and  in  the  provisions  made  by 
the  court  for  the  reformation  of  manners,  the  clergy  were  not  neglected.  "  The  king,"  says  Buch- 
anan, (B.  vi.  c.  7.)  "first  turned  his  attention  to  the  correction  of  the  public  discipline,  and  by  severe 
laws  brought  back  to  their  ancient  frugality  the  order  of  the  priests,  who,  corrupted  by  their  fat  liv- 
ings, had  left  off  preaching  the  gospel,  and  devoted  themselves  to  hunting,  hawking,  and  courtly 
pomp."  This  will  be  the  case  in  every  church,  in  which  the  honour  and  inventions  of  men  are  more 
regarded  than  the  glory  and  the  truth  of  God.  Although  the  Scottish  church  had  not  as  yet  acknowl- 
edged the  supremacy  of  Rome,  and  in  all  respects  conformed  to  her  ritual ;  yet,  by  frequent  inter- 
course with  the  papal  court,  and  the  degree  of  conformity  already  attained,  not  to  mention  the  influ- 
ence which  the  example  of  the  more  wealthy  and  powerful  dignitaries  on  the  continent  must  have 
had  on  the  comparatively  simple  and  frugal  priests  of  that  country,  it  is  easy  to  conceive  how  the 
infection,  thus  caught,  would  spread,  until  the  little  strength  that  remained  was  utterly  exhausted,  and 
spiritual  death  stamped  his  image  on  the  nation. 

In  the  eleventh  century,  Malcom  Canmore  and  his  queen,  who  had  received  her  education  on  the 
continent,  exerted  themselves  to  produce  greater  conformity  in  all  the  concerns  of  the  church,  to  the 
Roman  ritual,  and  established  in  a  more  regular  form  than  it  had  hitherto  attained,  diocesan  Episco- 
pacy. Their  bishops  had  thus  far,  whatever  might  be  their  ordination,  exercised  a  superintending 
power,  which  extended  to  the  churches  throughout  the  nation  generally,  without  limitation  to  a  par- 
ticular province,  or  participation  in  secular  or  civil  authority.  Malcom  created  six  bishopricks,  and 
his  youngest  son,  David,  who  succeeded  to  the  throne  in  the  early  part  of  the  twelfth  century,  added 
four  others.  David  was  so  devoted  to  the  temporal  aggrandizement  of  the  church,  that  he  surpassed  all 
his  predecessors  in  his  liberality,  and  almost  bequeathed  indigence  to  his  royal  successors,  by  conse- 
crating the  royal  lands  to  the  support  of  monks.  Malcom  IV.,  his  grandson,  animated  by  a  similar 
spirit,  took  on  him  a  vow  of  perpetual  celibacy,  and  applied  himself  strenuously,  as  far  as  his  means 
permitted,  to  the  usage  of  his  family — the  building  of  churches  and  the  endowment  of  monasteries. 
The  consequence  of  these  worse  than  useless  expenditures,  was  to  increase  the  pride  and  power  of  a 
class  of  men,  who  possessed  the  name,  but  not  the  spirit,  or  the  acquirements  and  habits,  of  religious 
teachers,  and  to  encourage  them  to  insolence  and  injury. 


INTRODUCTION.  xiii 

The  natural  effects  of  this  system  are  briefly  mentioned  by  Buchanan,  whom  we  so  frequently 
quote,  both  on  account  of  his  fidelity  in  following  his  authorities,  as  far  as  facts  are  concerned,  and  be- 
cause he  had  not  only  access  to  the  original  authorities,  which  were  extant  in  his  day,  but  he  had  been 
at  pains  to  obtain,  and  carefully  to  study  them.  His  reflections  are  such  as  might  be  expected  in  a 
christian  philosopher,  who  had  been  an  eye  witness  of  the  abuses  of  popery,  and  had  suffered  in  the 
cause  of  scriptural  religion.  About  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  Alexander  III.  "had  his  in- 
ternal tranquillity  disturbed  by  the  arrogance  of  the  priests  and  monks,  who,  enriched  by  the  former 
kings,  began  to  grow  licentious  by  long  repose,  and  to  equal  or  exceed  in  magnificence  the  nobility, 
whom  they  already  surpassed  in  wealth.  At  which  the  young  nobles  feeling  indignant,  behaved  to 
them  harshly  and  with  contempt,  and  they,  in  consequence,  complained  to  the  king  of  the  affront. 
He,  however,  either  not  believing  the  injuries  so  serious  as  the  priests  wished  them  to  appear,  or 
probably  not  thinking  them  unmerited,  treated  them  lightly.  On  which  they,  in  great  wrath,  excom- 
municated the  whole  land,  except  the  royal  family,  and  threatened  to  retire  to  Rome ;  but  the  king, 
recollecting  what  disturbances  Thomas  a  Becket,  the  ringleader  of  ecclesiastical  ambition,  had  lately 
occasioned  in  England,  recalled  them  when  about  to  set  out  on  their  journey,  and  ordered  the  nobility 
to  satisfy,  not  their  ambition  only,  but  even  their  arrogance."  The  haughty  priests  were  the  more 
readily  reconciled,  at  the  instance  of  the  king,  from  the  recollection  of  the  protection  which  he  had 
not  long  before  afforded  them  from  the  avarice  of  the  agents  of  Rome.  But  the  facts  evidently  show 
to  what  a  height  the  influence  of  the  priesthood  had  risen,  when  by  a  movement  of  this  kind,  they 
could  bring  a  fierce  and  turbulent  people  to  submit  to  such  humiliation. 

It  was  about  the  end  of  the  preceding  century,  that  the  Scottish  church  became  dependent  on 
Rome.  Hitherto  the  king  held  and  exercised  the  sole  power  of  nomination  to  vacant  bishopricks 
and  abbeys.  But,  at  that  period,  in  a  convention,  in  which  a  Roman  Legate  presided,  when  they 
were  urged  to  become  subordinate  to  the  Archbishop  of  York,  either  from  the  dilemma  occasioned 
by  their  unwillingness  to  comply,  and  the  danger  of  refusing,  or  from  a  preconcerted  plan  between 
the  Legate  and  some  of  the  clergy,  they  appealed  to  the  pope,  and,  as  probably  well  foreseen  and 
provided  for,  he  graciously  took  them  under  his  protection.  From  the  tact  which  they  displayed  in 
their  quarrel  with  the  young  nobility,  already  related,  and  which  occurred  so  soon  after  the  consum- 
mation of  their  subjection  to  the  Roman  bishop,  they  appear  to  have  been  apt  learners  in  the  school 
of  papal  artifice. 

Another  measure,  which  not  only  tended  to  bring  the  Scots  more  effectually  under  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal yoke  of  Rome,  but  also  to  perpetuate  and  increase  the  already  prevalent  corruption  of  religion 
and  morals,  was  the  introduction  of  the  Dominican  and  Franciscan  monks  into  the  country,  from 
France.  These,  by  a  great  profession  and  show  of  sanctity,  and  pious  austerity,  drew  the  attention 
and  affections  of  the  people  from  the  secular  clergy,  and  eradicated  the  feeble  remains  of  that  order 
to  which  the  Scots  had  been  accustomed  from  the  age  of  Columba.  The  pope  also  required  that  all 
who  were  nominated  bishops  should  repair  to  Rome  for  consecration,  before  they  could  enter  upon 
the  duties  and  emoluments  of  their  office.  From  this  time,  therefore,  we  may  regard  the  Scottish 
church  as  merged  in  that  of  Rome,  and  its  history  as  possessing  no  interest  separate  from  that  of 
the  Latin  church,  throughout  Europe.  The  same  superstitious  regard  to  relics,  images  and  saints  ; 
the  same  ignorance  of  the  word  of  God,  and  of  the  nature  of  true  piety ;  the  same  submission  to 
the  decrees,  and  credulous  reception  of  the  impostures  of  Rome  ;  the  same  usages  in  worship,  and 
seasons  of  fasting  or  festivity  ;  the  confidence  in  the  doctrines  of  the  mass,  purgatory,  absolution, 
and  indulgences  ;  the  same  corruptions,  vices,  and  proclivity  of  manners,  every  where  prevailed,  ex- 
cept, here  and  there,  when  a  few  remnants  of  the  persecuted  Waldenses  served  God,  concealed 
from  human  eye,  or  some  solitary  individual,  led  by  a  ray  of  Divine  truth,  sought  his  Saviour's  will, 
as  he  best  might,  under  the  rubbish  with  which  an  apostate  church  had  covered  it.  In  relation  to  this 
period,  a  modern  writer  truly  observes,  "  From  the  invasion  of  Edward,  [A.  D.  1296,]  to  the  dawn 
of  the  Reformation,  Scotland  was  litde  better  than  a  great  human  slaughter-house.  Christianity 
seemed  to  have  no  more  influence  upon  the  character  of  the  nobles  and  the  people  generally,  than  it  has 
upon  savages  who  never  heard  of  it.  .  .  .  Indeed  we  find  nothing  in  Scotland,  from  this  time,  that  de- 
serves the  name  of  religion,  till  we  come  to  the  period,  when  Knox  commences  his  history,  anno  1422."* 

*  McGavin's  Introduction  to  Knox's  History  :  containing  an  outline  of  the  History  of  the  Scottish  Church,  previous  to  the 
Reformation,  which  has  been  consulted  frequently,  and  used  freely,  by  the  writer  of  the  present  sketch. 


xiv  INTRODUCTION. 

For  a  more  particular  survey  of  the  state  of  religion  and  manners  in  Scotland  during  this  melan- 
choly period,  the  reader  is  referred  to  Dr.  McCrie's  remarks  on  the  subject,  p.  23 — 26,  of  the  present 
volume. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century,  some  of  the  followers  of  Wickliffe  of  England,  and  of 
Huss  of  Bohemia,  sought  refuge  in  Scotland,  and  were,  to  a  small  extent,  successful  in  imparting 
the  light  of  that  truth  which  they  had  received.  But  persecution  limited  their  efforts,  and  prevented 
them  from  gaining  more  than  a  very  few  acknowledged  disciples.  In  1422,  or  according  to  Spots- 
wood,  1407,  James  Risby,  a  Wickliffite,  and  an  Englishman  by  birth,  suffered  at  Glasgow  ;  and  in 
14,31,  Paul  Craw,  a  Bohemian,  was  burned  at  St.  Andrews.  The  crime  alleged  against  them,  was, 
that  they  held  the  heresy  of  Wickliflfe  and  Huss,  involving  a  denial  that  the  pope  is  the  vicar  of 
Christ,  that  the  substance  of  the  bread  and  wine  is  changed  in  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
that  confessions  should  be  made  to  priests,  and  that  prayers  should  be  made  to  departed  saints. 
While  these  examples  of  ecclesiastical  cruelty,  the  first  that  had  occurred  in  Scotland,  suppressed  an 
open  avowal  of  the  truth,  it  is  highly  probable  that  a  few,  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  cherished 
in  secret  the  treasure  of  the  gospel,  and  in  the  retirement  of  their  native  glens,  and  solitary  mosses, 
sometimes  enjoyed  the  sweet  communion  of  saints  with  one  another,  and  with  God.  In  1494,  Black- 
ater,  archbishop  of  Glasgow,  accused  thirty  persons,  inhabitants  of  Ayrshire,  before  the  king  and 
council,  of  holding  the  heresies  of  Wickliffe.  Among  these  persons,  known  by  the  name  of  "  The 
Lollards  of  Kyle,"  were  gentlemen  and  ladies  of  the  first  rank  in  that  part  of  the  country.  This 
fact,  taken  in  connexion  with  what  afterwards  occurred,  namely,  that  the  inhabitants  of  that  district 
were  among  the  earliest  to  embrace  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation,  and  held  them  with  the  most 
persevering  tenacity,  through  many  a  tedious  and  bitter  storm  of  persecution,  renders  it  highly  pro- 
bable, that  the  seed  sown  by  Risby,  and  nourished  by  his  ashes,  took  deep  and  effectual  root  in  the 
west  of  Scodand,  although  it  grew  up  silently  and  without  observation,  until  discovered  by  the  pre- 
late of  Glasgow.  The  articles  of  which  the  Lollards  were  accused,  were  preserved  in  the  register 
of  his  diocese ;  some  of  which  we  shall  cite  here,  in  order  to  show  the  similarity  of  their  creed  to 
that  which  protestants  afterwards  embraced,  and  which  they  hold  at  the  present  day.  They  objected  to 
the  worship  of  images  and  relics  ;  they  asserted  that  Christ  gave  power  to  Peter  and  the  other  apostles, 
— not  to  the  pope  ;  they  denied  transubstantiation  ;  they  maintained  that  the  pope  is  not  the  success- 
or of  Peter,  except  wherein  Christ  said,  "  Get  behind  me,  Satan ;"  they  held  that  the  pope  deceives 
the  people  by  his  bulls  and  indulgences,  that  the  mass  profits  not  the  souls  which  are  said  to  be  in 
purgatory,  that  the  pope  exalts  himself  against  and  above  God,  that  the  pope  cannot  remit  the  pains 
of  purgatory,  that  priests  may  lawfully  have  wives,  that  the  pope  forgives  not  sins,  but  God  only, 
that  faith  should  not  be  given  to  Romish  miracles,  and  that  we  should  not  pray  to  the  glorious  virgin 
Mary,  but  to  God  only,  since  he  alone  hears  and  helps  us."*  King  James  IV.,  who  saw  among  the 
accused  some  whom  he  personally  esteemed,  was  inclined  to  clemency,  and  the  matter  was  so  mana- 
ged, that  they  were  dismissed  with  an  admonition  to  beware  of  new  doctrines,  and  an  injunction  to 
believe  what  the  church  believed. 

In  about  thirty  years  after  this  event,  the  light  of  truth,  drawn  from  its  long  obscurity  by  the  in- 
strumentality of  Zuingle  and  Luther,  and  their  associates,  began  to  dawn  on  Scotland,  and  to  awake 
the  people  from  the  slumber  of  ignorance,  superstition,  and  spiritual  death.  For  the  general  course 
of  the  events,  and  the  fierce  contests  that  ensued,  and  the  sublime  examples  of  christian  faith,  and 
fortitude,  and  patriotism,  which  the  long  struggle  for  civil  and  religious  liberty  produced,  the  reader  is 
now  referred  to  the  following  pages,  in  which  the  kindred  spirit  of  Dr.  McCrie,  glowing  with  that 
love  of  the  gospel  which  characterised  and  animated  the  Reformers,  with  equal  felicity  and  truth, 
blends  the  history  of  the  church,  and  a  portrait  of  the  age,  with  the  personal  history  of  Knox  and 
Melville. 

We  consider  the  selection  of  the  able  works  of  Dr.  McCrie  for  publication  in  the  Calvinistic  Fam- 
ily Library,  as  peculiarly  well  timed,  and  appropriate.  Entirely  mistaken  and  unjust  views  of  the 
character  and  principles  of  the  Scottish  Reformers  have  been  widely  circulated,  and  with  too  great 
facility  embraced  in  this  country  by  means  of  the  writings  of  various  authors,  who  have  won  their 
way  to  popular  celebrity,  among  us.  The  stale  slanders  of  the  religious,  political,  and  per.-onal 
adversaries,  of  those  excellent  men,  have  been  received,  and  repeated  by  some  modern  writers,  who 

•  See  the  Articles  of  accusation,  cited  at  full  length.     Knox's  Hist  of  the  Reform-  book  L 


INTRODUCTION.  xv 

were  incapable  of  appreciating  their  motives,  or  the  nature  of  the  circumstances,  in  which  they 
were  placed,  and  the  misconceptions,  and  misrepresentations  of  these  writers,  have  gained  prevalent, 
but  unjust  possession  of  the  public  mind.  No  better  antidote  could  be  furnished  for  the  expulsion  of 
the  prejudices  which  have  been  thus  excited,  than  the  laborious  and  elegant  productions  of  McCrie, 
a  man  who  was  equally  an  honour  to  religion,  virtue  and  literature, — to  his  country  and  mankind. 
In  his  unfeigned  piety  and  modesty,  his  unbending  integrity  and  conscientiousness,  his  eminent 
abilities,  and  minute  and  unwearied  research,  we  have  every  pledge  that  a  historian  can  give,  that 
we  have  the  facts  stated  as  conformably  to  truth  as  documentary  evidence  of  past  events  can  afford 
the  appropriate  means  of  doing  it.  And  not  only  the  facts  themselves,  but  the  judicious  and  con- 
clusive reasonings  of  the  author  upon  them,  shed  a  light  on  the  time  and  events,  in  which  the  Refor- 
mers were  active,  that  must  wither  many  a  weed  which  prejudice  has  planted  in  the  minds  of  can- 
did men,  and  rescue  the  memory  of  some,  to  whom  the  world  is  more  indebted,  than  it  is  aware  of, 
from  unmerited  censure  and  obloquy. 

The  excellent  author  died,  amidst  the  grief  of  his  friends,  and  the  lamentations  of  his  country,  at 
Edinburgh,  on  the  5th  August,  1835,  in  the  63d  year  of  his  age,  and  the  40th  of  his  ministry.  In- 
stead of  attempting  the  delineation  of  a  character,  which  christians  of  all  denominations,  in  his  native 
land,  held  in  admiration,  the  writer  begs  leave  to  lay  a  few  extracts  before  the  reader,  taken  from  a 
notice  of  the  Doctor's  death,  which  appeared  in  the  Edinburgh  Presbyterian  Magazine,  the  organ  of 
the  Secession  Church,  of  which  he  had  been  so  long  the  ornameat : — 

"  Dr.  McCrie  departed  from  us,  in  the  full  career  of  his  usefulness,  in  the  full  possession  of  his  men- 
tal powers,  in  the  height  of  his  fame,  and  at  a  period  of  life  when  we  might  have  calculated  on  en- 
joying the  fruits  of  his  labours  for  some  time  to  come, — a  man  whose  loss  the  Church  and  the  world, 
as  well  as  his  flock  and  his  friends,  will  long  have  cause  to  deplore.  We  are  no  friends  to  fulsome 
panegyrics  over  the  dead,  and  were  we  disposed  to  indulge  in  them  on  this  occasion,  we  would  be 
checked  by  remembering  the  extreme  modesty  of  the  deceased, — his  sensitive  aversion  to  personal 
adulation  when  alive,  and  his  well-known  repugnance  to  the  practice  of  lauding  departed  worthies, 
in  language  which  they  would  have  shrunk  from  hearing  applied  to  them  in  their  life  time.  But 
though,  in  the  present  case,  to  pourtray  must  be  to  praise,  and  the  more  faithful  the  picture,  the  more 
must  our  language  assume  the  appearance  of  flattery,  regard  for  the  living,  as  well  as  justice,  grati- 
tude, and  respect  to  the  memory  of  the  dead, — and  above  all,  the  honour  of  the  grace  of  God,  by 
which  he  was  what  he  was,  (alas  !  that  we  must  now  speak  of  him  in  the  past  tense,)  urges  us 
to  attempt,  in  our  feeble  way,  to  give  some  idea  of  him  as  a  man,  a  minister,  and  a  public  character, 
leaving  it  to  another  to  do  justice  to  his  life  in  the  form  of  a  memoir. 

"  We  express  only  what  every  one  that  knew  Dr.  M'Crie  must  have  observed,  when  we  say,  that 
the  most  striking  part  of  his  character  consisted  in  the  singular  combination  it  presented  of  a  variety 
of  excellencies  seldom  to  be  met  with  in  the  same  individual.  In  his  natural  disposition,  there  was 
a  high-toned  energy,  and  what  in  the  best  sense  may  be  called  deep  passion,  united  with  an  amazing 
power  of  self-controul.  Intense  feeling  was  doubtless  the  leading  feature  of  his  mind  ;  but  so  com- 
pletely was  this  held  in  check,  so  steadily  was  it  regulated,  that  to  many  who  knew  him  superficial- 
ly, caution  might  seem  to  be  the  predominating  trait.  ,  Nor  was  this  moderation  superinduced  as  an 
extraneous  coating  over  the  rest  of  his  character  ;  it  formed  an  essential  element  of  it,  and  was  the 
fruit  of  that  very  energy  of  mind  which  required  its  exercise.  Connected  with  this  prominent  fea- 
ture, was  his  enlightened,  and  at  the  same  time  ardent  and  enthusiastic  patriotism,  his  high  regard  for 
the  true  rights  and  liberties  of  man,  civil  and  religious,  which  appeared  in  every  part  of  his  life,  as  it 
does  in  every  page  of  his  writings,  and  which  he  held  with  a  firmness  and  consistency  which  no 
change  of  parties,  no  practical  misapplications  of  his  favourite  principles,  exemplified  in  the  varied 
events  which  had  passed  before  him,  and  in  the  shifting  scenes  of  worldly  politics,  could  shake  or 
subdue.  While  on  this  part  of  his  character,  we  cannot  fail  to  recal  the  ardour  and  promptitude  with 
which  he  appeared  in  behalf  of  the  persecuted  protestants  in  France,  and  more  lately  in  the  cause  of 
the  injured  Greeks.  His  public  appearances  on  these  occasions  not  more  delighted  than  astonished 
those  who  had  only  heard  of  him  as  the  quiet  pastor,  or  the  plodding  student.  All  this  was  engrafted  on 
sound  and  deep-rooted  religious  principle.  There  was  a  nobility  of  spirit  about  him — a  high  sense 
of  integrity  and  independence,  that  may  be  traced  in  those  bursts  of  honest  and  virtuous  indignation 


xvi  INTRODUCTION. 

with  which  he  visited  every  thing  like  tergiversation  or  want  of  principle,  and  the  readiness  with 
which  he  appeared  in  vindication  of  injured  worth,  in  the  persons  both  of  the  living  and  the  dead. 
In  the  case  of  the  latter,  particularly,  it  assumed  all  the  attributes  of  a  chivalrous  passion  ;  inducing 
him  to  devote  his  time,  talents,  ease,  health,  and  life  itself,  to  the  arduous  pursuit  of  truth  through 
the  intricate  and  untrodden  paths  of  history,  and  to  rescue  from  oblivion  and  from  obloquy  the  names 
and  deeds  of  our  Scottish  reformers.  He  could  be  grave  without  being  morose, — severe,  but  with- 
out the  least  tincture  of  rancour  or  asperity.  None  who  ever  witnessed  the  occasional  corruscations 
of  his  spirit,  as  exhibited  in  his  public  appearances,  will  forget  the  impression  produced  by  the  in- 
dignant rebuke,  the  withering  sarcasm,  or  the  stirring  appeal,  as  they  flashed  from  his  expressive 
eye,  and  shook  every  fibre  of  his  animated  frame, — a  natural  eloquence,  peculiar  to  himself,  which 
seemed  to  rise  above  the  ordinary  efforts  of  elocution  by  spurning  all  its  ordinary  rules. 

"  These  were  the  obvious  traits  of  his  character  which  might  be  seen  by  all ;  the  more  unobtrusive 
and  amiable  qualities,  for  which  he  was  not  less  distinguished,  appeared  on  closer  inspection,  and  could 
only  be  appreciated  by  long  acquaintance.  Of  his  piety,  it  is  unnecessary  to  say  more,  than  that  it 
was  not  less  decidedly  realized  in  his  private  walk,  than  it  breathed  in  his  public  ministrations.  Of 
his  disinterestedness  it  is  equally  needless  to  speak  ;  numerous  instances  of  it,  which  we  cannot  now 
specify,  are  engraven  on  the  memories  of  many ;  indeed,  if  there  was  any  part  of  his  nature  which 
he  permitted  to  border  on  excess,  it  was  this ;  his  contempt  of  wealth,  and  of  all  unseemly  methods 
of  acquiring  it,  leading  him  to  decline  as  dishonourable  every  thing  that  bore  even  the  aspect  of  lite- 
rary jobbing.  In  his  private  character,  none  who  were  admitted  to  his  society  need  to  be  reminded 
of  the  perfect  ease,  the  benignity,  the  unceremonious  cheerfulness  of  his  manners,  amounting  occas- 
ionally to  playfulness  and  pleasantry,  which  made  him  accessible  to  all,  and  inspired  confidence  in 
young  and  old ;  and  many  can  tell  of  the  steadiness  of  his  friendships,  the  affectionate  interest  with 
which  he  entered  into  the  cases  of  distress  submitted  to  him,  and  the  readiness  with  which  he  com- 
municated his  valued  counsel  and  advice.  With  such  qualities,  it  may  be  conceived  what  he  proved  as 
a  husband  and  a  father.  It  would  be  unpardonable,  however,  to  omit  noticing  two  features  of  his  private 
character,  which  secured  him  the  respect  and  affection  gained  by  his  other  qualities  : — a  singular  j9ru- 
dence,  which  enabled  him,  without  the  aid  of  chicanery,  or  sacrificing  principle  or  peace,  to  steer  his 
way,  both  in  public  and  private  life,  and  through  the  most  trying  circumstances,  with  a  blamelessness 
and  inoffensiveness  of  deportment,  seldom  exemplified,  and  which,  we  truly  believe,  has  not  left 
him,  if  any  thing  could  ever  have  found  him,  a  single  enemy  upon  earth.  To  the  other  trait  we 
have  already  alluded, — his  unaffected  modesty.  Of  no  man  could  it  be  said  with  more  truth, — he 
*'  blushed  to  find  it  fame."  In  truth,  he  seemed  as  anxious  to  avoid  human  applause  as  other  men 
are  to  gain  it.  In  his  efforts  to  do  so,  however,  there  was  no  semblance  of  affectation ;  it  was  his 
native  temper,  for  which  he  himself  took  no  credit,  and  to  avoid  the  praise  of  which,  he  would  even 
do  violence  to  himself;  exemplifying  the  beautiful  picture  which  Leighton  has  drawn  of  humility — 
♦•  He  would  not  care  to  do  some  things  on  purpose  to  seem  arrogant,  to  carry  humility  unseen,  that 
doth  so  naturally  delight  in  covering  all  graces,  and  is  sorry  that  it  cannot  do  so  without  being  seen  itself." 

"  As  a  literary  character,  it  is  not  our  province  to  enter  on  his  merits  ;  but  our  sketch  would  be  defi- 
cient in  faithfulness,  were  we  to  admit  noticing  the  services  he  has  done  to  the  Church  by  his  wri- 
tings. It  was  as  a  historian  he  was  distinguished  while  he  lived,  and  his  labours,  in  vindicating  the 
religious  reformation  of  his  country,  will  endear  his  name  to  posterity,  and  perpetuate  his  fame  and 
his  usefulness.  As  the  biographer  of  Knox  and  Melville,  his  name  will  go  down  with  them  to  future 
ages.  His  attention  was  first  turned  to  the  history  of  the  Church  in  his  native  land,  by  his  being 
involved,  in  early  life,  in  the  controversy  regarding  the  duties  of  the  civil  magistrate,  in  reference  to 
religion  ;  and  thus,  to  his  ardent  desire  to  satisfy  his  mind  on  a  question,  which  now  threatens  to 
shake  the  foundation  of  civil  and  religious  society,  the  world  owes  one  of  the  most  interesting  and 
popular  biographies  that  have  ever  appeared — The  Life  of  John  Knox :"  which  was  followed  by 
the  no  less  interesting  Life  of  Andrew  Melville.  Fame  was  not  his  object ;  but  fame,  unsought  for, 
followed  him.  "  The  coteraporaries  of  Dr.  M'Crie  appear  to  have  been  unanimous  in  voting  him 
the  honour  of  Ecclesiastical  Historiographer  to  his  country  ;"  and,  although  he  accomplished  the 
labour  which  Providence  had  assigned  him,  we  can  scarcely  suppress  our  regret,  that  he  was  not 
permitted  to  shed  that  light  on  the  second  Reformation  in  Scotland,  (from  1638  to  1650,)  which  he 
has  so  clearly  cast  around  the  first. 


PREFACE 

TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION 


The  reformation  from  Popery  marks  an  epoch  unquestionably  the  most  important  in  the  history  of 
modern  Europe.  The  effects  of  the  change  which  it  produced,  in  religion,  in  manners,  in  politics, 
and  in  literature,  continue  to  be  felt  at  the  present  day.  Nothing,  surely,  can  be  more  interesting 
than  an  investigation  of  the  history  of  that  period,  and  of  those  men  who  were  the  instruments,  under 
Providence,  of  accomplishing  a  revolution  which  has  proved  so  beneficial  to  mankind. 

Though  many  able  writers  have  employed  their  talents  in  tracing  the  causes  and  consequences  of 
the  Reformation,  and  though  the  leading  facts  respecting  its  progress  in  Scotland  have  been  repeat- 
edly stated,  it  occurred  to  me  that  the  subject  was  by  no  means  exhausted.  I  was  confirmed  in  this 
opinion  by  a  more  minute  examination  of  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  this  country,  which  I  began  for 
my  own  satisfaction  several  years  ago.  While  I  was  pleased  at  finding  that  there  existed  such  ample 
materials  for  illustrating  the  history  of  the  Scottish  Reformation,  I  could  not  but  regret  that  no  one 
had  undertaken  to  digest  and  exhibit  the  information  on  this  subject  which  lay  hid  in  manuscripts, 
and  in  books  which  are  now  little  known  or  consulted.  Not  presuming,  however,  that  I  had  the 
ability  or  the  leisure  requisite  for  executing  a  task  of  such  difficulty  and  extent,  I  formed  the  design 
of  drawing  up  memorials  of  our  national  Reformer,  in  which  his  personal  history  might  be  combined 
with  illustrations  of  the  progress  of  that  great  undertaking,  in  the  advancement  of  which  he  acted  so 
conspicuous  a  part. 

A  work  of  this  kind  seemed  to  be  wanting.  The  name  of  Knox,  indeed,  often  occurs  in  the 
general  histories  of  the  period,  and  some  of  our  historians  have  drawn,  with  their  usual  ability,  the 
leading  traits  of  a  character  with  which  they  could  not  fail  to  be  struck  ;  but  it  was  foreign  to  their 
object  to  detail  the  events  of  his  life,  and  it  was  not  to  be  expected  that  they  would  bestow  that 
minute  and  critical  attention  on  his  history  which  is  necessary  to  form  a  complete  and  accurate  idea 
of  his  character.  Memoirs  of  his  life  have  been  prefixed  to  editions  of  some  of  his  works,  and 
inserted  in  biographical  collections  and  periodical  publications ;  but  in  many  instances  their  authors 
were  destitute  of  proper  information,  and  in  others  they  were  precluded,  by  the  limits  to  which  they 
were  confined,  from  entering  into  those  minute  statements,  which  are  so  useful  for  illustrating  indi- 
vidual character,  and  which  render  biography  both  pleasing  and  instructive.  Nor  can  it  escape 
observation,  that  a  number  of  writers  have  been  guilty  of  great  injustice  to  the  memory  of  our 
Reformer ;  and  from  prejudice,  from  ignorance,  or  from  inattention,  have  exhibited  a  distorted  carica- 
ture, instead  of  a  genuine  portrait. 

I  was  encouraged  to  prosecute  my  design,  in  consequence  of  my  possessing  a  manuscript  volume 
of  Knox's  Letters,  which  throw  considerable  light  upon  his  character  and  history.  The  advantages 
which  I  have  derived  from  this  volume  will  appear  in  the  course  of  the  work,  where  it  is  quoted 
under  the  general  title  of  MS.  Letters} 

The  other  MSS.  which  I  have  chiefly  made  use  of,  are  Calderwood's  large  History  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland,  Row's  History,  and  Wodrow's  Collections.  Calderwood's  History,  besides  much 
valuable  information  respecting  the  early  period  of  the  Reformation,  contains  a  collection  of  letters 
written  by  Knox  between  1559  and  1572,  which,  together  with  those  in  my  possession,  extend  over 
twenty  years  of  the  most  active  period  of  his  life.  I  have  carefully  consulted  this  history  as  far  as  it 
relates  to  the  period  of  which  I  write.  The  copy  which  I  most  frequently  quote  belongs  to  the 
Church  of  Scotland.  In  the  Advocates  Library,  besides  a  complete  copy  of  that  work,  there  is  a 
folio  volume  of  it,  reaching  to  the  end  of  the  year  1752.  It  was  written  in  1634,  and  has  a  number 
of  interlineations  and  marginal  alterations,  differing  from  the  other  copies,  which,  if  not  made  by  the 

'  See  an  account  of  this  MS.  in  Appendix,  p.  145. 
C  2  xvii 


xviii  PREFACE. 

author's  own  hand,  were  most  probably  done  under  his  eye.  I  have  sometimes  quoted  this  copy. 
The  reader  will  easily  discern  when  this  is  the  case,  as  the  references  to  it  are  made  merely  by  the 
year  under  which  the  transaction  is  recorded,  the  volume  not  being  paged. 

Row,  in  composing  the  early  part  of  his  Historic  of  the  Kirk,  had  the  assistance  of  Memoirs 
written  by  David  Ferguson,  his  father-in-law,  who  was  admitted  minister  of  Dumfermline  at  the 
establishment  of  the  Reformation.  Copies  of  this  history  seem  to  have  been  taken  before  the  author 
had  put  the  finishing  hand  to  it,  which  may  account  for  the  additional  matter  to  be  found  in  some  of 
them.  I  have  occasionally  quoted  the  copy  which  belongs  to  the  Divinity  Library  in  Edinburgh, 
but  more  frequently  one  transcribed  in  1726,  which  is  more  full  than  any  other  copy  that  I  have  had 
access  to  see. 

The  industrious  Wodrow  had  amassed  a  valuable  collection  of  MSS.  relating  to  the  ecclesiastical 
history  of  Scotland,  the  greater  part  of  which  is  now  deposited  in  our  public  libraries.  In  the 
library  of  the  University  of  Glasgow  there  is  a  number  of  volumes  in  folio,  containing  collections 
which  he  had  made  for  illustrating  the  lives  of  the  Scottish  Reformers  and  Divines  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  These  have  supplied  me  with  some  interesting  facts.  They  are  quoted  under  the  name  of 
Wodrow  MSS.  in  Bibl.  Coll.  Glass. 

For  the  transactions  of  the  General  Assembly,  I  have  consulted  the  Register,  commonly  called  the 
Book  of  the  Universal  Kirk.  There  are  several  copies  of  this  MS.  in  the  covmtry.  That  which  is 
followed  in  this  work,  and  which  is  the  oldest  I  have  examined,  belongs   to  the  Advocates  Library. 

I  have  endeavoured  to  avail  myself  of  the  printed  histories  of  the  period,  and  of  books  published 
in  the  age  of  the  Reformation,  which  often  incidentally  mention  facts  that  are  not  recorded  by  histo- 
rians. In  the  Advocates  Library,  which  contains  an  invaluable  treasure  of  information  respecting 
Scottish  affairs,  I  had  an  opportunity  of  examining  the  original  editions  of  most  of  the  Reformer's 
works.  The  rarest  of  all  his  tracts  is  the  narrative  of  his  Disputation  with  the  Abbot  of  Crossraguel, 
which  scarcely  any  writer  since  Knox's  time  seems  to  have  seen.  After  I  had  given  up  all  hopes  of 
procuring  a  sight  of  this  curious  tract,  I  was  accidentally  informed  that  a  copy  of  it  was  in  the  library 
of  Alexander  Boswell,  Esq.  of  Auchinleck,  who  very  politely  communicated  it  to  me. 

In  pointing  out  the  sources  which  I  have  consulted,  I  wish  not  to  be  understood  as  intimating  that 
the  reader  may  expect,  in  the  following  work,  much  information  which  is  absolutely  new.  He  who 
engages  in  researches  of  this  kind,  must  lay  his  account  with  finding  the  result  of  his  discoveries 
reduced  within  a  small  compass,  and  should  be  prepared  to  expect  that  many  of  his  readers  will  pass 
over  with  a  cursory  eye  what  he  has  procured  with  great,  perhaps  with  unnecessary  labour.  The 
principal  facts  respecting  the  Reformation  and  the  Reformer  are  already  known.  I  flatter  myself, 
however,  that  I  have  been  able  to  place  some  of  them  in  a  new  and  more  just  light,  and  to  bring  for- 
ward others  which  have  not  hitherto  been  generally  known. 

The  reader  will  find  the  authorities,  upon  which  I  have  proceeded  in  the  statement  of  facts,  care- 
fully marked;  but  my  object  was  rather  to  be  select  than  numerous  in  my  references.  When  I  had 
occasion  to  introduce  facts  which  have  been  often  repeated  in  histories,  and  are  already  established 
and  unquestionable,  I  did  not  reckon  it  necessary  to  be  so  particular  in  producing  the  authorities. 

After  so  many  writers  of  biography  have  incurred  the  charge  either  of  uninteresting  generality,  or 
of  tedious  prolixity,  it  would  betray  great  arrogance  were  I  to  presume  that  I  had  approached  the 
due  medium.  I  have  particularly  felt  the  difficulty,  in  writing  the  life  of  a  public  character,  of 
observing  the  line  which  divides  biography  from  general  history.  Desirous  of  giving  unity  to  the 
narrative,  and  at  the  same  time  anxious  to  convey  information  respecting  the  ecclesiastical  and  literary 
history  of  the  period,  I  have  separated  a  number  of  facts  and  illustrations  of  this  description,  and 
placed  them  in  notes  at  the  end  of  the  Life.  I  am  not  without  apprehensions  that  I  may  have 
exceeded  in  the  number  or  length  of  these  notes,  and  that  some  readers  may  think  that  in  attempting 
to  relieve  one  part  of  the  work  I  have  overloaded  another. 

No  apology  will,  I  trust,  be  deemed  necessary  for  the  freedom  with  which  I  have  expressed  my 
sentiments  on  the  public  questions  which  naturally  occurred  in  the  course  of  the  narrative.  Some  of 
these  are  at  variance  with  opinions  which  are  popular  in  the  present  age ;  but  it  does  not  follow  from 
this  that  they  are  false,  or  that  they  should  have  been  suppressed.  I  have  not  become  the  indiscrim- 
inate panegyrist  of  the  Reformer,  nor  have  I  concealed  or  thrown  into  shade  his  faults  ;  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  apprehension  of  incurring  these  charges  has  not  deterred  me  from  vindicating  him 
wherever  I  considered  his  conduct  to  be  justifiable,  or  from  apologizing  for  him  against  uncandid  and 
exaggerated  censures.     The  attacks  which  have  been  made  on  his  character  from  so  many  quarters, 


PREFACE.  xix 

and  the  attempts  to  wound  the  Reformation  through  him,  must  be  my  excuse  for  having  so  often 
adopted  the  language  of  apology. 

In  the  Appendix  I  have  inserted  a  number  of  Knox's  letters,  and  other  papers  relative  to  that 
period,  none  of  which,  as  far  as  I  know,  have  formerly  been  published.  Several  othel-s,  intended  for 
insertion  in  the  same  place,  have  been  kept  back,  as  the  work  has  swelled  to  a  greater  size  than  was 
expected.  A  very  scarce  Poem,  written  in  commendation  of  the  Reformer,  and  published  in  the 
year  after  his  death,  is  reprinted  in  the  Supplement.     It  confirms  several  facts  contained  in  the  Life. 

When  the  printing  of  the  foUoiving  Life  was  finished,  and  I  was  employed  in  correcting  the  Notes 
at  the  end,  a  History  of  the  Reformation  in  Scotland  by  Dr.  Cook  of  Laurencekirk,  was  published. 
After  what  I  have  already  said,  I  need  scarcely  add,  that  the  appearance  of  such  a  work  gave  me  great 
satisfaction.  The  author  is  a  friend  to  civil  and  religious  liberty ;  he  has  done  justice  to  the  talents 
and  character  of  the  Reformers,  and  evinced  much  industry  and  impartiality  in  examining  the 
authorities  from  which  he  has  taken  his  materials.  Had  he  had  more  full  access  to  the  sources  of 
information,  he  would  no  doubt  have  done  greater  justice  to  the  subject,  and  rendered  his  work  still 
more  worthy  of  public  favour;  but  I  trust  that  it  will  be  useful  in  correcting  mistakes  and  prejudices 
which  are  extremely  common,  and  in  exciting  attention  to  a  branch  of  our  national  history  which  has 
been  long  neglected.  Where  our  subject  coincides,  I  have  in  general  observed  an  agreement  in  the 
narrative,  and  sometimes  in  the  reflections  :  in  several  instances,  however,  we  differ  materially  in  the 
statement  of  facts,  in  the  judgment  which  we  have  expressed  about  them,  and  in  the  delineation  of 
character.  The  judicious  reader  will  determine  on  which  side  the  truth  lies,  by  comparing  the  rea- 
sons which  we  have  advanced,  and  the  authorities  to  which  we  have  appealed. 

Edinbttrgh, 
November  \Uh,  \^\l. 


PREFACE  TO  THE  SECOND  EDITION. 


In  preparing  this  work  for  a  second  impression,  I  have  endeavoured  carefully  to  correct  mistakes 
which  had  escaped  me  in  the  first,  both  as  to  matter  and  language.  I  have  introduced  accounts  of  the 
principal  public  transactions  of  the  period,  which  a  desire  of  being  concise  induced  me  formerly  to 
exclude,  but  which  serve  to  throw  light  on  the  exertions  of  the  Reformer,  and  ought  to  be  known  by 
those  who  read  his  Life.  And  I  have  entered  into  a  more  full  detail  of  several  parts  of  his  conduct 
than  was  practicable  within  the  limits  of  a  single  volume.  Such  additional  authorities,  printed  or 
manuscript,  as  I  have  had  access  to,  since  the  publication  of  the  former  edition,  have  been  diligently 
consulted ;  and  I  flatter  myself  that  the  alterations  and  additions  which  these  have  enabled  me  to 
make,  will  be  considered  as  improvements. 

I  have  added  to  the  Supplement  a  number  of  original  Latin  Poems  on  the  principal  characters  men- 
tioned in  the  course  of  the  work,  which  may  not  be  unacceptable  to  the  learned  reader.  No  transla- 
tion is  given  ;  as  it  would  have  been  extremely  difficult  to  convey  a  proper  idea  of  their  contents  to 
those  who  are  unacquainted  with  the  language  in  which  they  are  written. 

Edinburgh, 
March  1st,  1813. 


THE 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX. 


PERIOD  I. 

From  the  year  1505,  in  which  he  was  born,  to  the  year  1542, 
when  he  embraced  the  Reformed  Religion. 

John  Knox  was  born  in  the  year  one  thousand,  five 
hundred,  and  five.  The  place  of  his  nativity  has  been 
disputed.  That  he  was  born  at  GifFord,  a  village  in 
East  Lothian,  has  been  the  most  prevailing  opinion ; 
but  some  late  writers,  relying  upon  popular  tradition, 
have  fixed  his  birth  place  at  Haddington,  the  principal 
town  of  the  county.  The  house  in  which  he  is  said 
to  have  been  born  is  still  shown  by  the  inhabitants,  in 
one  of  the  suburbs  of  the  town,  called  the  Gifford-gate, 
This  house,  with  some  adjoining  acres  of  land,  con- 
tinued to  be  possessed,  until  about  fifty  years  ago,  by 
a  family  of  the  name  of  Knox,  who  claimed  affinity 
•with  the  reformer.  I  am  inclined,  however,  to  prefer 
the  opinion  of  the  oldest  and  most  credible  writers, 
that  he  was  born  in  the  village  of  Gifford.* 

His  father  was  descended  from  an  ancient  and  re- 
spectable family,  who  possessed  the  lands  of  Knox, 
Ranferly,  and  Craigends,  in  the  shire  of  Renfrew. 
The  descendants  of  this  family  have  been  accustomed 
to  claim  him  as  a  cadet,  and  to  enumerate  among  the 
honours  of  their  house,  that  it  gave  birth  to  the  Scot- 
tish Reformer,  a  bishop  of  Raphoe,  and  a  bishop  of 
the  Isles.f  At  what  particular  period  his  paternal 
ancestors  removed  from  their  original  seat,  and  settled 
in  Lothian,  I  have  not  been  able  exactly  to  ascertain. 
His  mother's  name  was  Sinclair.X 

Obscurity  of  parentage  can  reflect  no  dishonour  upon 
him  who  has  raised  himself  to  distinction,  by  his  vir- 
tues and  talents.  But  though  our  reformer's  parents 
were  neither  great  nor  opulent,  the  assertion  of  some 
writers,  that  they  were  in  poor  circumstances,  is  con- 
tradicted by  facts. II  They  were  able  to  give  their  son 
a  liberal  education,  which,  in  that  age,  was  far  from 
being  common.  In  his  youth  he  was  put  to  the  gram- 
mar-school of  Haddington  ;  and,  after  he  had  acquired 
the  principles  of  the  Latin  language  there,  his  father 
sent  him,  about  the  year  1524,§  to  the  university  of  St. 
Andrews,  at  that  time  the  most  distinguished  seminary 
in  the  kingdom.^ 


»  See  Note  I. 

f  Nisbet's  Heraldry,  p.  180.  Crawfurd's  Renfrew,  by  Sem- 
ple.  Part.  II.  p.  30, 139.  Account  of  Knox,  prefixed  to  his  His- 
tory, Anno  1732,  page  ii.     Keith's  Scottish  Bishops,  p.  177. 

X  In  letters  written  by  the  Reformer,  in  times  of  persecution 
or  war,  when  there  was  a  risk  of  their  being  intercepted,  he 
was  accustomed  to  subscribe,  "  John  Sinclair."  Under  this 
signature  at  one  of  them,  in  the  collection  of  letters  in  my  pos- 
session, is  the  following  note  :  "yis  was  his  mother's  surname, 
wlk  he  wrait  in  time  of  trubill."     MS.  Letters,  p.  346. 

n  See  Note  II. 

{  I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain  the  precise  year  in  which 
Knox  entered  the  University. 

T  Bezae  Iconea  Virorum  lUustrium,  Ee.  iij.  Anno  1580.  Ver- 


The  state  of  learning  in  Scotland  at  that  period,  and 
the  progress  which  it  made  in  the  subsequent  part  of 
the  century,  have  not  been  examined  with  the  attention 
which  they  deserve,  and  which  has  been  bestowed  on 
contemporaneous  subjects  of  inferior  importance.  There 
were  unquestionably  learned  Scotsmen  in  the  early  part 
of  the  sixteenth  century  ;  but  most  of  them  owed  their 
chief  acquirements  to  the  advantage  of  a  foreign  edu- 
cation. Those  improvements  which  the  revival  of 
literature  had  introduced  into  the  schools  of  Italy  and 
France,  were  long  in  reaching  the  universities  of  Scot- 
land, originally  formed  upon  their  model,  and,  when 
they  did  arrive,  were  regarded  with  a  suspicious  eye. 
The  principal  branches  cultivated  in  our  universities 
were  the  Aristotelian  philosophy,  scholastic  theology, 
with  canon  and  civil  law.* 

Even  in  the  darkest  ages,  Scotland  was  never  alto- 
gether destitute  of  schools  for  teaching  the  Latin  lan- 
guage.f  It  is  probable  that  these  were  at  first  attach- 
ed to  monasteries  ;  and  it  was  long  a  common  practice 
among  the  barons  to  board  their  children  with  the 
monks  for  their  education.^  When  the  regular  clergy 
had  degenerated,  and  learning  was  no  longer  confined 
to  them,  grammar  schools  were  erected  in  the  princi- 
pal towns,  and  taught  by  persons  who  had  qualified 
themselves  for  this  task  in  the  best  manner  that  the 
circumstances  of  the  country  admitted.  The  schools 
of  Aberdeen,  Perth,  Stirling,  Dumbarton,  Killearn, 
and  Haddington,  are  particularly  mentioned  in  writings 
about  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century.  The 
two  first  of  these  acquired  the  greatest  celebrity,  owing 
to  the  skill  of  the  masters  who  presided  over  them.  In 
the  year  1520,  John  Vans  was  rector  of  the  school  of 
Aberdeen,  and  is  commended  by  Hector  Boece,  the 
learned  principal  of  the  university,  for  his  knowledge 


heidenii  Effigies  et  Elogia  Prasstant.  Theolog.  p.  92.    Hagasco- 
niit.  1602. 

*  Boetii  Vitae  Episcopor.  Murthlac.  et  Aberdon.  fol.  xxix. 
coll.  cum  fol.  xxvi. — xxviii.  Impress.  Anno  1522.  This  little 
work  is  of  great  value,  and  contains  almost  the  only  authentic 
notices  which  we  possess,  as  to  the  state  of  learning  in  Scot- 
land, about  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Macken- 
zie, the  copier  of  the  fabulous  Dempster,  (who  gives  an  account 
of  learned  men  that  never  existed,  and  of  books  that  no  man 
ever  saw  or  could  see,)  talks  of  almost  every  writer  whom  he 
mentions,  as  finishing  "  the  course  of  his  studies  in  the  Belles 
Lettres  and  Philosophy"  in  one  of  the  Scots  Universities. 
These  are  merely  words  of  course.  Some  of  the  Aristotelian 
rules  concerning  rhetoric  might  he  delivered  by  the  professors 
of  scholastic  philosophy  ;  but  until  the  Reformation,  there 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  any  course  of  this  kind.  At  that 
period,  a  course  of  rhetoric  was  appointed  to  be  taught  in  the 
colleges.    FirstBookof  Discipline,  p.  40, 42.    Edit.  Anno  1621. 

t  In  the  12th  century,  there  was  a  school  at  Abernethy,  and 
at  Roxburgh.  Sir  James  Dalrymple's  Collections,  p.  226, 255. 
Other  schools  in  that  and  the  subsequent  century  are  mention- 
ed in  charters,  apud  Chalmers's  Caledonia,  I.  76. 

t  Caledonia,  I.  768. 

SI 


22 


LIFE   OF  JOHN   KNOX. 


of  the  Latin  tongue,  and  his  success  in  the  education 
of  youth.*  At  a  period  somewhat  later,  Andreio  Sim- 
son  acted  as  master  of  the  school  of  Perth,  where  he 
taught  Latin  with  applause.  From  this  school  proceed- 
ed many  of  those  who  afterwards  distinguished  them- 
selves both  in  church  and  state.  He  had  sometimes 
three  hundred  boys  under  his  charge  at  one  time, 
among  whom  were  sons  of  the  principal  nobility  and 
gentry.f 

These  schools  afforded  the  means  of  instruction  in 
the  Latin  tongue,  the  knowledge  of  which,  in  some 
degree,  was  requisite  for  enabling  the  clergy  to  per- 
form the  religious  service.  But  the  Greek  language, 
long  after  it  had  been  enthusiastically  studied  on  the 
continent,  and  after  it  had  become  a  fixed  branch  of 
education  in  the  neighbouring  kingdom,  continued  to 
be  almost  unknown  in  Scotland.  Individuals  acquired 
the  knowledge  of  it  abroad ;  but  the  first  attempts  to 
teach  it  in  this  country  were  of  a  private  nature,  and 
exposed  their  patrons  to  the  suspicion  of  heresy.  The 
town  of  Montrose  is  distinguished  by  being  the  first 
place,  as  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  discover,  in  which 
Greek  was  taught  in  Scotland  ;  and  John  Erskine  of 
Dun  is  entitled  to  the  honour  of  being  regarded  as  the 
first  of  his  countrymen  who  patronised  the  study  of 
that  elegant  and  useful  language.  As  early  as  the  year 
1534,  this  enlightened  and  public-spirited  baron,  on 
returning  from  his  travels,  brought  with  him  a  French- 
man skilled  in  the  Greek  tongue,  whom  he  settled  in 
Montrose  ;  and,  upon  his  removal,  he  liberally  en- 
couraged others  to  come  from  France  and  succeed  to 
his  place.  From  this  private  seminary,  many  Greek 
scholars  proceeded,  and  the  knowledge  of  the  lan- 
guage was  gradually  diffused  over  the  kingdom.:)^  Af- 
ter this  statement,  I  need  scarcely  add,  that  the  Orien- 
tal tongues  were  at  that  time  utterly  unknown  in  Scot- 
land. I  shall  afterwards  have  occasion  to  notice  the 
introduction  of  the  study  of  Hebrew. 

Knox  acquired  the  Greek  language  before  he  arrived 
at  middle  age  ;  but  we  find  him  acknowledging,  as 
late  as  the  year  1550,  that  he  was  ignorant  of  He- 
brew,!] a  defect  in  his  education  which  he  exceedingly 
lamented,  and  which  he  afterwards  got  supplied  during 
his  exile  on  the  continent. 

John  Mair,  better  known  by  his  Latin  name.  Major, 
was  professor  of  philosophy  and  theology  at  St.  An- 
drews, when  Knox  attended  the  university.  The 
minds  of  young  men,  and  their  future  train  of  think- 
ing, often  receive  an  important  direction  from  the  mas- 
ter under  whom  they  are  educated,  especially  if  his 
reputation  be  high.  Major  was  at  that  time  deemed 
an  oracle  in  the  sciences  which  he  taught ;  and  as  he 
was  the  preceptor  of  Knox,  and  of  the  celebrated 
scholar  Buchanan,  it  may  be  prpper  to  advert  to  some 
of  his  opinions.  He  had  received  the  greater  part  of 
his  education  in  France,  and  acted  for  some  time  as  a 
professor  in  the  university  of  Paris.     In  that  situation. 


*  Boetii  Vitaf?,  fol.  xxx.  Vaus  was  the  author  of  a  Latin 
Grarumar,  printed  at  Edinburgh  by  R.  Leprcuik,  which  is  now 
exceedingly  rare. 

+  Row^s  Historie  of  the  Kirk  of  Scotland,  MS.  p.  3,  4.  Sim- 
son  taught  at  Perth  between  1550  and  1560.  At  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Reformation,  he  became  niinister  of  Dunning  and 
Cargitt,  from  which  he  was  translated,  in  1566,  to  Dunbar, 
where  he  sustained  the  double  office  of  minister  of  the  parish, 
and  master  of  the  grammar  school.  He  was  the  author  ot  Latin 
Rudiments,  which  continued  to  be  taught  in  the  schools  of 
Scotland  until  the  time  of  Ruddiman,  and  were  much  esteemed 
by  that  accomplished  scholar.  Row,  ut  sup.  Keith's  History, 
p.  534.     Chalmers's  Life  of  Ruddiman,  21,  22,  63. 

t  Life  of  John  Erskine  of  Dun,  p.  2.  apud  "Wodrow  MSS.  in 
Bibl.  Coll.  Glas.  The  industrious  collector  had  access  to  some 
of  Erskine's  papers,  when  employed  in  compiling  his  life. 
Some  additional  facts  respecting  the  progregg  of  Greek  litera- 
ture in  Scotland  will  be  found  in  Note  III. 

II  "  In  the  Hebrew  toung,  (says  he,  in  his  defence  before  the 
Bishop  of  Durham,)  I  confess  myself  ignorant,  but  have,  as  God 
knaweth,  fervent  thrigt  to  have  gum  entrance  thairin,  MS.  Let- 
ters, p.  16. 


he  acquired  a  more  liberal  habit  of  thinking  and  ex- 
pressing himself  on  certain  subjects,  than  was  yet  to 
be  met  with  in  his  native  country,  and  in  other  parts 
of  Europe.  He  had  imbibed  the  sentiments  concern- 
ing ecclesiastical  polity,  maintained  by  John  Gerson 
and  Peter  D'Ailly,  who  so  ably  defended  the  decrees 
of  the  Council  of  Constance,  and  the  liberties  of  the 
Galilean  church,  against  the  advocates  for  the  uncon- 
trollable authority  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff.  He  taught 
that  a  General  Council  was  superior  to  the  Pope,  and 
might  judge,  rebuke,  restrain,  and  even  depose  him 
from  his  dignity ;  denied  the  temporal  supremacy  of 
the  Bishop  of  Rome,  and  his  right  to  inaugurate  or 
dethrone  princes ;  maintained  that  ecclesiastical  cen- 
sures, and  even  papal  excommunications,  had  no  force, 
if  pronounced  on  irrelevant  or  invalid  grounds  ;  beheld 
that  tithes  were  not  of  divine  right,  but  merely  of  hu- 
man appointment ;  censured  the  avarice,  ambition,  and 
secular  pomp  of  the  court  of  Rome,  and  of  the  episcopal 
order;  was  no  warm  friend  of  the  regular  clergy;  and 
advised  the  reduction  of  monasteries  and  holidays.* 

His  opinions  respecting  civil  government  were  anal- 
ogous to  those  which  he  held  as  to  ecclesiastical  polity. 
He  taught  that  the  authority  of  kings  and  princes  was 
originally  derived  from  the  people ;  that  the  former  are 
not  superior  to  the  latter  collectively  considered  ;  that 
if  rulers  become  tyrannical,  or  employ  their  power  for 
the  destruction  of  their  subjects,  they  may  lawfully  be 
controlled  by  them,  and,  proving  incorrigible,  may  be 
deposed  by  the  community  as  the  superior  power;  and 
that  tyrants  may  be  judicially  proceeded  against,  even 
to  capital  punishment.]" 

The  affinity  between  these,  and  the  political  princi- 
ples afterwards  avowed  by  Knox,  and  defended  by  the 
classic  pen  of  Buchanan,  is  too  striking  to  require 
illustration.  Some  of  these,  indeed,  had  been  taught 
by  at  least  one  Scottish  author,  who  flourished  before 
the  time  of  Major ;  but  it  is  most  probable  that  the  oral 
instructions  and  writings  of  their  master  first  suggested 
to  them  the  sentiments  which  they  so  readily  adopted, 
and  which  were  afterwards  confirmed  by  mature  reflec- 
tion, and  more  extensive  reading ;  and  that  consequent- 
ly the  important  changes  which  these  contributed  to 
accomplish,  should  be  traced  in  a  certain  measure  to 
this  distinguished  professor.  Nor,  in  such  circum- 
stances, could  his  ecclesiastical  opinions  fail  to  have  a 
proportionate  share  of  influence,  on  their  habits  of 
thinking  with  respect  to  religion  and  the  church. 

But  though,  in  these  respects,  the  opinions  of  Major, 
were  more  free  and  rational  than  those  generally  enter- 
tained at  that  time,  it  must  be  confessed,  that  the  por- 
tion of  instruction  which  his  scholars  could  derive  from 
him  was  extremely  small,  if  we  allow  his  publications 
to  be  a  fair  specimen  of  his  academical  prelections. 
Many  of  the  questions  which  he  discusses  are  utterly 
useless  and  trifling ;  the  rest  are  rendered  disgusting 
by  the  most  servile  adherence  to  all  the  minutiae  of  the 
scholastic  mode  of  reasoning.  The  reader  of  his  works 
must  be  contented  with  painfully  picking  a  grain  of 
truth  from  the  rubbish  of  many  pages;  nor  will  the 
drudgery  be  compensated  by  those  discoveries  of  in- 
ventive genius  and  acute  discrimination,  for  which  the 
writings  of  Aquinas,  and  some  others  of  that  subtle 
school,  may  still  deserve  to  be  consulted.  Major  is 
entitled  to  praise,  for  exposing  to  his  countrymen 
several  of  the  more  glaring  errors  and  abuses  of 
his  time ;  but  his  mind  was  deeply  tinctured  with 
superstition,  and  he  defended  some  of  the  absurdest 
tenets  of  popery  by  the  most  ridiculous  and  puerile 
arguments. :J:     His   talents  were  moderate;   with  the 


*  These  sentiments  are  collected  from  bis  Commentary  on 
the  Third  Book  of  the  Master  of  Sentences,  and  from  his  Ex- 
position of  Matthew's  Gospel  ;  printed  in  Latin  at  Paris,  the 
tbrnier  Anno  1517,  and  the  latter  Anno  1518. 

t  See  Note  IV. 

j  Lord  Hailes,  having  given  an  example  of  this,  adds,  "  After 
this,  can  Buchanan  be  censured  for  saying  that  he  was  "  soIq 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


23 


writings  of  the  ancients,  he  appears  to  have  been  ac- 
quainted only  through  the  medium  of  the  collectors  of 
the  middle  ages ;  nor  does  he  ever  hazard  an  opinion, 
or  pursue  a  speculation,  beyond  the  limits  which  had 
been  marked  out  by  some  approved  doctor  of  the  church. 
Add  to  this,  that  his  style  is,  to  an  uncommon  degree, 
harsh  and  forbidding;  "exile,  aridum,  conscissum,  ac 
minutum." 

Knox  and  Buchanan  soon  became  disgusted  with 
such  studies,  and  began  to  seek  entertainment  more 
gratifying  to  their  ardent  and  inquisitive  minds.  Hav- 
ing set  out  in  search  of  knowledge,  they  released  them- 
selves from  the  trammels,  and  overleaped  the  bounda- 
ries, prescribed  to  them  by  their  timid  conductor. 
Each  following  the  native  bent  of  his  genius  and  in- 
clination, they  separated  in  the  prosecution  of  their 
studies;  Buchanan,  indulging  in  a  more  excursive 
range,  explored  the  extensive  fields  of  literature,  and 
wandered  in  the  flowery  mead  of  poesy  ;  while  Knox, 
passing  through  the  avenues  of  secular  learning,  de- 
voted himself  to  the  study  of  divine  truth,  and  the 
labours  of  the  sacred  ministry.  Both,  however,  kept 
uniformly  in  view  the  advancement  of  true  religion  and 
liberty,  with  the  love  of  which  they  were  equally  smit- 
ten ;  and  as,  during  their  lives,  they  suffered  a  long 
and  painful  exile,  and  were  exposed  to  many  dangers, 
for  adherence  to  this  kindred  cause,  so  their  memories 
have  not  been  divided,  in  the  profuse  but  honourable 
obloquy  with  which  they  have  been  aspersed  by  its 
enemies,  and  in  the  deserved  and  grateful  recollections 
of  its  genuine  friends.* 

But  we  must  not  suppose,  that  Knox  was  able  at 
once  to  divest  himself  of  the  prejudices  of  his  education 
and  of  the  times.  Barren  and  repulsive  as  the  scho- 
lastic studies  appear  to  our  minds,  there  was  some- 
thing in  the  intricate  and  subtle  sophistry  then  in 
vogue,  calculated  to  fascinate  the  youthful  and  ingeni- 
ous mind.  It  had  a  show  of  wisdom;  it  exercised, 
although  it  did  not  feed  the  understanding;  it  even 
gave  play  to  the  imagination,  while  it  exceedingly 
flattered  the  pride  of  the  learned  adept.  Once  involved 
in  the  mazy  labyrinth,  it  was  no  easy  task  to  break 
through  it,  and  to  escape  into  the  open  field  of  rational 
and  free  inquiry.  Accordingly,  Knox  continued  for 
some  time  captivated  with  these  studies,  and  prose- 
cuted them  with  great  success.  After  he  was  created 
Master  of  Arts,  he  taught  philosophy,  most  probably 
as  an  assistant,  or  private  lecturer  in  the  university. + 
His  class  became  celebrated ;  and  he  was  considered 
as  equalling,  if  not  excelling  his  master,  in  the  subtle- 
ties of  the  dialectic  art.:j:  About  the  same  time,  al- 


cognomiiie  Major?"  Provincial  Councils  of  the  Scottish 
Clerg-y,  p.  11.  By  the  way,  it  was  Major  who  first  said  this 
of  himself.  It  was  the  sight  of  these  words,  "Joannes,  solo 
cognomine  Major,"  in  the  dedicatory  epistle  to  his  writings, 
that  drew  from  Buchanan  the  satirical  lines,  which  have  been 
so  often  appealed  to  by  his  enemies,  as  an  infallible  proof  of 
the  badness  of  his  heart.  If  fault  there  was  in  this,  we  may 
certainly  make  an  apology  which  his  learned  editor  produces 
for  him  in  another  case,  "  non  tam  hominis  vitiura,  quani 
poetae."    Poets  and  wits  cannot  always  spare  their  best  friends. 

*  Buchanan  always  mentions  Knox  in  terms  of  high  respect, 
Oper.  ed.  Ruddiman.  p.  313,  321,  366.  And  the  Reformer,  in 
his  History,  has  borne  testimony  to  the  virtues  as  well  as  splen- 
did talents  of  the  Poet:  "That  notable  man,  Mr.  George 
Bucquhanane — remanis  alyve  to  this  day,  in  the  yeir  of  God 
1566  years,  to  the  glory  of  God,  to  the  gret  honour  of  this 
natioun,  and  to  the  comfort  of  thame  that  delyte  in  letters  and 
vertew.  That  singulare  wark  of  David's  Psalmes,  in  Latin 
meetere  and  poesie,  besyd  mon}'  uther,  can  witness  the  rare 
graices  of  God  gevin  to  that  man,"  Historic,  p.  24. 

\  It  was  not  unusual  in  the  universities  at  that  period,  to 
select  some  of  the  students  who  had  been  laureated,  and  made 
the  greatest  proficiency;  and  to  employ  them  as  assistants 
to  the  professors.     Boetii  Vitae  Episcop.  Aberd.  fol.xxix,  xxx. 

\  "In  hac  igitur  Anthropotheologiaegregie  versatus  Cnoxus, 
eandam  et  magna  autoritate  docuit:  visusque  fuit  magistro  suo 
(si  qua  in  subtilitate  felicitas),  in  quibusaam  felicior."  Ver- 
heiden,  Effigies  et  Elogia  Praestant.  Theolog.  p.  92.  Hagae- 
comit.  1602,  and  p.  69,  of  edit.  1725.  Melch.  Adami  Vitae 
Theolog.  Exter.  p.  137,  Francofurti,  1618. 


though  he  had  no  interest  but  what  was  procured  by 
his  own  merit,  he  was  advanced  to  clerical  orders,  and 
was  ordained  a  priest,  before  he  reached  the  age  fixed 
by  the  canons  of  the  church.*  This  must  have  taken 
place  previous  to  the  year  1530,  at  which  time  he  had 
arrived  at  his  twenty-fifth  year,  the  canonical  age  for 
receiving  ordination. 

It  was  not  long,  however,  till  his  studies  received  a 
new  direction,  which  led  to  a  complete  revolution  in 
his  religious  sentiments,  and  had  an  important  influ- 
ence on  the  whole  of  his  future  life.  Not  satisfied 
with  the  excerpts  from  ancient  authors,  which  he  found 
in  the  writings  of  the  scholastic  divines  and  canonists, 
he  resolved  to  have  recourse  to  the  original  works.  In 
them  he  found  a  method  of  investigating  and  commu- 
nicating truth,  to  which  he  had  hitherto  been  a  stranger, 
and  the  simplicity  of  which  recommended  itself  to  his 
mind,  in  spite  of  the  prejudices  of  education,  and  the 
pride  of  superior  attainments  in  his  own  favourite  art. 
Among  the  fathers  of  the  Christian  church,  Jerom  and 
Augustine  attracted  his  particular  attention.  By  the 
writings  of  the  former,  he  was  led  to  the  scriptures  as 
the  only  pure  fountain  of  divine  truth,  and  instructed 
in  the  utility  of  studying  them  in  the  original  lan- 
guages. In  the  works  of  the  latter,  he  found  religious 
sentiments  very  opposite  to  those  taught  in  the  Romish 
church,  who,  while  she  retained  his  name  as  a  saint  in 
her  calendar,  had  banished  his  doctrine,  as  heretical, 
from  her  pulpits.  From  this  time,  he  renounced  the 
study  of  scholastic  theology;  and,  although  not  yet 
completely  emancipated  from  superstition,  his  mind 
was  fitted  for  improving  the  means  which  Providence 
had  prepared,  for  leading  him  to  a  fuller  and  more 
comprehensive  view  of  the  system  of  evangelical  reli- 
gion. It  was  about  the  year  1535,  when  this  favour- 
able change  commenced  ;f  but,  it  does  not  appear  that 
he  professed  himself  a  protestant  before  the  year  1543. 

As  I  am  now  to  enter  upon  that  period  of  Knox's 
life,  at  which  he  renounced  the  Roman  Catholic  com- 
munion, and  commenced  Reformer,  it  may  not  be  im- 
proper to  take  a  survey  of  the  state  of  religion  in  Scot- 
land at  that  time.  Without  an  adequate  knowledge 
of  this,  it  is  impossible  to  form  a  just  estimate  of  the 
necessity  and  importance  of  that  Reformation,  in  the 
advancement  of  which  he  laboured  with  so  great  zeal  ; 
and  nothing  has  contributed  so  much  to  give  currency, 
among  Protestants,  to  prejudice  against  his  character 
as  ignorance,  or  a  superficial  consideration  of  the  enor- 
mous and  almost  incredible  abuses  which  then  prevail- 
ed in  the  church.  This  must  be  my  apology,  for  a 
digression  which  might  otherwise  be  deemed  superflu- 
ous or  disproportionate. 


The  corruptions  by  which  the  Christian  religion 
was  universally  depraved,  before  the  Reformation,  had 
grown  to  a  greater  heiglit  in  Scotland,  than  in  any 
other  nation  within  the  pale  of  the  Western  church. 
Superstition  and  religious  imposture,  in  their  grossest 
forms,  gained  an  easy  admission  among  a  rude  and 
ignorant  people.  By  means  of  these,  the  clergy  at- 
tained to  an  exorbitant  degree  of  opulence  and  power ; 
which  were  accompanied  as  they  always  have  been, 
with  the  corruption  of  their  order,  and  of  the  whole 
system  of  religion. 

The  full  half  of  the  wealth  of  the  nation  belonged  to 
the  clergy  ;  and  the  greater  part  of  this  was  in  the  hands 
of  a  few  of  their  number,  who  had  the  command  of  ihe 
whole  body.  Avarice,  ambition,  and  the  love  of  secu- 
lar pomp,  reigned  among  the  superior  orders.  Bishops 
and  Abbots  rivalled  the  first  nobility  in  magnificence, 
and  preceded  them  in  honours:  they  were  Privy-Coun- 
sellors and  Lords  of  Session,  as  well  as  of  Parliameat, 


*  See  Note  V. 

+  Bezae  Icones;  Verheidenii  Effigies r  Mel'chior  Adam ;  Ubi 
Supra.     Spottiswood's  History,  p.  265.  Lond.  1677. 


24 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


and  had  long  engrossed  the  principal  offices  of  state. 
A  vacant  bishopric  or  abbacy  called  forth  powerful 
competitors,  who  contended  for  it  as  for  a  principality 
or  petty  kingdom  ;  it  was  obtained  by  similar  arts, 
and  not  unfrequently  taken  possession  of  by  the  same 
weapons.*  Inferior  benefices  were  openly  put  to  sale, 
or  bestowed  on  the  illiterate  and  unworthy  minions  of 
courtiers;  on  dice-players,  strolling  bards,  and  the 
bastards  of  bishops.f  Pluralities  were  multiplied  with- 
out bounds,  and  benefices  given  in  commendam  were 
kept  vacant,  during  the  life  of  the  commendatary,  nay, 
sometimes  during  several  lives  \X  •''o  that  extensive 
parishes  were  frequently  deprived,  for  a  long  course 
of  years,  of  all  religious  service, — if  a  deprivation  it 
could  be  called,  at  a  time  when  the  cure  of  souls  was 
no  longer  regarded  as  attached  to  livings  originally 
endowed  for  this  purpose.  The  Bishops  never  on  any 
occasion  condescended  to  preach ;  indeed,  I  scarcely 
recollect  an  instance  of  it,  mentioned  in  history,  from 
the  erection  of  the  regular  Scottish  episcopacy,  down 
to  the  aera  of  the  Reformation. ||  The  practice  had  even 
gone  into  desuetude  among  all  the  secular  clergy,  and 
was  wholly  devolved  on  the  mendicant  monks,  who 
employed  it  for  the  most  mercenary  purposes. § 

The  lives  of  the  clergy,  exempted  from  secular  juris- 
diction, and  corrupted  by  wealth  and  idleness,  were 
become  a  scandal  to  religion,  and  an  outrage  on  de- 
cency. While  they  professed  chastity,  and  prohibited, 
under  the  severest  penalties,  any  of  the  ecclesiastical 
order  from  contracting  lawful  wedlock,  the  bishops  set 
the  example  of  the  most  shameless  profligacy  before 
the  inferior  clergy;  avowedly  kept  their  harlots;  pro- 
vided their  natural  sons  with  benefices ;  and  gave  their 
daughters  in  marriage  to  the  sons  of  the  nobility  and 
principal  gentry,  many  of  whom  were  so  mean  as  to 
contaminate  the  blood  of  their  families  by  such  base 
alliances,  for  the  sake  of  the  rich  dowries  which  they 
brought."if 


*  During'  the  minority  of  James  V.  the  celebrated  Gawin 
Doug-las  was  recommended  by  the  Queen  to  the  Archbishopric 
of  St.  Andrews ;  but  John  Hepburn,  prior  of  the  regular  canons, 
opposed  the  nomination,,  and  took  the  Archiepiscopal  palace 
by  storm.  Douglas  afterwards  laid  siege  to  the  cathedral  of 
Dunkeld,  and  carried  it,  more  by  the  thunder  of  his  cannon, 
than  the  dread  of  the  excommunication  which  he  threatened 
to  fulminate  against  his  antagonist.  Buch.  Hist.  xiii.  44.  Spot- 
tis.  61.  Life  of  Gawin  Douglas^  prefixed  to  the  Translation 
of  the  S.neiA.  Ruddiman's  edition. 

t  Sir  David  Lindsay's  Works,  by  Chalmers,  I.  344.  IL  237, 
238.     Winzet  and  Kennedy,  apud  Keith,  App.  488,  504. 

X  The  Popes  were  accustomed  to  grant  liberty  to  the  com- 
mendataries  to  dispose  of  benefices  which  they  held  by  this 
tenure,  to  others  who  should  succeed  to  them  after  their  death. 
Introduction  to  Scots  Biography,  apud  Wodrow  MSS.  vol.  9. 
p.  171;  in  Bibl.  Coll.  Glas.  As  late  as  Anno  1534,  Clement 
Vll.  granted,  in  commendam,  to  his  nephew  Hypolitus,  Cardi- 
nal de  Medici,  ALL  the  benefices  in  the  world,,  secular  and 
regular,  dignities  and  parsonages,  simple  and  with  cure,,  being 
vacant,  for  six  months;  with  power  to  dispose  of  all  their  fruits, 
and  convert  them  to  his  own  use.  Father  Paul's  History  of 
the  Council  of  Trent,  lib.  i.  p.  251.     Lond.  1620. 

II  One  exception  occurs,  and  must  not  be  omitted.  When 
George  Wishart  was  preaching  in  Ayr,  Dunbar,  Archbishop 
of  Glasgow,  took  possession  of  the  pulpit,  in  order  to  exclude 
the  Reformer.  Some  of  Wisharfs  more  zealous  hearers  would 
have  dispossessed  the  bishop,  but  the  Reformer  would  not  suffer 
them.  "The  bishope  preichit  to  his  jackmen.and  to  sum  auld 
boisses  of  the  toun.  The  soura  of  aft  his  sermone  was.  They 
sey,  we  sould  preiche:  Quhy  not?  Better  lait  thyrve  nor  nevir 
thryve.  Had  us  still  for  your  bischope,  and  we  sail  provyde 
better  the  nixt  tyme."     Knox,  Historic,  p.  44. 

}  War  not  the  preiching  of  the  begging  freiris. 
Tint  war  the  faith  amang  the  seculeiris. 

Lindsay,  ut  supra,  i.  343.  comp.  ii.  101. 

H  Lord  Hailes'  Notes  oiv  Ancient  Scottish  Poems,  p.  249, 
250,  297,  309.  We  need  not  appeal  to  the  testimony  of  the 
reformers,  or  to  satirical  poems  published  at  that  time,  in  proof 
of  the  extreme  profligracy  of  the  popish  clergy.  The  truth  is 
registered  in  the  acts  of  Parliament,  and  in  the' decrees  of  their 
own  councils,  (Wilkin.  Concil.  tom.  iv.  n.  46—60.  Keith's 
Hist,  pref  xiv.  and  p.  14.)  in  the  records  of  legitimation,  (Lord 
Hailes,  ut  supra,  p.  249,  250.)  and  in  the  confessions  of  their 
own  writers.    (Kennedy  and  Wingct,  apud  Keith,  Ajipend.  202, 


Through  the  blind  devotion  and  munificence  of 
princes  and  nobles,  monasteries,  those  nurseries  of  su- 
perstition and  idleness,  had  greatly  multiplied  in  the 
nation;  and  though  they  had  universally  degenerated, 
and  were  notoriously  become  the  haunts  of  lewdness 
and  debauchery,  it  was  deemed  impious  and  sacrile- 
gious to  reduce  their  number,  abridge  their  privileges, 
or  alienate  their  funds.*  The  kingdom  swarmed  with 
ignorant,  idle,  luxurious  monks,  who,  like  locusts,  de- 
voured the  fruits  of  the  earth,  and  filled  the  air  with 
pestilential  infection;  friars,  white,  black,  and  grey; 
canons  regular,  and  of  St.  Anthony,  Carmelites,  Car- 
thusians, Cordeliers,  Dominicans,  Franciscan  Conven- 
tuals and  Observantines,  Jacobines,  Premonstraten- 
sians,  monks  of  Tyrone,  and  of  Vallis  Caulium,  Hos- 
pitallers, or  Holy  Knights  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem; 
nuns  of  St.  Austin,  St.  Clare,  St.  Scholastica,  and  St. 
Catharine  of  Sienna,  with  canonesses  of  various  clans.f 

The  ignorance  of  the  clergy  respecting  religion  was 
as  gross  as  the  dissoluteness  of  their  morals.  Even 
bishops  were  not  ashamed  to  confess  that  they  were 
unacquainted  with  the  canon  of  their  faith,  and  had 
never  read  any  part  of  the  sacred  scriptures,  except 
what  they  met  with  in  their  missals. :j:  Under  such 
pastors  the  people  perished  for  lack  of  knowledge. 
That  book  which  was  able  lo  make  them  wise  unto 
salvation,  aud  intended  to  be  equally  accessible  to 
"  Jew  and  Greek,  Barbarian  and  Scythian,  bond  and 
free,"  was  locked  up  from  them,  and  the  use  of  it,  in 
their  own  tongue,  prohibited  under  the  heaviest  penal- 
ties. The  religious  service  was  mumbled  over  in  a 
dead  language,  which  many  of  the  priests  did  not  under- 
stand, and  some  of  them  could  scarcely  read  ;  and  the 
greatest  care  was  taken  to  prevent  even  catechisms, 
composed  and  approved  by  the  clergy,  from  coming 
into  the  hands  of  the  laity.|| 

Scotland,  from  her  local  situation,  had  been  less  ex- 
posed to  disturbance  from  the  encroaching  ambition, 
vexatious  exactions,  and  fulminating  anathemas  of  the 
Vatican  court,  than  the  countries  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  Rome.  But  from  the  same  cause,  it  was 
more  easy  for  the  domestic  clergy  to  keep  up  on  the 


205—7.  Lesley,  Hist.  232.  Father  Alexander  Baillie's  True 
Information  of  the  Unhallowed  Offspring,  &c.  of  our  Scottish 
Calvinian  Gospel,  p.  15,  16.  Wirtzburgh,  Anno  1628.) 

*  Inconsequence  of  a  very  powerful  confederacy  against  the 
religious  knights,  called  Templars,  and  upon  charges  of  the 
most  flagitious  crimes,  that  order  was  suppressed  by  a  General 
Council,  Anno  1312;  but  their  possessions  were  conferred  upon 
another  order  of  sacred  knights.  The  plentitude  of  papa] 
power  was  stretched  to  the  very  utmost,  in  this  dread  attempt. 
"  Quanquam  (says  his  Holiness  in  the  Bull)  de  jure  non  possu- 
mus,  tamen  ad  plenitudinein  potestatis  dictum  ordinem  repro- 
banius."  Walsingham,  Histor.  Angl.  p.  99.  When  the  Gil- 
bertine  monks  retired  from  Scotland,  because  the  air  of  the 
country  did  not  agree  with  them,  their  revenues  were,  upon 
their  resignation,  transferred  to  the  monastery  of  Paisley. 
Keith's  Scottish  Bishops,  p.  266. 

+  See  Note  VI. 

\  Fox,  p.  1153.  printed  Anno  1596.  Chalmers's  Lindsay,  ii. 
62,  63,  64.  Lord  Hailes,  Provincial  Councils  of  the  Scottish 
Clergy,  p.  30.  Sir  Ralph  Sadler's  testimon)-  to  the  clergy  as 
the  only  men  of  learning  about  the  court  of  James  V.  mar 
seem  to  contradict  what  I  have  asserted.  But  Sadler  speaks 
merely  of  their  talents  for  political  management,  and  in  the 
same  letters  gives  a  proof  of  their  ignorance  in  other  respects. 
The  clergy  at  that  time  made  law  their  principal  study,  and 
endeavoured  to  qualify  themselves  for  oflSces  of  state.  This, 
however,  en^jarecl  their  whole  attention,  and  they  were  grossly 
ignorant  in  their  own  profession.  Sadler's  State  Papers,  i.  47, 
48.  Edin.  1809.     Knox,  Historic,  p.  18. 

Andrew  Forman,  bishop  of  Murray,  and  papal  legate  for 
Scotland,  being  obliged  to  say  grace,  at  an  entertainment 
which  he  g^ve  to  the  Pope  and  Cardinals  in  Rome,  blundered 
so  in  his  latinity,  that  his  Holiness  and  their  Eminences  lost 

iL.-. ■.  "^1   •      L       .-      J: ..J      .i.-      l.!^l .L      .    • 


their  gravity,  which  so  disconcerted   the  bishoj),  that  he  con- 
cluded the  blessing  by  giv" 
in  nomine  patris,  Jilii,  et  sancti  spiritiis;  to  which  the  com 


}lessing  by  giving  all  the  Jalae  cartes  to  the  devil. 


pany,  not  understanding  his  Scoto-Latin,  said  Amen.  '"The 
noly  bishop  (says  Pitscottie)  was  not  a  good  scholar,  and  had 
not  good  Latin."     History  p.  106. 

II  VVilkins,  Concilia,  tom.  iv.  72.     Lord  Hailes'  Provincial 
Councils  of  the  Scottish  Clergy,  p.  36. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX, 


25 


minds  of  the  people  that  excessive  veneration  for  the 
Holy  See,  which  could  not  be  long  felt  by  those  who 
had  the  opportunity  of  witnessing  its  vices  and  worldly 
politics.*  The  burdens  which  attended  a  state  of  de- 
pendence upon  a  remote  foreign  jurisdiction  were 
severely  felt.  Though  the  popes  did  not  enjoy  the 
power  of  presenting  to  the  Scottish  prelacies,  they 
wanted  not  numerous  pretexts  for  interfering  with 
them.  The  most  important  causes  of  a  civil  nature, 
which  the  ecclesiastical  courts  had  contrived  to  bring 
within  their  jurisdiction,  were  frequently  carried  to 
Rome.  Large  suras  of  money  were  annually  exported 
out  of  the  kingdom,  for  the  purchasing  of  palls,  the 
confirmation  of  benefices,  the  conducting  of  appeals, 
and  for  many  other  purposes;  in  exchange  for  which, 
were  received  leaden  bulls,  woollen  palls,  wooden 
images,  plenty  of  old  bones,  with  similar  articles  of 
precious  consecrated  mummery. | 

Of  the  doctrine  of  Christianity  nothing  almost  re- 
mained but  the  name.  Instead  of  being  directed  to 
offer  up  their  adorations  to  one  God,  the  people  were 
taught  to  divide  them  among  an  innumerable  company 
of  inferior  objects.  A  plurality  of  mediators  shared 
the  honour  of  procuring  the  divine  favour,  with  the 
"  One  Mediator  between  God  and  man  ;"  and  more 
petitions  were  presented  to  the  Virgin  Mary  and  other 
saints,  than  to  "  Him  whom  the  Father  heareth  al- 
ways." The  sacrifice  of  the  mass  was  represented  as 
procuring  forgiveness  of  sins  to  the  living  and  the 
dead,  to  the  infinite  disparagement  of  the  sacrifice  by 
which  Jesus  Christ  expiated  sin  and  procured  ever- 
lasting redemption ;  and  the  consciences  of  men  were 
withdrawn  from  faith  in  the  merits  of  their  Saviour,  to 
a  delusive  reliance  upon  priestly  absolutions,  papal 
pardons,  and  voluntary  penances.  Instead  of  being 
instructed  to  demonstrate  the  sincerity  of  their  faith 
and  repentance,  by  forsaking  their  sins,  and  to  testify 
their  love  to  God  and  to  man,  by  practising  the  duties 
of  morality,  and  observing  the  ordinances  of  worship 
authorised  by  scripture ;  they  were  taught,  that,  if  they 
regularly  said  their  Jives  and  Credos,  confessed  them- 
selves to  a  priest,  purchased  a  mass,  went  in  pilgrim- 
age to  the  shrine  of  some  celebrated  saint,  or  performed 
some  prescribed  act  of  bodily  mortification, — if  they 
refrained  from  flesh  on  Fridays,  and  punctually  paid 
their  tithes  and  other  perquisites,  their  salvation  was 
infallibly  secured  in  due  time:  while  those  who  were 
so  rich  and  pious  as  to  build  a  chapel  or  an  altar,  and 
to  endow  it  for  the  support  of  a  priest,  to  perform 
masses,  obits,  and  diriges,  procured  a  relaxation  of  the 
pains  of  purgatory  for  themselves  or  their  relations,  in 
proportion  to  the  extent  of  their  liberality.  It  is  diffi- 
cult for  us  to  conceive  how  empty,  ridiculous,  and 
wretched  those  harangues  were,  which  the  monks  de- 
livered for  sermons.  Legendary  tales  concerning  the 
founder  of  some  religious  order,  his  wonderful  sanctity, 
the  miracles  which  he  performed,  his  combats  with  the 
devil,  his  watchings,  fastings,  flagellations;  the  virtues 


*  Luther  often  mentioned  to  his  familiar  acquaintances  the 
advantage  which  he  derived  from  a  visit  to  Rome  in  1510,  and 
used  to  say  that  he  would  not  exchange  that  journey  for  1000 
florins;  so  much  did  it  contribute  to  open  his  eyes  to  the  cor- 
ruptions of  the  Romish  court,  and  to  weaken  his  prejudices. 
Melchior.  Adami  Vitas  Germ.  Theol.  p.  104.  Erasmus  had  a 
sensation  of  the  same  kind,  although  weaker.  John  Rough, 
one  of  the  Scottish  Reformers,  felt  in  a  similar  way,,  after  visit- 
ing Rome.     Fox,  1841. 

+  Notwithstanding  laws  repeatedly  made  to  restrain  persons 
from  going  to  Rome,  to   obtain   benefices,   the   practice  was 
greatly  on  the  increase  about  the  time  of  the  Reformation. 
It  is  schort  tyme  sen  ony  benefice 
Was  sped  in  Rome,  except  great  bishoprics; 
But  now,  for  ane  unworthy  vickarage, 
A  priest  will  riii  to  Rome  iu  pilgrimage. 
Ane  caviil  quhilk  was  never  at  tlie  scule 
Will  rin  to  Rome,  and  keep  ane  bischopis  mule: 
And  syne  cum  hame  witli  raony  a  colorit  crack. 
With  ane  burdin  of  beneficis  on  his  back. 

Chalmer's  Lindsay,  ii.  6.\ 

D 


of  holy  water,  chrism,  crossing,  and  exorcism ;  the 
horrors  of  purgatory,  with  the  numbers  released  from 
it  by  the  intercession  of  some  powerful  saint ;  these, 
with  low  jests,  table-talk,  and  fireside  scandal,  formed 
the  favourite  topics  of  the  preachers,  and  were  served 
up  to  the  people  instead  of  the  pure,  salutary,  and  sub- 
lime doctrines  of  the  Bible.* 

The  beds  of  the  dying  were  besieged,  and  their 
last  moments  disturbed,  by  avaricious  priests,  who 
laboured  to  extort  bequests  to  themselves  or  to  the 
church.  Not  satisfied  with  exacting  tithes  from  the 
living,  a  demand  was  made  upon  the  dead  :  no  sooner 
had  a  poor  husbandman  breathed  his  last,  than  the 
rapacious  vicar  came  and  carried  off  his  corps-pre- 
sent, which  he  repeated  as  often  as  death  visited  the 
family.|  Ecclesiastical  censures  were  fulminated 
against  those  who  were  reluctant  in  making  these 
payments,  or  who  showed  themselves  disobedient  to 
the  clergy  ;  and,  for  a  little  money,  they  were  prose- 
cuted on  the  most  trifling  occasions.:}:  Divine  ser- 
vice was  neglected  ;  the  churches  were  deserted 
(especially  after  the  light  of  the  Reformation  had 
discovered  abuses,  and  pointed  out  "  a  more  excellent 
way");  so  that,  except  on  a  few  festival  days,  the 
places  of  worship,  in  many  parts  of  the  country,  served 
only  as  sanctuaries  for  malefactors,  places  of  traffic,  or 
resorts  for  pastime. |) 

Persecution,  and  the  suppression  of  free  inquiry, 
were  the  only  weapons  by  which  its  interested  sup- 
porters were  able  to  defend  this  system  of  corruption 
and  imposture.  Every  avenue  by  which  truth  might 
enter  was  carefully  guarded.  Learning  was  branded 
as  the  parent  of  heresy.  The  most  frightful  pictures 
were  drawn  of  those  who  had  separated  from  the 
Romish  church,  and  held  up  before  the  eyes  of  the 
people,  to  deter  them  from  imitating  their  example. 
If  any  person,  who  had  attained  a  degree  of  illumina- 
tion amidst  the  general  darkness,  began  to  hint  dissa- 
tisfaction with  the  conduct  of  the  clergy,  and  to  pro- 
pose the  correction  of  abuses,  he  was  immediately 
stigmatised  as  a  heretic,  and,  if  he  did  not  secure  his 
safety  by  flight,  was  immured  in  a  dungeon,  or  com- 
mitted to  the  flames.  When  at  last,  in  spite  of  all 
their  precautions,  the  light  which  was  shining  around 
did  break  in  and  spread  through  the  nation,  they  pre- 
pared to  adopt  the  most  desperate  and  bloody  measures 
for  its  extinction. 

From  this  imperfect  sketch  of  the  state  of  religion 
in  this  country,  we  may  see  how  false  the  representa- 
tion is  which  some  persons  would  impose  on  us ;  as 
if  popery  were  a  system,  erroneous  indeed,  but  purely 
speculative ;  superstitious,  but  harmless ;  provided  it 
had  not  been  accidentally  accompanied  with  intolerance 
and  cruelty.  The  very  reverse  is  the  truth.  It  may 
be  safely  said,  that  there  is  not  one  of  its  erroneous 
tenets,  or  of  its  superstitious  practices,  which  was  not 
either  originally  contrived,  or  afterwards  accommo- 
dated, to  advance  and  support  some  practical  abuse ; 
to  aggrandize  the  ecclesiastical  order,  secure  to  them 
immunity  from  civil  jurisdiction,  sanctify  their  en- 
croachments upon  secular  authorities,  vindicate  their 
usurpations  upon  the  consciences  of  men,  cherish  im- 
plicit obedience  to  the  decisions  of  the  church,,  and 
extinguish  free  inquiry  and  liberal  seien-ce. 

It  was  a  system  not  more  repugnant  to  the  religion 
of  the  Bible,  than  incompatible  with  the  legitimate 
rights  of  princes,  and  the  independence,  liberty,  and 
prosperity  of  kingdoms  ;  a  system  not  more  destructive 
to  the  souls  of  men,  than  to  social  and  domestic  happi- 
ness, and  the  principles  of  sound  morality.  Consider- 
ations from  every  quarter  combined  in  calling  aloud 
for  a  radical  and  complete  reform.     The  exertions  of 

*  Knox,  14, — 16.  Spottlswood,  64,  69.  Keith,  Append. 
205.  Dalyell's  Cursory  Remarks,  prefixed  to  Scottish  Poems 
of  the  16th  century,  i.  16,- — 18.     Chalmers's  Lindsay,  i.  211. 

f  See  Note  VIL  J  Knox.  Historie,  p.  14. 

II  Dalyell's  Cursoiy  Remarks,  ut  supra,  i.  28. 


S6 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


all  descriptions  of  persons,  of  the  man  of  letters,  the 
patriot,  the  prince,  as  well  as  the  Christian,  each  act- 
ing in  his  own  sphere  for  his  own  interests,  with  the 
joint  concurrence  of  all  as  in  a  common  cause,  were 
urgently  required  for  extirpating  abuses,  of  which  all 
had  reason  to  complain,  and  for  effectuating  a  revolu- 
tion, in  the  advantages  of  which  all  would  participate. 
There  was,  however,  no  reasonable  prospect  of  accom- 
plishing this,  without  exposing,  in  the  first  place,  the 
falsehood  of  those  notions  which  have  been  called 
speculative.  It  was  principally  by  means  of  these 
that  superstition  had  established  its  empire  over  the 
minds  of  men  ;  behind  them  the  Romish  ecclesiastics 
had  entrenched  themselves,  and  defended  their  usurped 

f»rerogatives  and  possessions ;  and  had  any  prince  or 
egislature  endeavoured  to  deprive  them  of  these,  while 
the  great  body  of  the  people  remained  unenlightened, 
it  would  soon  have  been  found  that  the  attempt  was 
premature  in  itself,  and  replete  with  danger  to  those 
by  whom  it  was  made.  To  the  revival  of  the  primi- 
tive doctrines  and  institutions  of  Christianity,  by  the 
preaching  and  writings  of  the  reformers,  and  to  those 
controversies  by  which  the  popish  errors  were  confuted 
from  scripture,  (for  which  many  modern  philosophers 
seem  to  have  a  thorough  contempt),  we  are  chiefly 
indebted  for  the  overthrow  of  superstition,  ignorance, 
and  despotism ;  and  in  fact  all  the  blessings,  political 
and  religious,  which  we  enjoy  may  be  traced  to  the 
Reformation  from  popery. 

How  grateful  should  we  be  to  divine  Providence  for 
this  happy  revolution !  For,  those  persons  do  but 
"  sport  with  their  own  imaginations,"  who  flatter  them- 
selves that  it  must  have  taken  place  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  human  affairs,  and  overlook  the  many  con- 
vincing proofs  of  the  superintending  direction  of  supe- 
rior wisdom,  in  the  whole  combination  of  circumstances 
which  contributed  to  bring  about  the  Reformation  in 
this  country,  as  well  as  throughout  Europe.  How 
much  are  we  indebted  to  those  men,  who,  under  God, 
were  the  instruments  in  effecting  it  ;  men  who  cheer- 
fully hazarded  their  lives  to  achieve  a  design  which 
involved  the  felicity  of  millions  unborn;  who  boldly 
attacked  the  system  of  error  and  corruption,  though 
fortified  by  popular  credulity,  by  custom,  and  by  laws, 
fenced  with  the  most  dreadful  penalties ;  and  who, 
having  forced  the  strong  hold  of  superstition,  and 
penetrated  the  recesses  of  its  temple,  tore  aside  the 
veil  that  concealed  the  monstrous  idol  which  the  whole 
world  ignorantly  worshipped,  dissolved  the  magic  spell 
by  which  the  human  mind  was  bound,  and  restored  it 
to  liberty  !  How  criminal  must  those  be,  who,  sitting 
at  ease  under  the  vines  and  fig-trees,  planted  by  the 
unwearied  labours,  and  watered  by  the  blood  of  these 
patriots,  discover  their  disesteem  of  the  invaluable 
privileges  which  they  inherit,  or  their  ignorance  of  the 
expense  at  which  they  were  purchased,  by  the  most 
unworthy  treatment  of  those  to  whom  they  owe  them  ; 
misrepresent  their  actions,  calumniate  their  motives, 
and  cruelly  load  their  memories  with  every  species 
of  abuse ! 

Patriots  have  toil'd,  and  in  their  country's  cause 
Bled  noblj;  and  their  deeds,  as  they  deserve, 

Receive  proud  recom[>en8e. 

But  fairer  wreaths  are  due,  though  never  paid, 
To  those  who,  posted  at  the  shria«  of  truth, 
Have  fallen  in  her  defence. 
Yet  few  remember  them. 


•■ ' -With  their  names 

No  bard  embalms  and  sanctifies  his  song  : 
And  history,  so  warm  on  meaner  themes. 
Is  cold  on  this.     She  execrates  indeed 
The  tyranny  that  doom'd  them  to  the  fire. 
But  gives  the  glorious  sufferers  little  praise. 

Cowper,  Task,  Book  V.» 


•  In  the  margin,  Cowper  names  Hume  as  chargeable  with 
the  injustice  which  he  so  feelingly  upbraids.  While  it  is  pain- 
ful to  think  that  other  historians,  since  Hume,  have  exposed 
thenisrires  to  the  same  censure,  it  it  pleasing  to  reflect,  that 


The  reformed  doctrine  had  made  considerable  pro- 
gress in  Scotland,  before  it  was  embraced  by  Knox. 
Patrick  Hamilton,  a  youth  of  royal  lineage,*  obtain- 
ed the  honour,  not  conferred  upon  many  of  his  rank, 
of  first  announcing  its  glad  tidings  to  his  countrymen, 
and  of  sealing  them  with  his  blood.  He  was  born  in 
the  year  1504 ;  and  being  designed  for  the  church  by 
his  relations,  the  abbacy  of  Feme  was  conferred  upon 
him  in  his  childhood,  according  to  a  ridiculous  custom 
which  prevailed  at  that  period.  But  as  early  as  the 
year  1526,  previous  to  the  breach  of  Henry  VHI.  with 
the  Romish  See,  a  gleam  of  light  was,  by  some  un- 
known means,f  imparted  to  his  mind,  amidst  the 
darkness  which  brooded  around  him.  His  recom- 
mendations of  ancient  literature,  at  the  expence  of  the 
philosophy  which  was  then  taught  in  the  schools,  and 
the  free  language  which  he  used  in  speaking  of  the 
corruptions  of  the  church,  had  already  drawn  upon 
him  the  suspicions  of  the  clergy,  when  he  resolved  to 
leave  Scotland,  and  to  improve  his  mind  by  travelling 
on  the  Continent.  He  set  out  with  three  attendants, 
and  attracted  by  the  fame  of  Luther,  repaired  to  Wit- 
temberg.  Luther  and  Melanchthon  were  highly 
pleased  with  his  zeal,  and  after  retaining  him  a  short 
time  with  them,  they  recommended  him  to  the  uni- 
versity of  Marpurg.  This  university  was  newly 
erected  by  that  enlightened  prince,  Philip,  Landgrave 
of  Hesse,  who  had  placed  at  its  head  the  learned,  and 
pious  Francis  Lambert  of  Avignon.  Lambert,  who 
had  left  his  native  country,  and  sacrificed  a  lucrative 
situation,  from  love  to  the  reformed  religion,  conceived 
a  strong  attachment  to  the  young  Scotsman,  who  im- 
bibed his  instructions  with  extraordinary  avidity. 
While  he  was  daily  advancing  in  acquaintance  with 
the  scriptures,  Hamilton  was  seized  with  an  uncon- 
querable desire  of  imparting  to  his  countrymen  the 
knowledge  which  he  had  acquired.  In  vain  did  Lam- 
bert represent  to  him  the  dangers  to  which  he  would 
be  exposed  ;  his  determination  was  fixed  ;  and  taking 
along  with  him  a  single  attendant,  he  left  Marpurg, 
and  returned  to  Scotland.:}: 

The  clergy  did  not  allow  him  long  time  to  dissemi- 
nate his  opinions.  Pretending  to  wish  a  free  conference 
with  him,  they  decoyed  him  to  St.  Andrews,  where  he 
was  thrown  into  prison  by  Archbishop  Beatoun,  and 
committed  to  the  flames,  on  the  last  day  of  February 
1528,  and  in  the  twenty-fourth  year  of  his  age.  On 
his  trial  he  defended  his  opinions  with  firmness,  yet 
with  great  modesty ;  and  the  mildness,  patience,  and 
fortitude,  which  he  displayed  at  the  slake,  equalled 
those  of  the  first  martyrs  of  Christianity.  He  expired 
with  these  words  in  his  mouth.  How  long,  0  Lord, 
shall  darkness  cover  this  realm !  How  long  wilt  thou 
suffer  this  tyranny  of  men !  Lord  Jesus,  receive  my 
spirit.\\  "The  murder  of  Hamilton  (says  a  historian 
of  that  period)  was  afterwards  avenged  in  the  blood 
of  the  nephew  and  successor  of  his  persecutor  ;"  and 
the  flames  in  which  he  expired  were,  "  in  the  course 


Cowper  is  not  the  only  poet,  who  has  "  sanctified,"  and,  I  trust, 
"  embalmed  his  song"  with  the  praises  of  these  patriots.  The 
reader  will  easily  perceive  that  I  refer  to  the  author  of  77ia 
Sabbath. 

*  His  father.  Sir  Patrick  Hamilton  of  Kincavil,  was  a  son  of 
Lord  Hamilton,  who  married  a  sister  of  King  James  III.  Hit 
mother  was  a  daughter  of  John,  Duke  of  Albany,  brother  to  the 
same  monarch,     rinkerton's  Hist,  of  Scotland,  ii.  45 — 6,289. 

•f-  There  was  an  act  of  Parliament,  as  early  as  17th  July,  1525, 
prohibiting  ships  from  bringing  any  books  of  Luther  into  Scot- 
land, whic!n  had  always  "  bene  dene  of  all  sic  filth  and  vice." 
Acta  Parliamentorum  Scotiae.  p.  295.  This  renders  it  highly 
probable,  that  such  books  had  already  been  introduced  into 
this  country. 

J  F.  Laraberti  Avenionensis  Comment,  in  Apocalypsin,  Prte- 
fat.  Anno  1528. 

II  Lambert,  ut  supra.  Be«e  Icones,  Ffj.  Fox.  888.  Knox, 
4—6.  Lindsay  of  Pitscottie's  History  of  Scotland,  p.  133 — 5. 
Eden.  1728.  This  last  author  gives  a  very  interesting  account 
of  Hamilton's  trial,  but  he  is  wrong  as  to  the  year  ofhis  mar- 
tyrdom. 


LIFE   OP  JOHN   KNOX. 


«y 


of  one  generation,  to  enlighten  all  Scotland,  and  to 
consume,  with  avenging  fury,  the  catholic  superstition, 
the  papal  power,  and  the  prelac)'  itself."* 

The  good  effects  which  resulted  from  the  martyrdom 
of  Hamilton  very  soon  began  to  appear.  Many  of  the 
learned,  as  well  as  of  the  common  people,  in  St. 
Andrews,  beheld  with  deep  interest  the  cruel  death  of 
a  person  of  rank,  and  they  could  not  refrain  from  ad- 
miring the  heroism  with  which  he  endured  it.  This 
excited  inquiry  into  the  opinions  for  which  he  suffered, 
and  the  result  of  inquiry  in  many  cases  was  a  con- 
viction of  their  truth.  Gawin  Logic,  Rector  of  St. 
Leonard's  College,  was  so  successful  in  instilling 
them  into  the  minds  of  the  students,  that  it  became 
proverbial  to  say  of  any  one  suspected  of  Lutheran- 
ism,  that  "he  had  drunk  of  St.  Leonard's  well."f 
Under  the  connivance  of  John  Winram,X  the  Sub- 
prior,  they  also  secretly  spread  among  the  noviciates 
of  the  Abbey. 

These  sentiments  were  not  long  confined  to  St.  An- 
drews, and  every  where  persons  were  to  be  found  who 
held  that  Patrick  Hamilton  had  died  a  martyr.  Alarm- 
ed at  the  progress  of  the  new  opinions,  the  clergy 
adopted  the  most  rigorous  measures  for  their  extirpa- 
tion. Strict  inquisition  was  made  after  heretics  ;  the 
flames  of  persecution  were  kindled  in  all  quarters  of 
the  country  ;  and,  from  1530  to  1540,  many  innocent 
and  excellent  men  suffered  the  most  inhuman  death. || 
Henry  Forrest,  David  Straiten,  Norman  Gourlay, 
Jerom  Russel,  Kennedy,  Kyllor,  Beveridge,  Duncan 
Sympson,  Robert  Forrester,  and  Thomas  Poorest,  were 
the  names  of  those  early  martyrs,  whose  sufferings 
deserve  a  more  conspicuous  place  than  can  be  given 
to  them  in  these  pages.  A  few,  whose  constancy  was 
overcome  by  the  horrors  of  the  stake,  purchased  their 
lives  by  abjuring  their  opinions.  Numbers  made  their 
escape  to  England  and  the  continent;  among  whom 
were  the  following  learned  men,  Gawin  Logie,  Alex- 
ander Seatoun,  Alexander  Aless,  John  Macbee,  John 
Fife,  John  Macdowal,  John  Macbray,  George  Buchan- 
an, James  Harrison,  and  Robert  Richardson.§  Few 
of  these  exiles  afterwards  returned  to  their  native 
country.  England,  Denmark,  Germany,  France,  and 
even  Portugal,  offered  refuge  to  them;  and  foreign 
universities  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  those  talents  which 
their  bigoted  countrymen  were  incapable  of  appreciat- 
ing. To  maintain  their  authority,  and  to  preserve 
those  corruptions  from  which  they  derived  their  wealth, 
the  clergy  would  willingly  have  driven  into  banish- 
ment all  the  learned  men  in  the  kingdom,  and  quench- 
ed for  ever  the  light  of  science  in  Scotland. 

Various  causes  contributed  to  prevent  these  violent 
measures  from  arresting  the  progress  of  the  truth. 
Among  these  the  first  place  is  unquestionably  due  to 
the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures  in  the  vulgar  language. 
Against  this  the  patrons  of  ignorance  had  endeavoured 
to  guard  with  the  utmost  jealousy.  But  when  the  de- 
sire of  knowledge  has  once  been  excited  among  a  peo- 
file,  they  easily  contrive  methods  of  eluding  the  vigi- 
ance  of  those  who  would  prevent  them  from  gratifying 
it.  By  means  of  merchants  who  traded,  from  England 
and  the  continent,  to  the  ports  of  Leith,  Dundee,  and 
Montrose,  Tindall's  Translations  of  the  Scriptures, 
with  many  Protestant  books,  were  imported.  These 
were  consigned  to  persons  of  tried  principles  and  pru- 
dence, who  circulated  them  in  private  with  great  in- 
dustry. One  copy  of  the  Bible,  or  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, supplied  several  families.  At  the  dead  hour  of 
night,  when  others  were  asleep,  they  assembled  in  one 
house  ;  the  sacred  volume  was  brought  from  its  con- 
cealment;  and,  while  one  read,  the  rest  listened  with 

«  Pinkerton.  t  Cald.  MS.  i.  69. 

\  In  1546,  Winram  having  spoken  to  the  bishops  in  favour 
of  George  Wishart,  Cardinal  Beatoun  upbraided  him,  saying, 
"  Well,  sir,  and  you,  we  know  what  a  man  you  are,  seven  years 
ago."     Pitscottie,  189. 

II  See  Note  VIII.  }  See  Note  IX. 


mute  attention.  In  this  way  the  knowledge  of  the 
scriptures  was  diffused,  at  a  period  when  it  does  not 
appear  that  there  were  any  public  teachers  of  the  truth 
in  Scotland.* 

Nor  must  we  overlook  another  means  which  oper- 
ated very  extensively  in  alienating  the  public  mind 
from  the  established  religion.  Those  who  have  in- 
vestigated the  causes  which  led  to  the  Reformation 
on  the  Continent  have  ascribed  a  considerable  share 
of  influence  to  the  writings  of  the  poets  and  sati- 
rists of  the  age.  Poetry  has  charms  for  persons  of 
every  description ;  and  in  return  for  the  pleasure 
which  it  affords  them,  mankind  have  in  all  ages  been 
disposed  to  allow  a  greater  liberty  to  poets  than  to 
any  other  class  of  writers.  Strange  as  it  may  appear, 
the  poets  who  flourished  before  the  Reformation  used 
very  great  freedom  with  the  church,  and  there  were 
not  wanting  many  persons  of  exalted  rank  who  en- 
couraged them  in  this  species  of  composition.  The 
same  individuals  who  were  ready,  at  the  call  of  the 
pope  and  clergy,  to  undertake  a  crusade  for  extirpat- 
ing heresy,  entertained  poets  who  inveighed  against 
the  abuses  of  the  court  of  Rome,  and  lampooned  the 
religious  orders.  One  day  they  assisted  at  an  Auto- 
da-fe,  in  which  heretics  were  committed  to  the  flames 
for  the  preservation  of  the  Catholic  church  ;  next  day 
they  were  present  at  the  acting  of  a  pantomime  or  a 
play,  in  which  the  ministers  of  that  church  were  held 
up  to  ridicule.  Intoxicated  with  power  and  lulled 
asleep  by  indolence,  the  clergy  had  either  overlooked 
these  attacks,  or  treated  them  with  contempt;  it  was 
only  from  experience  that  they  learned  their  injurious 
tendency ;  and  before  they  made  the  discovery,  the 
practice  had  become  so  common  that  it  could  no 
longer  be  restrained.  This  weapon  was  wielded  with 
great  success  by  the  friends  of  the  reformed  doctrine 
in  Scotland.  Some  of  their  number  had  acquired 
great  celebrity  among  their  countrymen  as  poets;  and 
others,  who  could  not  lay  claim  to  high  poetical  merit, 
possessed  a  peculiar  talent  for  wit  and  humour.  They 
employed  themselves  in  writing  satires,  in  which  the 
ignorance,  the  negligence,  and  the  immorality  of  the 
clergy  were  stigmatised,  and^the  absurdities  and  su- 
perstitions of  the  Popish  religion  exposed  to  ridicule. 
These  poetical  effusions  were  easily  committed  to 
memory,  and  were  circulated  without  the  intervention 
of  the  press,  which  was  at  that  time  entirely  under 
the  control  of  the  bishops.  An  attack  still  more  bold 
was  made  upon  the  church.  Dramatic  compositions, 
partly  written  in  the  same  strain,  were  repeatedly  acted 
in  the  presence  of  the  Royal  family,  the  nobility,  and 
vast  assemblies  of  people,  to  the  great  mortification, 
and  still  greater  disadvantage  of  the  clergy.  The 
bishops  repeatedly  procured  the  enactment  of  laws 
against  the  circulation  of  seditious  rhymes,  and  blas- 
phemous ballads ;  but  metrical  epistles,  moralities, 
and  psalms,  in  the  Scottish  language,  continued  to  be 
read  with  avidity,  notwithstanding  prohibitory  statutes 
and  prosecutions. f 

In  the  year  1540,  the  reformed  doctrine  could  num- 
ber among  its  converts,  besides  a  multitude  of  the 
common  people,  many  persons  of  rank  and  external 
respectability ;  as  William,  Earl  of  Glencairn,  his 
son  Alexander,  Lord  Kilmaurs,  William,  Earl  of 
Errol,  William,  Lord  Ruthven,  his  daughter  Lillias, 
married  to  the  Master  of  Drummond,  John  Stewart, 
son  of  Lord  Methven,  Sir  James  Sandliands,  with 
his  whole  family.  Sir  David  Lindsay,  Erskine  of  Dun, 
Melville  of  Raith,  Balnaves  of  Halihill,  Stralton  of 
Lauriston,  with  William  Johnston,  and  Robert  Alex- 
ander, Advocates. :|:  The  early  period  at  which  they 
were  enrolled  as  friends  to  the  Reformation  renders 


«  Wodrow's  MSB.  in  Bibl.  Coll.  Glas.  vol.  i.  p.  2.  Calder- 
wood's  MS.  Hist,  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  vol.  i.  p.  35. 
Knox,  Historic,  p.  22.  f  See  note  X. 

t  Cald.  MS.  i.  103,  119.    Sadler,  i.  47.    Knox,  21,24. 


38 


LIFE    OF  JOHN   KNOX. 


these  names  more  worthy  of  consideration.  It  has 
often  been  alledged,  that  the  desire  of  sharing  in  the 
rich  spoils  of  the  Popish  church,  together  with  the 
intrigues  of  the  court  of  England,  engaged  the  Scot- 
tish nobles  on  the  side  of  the  Reformed  religion.  At 
a  later  period,  there  is  reason  to  think  that  this  al- 
legation was  not  altogether  groundless.  But  at  the 
time  of  which  we  now  speak,  the  prospect  of  over- 
turning the  established  church  was  too  distant  and 
uncertain,  to  induce  persons,  who  had  no  higher 
motive  than  to  gratify  avarice,  to  take  a  step  by 
which  they  exposed  their  lives  and  fortunes  to  the 
most  imminent  hazard  ;  nor  had  the  English  monarch 
yet  extended  his  influence  in  Scotland,  by  those  arts 
of  political  intrigue  which  he  afterwards  employed. 

During  the  two  last  years  of  the  reign  of  James  V. 
the  numbers  of  the  reformed  rapidly  increased.  Twice 
did  the  clergy  attempt  to  cut  them  off  by  a  desperate 
blow.  They  presented  to  the  king  a  list,  containing 
the  names  of  some  hundreds,  possessed  of  property 
and  wealth,  whom  they  denounced  as  heretics  ;  and 
endeavoured  to  procure  his  consent  to  their  condemna- 
tion, by  flattering  him  with  the  immense  riches  which 
■would  accrue  to  him  from  the  forfeiture  of  their 
estates.  When  this  proposal  was  first  made  to  him, 
James  rejected  it  with  strong  marks  of  displeasure  ; 
but  so  violent  was  the  antipathy  which  he  at  last 
conceived  against  his  nobility,  and  so  much  had  he 
fallen  under  the  influence  of  the  clergy,  that  it  is 
highly  probable  he  would  have  yielded  to  their  soli- 
citations, if  the  disgraceful  issue  of  an  expedition 
which  they  had  instigated  him  to  undertake  against 
the  English,  had  not  impaired  his  reason,  and  put  an 
end  to  his  unhappy  life  on  the  13th  of  December, 
1542.* 


PERIOD  II.       • 

From  the  year  1542,  when  he  embraced  the  Reformed  Reli- 
gion, to  the  year  1549,  when  he  was  released  from  the 
French  galleys. 

While  this  fermentation  of  opinion  was  spreading 
through  the  nation,  Knox,  from  the  state  in  which 
his  mind  was,  could  not  remain  long  unaffected.  The 
reformed  doctrines  had  been  imbibed  by  several  per- 
sons of  his  acquaintance,  and  they  were  the  topic  of 
common  conversation  and  dispute  among  the  learned 
and   inquisitive  at   the   university. f     His  change  of 


•  Sadler,  i.  94.  Knox,  27,  28.  Pitscottie,  164.  Keith,  22. 
Sir  James  Melvil's  Memoirs,  2—4.  Lond,  1683.  Knox  says 
that  the  roll  contained  "mo  than  ane  hundreth  landit  men,  be- 
sides utheris  of  nieener  degre,  amongis  quhorae  was  the  Lord 
Hamiltoun,  then  second  persoun  of  the  realme."  Sadler  says, 
"  eighteen  score  noblemen  and  gentlemen,  all  well  minded  to 
God's  word,  which  then  they  durst  not  avow  ;"  among'  whom 
were  the  Earl  of  Arran,  the  Earl  of  Cassils,  and  the  Earl 
Marishal.  Pitscottie  says,  "seventeen  score;"  but  he  includes 
in  his  account,  not  only  "Earls,  Lords,  Barons,  Gentlemen," 
but  also  "honest  burgesses  and  craftsmen." 

t  The  progress  or  opinion  in  Scotland,  and  the  jealous 
measures  adopted  for  checking  it,  may  be  traced  in  tlie  varia- 
tions introduced  into  the  Act  of  Parliament  17th  July,  1525, 
Jbr  eschewing  of  Herety,  as  these  are  marked  in  the  original 
record.  The  act  as  originally  drawn,  in  prohibiting  the  re- 
hearsing of  or  disputing  about  the  heresies  of  Luther  or  his 
disciples,  has  this  exception,  "  gif  it  be  to  the  confusioun  thair- 
of ;"  but  this  being  thought  too  loose,  the  following  clause  is 
added  on  the  margin,  "  and  that  be  clerkis  in  the  sculis  alaner- 
lie."  According  to  the  tenor  of  the  Act  when  passed  in  1525, 
"  na  maner  of  persoun,  Strangear,  that  happinis  to  arrive  with 
thare  grhip  within  ony  part  of  this  realme,  bring  with  thame 
ony  bukis  or  workis  of  tne  said  Luther  his  discipulis  or  ser- 
vandis,  disputis  or  rehersis  his  hcreseis,  &c.  under  the  pane  of 
escheting  thare  schipis  and  guidis,  and  putting  of  thaire  per- 
•onis  in  presoun."  But  in  1527,  the  Chancellor  and  Lords  of 
Council  added  this  clause,  ''and  all  uther  the  kingis  liegis  as- 
tistaris  to  sic  opunycons  be  punist  in  semeible  wise,  and  the 
eflfect  of  the  saia  Act  to  straik  upon  thaim."  From  this  Act  it 
appears,  that  in  1525  protestant  books  and  opinions  were  cir- 
culated by  strangen  only,  who  came  into  Scotland  for  the  pur- 


views first  discovered  itself  in  his  philosophical  lec- 
tures, in  which  he  began  to  forsake  the  scholastic 
path,  and  to  recommend  to  his  pupils  a  more  rational 
and  useful  method  of  study.  Even  this  innovation 
excited  against  him  violent  suspicions  of  heresy,  which 
were  confirmed,  when  he  proceeded  to  reprehend  the 
corruptions  that  prevailed  in  the  church.  It  was  im- 
possible for  him,  after  this  to  remain  in  safety  at  St. 
Andrews,  which  was  wholly  under  the  power  of  Car- 
dinal Beatoun,  the  most  determined  supporter  of  the 
Romish  church,  and  enemy  of  all  reform.  He  left 
that  place,  and  retired  to  the  south  of  Scotland,  where, 
within  a  short  time,  he  avowed  his  full  belief  of  the 
protestant  doctrine.  Provoked  by  his  defection,  and 
alarmed  lest  he  should  draw  others  after  him,  the 
clergy  were  anxious  to  rid  themselves  of  such  an  ad- 
versary. Having  passed  sentence  against  him  as  a 
heretic,  and  degraded  him  from  the  priesthood,  (says 
Beza)  the  Cardinal  employed  assassins  to  way-lay 
him,  by  whose  hands  he  must  have  fallen,  had  not 
Providence  placed  him  under  the  protection  of  the  laird 
of  Langniddrie.* 

The  change  produced  in  the  political  state  of  the 
kingdom  by  the  death  of  James  V.  had  great  influence 
upon  the  Reformation.  After  a  bold  but  unsuccessful 
attempt  by  Cardinal  Beatoun  to  secure  to  himself  the 
government  during  the  minority  of  the  infant  Queen, 
the  Earl  of  Arran  was  peaceably  established  in  the 
regency.  Arran  had  formerly  shewed  himself  attached 
to  the  reformed  doctrines,  and  he  was  now  surrounded 
with  counsellors  who  were  of  the  same  principles. 
Henry  VIII.  laid  hold  of  this  opportunity  for  accom- 
plishing his  favourite  measure  of  uniting  the  two 
crowns,  and  eagerly  pressed  a  marriage  between  his 
son  Edward  and  the  young  Queen  of  Scots.  Notwith- 
standing the  determined  opposition  of  the  whole  body 
of  the  clergy,  the  Scottish  parliament  agreed  to  the 
match;  commissioners  were  sent  into  England  to 
settle  the  terms ;  and  the  contract  of  marriage  was 
drawn  out,  subscribed,  and  ratified  by  all  the  parties. 
But  through  the  intrigues  of  the  Cardinal  and  Queen- 
mother,  the  fickleness  and  timidity  of  the  Regent,  and 
the  violence  of  the  English  monarch,  the  treaty,  after 
proceeding  so  far,  was  broken  off;  and  Arran  not  only 
renounced  connection  with  England,  but  publicly  ab- 
jured the  Reformed  religion  in  the  church  of  Stirling. 
The  Scottish  Queen  was  soon  after  betrothed  to  the 
Dauphin  of  France,  and  sent  into  that  kingdom ;  a 
measure  which  at  a  subsequent  period  had  nearly  ac- 
complished the  ruin  of  the  independence  of  Scotland, 
and  the  extirpation  of  the  Protestant  religion. 

The  Reformation  had,  however,  made  very  consider- 
able progress  during  the  short  time  that  it  was  patron- 
ised by  the  Regent.  The  parliament  passed  an  act 
declaring  it  lawful  for  all  the  subjects  to  read  the 
Scriptures  in  the  vulgar  language.  This  act,  which 
was  proclaimed  in  spite  of  the  protestations  of  the 
bishops,  was  a  signal  triumph  of  truth  over  error.f 
Formerly  it  was  reckoned  a  crime  to  look  on  the  sacred 
books  ;  now  to  read  them  was  safe,  and  even  the  way 
to  honour.  The  Bible  was  to  be  seen  on  every  gentle- 
man's table;  the  New  Testament  was  almost  in  every 
one's  hands. :|:  Hitherto  the  Reformation  had  been 
advanced  by  books  imported  from  England,  but  now 
the  errors  of  Popery   were   attacked   in  publications 


pose  of  trade;  bnt  that  in  1527,  it  was  found  necessary  to  ex- 
tend the  penalties  of  the  act  to  natives  of  the  kingdom.  Both 
these  additions  were  embodied  in  the  Act  as  renewed  12lh 
June,  1535.  Acta  Parliamentorum  Scotiae,  p.  295,  331 — 2,  now 
in  progress  towards  publication  under  the  authority  of  his 
Majesty's  Commissioners  on  the  Public  Records  of  the  King- 
dom. Having  been  indulged  with  the  perusal  of  this  valuable 
work,  as  far  as  printed,  I  shall  afterwards  have  occasion  to 
quote  it  under  the  title  of  Act.  Pari.  Scot. 

*  Beza;  Icones,  E.e.  iij. 

t  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  p.  415,  425.  Sadler's  Letters,  i,  83. 
Crawfurd's  Officers  of  Sute,  77,  438.     Keith,  36—7. 

t  Knox,  34. 


LIFE    OF  JOHN   KNOX 


2» 


which  issued  from  the  Scottish  press.  The  reformed 
preachers,  whom  the  Regent  had  chosen  as  chaplains, 
disseminated  their  doctrines  throughout  the  kingdom, 
and  under  the  sanction  of  his  authority,  made  many 
converts  from  the  Roman  Catholic  faith.* 

One  of  these  preachers  deserves  particular  notice 
here,  as  it  was  by  means  of  his  sermons  that  Knox 
first  perceived  the  beauty  of  evangelical  truth,  and  had 
deep  impressions  of  religion  made  upon  his  heart.f 
Thnmas  Guillaume,  or  Williams,  was  born  at  Athel- 
stoneford,  a  village  of  East  Lothian,  and  had  entered 
into  the  order  of  Blackfriars,  or  Dominican  monks, 
among  whom  he  rose  to  great  eminence.:|:  But  hav- 
ing embraced  the  sentiments  of  the  Reformers,  he 
threw  off  the  monkish  habit.  His  learning  and  elocu- 
tion recommended  him  to  Arran  and  his  protestant 
counsellors  ;  and  he  was  much  esteemed  by  the  people 
as  a  clear  expositor  of  Scripture.  When  the  Regent 
began  to  waver  in  his  attachment  to  the  Reformation, 
Guillaume  was  dismissed  from  the  court,  and  retired 
unto  England,  after  which  I  do  not  find  him  noticed 
in  history. 

But  the  person  to  whom  our  Reformer  was  most  in- 
debted, was  George  Wishart,  a  brother  to  the  laird 
of  Pittarow,  in  Mearns.  Being  driven  into  banishment 
by  the  bishop  of  Brechin,  for  teaching  the  Greek  Tes- 
tament in  Montrose,  he  had  resided  for  some  years  at 
the  university  of  Cambridge.  In  the  year  1544,  he 
returned  to  his  native  country,  in  the  company  of  the 
commissioners,  who  had  been  sent  to  negociate  a  treaty 
with  Henry  VIH.  of  England.  Seldom  do  we  meet, 
in  ecclesiastical  history,  with  a  character  so  amiable 
and  interesting,  as  that  of  George  Wishart.  Excel- 
ling all  his  countrymen  at  that  period  in  learning,  of 
the  most  persuasive  eloquence,  irreproachable  in  life, 
courteous  and  affable  in  manners ;  his  fervent  piety, 
zeal,  and  courage  in  the  cause  of  truth,  were  tempered 
with  uncommon  meekness,  modesty,  patience,  prudence, 
and  charity. II  In  his  tour  of  preaching  through  Scot- 
land, he  was  usually  accompanied  by  some  of  the  prin- 
cipal gentry;  and  the  people,  who  flocked  to  hear  him, 
were  ravished  with  his  discourses.  To  this  teacher 
Knox  attached  himself,  and  profited  greatly  by  his 
sermons,  and  private  instructions.  During  the  last 
visit  which  Wishart  paid  to  Lothian,  Knox  waited 
constantly  on  his  person,  and  bore  the  sword,  which 
was  carried  before  him,  from  the  time  that  an  attempt 
was  made  to  assassinate  him  at  Dundee.  Wishart 
was  highly  pleased  with  the  zeal  of  his  faithful  at- 
tendant, and  seems  to  have  presaged  his  future  useful- 
ness, at  the  same  time  that  he  laboured  under  a  strong 
presentiment  of  his  own  approaching  martyrdom.  On 
the  night  in  which  he  was  apprehended  by  Bothwell, 
at  the  instigation  of  the  Cardinal,  he  directed  the  sword 
to  be  taken  from  Knox,  and  while  he  insisted  for  liberty 
to  accompany  him  to  Ormiston,  dismissed  him  with 
this  reply,  "  Nay,  return  to  your  bairnes  (meaning  his 
pupils),  and  God  blis  you  :  ane  is  sufficient  for  a  sacri- 
fice." 

Having  relinquished  all  thoughts  of  ofliciating  in 
that  church  which  had  invested  him  with  clerical 
orders,  Knox  had  entered  as  tutor  into  the  family  of 
Hugh  Douglas  of  Langniddrie,  a  gentleman  in  East 
Lothian,  who  had  embraced  the  reformed  doctrines. 
John  Cockburn  of  Ormiston,  a  neighbouring  gentleman 
of  the  same  persuasion,  also  put  his  son  under  his  tui- 
tion. These  young  men  were  instructed  by  him  in  the 
principles  of  religion,  as  well  as  of  the  learned  lan- 
guages.    He  managed   their   religious  instruction  in 


*  Knox,  33—4. 

t  Life,  prefixed  to  History  of  the  Reformation,  Anno  1644. 

X  Cald.  MS.  i.  118.  Calderwood  says  that  he  was  provin- 
cial of  the  order  of  Dominicans,  or  Blackfriars  in  Scotland. 
But  a  late  author  informs  us,  that  the  chartulary  of  the  Black- 
friars' monastery  at  Perth  mentions  John  Grierson  as  having 
been  provincial  from  the  year  1525,  to  the  time  of  the  Refor- 
mation.    Scott's  History  of  the  Reformers,  p.  96. 

ij  See  Note  XI. 


such  a  way  as  to  allow  the  rest  of  the  family,  and  the 
people  of  the  neighbourhood,  to  reap  advantage  from 
it.  He  catechised  them  publicly  in  a  chapel  at 
Langniddrie,  in  which  he  also  read  to  them,  at  stated 
times,  a  chapter  of  the  Bible,  accompanied  with  expla- 
natory remarks.  The  memory  of  this  fact  has  been 
preserved  by  tradition,  and  the  chapel,  the  ruins  of 
which  are  still  apparent,  is  popularly  called  John 
Knox's  Kirk.* 

It  was  not  to  be  expected,  that  he  would  be  suffered 
long  to  continue  this  employment,  under  a  government 
which  was  now  entirely  at  the  devotion  of  Cardinal 
Beatoun,  who  had  gained  a  complete  ascendant  over 
the  mind  of  the  timid  and  irresolute  Regent.  But  in 
the  midst  of  his  cruelties,  and  while  he  was  planning 
still  more  desperate  deeds, f  the  Cardinal  was  himself 
suddenly  cut  off.  A  conspiracy  was  formed  against 
his  life;  and  a  small,  but  determined  band,  (some  of 
whom  seem  to  have  been  instigated  by  resentment  for 
private  injuries,  and  the  Influence  of  the  English  court, 
others  animated  by  a  desire  to  revenge  his  cruelties, 
and  deliver  their  country  from  his  oppression),  seized 
upon  the  castle  of  St.  Andrews,  in  which  he  resided, 
and  put  him  to  death,  on  the  29th  of  May,  1546. 

The  death  of  Beatoun  did  not,  however,  free  Knox 
from  persecution.  John  Hamilton,  an  illegitimate 
brother  of  the  Regent,  who  was  nominated  to  the  va- 
cant bishoprick,  sought  his  life  with  as  great  eagerness 
as  his  predecessor.  He  was  obliged  to  conceal  him- 
self, and  to  remove  from  place  to  place,  to  provide  for 
his  safety.  Wearied  with  this  mode  of  living,  and 
apprehensive  that  he  would  some  day  fall  into  the 
hands  of  his  enemies,  he  came  to  the  resolution  of 
leaving  Scotland. 

England  presented  the  readiest  and  most  natural 
sanctuary  to  those  who  were  persecuted  by  the  Scot- 
tish prelates.  But  though  they  usually  fled  to  that 
kingdom  in  the  first  instance,  they  did  not  find  their 
situation  comfortable,  and  the  greater  part,  after  a 
short  residence  there,  proceeded  to  the  continent. 
Henry  VIII.  from  motives  which,  to  say  the  least, 
were  highly  suspicious  had  renounced  subjection  to 
the  Romish  See,  and  compelled  his  subjects  to  follow 
his  example.  He  invested  himself  with  the  ecclesias- 
tical supremacy,  within  his  own  dominions,  which  he 
had  wrested  from  the  Bishop  of  Rome ;  and  in  the 
arrogant  and  violent  exercise  of  that  power,  the  Eng- 
lish Pope  was  scarcely  exceeded  by  any  of  the  pre- 
tended successors  of  St.  Peter.  Having  signalized 
himself  at  a  former  period  as  a  literary  champion 
against  Luther,  he  was  anxious  to  demonstrate  that 
his  breach  with  the  court  of  Rome  had  not  alienated 
him  from  the  Catholic  faith ;  and  he  would  suffer  none 
to  proceed  a  step  beyond  the  narrow  and  capricious 
line  of  reform  which  he  was  pleased  to  prescribe. 
Hence  the  motley  system  of  religion  which  he  estab- 
lished, and  the  contradictory  measures  by  which  it 
was  supported.  Statutes  against  the  authority  of  the 
Pope,  and  against  the  tenets  of  Luther,  were  enacted 
in  the  same  parliament ;  and  Papists  and  Protestants 
were  alternately  brought  to  the  same  stake.  The  Pro- 
testants in  Scotland  were  universally  dissatisfied  with 
this  bastard  reformation,  a  circumstance  which  had 
contributed  not  a  little  to  cool  their  zeal  for  the  lately 
proposed  alliance  with  England.  Sir  Ralph  Sadler, 
his  ambassador,  found  himself  in  a  very  awkward  pre- 
dicament on  this  account ;  for  the  Papists  were  offend- 
ed because  he  had  gone  so  far  from  Rome,  the  Protes- 


*  Chalmers's  Caledonia,  ii.  526.  conip.  Knox,  Historie,  67. 

f  In  his  progress  through  the  kingdom  with  the  Governor, 
he  instigated  hira,  "to  hang  (at  Perth)  four  honest  men,  for 
eating  of  a  goose  on  Friday;  and  drowned  a  young  woman, 
because  she  refused  to  pray  to  our  lady  in  her  birth."  Pitscot- 
tie,  188.  Knox  says,  that  the  woman  "  having  a  soucking  babe 
upoun  hir  briest,  was  drounit."  Historie,  40.  Petrie's  His- 
tory of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  Part  ii.  p.  182.  He  had 
planned  the  destruction  of  the  principal  gentlemen  of  Fife,  a« 
appeared  from  docuiuents  found  after  his  death,    Knox,  63,  64. 


30 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


tants  because  he  had  not  gone  farther.  The  latter 
disrelished,  in  particular,  the  restrictions  which  he 
had  imposed  upon  the  reading  and  interpretation  of  the 
scriptures,  and  which  he  urged  the  Regent  to  imitate 
in  Scotland.  And  they  had  no  desire  for  the  King^s 
Bopk,  of  which  Sadler  was  furnished  with  copies  to 
distribute,  and  which  lay  as  a  drug  upon  his  hands.* 

On  these  accounts  Knox  had  no  desire  to  go  to 
England,  where  although  "the  Pope's  name  was  sup- 
pressed, his  laws  and  corruptions  remained  in  full 
vigour."!  His  determination  was  to  visit  Germany, 
and  to  prosecute  his  studies  in  some  of  the  Protestant 
universities,  until  he  should  see  a  favourable  change 
in  the  state  of  his  native  country.  The  lairds  of  Lang- 
niddrie  and  Ormiston  were  extremely  reluctant  to  part 
with  him,  and  they  prevailed  on  him  to  relinquish  his 
design,  and  to  repair  along  with  their  sons,  to  the 
Castle  of  St.  Andrews.:}: 

The  conspirators  against  Cardinal  Beatoun  kept 
possession  of  the  castle  after  fiis  death.  The  Regent 
had  assembled  an  army  and  laid  siege  to  it,  from  a 
desire,  not  so  much  to  revenge  the  murder  of  the  Car- 
dinal, at  whose  fall  he  secretly  rejoiced,  as  to  comply 
with  the  importunity  of  the  clergy,  and  to  release  his 
eldest  son,  who  had  been  retained  by  Beatoun  as  a 
pledge  of  his  father's  fidelity,  and  had  now  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  the  conspirators.  But  the  besieged  hav- 
ing obtained  assistance  from  England  baffled  all  his 
skill ;  and  a  treaty  was  at  last  concluded,  by  which 
they  engaged  to  deliver  up  the  castle  to  the  Regent, 
upon  his  procuring  to  them  from  Rome  a  pardon  for 
the  Cardinal's  murder.  The  pardon  was  obtained ; 
but  the  conspirators  alarmed,  or  affecting  to  be  alarmed, 
at  the  contradictory  terms  in  which  it  was  expressed, 
refused  to  perform  their  stipulation,  and  the  Regent 
felt  himself  unable,  without  foreign  aid,  to  enforce  a 
compliance.  In  this  interval,  a  number  of  persons 
■who  were  harassed  for  their  attachment  to  the  reformed 
sentiments,  repaired  to  the  castle,  where  they  enjoyed 
the  free  exercise  of  their  religion. || 

Writers  unfriendly  to  Knox  have  endeavoured  to  fix 
an  accusation  upon  him,  respecting  the  assassination 
of  Cardinal  Beatoun.  Some  have  ignorantly  asserted, 
that  he  was  one  of  the  conspirators.§  Others,  better 
informed,  have  argued  that  he  made  himself  accessory 
to  their  crime,  by  taking  shelter  among  them.f  With 
more  plausibility,  others  have  appealed  to  his  writings, 
as  a  proof  that  he  vindicated  the  deed  of  the  conspira- 


*  Sadler's  State  Papers,  i.  264 — 5,  corap.  p.  128.  Sir  John 
Borthwick  (who  fled  to  England  in  the  year  1540),  ridicules 
the  Scottish  clergy  for  making  it  an  article  of  accusation  against 
him,  that  he  had  approved  of  "all  those  heresies,  commonly 
called  the  heresies  of  England;"  because  (says  he),  "what  re- 
ligion at  that  time  was  used  in  England,  the  like  the  whole 
realm  of  Scotland  did  embrace;  in  this  point  only,  the  English- 
men difl'ered  from  the  Scottes,  that  they  had  cast  off  the  yoke 
of  Antichrist,  the  other  not.  Idols  were  worshipped  of  both 
nations;  the  prophanating  of  the  supper  and  baptisme  was  like 
unto  them  both. — Truely,  it  is  most  false,  that  I  had  subscribed 
nnto  such  kinde  of  heresies."     Fox,  1149,  1150. 

+  Knox,  Historie,  p.  67.  J  Ibid. 

II  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  p.  471,  477—9.  Keith,  50—1.  Knox, 
66—7.     Buchanan,  i.  296. 

{  This  is  done  in  a  book,  entitled,  "The  Image  of  both 
Churches,  Hierusalem  and  Babell,  Unitie  and  Confusion,  Obe- 
dience and  Sedition,  by  P.  D.  M."  (supposed  to  be  Sir  Tobie 
Matthews),  p.  139,  140.  Tornay,  1623.  In  p.  136.  the  author 
fays,  "  Yet  is  there  one  aduise  of  Knox  which  is  to  be  recorded 
with  admiration,  It  wear  good,  that  rewards  wear  publicklie 
appointed  by  the  peopl  for  such  as  kill  tyrants,  as  well  as  for 
those  that  kill  wolfs."  In  proof  of  this  he  refers  to  Knox's 
Historie,  p.  372.  The  reader,  who  chuses  to  give  himself  the 
trouble,  will  probably  search  in  vain  (as  I  have  done)  for  such 
a  sentiment,  either  in  that,  or  in  any  other  part  of  the  History. 

T  "Quorum  se  societate, non  multo  post,  implicaret Joannes 
Knoxus,  Calvinistarura  minister,  qui  se  evangelicse  perfectionis 
cumulum  assecutuin  non  arbitrabatur  nisi  in  Cardinaiis  ac  sacer- 
dotis  sanguine  ac  caede  triuniphasset."  Leslaeus  de  rebus  gestis 
Scotoruiu.  lib.  X.  The  bishop  should  have  recollected,  that  the 
violence  of  his  popish  brethren  drove  "the  Calvinistic  minis- 
ter" to  this  "pinnacle  of  evangelical  perfection." 


tors  as  laudable,  or  at  least  innocent.  I  know  that 
some  of  Knox's  vindicators  have  denied  this  charge, 
and  maintain  that  he  justified  it  only  so  far  as  it  was 
the  work  of  God,  or  a  just  retribution  in  Providence 
for  the  crimes  of  which  the  Cardinal  had  been  guilty, 
without  approving  the  conduct  of  those  who  were  the 
instruments  of  punishing  him.*  The  just  judgment 
of  Heaven  is,  I  acknowledge,  the  chief  thing  to  which 
he  directs  the  attention  of  his  readers ;  at  the  same 
time,  I  think  no  one  who  carefully  reads  what  he  has 
written  on  this  subject,f  can  doubt  that  he  justified  the 
action  of  the  conspirators.  The  truth  is,  he  held  the 
opinion,  that  persons  who,  according  to  the  law  of 
God,  and  the  just  laws  of  society,  had  forfeited  their 
lives,  by  the  commission  of  flagrant  crimes,  such  as 
notorious  murderers  and  tyrants,  might  warrantably  be 
put  to  death  by  private  individuals;  provided  all  re- 
dress, in  the  ordinary  course  of  justice,  was  rendered 
impossible,  in  consequence  of  the  offenders  having 
usurped  the  executive  authority,  or  being  systemati- 
cally protected  by  oppressive  rulers.  This  was  an 
opinion  of  the  same  kind  with  that  oi  tyrannicide,  held 
by  so  many  of  the  ancients,  and  defended  by  Buchanan 
in  his  dialogue,  De  jure  regni  apud  Scotos.  It  is  a 
principle,  I  confess,  of  very  dangerous  application,  ex- 
tremely liable  to  be  abused  by  factious,  fanatical,  and 
desperate  men,  as  a  pretext  for  perpetrating  the  most 
nefarious  deeds.  It  would  be  unjust,  however,  on  this 
account,  to  confound  it  with  the  principle,  which,  by 
giving  to  individuals  a  liberty  to  revenge  their  own 
quarrels,  legitimates  assassination,  a  practice  which 
was  exceedingly  common  in  that  age.  I  may  add, 
that  there  have  been  instances  of  persons,  not  invested 
with  public  authority,  executing  punishment  upon 
flagitious  offenders,  whom  we  may  scruple  to  load 
with  an  aggravated  charge  of  murder,  although  we 
cannot  approve  of  their  conduct.:}: 

Knox  entered  the  Castle  of  St.  Andrews  at  the  time 
of  Easter,  1547,  and  conducted  the  education  of  his 
pupils  after  his  accustomed  manner.  In  the  chapel 
within  the  Castle,  he  read  to  them  his  lectures  upon 
the  scriptures,  beginning  at  the  place  in  the  gospel 
according  to  John,  where  he  had  left  off  at  Langnid- 
drie.  He  catechised  them  in  the  parish  church  be- 
longing to  the  city.  Among  the  refugees  in  the  castle 
who  attended  these  exercises,  and  who  had  not  been 
concerned  in  the  conspiracy  against  Beatoun, !|  there 
were  three  persons  who  deserve  to  be  particularly 
noticed. 

Sir  David  Lindsay  of  the  Mount,  Lyon  King  at  Arms, 
had  been  a  favourite  at  the  court  both  of  James  IV.  and 
of  his  son.  He  was  esteemed  one  of  the  first  poets 
of  his  age,  and  his  writings  had  contributed  very 
greatly  to  the  advancement  of  the  Reformation.  Not- 
withstanding the  indelicacy  which  disfigures  several 
of  his  poetical  productions,^  .the  personal  deportment 
of  Lindsay  was  grave;  his  morals  were  correct;  and 
his  writings  discover  a  strong  desire  to  reform  the 
manners  of  the  age,  as  well  as  ample  proofs  of  true 
poetical  genius,  extensive  learning,  and  wit  the  most 
keen  and  penetrating.  He  had  long  lashed  the  vices 
of  the  clergy,  and  exposed  the  absurdities  and  super- 
stitions of  popery,  in  the  most  popular  and  poignant 
satires;  being  protected  by  James  V.  who  retained  a 
strong  attachment  to  the  companion  of  his  early  sports, 


*  Principal  Baillie's  Historical  Vindication  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  p.  42.  A.  1646.  Cald.  MS. 
ad  An.  1590.  f  Historie,  86.  \  See  Note  XII. 

II  Spottiswood  says,  that  "  seven-score  persons  entered  into 
the  Castle,  the  day  after  the  slaughter"  of  the  Cardinal.  His- 
tory, p.  84. 

f  The  coarseness  of  the  age,  and  the  strong  temptation  which 
he  was  under  to  gratify  a  voluptuous  prince,  will  not  excuse 
the  gross  indelicacies  of  Lindsay;  and  still  less  will  the  desire 
of  preserving  the  ancient  dialect  of  Scotland,  and  of  gratifying 
an  antiquarian  passion,  apologize  for  giving  to  the  ino<iern 
public  a  complete  edition  of  his  works,  accompanied  with  a 
glowary  and  explanatory  notei. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


81 


and  the  poet  who  had  often  amused  his  leisure  hours. 
After  the  death  of  that  monarch,  he  entered  zealously 
into  the  measures  pursued  by  the  Earl  of  Arran,  at  the 
commencement  of  his  government ;  and  when  the  Re- 
gent dismissed  his  reforming  counsellors,  Sir  David 
was  left  exposed  to  the  vengeance  of  the  clergy,  who 
could  never  forgive  the  injuries  which  they  had  re- 
ceived from  his  pen.* 

Henry  Babiaves  of  Hallhill  had  raised  himself,  by 
his  talents  and  probity,  from  an  obscure  situation  to  the 
highest  honours  of  the  state,  and  was  justly  regarded 
as  one  of  the  principal  ornaments  of  the  reformed  cause 
in  Scotland.  Descended  from  poor  parents  in  the  town 
of  Kircaldy,  he  travelled  when  only  a  boy  to  the  Con- 
tinent, and  hearing  of  a  free  school  in  Cologne,  he 
gained  admission  to  it,  and  received  a  liberal  education, 
together  with  instruction  in  the  principles  of  the  Pro- 
testant religion.  Returning  to  his  native  country,  he 
applied  himself  to  the  study  of  law,  and  practised  for 
some  time  before  the  consistorial  court  of  St.  Andrews,  j" 
Notwithstanding  the  jealousy  of  the  clergy,  his  repu- 
tation daily  increased,  and  he  at  length  obtained  a  seat 
in  the  Court  of  Session  and  in  Parliament.:]:  James 
V.  employed  him  in  managing  public  affairs  of  great 
importance;  and  at  the  beginning  of  Arran's  regency, 
he  was  made  Secretary  of  Slate.  The  active  part 
which  he  at  that  time  took  in  the  measures  for  pro- 
moting the  Reformation  rendered  him  peculiarly  ob- 
noxious to  the  administration  which  succeeded,  and 
obliged  him  to  seek  shelter  within  the  walls  of  the 
Castle.  II 

John  Rough,  having  conceived  a  disgust  at  being 
deprived  of  some  property  to  which  he  thought  him- 
self entitled,  had  left  his  parents,  and  entered  a  monas- 
tery in  Stirling,  when  he  was  only  seventeen  years  of 
age.§  During  the  time  that  the  light  of  divine  truth 
was  spreading  through  the  nation,  and  penetrating  even 
the  recesses  of  cloisters,  he  had  felt  its  influence,  and 
became  a  convert  to  the  reformed  sentiments.  The 
reputation  which  he  had  gained  as  a  preacher  was 
such,  that,  in  the  year  1543,  the  Earl  of  Arran  pro- 
cured a  dispensation  for  his  leaving  the  monastery,  and 
appointed  him  one  of  his  chaplains.  Upon  the  apos- 
tacy  of  Arran  from  the  reformed  religion,  he  retired 
first  into  Kyle,  and  afterwards  into  the  Castle  of  St. 
Andrews,  where  he  was  chosen  preacher  to  the  gar- 
rison.^f 

These  persons  were  so  much  pleased  with  Knox's 
talents,  and  his  manner  of  teaching  his  pupils,  that 
they  urged  him  strongly  to  preach  in  public,  and  to 
become  colleague  to  Rough.  But  he  resisted  all  their 
solicitations,  assigning  as  his  reason,  that  he  did  not 
consider  himself  as  having  a  call  to  this  employment, 
and  would  not  be  guilty  of  intrusion.  They  did  not, 
however,  desist  from  their  purpose ;  but,  having  con- 
sulted with  their  brethren,  came  to  a  resolution,  with- 
out his  knowledge,  that  a  call  should  be  publicly  given 
him,  in  the  name  of  the  whole,  to  become  one  of  their 
ministers. 

Accordingly  on  a  day  fixed  for  the  purpose.  Rough 
preached  a  sermon  on  the  election  of  ministers,  in 
which  he  declared  the  power  which  a  congregation, 
however  small,  had  over  any  one  in  whom  they  per- 
ceived gifts  suited  to  the  office,  and  how  dangerous  it 
was  for  such  a  person  to  reject  the  call  of  those  who 
desired  instruction.  Sermon  being  concluded,  the 
preacher  turned  to   Knox,  who  was  present,  and  ad- 

*  Heroes  ex  omni  HistoriaScoticalectissimi:  Auctore  Johan. 
Jonstono  Abredonense  Scoto,  p.  27 — 8.  Lu^duni  Batavorura, 
1603.  4to.     Chalmers's  Life  of  Lindsay,  Works,  vol.  I. 

+  Cald.  MS.  i.  119. 

%  Lord  Hailes,  Catalogue  of  the  Lords  of  Session,  p.  2.  Act. 
Pari.  Scot.  p.  353. 

11  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  p.  409.  Sadler's  State  Papers,  i.  83, 
Knox,  35. 

5  Fox,  p.  1840.     He  was  born  A.  D.  1510. 

IT  Ibid.  Knox,  Historie,  p.  33,  36.  67. 


dressed  him  in  these  words :  "  Brother,  you  shall  not 
be  offended,  although  I  speak  unto  you  that  which  I 
have  in  charge,  even  from  all  those  that  are  here  pre- 
sent, which  is  this:  In  the  name  of  God,  and  of  his 
Son  Jesus  Christ,  and  in  the  name  of  all  that  presently 
call  you  by  my  mouth,  I  charge  you  that  you  refuse 
not  this  holy  vocation,  but  as  you  tender  the  glory  of 
God,  the  increase  of  Christ's  kingdom,  the  edification 
of  your  brethren,  and  the  comfort  of  me,  whom  you 
understand  well  enough  to  be  oppressed  by  the  mul- 
titude of  labours,  that  you  take  the  public  office  and 
charge  of  preaching,  even  as  you  look  to  avoid  God's 
heavy  displeasure,  and  desire  that  he  shall  multiply 
his  graces  unto  you."  Then  addressing  himself  to  the 
congregation,  he  said,  "  Was  not  this  your  charge  unto 
vael  and  do  ye  not  approve  this  vocation  ]"  They  all 
answered,  "  It  was  ;  and  we  approve  it."  Overwhelm- 
ed by  this  unexpected  and  solemn  charge,  Knox,  after 
an  ineffectual  attempt  to  address  the  audience,  burst 
into  tears,  rushed  out  of  the  assembly,  and  shut  him- 
self up  in  his  chamber.  "  His  countenance  and  beha- 
viour from  that  day,  till  the  day  that  he  was  compelled 
to  present  himself  in  the  public  place  of  preaching,  did 
sufficiently  declare  the  grief  and  trouble  of  his  heart ; 
for  no  man  saw  any  sign  of  mirth  from  him,  neither 
had  he  pleasure  to  accompany  any  man  for  many  days 
together."* 

This  proof  of  the  sensibility  of  his  temper,  and  the 
reluctance  which  he  fell  at  undertaking  a  public  office, 
may  surprize  those  who  have  carelessly  adopted  the 
common  notions  respecting  our  Reformer's  character ; 
but  we  shall  meet  with  many  examples  of  the  same 
kind  in  the  course  of  his  life.  The  scene,  too,  will  be 
extremely  interesting  to  such  as  are  impressed  with 
the  weight  of  the  ministerial  function,  and  will  natu- 
rally awaken  a  train  of  feelings  in  the  breasts  of  those 
who  have  been  intrusted  with  the  gospel.  It  revives 
the  memory  of  those  early  days  of  the  church,  when 
persons  did  not  rush  forward  to  the  altar,  nor  beg  to 
"  be  put  into  one  of  the  priest's  offices,  to  eat  a  piece 
of  bread  ;"  when  men  of  piety  and  talents,  deeply  af- 
fected with  the  awful  responsibility  of  the  office,  and 
with  their  own  insufficiency,  were  with  great  difficulty 
induced  to  take  on  them  those  orders,  which  they  had 
long  desired,  and  for  which  they  had  laboured  to  qua- 
lify themselves.  What  a  contrast  did  this  exhibit  to 
the  conduct  of  the  herd,  which  at  that  time  filled  the 
stalls  of  the  popish  church  !  The  behaviour  of  Knox 
also  reproves  those  who  become  preachers  of  their  own 
accord  ;  and  who,  from  vague  and  enthusiastic  desires 
of  doing  good,  or  a  fond  conceit  of  their  own  gifts, 
trample  upon  good  order,  and  thrust  themselves  into 
a  sacred  public  employment,  without  any  regular  call. 

We  must  not,  however,  imagine  that  his  distress 
of  mind,  and  the  reluctance  which  he  discovered  in 
complying  with  the  call  which  he  had  now  received, 
proceeded  from  consciousness  of  its  invalidity,  through 
the  defect  of  certain  external  formalities  which  had 
been  usual  in  the  church,  or  which,  in  ordinary  cases, 
may  be  observed  with  propriety  in  the  installation  of 
persons  into  sacred  offices.  These,  as  far  as  warranted 
by  scripture,  or  conducive  to  the  preservation  of  order, 
he  did  not  contemn  ;  and  his  judgment  respecting  them 
may  be  learned  from  the  early  practice  of  the  Scottish 
Reformed  Church,  in  the  organization  of  which  he  had 
so  active  a  share.  In  common  with  all  the  original 
reformers,  he  rejected  the  necessity  of  episcopal  ordi- 
nation, as  totally  unauthorised  by  the  laws  of  Christ; 
nor  did  he  even  regard  the  imposition  of  the  hands  of 
presbyters  as  a  rite  essential  to  the  validity  of  orders, 
or  of  necessary  observance  in  all  circumstances  of  the 
church.  The  papists,  indeed,  did  not  fail  to  declaim 
on  this  topic,  representing  Knox,  and  other  reformed 
ministers,  as  destitute  of  all  lawful  vocation.  In  the 
same  strain  did  many  hierarchical  writers  of  the  Eng- 


*  Knox,  Historie,  p.  68. 


33 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


lish  church  afterwards  learn  to  talk,  not  scrupling,  by 
their  extravagant  doctrine  of  the  absolute  necessity  of 
ordination  by  the  hands  of  a  bishop  who  derived  his 
powers  by  uninterrupted  succession  from  the  apostles, 
to  invalidate  and  nullify  the  orders  of  all  the  reformed 
churches,  except  their  own  ;  a  doctrine  which  has  been 
revived  in  the  present  enlightened  age,  and  unblush- 
ingly  avowed  and  defended,  with  the  greater  part  of  its 
absurd,  illiberal,  and  horrid  consequences.  The  fathers 
of  the  English  Reformation,  however,  were  very  far 
from  entertaining  such  contracted  and  unchristian  sen- 
timents. When  Knox  afterwards  went  to  England, 
they  accepted  his  services  without  the  smallest  hesita- 
tion. They  maintained  a  constant  correspondence  with 
the  reformed  divines  on  the  Continent,  and  cheerfully 
owned  them  as  brethren  and  fellow-labourers  in  the 
ministry.  And  they  were  not  so  ignorant  of  their 
principles,  or  so  forgetful  of  their  character,  as  to  pre- 
fer ordination  by  popish  prelates  to  that  which  was 
conferred  by  protestant  presbyters.*  1  will  not  say 
that  our  Reformer  utterly  disregarded  his  early  ordina- 
tion in  the  popish  church,  (although,  if  we  may  credit 
the  testimony  of  his  adversaries,  this  was  his  senti- 
ment);! but  I  have  little  doubt  that  he  looked  upon 
the  charge  which  he  received  at  St.  Andrews  as  prin- 
cipally constituting  his  call  to  the  ministry. 

His  distress  of  mind  on  the  present  occasion  pro- 
ceeded from  a  higher  source  than  the  deficiency  of 
some  external  formalities  in  his  call.  He  had  now 
very  different  thoughts  as  to  the  importance  of  the 
ministerial  office,  from  what  he  had  entertained  when 
ceremoniously  invested  with  orders.  The  care  of  im- 
mortal souls,  of  whom  he  must  give  an  account  to  the 
Chief  Bishop ;  the  charge  of  declaring  "  the  whole 
counsel  of  God,  keeping  nothing  back,"  however  un- 
grateful it  might  be  to  his  hearers  ;  the  manner  of  life, 
afflictions,  persecutions,  imprisonment,  exile,  and  vio- 
lent death,  to  which  the  preachers  of  the  Protestant 
doctrine  were  exposed  ;  the  hazard  of  his  sinking  under 
these  hardships,  and  "making  shipwreck  of  faith  and 
a  good  conscience ;"  these,  with  similar  considerations, 
rushed  into  his  mind,  and  filled  it  with  anxiety  and 
fear.  Satisfied,  at  length,  that  he  had  the  call  of  God 
to  engage  in  this  work,  he  composed  his  mind  to  a  re- 
liance on  Him  who  had  engaged  to  make  his  "  strength 
perfect  in  the  weakness"  of  his  servants,  and  resolved, 
with  the  apostle,  "  not  to  count  his  life  dear,  that  he 
might  finish  with  joy  the  ministry  which  he  received 
of  the  Lord,  to  testify  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God." 
Often  did  he  afterwards  reflect  with  lively  emotion 
upon  this  very  interesting  step  of  his  life,  and  never, 
in  the  midst  of  his  greatest  sufferings,  did  he  see  rea- 
son to  repent  the  choice  which  he  had  so  deliberately 
made. 

An  occurrence  which  took  place  about  this  time 
contributed  to  fix  his  wavering  resolution,  and  in- 
duced an  earlier  compliance  with  the  call  of  the  con- 
gregation than  he  might  otherwise  have  been  disposed 
to  yield.     Though  sound  in  doctrine,  Rough's  literary 


*  In  the  year  1582,  Archbishop  Grindal,  by  a  formal  deed, 
declared  the  validity  of  the  orders  of  Mr.  John  Morrison,  who 
had  been  ordained  by  the  Synod  of  Lothian,  "  according  to 
the  laudable  form  and  rite  of  the  reformed  church  of  Scotland" 
(gays  the  instrument),  per  generalem  Synodum  sive  Congrega- 
tionem  lllius  comitatus,  juxta  laudabilem  Ecclesins  Scotia;  re- 
forniat<e  formam  et  ritum,  ad  sacros  ordines  et  sacrosanctum 
ministerium  per  manuum  impositionem  admissus  et  ordinatus. — 
Nos  igilur  formam  ordinationis  et  pnefectionis  tuae  hujusmodi, 
modo  praemisso  factam,  quantum  in  nos  est,  et  jure  possumus, 
approbaiites  et  ratificantes,  &c.  Strype's  Life  of  Grindal.     Ap- 

Eeud.  book  ii.  Numb.  xvii.  p.  101.  Whittingham,  Dean  of 
Durham,  was  ordained  in  the  Knglish  church  at  Geneva, 
of  which  Kdox  was  pastor;  and  Travers,  the  opponent  of 
Hooker,  was  ordained  by  a  presbytery  at  Antwerp.  Attempts 
were  made  by  some  highflyers  to  invalidate  their  orders,  and 
induce  them  to  submit  to  re-ordination,  but  they  did  not  suc- 
ceed.    Strype's  Annals,  vol.  ii.  520 — 4. 

t  Ninian  Winzet,  apud  Keith's  History,  .\pp.  p.  212,  213. 
Burne's  Disputation,  p.  128.     Parisc,  158f. 


acquirements  were  moderate.  Of  this  circumstance 
the  patrons  of  the  established  religion  in  the  university 
and  abbey  took  advantage ;  and  among  others,  one, 
called  Dean  John  Annan,*  had  long  proved  vexatious 
to  him,  by  stating  objections  to  the  doctrine  which  he 
preached,  and  entangling  him  with  sophisms,  or  garbled 
quotations  from  the  fathers.  Knox  had  assisted  the 
preacher  with  his  pen,  and  by  his  superior  skill  in 
logic  and  the  writings  of  the  fathers,  had  exposed  An- 
nan's fallacies,  and  confuted  the  popish  errors.  This 
polemic,  being  one  day,  at  a  public  disputation  in  the 
parish  church,  driven  from  all  his  usual  defences,  fled 
as  his  last  refuge  to  the  infallible  authority  of  the 
church,  which,  he  alleged,  in  consequence  of  its  having 
condemned  the  tenets  of  the  Lutherans  as  heretical, 
had  rendered  all  further  debate  on  that  subject  unneces- 
sary. To  this  Knox  replied,  that  before  they  could 
submit  to  such  a  summary  determination  of  the  matters 
of  controversy,  it  was  requisite  to  ascertain  the  true 
church  by  the  marks  given  in  scripture,  lest  they 
should  blindly  receive,  as  their  spiritual  mother,  a 
harlot  instead  of  the  immaculate  spouse  of  Jesus 
Christ.  "For  (continued  he),  as  for  your  Roman 
church  as  it  is  now  corrupted,  wherein  stands  the  hope 
of  your  victory,  I  no  more  doubt  that  it  is  the  syna- 
gogue of  Satan,  and  the  head  thereof,  called  the  Pope,  to 
be  that  man  of  sin,  of  whom  the  apostle  speaks,  than 
I  doubt  that  Jesus  Christ  suffered  by  the  procurement 
of  the  visible  church  of  Jerusalem.  Yea,  I  offer  my- 
self, by  word  or  writing,  to  prove  the  Roman  church 
this  day  farther  degenerate  from  the  purity  which  was 
in  the  days  of  the  apostles,  than  were  the  church  of 
the  Jews  from  the  ordinances  given  by  Moses,  when 
they  consented  to  the  innocent  death  of  Jesus  Christ." 
This  was  a  bold  charge;  but  the  minds  of  the  people 
were  prepared  to  listen  to  the  proof.  They  exclaimed, 
that,  if  this  was  true,  they  had  been  miserably  de- 
ceived, and  insisted  that,  as  they  could  not  all  read 
his  writings,  he  would  ascend  the  pulpit,  and  give 
them  an  opportunity  of  hearing  the  probation  of  what 
he  had  so  confidently  affirmed.  The  challenge  was 
not  to  be  retracted,  and  the  request  was  reasonable. 
The  following  Sabbath  was  accordingly  fixed  for  mak- 
ing good  his  promise. 

On  the  day  appointed,  he  appeared  in  the  pulpit  of 
the  parish  church,  and  gave  out  Daniel  vii.  21,  25.  as 
his  text.  After  an  introduction,  in  which  he  explained 
the  vision,  and  shewed  that  the  four  empires,  emblem- 
atically represented  by  four  different  animals,  were  the 
Babylonian,  Persian,  Grecian,  and  Roman,  out  of  the 
ruins  of  the  last  of  which  rose  the  empire  described  in 
his  text,  he  proceeded  to  shew  that  this  was  applicable 
to  no  power  but  the  papal.  He  compared  the  parallel 
passages  in  the  New  Testament,  and  shewed  that  the 
king  mentioned  in  his  text  was  the  same  elsewhere 
called  the  Man  of  Sin,  the  Antichrist,  the  Babylonian 
harlot;  and  that,  in  prophetical  style,  these  expressions 
did  not  describe  a  single  person,  but  a  body  or  multi- 
tute  of  people  under  a  wicked  head,  including  a 
succession  of  persons  occupying  the  same  place.  In 
support  of  his  assertion,  that  the  papal  power  was 
anti-christian,  be  described  it  under  the  three  heads 
of  life,  doctrine,  and  laws.  He  depicted  the  scandal- 
ous lives  of  the  popes,  from  records  published  by 
catholic  writers,  and  contrasted  their  doctrine  and  laws 
with  those  of  the  New  Testament,  particularly  on  the 
heads  of  justification,  holidays,  and  abstinence  from 
meats  and  from  marriage.  He  quoted  from  the  canon 
law  the  blasphemous  titles  and  prerogatives  ascribed 


*  The  friars  were  accustomed  about  this  ticne  to  assume  the 
digni6ed  title  of  Dean,  although  they  did   not  hold  that  place 
in  the  church  which  entitled  tliem  to  the  name. 
"  All  moiik'ry,  ye  niav  hear  and  sie. 
Are  callit  Denis  for  Jignite; 
Howbeit  his  mother  milk  the  kow. 
He  mon  be  callit  Dene  Andrew." 

Chalmers's  Lindsay,  iii.  103. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX. 


33 


to  the  Pope,  as  an  additional  proof  that  he  was  de- 
scribed in  his  text.*  In  conclusion,  he  signified,  that, 
if  any  of  his  hearers  thought  that  he  had  misquoted,  or 
misinterpreted  the  testimonies  which  he  had  produced 
from  the  scriptures,  ecclesiastical  history,  or  the  writ- 
ings of  the  fathers,  he  was  ready  upon  their  coming  to 
him,  in  the  presence  of  witnesses,  to  give  them  satis- 
faction. Among  the  audience  were  his  former  precep- 
tor, Major,  and  the  other  members  of  the  university, 
the  Sub-prior  of  the  abbey,  and  a  great  number  of 
canons  and  friars  of  different  orders. 

This  sermon,  delivered  with  a  considerable  portion 
of  that  popular  eloquence  for  which  Knox  was  after- 
wards so  celebrated,  made  a  great  noise,  and  excited 
much  speculation  among  all  classes. f  The  preachers 
who  had  preceded  him,  not  even  excepting  Wishart, 
had  contented  themselves  with  refuting  some  of  the 
grosser  errors  of  the  established  religion  :  Knox  struck 
at  the  root  of  popery,  by  boldly  pronouncing  the  Pope 
to  be  Antichrist,  and  the  whole  system  erroneous  and 
antiscriptural.  The  report  of  the  sermon,  and  of  the 
effects  produced  by  it,  soon  reached  Hamilton,  the 
bishop-elect  of  St.  Andrews.  He  wrote  to  Winram, 
the  Sub-prior,  who  was  Vicar-general  during  the 
vacancy  of  the  See,  that  he  was  surprised  he  would 
allow  such  heretical  and  schismatical  doctrine  to  be 
taught  without  opposition.  Winram  was  at  bottom 
friendly  to  the  reformed  tenets  ;  but  he  durst  not  alto- 
gether disregard  this  admonition,  and  therefore  ap- 
pointed a  convention  of  the  learned  men  in  the  abbey 
and  university  to  be  held  in  St.  Leonard's  Yards,  to 
which  he  summoned  Knox  and  Rough. 

The  two  preachers  appeared  before  the  assembly. 
Nine  articles  drawn  from  their  sermons  were  exhi- 
bited, "the  strangeness  of  which  (the  Sub-prior  said) 
had  moved  him  to  call  for  them  to  hear  their  answers." 
Knox  conducted  the  defence,  for  himself  and  his  col- 
league, with  much  acuteness  and  moderation.  He 
expressed  high  satisfaction  at  appearing  before  an 
auditory  so  honourable,  modest,  and  grave.  As  he 
was  not  a  stranger  to  the  report  concerning  the  private 
sentiments  of  Winram,  and  nothing  was  more  abhor- 
rent to  his  mind  than  dissimulation,  he,  before  com- 
mencing his  defence,  obtested  him  to  deal  uprightly 
in  a  matter  of  such  magnitude.  The  people  (he  said) 
ought  not  to  be  deceived  or  left  in  the  dark ;  if  his  col- 
league and  he  had  advanced  any  thing  unscriptural,  he 
wished  the  Sub-prior  by  all  means  to  expose  it,  but  if, 
on  the  other  hand,  he  was  convinced  that  the  doctrine 
taught  by  them  was  true,  it  was  his  duty  to  give  it  the 
sanction  of  his  authority.  Winram  cautiously  replied, 
that  he  did  not  come  there  as  a  judge,  and  would  nei- 
ther approve  nor  condemn ;  he  wished  a  free  confer- 
ence, and,  if  Knox  pleased,  he  would  reason  with  him 
a  little.  Accordingly,  he  proceeded  to  state  some 
objections  to  one  of  the  propositions  maintained  by 
Knox,  "  that  in  the  worship  of  God,  and  especially  in 
the  administration  of  the  sacraments,  the  rule  pre- 
scribed in  the   scriptures  is  to  be  observed  without 

*  The  doctrine  which  the  preacher  delivered  at  this  time 
was  afterwards  put  into  "  ornate  meeter."  by  one  of  his  hearers. 
Sir  D.  Lindsay,  who,  in  his  "  Monarchie,"  finished  Anno  1553, 
has  given  a  particular  account  of  the  rise  and  corruptions  of 
popery,  under  the  name  of  the  "  fifth  spiritual  and  papal 
monarchie."     Chalmers's  Lindsay,  iii.  86 — 116. 

f  "  Sum  said,  utheris  hued  the  branches  of  papistry,  bot  he 
straiketh  at  the  rute,  to  destroye  the  whole.  Utheris  said,  gif 
the  doctors  and  mae-istri  nostri  defend  not  now  the  Pope  and 
his  authoritie,  which  in  their  owin  presence  is  so  manifestlie 
impugnit,  the  devill  have  my  part  of  him  and  his  lawes  bothe. 
Utheris  said,  Mr.  George  Wischeart  spak  never  so  planelie, 
and  yet  he  was  brunt;  even  so  will  he  be  in  the  end.  Utheris 
said,  the  tyrannie  of  the  Cardinal  maid  not  his  cause  the  better, 
nether  yet  the  suffering  of  God  is  servand  maid  his  cause  the 
wors. — And  thairfoir  we  wald  counsail  yow  and  thanie  to  pro- 
vyde  better  defences  than  fyre  and  sword;  for  it  may  be  that 
allis  ye  shall  be  disappointed :  men  now  have  uther  eyes  than 
they  had  then.  This  answer  gave  the  laird  of  Nydrie."  Knox, 
Historie,  p.  70.  ,  ^i . 

E 


addition  or  diminution ;  and  that  the  church  has  no 
right  to  devise  religious  ceremonies,  and  impose  sig- 
nifications upon  them."  After  maintaining  the  argu- 
ment for  a  short  time,  the  Sub-prior  devolved  it  on  a 
grey-friar,  named  Arbugkill,  who  took  it  up  with  great 
confidence,  hut  was  soon  forced  to  yield  with  disgrace. 
He  rashly  engaged  to  prove  the  divine  institution  of 
ceremonies;  and  being  pushed  by  his  antagonist  from 
the  gospels  and  acts  to  the  epistles,  and  from  one 
epistle  to  another,  he  was  driven  at  last  to  affirm, 
"  that  the  apostles  had  not  received  the  Holy  Ghost 
when  they  wrote  the  epistles,  but  they  afterwards  re- 
ceived him  and  ordained  ceremonies."  Knox  smiled 
at  the  extravagant  assertion.  "Father!  (exclaimed 
the  Sub-prior)  what  say  ye?  God  forbid  that  ye  say 
that!  for  then  farewell  the  ground  of  our  faith." 
Alarmed  and  abashed,  the  friar  attempted  to  correct 
his  error,  but  in  vain.  Knox  could  not  afterwards 
bring  him  to  the  argument  upon  any  of  the  articles. 
He  resolved  all  into  the  authority  of  the  church.  His 
opponent  urging  that  the  church  could  have  no  autho- 
rity to  act  contrary  to  the  express  directions  of  scrip- 
ture, which  enjoined  an  exact  conformity  to  the  divine 
laws  respecting  worship;  "if  so  (said  Arbugkill),  you 
will  leave  us  no  church."  "Yes,  (rejoined  Knox, 
sarcastically),  in  David  I  read  of  the  church  of  malig- 
nants,  Odi  ecclesiam  maltgnantium  ;  this  church  you 
may  have  without  the  word,  and  fighting  against  it. 
Of  this  church  if  you  will  be,  I  cannot  hinder  you; 
but  as  for  me,  I  will  be  of  no  other  church  but  that 
which  has  Jesus  Christ  for  pastor,  hears  his  voice,  and 
will  not  hear  the  voice  of  a  stranger."  For  purgatory, 
the  friar  had  no  better  authority  than  that  of  Virgil  in 
the  sixth  jEneid  ;  and  the  pains  of  it  according  to  him 
were — a  bad  wife.* 

Solventur  risu  tabulae:  ta  missus  abibis. 

Instructed  by  the  issue  of  this  convention,  the  papists 
avoided  for  the  future  all  disputation,  which  tended 
only  to  injure  their  cause.  Had  the  Castle  of  St.  An- 
drews been  in  their  power,  they  would  soon  have 
silenced  these  troublesome  preachers ;  but  as  matters 
stood,  more  moderate  and  crafty  measures  were  neces- 
sary. The  plan  adopted  for  counteracting  the  popular 
preaching  of  Knox  and  Rough  was  politic.  Orders 
were  issued,  that  all  the  learned  men  of  the  abbey  and 
university  should  preach  by  turns  every  Sunday  in  the 
parish  church.  By  this  means  the  reformed  preachers 
were  excluded  on  those  days  when  the  greatest  audi- 
ences attended  ;  and  it  was  expected  that  the  diligence 
of  the  established  clergy  would  concilitate  the  affec- 
tions of  the  people.  To  avoid  offence  or  occasion  of 
speculation,  they  were  also  instructed  not  to  touch  in 
their  sermons  upon  any  of  the  controverted  points. 
Knox  easily  saw  through  this  artifice ;  but  he  con- 
tented himself  with  expressing  a  wish,  in  th«  sermons 
which  he  still  delivered  on  week  days,  that  the  clergy 
would  show  themselves  equally  diligent  in  places 
where  their  labours  were  more  necessary.  At  the 
same  time,  he  rejoiced  (he  said)  that  Christ  was 
preached,  and  that  nothing  was  publicly  spoken  against 
the  truth  ;  if  any  thing  of  this  kind  should  be  advanced, 
he  requested  the  people  to  suspend  their  judgment, 
until  they  should  have  an  opportunity  of  hearing  him 
in  reply,  f 

His  labours  were  so  successful,  during  the  few 
months  that  he  preached  at  St.  Andrews,  that,  besides 
the  garrison  in  the  Castle,  a  great  number  of  the  in- 
habitants of  the  town  renounced  popery,  and  made 
profession  of  the  protestant  faith,  by  participating  of 
the  Lord's  Supper.  This  was  the  first  time  that  the 
sacrament  of  the  supper  was  dispensed  after  the  re- 
formed mode  in  Scotland  ;  if  we  except  the  administra- 
tion of  it  by  Wishart  in  the  same  Castle,  which  was 
performed  with  great  privacy,  immediately  before  his 


*  Knox,  Historie,  p.  70—74. 
3 


t  lb.  74—5. 


84 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX. 


martyrdom.*  Those  who  preceded  Knox  appear  to 
have  contented  themselves  with  preachina;  and  such 
as  embraced  their  doctrine  had  most  probably  continued 
to  receive  the  sacraments  from  the  popish  clergy,  or  at 
least  from  such  of  them  as  were  most  friendly  to  the 
reformation  of  the  church.  The  gratification  which  he 
felt  in  these  first  fruits  of  his  ministry,  was  consider- 
ably abated  by  instances  of  vicious  conduct  in  those 
under  his  charge,  some  of  whom  were  guilty  of  those 
acts  of  licentiousness  which  are  too  common  among 
soldiery  when  placed  in  similar  circumstances.  From 
the  time  that  he  was  chosen  to  be  their  preacher,  he 
had  openly  rebuked  those  disorders,  and  when  he  per- 
ceived that  his  admonitions  failed  in  putting  a  stop  to 
them,  he  did  not  conceal  his  apprehensions  of  the  un- 
successful issue  of  the  enterprise  in  which  they  were 
engaged. f 

In  the  end  of  Jnne  1547,  a  French  fleet,  with  a  con- 
siderable body  of  land  forces,  under  the  command  of 
Leo  Strozzi,  appeared  before  St.  Andrews,  to  assist 
the  Governor  in  the  reduction  of  the  Castle.  It  was 
invested  both  by  sea  and  land  ;  and  being  disappointed 
of  the  expected  aid  from  England,  the  besieged,  after 
a  brave  and  vigorous  resistance,  were  under  the  neces- 
sity of  capitulating  to  the  French  commander  on  the 
last  day  of  July.  The  terms  of  the  capitulation  were 
honourable;  the  Itves  of  all  that  were  in  the  Castle 
were  to  be  spared,  they  were  to  be  transported  to 
France,  and  if  they  did  not  choose  to  enter  into  the  ser- 
vice of  the  French  king,  were  to  be  conveyed  to  any 
country  which  they  might  prefer,  except  Scotland. 
John  Rough  had  left  the  Castle  previous  to  the  com- 
mencement of  the  siege,  and  retired  to  England.:|: 
Knox,  although  he  did  not  expect  that  the  garrison 
would  be  able  to  hold  out,  could  not  prevail  upon  him- 
self to  desert  his  charge,  and  resolved  to  share  with 
his  brethren  in  the  hazard  of  the  siege.  He  was  con- 
veyed along  with  the  r«st  on  board  the  fleet,  which,  in 
a  few  days,  set  sail  for  France,  arrived  at  Fecamp,  and, 
going  up  the  Seine,  anchored  before  Rouen.  The 
capitulation  was  violated,  and  they  were  all  detained 
prisoners  of  war,  at  the  solicitation  of  the  Pope  and 
Scottish  clergy.  The  principal  gentlemen  were  incar- 
cerated in  Rouen,  Cherburg,  Brest,  and  Mont  St.  Mi- 
chel. Knox,  with  some  others,  was  confined  on  board 
the  galleys,  bound  with  chains,  and  in  addition  to  the 
rigours  of  ordinary  captivity,  exposed  to  all  the  indig- 
nities with  which  papists  were  accustomed  to  treat 
those  whom  they  regarded  as  heretics.|| 

From  Rouen  they  sailed  to  Nantes,  and  lay  upon 
the  Loire  during  the  following  winter.  Solicitations, 
threatenings,  and  violence,  were  all  employed  to  in- 
duce the  prisoners  to  change  their  religion,  or  at  least 
to  countenance  the  popish  worship.  But  so  great  was 
their  abhorrence  of  its  idolatry,  that  not  a  single  indi- 
vidual of  the  whole  company,  on  land  or  water,  could 
be  induced  to  symbolise  in  the  smallest  degree.  While 
the  prison-ships  lay  on  the  Loire,  mass  was  frequently 
said,  and  Salve  Regina  sung,  on  board,  or  on  the  shore 


*  Buchanan,  Hist.  lib.  xv.  Oper,  Tom.  i.  293.-4.  Pitscottie, 
189,  folio  ed. 

•f  Buchan.  Oper.  i.  296.     Pitscottie,  191.     Knox,  76. 

I  Rou^h  continued  to  preach  in  England  until  the  death  of 
Edward  V[.  when  he  retired  to  Norden  in  Friesland.  There 
he  was  obliged  to  support  himself  and  his  wife  (whom  he  had 
married  in  England')  by  knitting  caps,  stockings,  &c.  Having 
ronie  over  to  London  n)  the  course  of  his  trade,  he  heard  of  a 
congregation  of  protestants  which  met  secretly  in  that  city;  to 
them  he  joined  himself,  and  was  elected  their  pastor.  A  few 
weeks  after  this,  the  conventicle  was  discovered  by  the  treach- 
ery of  or"  of  their  own  number,  and  Rough  was  carried  before 
Bishop  Bonner,  by  whose  oroers  he  was  committed  to  the 
flames  on  the  22d  of  December  1557.  An  account  of  his  exa- 
mination, and  two  of  his  letters,  breathing  the  true  spirit  of  a 
martyr,  may  be  seen  in  Fox,  p.  1840 — 1842. 

II  l^alnaves's  Confession,  Epist.  Dedic.  Archibald  Hamilton 
says  that  he  was  condemned  to  work  at  the  oar; — "  impellendis 
longarum  navium  remis,  cum  reliquis  adjudicatur."  Dial,  de 
Confut.  CalT.  Sectx,  p.  64.  b. 


within  their  hearing.  On  these  occasions  they  were 
brought  out  and  threatened  with  the  torture,  if  they 
did  not  give  the  usual  signs  of  reverence;  but  instead 
of  complying,  they  covered  their  heads  as  soon  as  the 
service  began.  Knox  has  preserved,  in  his  History,  a 
humorous  incident  which  took  place  on  one  of  these 
occasions  ;  and  although  he  has  not  said  so,  it  is  highly 
probable  that  he  himself  was  the  person  concerned  in 
the  affair.  One  day  a  fine  painted  image  of  the  Virgin 
was  brought  into  one  of  the  galleys,  and  a  Scots  pris- 
oner was  desired  to  give  it  the  kiss  of  adoration.  He 
refused,  saying  that  such  idols  were  accursed,  and  he 
would  not  touch  it.  "  But  you  shall,"  replied  one  of 
the  officers  roughly,  thrusting  it  in  his  face,  and  placing 
it  between  his  hands.  Upon  this  he  took  hold  of  the 
image,  and  watching  his  opportunity,  threw  it  into  the 
river,  saying,  Lat  our  lAidie  now  save  hirself:  ache  is 
lycht  enougne,  lal  hir  leirne  to  swyine.  The  oflicers 
with  difficulty  saved  their  goddess  from  the  waves ; 
and  the  prisoners  were  relieved  for  the  future  from 
such  troublesome  importunities.* 

In  the  summer  1548,  as  nearly  as  I  can  collect,  the 
galleys  in  which  they  were  confined  returned  to 
Scotland,  and  continued  for  a  considerable  time  on 
the  east  coast,  watching  for  English  vessels.  Knox's 
health  was  now  greatly  impaired  by  the  severity  of 
his  confinement,  and  he  was  seized  with  a  fever, 
during  which  his  life  was  despaired  of  by  all  in  the 
ship.f  But  even  in  this  state,  his  fortitude  of  mind 
remained  unsubdued,:}:  and  he  comforted  his  fellow- 
prisoners  with  hopes  of  release.  To  their  anxious 
desponding  inquiries  (natural  to  men  in  their  situa- 
tion,) "  if  he  thought  they  would  ever  obtain  their 
liberty,"  his  uniform  answer  was,  "  God  will  deliver 
us  to  his  glory,  even  in  this  life."  While  they  lay 
on  the  coast  between  Dundee  and  St.  Andrews,  Mr. 
(afterwards  Sir)  James  Balfour,  who  was  confined 
in  the  same  ship  with  him,  pointed  to  the  spires  of 
St.  Andrews,  and  asked  him  if  he  knew  the  place. 
"  Yes  !  (replied  the  sickly  and  emaciated  captive)  I 
know  it  well ;  for  I  see  the  steeple  of  that  place  where 
God  first  opened  my  mouth  in  public  to  his  glory ; 
and  I  am  fully  persuaded,  how  weak  soever  I  now 
appear,  that  I  shall  not  depart  this  life,  till  that  ray 
tongue  shall  glorify  his  godly  name  in  the  same 
place."  This  striking  reply  Sir  James  repeated,  in 
the  presence  of  a  number  of  witnesses,  many  years 
before  Knox  returned  to  Scotland,  and  when  there  was 
very  little  prospect  of  his  words  being  verified. || 

We  must  not,  however,  think  that  he  possessed 
this  tranquility  and  elevation  of  mind,  during  the 
whole  period  of  his  imprisonment.  When  first  thrown 
into  fetters,  insulted  by  his  enemies,  and  deprived  of 
all  prospect  of  release,  he  was  not  a  stranger  to  the 
anguish  of  despondency,  so  pathetically  described  by 
the  Royal  Psalmist  of  Israel.§  He  felt  that  conflict 
in  his  spirit,  with  which  all  good  men  are  acquainted, 
and  which  becomes  peculiarly  sharp  when  aggravated 
by  corporal  affliction.  But,  having  had  recourse  to 
prayer,  the  never-failing  refuge  of  the  oppressed,  he 
was  relieved  from  all  his  fears,  and,  reposing  upon  the 
promise  and  the  providence  of  the  God  whom  he 
served,  he  attained  to  "  the  confidence  and  rejoicing 
of  hope."  Those  who  wish  for  a  more  particular 
account  of  the  state  of  his  mind  at  this  time,  will  find 
it  in  the  notes,  extracted  from  a  rare  work  which  he 
composed  on  prayer,  and  the  chief  materials  of  which 
were  suggested  by  his  own  experience.^T 

When  free  from  iever^  he  relieved  the  tedious  hours 


«   Knox,  Historie,  p.  83.  +  MS.  Letters,  p.  53. 

\  One  of  his  most  bitter  adversaries  has  borne  an  involuntary 
and  undesigned  testimony  to  his  magnaniniitv  at  this  time. 
"  Ubi  longo  maris  taedio,  et  laboris  molcstia  cxtenuatuin  qui- 
dera,  et  subactum  corpus  fuit;  sed  anirai  elalio  eum  snbinde 
rerum  magnarum  spe  extimulans,  nihilo  niagis  tunc  quam  prius 
quiescere  potuit."     Hamiltonii  Dialogus,  p.  64,  b. 

H  Koox,  Historie.  p.  74.      {  Pulm  xlii.     t  See  Note  XIII. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


35 


of  captivity,  by  committing  to  writing  a  confession  of 
his  faith,  containing  the  substance  of  what  he  had 
taught  at  St.  Andrews,  with  a  particular  account  of  the 
disputation  which  he  had  maintained  in  St.  Leonard's 
Yards.  This  he  found  means  to  convey  to  his  reli- 
gious acquaintances  in  Scotland,  accompanied  with  an 
earnest  exhortation  to  persevere  in  the  faith  which 
they  had  professed,  whatever  persecutions  they  might 
suffer  for  its  sake.*  To  this  confession  I  find  him 
referring  in  the  defence  which  he  afterwards  made 
before  the  bishop  of  Durham.  "  Let  no  man  think, 
that  because  I  am  in  the  realm  of  England,  therefore 
so  boldly  I  speak.  No  :  God  hath  taken  that  suspicion 
from  me.  For  the  body  lying  in  most  painful  bands, 
in  the  midst  of  cruel  tyrants,  his  mercy  and  goodness 
provided  that  the  hand  should  write  and  bear  witness 
to  the  confession  of  the  heart,  more  abundantly  than 
ever  yet  the  tongue  spake."]" 

Notwithstanding  the  rigour  of  their  confinement, 
the  prisoners  who  were  separated  found  opportunities 
of  occasionally  corresponding  with  one  another.  Hen- 
ry Balnaves  of  Hallhill  composed  in  his  prison  a 
treatise  on  Juslification  and  the  H-'orks  and  Conversation 
of  a  jitstijied  man.  This  being  conveyed  to  Knox, 
probably  after  his  return  from  the  coast  of  Scotland, 
he  was  so  much  pleased  with  it,  that  he  divided  it  into 
chapters,  and  added  some  marginal  notes,  and  a  con- 
cise epitome  of  its  contents  ;  to  the  whole  he  prefixed 
a  recommendatory  dedication,  intending  that  it  should 
be  published  for  the  use  of  their  brethren  in  Scotland, 
as  soon  as  an  opportunity  offered. :J:  The  reader  will 
not,  I  am  persuaded,  be  displeased  to  have  some  ex- 
tracts from  this  dedication,  which  represent,  more 
forcibly  than  any  description  of  mine  can  do,  the 
pious  and  heroic  spirit  which  animated  the  Reformer, 
when  "  his  feet  lay  in  irons ;"  and  I  shall  quote  more 
freely  as  the  book  is  rare. 

It  is  thus  inscribed  :||  "John  Knox,  the  bound 
servant  of  Jesus  Christ,  unto  his  best  beloved  breth- 
ren of  the  congregation  of  the  Castle  of  St.  Andrews, 
and  to  all  professors  of  Christ's  true  evangel,  desireth 
grace,  mercy  and  peace,  from  God  the  Father,  with 
perpetual  consolation  of  the  Holy  Spirit."  After 
mentioning  a  number  of  instances  in  which  the  name 
of  God  was  magnified,  and  the  interests  of  religion 
advanced,  by  the  exile  of  those  who  were  driven  uom 
their  native  countries  by  tyranny,  as  in  the  examples 
of  Joseph,  Moses,  Daniel,  and  the  primitive  Christians ; 
he  goes  on  thus  :  "  Which  thing  shall  openly  declare 
this  godly  work  subsequent.  The  counsel  of  Satan 
in  the  persecution§  of  us,  first,  was  to  stop  the  whole- 
some wind  of  Christ's  evangel  to  blow  upon  the  parts 
where  we  converse  and  dwell ;  and  secondly,  so  to 
oppress  ourselves  by  corporal  affliction  and  worldly 
calamities,  that  no  place  should  we  find  to  godly  study. 

*  Knox,  Historie,  p.  74.  This  Treatise  appears  to  have 
been  lost.  +  MS.  Letters,  p.  40. 

\  The  manuscript,  there  is  reason  to  think,  was  conveyed  to 
Scotland  about  that  time,  but  it  fell  aside,  and  was  long  con- 
sidered as  lost.  After  Knox's  death,  it  vyas  discovered  bv  his 
servant,  Richard  Bannatyne,  in  the  house  of  Orniiston,  and  was 
printed.  Anno  1584,  by  Thomas  Vaultrollier,  in  12mo.  with  the 
title  of  "Confession  of  Faith,  &c.,  by  Henry  Balnaves  of  Hall- 
hill,  one  of  the  Lords  of  Council  and  Session  of  Scotland." — 
David  Buchanan,  in  his  edition  of  Knox's  History,  Anno  1644, 
among  his  other  alterations  and  interpolations,  makes  Knox  to 
say  that  this  work  was  published  at  the  time  he  wrote  his  His- 
tory, which  may  be  numbered  among  the  anachronisms  in  that 
edition,  which,  for  some  time,  discredited  the  authenticity  of 
the  History,  and  led  many  to  deny  that  Knox  was  its  author. 
But  in  the  genuine  editions,  Knox  expresses  the  very  reverse. 
"  In  the  presoun,  he  (Balnaves)  wrait  a  maist  profitabdl  treatise 
of  justificatiouii,  and  of  the  warkis  and  conversatioun  of  a  justi- 
fycd  man  :  but  how  it  was  suppressit  we  knaw  not."  Historie, 
p.  83.  Edin.  Anno  1732.  See  also  p.  181,  of  the  first  edition, 
m  8vo.  printed  at  London  by  Vaultrollier  in  the  year  1586. 

II  I  have  not  adhered  to  the  orthography  of  the  printed 
•work,  which  is  evidently  different  from  what  it  must  have  been 
in  the  MS. 

}  It  is  "  perfection"  in  the  printed  copy,  which  is  evidently 
a  mistake. 


But  by  the  great  mercy  and  infinite  goodness  of  God 
our  Father,  shall  these  his  counsels  be  frustrate  and 
vain.  For,  in  despite  of  him  and  all  his  wicked  mem- 
bers, shall  yet  that  same  word  (O  Lord  !  this  I  speak, 
confiding  in  thy  holy  promise)  openly  be  proclaimed 
iu  that  same  country.  And  how  that  our  merciful 
Father  amongst  these  tempestuous  storms,  by*  all 
mens  expectation,  hath  provided  some  rest  for  us, 
this  present  work  shall  testify,  which  was  sent  to  me 
in  Roane,  lying  in  irons,  and  sore  troubled  by  corporal 
infirmity,  in  a  galley  named  Nostre  Dame,  by  an 
honourable  brother,  Mr.  Henry  Balnaves  of  Hallhill, 
for  the  present  holden  as  prisoner,  (though  unjustly) 
in  the  old  palace  of  Roane. f  Which  work  after  I  had 
once  again  read  to  the  great  comfort  and  consolation  of 
my  spirit,  by  counsel  and  advice  of  the  foresaid  noble 
and  faithful  man,  author  of  the  said  work,  I  thought 
expedient  it  should  be  digested  in  chapters,  &c. 
Which  thing  I  have  done  as  imbecility  of  ingine:|:  and 
incommodity  of  place  would  permit ;  not  so  much  to 
illustrate  the  work  (which  in  the  self  is  godly  and 
perfect)  as,  together  with  the  foresaid  nobleman  and 
faithful  brother,  to  give  my  confession  of  the  article 
of  justification  therein  contained. ||  And  I  beseech 
you,  beloved  brethren,  earnestly  to  consider,  if  we 
deny  any  thing  presently,  (or  yet  conceal  and  hide) 
which  any  time  before  we  professed  in  that  article. 
And  now  we  have  not  the  Castle  of  St.  Andrews  to 
be  our  defence,  as  some  of  our  enemies  falsely  ac- 
cused us,  saying.  If  we  wanted  our  walls,  we  would 
not  speak  so  boldly. — But  blessed  be  that  Lord  whose 
infinite  goodness  and  wisdom  hath  taken  from  us  the 
occasion  of  that  slander,  and  hath  shewn  unto  us,  that 
the  serpent  hath  power  only  to  sting  the  heel,  that  is, 
to  molest  and  trouble  the  flesh,  but  not  to  move  the 
spirit  from  constant  adhering  to  Christ  Jesus,  nor 
public  professing  of  his  true  word.  O  blessed  be  thou, 
Eternal  Father,  which,  by  thy  only  mercy,  hast  pre- 
served us  to  this  day,  and  provided  that  the  confes- 
sion of  our  faith  (which  ever  we  desired  all  men  to 
have  known)  should,  by  this  treatise,  come  plainly  to 
light.  Continue,  O  Lord,  and  grant  to  us,  that  as  now 
with  pen  and  ink,  so  shortly  we  may  confess  with  voice 
and  tongue  the  same  before  thy  congregation  ;  upon 
whom  look,  O  Lord  God,  with  the  eyes  of  thy  mercy, 
and  suffer  no  more  darkness  to  prevail.  I  pray  you 
pardon  me,  beloved  brethren,  that  on  this  manner  I 
digress  :  vehemency  of  spirit  (the  Lord  knoweth  I  lie 
not)  compelleth  me  thereto." 

The  prisoners  in  Mont  St.  Michel  consulted  Knox, 
as  to  the  lawfulness  of  attempting  to  escape  by 
breaking  their  prison,  which  was  opposed  by  some 
of  them,  lest  their  escape  should  subject  their  breth- 
ren who  remained  in  confinement  to  more  severe 
treatment.  He  returned  for  answer,  that  such  fears 
were  not  a  sufficient  reason  for  relinquishing  the  de- 
sign, and  that  they  might,  with  a  safe  conscience, 
effect  their  escape,  provided  it  could  be  done  "  with- 
out the  blood  of  any  shed  or  spilt ;  but  to  shed  any 
man's  blood  for  their  freedom,  he  would  never  con- 
sent."§  The  attempt  was  accordingly  made  by  them, 
and  successfully  executed,  "  without  harm  done  to  the 
person  of  any,  and  without  touching  any  thing  that 
appertained  to  the  king,  the  captain,  or  the  house. "^ 

At  length  after  enduring  a  tedious  and  severe  impris- 
onment of  nineteen  months,  Knox  obtained  his  liberty. 
This  happened  in  the  month  of  February,  1549,  accor- 
ding to  the  modern  computation.**     By  what  means 

*  i.  e.  beyond.         f  Rouen,  not  Roanne,  is  the  place  meant. 

I  i.  e.  genius  or  knowledge.  |{  See  Note  XIV. 

^  This  is  the  man  whom  a  high  church  historian  has  repre- 
sented as  of  the  principles  of  the  ancient  Zealots  or  Siccarii, 
and  one  who  taught  that  any  person  who  met  a  papist  might 
kill  him  !     Collier,  Eccles.  Hist.  ii.  545. 

H  Knox,  Historie,  p.  84,  85. 

**  In  one  of  his  letters,  preserved  by  Calderwood,  Knox 
gays  that  he  was  nineteen  months  in  the  French  galleys.  Cald. 
MS.  vol.  i.  256.     In  the  printed  Calderwood,  the  period  of  his 


36 


LIFE    OF  JOHN    KNOX, 


his  liberation  was  procured,  I  cannot  certainly  deter- 
mine. One  account  says,  that  the  galley  in  which  he 
was  confined  was  taken  in  the  channel  by  the  English.* 
According  to  another  account,  he  was  liberated  by 
order  of  the  King  of  France,  because  it  appeared,  on  ex- 
amination, that  he  was  not  concerned  in  the  murder  of 
the  Cardinal,  nor  accessory  to  other  crimes  committed 
by  those  who  held  the  Castle  of  St.  Andrews. f  In 
the  opinion  of  others,  his  liberty  was  purchased  by 
his  acquaintances,  who  fondly  cherished  the  hope  that 
he  was  destined  to  accomplish  some  great  achievements, 
and  were  anxious,  by  their  interposition  in  his  behalf, 
to  be  instrumental  in  promoting  the  designs  of  Provi- 
dence.if:  It  is  not  improbable,  however,  that  he  owed 
his  deliverance  to  the  comparative  indifference  with 
which  he  and  his  brethren  were  now  regarded  by  the 
French  court,  who  having  procured  the  consent  of  the 
Parliament  of  Scotland  to  the  marriage  of  Queen  Mary 
to  the  Dauphin,  and  obtained  possession  of  her  person, 
felt  no  longer  any  inclination  to  revenge  the  quarrels  of 
the  Scottish  clergy. 


PERIOD  III. 

Froin  the  year  1549,  when  he  was  released  from  the  French 
galleys,  to  the  year  1554,  whea  he  fled  from  England. 

Upon  regaining  his  liberty,  Knox  immediately  re- 
paired to  England.  The  objections  which  he  had  for- 
merly entertained  against  a  residence  in  that  kingdom 
were  now  in  a  great  measure  removed.  Henry  VIII. 
had  died  in  the  year  1547;  and  archbishop  Cran- 
mer,  released  from  the  severe  restraint  under  which  he 
had  been  held  by  his  tyrannical  and  capricious  mas- 
ter, now  exerted  himself  with  much  zeal  in  advanc- 
ing the  Reformation.  In  this  he  was  cordially  sup- 
ported by  those  who  governed  the  kingdom  during 
the  minority  of  Edward  VI.  But  the  undertaking 
was  extensive  and  difficult ;  and  in  carrying  it  on, 
he  found  a  great  deficiency  of  ecclesiastical  coadju- 
tors. Although  the  most  of  the  bishops  had  external- 
ly complied  with  the  alterations  introduced  by  author- 
ity, they  remained  attached  to  the  old  religion,  and 
secretly  thwarted,  instead  of  seconding  the  measures 
of  thp  Primate.  The  inferior  clergy  were,  in  gen- 
eral, as  unable  as  they  were  unwilling  to  undertake 
the  instruction  of  the  people, ||  whose  ignorance  of 
religion  was  in  many  parts  of  the  country  extreme, 
and  whose  superstitious  habits  had  become  quite  invet- 
erate. This  evil  which  prevailed  universally  throughout 
the  popish  church,  instead  of  being  corrected,  was 
considerably  aggravated  by  a  ruinous  measure  adopted 
at  the  commencement  of  the  English  Reformation. 
When  Henry  suppressed  the  monasteries,  and  seized 


confinement  is  limited  to  nine  months,  a  mistake  which  has 
been  copied  by  several  writers.  It  is  proper  that  the  reader 
of  that  book  should  be  aware,  that  it  consists  merely  of  excerpts 
from  Calderwood's  History  (which  still  remains  in  manuscript,) 
and,  though  it  has  been  useful,  is  not  always  accurate  in  what 
it  contains.  Knox,  in  a  conference  with  Mary  of  Scotland,  told 
the  Queen  that  he  was  five  j'cars  resident  in  England  (Historie, 
289.)  Now,  as  he  came  to  England  immediately  after  he  ob- 
tained his  liberty,  and  left  it  (as  we  shall  afterwards  see)  in  the 
end  of  January  or  beginning  of  February,  1554,  this  exactl)-  ac- 
cords with  the  date  of  his  liberation  which  is  given  above  from 
Calderwood's  MS. 

*  This  is  mentioned  in  a  MS.  in  my  possession  ;  but  little 
credit  can  be  given  to  it,  as  it  is  written  in  a  modem  hand,  and 
no  authority  is  produced. 

+  Petrie'g  Church  History,  Part  ii.  p.  184. 

j  Hamiltonii  Dialog,  p.  64. 

II  Peter  Martyr,  in  a  letter,  dated  Oxford,  1st  July,  J550,  la- 
ments the  paucity  of  useful  preachers  in  England.  "  Doleo  plus 
quam  dici  possit,  tanta  ubique  in  Anglia  verbi  Dei  penuria  labo- 
rari;  et  eos  qui  ovcs  Christi  doctrina  pascere  tencnlur,  cum 
usque  eo  remissc  agant,  ut  offirium  facere  prorsus  recusent, 
nescio  quo  Hetu,  quibusve  lachrymis  deplorari  possit.  Verum 
confido  fore  ut  meliora  simus  visuri."  Martyri  Epist.  apud  Loc. 
Commun.  p.  760.    Geneva,  1624. 


their  revenues,  he  allotted  pensions  to  the  monks  du- 
ring life  ;  but  to  relieve  the  royal  treasury  of  this 
burden,  small  benefices  in  the  gift  of  the  crown  were 
afterwards  substituted  in  the  place  of  pensions.  The 
example  of  the  monarch  was  imitated  by  the  nobles 
who  had  procured  monastic  lands.  By  this  means  a 
great  part  of  the  inferior  livings  were  held  by  ignorant 
and  superstitious  monks,  who  were  a  dead  weight 
upon  the  English  church,  and  a  principal  cause  of  the 
nation's  sudden  relapse  to  popery,  at  the  subsequent 
accession  of  Queen  Mary.* 

Cranmer  had  already  adopted  measures  for  remedy- 
ing this  alarming  evil.  With  the  concurrence  of  the 
Protector  and  the  Privy  Council,  he  had  invited  a  num- 
ber of  learned  protestants  from  Germany  into  England, 
and  had  placed  Peter  Martyr,  Martin  Bueer,  Paul 
Fagius,  and  Emanuel  Tremellius,  as  professors  in  the 
universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge.  This  was  a 
wise  measure,  which  secured  a  future  supply  of  useful 
preachers,  trained  up  by  these  able  masters.  But  the 
necessity  was  urgent,  and  demanded  immediate  provis- 
ion. For  this  purpose,  instead  of  fixing  a  number  of 
orthodox  and  popular  preachers  in  particular  charges, 
it  was  judged  most  expedient  to  employ  them  in 
itinerating  through  different  parts  of  the  kingdom, 
where  the  clergy  were  most  illiterate  or  disaffected  to 
the  Reformation,  and  where  the  inhabitants  were  most 
addicted  to  superstition. 

In  these  circumstances,  our  zealous  countryman  did 
not  remain  long  unemployed.  The  reputation  which 
he  had  gained  by  his  preaching  at  St.  Andrews, f  and 
his  late  sufferings,  recommended  him  to  the  English 
Council ;  and  soon  after  his  arrival  in  England,  he  was 
sent  down  from  London  to  preach  in  Berwick.:}: 

The  Council  had  every  reason  to  be  pleased  with 
the  choice  which  they  had  made  of  a  northern  preach- 
er. He  had  long  thirsted  for  the  opportunity  which  he 
now  enjoyed.  His  love  for  the  truth,  and  his  'zeal 
against  popery  had  been  inflamed  during  his  captivity; 
and  he  spared  neither  time  nor  labour  in  the  instruction 
of  those  to  whom  he  was  sent.  Regarding  the  wor- 
ship of  the  popish  church  as  grossly  idolatrous,  and 
its  doctrine  as  damnable,  he  attacked  both  with  the 
utmost  fervour,  and  exerted  himself  in  drawing  his 
hearers  from  the  belief  of  the  one  and  from  the  ob- 
servance of  the  other,  with  as  much  eagerness  as  in 
.saving  their  lives  from  a  devouring  flame  or  flood. 
Nor  were  his  efforts  fruitless :  during  the  two  years 
that  he  continued  in  Berwick,  numbers  were  converted 
by  his  ministry  from  ignorance  and  the  errors  of  pope- 
ry ;  and  a  visible  reformation  of  manners  was  produced 
upon  the  soldiers  of  the  garrison,  who  had  formerly 
been  noted  for  turbulence  and  licentiousness. |) 

The  popularity  and  success  of  a  protestant  preacher 
were  very  galling  to  the  clergy  in  that  quarter,  who 
were,  almost  to  a  man,  bigoted  papists,  and  enjoyed 
the  patronage  of  the  bishop  of  the  diocese.  Ton- 
STAL,  bishop  of  Durham,  like  his  friend  Sir  Thomas 
More,  was  one  of  those  men  of  whom  it  is  extremely 
difficult  to  give  a  correct  idea,  qualities  of  an  opposite 


*  Burnet's  Hist,  of  the  Reformation,  II.  24.  The  suppres- 
sio4i  of  the  chauntries,  in  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.  was  attended 
with  similar  effects.     Strype's  INleni.  of  the  Reform.  II.  446. 

f  I  omitted  mentioning  in  the  proper  place,  that  the  biogra- 
pher of  Sir  David  Lindsay  has  stated,  from  the  Minutes  of  the 
English  Council,  that  Knox  was  in  the  pay  of  England  as  early 
as  tne  year  1547.  Chalmers's  Lindsay,  I.  32.  I  cannot  suppose 
that  the  learned  author  would  confound  the  salary  which  Knox 
received  during  his  residence  in  England,  with  a  pension  al- 
lotted to  him  when  he  was  in  his  native  country.  But  on  the 
other  hand,  I  think  it  very  unlikely  that  he  should  have  been 
known  to  the  English  Court  before  he  entered  the  castle  of  St. 
Andrews,  and  am  inclined  to  suppose  that  any  pension  which 
he  received  from  them  did  not  commence  until  that  period  at 
soonest.  Mr.  Chalmers's  language  conveys  the  idea,  that  he 
was  pensioned  by  England  before  he  went  to  the  Castle. 

t  Strype'i  Meraor.  of  Reform,  iii.  235.     Knox.  Hist.  85. 289. 

II  Knox,  Historie,  p.  289. 


LIFE   OF  JOHN   KNOX. 


37 


kind  being  mixed  and  blended  in  their  character.  Sur- 
passing all  his  brethren  in  polite  learning,  he  was  the 
patron  of  bigotry  and  superstition.  Displaying,  in 
private  life,  that  moderation  and  suavity  of  manners 
which  liberal  studies  usually  inspire,*  he  was  acces- 
sory to  the  public  measures  of  a  reign,  disgraced 
throughout  by  the  most  shocking  barbarities.  Claim- 
ing our  praise  for  honesty,  by  opposing  in  Parliament 
innovations  which  his  judgment  condemned,  he  forfeit- 
ed it  by  the  most  tame  acquiescence  and  ample  con- 
formity ;  thereby  maintaining  his  station  amidst  all  the 
revolutions  of  religion  during  three  successive  reigns. 
He  had  paid  little  attention  to  the  science  immediately 
connected  with  his  profession,  and  most  probably  was 
indifferent  to  the  controversies  then  agitated  ;  but  living 
in  an  age  in  which  it  was  necessary  for  every  man  to 
choose  his  side,  he  adhered  to  those  opinions  which 
had  been  long  established,  and  which  were  friendly  to 
the  power  and  splendour  of  the  ecclesiastical  order. 
As  if  anxious  to  atone  for  his  fault,  in  having  forward- 
ed those  measures  which  produced  a  breach  between 
England  and  the  Roman  See,  he  opposed  in  Parliament 
all  the  subsequent  changes.  Opposition  awakened 
his  zeal ;  he  became  at  last  a  strenuous  advocate  for 
the  popish  tenets ;  and  wrote  a  book  in  defence  of 
transubstantiation,  of  which,  says  bishop  Burnet,  "  the 
Latin  style  is  better  than  the  divinity." 

The  labours  of  Knox,  who  exerted  himself  to  over- 
throw what  the  bishop  wished  to  support,  could  not 
fail  to  be  very  disagreeable  to  Tonstal.  As  the  preach- 
er acted  under  the  authority  of  the  Protector  and 
Council,  he  durst  not  inhibit  him  ;  but  he  was  disposed 
to  listen  to  the  informations  which  were  lodged  against 
him  by  the  clergy.  Although  the  town  of  Berwick 
was  Knox's  principal  station  during  the  years  1549 
1550,  it  is  probable  that  he  was  appointed  to  preach 
occasionally  in  the  adjacent  country.  Whether,  in  the 
course  of  his  itineranc-y,  he  had  preached  in  Newcastle, 
or  whether  he  was  called  up  to  it,  in  consequence  of 
complaints  against  his  sermons  delivered  at  Berwick, 
it  is  difficult  to  ascertain.  It  is  however  certain,  that  a 
charge  was  exhibited  against  him  before  the  bishop, 
for  teaching  that  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass  was  idola- 
trous, and  that  a  day  was  appointed  for  him  publicly 
to  assign  his  reasons  for  this  opinion. 

Accordingly,  on  the  4th  of  April,  1550,  a  large 
assembly  being  convened  in  Newcastle,  among  whom 
were  the  members  of  the  council, f  the  bishop  of 
Durham,  and  the  learned  men  of  his  cathedral,  Knox 
delivered,  in  their  presence,  an  ample  defence  of  his 
doctrine.  After  an  appropriate  exordium,  in  which  he 
stated  to  the  audience  the  occasion  and  design  of  his 
appearance,  and  cautioned  them  against  the  powerful 
prejudices  of  education  and  custom  in  favour  of  erro- 
neous opinions  and  corrupt  practices  in  religion,  he 
proceeded  to  establish  the  doctrine  which  he  had  taught. 
The  manner  in  which  he  treated  the  subject  was  well 
adapted  to  his  auditory,  which  was  composed  both  of 
the  learned  and  the  illiterate.  He  proposed  his  argu- 
ments in  the  syllogistic  form,  according  to  the  practice 
of  the  schools,  but  illustrated  them  with  a  plainness 
level  to  the  meanest  capacity  among  his  hearers.  At 
the  same  time,  the  propositions  on  which  he  rested  his 
defence  are  very  descriptive  of  his  characteristic  bold- 
ness of  thinking  and  acting,  A  more  cautious  and 
timid   disputant   would   have  satisfied   himself   with 


*  Sir  Thomas  More,  in  one  of  his  letters  to  Erasmus,  gives 
the  following  character  of  Tonstal  :  "Ut  nemo  est  omnibus 
bonis  literis  instructior,  nemo  vita  moribusque  severior,  ita 
nemo  est  usquam  in  convictu  jucundior." 

f  Besides  the  great  Council  which  managed  the  affairs  of  the 
kingdom  under  the  Protector,  a  number  of  the  privy-counsellors 
who  belonged  to  this  part  of  the  country,  composed  a  subor- 
dinate board,  called  "  the  Council  of  the  North."  The  mem- 
bers here  referred  to  belonged  probably  to  this  council,  and 
not  the  town-council  of  Newcastle.  If  I  am  right  in  this  con- 
jecture, Knox  might  owe  to  them,  and  not  to  the  bishop,  the 
liberty  of  this  public  defence. 


attacking  the  grosser  notions  which  were  generally 
entertained  by  the  people  on  this  subject,  and  with 
exposing  the  glaring  abuses  of  which  the  priests  were 
guilty  in  the  lucrative  sale  of  masses.  Knox  scorned 
to  occupy  himself  in  demolishing  these  feeble  and 
falling  outworks,  and  proceeded  directly  to  establish  a 
principle  which  overthrew  the  whole  fabric  of  super- 
stition. He  engaged  to  prove  that  the  mass,  "  even  in 
her  most  high  degree,"  and  when  stripped  of  the 
meretricious  dress  in  which  she  now  appeared,  was  an 
idol  struck  from  the  inventive  brain  of  superstition, 
which  had  supplanted  the  sacrament  of  the  supper,  and 
engrossed  the  honour  due  to  the  person  and  sacrifice  of 
Jesus  Christ.  "  Spare  no  arrows,"  was  the  motto 
which  Knox  wore  on  his  standard  :  the  authority  of 
Scripture,  and  the  force  of  reasoning,  grave  reproof, 
and  pointed  irony,  were  weapons  which  he  alternate- 
ly employed.  In  the  course  of  this  defence,  he  did 
not  restrain  those  sallies  of  raillery,  which  the  foole- 
ries of  the  popish  superstition  irresistibly  provoke, 
even  from  those  who  are  deeply  impressed  with  its 
pernicious  tendency.  Before  concluding  his  discourse, 
he  adverted  to  certain  doctrines  which  he  had  heard 
in  that  place  on  the  preceding  Sabbath,  the  falsehood 
of  which  he  engaged  to  demonstrate ;  but  in  the  first 
place,  he  said,  he  would  submit  the  notes  of  the  ser- 
mon, which  he  had  taken  down,  to  the  preacher,  that 
he  might  correct  them  as  he  saw  proper ;  for  his  object 
was  not  to  misrepresent  nor  captiously  entrap  a  speak- 
er, by  catching  at  words  unadvisedly  uttered,  but  to 
defend  the  truth,  and  warn  his  hearers  against  errors 
destructive  to  their  souls.  The  defence,  as  drawn  up  by 
Knox  himself,  is  now  before  me  in  manuscript,  and  the 
reader  who  wishes  a  more  particular  account  of  its 
contents  will  find  it  in  the  notes.* 

This  defence  had  the  effect  of  extending  Knox's 
fame  through  the  North  of  England,  while  it  com- 
pletely silenced  the  bishop  and  his  learned  assis- 
tants.-)" He  continued  to  preach  at  Berwick  during 
the  remaining  part  of  this  year,  and  in  the  following 
was  removed  to  Newcastle,  and  placed  in  a  sphere 
of  greater  usefulness.  In  December  1551,  the  Privy 
Council  conferred  on  him  a  mark  of  their  approbation, 
by  appointing  him  one  of  King  Edward's  Chaplains  in 
Ordinary.  "  It  was  appointed  (says  his  Majesty,  in  a 
Journal  of  important  transactions  which  he  wrote  with 
his  own  hand)  that  I  should  have  six  chaplains  ordin- 
ary, of  which  two  ever  to  be  present,  and  four  absent 
in  preaching ;  one  year  two  in  Wales,  two  in  Lan- 
cashire and  Derby ;  next  year  two  in  the  marches  of 
Scotland,  and  two  in  Yorkshire  ;  the  third  year  two  in 
Norfolk  and  Essex,  and  two  in  Kent  and  Sussex. 
These  six  to  be  Bill,  Harle,:t:  Perne,  Grindal,  Bradford, 

and ."II     The  name  of  the  sixth  has  been  dashed 

out  of  the  Journal,  but  the  industrious  Strype  has 
shewn  that  it  was  Knox.§  "  These  it  seems  (says 
Bishop  Burnet)  were  the  most  zealous  and  readiest 
preachers,  who  were  sent  about  as  itinerants,  to  supply 


*   See  Note  XV. 

f  The  compiler  of  the  account  of  Knox,  prefixed  to  the  edi- 
tion of  his  History  printed  in  1732,  says,  that  the  MS.  con- 
taining the  Defence,  bears  that  it  "quite  silenced"  the  bishop 
and  his  doctors.  But  that  writer  does  not  appear  to  have  ever 
seen  the  MS.  which  contains  nothing  of  the  kind.  The  fact, 
however,  is  attested  by  the  bishop  of  Ossory,  who  had  good 
opportunities  of  knowing  its  truth,  and  who  is  accurate  in  his 
account  of  other  circumstances  relative  to  it.  His  words  are, 
"  Et  4  die  Aprilis  ejusdem  anni  [1550]  aperiens  in  concione 
opinionem,  ejus  idolatrias  et  horrendas  blaspheniias,  tam  solidis 
argumentis,  abominationem  esse  probabat,  ut,  cum  omnibus  sci- 
olis,  Saturnius  ille  somniator,  [Dunelniensis]  refragare  non  pos- 
sit."     Baleus,  De  Script.  Scot,  et  Hibern.  Art.  Knoxus. 

\  John  Harle  or  Harley,  was  afterwards  made  bishop  of 
Hereford,  May  26,  1553.  Strype's  Cranmer,  p.  301.  A  late 
writer  has  confounded  this  Englishman  with  William  Harlowe, 
who  was  minister  of  St.  Cuthbert's  church,  near  Edinburgh. 
Scott's  History  of  the  Reformers  in  Scotland,  p.  242. 

11  King  Edward's  Journal,  apud  Burnet,  ii.  Records,  p.  42. 

}  Memorials  of  the  Reformation,  ii.  297.  Menior.  of  Craa- 
mer,  p.  292.     Burnet,  iii.  212.     Records.  420,  422. 


38 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX. 


the  defects"of  the  greatest  part  of  the  clergy,  who  were 
generally  very  faulty."*  An  annual  salary  of  forty 
pounds  was  allotted  to  each  of  the  chaplains. f 

In  the  course  of  this  year,  Knox  was  consulted 
about  the  book  of  Common  Prayer,  which  was  un- 
dergoing a  revisal.  On  that  occasion,  it  is  probable 
that  he  was  called  up  for  a  short  time  to  London.  Al- 
though the  persons  who  had  their  chief  direction  of 
ecclesiastical  affairs  were  not  disposed,  or  did  not 
think  it  yet  expedient,  to  introduce  that  thorough 
reform  which  he  judged  necessary,  in  order  to  reduce 
the  worship  of  the  English  church  to  the  scripture- 
model,  his  representations  were  not  altogether  disre- 
garded. He  had  influence  to  procure  an  important 
change  in  the  communion-office,  completely  excluding 
the  notion  of  the  corporeal  presence  of  Christ  in  the 
sacrament,  and  guarding  against  the  adoration  of  the 
elements,  which  was  too  much  countenanced  by  the 
practice,  still  continued,  of  kneeling  at  their  reception.:}: 
In  his  Admonition  to  the  Professors  of  the  Truth  in 
England,  Knox  speaks  of  these  amendments  with 
great  satisfaction.  "Also  God  gave  boldness  and 
knowledge  to  the  Court  of  Parliament  to  take  away 
the  round  clipped  god,  wherein  standeth  all  the  holi- 
ness of  the  papists,  and  to  command  common  bread  to 
be  used  at  the  Lord's  table,  and  also  to  take  away  the 
most  part  of  superstitions  (kneeling  at  the  Lord's  table 
excepted)  which  before  profaned  Christ's  true  religion." 
These  alterations  gave  great  offence  to  the  papists.  In 
a  disputation  with  Latimer,  after  the  accession  of 
Queen  Mary,  the  Prolocutor,  Dr.  Weston,  complained 
of  our  countryman's  influence  in  procuring  them. 
"  A  runnagate  Scot  did  take  away  the  adoration  or 
worshipping  of  Christ  in  the  sacrament,  by  whose 
procurement  that  heresie  was  put  into  the  last  com- 
munion-book ;  so  much  prevailed  that  one  man's  au- 
thority at  that  time."||  In  the  following  year,  he  was 
employed  in  revising  the  Articles  of  Religion,  previous 
to  their  ratification  by  Parliament.§ 

During  his  residence  at  Berwick,  he  had  formed  an 
acquaintance  with  Miss  Marjory  Bowes,  a  young  lady 
who  afterwards  became  his  wife.  She  belonged  to 
the  honourable  family  of  Bowes,  and  was  nearly 
allied  to  Sir  Robert  Bowes,  a  distinguished  courtier 
during  the  reigns  of  Henry  VIII.  and  his  son  Edward. 
Before  he  left  Berwick,  Knox  had  paid  his  addresses 
to  this  young  Lady,  and  met  with  a  favourable  recep- 
tion. Her  mother  also  was  friendly  to  the  match  ;  but 
owing  to  some  reason,  most  probably  the  presumed 
aversion  of  her  father,  it  was  deemed  prudent  to  delay 
solemnizing  the   union.     But  having  come   under  a 


*  Burnet,  ii.  171. 

•f-  Stry pe's  Menior.  of  Reform,  ut  supra.  Life  of  Grindal,  p. 
7.  Mr.  Strj'pe  says,  that  the  number  of  chaplains  was  after- 
wards reduced  to  (our,  Bradford  and  Knox  being  dropped  from 
the  list.  But  both  of  these  preached  in  their  turn  before  the 
Court,  in  the  year  1553.  And  in  the  Council-book  a  warrant  is 
granted,  October  27th,  1552,  to  four  gentlemen,  to  pay  to  Knox, 
"his  Majesty's  preacher  in  the  North,  forty  pounds,  as  his 
Majesty's  reward."  Strype's  Cranmer,  292.  This  salary  he 
retained  until  the  death  of  Edward;  for  in  a  letter  written  by 
him  at  the  time  he  left  England,  he  says:  "  Ather  the  Queens 
Majestie,  or  sum  Thesaurer  will  be  40  pounds  rycher  by  me, 
«ae  meikle  lack  I  of  the  dutie  of  my  patentis;  but  that  littil 
trubillis  me."     MS.  Letters,  p.  286. 

\  See  Note  XVL 

fl  Fox,  p.  1326.  Strype  questions  the  truth  of  Weston's 
statement,  and  says  that  Knox  "was  hardly  come  into  England 
^at  least  any  further  than  Newcastle)  at  this  time."  Annals, 
iii.  117.  But  we  have  already  seen  that  he  arrived  in  Englaud 
at  early  as  the  beginning  of  1549. 

6  "  October  2,  (1552,)  a  letter  was  directed  to  Mess.  Harley, 
Bill,  Horn,  Grindal,  Pern,  and  Knox,  to  consider  certain  arti- 
cles exhibited  to  the  King's  Majesty,  to  be  subscribed  by  all 
auch  as  shall  be  admitted  to  be  preachers  or  ministers  in  any 
part  of  the  realm  ;  and  to  make  report  of  their  opinions  touch- 
ing the  same."  Council-book,  apud  Strype's  Cranmer,  p.  273. 
Their  report  was  returned  before  the  20tn  November,  ibid.  p. 
301.  Burnet  says,  the  order  was  given  October  20.  History, 
iii.  212.  The  articles  agreed  to  at  this  time  were ybr{y-/u)0.  lu 
1562  they  were  reduced  to  thirty-nine,  their  present  number. 


formal  promise  to  her,  he  considered  himself,  from  that 
time,  as  sacredly  bound,  and  he  always  addressed  Mrs. 
Bowes  by  the  name  of  Mother,  in  the  letters  which  he 
wrote  to  that  lady.* 

Without  derogating  from  the  praise  justly  due  to 
those  worthy  men  who  were  at  this  time  employed 
in  disseminating  religious  truth  through  England,  I 
ma}'  say,  that  our  countryman  was  not  behind  the 
first  of  them,  in  the  unwearied  assiduity  with  which 
he  laboured  in  the  stations  assigned  to  him.  From  an 
early  period,  his  mind  seems  to  have  presaged,  that 
the  golden  opportunity  now  enjoyed  would  not  be  of 
long  duration.  He  was  eager  to  "  redeem  the  time," 
and  indefatigable  both  in  his  studies  and  in  teaching. 
In  addition  to  his  ordinary  services  on  Sabbath,  he 
preached  regularly  on  week  days,  frequently  on  every 
day  of  the  week.f  Besides  the  portion  of  time  which 
he  allotted  to  study,  he  was  often  employed  in  con- 
versing with  persons  who  applied  to  him  for  advice  on 
religious  subjects.:^  The  Council  were  not  insensible 
to  the  value  of  his  services,  and  conferred  on  him 
several  marks  of  approbation.  They  wrote  different 
letters  to  the  governors  and  principal  inhabitants  of  the 
places  where  he  preached,  recommending  him  to  their 
notice  and  protection. ||  They  secured  him  in  the  reg- 
ular payment  of  his  salary,  until  he  should  be  provided 
with  a  benefice. §  And  they,  out  of  respect  to  him, 
in  September  1552,  granted  a  patent  to  his  brother 
William  Knox,  a  merchant,  giving  him  liberty  for  a 
limited  time,  to  trade  to  any  port  of  England,  in  a 
vessel  of  a  hundred  tons  burden.^ 

But  the  things  which  recommended  Knox  to  the 
Council  drew  upon  him  the  hatred  of  a  numerous  and 
powerful  party  in  the  Northern  counties,  who  remained 
addicted  to  popery.  Irritated  by  his  boldness  and  suc- 
cess in  attacking  their  superstition,  and  sensible  that 
it  would  be  in  vain,  and  even  dangerous,  to  prefer  an 
accusation  against  him  on  that  ground,  they  watched 
for  an  opportunity  of  catching  at  something  in  his  dis- 
courses or  behaviour,  which  they  might  improve  to 
his  disadvantage.  He  had  long  observed  with  great 
anxiety  the  impatience  with  which  the  papists  sub- 
mitted to  the  present  government,  and  their  eager  de- 
sires for  any  change  which  might  lead  to  the  overthrow 
of  the  protestant  religion ;  desires  which  were  ex- 
pressed by  them  in  the  North,  without  that  reserve 


*  From  this  appellation  in  the  MS.  Letters,  I  concluded 
that  Knox  was  married  to  Miss  Bowes  before  he  left  Berwick, 
until  I  met  with  a  book  prmted  by  him,  to  which  one  of  his 
letters  to  Mrs.  Bowes  is  added.  On  the  margin  of  this,  oppo- 
site to  a  place  in  which  he  had  called  her  mother,  is  this  note: 
"  I  had  maid  faithful  promise,  before  witnes,  to  Mariorie  Bowes 
her  daughter,  so  as  she  tuke  me  for  sone,  I  hartly  embrased  her 
as  my  mother."     Knox's  Answer  to  Tyrie  the  Jesuit.     F.  ij. 

+  MS.  Letters,  p.  265,  276.  t  I  hid.  passim. 

II  They  wrote  a  letter  in  his  commendation,  Dec.  9,  1552,  to 
Lord  Wharton,  Deputy  Warden  of  the  Borders.  During  the 
following  year,  when  he  was  employed  in  Buckinghamshire,  in 
order  to  secure  greater  acce.ptance  and  respect  to  him  in  that 
county,  the  Council  wrote  in  his  favour  to  Lords  Russel  and 
Windsor,  to  the  Justices  of  the  Peace,  and  to  several  other 
gentlemen.     Strype's  Cranmer,  p.  292. 

\  Strype's  Memor.  of  the  Reformation,  ii.  533. 

T  Bishop  Burnet  and  Mr.  Strype,  (Memor.  of  Reform,  ii. 
299.)  who  record  this  fact,  conjecture  that  the  patentee  was  a 
relation  of  our  Reformer.  That  he  was  his  brother  is  evident 
from  Knox's  letters,  which  mention  his  being  in  England  about 
this  time.  In  a  letter  written  in  1553,  he  says:  "My  brother, 
WiUiame  Knox,  is  presentlie  with  me.  VV^hat  ye  waid  haif 
frome  Scotland,  let  me  knaw  this  Monunday  at  nycht;  for  hie 
must  depart  on  Tyisday."  MS.  p.  271.  The  same  person 
seems  to  be  meant  in  the  following  extract  from  another  letter: 
"My  brother  hath  communicat  his  haill  hart  with  me;  and  I 
persave  the  mychtie  operation  of  God.  And  sa  let  us  be  esta- 
blissit  in  his  infinit  gudnes  and  maist  sure  promissis."  MS.  p. 
266. 

tVilliam  Knox  afterwards  became  a  preacher,  and  was 
minister  of  Cockpen,  in  Mid  Lothian,  after  the  establishment 
of  the  Reformation  in  Scotland.  No  fewer  than  fourteen 
ministers  of  the  church  of  Scotland  are  numbered  among  hii 
descendants.  Genealogical  Account  of  the  Knoxe8,apud  Scott'* 
HistOTj  of  the  Refomier»  in  Scotland,  p.  152. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


39 


which  prudence  dictated  in  places  adjacent  to  the  seat 
of  authority.  He  had  witnessed  the  joy  with  which 
they  received  the  news  of  the  Protector's  fall,  and  was 
no  stranger  to  the  satisfaction  with  which  they  circu- 
lated prognostications  as  to  the  speedy  demise  of  the 
king.  In  a  sermon  preached  by  him  about  Christmas 
1552,  he  gave  vent  to  his  feelings  on  this  subject ;  and 
lamenting  the  obstinacy  of  the  papists,  asserted,  that 
such  as  were  enemies  to  the  gospel,  then  preached  in 
England,  were  secret  traitors  to  the  crown  and  common- 
wealth, thirsted  for  nothing  more  than  his  Majesty's 
death,  and  cared  not  who  should  reign  over  them,  pro- 
vided they  got  iheir  idolatry  again  erected.  This  free 
speech  was  immediately  laid  hold  of  by  his  enemies, 
and  transmitted,  with  many  aggravations,  to  some 
great  men  about  court,  secretly  in  their  interest,  who 
thereupon  accused  him  of  high  misdemeanors,  before 
the  Privy  Council.* 

In  taking  this  step,  they  were  not  a  little  encouraged 
by  their  knowledge  of  the  sentiments  of  the  Duke  of 
Northumberland,  who  had  lately  come  down  to  his 
charge  as  Warden  General  of  the  Northern  marches. f 
This  ambitious  and  unprincipled  nobleman  had  affected 
much  zeal  for  the  reformed  religion,  that  he  might  the 
more  easily  attain  the  highest  preferment  in  the  state, 
which  he  had  recently  secured  by  the  ruin  of  the  Duke 
of  Somerset,  the  Protector  of  the  kingdom.  Knox  had 
offended  him  by  publicly  lamenting  the  fall  of  Somer- 
set as  threatening  danger  to  the  Reformation,  of  which 
he  had  always  shewn  himself  a  zealous  friend,  how- 
ever blameable  his  conduct  might  have  been  in  other 
respects. :(:  Nor  could  the  freedom  which  the  preacher 
used,  in  reproving  from  the  pulpit  the  vices  of  great  as 
well  as  small,  fail  to  be  displeasing  to  a  man  of  Nor- 
thumberland's character.  On  these  accounts,  he  was 
desirous  to  have  Knox  removed  from  that  quarter,  and 
had  actually  applied  for  this,  by  a  letter  to  the  Coun- 
cil, previous  to  the  occurrence  just  mentioned  ;  alleg- 
ing, as  a  pretext  for  this,  that  great  numbers  of  Scots- 
men resorted  to  him  :  as  if  any  real  danger  was  to  be 
apprehended  from  this  intercourse  with  a  man,  of  whose 
fidelity  the  existing  government  had  so  many  strong 
pledges,  and  who  uniformly  employed  all  his  influence 
to  remove  the  prejudices  of  his  countrymen  against 
England. II 

In  consequence  of  the  charge  exhibited  against  him 
to  the  Council,  he  was  summoned  to  repair  immedi- 
ately to  London,  and  answer  for  his  conduct.  The 
following  extract  of  a  letter,  written  by  him  to  Miss 
Bowes,§  will  shew  the  state  of  his  mind  on  receiving 
this  citation.  "  Urgent  necessity  will  not  suffer  that 
I  testify  my  mind  unto  you.  My  Lord  of  Westmore- 
land*|f  has  written  unto  me  this  Wednesday  at  six  of 


*  MS.  Letters,  p.  193.  Knox's  Admonition  to  the  Profes- 
sors of  the  Truth  in  England,  p.  61,  apud  History,  Edin.  1644, 
4to. 

f  The  Earl  of  Warwick,  now  created  Duke  of  Northumber- 
land, was  appointed  Warden  General  of  the  Northern  marches 
in  Oct.  1551.  But  being  occupied  in  securing  his  interest  at 
court,  he  got  himself  excused  from  going  North  until  June 
1552.     Strype's  Meraor.  of  the  Reformation,  ii.  282,  339. 

\  MS.  Letters,  p.  112,  173.  Admonition,  p.  51.  apud  His- 
tory, Edinburgh,  1644.  Knox  considered  that  the  papists  had 
a  secret  hand  in  fomenting  those  dissentions  which  led  to  the 
condemnation  and  execution  of  the  Protector.  Nor  were  his 
luspicions  ill  founded.  See  Strype's  Memor.  of  the  Reform, 
ii.  306—7. 

II  The  Duke's  letter  was  dated  Nov.  23,  1552.  Haynes, 
State  Papers,  136.  Brand's  History  of  Newcastle,  p.  304. 
Redpath's  Border  History,  p.  577. 

}  A  great  number  of  his  letters  in  the  MS.  are  superscribed 
"To  his  Sister."  It  appears  from  internal  evidence  that  this 
was  a  daughter  of  Mi-s.  Bowes,  and,  although  I  cannot  be 
positive,  1  am  inclined  to  think  that  she  was  the  young  lady 
whom  he  married.  One  letter  has  this  superscription,  "To 
Mariorie  Bowes,  who  was  his  first  wife."  In  it  he  addresses 
her  by  the  name  of  Sister,  and  at  the  close,  says,  "  I  think  this 
be  the  first  letter  that  ever  I  wrait  to  you."  MS.  p.  335.  But 
there  is  no  date  by  which  to  compare  it  with  other  letters. 

IT  Henry  Nevyl,  Earl  of  Westmoreland,  was,  by  the  interest 
of  the  Duke  of  Northumberland,  admitted  a  member  of  the 


the  clock  at  night,  immediately  thereafter  ta  repair 
unto  him,  as  I  will  answer  at  my  peril.  I  could  not 
obtain  license  to  remain  the  time  of  the  sermon  upon 
the  morrow.  Blessed  be  God  who  does  ratify  and 
confirm  the  truth  of  his  word  from  time  to  time,  as  our 
weakness  shall  require  !  Your  adversary,  sister,  doth 
labour  that  you  should  doubt  whether  this  be  the  word 
of  God  or  not.  If  there  had  never  been  testimonial 
of  the  undoubted  truth  thereof  before  these  our  ages, 
may  not  such  things  as  we  see  daily  come  to  pass 
prove  the  verity  thereof?  Doth  it  not  affirm,  that  it 
shall  be  preached,  and  yet  contemned  and  lightly  re- 
garded by  many  ;  that  the  true  professors  thereof  shall 
be  hated  by  father,  mother,  and  others  of  the  contrary 
religion ;  that  the  most  faithful  shall  be  persecuted  ? 
And  Cometh  not  all  these  things  to  pass  in  ourselves  ? 
Rejoice,  sister,  for  the  same  word  that  forespeaketh. 
trouble  doth  certify  us  of  the  glory  consequent.  As 
for  myself,  albeit  the  extremity  should  now  apprehend 
me,  it  is  not  come  unlooked  for.  But,  alas  !  I  fear 
that  yet  I  be  not  ripe  nor  able  to  glorify  Christ  by  my 
death  ;  but  what  lacketh  now,  God  shall  perform  in 
his  own  time. — Be  sure  I  will  not  forget  you  and  your 
company,  so  long  as  mortal  man  may  remember  any 
earthly  creature."* 

Upon  reaching  London,  he  found  that  his  enemies 
had  been  uncommonly  industrious  in  their  endeavours 
to  excite  prejudice  against  him.  But  the  Council,  after 
hearing  his  defences,  were  convinced  of  the  malice  of 
his  accusers,  and  gave  him  an  honourable  acquittal. 
He  was  employed  to  preach  before  the  court,  and  his 
sermons  gave  great  satisfaction,  particularly  to  his 
Majesty,  who  contracted  a  favour  for  him,  and  was 
very  desirous  to  have  him  promoted  in  the  church. f 
The  Council  resolved  that  he  should  preach  in  London 
and  the  southern  counties  during  the  following  year ; 
but  they  allowed  him  to  return  for  a  short  time  to 
Newcastle,  either  that  he  might  settle  his  affairs  in 
the  north,  or  that  a  public  testimony  might  be  borne 
to  his  innocence  in  the  place  where  it  had  been  atf. 
tacked.  In  a  letter  to  his  sister,  dated  Newcastle,  23d 
March,  1553,  we  find  him  writing  as  follows,  "  Look 
farther  of  this  matter  in  the  other  letter,:^  written  unto 
you  at  such  time  as  many  thought  I  should  never  write 
after  to  man.  Heinous  were  the  delations  laid  against 
me,  and  many  are  the  lies  that  are  made  to  the  Coun- 
cil. But  God  one  day  shall  destroy  all  lying  tongues, 
and  shall  deliver  his  servants  from  calamity.  I  look 
but  one  day  or  other  to  fall  in  their  hands ;  for  more 
and  more  rageth  the  members  of  the  devil  against  me. 
This  assault  of  Satan  has  been  to  his  confusion,  and  to 
the  glory  of  God.  And  therefore,  sister,  cease  not  to 
praise  God,  and  to  call  for  my  comfort;  for  great  is 
the  multitude  of  enemies,  whom  every  one  the  Lord 
shall  confound.  I  intend  not  to  depart  from  Newcastle 
before  Easter." 

His  confinement  in  the  French  galleys,  together  with 
his  labours  in  England,  had  considerably  impaired  the 
vigour  of  his  constitution,  and  brought  on  the  gravel. 
In  the  course  of  the  year  1553,  he  endured  several  vio- 
lent attacks  of  this  acute  disorder,  accompanied  with 
severe  pain  in  his  head  and  stomach.  "  My  daily 
labours  must  now  increase  (says  he,  in  the  letter  last 
quoted),  and  therefore  spare  me  as  much  as  you  may. 
My  old  malady  troubles  me  sore,  and  nothing  is  more 
contrarious  to  my  health  than  writing.  Think  not  that 
I  weary  to  visit  you ;  but  unless  my  pain  shall  cease, 
I  will  altogether  become  unprofitable.  W^ork,  O  Lord, 
even  as  pleaseth  thy  infinite  goodness,  and  relax  the 

Privy  Council,  anno  1552.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the 
Council  for  the  North,  and  Lord  Lieutenant  of  the  bishopric 
of  Durham.  His  private  character  was  indifferent.  Strype'i 
Memor.  of  the  Reformation,  ii.  401,  457 — 9. 

*  MS.  Letters,  p.  267--9. 

+  MS.  Letters,  p.  112.  Melchior  Adam,  Vit.  Theolog.  Ext. 
p.  137. 

I  The  letter  last  quoted.  MS.  Letters,  p.  273 — 4.  compared 
with  p.  268.  -•«;■  •;  r?*^  : 


40 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


troubles,  at  thy  own  pleasure,  of  such  as  seeketh  thy 
glory  to  shine.  Amen."*  In  another  letter  to  the 
same  correspondent,  he  writes  :  "  The  pain  of  my  head 
and  stomach  troubles  me  greatly.  Daily  I  find  my 
body  decay ;  but  the  providence  of  my  God  shall  not 
be  frustrate.  I  am  charged  to  be  at  Widdrington  upon 
Sunday,  where  I  think  I  shall  also  remain  Monday. 
The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  rest  with  you. 
Desire  such  faithful  as  with  whom  ye  communicate 
your  mind,  to  pray  that,  at  the  pleasure  of  our  good 
God,  my  dolour  both  of  body  and  spirit  may  be  relieved 
somewhat ;  for  presently  it  is  very  bitter.  Never  found 
I  the  spirit,  I  praise  my  God,  so  abundant  where  God's 
glory  ought  to  be  declared  ;  and  therefore  I  am  sure 
there  abides  something  that  yet  we  see  not."f  "  Your 
messenger  (says  he  in  another  letter)  found  me  in  bed, 
after  a  sore  trouble  and  most  dolorous  night;  and  so 
dolour  may  complain  to  dolour  when  we  two  meet. 
But  the  infinite  goodness  of  God,  who  never  despiseth 
the  petitions  of  a  sore  troubled  heart,  shall,  at  his  good 
pleasure,  put  end  to  these  pains  that  we  presently 
suffer,  and  in  place  thereof  shall  crown  us  with  glory 
and  immortality  for  ever.  But,  dear  sister,  I  am  even 
of  mind  with  faithful  Job,  yet  most  sore  tormented, 
that  my  pain  shall  have  no  end  in  this  life.  The  power 
of  God  may,  against  the  purpose  of  my  heart,  alter 
such  things  as  appear  not  to  be  altered,  as  he  did  unto 
Job  ;  but  dolour  and  pain,  with  sore  anguish,  cries  the 
contrary.  And  this  is  more  plain  than  ever  I  spake, 
to  let  you  know  ye  have  a  fellow  and  companion  in 
trouble:  and  thus  rest  in  Christ,  for  the  head  of  the 
serpent  is  already  broken  down,  and  he  is  stinging  us 
upon  the  heel.":|: 

About  the  beginning  of  April,  1553,  he  returned  to 
London.  In  the  month  of  February  preceding.  Arch- 
bishop Cranmer  had  been  directed  by  the  Council  to 
present  him  to  the  vacant  living  oi  All-Hallows  in  the 
city. II  This  proposal,  which  originated  in  the  per- 
sonal favour  of  the  young  King,  was  very  disagreeable 
to  Northumberland,  who  exerted  himself  privately  to 
hinder  his  preferment.  The  interference  of  this  noble- 
man, however,  was  unnecessary ;  for  Knox  declined 
the  living  when  it  was  offered  to  him;  and,  on  being 
questioned  as  to  his  reasons,  readily  acknowledged, 
that  he  had  not  freedom  in  his  mind  to  accept  of  a 
fixed  charge,  in  the  present  state  of  the  English  church. 
His  refusal,  with  the  reason  which  he  had  assigned, 
gave  offence,  and  on  the  l^th  of  April,  he  was  called 
before  the  Privy  Council.  There  were  present  the 
archbishop  of  Canterbury,  Goodrick  bishop  of  Ely  and 
Lord  Chancellor,  the  earls  of  Bedford,  Northampton, 
and  Shrewsbury,  the  lords  Treasurer  and  Chamberlain, 
and  the  two  Secretaries.  They  asked  him,  Why  he 
had  refused  the  benefice  provided  for  him  in  London  1 
He  answered,  that  he  was  fully  satisfied  that  he  could 
be  more  useful  to  the  church  in  another  situation. 
Being  interrogated.  If  •  was  his  opinion,  that  no  per- 
son could  lawfully  servo  in  ecclesiastical  ministrations, 
according  to  the  present  laws  of  that  realm  1  he  frankly 
replied,  That  there  were  many  things  in  the  English 
church  which  needed  reformation,  and  that  without 
this  reformation  ministers  could  not,  in  his  opinion, 
discharge  their  office  conscientiously  in  the  sight  of 
God ;  for  no  minister  had  authority,  according  to  the 
existing  laws,  to  prevent  the  unworthy  from  partici- 
pating of  the  sacraments,  which  was  "  a  chief  point 
of  his  office."  He  was  asked,  If  kneeling  at  the 
Lord's  table  was  not  a  matter  of  indifference  %  He 
replied,  that  Christ's  action  at  the  communion  was 
most  perfect,  and  in  it  no  such  posture  was  used  ;  that 
it  was  most  safe  to  follow  his  example;  and  that  kneel- 
ing was  an  addition  and  invention  of  men.  On  this 
article,  there  was  a  smart  dispute  between  him  and 
some  of  the  members  of  the  Council.     After  long  rea- 


»  MS.  Letters,  p.  276.  t  Ibid.  p.  260—1. 

t  Ibid.  n.  262.  I    Strype's  Cranni( 


soning,  he  was  told,  that  they  had  not  sent  for  him 
with  any  bad  design,  but  were  sorry  to  understand  that 
he  was  of  a  contrary  judgment  to  the  common  order. 
He  said,  he  was  sorry  that  the  common  order  was  con- 
trary to  Christ's  institution.  They  dismissed  him  with 
soft  words,  advising  him  to  use  all  means  for  removing 
the  dislike  which  he  had  conceived  to  some  of  the 
forms  of  their  church,  and  to  reconcile  his  mind,  if 
possible,  to  the  idea  of  communicating  according  to 
the  established  rites.* 

Scruples  which  had  resisted  the  force  of  authority 
and  argument  have  often  been  found  to  yield  to  the 
more  powerful  influence  of  lucrative  and  honourable 
situations.  But  whether,  with  some,  we  shall  con- 
sider Knox's  conduct  on  this  occasion  as  indicating 
the  poverty  of  his  spirit,f  or  shall  regard  it  as  a  proof 
of  true  independence  of  mind,  even  the  prospect  of  ele- 
vation to  the  episcopal  bench  could  not  overcome  the 
repugnance  which  he  felt  at  a  closer  connection  with 
the  English  church.  Edward  VI.  with  the  concur- 
rence of  his  Privy  Council,  offered  him  a  bishoprick. 
But  he  rejected  it ;  and  in  the  reasons  which  he  gave 
for  his  refusal,  declared  the  episcopal  office  to  be  desti- 
tute of  divine  authority  in  itself,  and  its  exercise  in 
the  English  church  to  be  inconsistent  with  the  eccle- 
siastical canons.  This  is  attested  by  Beza,  a  contem- 
porary author.:^:  Knox  himself  speaks,  in  one  of  his 
treatises,  of  the  "high  promotions"  offered  to  him  by 
Edward  ;||  and  we  shall  find  him,  at  a  later  period  of 
his  life,  expressly  asserting,  that  he  had  refused  a 
bishoprick.  Tonstal  being  sequestered  upon  a  charge 
of  misprision  of  treason,  the  Council  had  come  to  a 
resolution,  about  this  time,  to  divide  his  extensive 
diocese  into  two  bishopricks,  the  seat  of  one  of  which 
was  to  be  at  Durham,  and  of  the  other  at  Newcastle. 
Ridley,  bishop  of  London,  was  to  be  translated  to  the 
former,  and  it  is  highly  probable  that  Knox  was  in- 
tended for  the  latter.  "  He  was  offered  a  bishopric 
(says  Brand),  probably  the  new  founded  one  at  New- 
castle, which  he  refused — revera  noluii  cpiscopar{.^'§ 

It  may  be  proper,  in  this  place,  to  give  a  more  par- 
ticular account  of  Knox's  sentiments  respecting  the 
English  church.  The  reformation  of  religion,  it  is 
well  known,  was  established  on  very  different  princi- 
ples in  England  and  in  Scotland,  both  as  to  worship 
and  ecclesiastical  polity.  In  England,  the  papal  su- 
premacy was  transferred  to  the  prince,  the  hierarchy, 
being  subjected  to  the  civil  power,  was  suffered  to 
remain,  and  after  removing  the  grosser  superstitions, 
the  principal  forms  of  the  ancient  worship  were  re- 
tained ;  whereas,  in  Scotland,  ail  of  these  were  dis- 
carded, as  destitute  of  divine  authority,  unprofitable, 
burdensome,  or  savouring  of  popery  ;  and  the  worship 
and  government  of  the  church  were  reduced  to  the 
primitive  standard  of  scriptural  simplicity.  The  influ- 
ence of  Knox,  in  recommending  this  establishment  to 
his  countrymen,  is  universally  allowed  ;  but,  as  he 
officiated  for  a  considerable  time  in  the  church  of  Eng- 
land, and  on  this  account  was  supposed  to  have  been 
pleased  with  its  constitution,  it  has  been  usually  said 
tliat  he  afterwards  contracted  a  dislike  to  it  during  his 
exile  on  the  continent,  and  that,  having  then  imbibed 
the  sentiments  of  Calvin,  he  carried   them  along  with 


X  Ibid.  p.  262. 


*  The  account  of  this  examination  before  the  Council  is 
taken  from  a  letter  of  Knox,  the  substance  of  which  has  been 
inserted  by  Calderwood  in  his  MS.  History,  and  by  Strype  in 
his  Memorials  of  the  Reformation,  vol.  ii.  p.  400. 

+  Luther  havinR  rejected  with  disdain  the  great  offers  by 
which  Meander,  the  papal  legate,  attempted  to  gain  bim  over 
to  the  court  of  Rome,  "  He  is  a  ferocious  brute  (exclaimed  the 
legate,  equally  confounded  and  disappointed)  whom  nothing 
can  soften,  and  who  regards  riches  and  honours  as  mere  dirt; 
otherwise  the  Pope  would  long  ago  have  loaded  him  with 
favours."  Beausobre's  History  of  the  Reformation,  i.  395 — 6. 
Macaulay's  Translation. 

t  Bezae  Icones,  Ee  iij.  Verheideni  Etfigics,  p.  92,  93.  Melch. 
Adam.  p.  137. 

*»,■«.  ji.  *uv/— i .  I      y  MS.  Letters,  p.  73.    The  passage  will  afterwards  be  quoted 

Strype's  Cranmer,  p.  292.  '      {  Historj-  of  Newcastle,  p.  304. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    KNOX. 


41 


him  to  his  native  country,  and  organized  the  Scottish 
church  after  the  Genevan  model.  This  statement  is 
inaccurate.  His  objections  to  the  English  liturgy 
were  increased  and  strengthened  during  his  residence 
on  the  continent,  but  they  existed  before  that  time. 
His  judgment  respecting  ecclesiastical  government  aiKl 
discipline  was  matured  during  that  period,  but  his  radi- 
cal sentiments  on  these  heads  were  formed  long  before 
he  saw  Calvin,  or  had  any  intercourse  with  the  foreign 
reformers.  At  Geneva  he  saw  a  church,  which,  upon 
the  whole^  corresponded  with  his  idea  of  the  divinely 
authorized  pattern ;  but  he  did  not  indiscriminately 
approve,  nor  servilely  imitate  either  that  or  any  other 
existing  establishment.* 

As  early  as  the  year  1547,  he  taught,  in  his  first 
sermons  at  St.  Andrews,  that  no  mortal  man  could  be 
head  of  the  church,  that  there  were  no  true  bishops 
but  such  as  preached  personally  without  a  substitute, 
that  in  religion  men  are  bound  to  regulate  themselves 
by  divine  laws,  and  that  the  sacraments  ought  to  be 
administered  exactly  according  to  the  institution  and 
example  of  Christ.  We  have  seen  that,  in  a  solemn 
disputation  in  the  same  place,  he  maintained  that  the 
church  has  no  authority,  on  pretext  of  decorating 
divine  service,  to  devise  religious  ceremonies,  and  im- 
pose upon  them  arbitrary  significations.!  This  posi- 
tion he  also  defended  in  the  year  1550  at  Newcastle, 
and  in  his  late  appearance  before  the  Privy  Council  at 
London.  It  was  impossible  that  the  English  church, 
in  any  of  the  shapes  which  it  assumed,  could  stand 
the  test  of  these  principles.  The  ecclesiastical  su- 
premacy, the  various  orders  and  dependencies  of  the 
hierarchy,  crossing  in  baptism,  and  kneeling  in  the 
eucharist,  with  other  ceremonies;  the  theatrical  dress, 
the  mimical  gestures,  the  vain  repetitions  used  in  reli- 
gious service,  were  all  condemned  and  repudiated  by 
the  cardinal  principle  to  which  he  steadily  adhered, 
that  in  the  church  of  Christ,  and  especially  in  the  acts 
of  worship,  every  thing  ought  to  be  arranged  and  con- 
ducted, not  by  the  pleasure  and  appointment  of  men, 
but  according  to  the  dictates  of  inspired  wisdom  and 
authority. 

He  rejoiced  that  liberty  and  encouragement  were 
given  to  preach  the  pure  word  of  God  throughout  the 
extensive  realm  of  England;  that  idolatry  and  gross 
superstition  were  suppressed  ;  and  that  the  rulers  were 
disposed  to  support  the  Reformation,  and  even  to  carry 
it  farther  than  had  yet  been  done.  Considering  the 
character  of  the  greater  part  of  the  clergy,  the  extreme 
paucity  of  useful  preachers,  and  other  hindrances  to 
the  introduction  of  the  primitive  order  and  discipline 
of  the  church,  he  acquiesced  in  the  authority  exercised 
by  a  part  of  the  bishops,  under  the  direction  of  the 
Privy  Council,  and  endeavoured  to  strengthen  their 
hands,  in  the  advancement  of  the  common  cause,  by 
painful  preaching  in  the  stations  which  were  assigned 
to  him.  But  he  could  not  be  induced  to  contradict  or 
to  conceal  his  fixed  sentiments,  and  he  cautiously 
avoided  coming  under  engagements,  by  which  he  must 
have  approved  of  what,  in  his  decided  conviction,  was 
either  unlawful  in  its  own  nature,  or  injurious  in  its 
tendency  to  the  interests  of  religion.  Upon  these 
principles,  he  never  submitted  to  the  unlimited  use  of 
the  liturgy,  during  the  time  that  he  was  in  England,:}: 

*  The  Churches  of  Geneva  and  Scotland,  did  not  agree  in 
all  points.  Though  holidays  were  abolished  in  Geneva  at  the 
coraraencenient  of  the  Reformation,  the  observance  of  a  num- 
ber of  them  was  very  soon  restored,  and  has  always  continued 
in  that  church;  but  this  practice  was  wholly  rejected  by  the 
church  of  Scotland,  from  the  very  first  establisnment  of  the 
Reformation,  and  its  introduction  has  always  been  vigorously 
resisted  by  her.  Other  things  in  which  they  ditlered  might 
easily  be  mentioned. 

t  Knox,  Historic,  p.  72 — 74.  and  this  Life,  p,  33. 

\  Cald.  MS.  i.  250.     During  the  reign  of  Edward,  and  even 

the  first  years  of  his  sister  Elisabeth's,  absolute  conformity  to 

the  liturgy  was  not  pressed  upon  ministers.     Slrype's  Annals, 

1.  419,432.  Burnet,  iii.  3f»5,  311.  Hutchinson's  Antiq.  of  Dur- 

F 


refused  to  become  a  bishop,  and  declined  accepting  a 
parochial  charge.  When  he  perceived  that  the  pro 
gress  of  the  Reformation  was  arrested,  by  the  influence 
of  a  popish  faction  and  the  dictates  of  a  temporizing 
policy;  that  abuses,  which  had  formerly  been  acknow- 
ledged, began  to  be  openly  vindicated  and  stiffly  main- 
tained ;  above  all,  when  he  saw,  after  the  accession 
of  Elizabeth,  that  a  retrograde  course  was  taken,  and 
a  yoke  of  ceremonies,  more  grievous  than  that  which 
the  most  sincere  protestants  had  formerly  complained 
of,  was  imposed  and  enforced  by  arbitrary  statutes,  he 
judged  it  necessary  to  speak  in  a  tone  of  a  more  de- 
cided and  severe  reprehension. 

Among  other  things  which  he  censured  in  the  Eng- 
lish ecclesiastical  establishment,  were  the  continuing 
to  employ  a  great  number  of  ignorant  and  insufficient 
priests,  who  had  been  accustomed  to  nothing  but 
saying  mass,  and  singing  the  litany;  the  general  sub- 
stitution of  the  reading  of  homilies,  the  mumbling  of 
prayers,  or  the  chanting  of  matins  and  even-song,  in  the 
place  of  preaching ;  the  formal  celebration  of  the 
sacraments,  unaccompanied  with  instruction  to  the  peo- 
ple ;  the  scandalous  prevalence  of  pluralities;  and 
the  total  want  of  ecclesiastical  discipline.  He  was 
of  opinion,  that  the  clergy  ought  not  to  be  entangled, 
and  diverted  from  the  duties  of  their  office,  by  hold- 
ing civil  places  ;  that  the  bishops  should  lay  aside 
their  secular  titles  and  dignities  ;  that  the  bishopricks 
should  be  divided,  so  that  in  every  city  or  large  town, 
there  might  be  placed  a  godly  and  learned  man,  with 
others  joined  with  him  for  the  management  of  ecclesi- 
astical matters ;  and  that  schools  for  the  education 
of  youth  should  be  universally  erected  through  the 
nation.* 

Nor  did  the  principal  persons  who  were  active  in 
effecting  the  English  Reformation  differ  widely  from 
Knox  in  these  sentiments  ;  although  they  might  not 
have  the  same  conviction  of  their  importance,  and 
of  the  expediency  of  reducing  them  to  practice.  We 
would  mistake  exceedingly,  if  we  supposed  that  they 
were  men  of  the  same  principles  and  temper  with 
many  who  succeeded  to  their  places,  or  that  they  were 
satisfied  with  the  pitch  to  which  they  had  carried  the 
Reformation  of  the  English  church,  and  regarded  it  as 
a  paragon  and  perfect  pattern  to  other  churches.  They 
were  strangers  to  those  extravagant  and  illiberal 
notions  which  were  afterwards  adopted  by  the  fond 
admirers  of  the  hierarchy  and  liturgy.  They  would 
have  laughed  at  the  man  who  would  have  seriously 
asserted,  that  the  ceremonies  constituted  any  part  of 
"  the  beauty  of  holiness,"  or  that  the  imposition  of 
the  hands  of  a  bishop  was  essential  to  the  validity  of 
ordination  ;  they  would  not  have  owned  that  person  as 
a  protfistant  who  would  have  ventured  to  insinuate, 
that  where  this  was  wanting,  there  was  no  Christian 
ministry,  no  ordinances,  no  church,  and  perhaps — no 
salvation  !  Many  things  which  their  successors  have 
applauded,  they  barely  tolerated,  and  they  would 
have  been  happy  if  the  circumstances  of  their  time 
would  have  permitted  them  to  introduce  alterations, 
which  have  since  been  cried  down  as  puritanical  in- 
novations.    Strange  as  it  may  appear  to  some,  I  am 

ham,  i.  453.  Archbishop  Parker,  in  the  beginning  of  Elisa- 
beth's reign,  administered  the  elements  to  the  coninuinicants 
standing,  in  the  cathedral  church  of  Canterbury.  Her  Ma- 
jesty's Commissioners  appointed  the  communion  to  be  received 
in  the  same  posture  in  Coventry;  and  the  practice  was  con- 
tinued in  that  town  as  late,  at  least,  as  the  year  1603.  Certain 
demands  propounded  unto  Richard,  archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
&c.  p.  45.  A.  1605.  Removal  of  Imputations  laid  upon  Minis- 
ters of  Devon  and  Cornwall,  p.  51.  A.  1606.  A  Dispute  upon 
the  question  of  Kneeling,  p.  131.  A.  1608. 

*  This  statement  of  liis  sentiments  is  drawn  from  his  Brief 
Exhortation  to  England  for  the  speedy  embracing  of  Christ's 
Gospel;  printed  at  Geneva,  Anno  1559,  and  at  the  end  o/ his 
History,  Edinburgh,  1644,  4to.  and  from  his  letters  to  Mrs. 
Locke,  dated  6lh  April,  and  15th  October  1559,  apud  Cald. 
MS.  i.  380,  491. 


42 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX. 


not  afraid  of  exceeding  the  truth  when  I  say,  that 
if  the  English  Reformers  (including  the  protestant 
bishops)  had  been  left  to  their  own  choice,  if  they 
had  not  been  held  back  and  retarded  by  a  large  mass 
of  popishly  affected  clergy  in  the  reign  of  Edward, 
and  restrained  by  the  supreme  civil  authority  on  the 
accession  of  Elizabeth,  they  would  have  brought  the 
government  and  worship  of  the  church  of  England, 
nearly  to  the  pattern  of  other  reformed  churches.  If 
the  reader  doubts  this,  he  may  consult  the  evidence 
produced  in  the  notes.* 

Such,  in  particular,  was  the  earnest  wish  of  his 
Majesty  Edward  VI.  a  prince  who,  besides  his  other 
rare  qualities,  had  an  unfeigned  reverence  for  the  word 
of  God,  and  a  disposition  to  comply  with  its  precepts 
in  preference  to  custom  and  established  usages;  and 
who  shewed  himself  uniformly  inclined  to  give  relief 
to  his  conscientious  subjects,  and  sincerely  bent  on 
promoting  the  union  of  all  the  friends  of  the  reformed 
religion  at  home  and  abroad.  Of  his  intentions  on 
this  head,  there  remain  the  most  unquestionable  and 
satisfactory  documents.f  Had  his  life  been,  spared, 
there  is  every  reason  to  think  that  he  would  have  ac- 
complished the  correction  or  removal  of  those  evils  in 
the  English  church,  which  the  most  steady  and  en- 
lightened  protestants  have  lamented.  Had  his  sister 
Elizabeth  been  of  the  same  spirit  with  him  and  prose- 
cuted the  plan  which  he  laid  down,  the  consequences 
would  have  been  most  happy  both  for  herself  and  for 
her  people,  for  the  government  and  for  the  church. 
She  would  have  united  all  the  friends  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, who  were  the  great  support  of  her  authoEity. 
She  would  have  weakened  the  interest  of  the  Roman 
Catholics,  whom  all  her  accommodating  measures 
could  not  gain,  nor  prevent  ffom  repeatedly  conspiring 
against  her  life  and  crown.  She  would  have  put  an 
end  to  those  dissentions  among  her  protestant  subjects 
which  continued  during  the  whole  of  her  reign,  which 
she  bequeathed  as  a  legacy  to  her  successors,  and 
which,  being  fomented  and  exasperated  by  the  sever- 
ities employed  for  their  suppression,  at  length  burst 
forth  to  the  temporary  overthrow  of  the  monarchy,  as 
well  as  of  the  hierarchy,  whose  exorbitancies  it  had 
patronised,  and  whose  corruptions  it  had  sanctioned 
and  maintained ; — dissentions  which  subsist  to  this 
day,  and,  tliough.  softened  by  the  partial  lenitive  of  a 
toleration,  have  gradually  alienated  from  the  commun- 
ion of  that  church  a  large  proportion  of  the  people,  and 
which,  if  a  timely  and  salutary  remedy  be  not  applied, 
may  ultimately  undermine  the  foundations  of  the  Eng- 
lish establishment. 

During  the  time  that  Knox  was  in  London,  he  had 
full  opportunity  for  observing  the  state  of  the  Court ; 
and  the  observations  which  he  made,  filled  his  mind 
with  the  most  anxious  forebodings.  Of  the  piety  and 
sincerity  of  the  young  king,  he  entertained  not  the 
smallest  doubt.  Personal  acquaintance  heightened  the 
idea  which  he  had  conceived  of  his  character  from 
report,  and  enabled  him  to  add  his  testimony  to  the 
tribute  of  praise,  which  all  who  knew  that  prince  had 
so  cheerfully  paid  to  his.  common  virtues  and  endow- 
ments.:J:  But  the  principal  courtiers,  by  whom  he  was 
at  that  time  surrounded,  were  persons  of  a  very  dif- 
ferent description,  and  gave  proofs,  too  unequivocal  to 
be  mistaken,  of  indifference  to  all  religion,  and  of  a 
readiness  to  acquiesce,  and  even  to  assist  in  the  re-es- 
tablishment of  the  ancient  superstition,  whenever  a 
change  of  rulers  should  render  this  measure  practicable 
and  expedient.     The  health  of  Edward,  which  had 


•  See  Note  XVII.  f  See  Note  XVIIl. 

i  We  had  (says  he  in  his  letter  to  the  faithful  in  London, 
Newcastle,  and  Berwick)  ane  King  of  sa  godlie  disposition  to- 
wardis  vertew,  and  the  treuth  of  God,  that  nane  frome  the  be- 
ginning passit  him,  and  fto  my  knawledge)  none  of  his  yeirig 
did  ever  mache  him,  in  that  behalf;  gif  hie  niyght  haifbene 
lord  of  his  awn  will."  MS.  Letters,  p.  119.  He  has  passed  a 
more  full  encominm  on  this  prince,  in  hit  Historic,  p.  89. 


long  been  declining,  growing  gradually  worse,  so  that 
no  hope  of  his  recovery  remained,  they  were  eager 
only  about  the  aggrandizing  of  their  families,  and 
providing  for  the  security  of  their  places  and  fortunes. 

The  royal  chaplains  were  men  of  a  very  different 
character  from  those  who  have  usually  occupied  that 
place  in  the  courts  of  princes.  They  were  no  time- 
serving, supple,  smooth-tongued  parasites  ;  they  were 
not  afraid  of  forfeiting  their  pensions,  or  of  alarming 
the  consciences,  and  wounding  the  delicate  ears  of 
their  royal  and  noble  auditors,  by  denouncing  the  vices 
which  they  committed,  and  the  judgments  of  heaven 
to  which  they  exposed  themselves.  The  freedom  used 
by  the  venerable  Latimer  is  well  known  from  his 
printed  seimons,  which,  for  their  homely  honesty, 
artless  simplicity,  native  humour,  and  genuine  pictures 
of  the  manners  of  the  age,  continue  still  to  be  read 
with  interest.  Grindal,  Lever,  and  Bradford,  who 
were  superior  to  Latimer  in  learning,  evinced  the  same 
fidelity  and  courage.  They  censured  the  ambition, 
avarice,  luxury,  oppression,  and  irreligion  which  reign- 
ed in  the  Court.  As  long  as  their  Sovereign  was  able 
to  give  personal  attendance  on  the  sermons,  the  preach- 
ers were  treated  with  exterior  decency  and  respect; 
but  after  he  was  confined  to  his  chamber  by  a  consump- 
tive coagh,  the  resentment  of  the  courtiers  vented 
itself  openly  in  the  most  contumelious  speeches  and 
insolent  behaviour.* 

From  what  the  reader  has  already  seen  of  Knox's 
character,  he  may  readily  conceive  that  the  sermons 
delivered  by  him  at  court,  were  not  less  bold  and  free 
than  those  of  his  colleagues.  We  may  form  a  judg- 
ment of  them,  from  the  account  which  he  has  given  of 
the  last  sermon  which  he  preached  before  his  Majesty. 
In  that  he  directed  several  piercing  glances  of  reproof 
at  the  haughty  Premier,  and  his  crafty  relation  the 
Marquis  of  Winchester,  Lord  High  Treasurer,  both  of 
whom  were  among  his  hearers.  His  text  was  John 
xiii.  18.  He  that  eatelh  bread  with  me,  hath  lifted  up 
his  heel  against  me.  It  had  been  often  seen,  he  said, 
that  the  most  excellent  and  godl}'  princes  were  sur- 
rounded with  false  and  ungodly  officers  and  counsel- 
lors. Having  enquired  into  the  reasons  of  this,  and 
illustrated  the  fact  from  the  scripture  examples  of 
Achitophel  under  King  David,  Shebna  under  Hezekiah, 
and  Judas  under  Jesus  Christ,  he  added  :  "  What 
wonder  is  it,  then,  that  a  young  and  innocent  king  be 
deceived,  by  crafty,  covetous,  wicked,  and  ungodly 
counsellors  1  I  am  greatly  afraid,  that  Achitophel  be 
counsellor,  that  Judas  bear  the  purse,  and  that  Shebna 
be  scribe,  comptroller,  and  treasurer."  f 

On  the  6th  of  July,  1553,  Edward  VI.  departed 
this  life,  to  the  unspeakable  grief  of  all  the  lovers  of 
learning,  virtue,  and  the  protestant  religion  ;  and  a 
black  cloud  spread  over  England,  which  after  hovering 
a  while,  burst  into  a  dreadful  storm,  that  raged  during 
five  years  with  the  most  destructive  fury.  Knox  was 
at  this  time  in  London. if:  He  received  the  afflicting 
tidings  of  his  Majesty's  decease  with  becoming  forti- 
tude and  resignation  to  the  sovereign  will  of  heaven. 
The  event  did  not  meet  him  unprepared  :  he  had  long 
anticipated  it,  with  its  probable  consequences :  the 
prospect  had  produced  the  keenest  anguish  in  his 
breast,  and  drawn  tears  from  his  eyes;  and  he  had 
frequently  introduced  the  subject  into  his  public  dis- 
courses and  confidential  conversations  with  his  friends. 
Writing  to  Mrs.  Bowes,  some  time  after  this,  he  says  : 
"  How  oft  have  you  and  1  talked  of  these  present 
days,  till  neither  of  us  both  could  refrain  tears,  when 
no  such  appearance  then  was  seen  of  man  !  How  oft 
have  I  said  unto  you,  that  I  looked  daily  for  trouble, 


*  See  Note  XIX. 

+  MS.Letters,  p.  175 — 177,  and  Admonition,  p.  5'2, 54.  tpud 
History,  Edin.  1644.  4to. 

\  One  of  his  letters  to  Mrs.  Bowes  is  dated  London,  22d  June, 
1553.  MS.  Letters,  p.  249.  And  from  other  letters  it  appears 
that  he  was  still  there  in  the  following;  month. 


LIFE   OF  JOHN   KNOX. 


43 


and  that  I  wondered  at  it,  that  so  long  I  should  escape 
it !  What  moved  me  to  refuse  (and  that  with  dis- 
pleasure of  all  men,  even  of  those  that  best  loved  me) 
those  high  promotions  that  were  offered  by  him  whom 
God  hath  taken  from  us  for  our  offences  1  Assuredly 
the  foresight  of  trouble  to  come.*  How  oft  have  I 
said  unto  you  that  the  time  would  not  be  long  that 
England  would  give  me  bread  !  Advise  with  the  last 
letter  that  I  wrote  unto  your  brother-in-law,  and  con- 
sider what  is  therein  contained."]" 

He  remained  in  London  until  the  19th  of  July,  when 
Mary  was  proclaimed  Queen,  only  nine  days  after  the 
same  ceremony  had  been  performed  in  that  city,  for  the 
amiable  and  unfortunate  Lady  Jane  Grey.  The  thought- 
less demonstrations  of  joy  given  by  the  inhabitants,  at 
an  event  which  threatened  such  danger  to  the  religious 
faith  which  they  still  avowed,  affected  him  so  deeply, 
that  he  could  not  refrain,  in  his  sermons,  from  publicly 
testifying  his  displeasure  at  their  conduct,  and  from 
warning  them  of  the  calamities  which  they  had  reason 
to  dread.:!^  Immediately  after  this,  he  seems  to  have 
withdrawn  from  London,  and  retired  to  the  north  of 
England,  being  justly  apprehensive  of  the  measures 
which  might  be  pursued  by  the  new  government.|] 

To  induce  the  protestanls  to  submit  peaceably  to  her 
authority,  Mary  amused  them  for  some  time  with  pro- 
clamations, in  which  she  promised  not  lo  do  violence 
to  their  consciences.  Though  aware  of  the  bigotry 
of  the  Queen,  and  the  spirit  of  the  religion  to  which 
she  was  devoted,  the  protestant  ministers  reckoned  it 
their  duty  to  improve  this  respite.  Li  the  month  of 
August,  Knox  returned  to  the  South,  and  resumed  his 
labours.  It  seems  to  have  been  at  this  time  that  he 
composed  the  Confession  and  Frnyer,  commonly  used 
by  him  in  the  congregations  to  which  he  preached,  in 
which  he  prayed  for  Queen  Mary  by  name,  and  for  the 
suppression  of  such  as  meditated  rebellion. §  While 
he  itinerated  through  Buckinghamshire,  he  was  at- 
tended by  large  audiences,  which  his  popularity  and 
the  alarming  crisis  drew  together;  especially  at  Amer- 
sham,  a  borough  formerly  noted  fbr  the  general  recep- 
tion of  the  doctrines  of  Wickliffe,  the  precursor  of  the 
Reformation  in  England,  and  from  which  the  seed 
sown  by  his  followers  had  never  been  altogether  eradi- 
cated.^ Wherever  he  went,  he  earnestly  exhorted  the 
people  to  repentance  under  the  tokens  of  divine  dis- 
pleasure, and  to  a  steady  adherence  to  the  faith  which 
they  had  embraced.  He  continued  to  preach  in  Buck- 
inghamshire and  Kent  during  the  harvest  months, 
although  the  measures  of  government  daily  rendered 
his  safety  more  precarious;  and  in  the  beginning  of 
November,  returned  to  London,  where  he  resided 
chiefly  with  Mr.  Locke  and  Mr.  Hickman,  two  re- 
spectable merchants  of  his  acquaintance.** 

While  the  measures  of  the  new  government  threat- 
ened danger  to  all  the  protestants  in  the  kingdom,  and 
our  countryman  was  under  daily  apprehensions  of  im- 
prisonment, he  met  with  a  severe  trial  of  a  private 
nature.  I  have  already  mentioned  his  engagements  to 
Miss  Bowes.  At  this  time,  it  was  judged  proper  by 
both  parties  to  avow  the  connection,  and  to  proceed  to 
solemnize  their  union.  This  step  was  opposed  by  the 
young  lady's  father ;  and  his  opposition  was  accom- 
panied with  circumstances  which  gave  much  distress 


*  We  have  already  seen  (p.  40.)  that  this  was  not  his  sole 
reason  for  refusing  preferment  in  the  English  church. 

+  MS.  Letters,  p.  73,  74.  also  p.  250. 

j  In  his  "  Letter  to  the  faithful  in  London,"  &c.  he  puts  them 
ia  mind  of  the  premonitions  which  he  had  given  on  different 
occasions,  and,  among  others,  of  "what  was  spoken  in  Londone 
in  ma  places  nor  ane,  whan  fyreis  of  joy  and  ryatous  banket- 
ting  wer  at  the  proclamation  of  Marie  your  quene."  MS.  112, 
113. 

II  One  of  his  letters  is  dated,  Carlisle,  26th  July,  1553.  MS. 
p.  270.  6  See  Note  XX. 

1  Fox,  710,  748-9,  751-766.  Knox,  Admonition,  p.  67.  Ap- 
pend, to  History,  Edin.  1644.  4to. 

«»  MS.  Letters,  p.  289,  291. 


to  Knox,  to  Mrs.  Bowes,  and  her  daughter.  His  re- 
fusal seems  to  have  proceeded  from  family  pride;  but  I 
am  inclined  to  think  that  it  was  also  influenced'^- 
religious  considerations  ;  as  from  different  hints  drop- 
ped in  the  correspondence  about  this  affair,  he  appears 
lo  have  been,  if  not  inclined  to  popery  in  his  judgment, 
at  least  resolved  to  comply  with  the  religion  now 
favoured  by  the  Court.  On  this  subject  I  find  Knox 
writing  from  London  to  Mrs.  Bowbs,  in  a  letter,  dated 
20fh  September,  1553.  "  My  great  labours,  wherein 
I  desire  your  daily  prayers,  will  not  suffer  me  lo  satisfy 
my  mind  touching  all  the  process  between  your  hus- 
band and  you,  touching  my  matter  with  his  daughter. 
I  praise  God  heartily,  both  for  your  boldness  and  con- 
stancy. But  I  beseech  you,  mother,  trouble  not  your- 
self too  much  therewith.  It  becomes  me  now  to  jeo- 
pard my  life  for  the  comfort  and  deliverance  of  my  own 
flesh,*  as  that  I  will  do,  by  God's  grace,  both  fear  and 
friendship  of  all  earthly  creature  laid  aside.  I  have 
written  to  your  husband,  the  contents  whereof  I  trust 
our  brother  Harry  will  declare  to  you  and  my  wife. 
If  I  escape  sickness  and  imprisonment,  [you  may]  be 
sure  to  see  me  soon."f 

His  wife  and  mother-in-law  were  anxious  that  he 
should  settle  in  Berwick,  or  in  its  neighbourhood, 
where  he  might  perhaps  be  allowed  to  reside  peace- 
ably, although  in  a  more  private  way  than  formerly. 
To  this  proposal  he  does  not  seem  to  have  been  averse, 
provided  he  could  have  seen  any  prospect  of  his  being 
able  to  support  himself.  Since  the  accession  of  Queen 
Mary,  the  payment  of  the  salary  allotted  to  him  by 
government  had  been  stopped.  Indeed,  he  had  not  re- 
ceived any  part  of  it  for  the  last  twelve-months. :{;  His 
father-in-law  was  abundantly  able  to  give  him  a  suffi- 
cient establishment ;  but  Knox's  spirit  could  not  brook 
the  thought  of  being  dependant  on  one  who  had  treated 
him  with  coldness  and  disdain.  Induced  by  the  im- 
portunity of  his  mother-in-law,  he  applied  to  Sir  Robert 
Bowes  at  London,  and  attempted  by  a  candid  explana- 
tion of  all  circumstances,  to  remove  any  umbrage 
which  had  been  conceived  against  him  by  the  family, 
and  to  procure  an  amicable  settlement  of  the  whole 
affair.  The  unfavourable  issue  of  this  interview  was 
commnnicaled  by  him  in  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Bowes,  of 
which  the  following  is  an  extract. 

"  Dear  Mother,  so  may  and  will  I  call  you,  not  only 
for  the  tender  affection  I  bear  unto  you  in  Christ,  but 
also  for  the  motherly  kindness  ye  have  shewn  unto  me 
at  all  times  since  our  first  acquaintance ;  albeit  such 
things  as  I  have  desired  (if  it  had  pleased  God),  and 
ye  and  others  have  long  desired,  are  never  like  to  come 
to  pass,  yet  shall  ye  be  sure  that  my  love  and  care 
toward  you  shall  never  abate,  so  long  as  I  can  care  for 
any  earthly  creature.  Ye  shall  understand  that  this 
6th  of  November,  I  spake  with  Sir  Robert  Bowes  on 
the  matter  ye  know,  according  to  your  request,  whose 
disdainful,  yea  dispiteful  words  hath  so  pierced  my 
heart,  that  my  life  is  bitter  unto  me.  I  bear  a  good 
countenance  with  a  sore  troubled  heart;  while  he  that 
ought  to  consider  matters  with  a  deep  judgment  is  be- 
come not  only  a  despiser,  but  also  a  taunter  of  God's 
messengers.  God  be  merciful  unto  him.  Among 
other  his  most  unpleasing  words,  while  that  I  was 
about  to  have  declared  my  part  in  the  whole  matter, 
he  said,  'Away  with  your  rhetorical  reasons,  for  I  will 
not  be  persuaded  with  them.'  God  knows  I  did  use 
no  rhetoric  or  coloured  speech,  but  would  have  spoken 
the  truth,  and  that  in  most  simple  manner.  I  am  not 
a  good  oratour  in  my  own  cause.  But  what  he  would 
not  be  content  to  hear  of  me,  God  shall  declare  to  him 
one  day  to  his  displeasure,  unless  he  repent.  It  is 
supposed  that  all  the  matter  comes  by  you  and  me.  I 
pray  God  that  your  conscience  were  quiet  and  at  peace, 
and  I  regard  not  what  country  consume  this  my  wicked 
carcase.     And  were  [it]  not  that  no  man's  unthankful- 


*  His  wife,        f  MS.  Letters,  p.  290,  291.         t  lb.  p.  296 


44 


LIFE    OF  JOHN    KNOX. 


ness  shall  move  me  (God  supporting  my  infirmity)  to 
cease  to  do  profit  unto  Christ's  congregation,  those 
days  should  be  few  that  England  would  give  me  bread. 
And  I  fear  that,  when  all  is  done,  I  shall  be  driven  to 
that  end  ;  for  I  cannot  abide  the  disdainful  hatred  of 
those,  of  whom  not  only  I  thought  I  might  have  craved 
kindness,  but  also  to  whom  God  hath  been  by  me  more 
liberal  than  they  he  thankful.  But  so  must  men  de- 
clare themselves.  Affection  does  trouble  me  at  this 
present ;  yet  I  doubt  not  to  overcome  by  Him,  who  will 
not  leave  comfortless  his  afflicted  to  the  end :  whose 
omnipotent  Spirit  rest  with  you.     Amen."* 

He  refers  to  tlie  same  disagreeable  affair  in  another 
letter  written  about  the  end  of  this  year.  After  men- 
tioning the  bad  state  of  his  health,  which  had  been 
greatly  increased  by  distress  of  mind,  he  adds,  "It 
will  be  after  the  12th  day  before  I  can  be  at  Berwick ; 
and  almost  I  am  determined  not  to  come  at  all.  Ye 
know  the  cause.  God  be  more  merciful  unto  some, 
than  they  are  equitable  unto  me  in  judgment.  The 
testimony  of  my  conscience  absolves  me,  before  his 
face  who  looks  not  upon  the  presence  of  man.-)"" 
These  extracts  shew  us  the  heart  of  the  writer ;  they 
discover  the  sensibility  of  his  temper,  the  keenness  of 
his  feelings,  and  his  pride  and  independence  of  spirit 
struggling  with  a  sense  of  duty  and  with  affection  to 
his  relations. 

About  the  end  of  November,  or  the  beginning  of  De- 
cember, he  retired  from  the  south  to  Newcastle.  The 
Parliament  had  by  this  time  repealed  all  the  laws 
made  in  favour  of  the  Reformation,  and  restored  the 
Roman  Catholic  religion;  but  such  as  pleased,  were 
permitted  to  observe  the  protestant  worship,  until  the 
20th  of  December.  After  that  period  they  were  thrown 
out  of  the  protection  of  the  law,  and  exposed  to  the 
pains  decreed  against  heretics.  Many  of  the  bishops 
and  ministers  were  committed  to  prison;  others  had 
escaped  beyond  sea.  Knox  could  not,  however,  pre- 
vail on  himself  either  to  flee  the  kingdom,  or  to  desist 
from  preaching.  Three  days  after  the  period  limited 
by  the  statute  had  elapsed,  he  says  in  one  of  his  letters, 
"  I  may  not  answer  your  places  of  scripture,  nor  yet 
write  the  exposition  of  the  sixth  psalm,  for  every  day 
of  this  week  must  I  preach,  if  this  wicked  carcase  will 
permit.":}: 

His  enemies,  who  had  been  defeated  in  their  attempts 
to  ruin  him  under  the  former  government,  had  now  ac- 
cess to  rulers  sufficiently  disposed  to  listen  to  their  in- 
formation. They  were  not  dilatory  in  improving  the 
opportunity.  In  the  end  of  December  1553,  or  begin- 
ning of  January  1554,  his  servant  was  seized,  as  he 
carried  letters  from  him  to  his  wife  and  mother-in-law, 
and  the  letters  were  taken  from  him,  in  the  hopes  of 
finding  in  them  some  matter  of  accusation  against  the 
writer.  As  they  contained  merely  religious  advices, 
and  exhortations  to  constancy  in  the  protestant  faith 
(which  he  was  prepared  to  avow  before  any  court  to 
which  he  might  be  called),  he  was  not  alarmed  at  their 
interception.  But,  being  aware  of  the  uneasiness  which 
the  report  would  give  to  his  friends  at  Berwick,  he 
set  out  immediately  with  the  design  of  visiting  them. 
Notwithstanding  the  secrecy  with  which  he  conducted 
this  journey,  the  rumour  of  it  quickly  spread  ;  and  some 
of  his  wife's  relations  who  had  joined  him,  persuaded 
that  he  was  in  imminent  danger,  prevailed  on  him, 
greatly  against  his  own  inclination,  to  relinquish  his 
design  of  proceeding  to  Berwick,  and  to  retire  to  a 
place  of  safety  on  the  coast,  from  which  he  might 
escape  by  sea,  provided  the  search  for  him  was  con- 
tinued. From  this  retreat  he  wrote  to  his  wife  and 
her  mother,  acquainting  them  with  the  reasons  of  his 
absconding,  and  the  small  prospect  which  he  had  of 
being  able  at  that  time  to  see  them.  His  brethren  (he 
said)    "had,   partly  by  admonition,   partly  by  tears, 


•  MS.  Letters,  p.  293,  294. 
t  Ibid.  p.  265. 


t  Ibid.  p.  265. 


compelled  him  to  obey,"  somewhat  contrary  to  his 
own  mind;  for  "never  could  he  die  in  a  more  honest 
quarrel,"  than  by  suffering  as  a  witness  for  that  truth 
of  which  God  had  made  him  a  messenger.  Notwith- 
standing this  state  of  his  mind,  he  promised,  if  Provi- 
dence prepared  the  way,  to  "  obey  the  voices  of  his 
brethren,  and  give  place  to  the  fury  and  rage  of  Satan 
for  a  time."* 

Having  ascertained  that  his  friends  were  not  mis- 
taken in  the  apprehensions  which  they  felt  for  his 
safety,  and  that  he  could  not  hope  to  elude  the  pursuit 
of  his  enemies,  if  he  remained  in  England,  he  procured 
a  vessel,  which  landed  him  safely  at  Dieppe,  a  port  of 
Normandy  in  France,  on  the  28ih  of  January,  1554.f 


PERIOD  IV. 

F'roni  the  year  1554,  when  he  left  England,  till  the  year  1556, 
when  he  returned  to  Geneva,  after  visiting  Scotland. 

Providence,  having  more  important  services  in  re- 
serve for  Knox,  made  use  of  the  urgent  importunities 
of  his  friends  to  hurry  him  away  from  those  dangers, 
to  which,  had  he  been  left  to  the  determination  of  his 
own  mind,  his  zeal  and  fearlessness  would  have 
prompted  him  to  expose  himself.  No  sooner  did  he 
reach  a  foreign  shore  than  he  began  to  regret  the 
course  which  he  had  been  induced  to  take.  When  he 
thought  upon  his  fellow-preachers,  whom  he  had  left 
behind  him  immured  in  dungeons,  and  the  people 
lately  under  his  charge,  now  scattered  abroad  as  sheep 
without  a  shepherd,  he  felt  an  indescribable  pang,  and 
an  almost  irresistible  desire  to  return  and  share  in  the 
hazardous  but  honourable  conflict.  Although  he  had 
only  complied  with  the  divine  direction,  "  when  they 
persecute  you  in  one  city,  flee  ye  unto  another,"  and 
although  in  his  own  breast  he  stood  acquitted  of  cow- 
ardice, yet  he  found  it  difficult  to  divest  his  conduct  of 
the  appearance  of  that  weakness,  and  he  was  afraid 
that  it  might  operate  as  a  discouragement  to  his  breth- 
ren in  England,  and  might  prove  an  inducement  to 
them  to  make  sinful  compliances  with  the  view  of 
saving  their  lives. 

On  this  subject  we  find  him  unbosoming  himself  to 
Mrs.  Bowes,  in  his  letters  from  Dieppe.  "  The  desire 
that  I  have  to  hear  of  your  continuance  withChrist  Jesus, 
in  the  day  of  this  his  battle  (which  shortly  shall  end 
to  the  confusion  of  his  proud  enemies,)  neither  by 
tongue  nor  by  pen  can  I  express,  beloved  mother. 
Assuredly,  it  is  such,  that  it  vanquisheth  and  over- 
cometh  all  remembrance  and  solicitude  which  the  flesh 
useth  to  take  for  feeding  and  defence  of  herself.  For, 
in  every  realm  and  nation,  God  will  stir  up  some  one 
or  other  to  minister  those  things  that  appertain  to  this 
wretched  life;  and,  if  men  will  cease  to  do  their  office, 
yet  will  he  send  his  ravens  :  so  that  in  every  place, 
perchance,  I  may  find  some  fathers  to  my  body.  But, 
alas !  where  I  shall  find  children  to  be  begotten  unto 
God,  by  the  word  of  life,  that  can  I  not  presently  con- 
sider ;  and  therefore  the  spiritual  life  of  such  as  some- 
time boldly  professed  Christ  (God  knoweth,)  is  to  my 
heart  more  dear  than  all  the  glory,  riches,  and  honour 
in  earth ;  and  the  falling  back  of  such  men,  as  I 
hear  daily  to  turn  back  to  that  idol  again,  is  to  me  more 
dolorous  than,  1  trust,  the  corporal  death  shall  [be,T 
whenever  it  shall  come  at  God's  appointment.     Sontie 

*  MS.  Letters,  p.  284. 

f  MS.  Letters,  p.  318.  Archibald  Hamilton  has  trumped 
up  a  ridiculous  story,  respecting  Knox's  flight  from  England. 
He  says,  that  by  teaching  the  unlawfulness  of  female  govern- 
ment, he  had  excited  a  dangerous  rebellion  against  Queen 
Mary.  But  the  Queen  having  marched  against  the  rebels, 
defeated  them  with  great  slaughter;  upon  which  Knox,  stained 
with  their  blood,  fled  to  Geneva,  earning  along  with  huu  a 
noble  and  rich  lady  !    Dialog,  de  ConAis.  Calv.  Sect.  p.  65. 


LIFE   OF  JOHN   KNOX. 


will  ask  then,  Why  did  I  flee  1  Assuredly  I  cannot 
tell.  But  of  one  thing  I  am  sure,  the  fear  of  death 
was  not  the  chief  cause  of  my  fleeing.  I  trust  that 
one  cause  hath  been  to  let  me  see  with  my  corporal 
eyes,  that  all  had  not  a  true  heart  to  Christ  Jesus,  that, 
in  the  day  of  rest  and  peace,  bare  a  fair  face.  But  my 
fleeing  is  no  matter  :  by  God's  grace  I  may  come  to 
battle  before  that  all  the  conflict  be  ended.  And  haste 
the  time,  O  Lord  !  at  thy  good  pleasure,  that  once 
again  my  tongue  may  yet  praise  thy  holy  name  before 
the  congregation,  if  it  were  but  in  the  very  hour  of 
death." — "  I  would  not  bow  my  knee  before  that  most 
abominable  idol  for  all  the  torments  that  earthly  ty- 
rants can  devise,  God  so  assisting  me,  as  his  Holy 
Spirit  presently  moveth  me  to  write  unfeignedly. 
And  albeit  that  I  have,  in  the  beginning  of  this  battle, 
appeared  to  play  the  faint-hearted  and  feeble  soldier 
(the  cause  I  remit  to  God,)  yet  my  prayer  is,  that  I 
may  be  restored  to  the  battle  again.  And  blessed  be 
God,  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christy  I  am  not 
left  so  bare  without  comfort,  but  my  hope  is  to  obtain 
such  mercy,  that,  if  a  short  end  be  not  made  of  all  my 
miseries  by  final  death,  (which  to  me  were  no  small 
advantage,)  that  yet,  by  Him  who  never  despiseth  the 
sobs  of  the  sore  afflicted,  I  shall  be  so  encouraged  to 
fight  that  England  and  Scotland  shall  both  know,  that 
I  am  ready  to  suffer  more  than  either  poverty  or  exile, 
for  the  profession  of  that  doctrine,  and  that  heavenly 
religion,  whereof  it  has  pleased  his  merciful  providence 
to  make  me,  among  others,  a  simple  soldier  and  witness- 
bearer  unto  men.  And  therefore,  mother,  let  no  fear 
enter  into  your  heart,  as  that  I,  escaping  the  furious 
rage  of  these  ravenous  wolves  (that  for  our  unthank- 
fulness  are  lately  loosed  from  their  bands,)  do  repent 
any  thing  of  my  former  fervency.  No,  mother;  for  a 
few  sermons  by  me  to  be  made  within  England,  my 
heart  at  this  hour  could  be  content  to  suflfer  more  than 
nature  were  able  to  sustain  ;  as  by  the  grace  of  the 
most  mighty  and  most  merciful  God,  who  only  is  God 
of  comfort  and  consolation  through  Christ  Jesus,  one 
day  shall  be  known."* 

In  his  present  sequestered  situation,  Knox  had  full 
leisure  to  meditate  upon  the  various  and  surprising 
turns  of  providence  in  his  lot,  during  the  last  seven 
years;  his  call  to  the  ministry  and  employment  at  St. 
Andrews,  his  subsequent  imprisonment  and  release, 
the  sphere  of  usefulness  in  which  he  had  been  placed 
in  England,  with  the  afflicting  manner  in  which  he  was 
excluded  from  it,  and  driven  to  seek  refuge  as  an 
exile  in  that  country  to  which  he  had  formerly  been 
carried  as  a  prisoner.  The  late  events  seemed  in  a 
special  manner  to  summon  him  to  a  solemn  review  of 
the  manner  in  which  he  had  discharged  the  sacred  trust 
committed  to  him,  as  "a  steward  of  the  mysteries  of 
God."  It  will  throw  light  on  his  character,  and  may 
not  be  without  use  to  such  as  occupy  the  same  station, 
to  exhibit  the  result  of  his  reflections  on  this  subject. 

He  could  not  deny,  without  ingratitude  to  Him  who 
had  called  him  to  be  his  servant,  that  his  qualifications 
for  the  ministry  had  been  in  no  small  degree  improved 
since  he  came  to  England  ;  and  he  had  the  testimony 
of  his  own  conscience,  in  addition  to  that  of  his  nu- 
merous auditors,  that  he  had  not  altogether  neglected 
the  gifts  bestowed  on  him,  but  had  exercised  them 
with  some  measure  of  fidelity  and  painfulness.  At 
the  same  time,  he  found  reason  for  self-accusation  on 
different  grounds.  Having  mentioned,  in  one  of  his 
letters,  the  reiterated  charge  of  Christ  to  Peter,  Feed 
my  sheep,  feed  my  lambs,  he  exclaims,  "  O  alas  !  how 
small  is  the  number  of  pastors  that  obeys  this  com- 
mandment. But  this  matter  will  I  not  deplore,  except 
that  I  (not  speaking  of  others)  will  accuse  myself  that 
do  not,  I  confess,  the  uttermost  of  my  power  in  feeding 
the  lambs  and  sheep  of  Christ.  I  satisfy,  peradven- 
ture,  many  men  in  the  small  labours  I  take ;  but  I 


45 


satisfy  not  myself.  I  have  done  somewhat,  but  not 
according  to  my  duty."*  In  the  discharge  of  private 
duties,  he  acknowledges,  that  shame,  and  the  fear  of 
incurring  the  scandal  of  the  world,  had  sometimes 
hindered  him  from  visiting  the  female  part  of  his 
charge,  and  administering  to  them  the  instruction  and 
comfort  which  they  craved.  In  public  ministrations, 
he  had  been  deficient  in  fervency  and  fidelity,  in  im- 
partiality, and  in  diligence.  He  could  not  charge  him- 
self with  flattery,  and  his  "rude  plainness"  had  given 
offence  to  some ;  but  his  conscience  now  accused  him 
of  not  having  been  sufficiently  plain  in  admonishing 
offenders.  His  custom  had  been  to  describe  the  vices 
of  which  his  hearers  were  guilty  in  such  colours  that 
they  might  read  their  own  image;  but  being  "unwil- 
ling to  provoke  all  men  against  him,"  he  had  restrained 
himself  from  particular  applications.  Though  his  "eye 
had  not  been  muc4>  set  on  y'orldly  promotion,"  he  had 
sometimes  been  allured,  by  affection  for  friends  and 
familiar  acquaintances,  to  reside  too  long  in  particular 
places,  to  the  neglect  of  others  which  had  equal  or  per- 
haps stronger  claims  on  his  regard.  At  that  time  he 
thought  he  had  not  sinned,  if  he  had  not  been  idle; 
now  he  was  convinced  that  it  was  his  duty  to  have 
considered  how  long  he  should  remain  in  one  place, 
and  how  many  hungry  souls  were  starving  elsewhere. 
Sometimes,  at  the  solicitation  of  friends,  he  had  spared 
himself,  and  devoted  to  worldly  business,  or  to  bodily 
recreation  and  exercise,  the  time  which  ought  to  have 
been  employed  in  the  discharge  of  his  official  duties. 
"  Besides  these,  (says  he)  I  was  assaulted,  yea  in- 
fected, with  more  gross  sins,  that  is,  my  wicked  nature 
desired  the  favours,  the  estimation,  and  praise  of  men  ; 
against  which,  albeit  that  sometimes  the  Spirit  of  God 
did  move  me  to  fight,  and  earnestly  did  stir  me  (God 
knoweth  I  lie  not)  to  sob  and  lament  for  these  imper- 
fections, yet  never  ceased  they  to  trouble  me,  when 
any  occasion  was  offered  ;  and  so  privily  and  craftily 
did  they  enter  into  my  breast,  that  I  could  not  perceive 
myself  to  be  wounded,  till  vain-glory  had  almost  got 
the  upperhand.  O  Lord !  be  merciful  to  my  great 
offence;  and  deal  not  with  me  according  to  my  great 
iniquity,  but  according  to  the  multitude  of  thy  mer- 
cies."! 

Such  was  the  strict  scrutiny  which  Knox  made  into 
his  ministerial  conduct.  To  many  the  offences  of  which 
he  accused  himself  will  appear  slight  and  venial: 
others  will  perceive  in  them  nothing  worthy  of  blame. 
But  they  struck  his  mind  in  a  very  diflTerent  light,  in 
the  hour  of  adversity  and  solitary  meditation.  If  he, 
whose  labours  were  so  abundant  as  to  appear  to  us 
excessive,  had  such  reason  for  self-condemnation,  how 
few  are  there  in  the  same  station  who  may  not  saj',  / 
do  remember  my  faults  this  day ! 

He  did  not,  however,  abandon  himself  to  melancholy 
and  unavailing  complaints.  One  of  his  first  cares, 
after  arriving  at  Dieppe,  was  to  employ  his  pen  in 
writing  suitable  advices  to  those  whom  he  could  no 
longer  instruct  by  his  sermons  and  conversation. 
With  this  view  he  transmitted  to  England  two  short 
treatises.  The  one  was  an  exposition  of  the  sixth 
psalm,  which,  at  the  request  of  Mrs.  Bowes,  he  had 
begun  to  write  in  England,  but  had  not  found  leisure 
to  finish.  It  is  an  excellent  practical  discourse  upon 
that  portion  of  scripture,  and  will  be  read,  with  pecu- 
liar satisfaction,  by  those  who  have  been  trained  to 
religion  in  the  school  of  adversity.  The  other  treatise 
was  a  large  letter,  addressed  to  those  in  London  and 
other  parts  of  England,  among  whom  he  had  been 
employed  as  a  preacher.  The  drift  of  it  was  to  warn 
them  against  abandoning  the  religion  which  they  had 
embraced,  or  giving  countenance  to  the  idolatrous  wor- 
ship; now  erected  among  them.  The  reader  of  this 
letter  cannot  fail  to  be  struck  with  its  animated  strain, 


*  MS.  Letters,  p.  70,  71,  107,  108. 


*  MS.  Letters,  p.  308,  309. 

t  lb.  165 — 167.     Admonition,  p.  46 — 48.  ut  supra. 


46 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX. 


when  he  reflects,  that  it  proceeded  from  a  forlorn  exile, 
in  a  strange  country,  without  a  single  acquaintance, 
and  ignorant  where  he  would  find  a  place  of  abode  or 
the  means  of  subsistence.  I  cannot  refrain  from  quot- 
ing its  conclusion,  as  a  specimen  of  the  most  impres- 
sive eloquence,  and  the  most  elevated  piety ;  in  which 
he  addresses  their  consciences,  their  hopes,  their  fears, 
their  feelings,  and  adjures  them  by  all  that  is  sacred, 
and  all  that  is  dear  to  them,  as  men,  as  parents,  and 
as  Christians,  not  to  start  back  from  their  good  profes- 
sion, and  plunge  themselves  and  their  posterity  into 
the  gulph  of  ignorance  and  idolatry. 

"  Allace !  sail  we,  efter  so  many  graces  that  God 
has  ofFerit  in  our  dayis,  for  pleasure,  or  for  vane  threat- 
nying  of  thame  whome  our  hart  knaweth  and  our 
moutheshaveconfessit  to  be  odious  idolateris,altogidder 
without  resistance  turne  back  to  our  vomit  and  damp- 
nabill  ydolatrie,  to  the  perdition  of  uslnd  our  posteritie  ? 
O  horribill  to  be  hard  !  Sail  Godis  halie  preceptis  wirk 
no  greater  obedience  in  ws  ?  Sail  nature  no  otherwayis 
molifie  our  hartis  ?  Sail  not  fatherlie  pitie  overcum 
this  cruelnes  ?  I  speik  to  you,  O  natural  fatheris. 
Behold  your  children  with  the  eie  of  mercie,  and  con- 
sidder  the  end  of  thair  creatioun.  Crueltie  it  were  to 
saif  your  selves,  and  damp  thame.  But,  O  !  more  than 
crueltie,  and  madnes  that  can  not  be  expressit,  gif,* 
for  the  pleasure  of  a  moment,  ye  depryve  yourselves 
and  your  posteritie  of  that  eternall  joy  that  is  ordanit 
for  thame  that  continewis  in  confessioun  of  Christis 
name  to  the  end.  Gif  natural  lufe,  fatherlie  affectioun, 
reverence  of  God,  feir  of  torment,  or  yit  hoip  of  lyfe, 
move  you,  then  will  ye  ganestand  that  abomnabill  ydol. 
Whilk  gif  ye  do  not,  then,  allace!  the  sonef  is  gone 
doun,  and  the  lyht  is  quyte  lost,  the  trompet  is  ceissit, 
and  ydolatrie  is  placeit  in  quietnes  and  rest.  But  gif 
God  sail  strenthin  you  (as  unfainedlie  I  pray  that  his 
majestic  may)  then  is  their  but  ane  dark  elude  over- 
spred  the  sone  for  ane  moment,  whilk  schortlie  sail 
vanische,  sa  that  the  beames  efter  salbe  seven  fald 
mair  bryht  and  amiable  nor  thay  were  befoir.  Your 
patience  and  constancie  salbe  a  louder  trompet  to  your 
posteritie,  than  wer  the  voces  of  the  prophetis  that 
instructit  you  ;  and  so  is  not  the  trompit  ceissit  sa  lang 
as  any  baldlie  resisteth  ydolatrie.  And,  thairfoir,  for 
the  tender  mercies  of  God,  arme  yourselves  to  stand 
with  Christ  in  this  his  schorte  battell. 

"  Let  it  be  knawn  to  your  posteritie  that  ye  wer 
Christianis,  and  no  ydolateris;  that  ye  learnit  Chryst 
in  tyme  of  rest,  and  baldlie  professit  him  in  tyme  of 
trubill.  The  preceptis,  think  ye,  are  scharpe  and  hard 
to  be  observit ;  and  yet  agane  1  affirme,  that  comparit 
with  the  plagis  that  sail  assuredlie  fall  upon  obstinat 
ydolateris,  they  salbe  fund  easie  and  lycht.  For  avoyd- 
ing  of  ydolatrie  ye  may  perchance  be  compellit  to  live 
your  native  conlrie  and  realme;  but  obeyris  of  ydola- 
trie without  end  salbe  compellit  to  burne  in  hell:  for 
avoyding  ydolatrie  your  substance  salbe  spoillit;  but 
for  obeying  ydolatrie  heavenlie  ryches  salbe  lost:  for 
avoyding  of  ydolatrie  ye  may  fall  in  the  handis  of 
earthlie  tirantis ;  but  obeyeris,  manteaneris,  and  con- 
sentaris  to  ydolatrie  sail  not  eschaip  the  handis  of  the 
liveing  God :  for  avoyding  of  ydolatrie  your  children 
salbe  depryvit  of  father,  friendis,  ryches,  and  of  rest; 
but  be  obeying  ydolatrie  thay  salbe  left  without  God, 
without  the  knawledge  of  his  word,  and  without  hoip 
of  his  kingdome.  Considder,  deir  brethrene,  that  how 
mekill  mair:t:  dolorous  and  feirfull  it  is  to  be  tormentit 
in  hell  than  to  suffer  trubill  in  erth ;  to  be  depryvit  of 
heavenlie  joy,  than  to  be  rubbit  of  transitorie  ryches ; 
to  fall  in  the  handis  of  the  liveing  God,  than  to  obey 
manis  vane  and  uncerlane  displeasure;  to  leif  oure 
childrene  destitute  of  God,  than  to  leif  thame-'un- 
provydit  befoir  the  world  ; — sa  mekill  mair  feirful  it  is 
to  obey  ydolatrie,  or  by  dissembling  to  consent  to  the 
Bame,  than  be  avoyding  and  flying  from  the  abomina- 


•  if. 


f   tUD. 


X  much  more. 


tioun,  to  suffer  what  inconvenient  may  follow  thair- 
upon. 

"Ye  feir  corporall  deth.  Gif  nature  admittit  any 
man  to  live  ever,  then  had  your  feir  sum  aperance  of 
reasone.  But  gif  corporall  deth  be  commoun  to  all, 
why  will  ye  jeoparde  to  lois  eternall  lyfe,  to  eschaip 
that  which  nether  ryche  nor  pure,  nether  wyse  nor 
ignorant,  proud  of  stomoke  nor  febill  of  corage,  and 
finally,  no  earthlie  creature,  be  no  craft  nor  ingyne* 
of  man,  did  ever  avoid.  Gif  any  eschaipit  the  uglie 
face  and  horibill  feir  of  deth,  it  was  thay  that  baldlie 
confessit  Chryst  befoir  men. — Why  aucht  the  way  of 
lyfe  [to]  be  so  feirfull,  be  reasone  of  any  pane,  con- 
siddering  that  a  great  noumber  of  oure  brethrene  hes 
past  befoir  ws,  be  lyke  dangeris  as  we  feir  1  A  stout 
and  prudent  marinell,  in  tyme  of  tempest,  seeing  but 
one  or  two  schippis,  or  like  weschells  to  his,  pas 
througout  any  danger,  and  to  win  a  sure  harberie,  will 
have  gud  esperancef ,  be  the  lyke  wind,  to  do  the  same. 
Allace  !  sail  ye  be  mair  feirfull  to  win  lyfe  eternall, 
than  the  natural  ipan  is  to  save  the  corporall  lyfe  1  Hes 
not  the  maist  part  of  the  Sanctis  of  God  from  the  be- 
gynning  enterit  into  thair  rest,  be  torment  and  trubillis  1 
And  yit  what  complayntis  find  we  in  thair  mouthis, 
except  it  be  the  lamenting  of  thair  persecuteris  1  Did 
God  comfort  thame  I  and  sail  his  Majestic  despyse  us, 
gif,  in  fichting  aganis  iniquitie,  we  will  follow  thair 
futstepisi     Hie  will  not."^: 

On  the  last  day  of  February  1554,||  he  set  out  from 
Dieppe,  like  the  Hebrew  patriarch  of  old,  "  not  know- 
ing whither  he  went;"§  and  "  committing  his  way  to 
God,"  travelled  through  France,  and  came  to  Switzer- 
land. A  correspondence  had  been  kept  up  between 
some  of  the  English  reformers  and  the  most  noted 
divines  of  the  Helvetic  church.  The  latter  had  already 
heard,  with  the  sincerest  grief,  of  the  overthrow  of  the 
Reformation,  and  the  dispersion  of  its  friends,  in  Eng- 
land. On  making  himself  known,  Knox  was  cordially 
received  by  them,  and  treated  with  the  most  affectionate 
hospitality.  He  spent  some  time  in  Switzerland,  visit- 
ing the  particular  churches,  and  conferring  with  the 
learned  men  of  that  country ;  and  embraced  the  oppor- 
tunity of  submitting  to  them  certain  difficult  questions, 
which  were  suggested  by  the  present  conjuncture  of 
affairs  in  England,  and  about  which  his  mind  had  been 
greatly  occupied.  Their  views  with  respect  to  these 
coinciding  with  his  own,  he  was  confirmed  in  the  judg- 
ment which  he  had  already  formed  for  himself. T[ 

In  the  beginning  of  May  he  returned  to  Dieppe,  to 
receive  information  from  England,  a  journey  which  he 
repeated  at  intervals  as  long  as  he  remained  on  the 
Continent.  The  kind  reception  which  he  had  met 
with,  and  the  agreeable  company  which  he  enjoyed, 
during  his  short  residence  in  Switzerland,  had  helped 
to  dissipate  the  cloud  which  hung  upon  his  spirits 
when  he  landed  in  France,  and  to  open  his  mind  to 
more  pleasing  prospects  as  to  the  issue  of  the  present 


*  wit.  +  hope. 

t  Letter  to  the  Faythful  in  Londoun,  &c.  apud  MS.  Letters, 
p.  149—151,  156. 

II  His  exposition  of  the  sixth  psalm  concludes  with  these 
words:  "Upon  the  very  point  of  my  journey,  the  last  of 
February,  1553."  MS.  Letters,  p.  109.  The  reader  should 
recollect,  that  in  our  Reformer's  time,  they  did  not  beg-in  the 
year  until  the  25th  of  March;  so  that  "February,  1553,"  ac- 
cording to  the  old  reckoning,  is  "February,  1554,"  according 
to  the  modern. 

6  His  Letter  to  the  Faithful  in  London,  &c.  concludes  thus: 
"  From  ane  sore  trubillit  hart,  upon  my  departure  from  Diep, 
1553,  whither  God  knaweth.  In  God  is  my  trust  through  Jesui 
Chryst  his  sone;  and  thairfoir  I  feir  not  the  tyrannie  of  man, 
nether  yet  what  the  Devill  can  invent  against  nie.  Rejoice  ye 
faithful!:  for  in  joy  shall  we  meit,  wher  deth  may  not  dissever 
us."     MS.  Letters,  p.  157,  158. 

f  In  a  letter,  dated  Dieppe,  May  10,  1554,  he  says:  "My 
awne  estait  is  this.  Since  the  28  of  Januar  [counting  from  the 
time  he  came  to  France]  I  have  traveilit  throuphout  all  the 
congregations  of  Helvetia,  and  has  reasonit  with  all  the  pastoris 
and  many  other  excellentlie  learnit  men,  upon  sic  matters  as 
now  I  cannot  comit  to  wrytting."    MS.  Letters,  p.  318. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX. 


47 


afflicting  events.  This  appears  from  a  letter  written 
by  him  at  this  time,  and  addressed  "To  his  afflicted 
Brethren."  After  discoursing  of  the  situation  of  the 
disciples  of  Christ,  during  the  time  that  he  lay  in  the 
grave,  and  of  the  sudden  transition  which  they  expe- 
rienced, upon  the  re-appearance  of  their  Master,  from 
the  depth  of  sorrow  to  the  summit  of  joy,  he  adds; 
"The  rememberance  thereof  is  unto  my  heart  great 
matter  of  consolation.  For  yet  my  hope  is,  that  one 
day  or  other,  Christ  .Tesus,  that  now  is  crucified  in 
England,  shall  rise  again,  in  despite  of  his  enemies, 
and  shall  appear  to  his  weak  and  sore  troubled  dis- 
ciples (for  yet  some  he  hath  in  that  wretched  and 
miserable  realm) ;  to  whom  he  shall  say.  Peace  be  unto 
you:  it  is  I ;  he  not  afraid  J'"'* 

His  spirit  was  also  refreshed,  at  this  time,  by  the 
information  that  he  received  of  the  constancy  with 
which  his  mother-in-law  adhered  to  the  prolestant 
faith.  Her  husband,  it  appears,  had  expected  that 
she  and  the  rest  of  her  family  had  consciences  equally 
accommodating  with  his  own.  It  was  not  until  she 
had  evinced,  in  the  most  determined  manner,  her  reso- 
lution to  forsake  her  friends  and  her  native  country, 
rather  than  sacrifice  her  religion,  that  she  was  released 
from  his  importunities  to  comply  with  the  Roman  Ca- 
tholic religion. f  Before  he  went  to  Switzerland,  Knox 
had  signified  his  intention,  if  his  life  was  spared,  of 
visiting  his  friends  at  Berwick.:};  When  he  returned 
to  Dieppe,  he  had  not  relinquished  the  thoughts  of 
this  enterprise. II  It  is  likely  that  his  friends  had, 
in  their  letters,  dissuaded  him  from  this;  and,  after 
cool  consideration,  he  resolved  to  postpone  an  attempt, 
by  which  he  must  have  risked  his  life,  without  the 
prospect  of  doing  any  good.§ 

Wherefore,  setting  out  again  from  Dieppe,  he  re- 
paired to  Geneva.  The  celebrated  Calvin,  who  was 
then  in  the  zenith  of  his  reputation  and  usefulness,  had 
completed  the  ecclesiastical  establishment  of  that  city ; 
and,  having  surmounted  the  opposition  raised  by  those 
who  envied  his  authority,  or  disliked  his  system  of 
doctrine  and  discipline,  was  securely  seated  in  the 
affections  of  the  citizens.  His  writings  were  already 
translated  into  the  different  languages  of  Europe;  and 
Geneva  was  thronged  with  strangers  from  Germany, 
France,  Poland,  Hungary,  and  even  from  Spain  and 
Italy,  who  came  to  consult  him  about  the  advancement 
of  the  Reformation,  or  to  find  shelter  from  the  persecu- 
tions to  which  they  were  exposed,  in  their  native  coun- 
tries. The  name  of  Calvin  was  respected  by  none 
more  than  by  the  protestants  of  England;  and  at  the 
desire  of  archbishop  Cranmer,  he  had  imparted  to  the 
Protector  Somerset,  and  to  Edward  VI.  his  advice  as 
to  the  best  method  of  advancing  the  Reformation  in 
that  kingdom.^f  Knox  was  affectionately  received  by 
him  as  a  refugee  from  England,  and  an  intimate  friend- 
ship was  soon  formed  between  them,  which  subsisted 
until  the  death  of  Calvin  in  1564.  They  were  nearly 
of  the  same  age ;  and  there  was  a  striking  similarity 
in  their  sentiments,  and  in  the  more  prominent  features 
of  their  character.  The  Genevan  Reformer  was  highly 
pleased  with  the  piety  and  talents  of  Knox,  who,  in 
his  turn,  entertained  a  greater  esteem  and  deference  for 
Calvin  than  for  any  other  of  the  reformers.  As  Geneva 
was  an  eligible  situation  for  prosecuting  study,  and 
as  he  approved  much  of  the  religious  order  established 
in  that  city,  he  resolved  to  make  it  the  ordinary  place 
of  his  residence  during  the  continuance  of  his  exile. 

But  no  prospect  of  personal  safety  or  accommodation 
could  banish  from  his  mind  the  thoughts  of  his  perse- 
cuted brethren.  In  the  month  of  July  he  undertook 
another  journey  to  Dieppe,  to  inform  himself  accurately 
of  their  situation,  and  to  learn  if  he  could  do  any  thing 

*  MS.  Letters,  p.  313—315.       f  lb.  p.  311.       t  lb.  p.  106. 
11  lb.  p.  319.  }  lb.  p.  310. 

1  Strype's  Cranmer,  p.  413.  Calvini  Epist.  et  Respons.  p. 
179,  245,  248.  Hanov.  1597. 


for  their  comfort.*  The  tidings  he  received  on  this 
occasion  tore  open  those  wounds  which  had  begun  to 
close.  The  severities  used  against  the  protestants  of 
England  daily  increased  ;  and,  what  was  still  more 
afflicting  to  him,  many  of  those  who  had  embraced  the 
truth  under  his  ministry  had  been  induced  to  return  to 
the  communion  of  the  Popish  Church.  In  the  agony 
of  his  spirit,  he  wrote  to  them,  setting  before  them  the 
destruction  to  which  they  exposed  their  immortal  soula 
by  such  cowardly  desertion,  and  earnestly  calling  them 
to  repent.f  Under  his  present  impressions,  he  repeated 
his  former  admonitions  to  his  mother-in-law,  and  to  his 
wife ;  over  whose  religious  constancy  he  was  tenderly 
jealous.  "  By  pen  will  I  write  (because  the  bodies 
are  put  asunder  to  meet  again  at  God's  pleasure)  that 
which,  by  mouth,  and  face  to  face,  ye  have  heard. 
That  if  man  or  angel  labour  to  bring  you  back  from 
the  confession  that*  once  you  have  given,  let  them  in 
that  behalf  be  accursed.  If  any  trouble  you  above 
measure,  whether  they  be  magistrates  or  carnal  friends, 
they  shall  bear  their  just  condemnation,  unless  they 
speedily  repent.  But  now,  mother,  comfort  you  my 
heart,  (God  grant  ye  may)  in  this  my  great  affliction 
and  dolorous  pilgrimage ;  continue  stoutly  to  the  end, 
and  bow  you  never  before  that  idol,  and  so  will  the 
rest  of  worldly  troubles  be  unto  me  more  tolerable. 
With  my  own  heart  I  oft  commune,  yea,  and,  as  it 
were  comforting  myself,  I  appear  to  triumph,  that  God 
shall  never  suffer  you  to  fall  in  that  rebuke.  Sure  I 
am  that  both  ye  would  fear  and  eshame  to  commit  that 
abomination  in  my  presence,  who  am  but  a  wretched 
man,  subject  to  sin  and  misery  like  to  yourself.  But, 
O  mother !  though  no  earthly  creature  should  be  of- 
fended with  you,  yet  fear  ye  the  presence  and  offence 
of  Him,  who,  present  in  all  places,  searcheth  the 
very  heart  and  reins,  whose  indignation,  once  kindled 
against  the  inobedient  (and  no  sin  more  inflameth  his 
wrath  than  idolatry  doth),  no  creature  in  heaven  nor  in 
earth  is  able  to  appease.   :}; 

He  was  in  this  state  of  mind  when  he  composed  the 
Admonition  to  England,  which  was  published  about 
the  end  of  this  year.  Those  who  have  censured  him, 
as  indulging  in  an  excessive  vehemence  of  spirit  and 
bitterness  of  language,  usually  refer  to  this  tract  in 
support  of  the  charge. ||  It  is  true,  that  he  there  paints 
the  persecuting  papists  in  the  blackest  colours,  and 
holds  them  up  as  objects  of  human  execration  and  di- 
vine vengeance.  I  do  not  now  stop  to  inquire,  whether 
he  was  chargeable  with  transgressing  the  bounds  of 
moderation  prescribed  by  reason  and  religion,  in  the 
expression  of  his  indignation  and  zeal ;  or  whether  the 
censures  pronounced  by  his  accusers,  and  the  prin- 
ciples upon  which  they  proceed,  do  not  involve  a  con- 
demnation of  the  temper  and  language  of  the  most 
righteous  men  mentioned  in  Scripture,  and  even  of  our 
Saviour  himself.  But  1  ask.  Is  there  no  apology  for 
his  severity  to  be  found  in  the  characters  of  the  persons 
against  whom  he  wrote,  and  in  the  state  of  his  own 
feelings,  lacerated,  not  by  personal  sufferings,  but  by 
sympathy  with  his  suffering  brethren,  who  were  driven 

*  One  of  his  letters  to  Mrs.  Bowes,  is  dated  "  At  Diep  the 
20  of  Jul}',  1554,  after  I  had  visitit  Geneva  and  uther  partis, 
and  returned  to  Diep  to  learn  the  estait  of  Ineland  and  Scot- 
land." MS.  Letters,  p.  255,  256.  This  is  the  fetter  which 
was  published  by  Knox,  alon^  with  his  answer  (o  Tyrie,  in 
1572,  after  the  death  of  Mrs.  Bowes. 

\  In  the  letter  mentioned  in  last  note,  he  refers  his  mother- 
in-law  to  "a  general  letter  written  (says  he)  be  me  in  greit 
anguiss  of  hart  to  the  congregationis  of  whonie  I  heir  say  a 
greit  part>  under  pretence  that  thai  may  keip  faith  secreitt  in 
the  hart,  and  yet  do  as  idolaters  do,  beginnis  now  to  fall  before 
that  idoil.  But  O  alas!  blindit  and  desavit  ar  thai;  as  thai 
sail  knaw  in  the  Lordis  visitatioun,  whilk,  sa  assuredlie  as  our 
God  liveth,  shall  shortlie  apprehend  thai  backstarteris  amangii 
the  niiddis  of  idolateris."  MS.  Letters,  p.  252.  On  the  niargrn 
of  the  printed  copy  is  this  note.  "  Frequent  letters  written  bjr 
Johne  Knox  to  decline  from  idolatrie." 

t  MS.  Letters,  p.  251— 253. 

[)  Collier  (Eccles.  History,  ii.  441.),  cum  muUis  aliis. 


48 


LIFE    OF    JOHN   KNOX. 


into  prisons  by  their  unnatural  countrymen,  "  as  sheep 
for  the  slaughter,"  to  be  brought  forth  and  barbarously 
immolated  to  appease  the  Roman  Moloch  1  Who  could 
suppress  indignation  in  speaking  of  the  conduct  of  men, 
who,  having  raised  themselves  to  honour  and  affluence 
by  the  warmest  professions  of  friendship  to  the  re- 
formed religion  under  the  preceding  reign,  now  abetted 
the  most  violent  measures  against  their  former  brethren 
and  benefactors  1  VV^hat  terms  were  loo  strong  for 
stigmatizing  the  execrable  system  of  persecution  coolly 
projected  by  the  dissembling,  vindictive  Gardiner, 
the  brutal  barbarity  of  the  bloody  Bonner,  or  the  un- 
relenting, insatiable  cruelty  of  Mary,  who,  having  ex- 
tinguished the  feelings  of  humanity,  and  divested  her- 
self of  the  tenderness  which  characterizes  her  sex, 
continued  to  issue  orders  for  the  murder  of  her  sub- 
jects, until  her  own  husband,  bigoted  and  unfeeling 
as  he  was,  turned  with  disgust  froraf  the  spect'acie,  and 
to  urge  to  fresh  severities  the  willing  instruments  of 
her  cruelty,  after  they  were  sated  with  blood  ! 
On  siicli  a  theme  'tis  impious  to  be  calm; 
Passion  is  reason,  transport  temper  here. — YcUNG. 
"  Oppression  makes  a  wise  man  mad  :"  but  (to  use 
the  words  of  a  modern  orator,*  with  a  more  just  appli- 
cation) "  the  distemper  is  still  the  madness  of  the  wise, 
which  is  better  than  the  sobriety  o( fools.  Their  cry  is 
the  voice  of  sacred  misery,  exalted,  not  into  wild  rav- 
ing, but  into  the  sanctified  phrensy  of  prophecy  and 
inspiration." 

Knox  returned  to  Geneva,  and  applied  himself  to 
study  with  all  the  ardour  of  youth,  although  his  age 
now  bordered  upon  fifty.  It  seems  to  have  been  at 
this  time  that  he  made  himself  master  of  the  Hebrew 
language,  which  he  had  no  opportunity  of  acquiring 
in  early  life.f  It  is  natural  to  enquire,  by  what  funds 
he  was  supported  during  his  exile.  However  much 
inclined  his  mother-in-law  was  to  relieve  his  neces- 
sities, the  disposition  of  her  husband  seems  to  have 
put  it  greatly  out  of  her  power.  Any  small  sum  which 
his  friends  had  advanced  to  him,  before  his  sudden  de- 
parture from  England,  was  exhausted;  and  he  was  at 
this  time  very  much  straitened  for  money.  Being  un- 
willing to  burden  strangers,  he  looked  for  assistance 
to  the  voluntary  contributions  of  those  among  whom 
he  had  laboured.  In  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Bowes,  he  says, 
"My  own  estate  I  cannot  well  declare;  but  God  shall 
guide  the  footsteps  of  him  that  is  wilsome,  and  will 
feed  him  in  trouble  that  never  greatly  solicited  for  the 
world.  If  any  collection  might  be  made  among  the 
faithful,  it  were  no  shame  for  me  to  receive  that  which 
Paul  refused  not  in  the  time  of  his  trouble.  But  all  I 
remit  to  His  providence,  that  ever  careth  for  his 
own.":|:  I  find,  that  remittances  were  made  to  him 
by  particular  friends,  both  in  England  and  in  Scotland, 
during  his  residence  on  the  Continent. || 

Meanwhile,  the  persecution  growing  hot  in  England, 
great  numbers  of  protestants  had  made  their  escape 
from  that  kingdom.  Before  the  close  of  the  year  1554, 
there  were  on  the  Continent  several  hundred  learned 
Englishmen,  besides  others  of  different  ranks,  who  had 
preferred  their  religion  to  their  country,  and  voluntarily 
encountered  all  the  hardships  of  exile,  that  they  might 
hold  fast  the  profession  of  the  protestant  faith.  The 
foreign  reformed  churches  exhibited,  on  this  occasion, 
an  amiable  proof  of  the  spirit  of  their  religion,  and 
amply  recompensed  the  kindness  which  many  foreign- 
ers had  experienced  in  England,  during  the  reign  of 
Edward.  They  emulated  one  another  in  exertions  to 
accommodate  the  unfortunate  refugees  who  were  dis- 
persed among  ihcm,  and  endeavoured  with  the  most 
affectionate  solicitude  to  supply  their  wants  and  alle- 
viate their  sufferings. §     The  principal  places  in  which 


•  Bu.-ke.  +  MS.  Letters,  p.  322.     Davidson's  Brief 

Comniendatiouii  of  Uprichtiies;  reprinted  in  the  Supplement. 

t  MS.  Letters,  p.  256.  Il  Ibid.  344,  373. 

j  It  is  painful  to  observe,  that  many  of  the  Lutherans,  at 
this  time,  disgraced  themselves  by  their  illiberal  inhospitalitj, 


they  obtained  settlements,  were  Zurich,  Basle,  Geneva, 
Arrow,  Embden,  Wezel,  Strasburg,  Duysburg,  and 
Frankfort. 

Frankfort  on  the  Maine  was  a  rich  imperial  city  of 
Germany,  which,  at  an  early  period,  had  embraced  the 
Reformation,  and  befriended  protestant  refugees  from 
all  countries,  as  far  as  this  could  be  done  without 
coming  to  an  open  breach  with  the  Emperor,  by  whom 
their  conduct  was  watched  with  a  jealous  eye.  There 
was  already  a  church  of  French  protestants  in  that 
city.  On  the  14lh  of  July,  1554,  the  English  exiles, 
who  had  come  to  Frankfort,  obtained  from  the  magis- 
trates the  joint  use  of  the  place  of  worship  allotted  to 
the  French,  with  liberty  to  perform  religious  service 
in  their  own  language.*  This  was  granted  upon  the 
condition,  of  their  conforming  as  nearly  as  possible  to 
the  mode  of  worship  used  by  the  French  church,  a 
prudent  precaution  dictated  by  the  political  situation 
in  which  they  were  placed.  The  offer  was  gratefully 
accepted  by  the  English,  who  came  to  an  unanimous 
agreement,  that  they  would  omit  the  use  of  the  surplice, 
the  litany,  the  audible  responses,  and  some  other  cere- 
monies prescribed  by  the  English  liturgy,  which, 
"  in  those  reformed  churches,  would  seem  more  than 
strange,"  or  which  were  "  superstitious  and  superflu- 
ous." Having  settled  this  point  in  the  most  harmo- 
nious manner,  elected  a  temporary  pastor  and  deacons, 
and  agreed  upon  some  rules  for  discipline,  they  wrote 
a  circular  letter  to  their  brethren  who  were  scattered 
through  different  places,  informing  them  of  the  agree- 
able settlement  which  they  had  obtained,  and  inviting 
them  to  participate  with  them  in  their  accommodations 
at  Frankfort,  and  to  unite  in  prayers  for  the  afflicted 
church  of  England.  The  exiles  at  Strasburg,  in 
their  reply  to  this  letter,  recommended  to  them  certain 
persons  as  best  qualified  for  filling  the  offices  of  super- 
intendent and  pastor;  a  recommendation  not  asked  by 
the  congregation  at  Frankfort,  who  did  not  think  a 
superintendent  necessary  in  their  situation,  and  who 
intended  to  put  themselves  under  the  inspection  of  two 
or  three  pastors  invested  with  equal  authority.  They, 
accordingly,  proceeded  to  make  choice  of  three  persons 
to  this  office.  One  of  these  was  Knox,  who  received 
information  of  his  election  by  a  letter  written  in  the 
name  of  the  congregation,  and  subscribed  by  its  prin- 
cipal members."}- 

The  deputation  which  waited  upon  him  with  this 
invitation  found  him  engaged  in  the  prosecution  of  his 
studies  at  Geneva.  From  aversion  to  interrupt  these, 
or  from  the  apprehension  of  difficulties  that  he  might 
ineet  with  at  Frankfort,  he  would  gladly  have  excused 
himself  from  accepting  the  invitation.  But  the  depu- 
ties having  employed  the  powerful  intercession  of 
Calvin, :J:  he  was  induced  to  comply,  and  repairing  to 
Frankfort  in  the  month  of  November,  commenced  his 
ministry  with  the  universal  consent  and  approbation 
of  the  church.  Previous  to  his  arrival,  however,  the 
harmony  which  at  first  subsisted  among  that  people 
had  been  disturbed.  In  reply  to  their  circular  letter, 
the  exiles  at  Zurich  had  signified  that  they  would 
not  come  to  Frankfort,  unless  they  obtained  security 
that  the  church  there  would  "  use  the  same  order  of 
service  concerning  religion,  which  was,  in  England, 
last  set  forth  by  King  Edward  ;"  for  they  were  fully 


refusing-,  in  different  instances,  to  admit  those  who  fled  from 
England  into  their  harbours  and  towns;  because  they  differed 
from  them  in  their  sentiments  on  the  sacramental  controversy. 
Melch.  Adami  Vitac  Exter.  Theolog.  p.  20.  Strype's  Cranmer, 
p.  353,  361.  Gerdes.  Hist.  Reform.  Tom.  iii.  235—7. 

*  Tlie  English  exiles  were  ertatly  indebted  for  this  favour 
to  the  friendTv  services  of  the  French  pastors.  One  of  these, 
Valerandus  Polanus,  was  a  native  of  Flanders,  and  had  been 
minister  of  a  coneregation  in  Strasburg.  During  the  confu- 
sions produced  in  Germany  by  the  Interim,  he  had  retired  along 
with  his  congregation  to  England,  and  obtained  a  settlement 
at  Glastonbury.  Upon  the  death  of  Edward,  he  went  to  Frank- 
fort.    Strype's  Memor.  of  the  Reformat,  ii.  242. 

■f  See  Note  XXI.  \  Knox,  Historie,  p.  85. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX. 


49 


determined  "  to  admit  and  use  no  other."  They  al- 
leged that,  by  varying  from  that  service,  they  would 
give  occasion  to  their  adversaries  to  charge  their  reli- 
gion with  imperfection  and  mutability,  and  would 
condemn  their  brethren  in  England,  who  were  then 
sealing  it  with  their  blood.  To  these  representations 
the  brethren  at  Frankfort  replied,  that  they  had  ob- 
tained the  liberty  of  a  place  of  worship,  upon  condition 
of  their  accommodating  themselves  as  much  as  possi- 
ble to  the  form  used  by  the  French  church  ;  that  there 
were  a  number  of  things  in  the  English  service-book 
which  would  be  oifensive  to  the  protestants  among 
whom  they  resided,  and  which  had  been  occasion  of 
scruple  to  conscientious  persons  at  home;  that,  by  the 
variations  which  they  had  introduced,  they  were  very 
far  from  meaning  to  throw  any  reflection  upon  the  regu- 
lations of  their  late  sovereign  and  his  council,  who  had 
themselves  altered  many  things,  and  had  resolved  on 
greater  alterations,  without  thinking  that  they  gave 
any  handle  to  their  popish  adversaries ;  and  still  less 
did  they  mean  to  detract  from  the  credit  of  the  martyrs, 
who,  they  were  persuaded,  shed  their  blood  in  confir- 
mation of  more  important  things  than  mutable  ceremo- 
nies of  human  appointment.  This  reply  had  the  effect 
of  lowering  the  tone  of  the  exiles  at  Zurich,  but  it  did 
not  satisfy  them ;  and  instead  of  desisting  from  the 
controversy,  and  contenting  themselves  with  remain- 
ing where  they  were,  they  instigated  their  brethren  at 
Strasburg  to  urge  the  same  request,  and,  by  letters 
and  messengers,  fomented  dissention  in  the  congrega- 
tion at  Frankfort.* 

When  Knox  arrived,  he  found  that  the  seeds  of  ani- 
mosity had  already  sprung  up  among  them.  From 
what  we  already  know  of  his  sentiments  respecting  the 
English  service-book,  we  may  be  sure  that  the  eager- 
ness manifested  by  those  who  wished  to  impose  it  was 
very  displeasing  to  him.  But  so  sensible  was  he  of 
the  pernicious  and  discreditable  effects  of  division 
among  brethren  exiled  for  the  same  faith,  that  he  re- 
solved to  act  as  a  moderator  between  the  two  parties, 
and  to  avoid,  as  far  as  possible,  every  thing  which 
might  have  a  tendency  to  widen  or  continue  the  breach. 
Accordingly,  when  the  congregation  had  agreed  to 
adopt  the  order  of  the  Genevan  church, f  and  requested 
him  to  proceed  to  administer  the  communion  according 
to  it,  although  he  approved  of  that  order,  he  declined 
to  carry  it  into  practice,  until  their  learned  brethren  in 
other  places  were  consulted.  At  the  same  time,  he 
signified  that  he  had  not  freedom  to  dispense  the  sacra- 
ments agreeably  to  the  English  liturgy.  If  he  could 
not  be  allowed  to  perform  this  service  in  a  manner 
more  consonant  to  scripture,  he  requested  that  some 
other  person  might  be  employed  in  this  part  of  duty, 
and  he  would  willingly  confine  himself  to  preaching: 
if  neither  of  these  could  be  granted,  he  besought  them 
to  release  him  altogether  from  his  charge.  To  this  last 
request  the}'  would  by  no  means  consent. 

Fearing  that,  if  these  differences  were  not  speedily 
accommodated,  they  would  burst  into  a  flame,  Knox, 
and  some  other  members  of  the  congregation,  drew  up 
a  summary  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  and  having 
translated  it  into  Latin,  sent  it  to  Calvin  for  his  opinion 
and  advice.     Calvin  replied  in  a  letter,  dated  January 


*  Brieff  Discours  off  the  Troubles  beg-onne  at  Franckford  in 
German}',  Anno  Domini  1554.  Abovvte  the  booke  off  Common 
Prayer,  pp.  xviii — xxiiii.  Printed  in  1575.  This  book  contains  a 
full  actount  of  the  transactions  of  the  English  church  at  F'rank- 
fort,  confirmed  by  original  papers.  The  author  was  a  non-con- 
formist, but  his  narrative  was  allowed  to  be  accurate  by  the 
opposite  party.  To  save  repetition,  I  may  mention  once  for 
all,  that,  when  no  authority  is  referred  to,  my  statement  of 
these  transactions  is  taken  from  this  book.  It  was  reprinted  in 
1642,  and  is  also  to  be  found  in  the  second  volume  of  the 
Phenix,  or  a  revival  of  Scarce  and  Valuable  Pieces.  Lond. 
1707 — 8.     But  I  have  made  use  of  the  firet  edition. 

+  This  was  the  order  of  worship  used  by  the  church  of 
Geneva,  of  which  Calvin  was  minister:  It  had  been  lately 
translated  into  English. 

G 


20, 1555  ;  he  lamented  the  unseemly  contentions  which 
prevailed  among  them ;  he  said  that,  although  he  had 
always  recommended  moderation  respecting  external 
ceremonies,  yet  he  could  not  but  condemn  the  obsti- 
nacy of  those  who  would  consent  to  no  change  of  old 
customs  ;  that  in  the  liturgy  of  England  he  had  found 
many  tolerable  fooleries,  (tolerabiles  ineptias),  practices 
which  might  be  tolerated  at  the  beginning  of  a  reforma- 
tion, but  which  ought  afterwards  to  be  removed  ;  he 
thought  that  the  present  condition  of  the  English  exiles 
warranted  them  to  attempt  this,  and  to  agree  upon  an 
order  more  conducive  to  edification  ;  and,  for  his  part, 
he  could  not  understand  what  those  persons  meant  who 
discovered  such  fondness  for  popish  dregs.* 

This  letter,  being  read  to  the  congregation,  had  a 
great  effect  in  repressing  the  keenness  of  such  as  had 
urged  the  unlimited  use  of  the  liturgy ;  and  a  com- 
mittee was  appointed  to  draw  up  a  form  which  might 
accommodate  all  differences. |  When  this  committee 
met,  Knox  told  them  that  he  was  convinced  it  was 
necessary  for  one  of  the  parties  to  relent,  before  they 
could  come  to  an  amicable  settlement;  and  that  he 
would  therefore  state  what  he  judged  most  proper  to 
be  done,  and  having  exonerated  himself,  would  allow 
them,  without  opposition,  to  determine  as  they  should 
answer  to  God  and  the  church.  They  accordingly 
agreed  upon  a  form  of  worship,  in  which  some  things 
were  taken  from  the  English  liturgy,  and  others  added, 
which  were  thought  suitable  to  their  circumstances. 
This  was  to  continue  in  force  until  the  end  of  April 
next;  and  if  any  dispute  arose  in  ihe  interval,  it  was 
to  be  referred  to  five  of  the  most  celebrated  foreign 
divines.  The  agreement  was  subscribed  by  all  the 
members  of  the  congregation;  thanks  were  publicly 
returned  to  God  for  the  restoration  of  harmony ;  and 
the  communion  was  received  as  a  pledge  of  union,  and 
the  burial  of  all  past  offences. 

But  this  agreement  was  soon  after  violated,  and  the 
peace  of  that  unliappy  congregation  again  broken,  in 
the  most  wanton  and  scandalous  manner.  On  the  13th 
of  March,  1555,  Dr.  Cox,  who  had  been  preceptor  to 
Edward  VI.  came  from  England  to  Frankfort,  with 
some  others  in  his  company.  The  first  day  that  they 
attended  public  worship  after  their  arrival,  they  broke 
through  the  established  order,  by  answering  aloud 
after  the  minister  in  the  time  of  divine  service.  Being 
admonished  by  some  of  the  elders  to  refrain  from  that 
practice,  they  insolently  replied,  "That  they  would 
do  as  they  had  done  in  England;  and  they  would  have 
the  face  of  an  English  church.":!:  On  the  following 
Sabbath,  one  of  their  number  having  intruded  himself 
into  the  pulpit,  without  the  consent  of  the  pastors  or 
the  congregation,  read  the  litany,  while  Cox  and  the 
other  accomplices  echoed  the  responses.  This  offen- 
sive behaviour  was  aggravated  by  the  consideration, 
that  some  of  them,  before  leaving  England,  had  been 
guilty  of  compliances  with  popery,  for  which  they  had 
not  yet  professed  repentance. 

Such  an  insult  upon  the  whole  body,  and  such  an 
outrage  upon  all  order  and  decency,  could  not  be  passed 
over  in  silence.  It  was  Knox's  turn  to  preach  on  the 
afternoon  of  the  last  mentioned  Sabbath.     In  his  ordi- 


*  Calvini  Epist.  p.  28.  apud  Oper.  torn.  ix.  Amstaelodami. 
Anno  1667. 

+  Previous  to  the  appointment  of  this  committee,  Knox, 
WhittinghanvFox,  Gilby,  and  T.  Cole,,  had  composed  (what 
was  afterwards  called)  The  order  of  Geneva,  but  it  did  not 
meet  the  views  of  all  concerned.  This  was  different  from  the 
order  of  the  Genevan  church,  mentioned  in  the  preceding  page. 
It  was  so  called,  because  first  used  by  the  English  church  at 
Geneva;  and  it  was  aftenvards  used  in  the  church  of  Scotland, 
under  the  name  of  TAe  Book  of  Common  Order,  and  is  some- 
times called  Knox's  lAtnrgy. 

X  "  The  Lord  grant  it  to  have  the  face  of  Christ's  church 
(says  Knox,  in  an  account  which  he  drew  up  of  these  transac- 
tions) ;  and  therefore  I  would  have  had  it  agreeable,  in  out- 
ward rites  and  ceremonies,  with  Christian  churches-reformed.' 
Cald.  xMS.  i.  249. 


50 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX. 


nary  course  of  lecturing  through  the  book  of  Genesis, 
he  had  occasion  to  discourse  of  the  manner  in  which 
offences  committed  by  professors  of  religion  ought  to 
be  treated.  Having  mentioned  ihai  there  were  infirm- 
ities in  their  conduct  over  which  a  veil  should  be 
thrown,  he  proceeded,  to  remark  that  offences  which 
openly  dishonoured  God  and  disturbed  the  peace  of  the 
church,,  ought  to  be  disclosed  and  publicly  rebuked. 
He  then  reminded  them  of  the  contention  which  had 
existed  in  the  congregation,  and  of  the  happy  manner 
in  which,  after  long  and  painful  labour,  it  had  been 
ended,  to  the  joy  of  all,  by  the  solemn  agreement 
which  had  been  that  day  flagrantly  violated.  This,  he 
said,  it  became  not  the  proudest  of  them  to  have  at- 
tempted. Nothing  which  was  destitute  of  a  divine 
warrant  ought  to  be  obtruded  upon  any  Christian 
church.  In  that  book,  for  which  some  entertained 
such  an  overweening  fondness,  he  would  undertake  to 
prove  publicly,  that  there  were  things  imperfect,  im- 
pure, and  superstitious ;  and,  if  any  would  go  about  to 
burden  a  free  congregation  with  such  things,  he  would 
not  fail,  as  often  as  he  occupied  that  place,  (provided 
his  text  afforded  occasion),  to  oppose  their  design. 
As  he  had  been  forced  to  enter  upon  that  subject,  he 
would  say  further,  that,  in  his  judgment,  slackness  in 
reforming  religion,  when  time  and  opportunity  were 
granted,  was  one  cause  of  the  divine  displeasure  against 
England.  He  adverted  to  the  trouble  which  Bishop 
Hooper  had  suffered  for  refusing  to  comply  with  some 
of  the  ceremonies,  and  also  to  the  want  of  discipline, 
and  to  the  well  known  fact,  that  three,  four,  or  five 
benefices  had  been  occupied  by  one  man,  to  the  depriv- 
ing of  the  flock  of  Christ  of  their  necessary  food. 

This  free  reprimand  was  highly  resented  by  those 
against  whom,  it  was  levelled^  especially  by  such  as 
had  held  pluralities  in  England,  who  insisted  that  the 
preacher  should  be  called  to  account  for  having  slan- 
dered their  mother  church.  A  special  meeting  being 
held  for  the  consideration  of  this  business,  the  friends 
of  the  liturgy,  instead  of  prosecuting  their  complaints 
against  Knox,  began  with  requiring  that  Dr.  Cox  and 
his  friends  should  be  admitted  to  a  vote.  This  was 
resisted  by  the  great  majority;  because  they  had  not 
yet  subscribed  the  discipline  of  the  church,  nor  given 
satisfaction  for  their  late  disorderly  conduct,  and  for 
their  sinful  compliances  in  England.  The  behaviour 
of  our  countryman,  on  this  occasion,  was  more  remark- 
able for  magnanimity  than  for  prudence.  Although 
aware  of  their  hostility  to  himself,  and  that  they  sought 
admission  chiefly  to  overpower  him  by  numbers,  he 
was  so  confident  of  the  justice  of  his  cause,  and  so 
anxious  to  remove  prejudices,  that  he  entreated  and 
prevailed  with  the  meeting  to  yield  to  this  unreason- 
able request,  and  to  admit  them  presently  to  a  vote. 
"  I  know,"  said  he,  "  that  your  earnest  desire  to  be  re- 
ceived at  this  instant  within  the  number  of  the  congre- 
gation, is,  that  by  the  multitude  of  your  voices  ye  may 
overthrow  my  cause.  Howbeit,  the  matter  is  so  evi- 
dent, that  ye  shall  not  be  able  to  do  it.  I  fear  not  your 
judgment;  and  therefore  do  require  that  ye  might  be 
admitted."*  This  disinterestedness  was  thrown  away 
on  the  opposite  party ;  for  no  sooner  were  they  admit- 
ted, and  had  obtained  a  majority  of  voices,  than  Cox 
(although  he  had  no  authority  in  the  congregation) 
discharged  Knox  ftom  preaching,  and  from  all  inter- 
ference in  the  congregational  affairs. | 

The  great  body  of  the  congregation  were  indignant 
at  these  proceedings;  and  there  was  reason  to  fear  that 
their  mutual  animosity  would  break  out  into  a  dis- 
graceful tumult.     Tb  prevent  this,  some  of  the  mem- 

•  CaJd.  MS.  i.  252. 

f  Collier  (ii.  395.)  says'that  Knox  manifested  in  this  instance, 
"a  surprising^  compliance."  But  it  appears,  even  from  the 
account  given  bv  that  historian,  that  in  tne  whole  of  the  Frank- 
fort affair,  he  displayed  the  ^eatest  moderation  and  forbear- 
ance, while  the  conauct  of  his  opponents  was  marked  through- 
out with  violence  and  want  of  cnarit/. 


bers  made  a  representation  of  the  case  to  the  senate 
of  Frankfort,  who,  after  in  vain  recommending  a  pri- 
vate accommodation,  issued  an  order  that  the  congre- 
gation should  conform  exactly  to  the  worship  used  by 
the  French  church,  as  nothing  but  confusion  had  ensued 
since  they  departed  from  it;  and  if  this  was  not  com- 
plied with,  they  threatened  to  shut  up  their  place  of 
worship.  To  this  peremptory  injunction  the  Coxian 
faction  pretended  a  cheerful  submission,  while  they 
clandestinely  concerted  measures  for  obtaining  its  re- 
vocation, and  enforcing  their  favourite  liturgy  upon 
their  reclaiming  brethren. 

Perceiving  the  influence  which  our  countryman  had 
in  the  congregation,  and  despairing  to  carry  their  plan 
into  execution,  as  long  as  he  was  among  them,  Ihey 
determined  in  the  fir.st  place  to  get  rid  of  him.  To 
accomplish  this,  they  had  recourse  to  one  of  the  basest 
and  most  unchristian  arts  ever  employed  to  ruin  an 
adversary.  Two  of  them,  in  concurrence  with  others, 
went  privately  to  the  magistrates,  and  accused  Knox 
of  Hi6H  Treason  against  the  Emperor  of  Germany, 
his  son  Philip,  and  Queen  Mary  of  England  ;  putting 
into  their  hands  a  copy  of  a  book  which  he  had  lately 
published,  and  in  which  the  passages  containing  the 
grounds  of  charge  were  marked  !  "  O  Lord  God  ! 
(says  Knox,  when  narrating  this  step)  open  their 
hearts  to  see  their  wickedness  ;  and  forgive  them,  for 
thy  manifold  mercies.  And  I  forgive  them,  O  Lord, 
from  the  bottom  of  mine  heart.  But  that  thy  message 
sent  by  my  mouth  may  not  be  slandered,  I  am  com- 
pelled to  declare  the  cause  of  my  departing,  and  to 
utter  their  follies,  to  their  amendment,  I  trust,  and  the 
example  of  others,  who  in  the  same  banishment  can  have 
so  cruel  hearts  as  to  persecute  their  brethren."*  The 
book  which  th&  informers  left  with  the  magistrates 
was  his  AdmonUion  to  England ;  and  the  passage  upon 
which  they  principally  fixed,  as  substantiating  the 
charge  of  treason  against  the  Emperor,  was  the  follow- 
ing, originally  spoken  to  the  inhabitants  of  Amersham 
in  Buckinghamshire,!  on  occasion  of  the  rumoured 
marriage  of  Queen  Mary  with  Philip,  the  son  and  heir 
of  Charles  V.  a  match,  which  was  at  that  lime  dreaded 
even  by  many  of  the  English  Catholics.  "O  Eng- 
land, England,  if  thou  obstinately  wilt  return  into 
Egypt,  that  is,  if  thou  contract  marriage,  confederacy, 
or  league  with  such  princes  as  do  maintain  and  ad- 
vance idolatry;  such  as  the  Emperor  (who  is  no  less 
enemy  to  Christ  that  ever  was  Nero)  :  if  for  the  plea- 
sure of  such  princes  thou  return  to  thy  old  abomina- 
tions before  used  under  papistfy,  then  assuredly,  O 
England,  thou  shalt  be  plagued  and  brought  to  deso- 
lation, by  the  means  of  those  whose  favour  thou  seek- 
est !"  The  other  passages  related  to  the  cruelty  of  the 
English  Queen.  Not  to  speak  of  the  extravagance  of 
the  charge  which  they  founded  upon  these  passages, 
and  of  tne  unbrotherly  spirit  which  they  discovered, 
it  was  with  little  grace  and  consistency  that  the  stick- 
lers for  the  English  forms  availed  themselves  of  the 
strong  language'  which  Knox  had  employed  in  the 
warmth  of  his  zeal,  in  order  to  excite  prejudices  against 
him  ;  and  it  would  be  no  difficult  task  to  extract  from 
their  writings  declamations  against  their  own  Queen 
and  against  foreign  princes,  more  intemperate  by  far 
than  any  thing  that  ever  proceeded  from  his  pen.if 

The  magistrates,  in  consequence  of  this  accusation, 

*  Cald.  MS.  i.  254.  Upon  his  return  to  Geneva,  Knox  com- 
mitted to  writing  an  account  of  the  reasons  of  bis  retiring  from 
Frankfort.  This  he  intended  to  have  published  in  his  vindi- 
cation; but  on  mature  deliberation,  he  resolved  to  suppress  it, 
and  to  leave  his  own  character  to  suffer,  rather  than  expose 
his  brethren  and  the  common  cause  in  which  they  were  en- 
gaged. His  narrative  has  been  preserved  by  Caldcrwood,  and 
has  furnished  me  with  several  facts.  It  contains  the  names  of 
the  persons  who  accused  him  to  the  senate  of  Frankfort,  with 
their  advisers;  but  I  have  omitted  them, as  Knox  has  also  done 
in  the  notice  which  he  has  taken  of  the  affair,  in  his  Historie 
of  the  Reformation,  p.  85. 


f  See  above,  p.  11 4. 


X  See  Note  XXII. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


51 


sent  for  JVhitttngham,  a  respectable  member  of  the 
English  congregation,  and  interrogated  him  concern- 
ing Knox's  character.  He  told  them  that  he  was  "  a 
learned,  grave,  and  godly  man."  They  then  acquainted 
him  with  the  serious  accusation  which  had  been  lodged 
against  him  by  some  of  his  countrymen,  and  giving 
him  the  book,  charged  him,  sub  pana  pads,  to  bring 
them  an  exact  Latin  translation  of  the  passages  which 
were  marked.  This  being  done,  they  commanded 
Knox  to  desist  from  preaching,  until  their  pleasure 
should  be  known.  To  this  command  he  peaceably 
submitted  :  "  Yet,  (says  he,  in  his  narrative),  being 
desirous  to  hear  others,  I  went  to  the  church  next  day, 
not  thinking  that  my  company  would  have  offended 
any.  But  as  soon  as  my  accusers  saw  me,  they,  with 
■  and  others,  departed  from  the  sermon  ;  some  of 

them  protesting  with  great  vehemence,  that  they  would 
not  tarry  where  I  was."*  The  magistrates  were  ex- 
tremely perplexed  how  to  act  in  this  delicate  business : 
on  the  one  hand,  they  were  satisfied  of  the  malice  of 
Knox's  accusers;  on  the  other,  they  were  afraid  that 
information  of  the  charge  would  be  conveyed  to  the 
Emperor's  Council,  which  sat  at  Augsburgh,  and  that 
they  might  be  obliged  to  deliver  up  the  accused  to 
them,  or  to  the  Queen  of  England.  In  this  dilemma, 
they  desired  Whittingham  to  advise  his  friend  private- 
ly, to  retire  of  his  own  accord  from  Frankfort.  At  the 
same  time,  they  did  not  dissemble  their  detestation  of 
the  unnatural  conduct  of  the  informers,  who,  having 
waited  upon  them  to  know  the  result  of  their  delibera- 
tions, were  dismissed  from  their  presence  with  signs 
of  displeasure. 

On  the  25lh  of  March,  Knox  delivered  a  very  con- 
solatory discourse  to  about  fifty  members  of  the  con- 
gregation, who  assembled  at  his  lodgings  in  the  even- 
ing. Next  day  they  accompanied  him  some  miles  on 
his  journey  from  Frankfort,  and,  with  heavy  hearts 
and  many  tears,  committed  him  to  God,  and  took  their 
leave. 

No  sooner  was  Knox  gone,  than  Cox,  who  had  pri- 
vately concerted  the  plan  with  Dr.  Glauberg,  a  civilian, 
and  nephew  of  the  chief  magistrate,  procured  an  order 
from  the  Senate  for  the  unlimited  use  of  the  English 
liturgy,  by  means  of  the  false  representation  that  it 
was  now  universally  acceptable  to  the  congregation. 
The  next  step  was  the  abrogation  of  the  discipline,  and 
then  the  appointment  of  a  bishop,  or  superintendent 
over  the  pastors.  Having  accomplished  these  impor- 
tant improvements,  they  could  now  boast  that  they  had 
"the  face  of  an  English  church."  Yes!  they  could 
now  raise  their  heads  above  all  the  reformed  churches 
who  had  the  honour  of  entertaining  them  ;  who,  though 
they  might  have  all  the  office-bearers  and  ordinances 
instituted  by  Christ,  had  neither  bishop,  nor  litany, 
nor  surplice  !  They  could  now  lift  up  their  faces  in  the 
presence  of  the  church  of  Rome  herself,  and  cherish 
the  hope  that  she  would  not  altogether  disown  them. 
But  let  me  not  forget,  that  the  men  c^  whom  I  write 
were  at  this  time  suffering  exile  for  the  protestant  reli- 
gion, and  that  they  really  detested  the  bo^y  of  popery, 
though  childishly  and  superstitiously  attached  to  its 
attire,  and  gestures,  and  language. 

The  sequel  of  the  transactions  in  the  English  con- 
gregation at  Frankfort,  does  not  properly  belong  to  this 
memoir.  I  shall  only  add,  that,  after  some  ineffectual 
attempts  to  obtain  satisfaction  for  the  breach  of  the 
church's  peace  and  the  injurious  treatment  of  their 
minister,  a  considerable  number  of  the  members  left 
the  city.  Some  of  them,  among  whom  was  Fox  the 
celebrated  martyrologist,  repaired  to  Basil.  The  greater 

*  Cald.  MS.  i.  255.  Mr.  Strype  has  not  discovered  his 
usual  impartiality  or  accuracy  in  his  short  account  of  this 
affair.  He  says  that  Knox  had  "  published  some  dangerous 
orinciples  about  government,"  and  that  the  informers  "  thought 
It  Atjor  their  own  security  to  make  an  open  complaint  ag-ainst 
him."  Memor.  of  the  Reformat,  iii.  242.  Even  Collier  him- 
self does  not  pretend  such  an  excuse  for  the  actors. 


■part  went  to  Geneva,  where  they  obtained  a  place  of 
worship,  and  lived  in  great  harmony  and  love,  until 
the  storm  of  persecution  in  England  blew  over,  at  the 
death  of  Queen  Mary  ;  while  those  who  remained  at 
Frankfort,  as  if  to  expiate  their  offence  against  Knox, 
continued  a  prey  to  endless  contention.  Cox  and  his 
learned  colleagues,  having  accomplished  their  favourite 
object,  soon  left  them  to  compose  the  strife  which 
they  had  excited,  and  provided  themselves  elsewhere 
with  a  less  expensive  situation  for  carrying  on  their 
studies.* 

I  have  been  the  more  minute  in  the  detail  of  these 
transactions,  not  only  on  account  of  the  share  which 
the  subject  of  this  memoir  had  in  them,  but  because 
they  throw  light  upon  the  controversy  between  the 
conformists  and  non-conformists,  which  runs  through 
the  succeeding  period  of  the  ecclesiastical  history  of 
England.  "The  troubles  at  Frankfort"  present,  in 
miniature,  a  striking  picture  of  that  contentious  scene 
which  was  afterwards  exhibited  on  a  larger  scale  in 
the  mother-country.  The  issue  of  that  affair  augured 
ill  as  to  the  prospect  of  an  amicable  adjustment  of  the 
litigated  points.  It  had  been  usual  to  urge  conformity 
to  the  obnoxious  ceremonies,  from  the  respect  due  to 
the  authority  by  which  they  were  enjoined.  But  in 
this  instance  the  civil  authority,  so  far  from  enjoining, 
had  rather  discountenanced  them.  If  they  were  urged 
with  such  intolerant  importunity  in  a  place  where  the 
laws  and  customs  were  repugnant  to  them,  what  was 
to  be  expected  in  England,  where  law  and  custom 
were  on  their  side  1  The  divines  who  were  advanced 
in  the  church  at  the  accession  of  Elizabeth  professed, 
that  they  desired  the  removal  of  those  grounds  of  strife, 
but  could  not  obtain  it  from  the  Queen ;  and  1  am  dis- 
posed to  give  many  of  them  credit  for  the  sincerity  of 
their  professions.  But  as  they  shewed  themselves  so 
stiff  and  unyielding  when  the  matter  was  wholly  in 
their  own  power;  as  some  of  them  were  so  eager  in 
wreathing  a  yoke  about  the  consciences  of  their  bre- 
thren, that  they  urged  reluctant  magistrates  to  rivet  it; 
is  it  any  wonder  that  their  applications  for  relief  were 
cold  and  ineffectual,  when  made  to  rulers  who  were 
disposed  to  make  the  yoke  still  more  severe,  and  to 
"  chastise  with  scorpions  those  whom  they  had  chas- 
tised with  whips?"  I  repeat  it;  when  I  consider  the 
transactions  at  Frankfort,  I  am  not  surprised  at  the  de- 
feat of  every  subsequent  attempt  to  advance  the  Refor- 
mation in  England,  or  to  procure  relief  to  those  who 
scrupled  to  yield  conformity  to  some  of  the  ecclesias- 
tical laws.  I  know-it  is  pleaded,  that  the  things  com- 
plained of  are  matters  of  indifference,  not  prohibited  in 
scripture,  not  imposed  as  essential  to  religion  or  neces- 
sary to  salvation,  matters  that  can  affect  no  well  in- 
formed conscience ;    and    that   such   as  refuse  them, 


*  Cox  was  afterwards  made  to  feel  a  little  the  galling  yoke 
which  he  strove  to  impose  on  his  brethren.  Upon  the  acces- 
sion of  Elizabeth,  that  stately  princess,  still  fonder  of  pompous 
and  popish  equipage  than  her  clergy,  kepi  a  Crucifix  in  her 
chapel,  and  ordered  her  chaplains  to  perform  divine  service 
before  it.  Dr.  Cox  was  the  only  one  of  the  refugees  who  com- 
plied with  this,  but  his  conscience  afterwards  remonstrating 
against  it,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Queen,  requesting  to  be 
excused  from  continuing  the  practice.  In  this  letter  it  is  ob- 
servable, that  he  employs  the  great  argument  which  Knox  had 
used  against  other  ceremonies,  while  he  prostrates  himself  be- 
fore his  haughty  mistress  with  a  submission  to  wliich  our  Re- 
former would  never  have  stooped.  "  I  ought  (says  he)  to  do 
nothing  touching  religion,  which  may  appear  doubtful  whether 
it  pleaseth  God  or  not;  for  our  religion,  ought  to  be  certain, 
and  grounded  upon  God's  word  and  will. — Tender  my  sute,  I 
beseech  you,  in  visceritius  Jesu  Christi,  my  dear  .Sovereign, 
and  most  gracious  Queen  Elizabeth."  Burnet,  ii.  Append. 2§4. 
The  Crucifix  was  removed  at  this  time,  but  again  introduced 
about  1570.  Strype's  Parker,  p.  310.  Dr.  Cox  afterward  fell 
under  the  displeasure  of  his  "dear  Sovereign,"  for  maintaining 
rather  stiffly  some  of  the  revenues  of  his  bishoDrick.  Strype's 
Annals,  ii.  579.  It  is  but  justice,  however,  to  this  learned  man 
to  say,  that  I  do  not  find  him  taking  a  very  active  part  against 
the  non-conformists,  after  his  return  to  England :  he  even  made 
.some  attempts  for  the  removal  of  the  obnoxious  ceremonies. 


53 


LIFE    OF  JOHN    KNOX, 


when  enacted  by  authority,  are  influenced  by  unreason-' 
able  scrupulosity,  conceited,  pragmatical,  opinionative. 
This  has  been  the  usual  language  of  a  ruling  party, 
when  imposing  upon  the  consciences  of  the  minority. 
But  not  to  urge  here  the  danger  of  allowing  to  any 
class  of  rulers,  civil  or  ecclesiastical,  a  power  of  en- 
joining indifferent  things  in  religion;  nor  the  undeni- 
able fact,  that  the  burdensome  system  of  ceremonial 
observances,  by  which  religion  was  corrupted  under 
the  papacy,  was  gradually  introduced  under  these  and 
similar  pretexts  ;  nor  that  the  things  in  question,  when 
complexly  and  formally  considered,  are  not  really 
matters  of  indifference  ;  not  to  insist  at  present,  I  say, 
upon  these  topics,  the  answer  to  the  above  plea  is 
short  and  decisive.  '  These  things  appear  matters  of 
conscience  and  importance  to  the  scruplers :  you  say 
they  are  matters  of  indifference.  Why  then  violate  the 
sacred  peace  of  the  church,  and  perpetuate  division ; 
why  silence,  deprive,  harass,  and  starve  men  of  ac- 
knowledged learning  and  piety,  and  drive  from  com- 
munion a  sober  and  devout  people ;  why  torture  their 
consciences,  and  endanger  their  souls,  by  the  imposi- 
tion of  things  which,  in  your  judgment,  are  indifferent, 
not  necessary,  and  unworthy  to  become  subjects  of 
contention'?' 

Upon  retiring  from  Frankfort,  Knox  went  directly 
to  Geneva.  He  was  cordially  welcomed  back  by 
Calvin.  As  his  advice  had  great  weight  in  disposing 
Knox  to  comply  with  the  invitation  from  Frankfort,  he 
felt  much  hurt  at  the  treatment  which  had  obliged  him 
to  leave  it.  In  reply  to  an  apologetic  epistle  which 
he  received  from  Dr.  Cox,  Calvin,  although  he  pru- 
dently restrained  himself  from  saying  any  thing  which 
might  revive  or  increase  the  flame,  could  not  conceal 
his  opinion,  that  Knox  had  been  used  in  an  unbrotherly 
and  unchristian  manner,  and  that  it  would  have  been 
better  for  his  accuser  to  have  remained  at  home,  than 
to  have  come  into  a  foreign  country  as  a  firebrand  to 
inflame  a  peaceable  society.* 

It  appeared  from  the  event,  that  Providence  had 
disengaged  Knox  from  his  late  charge,  to  employ 
him  on  a  more  important  service.  From  the  time 
that  he  was  carried  prisoner  into  France,  he  had 
never  lost  sight  of  Scotland,  nor  relinquished  the  hope 
of  again  preaching  in  his  native  country.  While  he 
resided  at  Berwick  and  Newcastle,  he  had  frequent 
opportunities  of  personal  intercourse  with  his  country- 
men, and  of  learning  the  state  of  religion  among 
them.f  His  unintermitted  labours,  during  the  five 
years  which  he  spent  in  England,  by  occupying  his 
time  and  attention,  lessened  the  regret  which  he  felt  at 
seeing  the  object  of  his  wishes  apparently  at  as  great 
a  distance  as  ever.  Upon  leaving  that  kingdom,  his 
thoughts  were  turned  with  much  anxiety  to  the  state 
of  Scotland.  He  found  means  to  carry  on  an  epistola- 
ry correspondence  with  some  of  his  friends  in  that 
country  ;  one  great  object  of  his  journeys  to  Dieppe 
was  to  receive  their  letters;:};  and  he  had  the  satisfac- 
tion, soon  after  his  retreat  from  Frankfort,  to  obtain 
information  from  them,  which  encourao^ed  him  to  exe- 
cute a  design  that  he  had  long  entertamed,  of  paying 
a  visit  to  his  native  country.  To  prepare  the  reader 
for  the  account  of  this  journey  it  may  be  of  advantage 
to  give  a  view  of  the  principal  ecclesiastical  transac- 
tions which  had  taken  place  in  that  kingdom  from  the 
time  that  Knox  was  forced  to  leave  it. 


The  surrender  of  the  castle  of  St.  Andrews  seemed 
to  have  given  an  irrecoverable  blow  to  the  reformed 
interest  m  Scotland.     Among  the  prisoners  conveyed 


♦  Calvini  Epistolx,  p.  98.  ut  supra.  Thu  letter  is  addressed 
"  Cnoxo,  (by  mistnke  of  the  publisher,  instead  of  Coxo,)  et 
Gregalibus.  Pridie  Idus  Junii,  1555."  Knox  was  at  Geneva 
when  Calvin  wrote  that  letter. 

+  See  above,  p.  91,  93.  \  MS.  Letters,  p.  255—6. 


to  France  were  some  of  the  most  zealous  and  able 
protestants  in  the  kingdom ;  and  the  rest,  seeing 
themselves  at  the  mercy  of  their  adversaries,  were 
dispirited  and  intimidated.  The  clergy  triumphed  in 
the  victory  which  they  had  obtained,*  and  flattered 
themselves  that  they  would  now  be  able  with  ease  to 
stifle  all  opposition  to  their  measures.  The  Regent, 
being  guided  entirely  by  his  brother,  the  archbishop  of 
St.  Andrews,  was  ready  to  employ  all  the  power  of 
the  state  for  supporting  the  authority  of  the  church,  and 
for  suppressing  those  who  refused  to  submit  to  her 
decisions.  During  the  confusions  produced  by  the  in- 
vasion of  the  kingdom  under  the  Duke  of  Somerset,  and 
by  the  disastrous  defeat  of  the  Scots  at  Pinkie,  in  the 
year  1547,  the  Regent  found  it  his  interest  not  to  irri- 
tate the  protestants.  But  no  sooner  was  he  freed  from  the 
alarm  created  by  these  events  than  he  began  to  treat 
them  with  severity.  Aware  that  it  would  be  extreme- 
ly invidious  to  prosecute  the  barons  and  gentry  upon  a 
charge  of  heresy,  and  perhaps  convinced  that  such 
measures  in  the  lime  of  his  predecessor,  had  proved 
injurious  to  the  hierarchy,  the  crafty  Primate  commen- 
ced his  attack  by  bringing  them  to  trial  for  crimes 
against  the  state.  |  Although  they  had  conducted 
themselves  in  the  most  peaceable  and  loyal  manner 
during  the  late  invasion,  and  many  of  them  had  died 
under  the  standard  of  the  Regent,:}:  they  were  accused 
of  being  secretly  favourable  to  the  English,  and  of 
holding  correspondence  with  them.  Cockburn  of 
Ormiston,  and  Crichton  of  Brunston  were  banished, 
and  their  estates  forfeited. |1  Sir  John  Melville  of 
Raith,  a  gentleman  of  distinguished  probity,  and  of 
untainted  loyalty,  was  accused  of  a  traitorous  connec- 
tion with  the  enemy,  and  although  the  only  evidence 
adduced  in  support  of  the  charge  was  a  letter  written 
by  him  to  one  of  his  sons  then  in  England,  and  al- 
though this  letter  contained  nothing  criminal,  yet  was 
he  unjustly  condemned  and  beheaded. §  The  signing 
of  a  treaty  of  peace  with  England,  in  1550,  was  a 
signal  for  the  clergy  to  proceed  to  an  act  of  more  un- 
disguised persecution.  Adam  Wallace,  who  had  lived 
for  some  time  as  tutor  in  the  family  of  Ormiston,  was 
apprehended,  and  being  tried  for  heresy  before  a 
convention  of  clergy  and  nobility,  was  committed 
to  the  flames  on  the  Castle-hill  of  Edinburgh.^  In 
the  following  year,  the  parliament  renewed  the  laws 
in  support  of  the  church,  and  added  a  new  statute 
against  the  circulation  of  heretical  ballads  and  tra- 
gedies.** 

By  these  severe  measures  the  clergy  struck  terror 
into  the  minds  of  the  nation  ;  but  they  were  unable 
to  conceal  the  glaring  corruptions  by  which  their 
own  order  was  disgraced,  and  they  could  not  remain 
strangers  to  the  murmurs  and  complaints  that  these 
had    excited    throughout    the    whole    kingdom.      In 

*  The  following  lines  were  comniouly  used  at  this  time  in 
Scotland: 

Priestis,  content  you  now,  Priestis,  content  you  now; 

For  Normand,  and  his  companie,  hes  fillit  tHe  gallayis  fow. 

t  MS.  Letters,  435,  438. 

I  Knox,  Historie,  p.  78.  Hume  of  Godscroft's  History,  ii. 
128.  Edin.  1743.  ||  Knox,  ibid.  p.  80. 

}  Buchanani  Oper.  i.  302.  Knox,  Historie,  p.  82.  The  fol- 
lowing tribute  to  the  memory  of  this  patriot  occurs  in  a  work 
of  one  of  our  Latin  poets  which  is  rarely  to  be  met  with. 

JOHANNES  MALVILLUS  RETHIUS, 

Nobilis  Fifanus,  Jacobo  V.  Regi  olim  faniiliarissimus,  summa 
vitse  innocentia,  ob  piira?  Relligionis  studiuni,  in  suspicione  falsi 
criminis,  iniquissinio  judicio  sublatus  est  A"  Christi  1548. 
Quidnam  ego  coniraerui?  qua;  tanta  injuria  facti? 

Hostis  ut  in  nostrum  saeviat  ense  caput? 
Idem  hostis,  judexque  simul.     Pro  crimine,  Christi 

Relligio,  et  faedo  crimine  pura  nianus. 
O  secla!  O  mores!  scelenini  sic  tollere  poenas 
Ut  virtus  Bccleri  debits  danma  luat. 

Job.  Jonstoni  Heroes,  pp.  28,  29. 
Ludg.  Bat.  1603. 
t  Knox,  Historie,  p.  87,88.     Spottiswood,  90,  91.     Becae 
Icones,  Ff.  ij.  »•  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  p.  488—9. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


53 


the  month  of  Novemher  1549,  a  provincial  Council 
was  held  at  Edinburgh  "  for  the  reformation  of  the 
church,  and  the  extirpation  of  heresy."*  This  Coun- 
cil acknowledged  that  "  corruption  and  profane  lewd- 
ness of  life,  as  well  as  gross  ignorance  of  arts  and 
sciences,  reigned  among  the  clergy  of  almost  every 
degree,"!  ^"^  ^^^y  enacted  no  fewer  than  fifty-eight 
canons  for  correcting  these  evils.  They  agreed  to 
carry  into  execution  the  decree  of  the  General  Coun- 
cil of  Basle,  which  ordained  that  every  clergyman 
who  lived  in  concubinage  should  be  deprived  of  the 
revenues  of  his  benefice  for  three  months,  and  that  if, 
after  due  admonition,  he  did  not  dismiss  his  concu- 
bine, or  if  he  took  to  himself  another,  he  should  be 
altogether  deprived  of  all  his  benefices.:}:  They  ex- 
horted the  prelates  and  inferior  clergy  not  to  retain  in 
their  own  houses  their  bastard  children,  nor  to  suffer 
them  to  be  promoted  directly  or  indirectly  to  their  own 
benefices,  nor  to  employ  the  patrimony  of  the  church 
for  the  purpose  of  marrying  them  to  barons,  or  of 
erecting  baronages  for  them-O  That  the  distinction 
between  clergy  and  laity  might  be  visibly  preserved, 
they  appointed  the  ordinaries  to  charge  the  priests 
under  their  care,  to  desist  from  the  practice  of  preserv- 
ing their  beards  which  had  begun  to  prevail,  and  to 
see  that  the  canonical  tonsure  was  dul)'  observed. § 
To  remedy  the  neglect  of  public  instruction,  which 
was  loudly  complained  of,  they  agreed  to  observe  the 
act  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  which  ordained  that  every 
bishop,  "  according  to  the  grace  given  to  him,"  should 
preach  personally  four  times  a  year  at  least,  unless 
lawfully  hindered  ;  and  that  such  of  them  as  were 
unfit  for  this  duty,  through  want  of  practice,  should 
endeavour  to  qualify  themselves,  and  for  that  end 
should  entertain  in  their  houses  learned  divines  ca- 
pable of  instructing  them.  The  same  injunctions 
were  laid  on  rectors.^  They  determined  that  a  bene- 
fice should  be  set  apart  in  each  bishoprick  and  monas- 
tery for  supporting  a  preacher  who  might  supply  the 
want  of  teaching  within  the  bounds  ;  that,  where  no 
such  benefice  was  set  apart,  pensions  should  be  al- 
lotted ;  and  that,  where  neither  of  these  was  provided, 
the  preacher  should  be  entitled  to  demand  from  the 
rector  forty  shillings  a  year,  provided  he  had  preached 
four  times  in  his  parish  within  that  period.**  The 
Council  made  a  number  of  other  regulations,  concern- 
ing the  dress  and  diet  of  the  clergy,  the  course  of 
study  in  cathedral  churches  and  monasteries,  union  of 
benefices,  pluralities,  ordinations,  dispensations,  and 
the  method  of  process  in  consistorial  courts.  But 
not  trusting  altogether  to  these  remedies  for  the  cure 
of  heresy,  they  further  ordained,  that  the  bishop  of 
each  diocese,  and  the  head  of  each  monastery,  should 
appoint  "  Inquisitors  of  heretical  pravity,  men  of  pie- 
ty, probity,  learning,  good  fame,  and  great  circum- 
spection," who  should  make  the  most  diligent  search 
after  heresies,  foreign  opinions,  condemned  books,  and 
particularly  profane  songs  intended  to  defame  the 
clergy,  and  to  detract  from  the  authority  of  the  ecclesi- 
astical constitutions. ff 

Another  provincial  Council,  held  in  1551  and  1552, 
besides  ratifying  the  preceding  canons,:}::}:  adopted  an 
additional  expedient  for  correcting  the  continued  neg- 
lect of  public  instruction.  After  declaring  that  "  the 
inferior  clergy,  and  the  prelates  for  the  most  part, 
were  still  unqualified  for  instructing  the  people  in 
the  catholic  faith  and  other  things  necessary  to  salva- 
tion, and  for  reclaiming  the  erroneous,"  they  proceeded 
to  approve  of  a  Catechism  which  had  been  compiled  in 
the  Scottish  language,  ordered  that  it  should  be  print- 


*  This  Council  assembled  at  Linlithgow,  and  was  tranferred 
to  Edinburgh.     Wilkins,  Concilia.  Tom.  iv.  46.  conf.  p.  209. 
■|-  Proem.  Concil.  apud  Wilkins,  iv.  46. 
X  Canon,  i.  Ibid.  p.  47.  jl  Can.  2.  Ibid.  p.  48. 

}  Can.  5.  Ibid.  p.  48.  f  Can.  15,20.  Ibid.  p.  50—1. 

»*  Can.  42.  45.  Ibid.  56—7. 
tt  Can.  43.  44.  47.  Ibid.  p.  57—8.  W  Ibid.  p.  69—73. 


ed,  and  that  copies  of  it  should  be  sent  to  all  rectors, 
vicars,  and  curates,  who  were  enjoined  to  read  a  por- 
tion of  it,  instead  of  a  sermon,  to  their  parishioners, 
on  every  Sunday  and  holiday,  when  no  person  quali- 
fied for  preaching  was  present.  The  rectors,  vicars, 
and  curates,  were  enjoined  to  practise  daily  in  reading 
their  Catechism,  lest  on  ascending  the  pulpit,  they 
should  stammer  and  blunder,  and  thereby  expose 
themselves  to  the  laughter  of  the  people.  The  arch- 
bishop was  directed,  after  supplying  the  clergy  with 
copies,  to  keep  the  remainder  beside  him  "  in  firm 
custody  ;"  and  the  inferior  clergy  were  prohibited  from 
indiscreetly  communicating  their  copies  to  the  people, 
without  the  permission  of  their  bishops,  who  might 
allow  this  privilege  to  "  certain  honest,  grave,  trusty  and 
discreet  laics,  who  appeared  to  desire  it  for  the  sake 
of  instruction,  and  not  of  gratifying  curiosity."*  If 
any  of  the  hearers  testified  a  disposition  to  call  in  ques- 
tion any  part  of  the  Catechism,  the  clerical  reader 
was  prohibited,  under  the  pain  of  deprivation,  from 
entering  into  dispute  with  them  on  the  subject,  and 
was  instructed  to  delate  them  to  the  Inquisitors. f 

Many  of  the  regulations  enacted  by  these  two  Coun- 
cils were  excellent;:}:  but  the  execution  of  them  de- 
pended upon  the  very  persons  who  were  interested  in 
the  support  of  the  evils  against  which  they  were  di- 
rected ;  and  the  canons  of  the  Scottish  Clergy,  like 
those  of  the  General  Councils  called  for  the  reforma- 
tion of  the  church,  instead  of  correcting,  served  only 
to  proclaim  the  abuses  which  prevailed.  We  know 
from  the  declarations  of  subsequent  provincial  Coun- 
cils,||  as  well  as  from  the  complaints  of  the  people,  that 
the  licentiousness  of  the  clergy  continued  ;  and  the 
Catechism  which  they  had  sanctioned  seems  to  have 
been  but  little  used.  I  have  not  found  it  mentioned 
by  any  writer  of  that  age,  popish  or  protestant ;  and  we 
know  of  its  existence  only  from  the  canon  of  the 
Council  which  authorized  its  use,  and  from  a  few 
copies  of  it  which  have  descended  to  our  time.§ 

The  Council  which  met  in  1551,  boasts  that,  through 
the  singular  favour  of  the  government  and  the  vigil- 
ance of  the  prelates,  heresy,  which  had  formerly 
spread  through  the  kingdom,  was  now  repressed,  and 
almost  extinguished.lf  There  were  still,  however, 
many  protestants  in  the  nation  ;  but  they  were  deprived 
of  teachers,  and  they  satisfied  themselves  with  retain- 
ing their  sentiments,  without  exposing  their  lives  to 
inevitable  destruction  by  avowing  their  creed,  or  ex- 
citing the  suspicions  of  the  clergy  by  holding  private 
conventicles.  In  this  state  they  seem  to  have  re- 
mained from  1551  to  1554.  While  the  Reformation 
was  in  this  languishing  condition,  it  experienced  a 
sudden  revival  in  Scotland,  from  two  causes  which 
appeared  at  first  view  to  threaten  its  utter  extinction 
in  Britain.  These  were  the  elevation  of  the  Queea 
Dowager  to  the  regency  of  Scotland,  and  the  accession 
of  Mary  to  the  throne  of  England. 

The  Queen  Dowager  of  Scotland,  who  possessed  a 
great  portion  of  that  ambition  by  which  her  brothers, 
the  princes  of  Lorrain,  were  fired,  had  long  formed 
the  design  of  wresting  the  regency  from  the  hands 
of  Arran.  After  a  series  of  political  intrigue,  in 
which  she  discovered  the  most  consummate  and  per- 
severing address,  she  at  last  succeeded  ;  and,  on  the 
10th  of  April  1554,  the  Regent  resigned  his  oflSce 
to  her  in  the  presence  of  parliament,  and  retired  into 
private  life  with  the  title  of  Duke  of  Chastelherault. 
The  Dowager  had  at  an  early  period  made  her  court 
to  the  protestants,  whom  Arran  had  alienated  from 
him  by  persecution  ;  and,  to  induce  them  to  favour  her 
pretensions,  she  had  promised  to  screen  them  from  the 
violence  of  the  clergy.  Having  received  their  cordial 
support,  and  finding  it  necessary  still  to  use  them  as 

*  Can.  16.  Ibid.  p.  72—3.     f  Ibid.  p.  73.     }  See  Note  XXIII. 

II  Wilkins,  p.  207,  209,  210.     Keith,  pref.  p.  xi<r. 

if  See  Note  XXIV.  V  Wilkins,  iv.  72. 


54 


LIFE    OF    JOHN   KNOX. 


a  check  upon  the  clergy,  who,  under  the  influence  of 
the  primate,  favoured  the  interest  of  her  rival,  the 
Queen  Regent  secretly  countenanced  them,  and  the 
protestants  were  emboldened  again  to  avow  their  sen- 
timents. 

In  the  meantime,  the  Queen  of  England  was  ex- 
erting all  her  power  to  crush  the  Reformation  ;  and 
had  the  court  of  Scotland  acted  in  concert  with  her 
for  this  purpose,  the  protestants  must,  according  to 
all  human  probability,  have  been  exterminated  in 
Britain.  But  the  English  Queen  having  married 
Philip  king  of  Spain,  while  the  Queen  Regent  was 
indissoiubly  attached  to  France,  the  rival  of  Spain,  a 
coldness  was  produced  between  these  two  princesses, 
which  was  soon  afterward  succeeded  by  an  open  breach. 
Among  the  protestants  who  fled  from  the  cruelty  of 
Mary,  some  took  refuge  in  Scotland,  where  they  were 
suffered  to  remain  undisturbed,  and  even  to  teach  in 
private,  through  the  connivance  of  the  new  Regent, 
and  in  consequence  of  the  security  into  which  the 
clergy  had  been  lulled  by  success.  Travelling  from 
place  to  place,  they  instructed  numbers,  and  by  their 
example  and  their  exhortations  fanned  the  latent  zeal 
of  those  who  had  formerly  received  the  knowledge  of 
the  truth. 

William  Harlow,  whose  zeal  and  acquaintance  with 
the  Scriptures  compensated  for  the  defects  of  his  edu- 
cation, was  the  first  preacher  who  at  this  time  came  to 
Scotland.  Let  those  who  do  not  know,  or  who  wish 
to  forget,  that  the  religion  which  they  profess  was  first 
preached  by  fishermen  and  tentmakers,  labour  to  con- 
ceal the  occupations  of  some  of  those  men  whom 
Providence  raised  up  to  spread  the  reformed  gospel 
through  their  native  country.  Harlow  had  followed 
the  trade  of  a  tailor  in  Edinburgh  ;*  but  having  im- 
bibed the  protestant  doctrine,  he  retired  to  England, 
where  he  was  admitted  to  deacon's  orders,  and  em- 
ployed as  a  preacher,  during  the  reign  of  Edward 
VI. f  Upon  his  return  to  Scotland  he  remained  for 
some  time  in  Ayrshire,  and  he  continued  to  preach  in 
different  parts  of  the  country,  with  great  fervour  and 
diligence,  until  the  establishment  of  the  Reformation, 
when  he  was  admitted  minister  of  St.  Cuthberts,  in 
the  vicinity  of  Edinburgh.:|: 

Some  time  after  him  arrived  John  Wtllock.  This 
reformer  afterwards  became  the  principal  coadjutor  of 
Knox,  who  never  mentions  him  without  expressions  of 
affection  and  esteem.  The  cordiality  which  subsisted 
between  them,  the  harmony  of  their  sentiments,  and 
the  combination  of  the  peculiar  talents  and  qualities 
by  which  they  were  distinguished,  conduced  very 
much  to  the  prosperity  of  the  Reformation.  Willock 
was  scarcely  inferior  to  Knox  in  learning,  and  though 
he  did  not  equal  him  in  eloquence  and  intrepidity, 
surpassed  him  in  affability,  in  moderation,  and  in 
address, II  and  thus  was  sometimes  able  to  maintain  his 
station  and  to  accomplish  his  purposes,  when  his 
colleague  could  not  act  with  safety  or  with  success. 
He  was  a  native  of  Ayrshire,  and  had  belonged  to  the 
order  of  Franciscan  friars  ;  but  having  embraced  the 
reformed  opinions  at  an  early  period,  he  threw  off  the 
monastic  habit,  and  fled  to  England.  During  the  perse- 
cution for  the  Six  Articles  in  1541,  he  was  thrown  into 
the  prison  of  the  Fleet.  He  afterwards  became  chaplain 
to  the  Duke  of  Suffolk,  the  father  of  Lady  Jane  Grey,§ 


•  Keith,  Append,  p.  90.  Epiicopal  writers  have  sonietirnes 
upbraided  the  Scottisn  church,  as  reformed  bj'  tradesmen  and 
mechanics.  They  have,  however,  no  reason  to  talk  in  this 
strain  ;  for,  in  the  lirst  place,  a  sensible,  pious  tradesman  is 
surely  better  qualified  for  communicating  religious  instruction 
than  an  ignorant,  superstitious  priest;  and  secondly,  the  church 
of  England  herself,  after  trying  those  of  the  latter  class,  was 

flad  to  betake  herself  to  the  former.     See  Strype's  Annals,  i. 
76,  177.  t  Cald.  MS.  i.  256.  \  Keith,  History,  p.  498. 

H  Sraetonii  Respons.  ad.  Arch.  Hamilton!  Dialog,  p.  93. 
Edinburgi,  1579. 

\  Parkhurtt,  bishop  of  Norwich,  celebrates  Willock,  among 
the  chaplains  of  the  Duke,  in  the  following'  lines, 


and  upon  the  accession  of  Queen  Mary  left  England, 
and  took  up  his  residence  at  Embden.  Having  prac- 
tised there  as  a  physician,  he  was  introduced  to  Anne, 
Duchess  of  Friesland,  who  patronised  the  Reforma- 
tion,* and  whose  opinion  of  his  talents  and  integrity 
induced  her  to  send  him  to  Scotland,  in  the  summer 
of  1555,  with  a  commission  to  the  Queen  Regent,  to 
make  some  arrangements  respecting  the  trade  which 
was  carried  on  between  the  two  countries.  The  pub- 
lic character  with  which  he  was  invested  gave  him 
an  opportunity  of  cultivating  acquaintance  with  the 
leading  protestants,  and  while  he  resided  in  Edinburgh, 
they  met  with  him  in  private,  and  listened  to  his  reli- 
gious exhortations.! 


Knox  received  the  news  of  this  favourable  change 
in  the  situation  of  his  brethren  with  heart-felt  satis- 
faction. He  did  not  know  what  it  was  to  fear  danger, 
and  was  little  accustomed  to  consult  his  own  ease, 
when  he  had  the  prospect  of  being  useful  in  advanc- 
ing the  Reformation  ;  but  he  acknowledges  that,  on 
the  present  occasion,  he  was  at  first  averse  to  a  jour- 
ney into  Scotland,  notwithstanding  some  encouraging 
circumstances  in  the  intelligence  which  he  had  receiv- 
ed from  that  quarter.  He  had  been  so  much  tossed 
about  of  late,  that  he  felt  a  peculiar  relish  in  the 
learned  leisure  which  heat  present  enjoyed,  and  which 
he  was  desirous  to  prolong.  His  anxiety  to  see  his 
wife,  after  an  absence  of  nearly  two  years,  and  the 
importunity  with  which  his  mother-in-law,  in  her  let- 
ters, urged  him  to  visit  them,  determined  him  at  last  to 
undertake  the  journey.:^  Setting  out  from  Geneva  in 
the  month  of  August,  1555,  he  came  to  Dieppe,  and, 
sailing  from  that  port,  landed  on  the  east  coast,  near 
the  boundaries  between  Scotland  and  England,  about 
the  end  of  harvest,]}  He  repaired  immediately  to 
Berwick,  where  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  finding  his 
wife  and  her  mother  in  comfortable  circumstances, 
enjoying  the  happiness  of  religious  society  with  sever- 
al individuals  in  that  city,  who  like  themselves,  had 
not  "  bowed  the  knee"  to  the  established  idolatry, 
nor  consented  to  "  receive  the  mark"  of  antichrist.§ 

Having  remained  some  time  with  them,  he  set  out 
secretly  to  visit  the  protestants  in  Edinburgh,  intend- 
ing, after  a  short  stay,  to  return  to  Berwick.  But  he 
found  employment  which  detained  him  beyond  his 
expectation.  He  lodged  with  James  Syme,  a  respect- 
able burgess  of  Edinburgh,  to  whose  house  the  friends 
of  the  reformed  doctrine  repaired,  to  attend  the  in- 
structions of  Knox,  as  soon  as  they  were  informed  of 
his  arrival.  Few  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  metropolis 
had  as  yet  embraced  the  Reformation,  but  several 
protestants  had  repaired  to  it  at  this  time  to  meet  with 
Willock.  Among  these  were  John  Erskine  of  Dun, 
whom  we  had  formerly  occasion  to  mention  as  an 
early  favourer  of  the  new  opinions,  and  a  distinguished 
patron  of  literature,^  and  whose  great  respectability 
of  character,  and  approved  loyalty  and  patriotism,  had 
preserved  him  from  the  resentment  of  the  clergy,  and 
the  jealousy  of  government,  during  successive  periods 
of  persecution.**  And  William  Maitland  of  Lething- 
ton,  a  young  gentleman  of  the  finest  parts,  improved 
by  a  superior  education,  but  inclined  to  subtlety  in 
reasoning,  accommodating  in  his  religious  sentiments, 
and  extremely  versatile  in  his  political  conduct. 
Highly  gratified  with  Knox's  discourses,  which  were 


Quid  raemorem  quanta  Wiloeus,  Skinerus  et  Haddon, 

iElmerusque  tuos  ornarint  luce  penates? 

O!  Deus,  O!  quales  iuvenesi   Quo  principe  digni? 

His  tua  luminibus  splendet  domus. - 

Strype's  Annals,  ii.  Append,  p.  46. 
•  Gerdes.  Hist.  Reform,  iii.  147—8. 

t  Spottiswood,  p.  93.     Knox.  90.  X  MS.  Letters,  n.  542. 

II  Discours  of  the  Troubles  at  Franckford,  p.  Iv.  lix.    Knox, 
Historie,  p.  90 

MS.  Letters,  p.  343.  T  See  above,  p.  6.  3.?. 

*   Buchanani  Ooer.  I.  301.     Keith,  Append,  p.  £7. 


i. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX. 


55 


BO  much  superior  to  any  which  they  had  heard,  either 
from  popish  or  protestant  preachers,  they  brought 
their  acquaintances  along  with  them  to  hear  him,  and 
his  audiences  daily  increased.  Being  confined  to  a 
private  house,  he  was  obliged  to  preach  to  success- 
ive assemblies ;  and  was  unremittingly  employed,  by 
night  as  well  as  by  day,  in  communicating  instruction 
to  persons  who  demanded  it  with  extraordinary  avidity. 
The  following  letter  written  by  him  to  Mrs.  Bowes,  to 
excuse  himself  for  not  returning  as  soon  as  he  had 
purposed,  will  convey  the  best  idea  of  his  employ- 
ment and  feelings  on  this  interesting  occasion. 

"  The  wayis  of  man  are  not  in  his  awn  power. 
Albeit  my  journey  toward  Scotland,  belovit  mother, 
was  maist  contrarious  to  my  awn  judgement,  befoir 
I  did  interpryse  the  same  ;  yet  this  day  I  prais  God 
for  thame  wha  was  the  cause  externall  of  my  resort  to 
theis  quarteris ;  that  is,  I  prais  God  in  yow  and  for 
yow,  whome  hie  maid  the  instrument  to  draw  me  from 
the  den  of  my  awn  eas  (you  allane  did  draw  me 
from  the  rest  of  quyet  studie,)  to  contemplat  and  be- 
hald  the  fervent  thirst  of  cure  brethrene,  night  and 
day  sobbing  and  gronyng  for  the  breide  of  lyfe.  Gif  I 
had  not  sene  it  with  my  els,  in  my  awn  cuntry,  I  culd 
not  have  beleveit  it !  I  praisit  God,  when  I  was  with 
you,  perceaving  that,  in  the  middis  of  Sodome,  God 
had  mo  Lottis  than  one,  and  ma  faithful  douchteris 
than  tua.  But  the  fervencie  heir  doith  fer  exceid  all 
utheris  that  I  have  seen.  And  thairfoir  ye  sail  pacient- 
lie  bear,  altho'  I  spend  heir  yet  sum  dayis  ;  for  depart 
I  cannot  unto  sic  tyme  as  God  quenche  thair  thrist  a 
litill.  Yea,  mother,  thair  fervencie  doith  sa  ravische 
me,  that  I  cannot  but  accus  and  condemp  my  sleuth- 
full  coldnes.  God  grant  thame  thair  hartis  desyre ; 
and  I  pray  yow  adverteis  [me]  of  your  estait,  and  of 
thingis  that  have  occurit  sense  your  last  wrytting. 
Comfort  yourself  in  Godis  promlssis,  and  be  assureit 
that  God  steiris  up  mo  friendis  than  we  be  war  of. 
My  commendation  to  all  in  your  company.  I  commit 
you  to  the  protectioun  of  the  omnipotent.  In  great 
haist;  the  4.  of  November  1555.  From  Scotland. 
Your  sone,  Johne  Knox."* 

Having  executed  his  commission,  Willock  returned 
to  Embden;  and  he  quitted  Scotland  with  the  less 
regret,  as  he  left  behind  him  one  who  was  so  capa- 
ble of  promoting  the  cause  which  he  had  at  heart. 
When  he  first  arrived  in  Scotland,  Knox  found  that 
the  friends  of  the  reformed  doctrine  continued,  in 
general,  to  attend  the  popish  worship,  and  even  the 
celebration  of  mass ;  principally  with  the  view  of 
avoiding  the  scandal  which  they  would  otherwise 
incur.  Highly  disapproving  of  this  practice,  he  la- 
boured, in  his  conversation  and  sermons,  to  convince 
them  of  the  great  impiety  of  that  part  of  the  popish 
service,  and  the  criminality  of  countenancing  it  by 
their  presence.  Doubts  being  still  entertained  on  the 
subject  by  some,  a  meeting  of  the  protestants  in  the  city 
was  held  for  the  express  purpose  of  discussing  the 
question.  Maitland  defended  the  practice  with  all 
the  ingenuity  and  learning  for  which  he  was  distin- 
guished ;  but  his  arguments  were  so  satisfactorily 
answered  by  Knox,  that  he  yielded  the  point  as  inde- 
fensible, and  agreed,  with  the  rest  of  his  brethren,  to 
abstain  for  the  future  from  such  temporizing  conduct. 
Thus  was  a  formal  separation  made  from  the  popish 
church  in  Scotland,  which  may  be  justly  regarded  as 
an  important  step  in  the  Reformation."]" 

Erskine  of  Dun  prevailed  on  Knox  to  accompany 
him  to  his  family-seat  in  the  shire  of  Angus,  where 
he  continued  a  month,  preaching  every  day.  The 
principal  persons  in  that  neighbourhood  attended  his 
sermons.  After  his  return  to  the  south  of  the  Forth, 
he  resided  at  Calder-house,:^  in  West  Lothian,  with 


*  MS.  Letters,  p.  342,  343.  f  Knox,  Historic,  p.  91. 

X  On  the  back  of  a  picture  of  our  Reformer,  which  nungs  in 
one  of  the  rooms  of  Lord  Torphichen's  bouse  at  Calder,  is  this 


Sir  James  Sandilands,  commonly  called  Lord  St.  John, 
because  he  was  chief  in  Scotland  of  the  religious 
order  of  military  knights  who  went  by  the  name  of 
Hospitallers,  or  Knights  of  St.  John.  This  knight 
who  was  now  venerable  for  his  gray  hairs  as  well  as 
for  his  valour,  sagacity,  and  sobriety,  had  long  been 
a  sincere  friend  to  the  reformed  cause,  and  had  contri- 
buted to  its  preservation  in  that  part  of  the  country.* 
In  1548,  he  had  presented  to  the  parsonage  of  Calder 
John  Spottlswood,"!"  afterwards  the  reformed  superin- 
tendent of  Lothian,  who  had  imbibed  the  Protestant 
doctrines  from  Archbishop  Cranmer  in  England,  and 
who  instilled  them  into  the  minds  of  his  parishioners, 
and  of  the  nobility  and  gentry  that  frequented  the 
house  of  his  patron.:}:  Among  those  who  attended 
Knox's  sermons  at  Calder,  were  three  young  noble- 
men, who  made  a  great  figure  in  the  public  transactions 
which  followed.  Archibald,  Lord  Lorn,  who,  succeed- 
ing to  the  Earldom  of  Argyle  at  the  most  critical 
period  of  the  Reformation,  promoted,  Avith  all  the 
ardour  of  youthful  zeal,  that  cause  which  his  fathers  had 
espoused  in  extreme  old  age.  John,  Lord  Erskine^ 
who  commanded  the  important  fortress  of  Edinburgh 
Castle  during  the  civil  war  which  ensued  between  the 
Regent  and  the  Protestants,  who  afterwards  became 
Earl  of  Mar,  and  died  Regent  of  Scotland.  And 
Lord  James  Stewart,  an  illegitimate  son  of  James  V. 
who  was  subsequently  created  Earl  of  Murray,  and 
was  the  first  Regent  of  the  kingdom  during  the  minor- 
ity of  James  VI.  Being  designed  for  the  church,  this 
nobleman  was  in  his  youth  made  Prior  of  St.  Andrews 
(a  title  by  which  he  is  often  mentioned  in  history  ;) 
but  when  he  arrived  at  manhood  he  discovered  no  in- 
clination to  follow  the  clerical  profession.  He  was  at 
this  time  only  in  the  twenty-second  year  of  his  age  ;|| 
and  although  he  had  lived  for  the  most  part  in  retirement 
from  the  Court,  yet  had  he  already  given  proofs  of 
those  superior  talents  which  he  had  soon  a  more  fa- 
vourable opportunity  of  displaying.  Knox  had  for- 
merly met  with  him  in  London  ;  and  the  sagacity  of 
the  Reformer  led  him,  even  at  that  time,  to  form  the 
highest  hopes  from  the  talents  and  spirit  of  the  youth- 
ful Prior.§  These  three  noblemen  were  much  grati- 
fied with  Knox's  doctrine,  and  his  exhortations  made 
an  impression  upon  their  minds,  which  remained  du- 
ring the  succeeding  part  of  their  lives. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1556,  he  was  conducted 
by  Lockhart  of  Bar,  and  Campbell  of  Kineancleugh, 
to  Kyle,  the  ancient  receptacle  of  the  Scottish  Lollards, 
where  there  were  a  number  of  adherents  to  the  reform- 
ed doctrine.  He  preached  in  the  houses  of  Bar,  Kin- 
eancleugh, Carnell,  Ochiltree,  and  Gadgirth,  and  in  the 
town  of  Ayr.  In  several  of  these  places,  he  also 
dispensed  the  sacrament  of  our  Lord's  Supper.  A 
little  before  Easter,  he  went  to  Finlayston,  the  baroni- 
al mansion  of  the  noble  family  of  Glencairn.  Will- 
iam, Earl  of  Glencairn  having  been  killed  at  the 
battle  of  Pinkey,  had  been  succeeded  by  his  son, 
Alexander,  whose  superior  learning  and  ability  did  not 
escape  the  discerning  eye  of  Sir  Ralph  Sadler,  during 
his  residence  in  Scotland.^  He  was  an  ardent  and 
steady  friend  to  the  reformed  religion,  and  had  careful- 
ly instructed  his  family  in  its  principles.  Besides 
preaching,  Knox  dispensed  the  sacrament  of  the  Sup- 
per in  his  house;  the  Earl  himself,  his  Countess,  and 


inscription:  "The  Rev.  John  Knox. — The  first  sacrament  of 
the  super  riven  in  Scotland  after  the  Reformation,  was  dis- 
pensed in  this  hall."  The  commencement  of  the  Reformation 
IS  here  dated  from  the  present  visit  of  Knox  to  Scotland ;  for 
we  have  already  seen  that  he  administered  the  ordinance  in  the 
Castle  of  St.  Andrews,  Anno  1547.  The  account  given  by 
Knox  in  his  History  of  the  Reformation,  (p.  92.)  seems  to  im- 

Ely  that  he  performed  this  service  in  the  West  country,  before 
e  did  it  in  Calder-house.  *  Knox,  Historie,  p"  91, 118. 

t  Keith,  p.  530.  %  Spottiswood,  p.  90. 

ij  Chalmers's  Caledonia,  i.  848.   {  Knox,  Historie,  p.  91,  331. 
It  Sadler's  State  Papers,  i.  83.     Godscroit's  Hist.  ii.  128, 


56 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX, 


two  of  their  sons,  with  some  of  their  friends  and 
acquaintance,  participalingr  of  the  sacred  feast.* 

From  Finlayston  he  returned  to  Calder-house,  and 
soon  after  paid  a  second  visit  to  Dun,  during  which 
he  preached  more  openly  than  before.  The  greater 
part  of  the  gentlemen  of  Mearns  did  at  this  time  make 
profession  of  the  reformed  religion,  by  sitting  down  at 
the  Lord's  table ;  and  entered  into  a  solemn  and  mu- 
tual bond,  in  which  they  renounced  the  popish  com- 
munion, and  engaged  to  maintain  and  promote  the 
pure  preaching  of  the  gospel,  as  Providence  should 
favour  them  with  opportunities.!  This  seems  to  have 
been  the  first  of  those  religious  bonds  or  covenants,  by 
which  the  confederation  of  the  protestants  in  Scotland 
was  so  frequently  ratified.  Although  they  have  been 
often  condemned  as  unwarranted  in  a  religious  point 
of  view,  and  dangerous  in  a  political,  yet  are  they 
completely  defensible  upon  the  principles  both  oif 
reason  and  of  revelation ;  and  by  cementing  union,  by 
producing  mutual  confidence,  and  strengthening  the 
motives  to  fidelity  and  diligence,  among  those  who  are 
embarked  in  the  same  cause,  they  have  frequently 
proved  of  the  greatest  utility  for  promoting  reformation 
in  churches  and  nations,  for  maintaining  a  pure  profes- 
sion of  religion  after  it  had  been  attained,  and  for 
securing  the  religious  and  political  privileges  of  men. 
The  misapplication  of  them,  when  they  are  employed 
in  a  bad  cause  and  for  mischievous  ends,  can  be  no 
argument  against  them  when  they  are  used  in  a  leo-iti- 
mate  way,  and  for  laudable  purposes.  A  mutual 
agreement,  compact,  or  covenant,  is  virtually  implied 
in  the  constitution  of  every  society,  civil  or  religious; 
and  the  dictates  of  natural  light  conspire  with  the 
declarations  of  scripture  in  ascertaining  the  warranta- 
bleness  and  propriety  of  entering  into  explicit  engage- 
ments, about  any  lawful  and  important  matter,  and  of 
ratifying  these  even  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  if 
circumstances  shall  require  it,  by  formal  subscription, 
and  by  an  appeal  to  the  Searcher  of  hearts. 

The  dangers  to  which  Knox  and  his  friends  had 
been  accustomed,  taught  them  to  conduct  matters  with 
such  secrecy,  that  he  had  preached  for  a  considerable 
time,  and  in  different  places,  before  the  clergy  knew 
that  he  was  in  the  kingdom.  Concealment  was,  how- 
ever, impracticable  after  his  audiences  became  numer- 
ous. His  preaching  at  Ayr  was  reported  to  the  Court, 
and  formed  the  topic  of  conversation  in  the  presence 
of  the  Queen  Regent.     Some  having  affirmed  that  the 

f»reacher  was  an  Englishman,  "  a  prelate  not  of  the 
east  pride  (probably  Beatoun,  Archbishop  of  Glasgow,) 
said,  'Nay;  no  Englishman,  but  it  is  Knox,  that 
knave.^  It  was  my  Lord's  pleasure  (says  Knox)  so  to 
baptize  a  poor  man  ;  the  reason  whereof,  if  it  should 
be  required,  his  rochet  and  mitre  must  stand  for 
authority.  What  further  liberty  he  used  in  defining 
things  like  uncertain  to  him,  to  wit,  of  my  learning 
and  doctrine,  at  this  present  I  omit.  For  what  hath 
my  life  and  conversation  been,  since  it  hath  pleased 
God  to  call  me  from  the  puddle  of  papistry,  let  my 
very  enemies  speak ;  and  what  learning  I  have,  they 
may  prove  when  they  please.":!:     Interest  was  at  that 


*  The  silver  cups  which  were  used  on  that  occasion  were 
till  of  late  carefully  preserved  by  the  family  of  Glencairn  at 
Finlayston,  and  the  parish  of  Kilmalcolm  was  regularly  fa- 
voured with  the  use  of  them  at  the  time  of  dispensing  the 
sacrament.  "  The  people  (says  the  Minister,  in  his  statisitical 
account  of  the  parish)  respect  them  much  for  their  antiquity, 
as  well  as  for  the  solemnity  attending  them  in  former  and  later 
times."  Statistical  Account  of  Scotland,  vol.  iv.  p.  279.  This 
writer  thinks  they  had  been  originally  candlesticks,  and  con- 
verted to  this  use  on  the  emergent  occasion  ;  the  hollow  bot- 
tom reversed  forming  the  mouth  of  the  cup,  and  the  middle, 
after  the  socket  was  screwed  out,  being  converted  into  the 
foot.  But  it  is  not  likely,  that  the  family  of  Glencairn  were  so 
destitute  of  silver  cups,  as  to  need  to  have  recourse  to  this 
expedient.  f  Knox,  Historie,  p.  92. 

X  Letter  to  the  Lady  Mary,  Regent  of  Scotland,  apud  His- 
torie, p.  417. 


time  made  by  the  bishops  for  his  apprehension;  but 
the  Queen  Regent  discouraged  the  application.* 

After  his  last  journey  to  Angus,  the  friars  flocked 
from  all  quarters  to  the  bishops,  and  instigated  them 
to  adopt  speedy  and  decisive  measures  for  checking 
the  alarming  effects  of  his  preaching.  In  consequence 
of  this,  Knox  was  summoned  to  appear  before  a  con- 
vention of  the  clergy,  in  the  church  of  the  Black- 
friars  at  Edinburgh,  on  the  15th  of  May.  This  diet 
he  resolved  to  keep,  and  with  that  view  came  to  Edin- 
burgh, before  the  day  appointed,  accompanied  by 
Erskine  of  Dun,  and  several  other  gentlemen.  The 
clergy  had  never  dreamed  of  his  attendance.  Being 
apprized  of  his  determination,  and  afraid  to  bring 
matters  to  extremity,  while  unassured  of  the  Regent's 
decided  support,  they  met  before  hand,  set  aside  the 
summons  under  pretence  of  some  informality,  and  de- 
serted the  diet  against  him.  On  the  day  on  which  he 
should  have  appeared  as  a  culprit,  Knox  preached  in 
the  bishop  of  Dunkeld's  large  lodging,  to  a  far  greater 
audience  than  had  before  attended  him  in  Edinburgh. 
During  the  ten  following  days  he  preached  in  the  same 
place,  forenoon  and  afternoon ;  none  of  the  clergy 
making  the  smallest  attempt  to  disturb  him.  In  the 
midst  of  these  labours,  he  wrote  the  following  hasty 
line  to  Mrs.  Bowes. 

"  Belovit  mother,  with  my  maist  hartlie  commenda- 
tion in  the  Lord  Jesus,  albeit  I  was  fullie  purpoisit  to 
have  visitit  yow  before  this  tyme,  yet  hath  God  laid 
impedimentis,  whilk  I  culd  not  avoyd.  Thay  are 
suche  as  I  dout  not  ar  to  his  glorie,  and  to  the  comfort 
of  many  heir.  The  trumpet  blew  the  aid  sound  thrie 
dayis  together,  till  privat  houssis  of  indifferent  largenes 
could  not  counteane  the  voce  of  it.  God,  for  Chryst 
his  Sonis  sake,  grant  me  to  be  myndful,  that  the  sob- 
bis  of  my  hart  hath  not  been  in  vane,  nor  neglectit,  in 
the  presence  of  his  majestie.  O !  sweet  war  the 
death  that  suld  follow  sic  fourtie  daysia  in  Edinburgh, 
as  heir  I  have  had  thrie.  Rejose,  mother;  the  tyme 
of  our  deliverance  approacheth  :  for,  as  Sathan  rageth, 
sa  dois  the  grace  of  the  Halie  Spreit  abound,  and 
daylie  geveth  new  testimonyis  of  the  everlasting  love 
of  oure  merciful!  Father.  I  can  wryt  na  mair  to  you 
at  this  present.  The  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  rest 
with  you.  In  haste — this  Monunday — your  sone, 
John  Knox."]- 

About  this  time,  the  Earl  Marishal,  at  the  desire  of 
the  Earl  of  Glencairn,  attended  an  evening  exhortation 
delivered  by  Knox.  He  was  so  much  pleased  with 
the  discourse,  that  he  joined  with  Glencairn,  in  urging 
the  preacher  to  write  a  letter  to  the  Queen  Regent, 
which,  they  thought,  might  have  the  effect  of  inclining 
her  to  protect  the  reformed  preachers,  if  not  also  to 
give  a  favourable  ear  to  their  doctrine.  With  this 
request  he  was  induced  to  comply. 

As  a  specimen  of  the  manner  in  which  this  letter 
was  written,  I  shall  give  the  following  quotation,  in 
the  original  language.  "  I  dout  not,  that  the  ru- 
mouris,  whilk  haif  comin  to  your  Grace's  earis  of  me 
haif  bene  such,  that  (yf  all  reportis  wer  trew)  I  wer 
unworthie  to  live  in  the  earth.  And  wonder  it  is, 
that  the  voces  of  the  multitude  suld  not  so  have  in- 
flamed your  Grace's  hart  with  just  hatred  of  such  a 
one  as  I  am  accuseit  to  be,  that  all  acces  to  pitie  suld 
have  bene  schute  up.  I  am  traducit  as  ane  heretick, 
accusit  as  a  false  teacher  and  seducer  of  the  pepill, 
besydes  uther  opprobries,  whilk  (affirmit  be  men  of 
warldlie  honour  and  eslimatioun)  may  easlie  kendill 
the  wrath  of  majestratis,  whair  innocencie  is  not 
knawin.  But  blissit  be  God,  the  Father  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Chryst,  who,  by  the  dew  of  his  heavenlie  grace 
hath  so  quenchet  the  fyre  of  displeasure  as  yit  in  your 
Grace's  hart,  (whilk  of  lait  dayis  I  have  understand) 
that  Sathan  is  frustrat  of  his   interpryse  and  purpois. 


*  Letter  to  the  Lady  Mary,  Reg6nt  of  Scotland,  apud  His- 
torie, p.  416,  417.  t  MS.  Letters,  p.  343,  344. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KINOX, 


57 


Whilk  is  to  my  hart  no  small  comfort  ;  not  so  muche 
(God  is  witnes)  for  any  benefit  that  I  can  resave  in 
this  miserable  lyfe,  by  protection  of  any  earthlie 
creature,  (for  the  cupe  whilk  it  behoveth  me  to  drink 
is  apoyntil  by  the  wisdome  of  him  whois  consallis  ar 
not  changeable)  as  that  T  am  for  that  benefit  whilk  I 
am  assurit  your  Grace  sail  resave  ;  yf  that  ye  continew 
in  like  moderation  and  clemeneie  towardis  utheris 
that  maist  unjustlie  ar  and  sal  be  accusit,  as  that  your 
Grace  hath  began  towardis  me,  and  my  most  desper- 
ate cause."  An  orator  (he  continued)  might  justly 
require  of  her  Grace  a  motherly  pity  towards  her 
subjects,  the  execution  of  justice  upon  murderers  and 
oppressors,  a  heart  free  from  avarice  and  partiality,  a 
mind  studious  of  the  public  welfare,  with  other  virtues 
which  heathen  as  well  as  inspired  writers  required  of 
rulers.  But,  in  his  opinion,  it  was  vain  to  crave 
reformation  of  manners,  when  religion  was  so  much 
corrupted.  He  could  not  propose,  in  the  present  letter, 
to  lay  open  the  sources,  progress,  and  extent  of  those 
errors  and  corruptions  which  had  overspread  and  in- 
undated the  church  ;  but,  if  her  Majesty  would  grant 
him  opportunity  and  liberty  of  speech,  he  was  ready  to 
undertake  this  task.  In  the  mean  time,  he  could  not 
refrain  from  calling  her  attention  to  this  important  sub- 
ject, and  pointing  out  to  her  the  fallacy  of  some  general 
prejudices,  by  which  she  was  in  danger  of  being  delu- 
ded. She  ought  to  beware  of  thinking,  that  the  care 
of  religion  did  not  belong  to  magistrates,  but  was 
devolved  wholly  on  the  clergy  ;  that  it  was  a  thing 
incredible  that  religion  should  be  so  universally  de^ 
praved ;  or  that  true  religion  was  to  be  jxidged  of  by 
the  majority  of  voices,  by  custom,  by  the  laws  and 
determinations  of  men,  or  by  any  thing  but  the  infalli- 
ble dictates  of  inspired  scripture.  He  knew  that  inno- 
vations in  religion  were  deemed  hazardous  ;  but  the 
urgent  necessity  and  immense  magnitude  of  the  object 
ought,  in  the  present  case,  to  swallow  up  the  fear  of 
danger.  He  was  aware  that  a  public  reformation  might 
be  thought  to  exceed  her  authority  as  Regent ;  but  she 
could  not  be  bound  to  maintain  idolatry  and  manifest 
abuses,  nor  to  suffer  the  fury  of  the  clergy  to  rage  in 
murdering  innocent  men,  merely  because  they  wor- 
shipped God  according  to  his  word. 

Though  Knox's  pen  was  not  the  most  smooth  nor 
delicate,  and  though  he  often  irritated  by  the  plainness 
and  severity  of  his  language,  yet  is  the  letter  to  the 
Queen  Regent  very  far  from  being  uncourtly  or  in- 
elegant. It  seems  to  have  been  written  with  great 
care;  and,  in  point  of  language,  it  may  be  compared 
with  any  composition  of  that  period,  for  simplicity  and 
forcible  expression.*  Its  strain  was  well  calculated 
for  stimulating  the  inquiries,  an-d  confirming  the  reso- 
lutions of  one  who  was  impressed  with  a  conviction 
of  the  reigning  evils  in  the  church,  or  who,  though  not 
resolved  in  judgment  as  to  the  matters  in  controversy, 
was  determined  to  preserve  moderation  between  the 
contending  parties.  Notwithstanding  her  imposing 
manners,  the  Regent  was  not  a  person  of  this  descrip- 
tion. The  Earl  of  Glencairn  delivered  the  letter  into 
her  hand  ;  she  glanced  over  it  with  a  careless  air,  and 
gave  it  to  the  archbishop  of  Glasgow,  saying.  Please 
you,  my  Lord,  to  read  a  pasquil.f  The  report  of  this 
induced  Knox,  after  he  retired  from  Scotland,  to  pub- 
lish the  letter,  with  additions.  The  style  of  the  addi- 
tions is  more  spirited  and  sharp  than  that  of  the  original 
letter;  but  there  is  nothing  even  in  them  which  is  in- 
decorous, or  which  will  warrant  the  charge  which  has 
been  brought  against  him  of  being  accustomed  to  treat 
crowned  heads  with  di'srespect  and  irreverence.  "  As 
charitie  (says  he,  in  these  additions)  persuadeth  me  to 


*  This  is  more  evident  from  the  letter  in  its  orifjinal  lan- 
guage, which  is  now  before  me  in  manuscript.  In  the  copies 
of  it  which  have  been  published  along  with  his  History,  (even 
in  the  edition  of  1732)  freedoms  have  been  used,  and  the  stjle 
is  not  a  little  injured  by  the  insertion  of  unnecessary  and  en- 
feebling expletives.  f  Historic,  p.  92,  425. 

H 


interpret  thinges  doubtfully  spoken  in  the  best  senoe, 
so  my  dutie  to  God,  (who  hath  commanded  me  to 
flatter  no  prince  in  the  earth)  compelleth  me  to  say, 
that  if  no  more  ye  esteme  the  admonition  of  God  nor 
the  Cardinalles  do  the  scoffing  of  pasquilles,  then  he 
shall  shortly  send  you  messagers,  with  whome  ye 
shall  not  be  able  on  that  maner  to  jest. — I  did  not 
speak  unto  you,  Madame,  by  former  lettre,  neither 
yet  do  I  now,  as  Pasquillus  doth  to  the  Pope,  in  be- 
half of  such  as  dare  not  utter  their  names ;  but  1  come, 
in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  affirming,  that  the  religion 
which  ye  maintain  is  damnable  idolatrie  :  the  which  I 
offre  myselfe  to  prove  by  the  most  evident  testimonies 
of  Goddis  scriptures.  And,  in  this  quarrelle,  I  present 
myself  againste  all  the  papistes  within  the  realme, 
desiring  none  other  armore  but  Goddis  holie  worde 
and  the  Irbertie  of  my  tonge."* 

While  he  was  thus  employed  in  Scotland,  he  re- 
ceived letters  from  the  English  congregation  at  Geneva, 
stating  that  they  had  made  choice  of  him  as  one  of 
their  pastors,  and  urging  him  to  come  and  take  the 
inspection  of  them.f  He  judged  it  his  duty  to  com- 
ply with  this  invitation,  and  began  immediately  to 
prepare  for  the  journey.  His  wife  and  mother-in-law 
had  by  this  time  joined  him  at  Edinburgh  ;  and  Mrs. 
Bowes,  being  now  a  widow,  resolved  to  accompany 
Mrs.  Knox  and  her  husband  to  Geneva.  Having  sent 
them  before  him  in  a  vessel  to  Dieppe,  Knox  again 
visited  and  took  his  leave  of  the  brethren  in  the  dif- 
ferent places  where  he  had  preached.  Campbell  of 
Kineancleugh  conducted  him  to  the  Earl  ofArgyle, 
and  he  preached  for  some  days  in  his  house  of  Castle 
Campbell.  The  aged  Earl  appears  to  have  received 
durable  impressions  from  his  instructions.  He  resisted 
all  the  arts  which  the  clergy  afterwards  employed  to 
detach  him  from  the  protestant  interest,  and  on  his 
death-bed  laid  a  solemn  charge  upon  his  son  to  use  his 
utmost  influence  for  its  preservation  and  advancement. 
Argyle,  and  Glenorchy,  who  was  also  a  hearer  of 
Knox,  endeavoured  to  detain  him  in  Scotland,  but 
without  success.  "  If  God  so  blessed  their  small  be- 
ginnings, (he  said)  that  they  continued  in  godliness, 
whensoever  they  pleased  to  command  him,  they  should 
find  him  obedient.  But  once  he  must  needs  visit  that 
little  flock,  which  the  wickedness  of  men  had  com- 
pelled him  to  leave."  Accordingly,  in  the  month  of 
July  1556,  he  left  Scotland,  and  having  joined  his  wife 
and  her  mother  at  Dieppe,  proceeded  with  them  to 
Geneva.":f 

No  sooner  did  the  clergy  understand  that  he  had 
quitted  the  kingdom,  than  they,  in  a  dastardly  manner, 
renewed  the  summons  against  him  which  they  had 
deserted  during  his  presence,  and,  upon  his  failing  to 
appear,  passed  sentence  against  him,  adjudging  his 
body  to  the  flames,  and  his  soul  to  damnation.  As  his 
person  was  out  of  their  reach,  they  caused  his  effigy 
to  be  rgnomrniously  burned  at  the  cross  of  Edinburgh. 
Against  this  sentence,  he  drew  up  his  Appellation, 
which  he  afterwards  published,  with  a  supplication 
and  exhortation,  directed  to  the  nobility  and  common- 
alty of  Scotland.  It  may  not  be  improper  here  to  sub- 
jorn  the  summary  which  he  gave  in  this  treatise  of  the 
doctrine  taught  by  him  during  his  late  visit  to  Scot- 
land, which  the  clergy  pronounced  so  execrable,  and 
deserving  of  such  horrible  punishment.  He  taught, 
that  there  was  no  other  ncime  by  which  men  could  be 
saved  but  that  of  Jesus,  and  that  all  reliance  on  the 
merits  of  others  was  vain  and  delusive:  that  the  Sa- 
viour having  by  his  one  sacrifice  sanctified  and  recon- 
ciled to  God  those  who  should  inherit  the  promised 
kingdom,  all  other  sacrifices  which  men  pretended  to 


*  Letter,  &c.  apud  Historie,  p.  425,  426. 

f  This  congregation  (which  consisted  of  those  who  had 
withdrawn  from  Frankfort),  as  early  as  September  1555,  "  chose 
Knox  and  Goodman  for  their  pastors,  and  Gilby  requested  to 
supplie  the  rome  till  Knox  returned  owte  off  France."  Troubles 
at  Franckford,  p.  lix.  \  Knox,  Historie,  p.  92-3,  108. 


58 


LIFE    OF  JOHN    KNOX 


offer  for  sin  were  blasphemous ;  that  all  men  ought  to 
hate  sin,  which  was  so  odious  before  God  that  no  sacri- 
fice but  the  death  of  his  Son  could  satisfj'  for  it;  that 
they  ought  to  magnify  their  heavenly  Father,  who  did 
not  spare  Him  who  is  the  substance  of  his  glory,  but 
gave  him  up  to  suffer  the  ignominious  and  cruel  death 
of  the  cross  for  us;  and  that  those  who  have  been 
washed  from  their  former  sins  are  bound  to  lead  a  new 
life,  fighting  against  the  lusts  of  the  flesh,  and  study- 
ing to  glorify  God  by  good  works.  In  conformity 
with  the  certification  of  his  Master,  that  he  would 
deny  and  be  ashamed  of  those  who  should  deny  and 
be  ashamed  of  him  and  his  words  before  a  wicked 
generation,  he  further  taught,  that  it  is  incumbent  on 
those  who  hope  for  life  everlasting,  to  make  an  open 
profession  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  and  to  avoid  idol- 
atry, superstition,  vain  religion,  and,  in  one  word, 
every  way  of  worship  which  is  destitute  of  authority 
from  the  word  of  God.  This  doctrine  he  did  believe 
so  conformable  to  God's  holy  scriptures,  that  he 
thought  no  creature  could  have  been  so  impudent  as 
to  deny  any  point  or  article  of  it;  yet  had  the  false 
bishops  and  ungodly  clergy  condemned  him  as  a  here- 
tic, and  his  doctrine  as  heretical,  and  pronounced 
against  him  the  sentence  of  death,  in  testification  of 
which  they  had  burned  his  effigy  :  from  which  sentence 
he  appealed  to  a  lawful  and  general  council,  to  be  held 
agreeably  to  ancient  laws  and  canons ;  humbly  request- 
ing the  nobility  and  commons  of  Scotland,  to  take  him, 
and  others  accused  and  persecuted,  under  their  protec- 
tion, until  such  time  as  these  controversies  were  de- 
cided, and  to  regard  this  his  plain  appellation  as  of  no 
less  effect,  than  if  it  had  been  made  with  greater  solem- 
nity and  ceremonies.* 

The  late  visit  of  our  Reformer  (for  in  this  light  we 
are  now  to  view  him)  was  of  vast  consequence.  By 
his  labours  on  this  occasion  he  laid  the  foundations  of 
that  noble  edifice  which  he  was-.afterwards  so  instru- 
mental in  completing.  The  friends  of  the  reformed 
doctrine  were  separated  by  him  from  the  corrupt  com- 
munion to  which  in  a  certain  degree  they  had  hitherto 
adhered ;  their  information  in  scriptural  truth  was 
greatly  improved  ;  and  they  were  brought  together  in 
different  parts  of  the  nation,  and  prepared  for  being 
organized  into  a  regular  church,  as  soon  as  Providence 
should  grant  them  external  liberty,  and  furnish  them 
with  persons  qualified  for  acting  as  overseers.  Some 
may  be  apt  to  blame  him  for  abandoning  with  too  great 
precipitation  the  undertaking  which  he  had  so  auspi- 
ciously begun.  But,  without  pretending  to  ascertain 
the  train  of  reflections  which  had  occurred  to  his  mind, 
we  may  trace,  in  his  determination,  the  wise  arrange- 
ments of  that  Providence  which  watched  over  the  in- 
fant Reformation,  and  guided  the  steps  of  the  Reformer. 
His  absence  was  now  no  less,  conducive  to  the  preser- 
vation of  the  cause,  than  his  presence  and  personal 
labours  had  lately  been  to  its  advancement.  Matters 
were  not  yet  ripened  for  a  general  reformation  in  Scot- 
land ;  and  the  clergy  would  never  have  suffered  so 
zealous  and  so  able  a  champion  of  the  new  doctrines 
to  live  in  the  country.  By  retiring  at  this  time,  he  not 
only  preserved  his  own  life,  and  reserved  his  labours 
to  a  more  fit  opportunity,  but  he  also  averted  the  storm 
of  persecution  from  the  heads  of  his  brethren.  De- 
prived of  teachers,  they  became  objects  of  less  jealousy 
to  their  adversaries ;  while  in  their  private  meetings, 
they  continued  to  confirm  one  another  in  the  doctrine 
which  they  had  received,  and  the  seed  lately  sown  had 
sufiicient  time  to  take  root  and  spread. 

Before  he  took  his  departure,  Knox  was  careful  to 
give  his  brethren  such  directions  as  he  judged  most 
necessary,  and  most  useful  to  them,  in  their  present 
circumstances.  Not  satisfied  with  comraanicating  these 
orally,  he  committed  them  to  writing  in  a  common 
letter,  which  he  either  left  behind  him,  or  sent  from 


*  Appellation,  &c.  apad  Historie,  p.  428. 


Dieppe,  to  be  circulated  in  the  different  o-  arttrs  where 
he  had  preached.  In  this  letter,  he  va.mly  recom- 
mended to  every  one  the  frequent  and  careful  perusal 
of  the  scriptures.  He  inculcated  the  duty  of  attending 
to  religious  instruction  and  worship  in  each  family. 
He  exhorted  the  brethren  to  meet  together  once  every 
week,  if  practicable,  and  gave  them  directions  for  con- 
ducting their  assemblies  in  the  manner  best  adapted 
to  their  mutual  improvement,  while  destitute  of  public 
teachers.  They  ought  to  begin  with  confession  of  sins 
and  invocation  of  the  Divine  blessing.  A  portion  of 
the  scriptures  should  then  be  read;  and  they  would 
find  it  of  great  advantage  to  observe  a  regular  course 
in  their  reading,  and  to  join  a  chf-pter  of  the  Old 
and  of  the  New  Testament  together.  After  the  read- 
ing of  the  scriptures,  if  an  exhortati  jn,  interpretation, 
or  doubt,  occurred  to  any  brother,  he  might  speak  ;  but 
he  ought  to  do  it  with  modesty,  anrt  a  desire  to  edify 
or  to  be  edified  ;  carefully  avoiding  "  multiplication  of 
words,  perplexed  interpretation,  and  wilfulness  in  rea- 
soning. If,  in  the  course  of  reading  or  conference, 
they  met  with  any  difficulties  which  they  could  not 
solve,  he  advised  them  to  commit  these  to  writing  be- 
fore they  separated,  that  they  might  submit  them  to 
the  judgment  of  the  learned  ;  and  he  signified  his  own 
readiness  to  give  them  his  advice  by  letters,  whenever 
it  should  be  required.  Their  assemblies  ought  always 
to  be  closed,  as  well  as  opened,  by  prayer.*  There  is 
every  reason  to  conclude,  that  these  directions  were 
punctually  complied  with  ;  this  letter  may,  therefore, 
be  viewed  as  an  important  document  regarding  the 
state  of  the  protestant  church  in  Scotland,  previous  to 
the  establishment  of  the  Reformation,  and  shall  be  in- 
serted at  large  in  the  notes.]" 

Among  his  letters  are  several  answers  to  questions 
which  they  had  transmitted  to  him  for  advice.  The 
questions  are  such  as  might  be  supposed  to  arise  in 
the  minds  of  serious  persons  lately  made  acquainted 
with  Scripture,  puzzled  with  particular  expressions, 
and  at  a  loss  how  to  apply  some  of  its  directions  to 
their  situation.  They  discover  an  inquisitive  and  con- 
scientious disposition  ;  and  at  the  same  time,  illustrate 
the  disadvantages  under  which  ordinary  Christians 
labour  when  deprived  of  the  assistance  of  learned 
teachers.  Our  Reformer's  answers  display  an  intimate 
acquaintance  with  scripture,  and  dexterity  in  expound- 
ing it,  with  prudence  in  giving  advice  in  cases  of  con- 
science, so  as  not  to  encourage  a  dangerous  laxity  on 
the  one  hand,  or  scrupulosity  and  excessive  rigidness 
on  the  other.:|: 


'  PERIOD  V. 

From  tlieyear  1556,  when  he  returned  to  Genera,  after  visit- 
ing Scotland,  to  the  ye<ir  1559,  when  he  returned  to  Scot- 
land for  the  last  time. 

Knox  reached  Geneva  before  the  end  of  harvest,  and 
took  upon  him  the  charge  of  the  English  congregation 
there,||  among  whom  he  laboured  during  the  two  foV 

*  MS.  Letters,. p.  352—359.  +  See  Note  XXV. 

\  Aniong^  the  questions  proposed  were  the  following  :  Whe- 
ther the  baptism  adniinistered  by  the  popish  priests  was  valid, 
and  did  not  require  repetition?  VVhetlier  all  the  things  pro- 
hibited in  the  decree  of  the  apostles  and  elders  at  .lerus^alem 
(Acts  XV.)  were  still  unlawful?  Whether  the  prohibition  of  the 
apostle  John  (2d  ep.  v.  10.)  extended  to  common  salutation  of 
those  who  taught  erroneous  doctrine?  How  are  the  directions 
of  the  apostle  Peter  respecting  dress  (Ist  ep.  chap.  iii.  3.)  to 
be  obey-ed?     In  what  sense  is  God  said  to  repent? 

II  The  congregation  seem  to  have  delayed  the  final  settle- 
ment of  their  order  of  worship  and  discipline  until  Knox'i 
arrival;  for  the  preface  to  The  Order  of  Geneva,  is  dated 
"The  10th  of  February,  Anno  1556."  Dunlop's  Collection 
of  Confessions,  ii.  401.  If  this  date  was  according  to  the  old 
method  of  reckoning,  Knox  must  have  been  present  at  the 
time.  But  I  am  not  sure  but  that  the  new  mode,  of  beginning 
theyearwith  January  was  introduced  in  Geneva  as  early  as  155o. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


lowing  years.  This  short  period  was  the  most  quiet 
of  his  life.  In  the  bosom  of  his  own  family,  he  expe- 
rienced that  soothing  care  to  which  he  had  hitherto 
been  a  stranger,  and  which  his  frequent  bodily  ailments 
now  required.  Two  sons  were  born  to  him  in  Geneva. 
The  greatest  affection  to  him,  and  cordiality  among 
themselves,  subsisted  in  the  small  flock  under  his 
charge.  With  his  colleague,  Christopher  Goodman, 
he  lived  as  a  brother ;  and  he  was  happy  in  the  friend- 
ship of  Calvin  and  the  other  pastors  of  Geneva.  So 
much  was  he  pleased  with  the  purity  of  religion  estab- 
lished in  that  city,  that  he  warmly  recommended  it  to 
his  religious  acquaintances  in  England,  as  the  best 
Christian  asylum  to  which  they  could  flee.  "  In  my 
heart  (says  he,  in  a  letter  to  his  friend  Mr.  Locke)  I 
could  have  wished,  yea,  and  cannot  cease  to  wish,  that 
it  might  please  God  to  guide  and  conduct  yourself  to 
this  place,  where,  I  neither  fear  nor  eshame  to  say,  is 
the  most  perfect  school  of  Christ  that  ever  was  in  the 
earth,  since  the  days  of  the  apostles.  In  other  places 
I  confess  Christ  to  be  truly  preached  ;  but  manners  and 
religion  so  sincerely  reformed,  I  have  not  yet  seen  in 
any  other  place  beside."* 

But  neither  the  enjoyment  of  personal  accommoda- 
tions, nor  the  pleasures  of  literary  society,  nor  the  en- 
dearments of  domestic  happiness,  could  subdue  our 
Reformer's  ruling  passion,  or  unfix  his  determination  to 
revisit  Scotland,  as  soon  as  an  opportunity  should  offer 
for  advancing  the  Reformation  among  his  countrymen. 
In  a  letter  written  to  some  of  his  friends  in  Edinburgh, 
March  16,  1557,  I  find  him  expressing  himself  thus: 
"  My  own  motion  and  daily  prayer  is,  not  only  that  I 
may  visit  you,  but  also  that  with  joy  I  may  end  my 
battle  among  you.  And  assure  yourself  of  that,  that 
whenever  a  greater  number  among  you  shall  call  upon 
me  than  now  hath  bound  me  to  serve  them,  by  His 
grace  it  shall  not  be  the  fear  of  punishment,  neither 
yet  of  the  death  temporal,  that  shall  impede  my  com- 
ing to  you."f  A  certain  heroic  confidence,  and  as- 
surance of  ultimate  success,  have  often  been  displayed 
b)'  those  whom  Providence  has  raised  up  to  achieve 
great  revolutions  in  the  world  ;  by  which  they  have 
been  borne  up  under  discouragements  which  would 
have  overwhelmed  men  of  ordinary  spirits,  and  em- 
boldened to  face  dangers  from  which  others  would 
have  shrunk  appalled.  This  enthusiastic  heroism  (I 
use  not  the  epithet  in  a  bad  sense)  often  blazed  forth 
in  the  conduct  of  the  great  German  Reformer.  Knox 
possessed  no  inconsiderable  portion  of  Luther's  spirit. 
"Satan,  I  confess,  rageth  (says  he,  in  a  letter  nearly 
of  the  same  date  with  that  last  quoted)  ;  but  potent  is 
He  that  promiseth  to  be  with  us,  in  all  such  enter- 
prises as  we  take  in  hand  at  his  commandment,  for 
the  glory  of  his  name,  and  for  maintenance  of  his  true 
religion.  And  therefore  the  less  fear  we  any  contrary 
power:  yea,  in  the  boldness  of  our  God,  we  altogether 
contemn  them,  be  they  kings,  emperors,  men,  angels, 
or  devils.  For  they  shall  be  never  able  to  prevail 
against  the  simple  truth  of  God  which  we  openly  pro- 
fess ;  by  the  permission  of  God  they  may  appear  to 
prevail  against  our  bodies,  but  our  cause  shall  triumph 
in  despite  of  Satan. ":|: 

Within  a  month  after  he  wrote  the  letter  last  quoted 
but  one,  James  Syme,  who  had  been  his  host  at  Edin- 
burgh, and  James  Barron,  another  burgess  of  the  same 
city,  arrived  at  Geneva  with  a  letter,  and  credence, 
from  the  Earl  of  Glencairn,  Lords  Lorn,  Erskine,  and 
James  Stewart ;  informing  him,  that  the  professors  of 
the  reformed  doctrine  remained  stecjfast,  that  its  adver- 
saries were  daily  losing  credit  in  the  nation,  and  that 
those  who  possessed  the  supreme  authority,  although 
they  had  not  yet  declared  themselves  friendly  to  it, 
still  refrained  from  persecution  ;  and  inviting  him,  in 
their  own  name,  and  in  that  of  their  brethren,  to  return 
to  Scotland,  where  he  would   find   them  aU  ready  to 

*  MS.  Letters,  p.  377.         f  lb.  p.  408.  t  lb.    .  378. 


receive  him,  and  to  spend  their  lives  and  fortunes  in 
advancing  the  cause  which  they  had  espoused."* 

Knox  laid  this  letter  before  his  congregation,  and 
also  submitted  it  to  Calvin  and  his  colleagues.  The 
latter  delivered  it  as  their  opinion,  "  that  he  could  not 
refuse  the  call,  without  shewing  himself  rebellious  to 
God,  and  unmerciful  to  his  country."  His  congrega- 
tion agreed  to  sacrifice  their  particular  interest  to  the 
greater  good  of  the  church ;  and  his  own  family 
silently  acquiesced.  Upon  this,  he  returned  an  answer 
to  the  letter  of  the  nobility,  signifying,  that  he  meant 
to  visit  them  with  all  reasonable  expedition.  The  con- 
gregation chose  as  his  successor  William  Whitting- 
kam,\  a  learned  Englishman  with  whom  he  had  been 
long  united  by  strict  friendship,  and  congeniality  of 
sentiment.  Having  settled  his  other  affairs,  he  took 
an  affectionate  leave  of  his  friends  at  Geneva,  and 
went  to  Dieppe,  in  the  beginning  of  October.  While 
he  waited  there  for  a  vessel,  he  received  letters  from 
Scotland,  written  in  a  very  different  strain  from  the 
former.  By  these  he  was  informed,  that  new  consul- 
tations had  been  held  among  the  protestants  in  that 
country  ;  that  some  of  them  began  to  repent  of  the  in- 
vitation which  they  had  given  him  to  return  ;  and  that 
the  greater  part  seemed  irresolute  and  faint-hearted. 

This  intelligence  excoediiigly  disconcerted  and  em- 
barrassed him.  He  instantly  despatched  a  letter  to 
the  nobility  who  had  invited  him,  upbraiding  them  for 
their  timidity  and  inconstancy.  The  information, 
which  he  had  just  received,  had  (he  said)  confounded 
him,  and  pierced  his  heart  with  sorrow.  After  taking 
the  advice  of  the  most  learned  and  godly  in  Europe, 
for  the  satisfaction  of  his  own  conscience  and  theirs 
respecting  this  enterprise,  the  abandonment  of  it  would 
reflect  disgrace  either  on  him  or  them  :  it  would  argue 
either  that  he  had  been  marvellously  forward  and  vain, 
or  that  they  had  betrayed  great  imprudence  and  want, 
of  judgment  in  their  invitation.  To  some  it  might 
appear  a  small  matter,  that  he  had  left  his  poor  family 
destitute  of  a  head,  and  had  committed  the  care  of  his 
little  but  dearly  beloved  flock  to  another ;  but,  for  his 
part,  he  could  not  name  the  sum  that  would  induce 
him  to  go  through  the  same  scene  a  second  time,  and 
to  behold  so  many  grave  men  weeping  at  his  depar- 
ture. What  answer  could  he  give,  on  his  return,  to 
those  who  inquired,  why  he  did  not  prosecute  his 
journey]  He  could  take  God  to  witness,  that  the  per- 
sonal inconveniencies  to  which  he  had  been  subjected, 
and  the  mortification  which  he  felt  at  the  disappoint- 
ment, were  not  the  chief  causes  of  his  grief.  But  he 
was  alarmed  at  the  awful  consequences  which  would 
ensue,  at  the  bondage  and  misery,  spiritual  and  tem- 
poral, which  they  would  entail  on  themselves  and  their 
children,  their  subjects  and  their  posterity,  if  they 
neglected  the  present  opportunity  of  introducing  the 
gospel  into  their  native  country.  In  his  conscience, 
he  could  except  from  blame  in  this  matter,  none  that 
bore  the  name  of  nobility  in  Scotland.  His  words 
might  perhaps  seem  sharp  and  indiscreet;  but  charity 
would  construe  them  in  the  best  sense,  and  wise  men 
would  consider  that  a  true  friend  cannot  flatter,  espe- 
cially in  a  case  which  involved  the  salvation  of  the 
bodies  and  souls,  not  of  a  few  persons,  but  of  a  whole 
realm.  "  What  are  the  sobs,  and  what  is  the  affliction 
of  my  troubled  heart,  God  shall  one  day  declare.  But 
this  will  I  add  to  my  former  rigour  and  severity  ;  to 
wit,  if  any  persuade  you,  for  fear  or  dangers  to  follow, 
to  faint  in  your  former  purpose,  be  he  esteemed  never 
so  wise  and  friendly,  let  him  be  judged  of  you  both 
foolish,  and  your  mortal  enemy. — I  am  not  ignorant 
that  fearful  troubles  shall  ensue  your  enterprise  ;  as  in 
my  former  letters  I  did  signify  unto  you.  But,  O  1 
joyful  and  comfortable  are  those  troubles  and  adversi- 
ties which  man  sustaineth  for  accomplishment  of  God's 
will  revealed  in  his  word.     For  how  terrible  that  ever 


*  Knox,  Histone,  p.  97,  98. 


t  See  Note  XXVI. 


60 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


they  appear  to  the  judgment  of  natural  men,  yet  are 
they  never  able  to  devour  nor  utterly  to  consume  the 
sufferers  ;  for  the  invisible  and  invincible  power  of 
God  sustaineth  and  preserveth,  according  to  his  pro- 
mise, all  such  as  with  simplicity  do  obey  him. — No 
less  cause  have  ye  to  enter  in  your  former  enterprise, 
than  Moses  had  to  go  to  the  presence  of  Pharaoh;  for 
your  subjects,  yea  your  brethren,  are  oppressed ;  their 
bodies  and  souls  holden  in  bondage  t  and  God  speaketh 
to  your  consciences  (unless  ye  be  dead  with  the  blind 
world,)  that  ye  ought  to  hazard  your  own  lives,  be  it 
against  kings  or  emperors,  for  their  deliverance.  For, 
only  for  that  cause  are  ye  called  princes  of  the  people, 
and  receive  honour,  tribute,  and  homage  at  God's  com- 
mandment, not  by  reason  of  your  birth  and  progeny 
(as  the  most  part  of  men  falsely  do  suppose,)  but  by 
reason  of  your  office  and  duty ;  which  is,  to  vindicate 
and  deliver  your  subjects  and  brethren  from  all  violence 
and  oppression,  to  the  uttermost  of  your  power."* 

Having  sent  off  this  letter,  with  others,  written  in 
the  same  strain,  to  Erskine  of  Dun,  Wishart  of  Pitta- 
row,  and  some  other  gentlemen  of  his  acquaintance, 
he  cherished  the  hope  that  he  would  soon  receive  more 
favourable  accounts  from  Scotland,  and  resolved  in  the 
mean  time  to  travel  into  the  interior  of  France. +  The 
reformed  doctrine  had  been  early  introduced  into  that 
kingdom  ;  ii  had  been  watered  with  the  blood  of  many 
martyrs  ;  and  all  the  violence  which  had  been  employ- 
ed by  its  enemies,  had  not  been  able  to  extirpate  it,  or 
to  prevent  its  spreading  among  all  ranks.  The  Parisian 
protestants  were  at  present  smarting  under  the  effects 
of  one  of  those  massacres,  which  so  often  disgraced 
the  Roman  Catholic  religion  in  that  country,  before  as 
well  as  after  the  commencement  of  the  civil  wars.  Not 
satisfied  with  assaulting  them  when  peaceably  as- 
sembled for  worship  in  a  private  house,  and  treating 
them  with  great  barbarity,  their  adversaries,  in  imita- 
tion of  their  pagan  predecessors,  invented  the  most 
diabolical  calumnies  against  them,  and  circulated  the 
report  that  they  were  guilty  of  abominable  practices  in 
their  religious  assemblies.:^:  The  innocent  sufferers 
had  drawn  up  an  apology,  in  which  they  vindicated 
themselves  from  this  atrocious  charge  ;  and  Knox 
having  got  a  copy  of  this  translated  into  English,  wrote 
a  preface  and  additions  to  it,  with  the  intention  of 
publishing  it  for  the  use  of  his  countrymen. || 

Having  formed  an  acquaintance  with  many  of  the 
protestants  of  France,  and  being  able  to  speak  their 
language,  he  occasionally  preached  to  them  in  passing 


*  Knox,  Historic,  p.  98—100. 

t  I  find  him,  about  this  time,  addressing  a  letter  to  one  of 
his  correspondents  from  Lyons.  MS.  Letters,  p.  346.  This 
letter  is  subscribed  John  Sinclair.     See  above,  p.  2,  note  f . 

t  Histoire  des  Martyrs,  p.  425,  426.  Anno  1597.  Folio. 
Beza,  Vita  Calvini,  ad.  Ann.  1557.  The  Cardinal  of  Lorrain, 
uncle  to  Mary  the  young  Queen  of  Scotland,  was  industrious 
in  propagating  this  vile  calumny;  a  circumstance  which  no 
doubt  contributed  to  increase  Knox's  bad  opinion  of  that  most 
determined  enemy  of  the  Reformation.  This  is  mentioned  by 
him  in  his  preface  to  the  Parisian  Apology.  "This  was  not 
bruited  be  the  rude  and  ignorant  pepil;  but  a  Cardinall  (whais 
ipocrisie  nevertheless  is  not  abil  to  cover  his  awn  filthiness) 
escharait  not  openlie  at  his  tabill  to  affirm  that  maist  impudent 
and  manifest  lie;  adding  moreover  (to  the  further  declaratioun 
whais  sone  he  was)  that,  in  the  hous  whair  thay  wer  apprehen- 
dit,  8  bedis  wer  preparit.  When  in  verie  deid  in  that  place 
whair  thay  did  convene,  (except  a  table  for  the  Lord's  Supper 
to  have  been  ministered,  a  chayr  for  the  preicher,  and  bankig 
and  stullis  for  the  easement  of  the  auditors)  no  preparation  nor 
furniture  was  abill  to  be  proved,  not  even  be  the  verie  ene- 
myis."     MS.  Letters,  p.  445,  446. 

■||  MS.  Letters,  p.  442—500.  The  apology  of  the  Parisian 
protestants  was  published  ;  but  I  do  not  uiink  that  Knox's 
translation  and  additions  ever  appeared  in  print.  The  writer 
of  the  Life  of  Knox,  prefixed  to  the  edition  of  his  History, 
1732,  page  xxi.  has  fallen  into  several  blunders  in  speaking  of 
this  subject.  There  are  no  letters  to  the  French  protestants  in 
the  MS.  to  which  he  refers;  and  the  apology  was  written  by 
the  Parisians  themselves,  and  only  translated  partly  by  Knox, 
but  "  the  most  part  bj  another,  because  of  his  other  labours." 


through  the  country.  It  seems  to  have  been  on  this 
occasion,  that  he  preached  in  the  city  of  Rochelle, 
when,  having  introduced  the  subject  of  his  native 
country,  he  told  his  audience  that  he  expected,  within 
a  few  years,  to  preach  in  the  church  of  St.  Giles,  in 
Edinburgh,*  There  is  nothing  in  our  Reformer's  let- 
ters from  which  I  can  learn  whether  he  found  any 
protestants  in  Dieppe,  a  place  which  he  visited  so  often 
during  his  exile :  it  is  probable,  however,  that  he  did  ; 
for  at  an  early  period  of  the  following  century  they 
had  a  very  numerous  church  in  that  town.f 

Being  disappointed  in  his  expectation  of  letters  from 
Scotland,  he  determined  to  relinquish  his  journey,  and 
return  to  Geneva.  This  resolution  does  not  accord 
with  the  usual  firmness  of  our  Reformer,  and  is  not 
suflicienlly  accounted  for  in  the  common  histories. 
The  protestant  nobles  had  not  retracted  their  invita- 
tion ;  the  discouraging  letters  which  he  had  received 
were  written  by  individuals,  without  any  authority 
from  the  rest ;  and  if  their  zeal  and  courage  had  begun 
to  flag,  his  presence  was  the  more  necessary  to  recruit 
them.  From  the  letters  which  he  wrote  to  his  familiar 
acquaintances,  I  am  enabled  to  state  more  fully  the 
motives  by  which  he  was  actuated  in  taking  this  re- 
trograde step.  He  was  perfectly  aware  that  a  violent 
struggle  would  necessarily  precede  the  establishment 
of  the  Reformation  in  his  native  country;  he  knew  that 
his  presence  in  Scotland  would  excite  the  rage  of  the 
clergy,  who  would  make  every  effort  to  crush  their 
adversaries,  and  to  maintain  the  lucrative  S3'stem  of 
superstition ;  and  he  dreaded  that  civil  discord,  and 
tumult,  and  bloodshed  would  ensue.  The  prospect  of 
these  things  rushed  into  his  mind,  and  (regardless 
of  public  tranquillity  as  some  have  pronounced  him  to 
be)  staggered  his  resolution  in  prosecuting  an  under- 
taking which  his  judgment  approved  as  lawful,  and 
laudable,  and  necessary.  When,  says  he,  "  I  heard 
such  troubles  as  appeared  in  that  realm,  I  began  to 
dispute  with  myself  as  followeth :  '  Shall  Christ,  the 
author  of  peace,  concord,  and  quietness,  be  preached 
where  war  is  proclaimed,  sedition  engendered,  and 
tumults  appear  to  rise?  Shall  not  his  evangel  be  ac- 
cused as  the  cause  of  all  this  calamity  which  is  like  to 
follow  1  What  comfort  canst  thou  have  to  see  the  one 
half  of  the  people  rise  up  against  the  other,  yea,  to 
jeopard  the  one,  to  murder  and  destroy  the  other? 
But,  above  all,  what  joy  shall  it  be  to  thy  heart,  to 
behold  with  thy  eyes  thy  native  country  betrayed  in- 
[to]  the  hands  of  strangers,  which  to  no  man's  judg- 
ment can  be  avoided  ;  because  that  those  who  ought  to 
defend  it,  and  the  liberty  thereof,  are  so  blind,  dull, 
and  obstinate,  that  they  will  not  see  their  own  destruc- 
tion 1"j^  To  "  these  and  more  deep  cogitations," 
which  continued  to  distract  his  mind  for  several 
months  after  he  returned   to  Geneva,  he  principally 

*  "  Having  particularly  declared  to  me  (says  Row)  by  those 
who  heard  him  say,  when  he  was  in  Rochel,  in  France,  that 
within  two  or  three  years,  he  hoped  to  preach  the  gospel  pub- 
licly in  St.  Giles  in  Edinburgh.  But  the  persons  who  heard 
him  say  it,  being  papists  for  the  time,  and  yet  jiersuaded  by  a 
nobleman  to  hear  him  preach  privately,  and  see  him  baptize  a 
bairn  that  was  carried  many  miles  to  him  for  that  purpose, 
thought  that  such  a  thing  could  never  come  to  pass,  and  hated 
him  for  so  speaking  ;  yet,  coming  home  to  Scotland,  and 
through  stress  of  weather  likely  to  perish,  they  began  to  think 
of  his  preaching,  and  allowed  of  every  part  of  it,  and  vowed  to 
God,  if  he  would  preserve  their  lives,  that  they  would  forsake 
papistrj'  and  follow  the  calling  of  God;  whilk  they  did,  and 
saw  and  heard  John  Knox  preach  openly  in  the  kirk  of  Edin- 
burgh, at  the  time  whereof  he  spoke  to  them."  Row's  Histo- 
rie,  MS.  p.  8,  9.  The  same  fact  is  mentioned  by  Pierre  de  La 
Roque,  a  French  author,  in  Recueil  des  Dernieres  Heures  Edi- 
fiantes,  apud  Wodrow,  MSS.  No.  15.     Advocates'  Library. 

+  Mr.  Robert  Trail,  minister  first  at  Ely,  and  afterwards  at 
Edinburgh,  when  he  was  in  France,  between  1625  and  1630, 
was  present  in  a  protestant  congregation  at  Dieppe,  when  5000 
people  were  assembled.  Note  of  the  most  remarkable  particu- 
lars in  a  MS.  account  of  Mr.  Robert  Trail,  written  with  hi» 
own  hand,  anno  1669,  p.  4.  MS.  penes  me. 

{MS.  Letters,  p.  349. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


61 


imputed  his  abandonment  of  the  journey  to  Scotland. 
At  the  same  time,  he  was  convinced  that  they  were 
not  sufficient  to  justify  his  desisting  from  an  under- 
taking, recommended  by  so  many  powerful  considera- 
tions. "  But,  alas !  (says  he)  as  the  wounded  man,  be 
he  never  so  expert  in  physick  or  surgery,  cannot  sud- 
denly mitigate  his  own  pain  and  dolour;  no  more  can 
I  the  fear  and  grief  of  my  heart,  although  I  am  not 
ignorant  of  what  is  to  be  done.  It  may  also  be,  that 
the  doubts  and  cold  writing  of  some  brethren  did  aug- 
ipent  my  dolour,  and  somewhat  discourage  me  that 
before  was  more  nor  feeble.  But  nothing  do  I  so  much 
accuse  as  myself."  Whatever  were  the  secondary 
causes  of  this  step,  I  cannot  help  again  directing  the 
reader's  attention  to  the  wisdom  of  Providence,  in 
throwing  impediments  in  his  way,  by  which  his  return 
to  Scotland  was  protracted  to  a  period,  before  which  it 
might  have  been  injurious,  and  at  which  it  was  calcu- 
lated to  be  in  the  highest  degree  beneficial  to  the  great 
cause  that  he  meant  to  promote. 

In  judging  of  Knox's  influence  in  advancing  the  Re- 
formation, we  must  take  into  view  not  only  his  per- 
sonal labours,  but  also  the  epistolary  correspondence 
which  he  maintained  with  his  countrymen.  By  this 
he  instructed  them  in  his  absence,  communicated  his 
own  advice  and  that  of  the  learned  among  whom  he 
resided,  upon  every  difficult  case  which  occurred, 
and  animated  them  to  constancy  and  perseverance. 
Before  leaving  Dieppe,  he  transmitted  to  Scotland  two 
long  letters,  which  deserve  particular  attention  in  this 
view.  The  one,  dated  1st  December,  is  directed  to 
the  protestants  in  general ;  the  other,  dated  the  I7th 
of  that  month,  is  addressed  to  the  nobility.  In  both 
of  them  he  prudently  avoids  any  reference  to  his  late 
disappointment. 

In  the  first  letter  he  strongly  inculcates  purity  of 
morals,  and  warns  all  who  professed  the  reformed  reli- 
gion against  those  irregularities  of  life,  whicli  were 
improved  to  the  disparagement  of  their  cause,  by  two 
classes  of  persons;  by  the  papists,  who,  although  the 
same  vices  prevailed  in  a  far  higher  degree  among 
themselves,  represented  them  as  the  native  fruits  of 
the  protestant  doctrine ;  and  by  a  new  sect,  who  were 
enemies  to  superstition,  but  who  had  deserted  the  pro- 
testant communion  to  which  they  had  belonged,  and 
were  become  scarcely  less  hostile  to  it  than  the  papists. 
The  principal  design  of  this  letter  was  to  put  his  coun- 
trymen on  their  guard  against  the  arts  of  this  last  class 
of  persons,  and  to  expose  their  leading  errors. 

The  persons  to  whom  he  referred  were  those  who 
went  under  the  general  name  of  Jlnabaptists,  a  sect 
which  sprung  up  in  Germany  soon  after  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Reformation  under  Luther,  broke  out  into 
the  greatest  excesses,  and  produced  the  most  violent 
commotions  in  different  places.  Being  suppressed  in 
Germany,  it  spread  through  other  countries,  and  secret- 
ly made  converts  by  high  pretensions  to  seriousness 
and  Christian  simplicity  ;  the  spirit  of  turbulence  and 
wild  fanaticism,  which  at  first  characterized  the  sect, 
gradually  subsiding  after  the  first  effervescence.  Ebul- 
litions of  a  similar  kind  have  not  unfrequently  accom- 
panied great  revolutions;  when  the  minds  of  men, 
dazzled  by  a  sudden  irradiation,  and  released  from  the 
galling  fetters  of  ecclesiastical  or  civil  despotism,  of 
implicit  faith  and  blind  obedience,  have  been  disposed 
to  fly  to  the  opposite  extreme  of  anarchy  and  extrava- 
gance. Nothing  proved  more  vexing  to  the  original 
reformers  than  this.  It  was  improved  by  the  defenders 
of  the  old  system  as  a  popular  argument  against  all 
change.  The  extravagant  opinions  and  disorderly 
practices  of  the  new  sect,  though  disowned  and  op- 
posed l>y  all  sober  protestants,  were  artfully  imputed 
to  them  by  their  adversaries.  And  many  who  had 
declared   themselves  friendly  to   reform,  alarmed,  or 

Eretending  to  be  alarmed,  at  this  hideous  spectre,  drew 
ack,  and  sheltered  themselves  within  the  sacred  pale 
of  that  Church,  who,  notwithstanding  her  notorious 


dissensions,  errors,  and  corruption  both  in  head  and 
members,  continued  to  arrogate  to  herself  exclusively 
the  properties  of  unity,  purity,  universality,  and  perpe- 
tual infallibility. 

The  radical  error  of  this  sect,  according  to  the  more 
improved  system  held  by  them  at  the  time  of  which 
I  write,  was  a  fond  conceit  of  a  certain  ideal  spiritu- 
ality and  perfection,  by  which  they  considered  the 
Christian  church  to  be  essentially,  and  in  all  respects, 
distinguished  from  the  Jewish,  this  being,  in  their 
opinion,  a  mere  carnal,  worldly  society.  Entertaining 
such  a  notion,  they  were  naturally  led  to  abridge  the 
rule  of  faith  and  manners,  by  confining  themselves  al- 
most entirely  to  the  New  Testament,  and  to  adopt  their 
other  opinions  concerning  the  unlawfulness  of  infant 
baptism,  of  civil  magistracy,  national  churches,  oaths, 
and  defensive  war.  But  besides  these  tenets,  the  ana- 
baptists were,  at  this  period,  generally  infected  with 
the  Arian  and  Pelagian  heresies,  and  united  with  the 
papists  in  loading  the  doctrines  maintained  by  the  re- 
formers respecting  predestination  and  grace  with  the 
most  odious  charges.* 

Our  reformer  had  occasion  to  meet  with  some  of 
these  sectaries,  both  in  England  and  on  the  continent, 
and  had  ascertained  their  extravagant  and  dangerous 
principles.  In  the  year  1553,  one  of  them  came  to  his 
lodging  in  London,  and,  after  requiring  of  him  great 
secrecy,  gave  him  a  book,  written  by  one  of  his  party, 
which  he  pressed  him  to  read.  Upon  looking  into  it, 
Knox  perceived  the  following  proposition,  "  God  made 
not  the  world,  nor  the  wicked  creatures  in  it ;  but  these 
were  made  by  the  devil,  who  is  therefore  called  the 
God  of  this  world."  He  immediately  warned  the  man 
against  such  gross  doctrine,  and  began  to  explain  to 
him  the  sense  in  which  the  devil  is  called  "  the  god 
of  this  world"  in  scripture.  "  Tush  for  your  written 
word  !  (replied  the  enthusiast)  we  have  as  good  and  as 
sure  a  word  and  veritie  that  teacheth  us  this  doctrine, 
as  ye  have  for  you  and  your  opinion. "f  Being  ap- 
prized that  persons  who  had  imbibed  these  opinions 
were  creeping  into  Scotland,  Knox  was  afraid  that 
they  might  insidiously  instil  their  poison  into  the 
minds  of  some  of  his  brethren.  He  refuted  their  opin- 
ion respecting  church-communion,  by  shewing  that 
they  required  such  purity  as  was  never  found  in  the 
church,  either  before  or  since  the  completion  of  the 
canon  of  scripture.  In  opposition  to  their  Pelagian 
tenets,  he  gave  the  following  statement  of  his  senti- 
ments. "  If  there  be  any  thing  which  God  did  not 
predestinate  and  appoint,  then  lacked  he  wisdom  and 
free  regimen ;  or,  if  any  thing  was  ever  done,  or  yet 
after  shall  be  done,  in  heaven  or  in  earth,  which  he 
might  not  have  impeded  (if  so  had  been  his  godly 
pleasure),  then  he  is  not  omnipotent;  which  three 
properties,  to  wit,  wisdom,  free  regimen,  and  power, 
denied  to  be  in  God,  I  pray  you  what  rests  in  his  god- 
head 1  The  wisdom  of  our  God  we  acknowledge  to 
be  such,  that  it  compelleth  the  very  malice  of  Satan, 
and  the  horrible  iniquity  of  such  as  be  drowned  in  sin, 
to  serve  to  his  glory  and  to  the  profit  of  his  elect.  His 
power  we  believe  and  confess  to  be  infinite,  and  such 
as  no  creature  in  heaven  or  earth  is  able  to  resist.  And 
his  regimen  we  acknowledge  to  be  so  free,  that  none 


*  The  Careles  by  Necessitie,  as  reprinted  in  Knox's  An- 
swer to  an  Anabaptist,  1560.  Spanheinii  (Patris)  Disput. 
Theol.  Miscell.  Genevas.  1652,  Spanhemii  (Filii)  Opera,  Tom. 
iii.  pp.  771 — 798. — It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  state,  that  the 
^reat  body  of  those  who,  in  the  present  day,  oppose  the  bap- 
tism of  infants  do  not  hold  a  number  of  the  tenets  specified 
above.  They  are  decidedly  hostile  to  the  Arian  and  Pelagian 
errors,  and  friendly  to  the  doctrine  of  grace.  So  far  from 
denying  the  lawfulness  of  magistracy  among  Christians,  they 
have  in  general  (at  least  in  Scotland)  adopted  the  principle  of 
non-resistance  to  civil  rulers  in  all  cases. 

t  Answer  to  the  Blasphemous  Cavillations  written  by  an 
Anabaptist,  p.  405,  407.  Anno  1560.  He  adds,  that  he  had 
the  best  opportunity  of  knowing,  that  others  of  that  sect  held 
the  exploded  heresy  of  the  ancient  Manicheans. 


62 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX, 


of  his  creatures  dare  present  them  in  jndgment,  to  rea- 
son or  demand  the  question,  Why  hast  thou  done  this 
or  that?  But  the  fountain  of  this  their  damnable 
error  (which  is,  that  in  God  they  can  acknowledge  no 
justice  except  that  which  their  foolish  brain  is  able  to 
comprehend),  at  more  opportunit}',  God  willing,  we 
shall  intreal."* 

He  assigns  his  reasons  for  w'arning  them  so  particu- 
larly against  the  seduction  of  these  erroneous  teachers. 
Under  the  cloak  of  mortification,  and  the  colour  of  a 
godly  life,  they  "  supplanted  the  dignity  of  Christ," 
and  "  were  become  enemies  to  free  justification  by 
faith  in  his  blood."  The  malice  of  their  popish  adver- 
saries was  now  visible  to  all  the  world  ;  the  hypocrisy 
of  mercenary  teachers  and  ungodly  professors  would 
soon  discover  itself;  and  seldom  was  open  tyranny 
able  to  suppress  the  true  religion,  when  it  had  once 
been  earnestly  embraced  by  the  body  of  any  nation  or 
province.  "  But  deceivable  and  false  doctrine  is  a 
poison  and  venom,  which,  once  drunken  and  received, 
with  great  difficulty  can  afterward  be  purged."  Ac- 
cordingly, he  charged  them  to  "  try  the  spirits"  which 
came  to  them,  and  to  suflTer  no  man  to  take  the  office 
of  preacher  upon  him,  of  his  own  accord,  without  trial, 
or  to  assemble  the  people  in  privy  conventions ;  else 
Satan  would  soon  have  his  emissaries  among  them, 
who  would  "  destroy  the  plantation  of  our  heavenly 
Father."f  His  admonitions,  on  this  head,  were  not 
without  effect ;  and  the  protestants  of  Scotland,  instead 
of  being  distracted  with  these  opinions,  remained  united 
in  their  views,  as  to  doctrine,  worship,  and  discipline. 

His  letter  to  the  protestant  lords  breathes  a  spirit  of 
ardent  and  elevated  piety.  Its  object  was  to  endeavour 
to  purify  their  minds  from  selfish  and  worldly  princi- 
ples ;  to  raise,  to  sanctify,  and  christianize  their  mo- 
tives, by  exhibiting  and  recommending  to  them  the 
spirit  and  conduct  of  the  princes  and  heroes,  celebrated, 
not  in  profane,  but  in  sacred  history.  The  glory  of 
God,  the  advancement  of  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ, 
the  salvation  of  themselves  and  their  brethren,  the 
emancipation  of  their  country  from  spiritual  and  civil 
thraldom ;  these,  and  not  their  own  honour  and  ag- 
grandizement, or  the  revenging  of  their  petty,  private 
Fends,  were  the  objects  which  they  ought  to  keep 
steadily  and  solely  in  view. 

In  this  letter,  he  also  communicates  his  advice  on 
the  delicate  question  of  resistance  to  supreme  rulers. 
They  had  consulted  him  on  this  question,  and  he  had 
submitted  it  to  the  judgment  of  the  most  learned  on  the 
continent.  Soon  after  they  had  agreed  to  the  marriage 
of  their  young  Queen  to  the  Dauphin  of  France,  the 
Scots  began  to  be  jealous  of  the  designs  of  the  French 
court  against  their  liberties  and  independence.  Their 
jealousies  increased  after  the  Regency  was  transferred 
to  the  Queen  Dowager,  who  was  wholly  devoted  lo 
the  interests  of  France,  and  had  contrived,  under 
different  pretexts,  to  keep  a  body  of  French  troops  in 
the  kingdom.  It  was  not  difficult  to  excite  to  resist- 
ance the  independent  and  haughty  barons  of  Scotland, 
accustomed  to  yield  but  a  very  limited  and  precarious 
obedience,  even  to  their  native  princes.  They  had 
lately  given  a  proof  of  this  by  their  refusal  to  co-ope- 
rate in  the  war  against  England,  which  they  consider- 
ed as  undertaken  merely  for  French  interests.  En- 
couraged by  this  circumstance,  the  Duke  of  Chastel- 
herauft  began,  under  the  direction  of  the  archbishop 
of  St.  Andrews,  to  intrigue  for  regaining  the  regency 
which  he  had  demitted. 

Our  Reformer  displayed  his  moderation,  and  the 
soundness  of  his  principles,  in  the  advice  which  he 
gave  at  this  critical  period.  He  did  not  attempt  to 
inflame  the  irascible  minds  of  the  nobility  by  aggra- 


*  This  he  afterwards  acconiplishpd  in  the  book  referred  to 
in  the  precetline  note,  in  which  he  largely  explains  the  doc- 
trine of  predestination,  as  held  by  the  reformed  churches,  and 
vindicates  it  agtiinst  the  cavils  and  misrepresentation  of  its 
adversaries.  +  MS.  Lettem,  p.  403—424 


vating  the  mal-administration  of  the  Queen  Regent; 
far  less  did  he  advise  them  to  join  with  the  Duke,  and 
others  who  were  discontented  with  the  measures  of  gov- 
ernment, and  to  endeavour  in  this  way  to  advance  their 
cause.  On  the  contrary,  he  informed  them  of  a  rumour 
circulated  on  the  continent,  that  a  rebellion  was  intend- 
ed in  Scotland  ;  and  he  solemnly  charged  those  who 
professed  the  protestant  religion  to  avoid  all  accession 
to  it,  and  to  beware  of  countenancing  such  as,  for  the 
sake  of  worldly  promotion  and  other  private  ends, 
sought  to  disturb  the  government.  He  did  not  mean 
(he  said)  to  retract  the  principle  which  he  had  advan- 
ced in  former  letters  as  to  the  lawfulness  of  inferior 
magistrates,  and  the  body  of  a  nation,  resisting  the 
tyrannical  measures  of  supreme  rulers.  He  still  held, 
that  there  was  "  a  great  difference  between  lawful 
obedience,  and  a  fearful  flattering  of  princes,  or  an 
unjust  accomplishment  of  their  desires,  in  things  which 
be  required  or  devised  for  the  destruction  of  a  com- 
monwealth." The  nobility  were  the  constituted  guar- 
dians of  the  national  liberties  ;  and  there  were  hmits 
beyond  which  obedience  was  not  due  by  subjects. 
But  recourse  ought  not  to  be  had  to  resistance,  except 
when  matters  were  tyrannically  driven  to  an  extreme. 
It  was  peculiarly  incumbent  on  the  protestants  of 
Scotland  to  be  circumspect  in  all  their  proceedings, 
and  not  to  give  their  adversaries  any  reason  to  allege 
that  they  concealed  a  seditious  and  rebellious  design 
under  the  cloak  of  zeal  for  religion.  His  advice  and 
solemn  charge  to  them  was,  that  they  should  continue 
to  yield  dutiful  and  cheerful  obedience  to  all  the 
lawful  commands  of  the  Regent,  and  endeavour,  by 
humble  and  repeated  requests,  to  procure  her  favour, 
and  to  prevail  upon  her,  if  not  to  promote  their  cause, 
at  least  to  protect  it  from  persecution.  If  she  refused 
to  take  any  steps  for  reforming  religion,  it  was  their 
duty  to  provide  that  the  gospel  should  be  preached, 
and  the  sacraments  administered  in  purity,  to  them- 
selves and  their  brethren.  If,  while  they  endeavoured 
peaceably  to  accomplish  this,  attempts  should  be  made 
to  crush  them  by  tyrannical  violence,  he  did  not  think 
that  they,  considering  the  station  which  they  occupied, 
were  bound  to  suffer  their  innocent  brethren  to  be 
murdered.  On  the  contrary,  it  was  lawful  for  them, 
nay  it  was  their  bounden  duty,  to  stand  up  in  their 
defence.  But  even  in  this  case  they  ought  to  protest 
their  readiness  to  obey  the  Regent  in  every  thing 
consistent  with  their  fidelity  to  God,  and  to  avoid  all 
association  with  the  ambitious,  the  factious,  and  the 
turbulent.* 

This  is  a  specimen  of  the  correspondence  which 
Knox  maintained  with  the  protestant  nobility,  by 
which  he  enlightened  their  views,  aroused  their  zeal, 
and  restrained  their  impetuosity,  at  this  important 
juncture.  I  shall  afterwards  have  occasion  to  call  the 
attention  of  the  reader  more  particularly  to  his  political 
principles. 

Knox  returned  to  Geneva  in  the  end  of  the  year 
1557.  During  the  following  year,  he  was  engaged, 
along  with  several  learned  men  of  his  congregation, 
in  making  a  new  translation  of  the  Bible  into  English  ; 
which,  from  the  place  where  it  was  composed  and  first 
printed,  has  attained  the  name  of  Tke  Geneva  Bible.\ 
It  was  at  this  time  that  he  published  his  Letter  to  the. 
Queen  Regent,  and  his  Appellation  and  Exhortation ; 
both  of  which  were  transmitted  to  Scotland,  and  co»- 
tribuled   not  a  little   to   the   spread  of  the  reformed 

«  MS.  Letters,  p.  424— 438. 

t  Strype's  Mem.  of  Parker,  p.  205.  This  translation  wai 
often  reprinted  in  Britain.  The  freedom  of  remark  used  in 
the  notes  gave  offence  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  her  successor 
James;  the  last  of  whom  said,  that  it  was  the  worst  translation 
which  he  had  seen.  Notwithstanding  this  expression  of  disap- 
probation, it  is  evident  that  the  translators,  appointed  by  his 
authority,  made  great  use  of  it ;  and  if  they  had  followed  it 
still  more,  the  version  which  they  have  given  us  would,  upon 
the  whole,  have  been  improved.  The  late  Dr.  Geddes  had  a 
very  different  opinion  of  it  from  the  Royal  critic. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


63 


opinions.  I  have  already  given  an  account  of  the  first 
of  these  tracts,  which  was  chiefly  intended  for  removing 
the  prejudices  of  Roman  Catholics.  The  last  was  more 
immediately  designed  for  instructing  and  animating 
such  as  were  friendly  to  the  reformed  religion.  Ad- 
dressing himself  to  the  nohility  and  estates  of  the 
kingdom,  he  shews  that  the  care  and  reformation 
of  religion  belonged  to  civil  rulers,  and  constituted 
one  of  the  primary  duties  of  their  office.  This  was  a 
dictate  of  nature  as  well  as  revelation  ;  and  he  would 
not  insist  long  upon  that  topic,  lest  he  should  seem  to 
suppose  them  "  lesse  careful  over  God's  true  religion, 
than  were  the  Ethnickes*  over  their  idolatrie."  Infe- 
rior magistrates,  within  the  sphere  of  their  jurisdiction, 
the  nobles  and  estates  of  a  kingdom,  as  well  as  kings 
and  princes,  were  bound  to  attend  to  this  high  duly. 
He  ttien  addresses  himself  to  the  commonalty  of 
Scotland,  and  points  out  their  duty  and  interest,  with 
regard  to  the  important  controversy  in  agitation.  They 
were  rational  creatures,  formed  after  the  image  of  God  ; 
they  had  souls  to  be  saved  ;  they  were  accountable  for 
their  conduct ;  they  were  bound  to  judge  of  the  truth 
of  religion,  and  to  make  profession  of  it,  as  well  as 
kings,  nobles,  or  bishops.  If  idolatry  was  maintained, 
if  the  gospel  was  suppressed,  if  the  blood  of  the  in- 
nocent was  shed,  and  if,  in  these  circumstances,  they 
kept  silence,  and  did  not  exert  themselves  to  prevent 
such  evils,  how  could  they  vindicate  their  conduct  If 

But  the  most  singular  treatise  published  this  year 
by  Knox,  and  that  which  made  the  greatest  noise,  was 
The  first  Blast  of  the  Trumpet  against  the  moristrous 
Regiment X  of  Women;  in  which  he  attacked,  with 
great  vehemence,  the  practice  of  admitting  females  to 
the  government  of  nations.  There  is  some  reason  to 
think  that  his  mind  was  struck  with  the  incongruity 
of  this  practice,  as  early  as  Mary's  accession  to  the 
throne  of  England. ||  This  was  probably  one  of  the 
points  on  which  he  had  conferred  with  the  Swiss 
divines  in  1554.§  That  his  sentiments  respecting  it 
were  fixed  in  1556  appears  from  an  incidental  reference 
to  the  subject  in  a  letter  which  he  wrote  during  that 
year.^  Influenced,  however,  by  deference  to  the  opin- 
ion of  others,  he  refrained  for  a  considerable  time 
from  publishing  them  to  the  world.  But  at  last,  pro- 
voked by  the  tyranny  of  the  Queen  of  England,  and 
wearied  out  with  her  increasing  cruelties,  he  applied 
the  trumpet  to  his  mouth,  and  uttered  a  terrible  blast. 
"  To  promote  a  woman  to  bear  rule,  superiority,  do- 
minion, or  empire,  above  any  realm,  nation,  or  city,  is 
repugnant  to  nature,  contumely  to  God,  a  thing  most 
contrarious  to  his  revealed  will  and  approved  ordin- 
ance, and,  finally,  it  is  the  subversion  of  all  equity 
and  justice."  Such  is  the  first  sentence  and  principal 
proposition  of  the  work.  The  arguments  by  which 
he  endeavours  to  establish  it  are,  that  nature  intended 
the  female  sex  for  subjection,  not  superiority  to  the 
male,  as  appears  from  their  infirmities,  corporal  and 
mental  (he  excepts,  however,  such  as  God,  "  by  sin- 
gular privilege,  and  for  certain  causes,  exempted  from 
the  common  rank  of  women;")  that  the  divine  law, 
announced  at  the  creation  of  the  first  pair,  had  ex- 
pressly assigned  to  man  the  dominion  over  woman, 
and  commanded  her  to  be  subject  to  him  ;  that  female 
government  was  not  permitted  among  the  Jews  ;  is 
contrary  to  apostolical  injunctions;  and  leads  to  the 
perversion  of  government,  and  other  pernicious  con- 
sequences. 

Knox's  theory  on  this  subject  was  far  from  being 
novel.  In  confirmation  of  his  opinion,  he  could  ap- 
peal to  the  constitutions  of  the  free  states  of  anti- 
quity, and  to  the  authority   of  their  most  celebrated 


*  i.  e.  HeatheD. 

t  Appellation,  apud  Historic,  p.  434 — 440,  453,  454. 

X  t.  e.  regimen,  or  government. 

IJ  First  Blast,  apud  Historie,  p.  478. 

}  MS.  Letters,  p,  318,  319.  IT  Ibid.  p.  322,  323. 


legislators  and  philosphers.*  In  the  kingdom  of 
France,  females  were,  by  an  express  law,  excluded 
from  succeeding  to  the  crown.  Edward  VI.  some 
time  before  his  death,  had  proposed  to  the  Privy 
Council  the  adoption  of  this  law  in  England ;  but 
the  motion,  not  suiting  the  ambitious  views  of  the 
Duke  of  Northumberland,  was  overruled. |  Though 
his  opinion  was  sanctioned  by  such  high  authorities, 
he  was  by  no  means  sanguine  in  his  expectations  as 
to  the  reception  of  his  performance.  He  tells  us,  in 
his  preface,  that  he  laid  his  account  not  only  with  the 
indignation  of  those  who  were  interested  in  the  support 
of  the  reprobated  practice,  but  also  with  the  disapproba- 
tion of  such  gentle  spirits  among  the  learned,  as  would 
be  alarmed  at  the  boldness  of  the  attack.  He  did  not 
doubt,  that  he  would  be  called  "  curious,  despiteful,  a 
sower  of  sedition,  and  one  day  perchance  be  attainted 
for  treason  ;"  but,  in  uttering  a  truth  of  which  he  was 
deeply  convinced,  he  was  determined  to  "cover  his 
eyes,  and  shut  his  ears,"  from  these  dangers  and  ob- 
loquies. He  was  not  disappointed  in  his  apprehen- 
sions. It  exposed  him  to  the  resentment  of  two 
queens,  during  whose  reign  it  was  his  lot  to  live; 
the  one  his  native  princess,  and  the  other  exerting 
a  sway  over  Scotland  scarcely  inferior  to  that  of  any 
of  its  monarchs.  Several  of  the  English  exiles  ap- 
proved of  his  opinion,:^;  and  few  of  them  would  have 
been  displeased  at  seeing  it  reduced  to  practice,  at  the 
time  when  the  Blast  was  published.  But  Queen  Mary 
dying  soon  after  it  appeared,  and  her  sister  Elizabeth 
succeeding  her,  they  raised  a  great  outcry  against  it. 
John  Fox  wrote  a  letter  to  the  author,  in  which  he 
expostulated  with  him,  in  a  very  friendly  manner,  as 
to  the  impropriety  of  the  publication,  and  the  severity 
of  its  language.  Knox,  in  his  reply,  did  not  excuse 
his  "  rude  vehemency  and  inconsiderate  affirmations, 
which  might  appear  rather  to  proceed  from  choler 
than  of  zeal  and  reason  ;"  but  signified,  that  he  was 
still  persuaded  of  the  principal  proposition  which  he 
had  maintained, II 

His  original  intention  was  to  blow  his  Trumpet 
thrice,  and  to  publish  his  name  with  the  last  Blast,  to 
prevent  the  odium  from  falling  on  any  other  person. 
But,  finding  that  it  gave  offence  to  many  of  his  bre- 
thren, and  being  desirous  to  strengthen  rather  than 
invalidate  the  authority  of  Elizabeth,  he  relinquished 
his  design  of  prosecuting  the  subject.§  He  retained 
his  sentiments  to  the  last,  but  abstained  from  any  far- 
ther declaration  of  them,  and  from  replying  to  his  op- 
ponents; although  he  was  provoked  by  their  censures 
and  triumph,  and  sometimes  hinted,  in  his  private 
letters,  that  he  would  break  silence,  if  they  did  not 
study  greater  moderation. 

In  the  course  of  the  following  year,  an  answer  to 
the  Blast  appeared,  under  the  title  of  An  Harboroiv  for 
Faithful  Subjects.^    Though  anonymous,  like  the  book 

*  Tacitus  has  expressed  his  contempt  of  those  who  submit 
to  female  government,  with  his  usuul  emphatic  brevity,  in  the 
account  which  he  gives  of  the  Sitones,  a  German  tribe.  "  Cae- 
tera  similes,  uno  uiil'erunt,  quod  fcBmina  dorainatur;  in  tantum, 
non  modo  a  libertate,  sed  etiam  a  servitute  degenerant."  De 
Mor.  Germ.  c.  45. 

f  Warner's  Eccles.  History  of  England,  ii.  308. 

j  Christopher  Goodman  adopted  the  sentiment,  and  com- 
mended the  publication  of  his  colleague,  in  his  book  on  Obe- 
dience to  Superior  Powers.  Whittingham  and  Gilby  declared 
themselves  on  the  same  side  of  the  question.  I  might  also 
mention  countrymen  of  his  own,  who  agreed  with  Knox  on  this 
subject;  as  James  Kennedy,  the  celebrated  Archbishop  of  St. 
Andrews,  and  Sir  David  Lindsay.  Buchanani  Hist.  lib.  xii. 
torn.  i.  221 — 24.     Rudlm.     Chalraeis's  Lindsay,  iii.  175. 

II  Strype's  Annals,  i.  127.  Strype  promised  to  insert  Knox's 
letter  at  large  in  the  Appendix,  but  did  not  find  room  for  it. 
Fox's  letter  was  written  before  the  death  of  Queen  Mary. 

}  He,  however,  added  the  heads  of  the  intended  Second 
Blast  to  his  Appellation,  which  was  published  some  months 
after  the  First  Blast. 

f  "An  Harborowe  for  Faithful  aud  Trewe  Subjcctes,  against 
the  late  blowne  Blaste,  concerning  the  Government  of  Wemen, 
&c.  Anno  MD.  lix.     At  Strasborowe  the  26.  of  Aprill."     The 


64 


LIFE    OF  JOHN    KNOX, 


to  which  it  was  a  reply,  it  was  soon  declared  to  be  the 
production  oi  John  Aylmer,  one  of  the  English  refugees 
on  the  continent,  who  had  been  archdeacon  of  Stowe, 
and  tutor  to  Lady  Jane  Grey.  It  was  not  undertaken 
until  the  accession  of  Elizabeth,  and  was  written  (as 
Aylmer's  biographer  informs  us)  "  upon  a  consultation 
holden  among  ihe  exiles,  the  belter  to  obtain  the  favour 
of  the  new  queen,  and  to  take  off  any  jealousy  she 
might  conceive  of  them,  and  of  the  religion  which  they 
professed."*  Aylmer  himself  says,  that,  if  the  author 
of  the  Blast  "  had  not  swerved  from  the  particular 
question  to  the  general,"  but  had  confined  himself  to 
the  queen  who  filled  the  throne  when  he  wrote,  "  he 
could  have  said  nothing  too  much,  nor  in  such  wise  as 
to  have  offended  any  indifferent  man;"  and  he  allows 
with  Knox  that  Mary's  government  was  "  unnatural, 
unreasonable,  unjust,  and  unlawful. "f  From  these 
and  some  other  considerations,  Knox  was  induced  to 
express  a  suspicion,  that  his  opponent  had  accommo- 
dated his  doctrine  to  the  times,  and  courted  the  favour 
of  the  reigning  princess,  by  flattering  her  vanity  and 
lo^/e  of  power.:^  It  is  certain,  that,  if  Knox  is  entitled 
to  the  praise  of  boldness  and  disinterestedness,  Aylmer 
carried  away  the  palm  for  prudence;  the  latter  was 
advanced  to  the  bishoprick  of  London ;  the  former 
could  not,  without  great  difl[iculty,  obtain  leave  to  set 
his  foot  again  upon  English  ground.  Knox's  Trumpet 
would  never  have  sounded  its  alarm,  had  it  not  been 
for  the  tyranny  of  Mary,  and  there  is  reason  to  think 
that  Aylmer's  "  Harborow"  would  never  have  been 
opened  "  for  faithful  subjects,"  but  for  the  auspicious 
succession  of  Elizabeth. 

This,  however,  is  independent  of  the  merits  of  the 
question,  which  I  do  not  feel  inclined  to  examine 
minutely.  The  change  which  has  taken  place  in  the 
mode  of  administering  government  in  modern  limes, 
renders  it  of  less  practical  importance  than  it  was  for- 
merly, when  so  much  depended  upon  the  personal 
talents  and  activity  of  the  reigning  prince.  It  may  be 
added,  that  the  evils  incident  to  a  female  reign  will  be 
less  felt  under  such  a  constitution  as  that  of  Britain, 
than  under  a  pure  and  absolute  monarchy.  This  last 
consideration  is  urged  by  Aylmer;  and  here  his  rea- 
soning is  most  satisfactory. II  The  Blast  bears  the 
marks  of  hasty  composition. §  The  Harborow  has 
evidently  been  written  with  great  care ;  it  contains  a 
good  collection  of  historical  facts  bearing  on  the  ques- 
tion ;  and  though  more  distinguished  for  rhetorical 
exaggeration  than  logical  precision,  the  reasoning  is 
ingeniously  conducted,  and  occasionally  enlivened  by 
strokes  of  humour.^  It  is,  upon  the  whole,  a  curious 
as  well  as  a  rare  work. 


Blast  drew  forth  several  defences  of  female  government  besides 
this;  two  of  which  were  written  by  natives  of  Scotland.  Bishop 
Lesley's  tract  on  this  subject  was  printed  along  with  his  de- 
fence of  Queen  Mary's  honour.  David  Chalmers,  one  of  the 
Lords  of  Session,  published  his  "  Discours  de  la  legitime  suc- 
cession des  Femraes,"  after  he  retired  from  Scotland.  Lord 
Hailes's  Catal.  of  the  Lords  of  Session,  note  23.  Mackenzie's 
Lives,  iii.  388.  392. 

*  Strype's  Life  of  Aylmer,  p.  16. 

f  Harborowe,  B.  Strype  says,  coutrary  to  the  plain  mean- 
ing of  the  passage,  that  .\yluier  speaks  here  of  "the  Scotch 
Queen  Mary."     Life  of  Aylmer,  p.  230. 

J  The  same  suspicion  seems  to  have  been  entertained  by 
some  of  Elizabeth's  courtiers.     Strype's  Ayhner,  p.  20. 

11  See  Note  XXVIL 

9  The  copies  of  the  Blast  printed  along  with  Knox's  History, 
are  all  extremely  incorrect:  whole  sentences  are  often  omittecl. 

If  In  his  answer  to  Knox's  argument  frojn  Isaieih  iii.  12.  he 
concludes  thus:  "Therefore  the  argumente  ariseth  from  wrong 
understandinge.  As  the  vicar  of  Trumpenton  understode  Elt, 
Eli,  lamn-zabatani,  when  he  read  the  Passion  on  Palme  Son- 
day.  When  he  came  to  that  place,  he  stopped,  and  calling 
the  churchwardens,  saide,  'Neighbours!  this  gear  must  be 
amended.  Heare  is  Kli  twice  in  the  book:  I  assure  you,  if  mv 
L.  [the  Bishop]  of  Elie  come  this  waye,  and  see  it,  he  will 
have  the  book.  Therefore,  by  mine  advice,  we  shall  scrape  it 
out,  and  put  in  our  own  towne's  name,  Trumpinffton,  Trump- 
ington,  lamah  zabactani.'  They  consented,  and  be  did  so,  be- 
cause he  urtderstode  no  grewe."'    Harborowe,  G.  3.  G.  4. 


After  all,  it  is  easier  to  vindicate  the  expediency  of 
continuing  the  practice,  where  it  has  been  established 
by  laws  and  usage,  than  to  support  the  affirmative, 
when  the  question  is  propounded  as  a  general  thesis 
on  government.  It  may  fairly  be  questioned,  if  Ayl- 
mer has  refuted  the  principal  arguments  of  his  oppo- 
nent ;  and  had  Knox  deemed  it  prudent  to  rejoin,  he 
might  have  exposed  the  fallacy  of  his  reasoning  in 
different  instances.  In  replying  to  the  argument  from 
the  apostolical  canon,*  the  archdeacon  is  not  a  little 
puzzled.  Distrusting  his  distinction  between  the 
greater  office,  "  the  ecclesiastical  function,"  and  the 
less,  "  extern  policy ;"  he  argues,  that  the  apostle's 
prohibition  may  be  considered  as  temporary,  and  pecu- 
liarly applicable  to  the  women  of  his  own  time ;  and 
he  insists  that  his  clients  shall  not,  in  toto,  be  excluded 
from  teaching  and  ruling  in  the  church,  any  more  than 
in  the  state.  "  Me  thinke,  (says  he,  very  seriously) 
even  in  this  poynte,  we  must  use  imttKu^,  a  certain 
moderacion,  not  absolutely,  and  in  every  wise,  to  debar 
them  herein  (as  it  shall  please  God)  to  serve  Christ. 
Are  there  not,  in  England,  women,  think  you,  that  for 
their  learninge  and  wisdom,  could  tell  their  housholde 
and  neighbouris  as  good  a  tale  as  the  best  Sir  Jhone 
there  ■?"!  Beyond  all  question  !  Who  can  doubt  that 
the  learned  Lady  Elizabeth,  who  could  direct  the  Dean 
of  her  chapel  to  "  keep  to  his  text,"  was  able  to  make 
as  good  a  sermon  as  any  of  her  clergy  1  or,  that  she 
was  better  qualified  for  other  parts  of  the  duty,  when 
she  composed  a  book  of  prayers  for  herself,  while  they 
were  obliged  to  use  one  made  to  their  hands  1  In  fact, 
the  view  which  the  archdeacon  gave  of  the  text  was 
necessary  to  vindicate  the  authority  of  his  queen,  who 
was  head,  or  supreme  governor  of  the  church  as  well 
as  of  the  state.  She  who,  by  law,  had  supreme  autho- 
rity over  all  the  reverend  and  right  reverend  divines  in 
the  land,  with  power  to  superintend,  suspend,  and 
control  them  in  all  their  ecclesiastical  functions;  who, 
by  her  injunctions,  could  direct  the  primate  himself 
when  to  preach,  and  how  to  preach ;  and  who  could 
license  and  silence  ministers  at  her  pleasure,  must 
have  been  bound  very  moderately  indeed  by  the  apos- 
tolical prohibition,  "  I  suffer  not  a  woman  to  teach, 
nor  to  usurp  authority  over  the  man,  but  to  be  in 
silence."  Reason  would  also  say,  that  she  had  an 
equal  right  to  assume  the  exercise  of  the  office  in  her 
own  person,  if  she  chose  to  avail  herself  of  that  right; 
and  had  she  issued  a  conge  d'elire,  accompanied  with 
her  royal  recommendation  to  elect  some  learned  Sister 
to  a  vacant  See,  the  archdeacon  at  least  would  not  have 
felt  so  squeamish  at  complying  with  it,  as  the  Italian 
University  did  at  conferring  the  degree  of  Doctor  in 
Divinity  upon  the  learned  Helen  Lucrecia  Piscopia 
Cornaca.j^ 

There  are  some  things  in  the  Harborow  which  might 
have  been  unpalatable  to  the  Queen,  if  the  author  had 
not  taken  care  to  sweeten  them  with  that  personal 
flattery,  which  was  as  agreeable  to  Elizabeth  as  to 
others  of  her  sex  and  rank,  and  which  he  administered 
in  sufficient  quantities  before  concluding  his  work. 
The  ladies  will  be  ready  to  excuse  a  slight  slip  of  the 
pen  in  the  good  archdeaeon,  in  consideration  of  lh» 
handsome  manner  in  which  he  has  defended  their 
right  to  rule ;  but  they  will  scarcely  believe  that  the 
following  description  of  the  sex  could  proceed  from 
him.  "  Some  women  (says  he)  be  wiser,  better  learned, 
discreater,  constanter,  than  a  number  of  men."  But 
others,  (his  biographer  says,  "  the  most  part")  he  de- 
scribesll  as  "  fond,  foolish,  wanton,  flibbergibs,  tatlers, 
trifling,  wavering,  witles,  without  counsel,  feabie, 
carles,  rashe,  proud,  daintie,  nise,  tale-bearers,  eves- 
droppers,  rumour-raisers,  evil-tongued,  worse-minded, 
and,  in  every  wise,  doltified  with  the  dreggesofthe 
devil's  doungehill ! ! !"     The  rude  author  of  the  mon- 


•  1  Tim.  ii.  11—14. 

t  See  Note  XXVIIL 

II  Harborowe,  G.  3.  Life  of  Aylmer,  p.  279 


f  Harborowe,  G.  4.  H. 


LIFE    OF  JOHN   KNOX. 


65 


strous  Blast  never  spoke  of  the  sex  in  terms  half  so 
disrespectful  as  these.  One  would  suppose  that  Ayl- 
mer  had  already  renounced  the  character  of  Advocate 
of  the  fair  sex,  and  recanted  his  principles  on  that 
head  ;  as  he  did  respecting  the  titles  and  revenues  of 
bishops,  which  he  inveighed  against  before  his  return 
from  exile,  but  afterwards  accepted  with  little  scruple ; 
and,  when  reminded  of  the  language  which  he  had 
formerly  used,  apologized  for  himself,  by  saying, 
"  When  I  was  a  child,  I  thought  as  a  child  ;  but  when 
I  became  a  man  I  put  away  childish  things."* — But 
it  is  time  to  return  to  the  narrative. 

Our  Reformer's  letter  to  the  protestant  Lords  in 
Scotland  produced  its  intended  effect,  in  re-animating 
their  drooping  courage.  At  a  consultative  meeting  held 
at  Edinburgh,  in  December  1557,  they  unanimously 
resolved  to  adhere  to  one  another,  and  exert  themselves 
for  the  advancement  of  the  Reformation.  Having  sub- 
scribed a  solemn  bond  of  mutual  assurance,  they  re- 
newed their  invitation  to  Knox  ;  and  being  afraid  that 
he  might  hesitate  on  account  of  their  former  irresolu- 
tion, they  wrote  to  Calvin,  to  employ  his  influence  to 
induce  him  to  comply.  Their  letters  did  not  reach 
Geneva,  until  November  1558. f  By  the  same  CDn- 
veyance  Knox  received  letters  of  a  later  date,  com- 
Aiunicating  the  most  agreeable  intelligence  respecting 
the  progress  which  the  reformed  cause  had  made,  and 
the  flourishing  appearance  which  it  continued  to  wear 
in  Scotland. 

Through  the  exertions  of  our  Reformer,  during  his 
residence  among  them  in  the  beginning  of  the  year 
1556,  and  in  pursuance  of  the  instructions  which  he 
left  behind  him,  the  protestants  had  formed  themselves 
into  congregations,  which  met  in  different  parts  of  the 
country  with  greater  or  less  privacy,  according  to  the 
opportunities  which  they  enjoyed.  Having  come  to  the 
resolution  of  withdrawing  from  the  popish  worship, 
they  endeavoured  to  provide  for  their  religious  instruc- 
tion and  mutual  edification,  in  the  best  manner  that 
their  circumstances  permitted.  As  there  were  no 
ministers  among  them,  they  continued  for  some  time 
to  be  deprived  of  the  dispensation  of  the  sacraments  ;:|: 
but  certain  intelligent  and  pious  men  of  their  number 
were  chosen,  to  read  the  scriptures,  to  exhort,  and 
offer  up  prayers  in  their  assemblies.  Con'Mnced  of  the 
necessity  of  order  and  discipline  in  their  societies,  and 
desirous  to  have  them  organized,  as  far  as  was  in  their 
power,  agreeably  to  the  institution  of  Christ,  they 
next  proceeded  to  choose  elders  for  the  inspection  of 
their  manners,  to  whom  they  promised  subiection,  and 
deacons  for  the  collection  and  distribution  of  alms  to 
the  poor.ll  Edinburgh  was  the  first  place  in  which 
this  order  was  established ;  Dundee  the  first  town  in 
which  a  reformed  church  was  completely  organized, 
provided  with  a  regular  minister,  and  favoured  with 
the  dispensation  of  the  sacraments. 

During  the  war  with  England,  which  began  in 
autumn  1556,  and  continued  through  the  following 
year,  the  protestants  enjoyed  considerable  liberty;  and 


*  Life  of  Aylmer,  p.  269.  f  Knox,  Historic,  p. 

\  Ninian   Winget  sa^s,  that  "sum  LorcJis  and   gent: 


101. 

„  itilnien" 
ministered  the  sacrament  of  the  supper  "to  their  awn  houshald 
servanrlis  and  tenantis."  If  only  one  instance  of  this  kind  oc- 
curred, the  papists  would  exaggerate  it.  The  same  writer 
adds,  that  Knox  blamed  the  persons  who  did  it,  saying,  that 
they  had  "gretuinlie  failzeit."  Winzet's  Buke  of  Fourscoir 
Three  Questionis,  apud  Keith,  Append,  p.  239.  Comp.  Knox, 
p.  217. 

II  Cald.  MS.  i.  257.  "The  Electioun  of  Eldaris  and  Dea- 
conis  in  the  church  of  Edinburgh,"  apud  Dunlop's  Confession?, 
ii.  635,  636.  Calderwood  places  his  account  of  this  under  the 
year  1555,  but  I  think  that  date  too  early.  It  was  rather  in 
the  end  of  1556,  or  in  the  course  of  1557.  The  names  of  the 
first  elders  in  Edinburgh  were  George  Sniail.  Michael  Robert- 
son, Adam  Craig,  J:,lin  Cairns,  and  Alexander  Hope.  There 
were  at  first  two  assembli.  s  in  Edinburgh;  but  Erskine  of  Dun 
persuaded  them  to  unite,  and  they  met  sometimes  in  the  houses 
of  Robert  Watson  and  James  Barron,  and  sometimes  in  the 
abbey 

I 


they  improved  it  with  great  zeal  and  success.  The 
clergy  were  not  indifferent  to  the  progress  which  the 
reformed  opinions  were  daily  making,  and  they  pre- 
vailed with  the  Regent  to  summon  such  as  had  pre- 
sumed to  preach  without  their  authority;  but  she  was 
obliged  to  abandon  the  process  against  them,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  arrival  of  certain  gentlemen  from  the 
west  country,  who  demanded  their  release  in  a  tone 
which  declared  that  they  were  resolved  not  to  be 
refused.* 

At  a  meeting  of  the  nobles  and  barons  attached  to 
the  Reformation,  held  at  Edinburgh  in  December  1557, 
two  resolutions  were  adopted  for  regulating  their  con- 
duct in  the  present  delicate  juncture.  It  was  agreed, 
in  the  first  place,  that  they  should  rest  satisfied  for  the 
present  with  requiring  that  prayers,  and  the  lessons  of 
the  Old  and  New  Testament,  should  be  read  in  English, 
according  to  the  book  of  Common  Prayer,f  in  every 
parish,  on  Sundays  and  festival  days,  by  the  curates 
of  the  respective  parishes,  or,  if  they  were  unable  or 
unwilling,  by  such  persons  as  were  best  qualified  in 
the  bounds.  And,  secondly,  that  the  reformed  preach- 
ers should  teach  in  private  houses  only,  til!  the  govern- 
ment should  allow  preaching  in  public. :|:  The  first 
resolution  has  been  represented  as  an  unwarrantable 
assumption  of  authority  by  this  reforming  assembly  to 
dictate  to  the  whole  nation,  by  setting  aside  the  estab- 
lished worship,  and  imposing  a  new  form.  This  con- 
struction is,  however,  irreconcilable  with  the  situa- 
tion in  which  they  were  then  placed,  and  with  the 
moderate  and  submissive  manner  in  which  they  con- 
tinued to  urge  their  claims  at  a  subsequent  period.  It 
is  rather  to  be  viewed  as  expressing  the  opinion  of  that 
meeting  respecting  the  degree  of  reformation  which 
individuals  of  their  body  might  introduce,  in  places  to 
which  their  authority  and  influence  extended.  And 
accordingly  it  was  reduced  to  practice  in  many  parishes 
where  the  protestant  barons  resided,  and  where  the 
people  were  disposed  to  imitate  their  example.jj 

In  pursuance  of  the  second  resolution  agreed  on  at 
the  general  meeting,  the  earl  of  Argyle  undertook  the 
protection  of  John  Douglas,  a  Carmelite  friar,  who 
had  embraced  the  reformed  sentiments  ;§  and  the  rest 
of  the  preachers  were  received  into  the  houses  of  other 
barons,  and  employed  to  preach  as  their  chaplains. 
This  measure  alarmed  the  clergy  no  less  than  the  for- 
mer practice  of  itinerant  preaching  had  done.  They 
saw  that  it  would  be  vain  to  commence  prosecutions 
against  preachers  who  were  entertained  in  the  families 
or  the  principal  men  in  the  kingdom  ;  and  they  re- 
solved to  exert  all  their  influence  to  deprive  them  of 
such  powerful  patronage.  Presuming  upon  the  easy 
temper  of  the  aged  earl  of  Argyle,  and  upon  the  friend- 
ship which  had  long  subsisted  between  his  family  and 
the  Hamiltons,  the  archbishop  of  St.  Andrews  wrote  a 
letter  to  him  in  a  very  insinuating  strain,  and  at  the 
same  time  sent  a  relation  of  his  own.  Sir  David  Ham- 
ilton, with  instructions  to  represent  the  danger  to 
which  he  exposed  his  noble  house  by  countenancing 
Douglas,  and  to  intreat  him  in  the  most  earnest  man- 
ner to  withdraw  his  protection  from  the  pestilent 
heretic.  Argyle's  reply  was  temperate  and  respectful, 
but  at  the  same  time  firm  and  spirited  ;  he  not  only 
vindicated  the  doctrine  taught  by  his  chaplain,  and 
refused  to  dismiss  him,  but  made  several  shrewd  and 
pointed  remarks,  which  the  archbishop  could  not  fail 
to  apply  to  himself.  The  bishop  having  written,  that 
he  felt  himself  bound  in  "  honour  and  conscience"  to 
inquire  into  the  heresies  of  which  Douglas  was  accus- 
ed, the  Earl  replies  :  "  He  preiches  against  idolatrie; 
I  remitt  to  your  lordschip's  conscience  gif  it  be  heresie 
or  not :  he  preiches  against  adulterie  and  fornicatioun  f 
I   referre  that  to   your  lordschip's   conscience  :1f    he 


*  Knox,  Historie,  p.  94—5.  f  See  Note  XXIX. 

t  Knox,  101.      jl  Spottiswood,p.  117.      ^  Ibid,  Knox,  p.  102. 
It  How  the  bishop's  conscience  stood  afl'ectcd   as  to  these 
points  we  know  not ;  but  it  is  certaii)  that  hi.s  practice  was  very 
6 


66 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX. 


fireiches  against  hypocrisie :  I  referre  that  to  your 
ordschip's  conscience  :  he  preiches  against  all  manner 
of  abuses  and  corruptioun  of  Christis  sincere  religioun  ; 
I  referre  that  to  yourlordschip's  conscience.  My  lord, 
I  exhort  yow,  in  Christis  name,  to  wey  all  thir  afFairis 
in  your  conscience,  and  considder  if  it  be  your  dewtie 
also  not  onlie  to  thole*  this,  bot  in  like  maner  to  do 
the  same.  This  is  all,  my  lord,  that  I  varie  in  my  age, 
and  na  uther  thing  oot  that  I  knew  not  befoir  these 
offences  to  be  abhominable  to  God,  and  now,  knawing 
his  will  be  manifestalioun  of  his  word,  abhorres 
thame."  Referring  to  the  bishop's  offer  to  send  him  a 
learned  and  catholic  teacher,  the  Earl  replies,  "  God 
Almichtie  send  us  mony  of  that  sorte,  that  will  preiche 
trewlie,  and  nathing  but  ane  catholic  universall  Chris- 
tian fayth  ;  and  we  Hieland  rude  pepill  hes  misterf  of 
thame.  And  if  your  lordschip  wald  get  and  provyde 
me  sick  a  man,  I  sould  provyde  him  a  corporal  leving, 
as  to  myself,  with  grit  ihankis  to  your  lordschip : 
for  trewlie,  I  and  many  ma  hes  grit  mister  of  sick 
men.  And  becaus  I  am  abill  to  sustein  ma  nor  ane  of 
thame,  I  will  requeist  your  lordschip  earnestlie  to 
provyde  me  sick  a  man  as  ye  wrait ;  for  ilte  harvest 
is  grit,  and  thair  arfew  labouraris.^^^ 

Foiled  in  his  attempts  to  prevail  on  the  nobility  to 
withdraw  their  protection  from  the  preachers,  the  arch- 
bishop determined  to  wreak  his  vengeance  upon  such 
of  them  as  were  still  within  his  power,  and  proceeded 
to  revive  those  cruel  measures  which  had  been  sus- 
pended for  several  years,  by  the  political  circumstances 
of  the  country,  rather  than  the  clemency  and  modera- 
tion of  the  clergy.  Walter  ARII,  parish-priest  of  Lunan 
in  Angus,  having  been  condemned  as  a  heretic  in  the 
time  of  Cardinal  Beatoun,  had  escaped  from  execution, 
and  continued  to  preach,  sometimes  in  private  and  at 
other  times  openly,  in  different  quarters  of  the  king- 
dom. Being  lately  discovered  by  one  of  the  arch- 
bishop's spies,  he  was  brought  to  trial  at  St.  Andrews. 
He  appeared  before  the  court  so  worn  out  with  age, 
and  the  hardships  which  he  had  endured,  that  it  was 
not  expected  he  would  be  able  to  answer  the  questions 
which  might  be  put  to  him;  but  to  the  surprise  of  all, 
he  conducted  his  defence  with  great  spirit.  Such  was 
the  compassion  excited  by  his  appearance,  and  the 
horror  which  was  now  felt  at  the  punishment  to  which 
he  was  doomed,  that  the  clergy,  after  pronouncing  him 
guilty,  could  not  procure  a  secular  judge  to  pass  sen- 
tence of  death  upon  him,  anJ  the  archbishop  was  at 
last  obliged  to  employ  a  worthle:<s  servant  of  his  own 
to  perform  the  odious  task.  On  'he  28th  of  August 
1558,  Mill  expired  amidst  the  flamf.  uttering  these 
words :  As  for  me,  I  am  fourscore  and  two  years  old, 
and  cannot  live  long  by  course  of  nature ,-  but  a  hun- 
dred better  shall  rise  out  of  the  ashes  of  my  bones.  I  trust 
in  God,  I  shall  be  the  last  that  shall  suffer  death  in  Scot-^ 
land  for  this  cause.  || 

This  barbarous  and  illegal  execution  produced  effects 
of  the  greatest  importance.  It  raised  the  horror  of  the 
nation  to  an  incredible  pitch;  and  as  it  was  believed, 
at  that  time,  that  the  Regent  was  not  accessory  to  the 
deed,  their  indignation  was  directed  wholly  against  the 
clergy.  Throwing  aside  all  fear,  and  those  restraints 
which  prudence,  or  a  regard  to  established  order,  had 
hitherto  imposed  on  them,  the  people  now  assembled 
openly  to  join  in  the  reformed  worship,  and  avowed 
their  determination  to  adhere  to  it  at  all  hazards.  Har- 
low, Douglas,  Paul  Methven,  and  some  others,  were 
emboldened  to  break  through  the  restraint  to  which 
they  had  submitted,  and  began  to  preach,  and  admin- 
ister the  sacraments,  with  greater  publicity  than  for- 


far  from  beings  immaculate.  Wilkins,  Concilia,  iv.  200.  Knox, 
Historie,  p.  104.     Keith,  p.  208. 

•  einiu**  f  need.  J  Knox,  Historie,  p.  106-7. 

II  Lindsay  of  PiUcottie'g  History,  p.  200-1.  Knox.  122. 
Spottitwood,  95-7.     Pctrie,  Part.  ii.  191. 


merly.*  In  the  month  of  October,|  they  were  joined' 
by  John  Willock,  who  returned  a  second  time  from 
Embden.  Meanwhile,  the  protestant  barons,  having 
assembled  at  Edinburgh  in  the  month  of  July,:^  re- 
solved to  lay  their  complaints  in  a  formal  manner  be- 
fore the  Regent.  They  renewed  the  request  whict 
they  had  formerly  made,  that  she  would,  by  her  autho- 
riry,  and  in  concurrence  with  the  Parliament,  restrain 
the  tyrannical  proceedings  of  the  clergy,  correct  the 
flagrant  and  insufferable  abuses  which  prevailed  in  the 
church,  and  grant  to  them  and  their  brethren  the  liberty 
of  religious  instruction  and  worship,  at  least  according 
to  a  restricted  plan  which  ihey  laid  before  her,  and  to 
which  they  were  willing  to  submit,  till  tiieir  grievances 
should  be  deliberately  examined  and  legally  redressed. |j 
Their  petition  was  presented  to  the  Regent,  in  the 
palace  of  Holyroodhouse,  by  Sir  James  Sandilands 
of  Calder,  in  the  presence  of  a  number  of  the  nobility 
and  bishops.  Her  reply  was  such  as  to  persuade  them 
that  she  was  friendly  to  their  proposals :  she  pro- 
mised, that  she  would  take  measures  for  carrying 
them  legally  into  effect,  as  soon  as  it  was  in  her 
power ;  and  assured  them  that,  in  the  meantime,  they 
might  depend  on  her  protection. § 

It  did  not  require  many  arguments  to  persuade  Knox 
to  comply  with  an  invitation,  which  was  accompanied 
with  such  gratifying  intelligence;  and  he  began  imme- 
diately to  prepare  for  his  journey  to  Scotland.  The 
future  settlement  of  the  congregation  under  his  charge 
occupied  him  for  some  time.  Information  being  re- 
ceived of  the  death  of  Mary  queen  of  England,1[  and 
the  accession  of  Elizabeth,  the  protestant  refugees 
hastened  to  return  to  their  native  country.  The  con- 
gregation at  Geneva,  having  met  to  return  thanks  to 
God  for  this  deliverance,  agreed  to  send  one  of  their 
number  with  letters  to  their  brethren  in  different  places 
of  the  continent,  particularly  at  Frankfort ;  congratulat- 
ing them  on  the  late  happy  change,  and  requesting  a 
confirmation  of  the  mutual  reconciliation  which  had 
already  been  effected,  the  burial  of  all  past  offences, 
and  a  brotherly  co-operation,  in  endeavouring  to  obtain 
such  a  settlement  of  religion  in  England  as  would  be 
agreeable  to  all  the  sincere  well-wishers  of  the  Refor- 
mation. A  favourable  return  to  their  letters  being 
obtained,**  they  took  leave  of  the  hospitable  city,  and 
set  out  for  their  native  country.     By  them  Knox  sent 


*  Wilkins,  Concilia,  iv.  216.  Besides  the  persons  above 
named,  the  Council  mention  (in  the  place  here  referred  to) 
"Johannes  Patritz,  et  alii  complures,  catholica;  ficiei  et  eccle- 
siasticae  uiiitatis  desertores."  Who  this  Fatritz  was  1  do  not 
know.  The  reformed  preachers  were  obliged  to  assume  feigned 
names  on  particular  occasions  to  escape  apprehension.  Thus 
Douglas  went  by  the  name  of  Grant.  Comp.  Knox,  Historie, 
p.  103,  106. 

+  Historie  of  the  Estate  of  Scotland  from  1559  to  1566,  p.  1. 
MS.  belonging  to  Thomas  Thomson,  Esq.  Advocate.  This  MS. 
which  I  had  not  seen  when  I  published  the  first  edition  of  this 
work,  contains  a  number  of  minute  particulars  not  mentioned 
in  other  histories.  It  would  have  been  extremely  \aluable  if 
it  had  been  complete,  but  the  copy  which  I  have  used  stops 
short  in  the  middle  of  the  year  1560. 

t  Ibid.  11  See  Note  XXX. 

5  Knox,  Historie,  p.  122.  Hishop  Bale,  who  was  then  at 
Basle,  inserted,  in  a  work  which  he  was  jnst  publishing,  a 
letter  sent  him  at  this  time  by  Thomas  Cole,  an  English  re- 
fugee residing  at  Geneva,  communicating  this  information. 
"  Hcri  enim  (says  Cole)  D.  Knoxus  ex  Scotia  nova  certissima 
de  immutata  rtligione  accepit:  Christum  publice  per  totuni 
iilud  regnum  doceri;  et  ita  demum  hominum  corda  occupasse, 
ut  oinni  metu  posito  audeant  publicis  precibus  interesse  sua 
lingua  celebratis,  et  sacramenta  quoque  habeant  rite  adniinis- 
trata,  iuipuris  antichrist!  cerenioniis  abjectis. — Nunc  rcgina 
cogitat  Reforniationeni  religionis,  indicto  die  quo  conventus 
6at  totius  regni,  &c."  Scriptor.  lilustr.  Major.  Britanniae 
Poster.  Pars.  Art.  Knoxus.     Basil.  1559. 

t  "  God  would  not  sufl'er  her  to  reign  long  (says  a  Catholic 
wiiter);  cither  on  account  of  the  sins  of  her  father,  or  on  ac- 
count of  the  sins  of  her  people,  who  were  unworthy  of  a  prin- 
cess so  holy,  so  pious,  and  endued  with  such  divine  and  rare 
dispositions!"     Laing.  de  Vita  Hjcretic.  fol.  28. 

»»  Troubles  at  Fmnckford.  p.  1«9,  19a 


LIFE    OF  JOHN   KNOX. 


m 


letters  to  some  of  his  former  acquaintances,  wlio  were 
now  in  the  court  of  Elizabeth,  requesting  permission 
to  travel  through  England,  on  his  way  to  Scotland. 

In  the  month  of  January  1559,  our  Reformer  took 
his  leave  of  Geneva,  for  the  last  time.*  In  addition 
to  former  marks  of  respect,  the  republic,  before  his 
departure,  conferred  on  him  the  freedom  of  the  city.f 
He  left  his  wife  and  family  behind  him,  until  he  should 
ascertain  that  they  could  live  with  safety  in  Scotland. 
Upon  his  arrival  at  Dieppe,  in  the  middle  of  March, 
he  received  information,  that  the  English  government 
had  refused  to  grant  him  liberty  to  pass  through  their 
dominions.  The  request  had  appeared  so  reasonable 
to  his  own  mind,  considering  the  station  which  he  had 
held  in  that  country,  and  the  object  of  his  present 
journey,  that  he  had  once  thought  of  proceeding  to 
London  without  waiting  for  a  formal  permission ;  yet 
it  was  with  some  difficulty  that  those  who  presented 
his  letters  escaped  imprisonment.:^: 

This  impolitic  severity  was  occasioned  by  the  infor- 
mations of  some  of  the  exiles,  who  had  not  forgotten 
the  old  quarrel  at  Frankfort,  and  had  accused  of  dis- 
loyalty and  disaffection  to  the  queen,  not  only  Knox, 
but  all  those  who  had  been  under  his  charge  at  Geneva, 
whom  they  represented  as  proselytes  to  the  opinion 
which  he  had  published  against  female  government.|| 
There  was  not  an  individual  who  could  believe  that 
Knox  had  the  most  distant  eye  to  Elizabeth  in  pub- 
lishing the  obnoxious  book ;  nor  a  person  of  judgment 
who  could  seriously  think  that  her  government  was 
exposed  to  the  slightest  danger  from  him  or  his  asso- 
ciates, who  felt  no  less  joy  at  her  auspicious  accession 
than  the  rest  of  their  brethren. §  If  he  had  been  im- 
prudent in  that  publication,  if  he  had  "  swerved  from 
the  particular  question  to  the  general,"  his  error  (to 
use  the  words  of  his  respondent)  "  rose  not  of  malice, 
but  of  zeal,  and  by  looking  more  to  the  present  cruelty, 
than  to  the  inconveniencies  that  after  might  follow;" 
and  it  was  the  part  of  generosity  and  of  good  policy  to 
overlook  the  fault.     Instead  of  this,  Elizabeth  and  her 

*  Cald.  MS.  1.380. 

f  Histoire  Litteraire  de  Geneve  par  Jean  Senebier,  tome  i. 
375.  Genev.  1786.  It  is  somewhat  singular,  that  Calvin  did  not 
obtain  this  honour  until  December  1559.  "  II  n'y  a  cependant 
point  de  citoyen  (says  Senebier)  qui  ait  achete  ce  titre  honor- 
able aussi  cnerement  que  lui  par  ses  services,  et  je  ne  crois 
pasqu'il  y  en  ait  beaucoup  qui  I'aient  autant  nierite,  et  qui  le 
rendrent  aussi  celebre."     Ibid.  p.  230,  231. 

Our  Reformer  obtained  another  public  teslimony  of  esteem 
at  this  time,  from  Bishop  Bale,  who  dedicated  his  work  on 
Scottish  Writers  to  him  and  Alexander  Alcss.  Tiie  praise 
which  he  bestows  on  him  deserves  the  more  notice,  because 
the  bishop  had  been  one  of  his  opponents  at  Frankfoi't.  "  Te 
vero,  Knoxe,  frater  amantissime,  conjunxit  mihi  Ana;lia  et 
Germania,  iniprimit  autera  doctrinae  nostra;  in  Christo  Domino 
fraterna  consensio.  Nemo  est  eiiim  qui  tuani  (idem,  constan- 
tiam,  patientiam,  tot  eruninis,  tanta  persecutione,  exilioque 
diuturno  et  gravi  testatum,  non  collaudet,  et  non  adniiretur, 
non  aniplectatur."  Balei  Script.  Illus.  Maj.  Brit,  poster,  pars. 
p.  175,  176.  Basiliae,  ex  officina  Joan.  Operini,  1559.  Mense 
Februario.  }  Knox,  Hi.«torie,  p.  205.  ||  lb.  p.  206,  210. 

}  In  February  1559,  the  English  exiles  at  Geneva  published 
B.  prose  translation  of  the  book  of  P^nZms,  which  they  dedicated 
to  Elizabeth;  and  in  this  dedication,  their  congratulations  on 
ner  accession  to  the  throne,  and  their  professions  of  loyalty, 
are  as  warm  as  those  of  any  of  her  subjects  were.  It  is  in- 
scribed "To  the  most  Vertuous  and  Noble  Queene  Elizabeth, 
Queene  of  Englande,  France  and  Irelande,  Slc.  your  humble 
subjects  of  the  English  church  at  Geneva,  wyth  grace,  &c." 
After  mentioning  that  they  had  employed  the  time  of  their 
exile,  in  revising  the  English  translation  of  the  Bible,  and  en- 
deavouring to  bring  it  as  near  as  they  could  to  the  pure  sim- 
plicity and  true  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  tongue,  tney  add: 
"When  we  heard  that  the  almightie  and  most  mercyfull  God 
had  no  less  myraculously  preferred  you  to  that  excellent  dig- 
nitie,  then  he  had  aboue  all  mens  expectations  preserued  you 
from  the  furie  of  such  as  sought  your  blood:  with  most  joyful  1 
myndes  and  great  diligence  we  endeauoured  our  selves)  to  set 
foorth  and  dedicate  this  most  excellent  booke  of  the  Psalmes  vnto 
your  grace  as  a  speciall  token  of  our  seruioe  and  good  will,  till 
the  rest  of  the  Byble,  which,  praysed  be  God,  is  in  good  readi- 
nesse,  may  be  accomplished  and  presented.''  Epistle,  p.  3. 
prefixed  to  the  Booke  of  Psalmes,  Geneva,  1559,  16mo. 


counsellors  took  up  the  charge  in  a  serious  light ;  and 
the  accused  were  treated  with  such  harshness  and  dis- 
dain, that  they  repented  of  leaving  their  late  asylum  to 
return  to  their  native  country.  One  cannot  help  feel- 
ing indignant  at  this  weak  revenge,  when  it  is  con- 
sidered that  Elizabeth  had  admitted  to  favour,  and  re- 
tained at  court,  persons  who  had  endeavoured  to  prevent 
her  succession,  and  who  had  thirsted  for  her  blood  ;* 
and  that  those  who,  under  the  preceding  reign,  had 
advised  and  practised  the  greatest  severities  against 
the  protestants  were  treated  with  the  utmost  lenity. 
Even  the  infamous  Bonner  was  allowed  to  appear  at 
Court,  and  although  the  Queen  shuddered  at  the 
thought  of  a  man,  who  was  polluted  with  so  much 
blood,  kissing  her  hand,  yet  was  he  at  this  time  going 
about  London  without  the  smallest  molestation. |  In 
the  first  parliament  of  Elizabeth,  one  Dr.  Story  made 
a  speech,  in  which  he  had  the  effrontery  to  justify  the 
cruelties  of  Mary,  to  boast  of  his  own  activity  in  carry- 
ing her  orders  into  execution,  and  to  regret  that  mea- 
sures still  more  violent  and  effpctual  liad  not  been 
adopted  for  the  utter  extirpation  of  heresy.:^  Nor  does 
it  appear  that  this  speech  was  resented  either  by  the 
House  or  by  the  Queen. 

De  nolii<,  post  hrpc,  tristis  sententia  fertur: 
Dat  veniani  corvis,  vexat  censura  rolunibas. 

Juvenal.  Sat.  ii. 

The  refusal  of  his  request,  and  the  harsh  treatment 
of  his  flock,  touched  to  the  quick  the  irritable  temper 
of  our  Reformer;  and  it  was  with  some  difficulty  that 
he  suppressed  the  desire,  which  he  felt  rising  in  his 
breast,  to  prosecute  a  controversy  which  he  had  re- 
solved to  abandon.  "  My  first  Blast  (says  he,  in  a 
letter  dated  Dieppe,  6th  April,  1559)  hath  blown  from 
me  all  my  friends  in  England.  My  conscience  bears 
record,  that  yet  I  seek  the  favour  of  my  God,  and  so 
1  am  in  the  less  fear.  The  second  Blast,  I  fear,  shall 
sound  somewhat  more  sharp,  except  that  men  be  more 
moderate  than  I  hear  they  are. — England  hath  refused 
me ;  but  because,  before,  it  did  refuse  Jesus  Christ, 
the  less  do  I  regard  the  loss  of  this  familiarity.  And 
yet  have  I  been  a  secret  and  assured  friend  to  thee,  O 
England,  in  cases  which  thyself  could  not  have  reme- 
died."||  But  greater  designs  occupied  his  mind,  and 
engrossed  his  attention.  It  was  not  for  the  sake  of 
personal  safety,  nor  from  the  vanity  of  appearing  at 
Court,  that  he  desired  to  pass  through  England.  He 
felt  the  natural  wish  to  visit  his  old  anquaintances  in 
that  country,  and  was  anxious  for  an  opportunity  of 
once  more  addressing  those  to  whom  he  had  preached, 
especially  at  Newcastle  and  Berwick.  But  there  was 
another  object  which  he  had  still  more  at  heart,  and  in 
which  the  welfare  of  both  England  and  Scotland  were 
concerned. 

Notwithstanding  the  flattering  accounts  which  he 
had  received  of  the  favourable  disposition  of  the  queen 


*  Haynes,  State  Papers,  p.  295.     Knox,  Historie,  p.  210. 

t  Burnet,  ii.  374,  396.  Stow,  Annals,  p.  635.  edit.  1631. 
When  he  was  afterwards  committed  to  the  Marshalsea,  for  re- 
fusing to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  and  supremacy,  he  was 
kept  "under  a  very  easy  restraint."  Godwin  de  Pi-aesulibus 
Anglias,  p.  251.  edit.  1616.  Stapleton,  a  popish  writer,  says 
that  Tonstal  was  "  cast  into  prison,  as  most  of  the  bishops  were, 
where  he  made  a  glorious  end  of  a  confessor,  and  satisfied  for 
his  former  crime  of  schism." — "  A  prison!"  exclaims  Dr.  Jortin. 
"  Lambeth  palace,  and  the  archbishop's  table,  was  a  dreadful 
dun^on,  to  be  sure;  and  as  bad  as  those  into  which  the  righte- 
ous Bonner,  and  other  saints  of  the  same  class,  used  to  thrust 
the  poor  heretics!  Will  men  never  be  ashamed  of  these  godly 
tricks  and  disingenuous  prevarications?"  Life  of  Erasmus, 
i.  101. 

I  He  said,  "  that  he  saw  nothing  to  be  ashamed  of,  or  sorry 
for;  wished  that  he  had  done  more,  and  that  he  and  others  had 
been  more  vehement  in  executing  the  laws;  and  said  that  it 
grieved  him,  that  they  laboured  only  about  the  young  and 
little  twigs,  whereas  they  should  have  struck  at  the  root;"  by 
which  he  was  understood  to  mean  Queen  Elizabeth.  Strype'a 
Annals,  i.  79,  536. 

II  Cald.  MS.  i.  384.     See  also  Knox's  Historie,  p.  204—207, 


68 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX. 


regent  towards  the  protestants,  and  the  directions  which 
he  sent  them  to  cultivate  this,  he  seems  to  have  always 
entertained  suspicions  of  the  sincerity  of  her  profes- 
sions. Since  he  left  Geneva,  these  suspicions  had 
been  confirmed  ;  and  the  information  which  he  had 
procured,  in  travelling  through  France,  conspired  with 
intelligence  which  he  had  lately  received  from  Scot- 
land, in  convincing  him,  that  the  immediate  suppres- 
sion of  the  Reformation  in  his  native  country,  and  its 
consequent  suppression  in  the  neighbouring  kingdom, 
were  intended.  The  plan  projected  by  the  gigantic 
ambition  of  the  princes  of  Lorrain,  brothers  of  the 
queen  regent  of  Scotland,  has  been  developed,  and  de- 
scribed with  great  accuracy  and  ability,  by  a  celebrated 
modern  historian.*  Suffice  it  to  say  here,  that  their 
counsels  had  determined  the  French  court  to  set  up 
the  claim  of  the  young  queen  of  Scots  to  the  crown  of 
England;  to  attack  Elizabeth,  and  wrest  the  sceptre 
from  her  hands,  under  the  pretext  that  she  was  a  bas- 
tard and  a  heretic;  and  to  commence  their  operations 
by  suppressing  the  Reformation,  and  establishing  the 
French  influence,  in  Scotland,  as  the  best  preparative 
to  an  attack  upon  the  dominions  of  the  English 
queen.  Knox,  in  the  course  of  his  journeys  through 
France,  had  formed  an  acquaintance  with  certain 
persons  about  the  court;  and,  by  their  means,  had 
gained  some  knowledge  of  this  plan.f  He  was  con- 
vinced that  the  Scottish  reformers  were  unable  to  resist 
the  power  which  France  might  bring  against  them ; 
and  that  it  was  no  less  the  interest  than  the  duty  of  the 
English  court  to  afford  them  the  most  effectual  sup- 
port. But  he  was  afraid  that  a  selfish  and  narrow 
policy  might  prevent  them  from  doing  this,  until  it 
was  too  late;  and  was  therefore  anxious  to  call  their 
attention  to  this  subject  at  an  early  period,  and  to  put 
them  in  possession  of  the  facts  that  had  come  to  his 
knowledge.  The  assistance  which  Elizabeth  granted 
to  the  Scottish  protestants,  in  the  year  1560,  was  dic- 
tated by  the  soundest  policy.  It  baffled  and  defeated 
the  designs  of  her  enemies  at  the  very  outset ;  it  gave 
her  an  influence  over  Scotland,  which  all  her  prede- 
cessors could  not  obtain  by  the  terror  of  their  arms, 
nor  the  influence  of  their  money ;  and  it  secured  the 
stability  of  her  government,  by  extending  and  strength- 
ening the  protestant  interest,  the  principal  pillar  on 
which  it  rested.  And  it  reflects  not  a  little  credit  on 
our  Reformer's  sagacity,  that  he  had  conceived  this 
plan  at  so  early  a  period,  was  the  first  person  who 
proposed  it,  and  persisted,  in  spite  of  great  discourage- 
ments, to  urge  its  adoption,  until  his  endeavours  were 
ultimately  crowned  with  success. 

Deeply  impressed  with  these  considerations,  he  re- 
solved, although  he  had  already  been  twice  repulsed, 
to  brook  the  mortification,  and  make  another  attempt 
to  obtain  an  interview  with  some  confidential  agent  of 
the  English  government.  With  this  view,  he,  on 
the  lOlh  of  April,  wrote  a  letter  to  Secretary  Cecil, 
with  whom  he  had  been  personally  acquainted  during 
his  residence  in  London.  Adverting  to  the  treatment 
of  the  exiles  who  had  returned  from  Geneva,  he  excul- 

*  Robertson's  History  of  Scotland,  B.  ii.  ad.  An.  1559. 

+  Knox,  Historic,  p.  206,  214.  260.  He  had  an  opportunity 
of  receiving  a  confirmation  of  this  intelligence,  during  his  voy- 
age to  Scotland.  In  the  same  ship  in  which  he  sailed,  there 
was  sent  by  the  French  court,  to  the  Queen  Regent,  a  stafl'  of 
state,  with  a  great  seal,  on  which  were  engraved  the  arms 
of  France,  Scotland,  and  Englaixd.  This  was  shewn  to  him  in 
great  secrecy.  The  English  court,  after  they  were  awakened 
from  their  lethargy,  and  convinced  of  the  hostile  designs  of 
France,  applied  to  Knox  for  the  information  which  they  might 
have  had  from  him  six  months  before.  Cotton  MSS.  Caligula, 
B.  ix.  f.  38,  74.  Sadler's  State  Papers,  i.  463,  688.  Keith,  Ap. 
p.  38,  42.  The  English  certainly  suffered  themselves  to  be 
amused  at  the  treaty  of  Chateau-Cambresis,  while  the  courts 
of  France  and  Spain  concerted  measures  dangerous  to  England, 
and  to  the  whole  protestant  interest.  Dr.  Wotton,  one  of  the 
commissioners,  complains,  in  a  letter  to  Cecil,  of  want  of  intel- 
ligence, a^d  that  the  English  had  no  ipies  on  the  continent. 
ForbM's  State  Papers,  i.^. 


pated  them  from  all  responsibility  as  to  the  offensive 
book  which  he  had  published,  and  assured  him  that 
he  had  not  consulted  with  one  of  them  previous  to  its 
publication.  As  for  himself,  he  did  not  mean  to  deny 
that  he  was  the  author,  nor  was  he  yet  prepared  to  re- 
tract the  leading  sentiment  which  it  contained.  But 
he  was  not,  on  that  account,  less  friendly  to  the  person 
and  government  of  Elizabeth,  in  whose  exaltation  he 
cordially  rejoiced  ;  although  he  rested  the  defence  of 
her  authority  upon  grounds  different  from  the  common. 
This  was  the  third  time  that  he  had  craved  liberty  to 
pass  through  England.  He  had  no  desire  to  visit  the 
court,  nor  to  remain  long  in  the  country;  but  he  was 
anxious  to  communicate  to  him,  or  to  some  other  trusty 
person,  matters  of  great  importance,  which  it  was  not 
prudent  to  commit  to  writing,  or  intrust  to  an  ordinary 
messenger.  If  his  request  was  refused,  it  would  turn 
out  to  the  disadvantage  of  England.* 

The  situation  in  which  he  stood  at  this  time  with 
the  court  of  England  was  so  well  known,  that  it  was 
not  without  great  difficulty  that  he  could  find  a  mes- 
senger to  carry  his  letter  ;f  and,  either  despairing  of 
the  success  of  his  application,  or  urged  by  intelligence 
received  from  Scotland,  he  sailed  from  Dieppe  on  the 
22d  of  April,  and  landed  safely  at  Leith  on  the  2d  of 
May  1559.^ 


PERIOD  VL 

From  May  1559,  when  he  finally  returned  to  Scotland,  till 
August  1560,  when  he  was  settled  as  Minister  of  Edinburgh, 
at  tne  establishment  of  the  Reformation. 

On  his  arrival,  Knox  found  matters  in  the  most 
critical  state  in  Scotland.  The  Queen  Regent  had 
thrown  off  the  mask  which  she  had  long  worn,  and 
avowed  her  determination  forcibly  to  suppress  the 
Reformation.  As  long  as  she  stood  in  need  of  the 
assistance  of  the  protestants,  to  support  her  authority 
against  the  Hamiltons,  and  to  procure  the  matrimonial 
crown  for  her  son-in-law,  the  Dauphin  of  France,  she 
courted  their  friendship,  listened  to  their  plans  of  re- 
form, professed  her  dissatisfaction  with  the  corruption 
and  tyranny  of  the  ecclesiastical  order,  and  her  desire 
of  correcting  these  as  soon  as  a  fit  opportunity  offered, 
and  flattered  them,  if  not  with  the  hopes  of  her  joining 
their  party,  at  least  with  assurances  that  she  would 
shield  them  from  the  fury  of  the  clergy.  So  complete- 
ly were  they  duped  by  her  consummate  address  and 
dissimulation,  that  they  complied  with  all  her  requests, 
restrained  some  of  their  preachers  from  teaching  in 
public,  and  desisted  from  presenting  to  the  late  Par- 
liament a  petition  which  they  had  prepared  ;  nor  would 
they  believe  her  to  be  insincere,  even  after  different 
parts  of  her  conduct  had  afforded  strong  grounds  for 
suspicion.  But,  having  accomplished  the  great  objects 
which  she  had  in  view,  she  at  last  adopted  measures 
which  completely  undeceived  them,  and  discovered 
the  gulph  into  which  they  were  almost  precipitated. 

As  this  discovery  of  the  Regent's  duplicity  produced 
consequences  of  the  greatest  importance ;  as  it  com- 
pletely alienated  from  her  the  minds  of  the  reformers, 
and  aroused  that  spirit  of  determined  and  united  oppo- 
sition to  her  insidious  policy,  and  her  violent  measures, 
which  ultimately  led  to  the  establishment  of  the  Re- 


*  Knox,  Historic,  p.  204,  206. 

+  The  person  whom  he  at  last  persuaded  to  take  his  letter 
was  Richard  Harrison,  But  the  honest  spy,  (for  such  was  his 
employment  at  that  time)  dreading  that  Knox  bad  made  him 
the  bearer  of  another  Blast,  which,  if  it  did  not  endanger  the 
throne  of  Elizabeth,  might  blow  up  his  credit  with  the  court, 
prudently  communicated  the  suspicious  packet  to  Sir  Nicholas 
Throkmortou,  the  English  ambassador  to  the  court  of  France, 
and  obtained  his  sanction  and  safe  conduct  before  conveying  it 
to  London.  Letter  from  Throkmorton  to  Cecil,  15th  of  May, 
1559.     Forbes's  State  Papers,  i.  90,  91. 

\  Cald.  MS.  i.  392,  393.    Knox,  Historie,  p.  127,  207. 


LIFE    OF  JOHN   KNOX. 


69 


formation  ;  and  as  the  facets  connected  with  it  have  not 
been  accurately  or  fully  stated  in  our  common  histo- 
ries,* the  reader  may  not  be  displeased  at  having  the 
following  more  circumstantial  detail  laid  before  him. 

A  mutual  jealousy  had  long  subsisted  between  the 
Queen  Regent  and  that  able  but  unprincipled  prelate, 
Archbishop  Hamilton,  whose  zeal  for  the  church  was 
uniformly  subordinated  to  his  personal  ambition,  and 
the  desire  of  aggrandizing  his  family.  While  he 
exerted  the  influence  which  his  station  gave  him  over 
the  clergy  to  embarrass  the  administration  of  the  Re- 
gent, she  employed  the  protestants  as  a  counterbalance 
to  his  power.  But  amidst  the  jarring  excited  by  rival 
interests,  both  parties  beheld  the  rapid  progress  of  the 
reformed  sentiments  with  equal  concern  ;  and  intelli- 
gent persons  early  foresaw,  that  their  differences  would 
be  finally  compromised,  and  a  coalition  formed  between 
them,  for  the  purpose  of  effecting  the  ruin  of  the  pro- 
testants.f  It  does  not  appear  that  the  primate  ever 
entertained  the  slightest  suspicion  that  the  Regent  was 
friendly  to  the  cause  of  the  Reformers.  Independently 
of  her  own  sentiments,  he  was  well  acquainted  with 
the  influence  which  her  brothers  possessed  over  her, 
and  with  their  devoted  attachment  to  the  Roman  Ca- 
tholic church.  Had  he  not  had  good  reasons  for  pre- 
suming upon  her  connivance  and  secret  approbation, 
his  known  prudence  would  not  have  allowed  him  to 
venture  upon  the  invidious  measure  of  putting  Mill  to 
death.  As  early  as  July  1558,  she  had  consulted  with 
him  on  the  measures  which  should  be  adopted  for 
checking  the  Reformation.:!:  And  immediately  after 
the  parliament  which  met  in  November,  and  at  which 
the  Regent  accomplished,  by  the  assistance  of  the 
protestants,  all  the  objects  which  she  wished  to  carry, 
the  primate  received  positive  assurances  of  her  sup- 
port in  his  exertions  for  maintaining  the  authority  of 
the  church.  For,  in  the  end  of  December,  he  sum- 
moned the  reformed  preachers  to  appear  before  him  in 
St,  Andrews  on  the  2d  of  February  following,  to  an- 
swer for  their  conduct  in  usurping  the  sacred  office  and 
disseminating  heretical  doctrines. [J 

Upon  this  a  deputation  of  the  protestants  waited  on 
the  Regent,  and  informed  her,  that,  after  what  had  re- 
cently taken  place  in  the  instance  of  Mill,  they  were 
determined  to  attend  and  see  justice  done  to  their 
preachers;  and  that,  if  the  prosecution  went  forward, 
there  would  be  a  greater  convocation  at  St,  Andrews 
than  had  been  seen  at  any  trial  in  Scotland  for  a  long 
period.  Dreading  the  consequences  of  a  concourse  of 
people  in  a  place  adjacent  to  counties  in  which  the 
protestants  were  numerous,  the  Queen  wrote  to  the 
archbishop  to  prorogue  the  trial.  She,  at  the  same 
time,  summoned  a  convention  of  the  nobility,  to  be 
held  at  Edinburgh  on  the  7th  of  March,  to  advise  upon 
the  most  proper  measures  for  settling  the  religious 
differences  which  had  so  long  agitated  the  nation.§ 
And  the  primate,  at  her  request,  called  a  provincial 
council  of  the  clergy  to  meet  in  the  same  place  on  the 
first  day  of  March.^ 

When  our  Saviour  was  condemned  to  be  crucified, 
it  was  observed,  that,  "  on  the  same  day,  Pilate  and 
Herod  were  made  friends  together,  for  before  they 
were  at  enmity  between  themselves,"  The  determi- 
nation which  was  at  this  time  formed  to  crush  the  pro- 
testant  interest  in  Scotland  seems  to  have  brought 
about  the  reconciliation  of  more  than  the  Queen  Re- 
gent and  the  Primate.  A  rivalship  had  long  subsisted 
between  those  who  occupied  the  two  Scottish  arch- 
bishopricks;  the  bishops  of  Glasgow  insisting  on  the 
independence  of  their  See,  and  boasting  of  the  priority 
of  its   erection,   while  the  bishops  of  St.    Andrews 


*  Some  remarks  on  (he  representation  which  Dr.  Robertson 
has  given  of  the  Regent's  conduct  will  be  found  in  Note  XXXI. 

f  Knox,  Historie,  p.  125. 

i  MS.  Historie  of  the  Estate  of  Scotland,  from  1559  to 
1566.  p.  1.  II  MS.  Historie,  ut  sup.  p.  2.  {  lb.  p.  2,  3. 

T  lb.  p.  3.     W ilkins,  Concilia,  torn,  iv,  p.  205. 


claimed  an  authoritative  primacy  over  all  the  clergy  in 
the  kingdom,  as  belonging  to  that  See  from  the  time 
of  its  foundation.*  Hamilton,  in  the  mandate  issued 
for  assembling  this  Council,  had  asserted  his  primacy 
in  very  formal  terms,  founding  upon  it,  as  well  as  upon 
the  legantine  authority  with  which  he  was  invested  by 
the  Pope,  his  right  to  convocate  the  clergy, |  Beatoun, 
archbishop  of  Glasgow,  seems  to  have  resented  this 
claim  of  superiority,  and  he  declined  for  some  time  to 
countenance  the  Council  by  his  presence,  or  to  cite  his 
suffragans  and  the  clergy  of  his  diocese  to  attend. 
This  dissention  might  have  proved  highly  injurious  to 
the  church  at  this  critical  period  ;  but  it  was  got  ac- 
commodated, and  Beatoun  with  the  western  clergy  at 
length  joined  the  Council.:|: 

In  the  mean  time,  the  protestants,  having  assembled 
at  Edinburgh,  appointed  commissioners  to  lay  their 
representations  before  the  convention  of  the  nobility, 
and  the  council  of  the  clergy. ||  The  commissioners 
gave  in  to  the  latter  certain  preliminary  articles  of  re- 
formation, in  which  they  craved,  that  the  religious  ser- 
vice should  be  performed  in  the  vulgar  tongue;  that 
such  as  were  unfit  for  the  pastoral  office  should  be  re- 
moved from  their  benefices ;  and  that,  in  time  coming, 
bishops  should  be  admitted  with  the  assent  of  the 
barons  of  the  diocese,  and  parish-priests  with  the  as- 
sent of  the  parishioners,  and  measures  adopted  for 
preventing  immoral  and  ignorant  persons  from  being 
employed  in  ecclesiastical  functions,^  But  there  was 
another  paper  laid  before  the  Council,  which,  it  is  pro- 
bable, gave  them  more  uneasiness  than  the  representa- 
tion of  the  protestants.  This  was  a  remonstrance  by 
certain  persons  attached  to  the  Roman  Catholic  faith, 
"craving  redress  of  several  grievances  complained  of 
in  the  ecclesiastical  administration  of  Scotland."  It 
consisted  of  thirteen  articles,  in  which,  among  other 
points  of  reformation,  they  required  that  the  exacting 
of  corps-presents  and  easter-ofTerings  should  be  abol- 
ished ;  that,  for  the  more  eflfectual  instruction  of  those 
who  partook  of  the  sacraments,  "  there  should  be  an 
godlieand  faithful  declaration  set  forth  in  Inglis  toung, 
to  be  first  shewin  to  the  pepil  at  all  times,"  when  any 
of  the  sacraments  were  administered;  and  that  the 
common  prayers  and  litanies  should  also  be  read  in 
the  vulgar  language.  At  the  same  time,  they  desired 
that  none  should  speak  irreverently  of  the  mass,  make 
innovations  upon  the  received  ceremonies  of  the  church, 
or  assume  the  administration  of  divine  ordinances  with- 
out authority  from  the  bishops.^ 

The  Council  were  not  disposed  to  agree  to  the  pro- 
posals either  of  the  protestant  or  of  the  popish  reform- 
ers. After  making  certain  partial  regulations  relating 
to  some  of  the  grievances  complained  of  by  the  latter,** 
and  renewing  the  canons  of  former  councils  respecting 
the  lives  of  the  clergy  and  public  instruction,! f  they 


*  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  p.  342,     Knox,  p.  51.     Spottiswood,  24. 
Lord  Hailes,  Provincial  Councils,  39,  40. 
t  Wilkins,  ut  sup.  p.  204—5. 

I  The  Primate's  letter  summoning  the  archbishop  of  Glas- 
gow to  the  Council  is  dated  the  last  day  of  January.  Wilkins, 
ut  supra.  The  Council  met  on  March  1.  Ibid.  p.  208.  But 
the  archbishop  of  Glasgow's  letter,  calling  his  clergy  to  the 
Council,  is  dated  as  late  as  March  18.  and  lie  requires  them  to 
attend  on  the  6th  of  April.  Ibid.  p.  206.  It  is  also  observable 
that  Beatoun,  in  his  citation,  takes  no  notice  of  the  Primate's 
mandate.  Ibid.  It  is  likely  that  the  matter  was  settled  by 
the  good  offices  of  the  Queen  Regent,  whose  favourable  incli- 
nation towards  the  church  is  warmly  commended  b}-  this  Coun- 
cil.    Ibid.  p.  209. 

II  MS.  Historie  of  the  Estate  of  Scotland,  ut  sup.  p.  3. 

5  Lesley,  Hist.  p.  546.  Lord  Hailes,  ProvincialCounciU, 
p.  38. 

IT  Wilkins,  Concilia,  iv.  207 — 8.  Wilkins  has  inserted  the 
Remonstrance  at  large,  which  he  procured  from  the  Records 
in  the  Scots  College  at  Paris.  It  is  surprising  that  this  curious 
document  should  have  escaped  the  eve  of  Lord  Hailes,  who 
has  not  taken  the  slightest  notice  of  It  in  his  account  of  the 
Scottish  Councils. 

**  Can.  21,  22,  24,  32.  apud  Wilkins,  ut  sup.  p.  214—16, 

tt  Can.  2—20.     Ibid.  p.  210—14. 


70 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    KNOX. 


refused  to  allow  any  part  of  the  public  service  to  be 
performed  in  the  vulgar  language  ;*  they  ratified  in 
the  strongest  terms  all  the  popish  doctrines  which 
were  controverted  by  the  protestants  ;f  and  they  or- 
dained, that  strict  inquisition  should  be  made  after 
such  as  absented  themselves  from  the  celebration  of 
inass,:^:  and  that  excommunications  should  be  fulmi- 
nated against  those  who  administered  or  received  the 
sacraments  after  the  protestant  forms,  and  against 
parents  and  sponsors  who  had  presented  children  for 
baptism  to  the  reformed  preachers,  and  did  not  bring 
them  to  the  priests  to  be  re-baptized. || 

The  Council  were  emboldened  to  take  these  decisive 
steps  in  consequence  of  a  secret  treaty  which  they  had 
concluded  with  the  Regent,  and  in  which  they  had 
stipulated  to  raise  a  large  sum  of  money  to  enable  her 
to  suppress  the  reformers.^  This  arrangement  could 
not  be  long  concealed  from  the  protestant  deputies, 
who,  perceiving  that  they  were  mocked  by  the  clergy, 
and  abandoned  by  the  court,  broke  off  the  fruitless 
negociations  in  which  they  had  been  engaged,  and  left 
Edinburgh.  They  were  no  sooner  gone  than  a  procla- 
mation was  made  at  the  market-cross,  by  order  of  the 
Regent,  prohibiting  any  person  from  preaching  or  ad- 
ministering the  sacraments  without  authority  from  the 
bishops,  and  commanding  all  the  subjects  to  prepare 
to  celebrate  the  ensuing  feast  of  Easter  according  to 
the  rites  of  the  Catholic  church.  Understanding  that 
her  proclamation  was  not  complied  with,  she  sum- 
moned the  preachers  to  answer  for  their  disobedience.^ 
The  Earl  of  Glencairn  and  Sir  Hugh  Campbell  of 
Loudon,  sheriff  of  Ayr,  waited  on  her,  and  remonstrated 
against  these  proceedings  ;  but  she  told  them  haughtily, 
that,  "  in  spite  of  them,  all  their  preachers  should  be 
banished  from  vScotland."  They  reminded  her  of  the 
promises  which  she  had  repeatedly  made  to  protect 
them,  upon  which  she  unblushingly  replied,  that  "  it 
became  not  subjects  to  burden  their  princes  with  pro- 
mises further  than  they  pleased  to  keep  them."  Sur- 
prised, but  not  intimidated  at  this  language,  Glencairn 
and  Loudon  told  her,  that,  if  she  violated  the  engage- 
ments which  she  had  come  under  to  her  subjects,  they 
would  consider  themselves  as  absolved  from  their 
allegiance  to  her.  Having  remonstrated  with  her  very 
freely,  and  pointed  out  the  dangerous  consequences 
that  might  result  from  adopting  such  a  line  of  con- 
duct, she  began  to  speak  to  them  in  a  milder  tone,  and 
promised  to  suspend  the  trial,  and  take  the  whole  affair 
into  serious  consideration.**     But   receiving  intelli- 

fence  soon  after  that  peace  was  concluded  between 
ranee  and  Spain,  and  that  these  two  powers  had 
agreed  to  unite  their  endeavours  for  the  extirpation  of 
heresy,  and  irritated  by  the  introduction  of  the  reformed 
worship  into  the  town  of  Perth,  she  revived  the  pro- 
cess against  the  preachers,  and  summoned  them  per- 
emptorily to  stand  their  trial  at  Stirling  on  the  10th 
ofMay.ft 

The  state  of  our  Reformer's  mind,  upon  receiving 
this  information,  will  appear  from  the  following  letter, 


«  Lesley,  Hist.  p.  546.     Lord  Haileg,  Prov.  Coun.  p.  38—9. 

+  Can.  16.  apud  Wilkins,  ut  sup.  p.  212—13, 

t  Can.  30.     Ibid.  p.  216. 

[I  Can.  33,  34.  Ibid.  p.  216—17.  The  form  of  words  ap- 
pointed by  the  Council  to  be  used  by  the  priest  in  re-baptiza- 
tion  is  curious.  "Si  tu  es  baptizatus,  e^o  non  te  baptizo;  sed 
si  non  es  baptizatus,  ego  te  baptizo,  in  nomine  Patris,"  &c.  i.  e. 
"  If  thou  hast  been  baptized,  I  do  not  baptize  thee;  but  if  thou 
hast  not  been  baptized,  I  do  baptize  thee,  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,"  &c. 

J  MS.  Historic  of  the  Estate  of  Scotland,  ut  supra,  p.  3. 
Knox,  Historic,  p.  122.  According  to  the  6r8t  of  these  autho- 
rities the  suna  promised  by  the  clerg-y  was  IS.OOOZ. ;  but  accor- 
ding to  a  Chronicle  written  by  the  laird  of  Erleshall,  referred 
to  by  Knox,  it  was  40,000/. 

IT  MS.  Historie  of  the  Estate  of  Scotland,  ut  sup. 

••   Knox.  126. 

+  t  Kdox  ut  sup.  Spottiswood,  120 — 1.  Bachanani.  Oper.  i. 
312—3. 


hastily  written  by  him  on  the  day  after  he  landed  in 
Scotland. 

"  The  perpetual  comfort  of  the  Holy  Ghost  for 
salutation. 

"These  few  lines  are  to  signify  unto  you,  dear 
sister,  that  it  hath  pleased  the  merciful  providence 
of  my  heavenly  Father  to  conduct  me  to  Edinburgh, 
where  I  arrived  the  2  of  May  :  uncertain  as  yet  what 
God  shall  further  work  in  this  country,  except  that  I 
see  the  battle  shall  be  great.  For  Satan  rageth  even 
to  the  uttermost,  and  I  am  come,  I  praise  my  God, 
even  in  the  brunt  of  the  battle.  For  my  fellow 
preachers  have  a  day  appointed  to  answer  before  the 
Queen  Regent,  the  10th  of  this  instant,  when  I  intend 
(if  God  impede  not)  also  to  be  present ;  by  life,  by 
death,  or  else  by  both,  to  glorify  his  godly  name,  who 
thus  mercifully  hath  heard  my  long  cries.  Assist  me, 
sister,  with  your  prayers,  that  now  I  shrink  not,  when 
the  battle  approacheth.  Other  things  I  have  to  com- 
municate with  you,  but  travel  after  travel  doth  so 
occupy  me,  that  no  lime  is  granted  me  to  write.  Ad- 
vertise my  brother,  Mr.  Goodman,  of  my  estate ;  as 
in  my  other  letter  sent  unto  you  from  Dieppe,  I 
willed  you.  The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  rest 
with  you.  From  Edinburgh,  in  haste,  the  3d  of 
May."* 

His  arrival  in  Scotland  was  not  long  concealed 
from  the  clergy.  On  the  morning  after  he  landed  at 
Leith,  one  came  to  the  monastery  of  the  Grey-friars, 
where  the  Provincial  Council  was  still  sitting,f  and 
informed  them  that  John  Knox  was  come  from  France, 
and  had  slept  last  night  in  Edinburgh.  The  clergy 
were  panic-struck  with  the  intelligence,  and  foreboding 
the  ruin  of  all  the  plans  which  they  had  formed  with 
so  much  care,  they  dismissed  the  Council  in  great 
haste  and  confusion.  A  messenger  was  instantly 
despatched  by  them  with  the  information  to  the  Queen 
Regent  who  was  at  Glasgow ;  and  within  a  few  days 
Knox  was  publicly  declared  an  outlaw  and  rebel,  in 
virtue  of  the  sentence  formerly  pronounced  against  him 
by  the  clergy.:}: 

Although  his  own  cause  was  prejudged,  and  he 
knew  that  he  was  liable  to  be  apprehended  as  a  con- 
demned heretic,  he  did  not  hesitate  a  moment  in  re- 
solving to  present  himself  voluntarily  at  Stirling,  to 
assist  his  brethren  in  their  defence,  and  share  in  their 
danger.  Having  resided  only  a  single  day  at  Edin- 
burgh, he  hurried  to  Dundee,  where  he  found  the 
principal  protestants  in  Angus  and  Mearns  already 
assembled,  and  determined  to  attend  their  ministers 
to  the  place  of  trial,  and  to  avow  their  adherence 
to  the  doctrines  for  which  they  were  accused.  The 
providential  arrival  of  such  an  able  champion  of  the 
cause,  at  this  crisis,  must  have  been  very  encouraging 
to  the  assembly;  and  the  liberty  of  accompanying 
them  which  he  requested,  was  readily  granted. 

Lest  the  unexpected  approach  of  such  a  multitude, 
though  unarmed,  should  alarm  or  offend  the  Regent,  the 
assembled  protestants  agreed  to  stop  at  Perth,  and  sent 
Erskine  of  Dun  before  them  to  Stirling,  to  acquaint 
her  with  the  peaceable  object  and  manner  of  their 
coming.  Apprehensive  that  their  presence  would  dis- 
concert her  measures,  the  Regent  had  again  recourse 
to  dissimulation.  She  persuaded  Erskine  to  request  his 
brethren  to  desist  from  their  intended  journey,  and 
aulhorivsed  him  to  promise,  in  her  name,  that  she  would 
put  a  stop  to  the  trial.     The  protesanis  testified  their 


•  Letter  to  Mrs.  Anne  Locke,  apud  Cald.  MS.  i.  393. 

f  MS.  Historie  of  the  Estate  of  Scotland,  ut  sup.  p.  3,  4. 
Knox.  Historie,  p.  109.  In  the  preamble  to  the  acts  of  this 
Council,  it  is  said  to  hare  been  "  finitum  10.  die  mensis  Aprilis," 
But  in  the  conclusion  of  the  acts  there  is  an  expression  which 
leads  to  a  reconciliation  of  (his  with  the  two  preceding  authori- 
ties ;  '^Jinierulo  sen  Jinilo  die  10.  mensis  Aprilis:"  from  which 
it  appears  that,  though  the  acts  were  concluded,  it  was  not  yet 
agreed  to  close  the  Council  on  that  day.   Wilkins,  iv.  209,  217. 

\  MS.  Historie  of  the  Estate  of  Scotland,  ut  sup. 


LIFE    OF  JOHN   KNOX. 


n 


pacific  intentions  by  a  cheerful  compliance  with  this 
request,  and  the  greater  part,  confiding  in  the  royal 
promise,  returned  to  their  homes.  But  when  the  day 
of  trial  came,  the  summons  was  called  by  the  orders 
of  the  Queen,  the  preachers  were  outlawed  for  not 
appearing,  and  all  persons  were  prohibited,  under 
the  pain  of  rebellion,  from  harbouring  or  assisting 
them.* 

Escaping  from  Stirling,  Erskine  brought  to  Perth 
the  intelligence  of  this  disgraceful  transaction,  which 
could  not  fail  to  incense  the  protestants.  It  happened 
that,  on  the  same  day  on  which  the  news  came,  Knox, 
who  remained  at  Perth,  preached  a  sermon,  in  which 
he  exposed  the  idolatry  of  the  mass,  and  of  image- 
worship.  Sermon  being  concluded,  the  audience  qui- 
etly dismissed  ;  a  few  idle  persons  only  loitered  in  the 
church ;  when  an  imprudent  priest,  wishing  either  to 
try  the  disposition  of  the  people,  or  to  shew  his  con- 
tempt of  the  doctrine  which  had  been  delivered  by  the 
preacher,  uncovered  a  rich  altar-piece,  decorated  with 
images,  and  prepared  to  celebrate  mass.  A  boy,  having 
uttered  some  expressions  of  disapprobation,  was  struck 
by  the  priest.  He  retaliated  by  throwing  a  stone  at 
the  aggressor,  which,  falling  on  the  altar,  broke  one 
of  the  images.  This  operated  like  a  signal  upon  the 
people  present,  who  had  taken  part  with  the  boy;  and, 
in  the  course  of  a  few  minutes,  the  altar,  images,  and 
all  the  ornaments  of  the  church  were  torn  down,  and 
trampled  under  foot.  The  noise  soon  collected  a  mob, 
who,  finding  no  employment  in  the  church,  by  a 
sudden  and  irresistible  impulse  flew  upon  the  monas- 
teries ;  and  although  the  magistrates  of  the  town  and 
the  preachers  assembled  as  soon  as  they  heard  of  the 
riot,  yet  neither  the  persuasions  of  the  one  nor  the 
authority  of  the  other  could  restrain  the  mob,  until  the 
houses  of  the  grey  and  black  friars,  with  the  costly 
edifice  of  the  Carthusian  monks,  were  laid  in  ruins. 
None  of  the  gentlemen  or  sober  part  of  the  congrega- 
tion were  concerned  in  this  unpremeditated  tumult ;  it 
was  wholly  confined  to  the  baser  inhabitants,  or  (as 
Knox  designs  them)  "  the  rascal  multitude."  [ 

The  demolition  of  the  monasteries  having  been 
represented  as  the  first-fruits  of  our  Reformer's  la- 
bours on  this  occasion,  it  was  necessary  to  give  this 
minute  account  of  the  causes  which  produced  that 
event.  Whatever  his  sentiments  were  as  to  the  de- 
struction of  the  instruments  and  monuments  of  idolatry, 
he  wished  this  to  be  accomplished  in  a  regular  man- 
ner ;  he  was  sensible  that,  in  the  present  circumstances, 
such  tumultuary  proceedings  were  prejudicial  to  the 
cause  of  the  reformers;  and,  instead  of  instigating,  he 
exerted  himself  in  putting  a  stop  to  the  ravages  of  the 
mob.  But  if  this  disorderly  conduct  must  be  traced 
to  a  remote  cause,  we  can  impute  it  only  to  the  wanton 
and  dishonourable  perfidy  of  the  Queen. 

In  fact,  nothing  could  be  more  favourable  to  the 
designs  of  the  Regent  than  this  riot.  By  her  recent 
conduct  she  had  forfeited  the  confidence  of  the  protest- 
ants, and  even  exposed  herself  in  the  eyes  of  the 
sober  and  moderate  of  her  own  party.  This  occur- 
rence afforded  her  an  opportunity  of  turning  the  public 
indignation  from  herself,  and  directing  it  against  the 
protestants.  She  did  not  fail  to  improve  it  with  her 
usual  address.  She  magnified  the  accidental  tumult 
into  a  dangerous  and  designed  rebellion.  Having 
called  the  nobility  to  Stirling,  she  in  her  interviews 
with  them  insisted  upon  such  topics  as  were  best 
calculated  to  persuade  the  parties  into  which  they  were 
divided.  In  conversing  with  the  Catholics,  she  dwelt 
upon  the  sacrilegious  overthrow  of  those  venerable 
structures  which  their  ancestors  had  dedicated  to  the 
service  of  God.  To  the  Protestants  who  had  not 
joined  their  brethren  at  Perth,  she  compUaned  of  the 


*  Knox,  Historie,  p.  127.      Spottiswood,  121.     Buchanani 
Oper.  i.  313. 

■f  Knox,  Historie,  p.  128.     Buchanani  Oper.  i.  31.J. 


destruction  of  the  Royal  foundation  of  the  Charter- 
house, and,  protesting  that  she  had  no  intention  of 
offering  violence  to  their  consciences,  she  promised  to 
protect  them,  on  the  condition  that  they  assisted  her  in 
punishing  those  who  had  been  guilty  of  this  violation 
of  public  order.*  Having  inflamed  the  minds  of  all 
against  them,  and  collected  an  army  from  the  adjacent 
counties,!  she  advanced  to  Perth,  threatening  to  lay 
waste  the  town  with  fire  and  sword,  and  to  inflict  the 
most  exemplary  vengeance  on  all  who  had  been  instru- 
mental in  producing  the  riot.:): 

The  protestants  of  the  North  were  not  insensible 
to  their  danger,  and  did  all  in  their  power  to  avert 
the  storm  which  threatened  them.  They  wrote  to 
the  Queen  Regent,  to  the  commanders  of  the  French 
troops,  to  the  popish  nobles,  and  to  those  of  their 
own  persuasion  ;  they  solemnly  disclaimed  all  rebel- 
lious intentions ;  they  protested  their  readiness  to 
yield  due  obedience  to  the  government ;  they  in- 
treated  all  to  refrain  from  offering  violence  to  peace- 
able subjects,  who  sought  only  the  liberty  of  their 
consciences  and  the  reformation  of  religion.  But 
finding  all  their  endeavours  fruitless,  they  resolved 
not  to  suffer  themselves  and  their  brethren  to  be  mas- 
sacred, and  prepared  for  a  defence  of  the  town  against 
an  illegal  and  furious  assault.  And  so  prompt  and 
vigorous  were  they  in  the  measures  which  they  adopt- 
ed, that  the  Regent,  when  she  approached,  deemed  it 
imprudent  to  attack  them,  and  proposed  overtures  of 
accommodation,  to  which  they  readily  acceded. || 

While  the  two  armies  lay  before  Perth,  and  nego- 
ciations  were  going  on  between  them,  our  Reformer 
obtained  an  interview  with  the  Prior  of  St.  Andrews 
and  the  young  Earl  of  Argyle,  who  adhered  to  the  Re- 
gent. He  reminded  them  of  the  solemn  engagements 
which  they  had  contracted,  and  charged  them  with 
violating  these,  by  abetting  measures  which  tended  to 
suppress  the  reformed  religion,  and  to  enslave  their 
native  country.  The  noblemen  replied,  that  they  had 
been  induced,  by  the  representations  of  the  regent  and 
the  clergy,  to  believe  that  their  brethren  intended  to 
swerve  from  their  former  loyalty,  and,  although  they 
were  now  convinced  that  this  charge  was  unfounded, 
yet  they  were  anxious  to  fulfil  the  promise  which  they 
had  made  to  the  Queen,  by  bringing  the  present  dif- 
ference to  an  amicable  termination  ;  but,  if  she  should 
violate  the  present  treaty,  they  would  withdraw  their 
countenance  from  her,  and  openly  take  part  with  their 
brethren,  to  whom  they  considered  themselves  as 
bound  by  the  most  sacred  ties  of  religion.  The  Re- 
gent was  not  long  in  affording  them  the  opportunity  of 
verifying  their  promise.  No  sooner  had  she  taken 
possession  of  Perth,  and  perceived  that  the  forces  of 
the  protestants  were  disbanded,  than  she  began  to 
disregard  the  conditions  to  which  she  had  agreed. 
And  Argyle  and  the  Prior,  having  remonstrated  against 
the  infractions  of  a  treaty  which  they  had  concluded 
at  her  earnest  request,  were  answered  in  such  an  unsat- 


*  Knox,  Historie,  p.  128—9,  135.  137. 

t  MS.  Historie  of  the  Estate  of  Scotland,  ut  supra,  p.  5. 

I  Buchanani  Oper.  i.  313.  Knox,  128.  A  writer  has  given 
the  name  of"  bellum  imaginarium"  to  this  war,  undertaken  by 
the  Regent  to  avenge  the  destruction  of  the  images,  and  the 
Climes  charged  upon  the  protestants  he  denominates  "  mere 
imaginaria  seditio  et  rebellio."  Historie  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland  to  1566.     MS.  Adv.  Lib.  A.  5.  43. 

II  When  the  overtures  were  proposed  to  the  protestants,  they 
exclaimed  with  one  voice;  "  Cursit  be  they  that  seik  eflusioun 
of  blude,  weir,  or  dissentioan.  Lat  us  possess  Christ  Jesus,  and 
the  benefite  of  his  evangel!,  and  nane  within  Scotland  sail  be 
uiair  obedient  subjectis  than  we  sail  be."  Knox,  Historie,  p. 
137.  The  Regent's  army  consisted  of  8000,  that  of  the  pro- 
testants amounted  to  5000  men.  This  seems  to  have  been  the 
number  of  the  latter  previous  to  the  arrival  of  the  Earl  of 
Glencairn,  with  a  reinforcement  from  the  West.  Glencairn 
had  joined  them,  before  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty,  with 
2500  men,  a  circura&tance  which  did  not  alter  their  pacific 
wishes.  Cald.  MS.  k  426.  MS.  Historie  of  the  Estate  of 
Scotland,  p.  5.     Knox,  Historie,  136. 


72 


LIFE   OF  JOHN   KNOX. 


isfactory  manner,  that  they  deserted  the  court,  and 
could  never  afterwards  be  persuaded  to  place  confi- 
dence in  her  promises.* 

From  the  time  that  the  leading  protestants  discovered 
the  hostile  intentions  of  the  Regent,  they  had  used 
grreat  industry  to  ascertain  the  numbers  of  their  friends, 
to  establish  means  of  correspondence  among  them,  and 
to  have  them  united  by  the  strictest  bonds.  For  this 
purpose,  copies  of  their  religious  covenant  were  com- 
mitted to  persons  who  procured  subscriptions  to  it  in 
the  different  districts  where  they  resided. |  From  the 
designation  which  they  gave  themselves  in  this  cov- 
enant, or  from  the  union  which  subsisted  among  them, 
the  protestants  began  at  this  time  to  be  distinguished 
by  the  name  of  The  Congregation.  The  nobles 
who  had  joined  the  association  were  the  Earls  of  Ar- 
gyle,  Glencairn,  Monteith  and  Rothes,  Lords  Ochiltree, 
Boyd,  Ruthven,  and  the  Prior  of  St.  Andrews.  The 
Earl  Marishal  and  Lord  Erskine,  with  some  others 
who  were  friendly  to  the  reformed  religion,  either  sup- 
ported the  Regent,  or  remained  neutral.  A  large 
proportion  of  the  lesser  barons  belonged  to  the  Con- 
gregation, particularly  those  of  Mearns,  Angus,  Strath- 
earn,  Monteith,  Fyfe,  Cunningham,  Kyle,  Carrick, 
and  Galloway.^ 

In  the  beginning  of  June  the  Lords  of  the  Con- 
gregation held  a  consultation  on  the  measures  which 
they  should  adopt  for  their  own  security,  and  for  the 
advancement  of  the  Reformation.  They  had  repeated- 
ly applied  to  the  clergy  to  rectify  the  abuses  which 
prevailed  in  the  church,  and  to  release  them  from  those 
unjust  and  oppressive  laws  by  which  their  consciences 
had  long  been  enslaved  ;  but  their  petitions  had  been 
treated  with  neglect  and  disdain.  "  To  abandon 
usurped  power,  to  renounce  lucrative  error,  are  sacrifi- 
ces which  the  virtue  of  individuals  has,  on  some  occa- 
sions, offered  to  truth ;  but  from  any  society  of  men  no 
such  effort  can  be  expected.  The  corruptions  of  a 
society,  recommended  by  common  utility,  and  justified 
by  universal  practice,  are  viewed  by  its  members  with- 
out shame  or  horror ;  and  reformation  never  proceeds 
from  themselves,  but  is  always  forced  upon  them  by 
some  foreign  hand."|j  Convinced  of  this,  the  protest- 
ant  leaders  had  next  addressed  themselves  to  the  Re- 
gent, and  requested  her  to  employ  her  authority  to 
bring  about  a  reformation  which  could  not  be  much 
longer  deferred,  without  interrupting  the  peace  of  the 
kingdom.  As  long  as  they  had  any  reason  to  think  that 
she  was  disposed  to  listen  to  their  petitions,  they  had 
waited  with  exemplary  patience,  and  restrained  the 
ardour  of  such  of  their  friends  as  were  inclined,  with- 
out further  delay,  to  use  the  right  which  nature  and 
Christianity  gave  them  ;  but  the  Regent  had  disap- 
pointed their  expectations,  and  from  being  a  professed 
friend  was  become  a  declared  enemy ;  they  could  no 
longer  place  the  smallest  dependance  on  her  promises  ; 
and  they  were  satisfied  that  she  had  formed  a  syste- 
matic plan  for  suppressing  the  Reformation,  and  en- 
forcing the  existing  ecclesiastical  laws  in  all  their 
rigour.  It  behoved  them  now  either  to  submit  to  have 
their  chains  riveted,  or  by  a  bold  and  vigorous  effort 
to  shake  them  off  altogether.  They  determined  upon 
the  latter.  The  scandalous  lives  of  the  established 
clergy,  their  total  neglect  of  the  religious  instruction 
of  the  people,  and  the  profanation  of  Christian  worship 
by  gross  idolatry,  were  the  most  glaring  abuses.  The 
Lords  of  the  Congregation  resolved  to  take  immediate 
steps  for  removing  these,  by  abolishing  the  popish 
service,  and  setting  up  the  reformed  worship  in  all 
those  places  to  which  their  authority  or  influence  ex- 
tended, and  in  which  the  greater  part  of  the  inhabitants 


*  MS.  Historic  of  the  Estate  of  Scotland,  ut  sup.  p.  6.  Knox, 
135—9.     Buchanan!  Oper.  i.  314—5.     Spottiswood,  123. 

f  Buchanan!  Opcr.  i.  311. 

}  MS.  Hiitorie  of  the  Estate  of  Scotland,  p.  8.  Knox,  Hii- 
torie,  136,  138,  144.  ||  Dr.  Robertson. 


were  friendly  to  the  design.  This  step  is  justified  in 
part  by  the  feudal  ideas  respecting  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  nobility,  which  at  that  time  prevailed  in  Scotland ; 
the  urgent  and  extreme  necessity  of  the  case,  however, 
forms  its  best  vindication.  A  great  part  of  the  nation 
loudly  demanded  such  a  reformation,  and  had  not  reg- 
ular measures  been  adopted  for  its  introduction,  the 
popular  indignation  would  have  effected  the  work  in  a 
more  exceptionable  way. 

St.  Andrews  was  the  place  fixed  on  for  commencing 
these  operations.  With  this  view,  the  Earl  of  Argyle, 
and  Lord  James  Stewart,  who  was  Prior  of  the  abbey 
of  St.  Andrews,  made  an  appointment  with  Knox  to 
meet  them,  on  a  certain  day,  in  that  city.  Travelling 
along  the  ea.st  coast  of  Fife,  he  preached  at  Anstruther 
and  Crail,  and,  on  the  9th  of  June,  joined  them  at  St. 
Andrews.  The  archbishop,  apprized  of  his  design  to 
preach  in  his  cathedral,  assembled  an  armed  force,  and 
sent  information  to  him,  that  if  he  appeared  in  the 
pulpit,  he  would  give  orders  to  the  soldiers  to  fire  upon 
him.  The  noblemen,  having  met  to  consult  what 
ought  to  be  done,  agreed  that  Knox  should  desist  from 
preaching  at  that  lime,  and  strongly  urged  upon  him 
the  reasons  of  their  opinion.  Their  retinue  was  very 
slender;  they  had  not  yet  ascertained  the  disposition  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  town  ;  the  Queen  lay  at  a  small 
distance  with  an  army,  ready  to  come  to  the  bishop's 
assistance;  and  his  appearance  in  the  pulpit  might 
lead  to  the  sacrifice  of  his  own  life,  and  the  lives  of 
those  who  were  determined  to  defend  him  from  vio- 
lence. 

There  are  occasions  on  which  it  is  a  proof  of  supe- 
rior wisdom  to  disregard  the  ordinary  dictates  of  pru- 
dence ;  on  which,  to  face  danger  is  to  avoid  it,  to  flee 
from  it  is  to  invite  it.  Had  the  reformers,  after  an- 
nouncing their  intentions,  suffered  themselves  to  be 
intimidated  by  the  bravading  attitude  and  threats  of 
the  archbishop,  their  cause  would,  at  the  very  outset, 
have  received  a  blow,  from  which  it  would  not  easily 
have  recovered.  This  was  prevented  by  the  firmness 
and  intrepidity  of  Knox.  Fired  with  the  recollection 
of  the  part  which  he  had  formerly  acted  on  that  spot, 
and  with  the  near  prospect  of  realizing  the  sanguine 
hopes  which  he  had  so  long  cherished  in  his  breast, 
he  resisted  all  the  importunities  of  his  friends.  He 
could  take  God  to  witness,  (he  said)  that  he  never 
preached  in  contempt  of  any  man,  nor  with  the  design 
of  hurting  an  earthly  creature;  but  to  delay  to  preach 
next  day  (unless  forcibly  hindered),  he  could  not  in 
conscience  agree:  In  that  town,  and  in  that  church, 
had  God  first  raised  him  to  the  dignity  of  a  preacher, 
and  from  it  he  had  been  rtft  by  French  tyranny,  at  the 
instigation  of  the  Scots  bishops :  The  length  of  his 
imprisonment,  and  the  tortures  which  he  had  endured, 
he  would  not  at  present  recite;  but  one  thing  he  could 
not  conceal,  that,  in  the  hearing  of  many  yet  alive,  he 
had  expressed  his  confident  hope  of  again  preaching 
in  St.  Andrews:  Now,  therefore,  when  Providence, 
beyond  all  men's  expectation,  had  brought  him  to  that 
place,  he  besought  them  not  to  hinder  him.  "As  for 
the  fear  of  danger,  that  may  come  to  me  (continued 
he),  let  no  man  be  solicitous;  for  my  life  is  in  the 
custody  of  Him  whose  glory  I  seek.  I  desire  the  hand 
nor  weapon  of  no  man  to  defend  me.  I  only  crave 
audience;  which,  if  it  be  denied  here  unto  me  at  this 
time,  I  must  seek  where  I  may  have  it." 

This  intrepid  reply  silenced  all  further  remon- 
strances ;  and  next  day  Knox  appeared  in  the  pulpit, 
and  preached  to  a  numerous  assembly,  including  many 
of  the  clergy,  without  experiencing  the  slightest  inter- 
ruption. He  discoursed  on  the  subject  of  our  Saviour's 
ejecting  the  profane  traflickers  from  the  temple  of 
Jerusalem,  from  which  he  took  occasion  to  expose  the 
enormous  corruptions  which  had  been  introduced  into 
the  church  under  the  papacy,  and  to  point  out  what 
was  incumbent  upon  Christians,  in  their  different 
spheres,  for  removing  them.     On  the  three  following 


LIFE    OF  JOHN    KNOX. 


73 


days  he  preached  in  the  same  place ;  and  such  was  the 
influence  of  his  doctrine,  that  the  provost,  bailies,  and 
inhabitants,  harmoniously  agreed  to  set  up  the  re- 
formed worship  in  the  town  :  the  church  was  stripped 
of  all  images  and  pictures,  and  the  monasteries  were 
pulled  down. 

Understanding  that  the  lords  at  St.  Andrews  were 
accompanied  by  a  slender  retinue,  the  Queen  Regent, 
who  lay  at  Falkland,  attempted  to  surprise  them.  But 
the  protestants  in  Angus,  having  received  information 
of  the  critical  situation  of  their  brethren,  came  to  their 
assistance  with  such  celerity  and  in  such  numbers, 
that  they  were  able  to  face  the  royal  army  at  Cupar- 
raoor;  and  the  Regent,  afraid  to  risk  a  battle,  con- 
sented to  a  truce,  by  which  she  engaged  to  remove  her 
French  troops  from  Fife,  and  to  send  commissioners 
to  St.  Andrews  for  the  purpose  of  settling  all  differ- 
ences between  her  and  the  Congregation.  The  troops 
were  removed,  but  no  commissioners  appeared;  and 
the  Lords  of  the  Congregation,  being  apprized  that 
the  Queen  intended  to  fortify  the  passage  of  the  Forth 
at  Stirling,  and  to  cut  off  their  communication  with  the 
protestants  in  the  south,  proceeded  to  Perth,  and  hav- 
ing expelled  the  garrison  from  that  town,  Ijy  a  rapid 
marcli  seized  upon  Stirling,  and,  advancing,  took  pos- 
session of  the  capital  of  the  kingdom  ;  the  Regent,  as 
they  approached,  retiring  with  her  forces  to  Dunbar.* 

The  example  of  St.  Andrews  in  abolishing  the  Po- 
pish worship  was  quickly  followed  in  other  parts  of 
the  kingdom;  and,  in  the  course  of  a  few  weeks,  at 
Crail,  at  Cupar,  at  Lindores,  at  Stirling,  at  Linlith- 
gow, and  at  Edinburgh,  the  houses  of  the  monks  were 
overthrown,  and  all  the  instruments,  which  had  been 
employed  to  foster  idolatry  and  superstition,  destroyed. f 

These  proceedings  were  celebrated  in  the  singular 
lays,  which  were  at  that  time  circulated  among  the 
reformers. 

His  cardinalles  hes  cause  to  mourne. 

His  bishops  are  borne  a  backe; 

His  abbots  gat  an  uncouth  turne. 

When  shavellinres  went  to  sacke. 

With  burges  wifes  they  led  their  lives^ 

And  fare  better  than  wee. 

Hay  trix,  trim  goe  trix,  under  the  greene  wod-tree. 

His  Carmelites  and  Jacobinis, 
His  Domini  kes  had  great  adoe; 
His  Cordeilier  and  Augustines, 
Sanct  Francis's  ordour  to; 
The  sillie  friers,  mony  yeiris 
With  babliag  bleerit  our  ee. 
Hay  trix,  &c. 

Had  not  your  self  begun  the  weiris, 
Your  Stepillis  had  been  standand  yit; 
It  was  the  flattering  of  your  friers 
That  ever  gart  Sanct  Francis  flit: 
Ye  grew  sa  superstitious 

In  wickednesse. 
It  gart  us  grow  malicious 

Contrair  your  messe.f 


Scarcely  any  thing  in  the  progress  of  the  Scottish 
Reformation  has  been  more  frequently  or  more  loudly 
condemned  than  the  demolition  of  those  edifices,  upon 
which  superstition  had  lavished  all  the  ornaments  of 
the  chisel  and  the  pencil.  To  the  Roman  Catholics, 
who  anathematized  all  who  were  engaged  in  this  work 
of  inexpiable  sacrilege,  and  represented  it  as  involv- 
ing' the  overthrow  of  all  religion, ||,  have   succeeded 


»  Knox,  Historic,  141—146.  Buchanani  Oper.  i.  315—6- 
Spottiswood,  142 — 6. 

•f  Letter  written  by  Knox  from  St.  .\ndrews,23d  June,  1559. 
apud  Cald.  MS.  i.  426,  428.  Knox.  Histone,  p.  140, 141.  MS. 
Historie  of  the  Estate  of  Scotland,  p.  6.  The  demolition  of 
the  monasteries  at  St.  Andrews  began  on  the  14th  of  June. 

f  Gude  and  godly  Bailates,  apud  Dalyell's  Scottish  Poems 
of  the  16th  century,  ii.  192,  198. 

11  The  tolbooth  of  Musselburgh  was  built  out  of  the  ruins 
of  the  chapel  of  Loretto :  on  wliich  account  the  good  people 
K 


another  race  of  writers,  who,  although  they  do  not,  in 
general,  make  high  pretensions  to  devotion,  have  not 
scrupled  at  all  times  to  borrow  the  language  of  their 
predecessors,  and  have  bewailed  the  wreck  of  so  many 
precious  monuments,  in  as  bitter  strains  as  ever  idola- 
ter did  the  loss  of  bis  gods.  These  are  the  warm  ad- 
mirers of  Gothic  architecture,  and  other. reliques  of 
ancient  art;  some  of  whom,  if  we  may  judge  from 
their  language,  would  welcome  back  the  reign  of 
superstition,  with  all  its  ignorance  and  bigotry,  if  they 
could  recover  the  objects  of  their  adoration.*  Writers 
of  this  stamp  depict  the  devastation  and  ravages,  which 
marked  the  progress  of  the  Reformation,  in  colours  as 
dark  as  ever  were  employed  by  the  historian  in  de- 
scribin^g  the  overthrow  of  ancient  learning,  by  the 
irruptions  of  the  barbarous  Huns  and  Vandals.  Our 
Reformer  cannot  be  mentioned  by  them  but  with 
symptoms  of  horror,  and  in  terms  of  detestation,  as  a 
barbarian,  a  savage,  and  a  ring-leader  of  mobs,  for 
overthrowing  whatever  was  venerable  in  antiquity,  or 
sacred  in  religion.  It  is  unnecessary  to  produce  in- 
stances. 

Expccfss  eadem  a  suramo  rainimoque  poeta. 

To  remind  such  persons  of  the  divine  mandate  to 
destroy  all  monuments  of  idolatry  in  the  land  of  Ca- 
naan would  be  altogether  insufferable,  and  might  pro- 
voke, from  some  of  them,  a  profane  attack  upon  the 
authority  from  which  it  proceeded.  To  plead  the 
example  of  the  early  Christians,  in  demolishing  the 
temples  and  statues  dedicated  to  pagan  polytheism, 
would  only  awaken  the  keen  regrets  which  are  felt  for 
the  irreparable  loss.f  It  would  be  still  worse  to  refer 
to  the  apocalyptic  predictions,  which  some  have  been 
so  fanatical  as  to  think  were  fulfilled  in  the  miserable 
spoliation  of  that  "Great  City,"  which,  under  all  its 
revolutions,  has  so  eminently  proved  the  nurse  of  the 
arts,  and  given  encouragement  to  painters,  statuaries, 
and  sculptors,  to  "  harpers,  and  musicians,  and  pipers, 
and  trumpeters,  and  craftsmen  of  whatsoever  craft;" 
who,  to  this  day  have  not  forgotten  their  obligations 
to  it,  nor  ceased  to  bewail  its  destruction.  In  any 
apology  which  I  make  for  the  Reformers,  I  would 
rather  alleviate  than  aggravate  the  distress  which  is 
felt  for  the  loss  of  such  valuable  memorials  of  anti- 
quity. It  has  been  observed  by  high  authority,  that 
there  are  certain  commodities  which  derive  their  prin- 
cipal value  from  their  great  rarity,  and  which,  if  found 
in  great  quantities,  would  cease  to  be  sought  after  or 
prized.:}:  A  nobleman  of  great  literary  reputation  has, 
indeed,  questioned  the  justness  of  this  observation,  as 
far  as  respects  precious  stones  and  metals. [|     But  I 


of  that  town  were,  till  lately,  annually  excommunicated  at 
Rome.  Sibbald's  Chronicle  of  Scottish  Poetry,  iii.  19.  Those 
who  wish  to  see  a  specimen  of  Catholic  declamation  on  thi» 
subject,  will  find  it  in  Note  XXXII. 

*  The  reader  may  take  one  example,  which  I  adduce,  not 
because  it  is  the  strongest,  but  because  it  happens  to  be  at 
hand.  '*  Thi»  abbey  [Kelso]  was  demolished  1569,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  enthusiastic  Reformation,  which,  in  its  violence, 
was  a  greater  disgrace  to  religion  than  all  the  errors  it  was 
intended  to  subvert.  Reformation  has  hitherto  always  appeared 
in  the  form  of  a  zealot,  full  of  fanatic  fury,  with  violence  sub- 
duing, but  through  madness  creating,  almost  as  many  mischiefs 
in  its  oversights,  as  it  overthrows  errors  in  its  pursuit.  Religion 
has  received  a  greater  shock  from  the  present  struggle  to  re- 
press some  Jbrmularies  and  save  some  scruples,  than  it  ever 
did  by  the  growth  of  superstition."  Hutchinson's  History 
of  Northumberland,  and  of  an  Excursion  to  the  Abbey  of  Mel- 
rose, i.  265, 

f  "Alas!  how  little  of  its  former  splendour  have  time  and 
the  fanatic  rage  of  the  early  Christians  left  to  the  Roman 
forum!  The  covered  passage,  with  a  flight  of  steps,  founded 
by  Tarquin  the  elder,  is  no  more  here  to  shelter  us  from  bad 
weather,  or  to  serve  for  the  spectators  to  entertain  themselves 
with  mountebanks  in  the  market-place."  A  most  deplorable 
loss,  truly !  This  writer  adds,  that  the  statues  of  the  twelve 
gods  are  yet  standing:  no  great  proof,  one  would  imagine,  of 
the  fanatic  rage  o(  the  Christians.  Kotzebue's  Travels  through 
Italy,  vol.  i.  p.  200.     Lond.  1807. 

X  Edinburgh 'Review,  vol.  iv.  p.  348. 

1)  Lord  Lauderdale's  Observations  on  Edinburgh  Review. 


74 


LIFE   OF  JOHN   KNOX. 


flatter  myself,  that  the  noble  author  and  the  learned 
critic,  however  much  they  differ  as  to  public  wealth, 
will  agree  that  the  observation  is  perfectly  just,  as 
applied  to  those  commodities  which  constitute  the 
wealth  and  engage  the  researches  of  the  antiquary. 
With  him  rarity  is  always  an  essential  requisite  and 
primary  recommendation.  His  property,  like  that  of 
the  possessor  of  the  famous  Sibylline  books,  does  not 
decrease  in  value  by  the  reduction  of  its  quantity,  but, 
after  the  greater  part  has  been  destroyed,  becomes  still 
more  precious.  If  the  matter  be  viewed  in  this  light, 
antiquarians  have  no  reason  to  complain  of  the  ravages 
of  the  reformers,  who  have  left  them  such  valuable 
remains,  and  placed  them  in  that  very  state  which 
awakens  in  their  minds  the  most  lively  sentiments  of 
the  sublime  and  beautiful,  by  reducing  them  to — Ruins. 

But  to  speak  seriously,  I  would  not  be  thought  so 
great  an  enemy  to  any  of  the  fine  arts,  as  to  rejoice  at 
the  wanton  destruction  of  their  models,  ancient  or 
modern,  or  to  vindicate  those  who,  from  ignorance  or 
fanatical  rage,  may  have  excited  the  mob  to  such  vio- 
lence. I  am  satisfied,  however,  that  the  charges 
usually  brought  against  our  Reformers  on  this  head 
are  highly  exaggerated,  and  in  some  instances  altoge- 
ther groundless.  The  demolition  of  the  monasteries 
is,  in  fact,  almost  the  only  thing  of  which  they  can  be 
accused.  Cathedral  and  parochial  churches,  and,  in 
several  places,  the  chapels  attached  to  monasteries, 
were  appropriated  to  the  protestant  worship ;  and  in 
the  orders  issued  for  stripping  them  of  images,  idola- 
trous pictures,  and  superstitious  utensils,  particular 
directions  were  given  to  avoid  whatever  might  injure 
the  buildings,  or  deface  any  of  their  ordi-nary  decora- 
tions. It  is  true,  that  some  churches  suffered  from 
popular  violence  during  the  ferment  of  the  Reforma- 
tion ;  and  that  others  were  dilapidated,  in  consequence 
of  their  most  valuable  materials  being  sold  to  defray 
the  expences  of  the  war  in  which  the  protestants  were 
involved  ;  but  the  former  will  not  be  matter  of  surprise 
to  those  who  have  attended  to  the  conduct  of  other 
nations  in  similar  circumstances,  and  the  latter  will  be 
censured  by  such  persons  only  as  are  incapable  of 
entering  into  the  feelings  of  a  people  who  were  en- 
gaged in  a  struggle  for  their  lives,  their  liberties,  and 
their  religion.  Of  all  the  charges  thrown  out  against 
our  Reformers,  the  most  ridiculous  is,  that,  in  their 
zeal  against  popery,  they  waged  war  against  literature, 
by  destroying  the  valuable  books  and  records  which 
had  been  deposited  in  the  monasteries.  The  state  of 
learning  among  the  monks,  at  the  era  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, was  wretched,  and  their  libraries  poor;  the  only 
[tersons  who  patronized  or  cultivated  literature  in  Scot- 
and  were  protestants ;  and  so  far  from  sweeping  away 
any  literary  monuments  which  remained,  the  Reform- 
ers were  disposed  to  search  for  them  among  the  rub- 
bish, and  to  preserve  them  with  the  utmost  care.  In 
this  respect  we  have  no  reason  to  deprecate  a  compa- 
rison between  our  Reformation  and  that  of  England, 
notwithstanding  the  flattering  accounts  which  have 
been  given  of  the  orderly  and  temperate  manner  in 
which  the  latter  was  conducted  under  the  superintend- 
ing control  of  the  supreme  powers.* 

But,  even  although  the  irregularities  committed  in 
the  progress  of  that  work  had  been  greater  than  have 
been  represented,  I  must  still  reprobate  the  spirit 
which  disposes  persons  to  dwell  with  unceasing  lam- 
entations upon  losses,  which,  in  the  view  of  an  en- 
lightened and  liberal  mind,  will  sink  and  disappear,  in 
the  magnitude  of  the  incalculable  good  which  rose 
from  the  wreck  of  the  revolution.  What!  do  we 
celebrate,  with  public  rejoicings,  victories  over  the 
enemies  of  our  country,  in  tlie  gaining  of  which  the 
lives  of  thousands  of  our  fellow-creatures  have  been 
sacrificed  1  and  shall  solemn  masses  and  sad  dirges, 
accompanied  with  direful  execrations,  be  everlastingly 


j  sung,  for  the  mangled  members  of  statues,  torn  pic- 
tures, and  ruined  towers  1  Shall  those  who,  by  a 
display  of  the  horrors  of  war,  would  persuade  their 
I  countrymen  to  repent  of  a  contest  which  had  been  dis- 
tinguished with  uncommon  feats  of  valour,  and  crowned 
with  the  most  brilliant  success,  be  accused  of  a  desire 
to  tarnish  the  national  glory ;  and  shall  the  arguments 
on  which  they  insist,  however  just  and  strong,  the 
eflfusion  of  human  blood,  the  sacking  of  cities,  the 
devastation  of  fertile  provinces,  the  ruin  of  arts  and 
manufactures,  and  the  intolerable  burdens  entailed 
even  upon  the  victors  themselves,  be  represented  as 
mere  common-place  topics,  employed  as  a  covert  to 
disloyalty?  and  do  not  those  who,  at  the  distance  of 
nearly  three  centuries,  continue  to  wail  evils  of  a  far 
inferior  kind  which  attended  the  Reformation,  justly 
expose  themselves  to  the  suspicion  of  indifference  and 
disaffection  to  a  cause,  in  comparison  with  which 
all  contests  between  rival  kingdoms  and  sovereigns 
dwindle  into  insignificance]  1  will  go  farther,  and 
say,  that  I  look  upon  the  destruction  of  these  monu- 
ments as  a  piece  of  good  policy,  which  contributed 
materially  to  the  overthrow  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
religion,  and  the  prevention  of  its  re-establishment.  It 
was  chiefly  by  the  magnificence  of  its  temples,  and  the 
splendid  apparatus  of  its  worship,  that  the  popish 
church  fascinated  the  senses  and  imaginations  of  the 
people.  A  more  successful  method  of  attacking  it 
therefore  could  not  be  adopted,  than  the  demolition  of 
what  thus  contributed  so  much  to  uphold  and  extend 
its  influence.  There  is  more  wisdom  than  many  seem 
to  perceive,  in  the  maxim  which  Knox  is  said  to  have 
inculcated,  "  that  the  best  way  to  keep  the  rooks  from 
returning,  was  to  pull  down  their  nests.'"'  In  demol- 
ishing, or  rendering  uninhabitable  all  those  buildings 
which  had  served  for  the  maintenance  of  the  ancient 
superstition  (except  what  were  requisite  for  the  pro- 
testant worship),  the  reformers  only  acted  upon  the 
principles  of  a  prudent  general,  who  dismantles  or 
razes  the  fortifications  which  he  is  unable  to  keep,  and 
which  might  afterwards  be  seized,  and  employed 
against  him,  by  the  enemy.  Had  they  been  allowed 
to  remain  in  their  former  splendor,  the  popish  clergy 
would  not  have  ceased  to  indulge  hopes,  and  to  make 
efforts  to  be  restored  to  them ;  occasions  would  have 
been  taken  to  tamper  with  the  credulous,  and  to  inflame 
the  minds  of  the  superstitious ;  and  the  reformers  might 
soon  have  found  reason  to  repent  their  ill-judged  for- 
bearance. 

When  we  had  quelled 

The  strength  of  Aztlan,  we  should  have  thrown  down 

Her  altars,  cast  her  idols  to  the  fire. 

The  priests  combined  to  save  their  craft; 

And  soon  the  rumour  ran  of  evil  signs 

And  tokens;  in  the  temple  had  been  heard 

Wailings  and  loud  lament;  the  eternal  fire 

Gave  dismally  a  dim  and  doubtful  flame; 

And  from  the  censer,  which  at  morn  should  steam 

Sweet  odours  to  the  sun,  a  fcetid  cloud, 

Black  and  portentous  rose. 

Southej's  Madoc.  p.  i.  b.  ii. 


•  See  Kote  XXXEII. 


Our  Reformer  was  along  with  the  forces  of  the  Con- 
gregation when  they  faced  the  army  of  the  Regent  in 
Cupar-mooi  ;*  he  accompanied  them  on  their  expedi- 
tion to  Perth, f  and  in  the  end  of  June  arrived  with 
them  at  Edinburgh.:}:  On  the  same  day  he  preached 
in  St,  Giles's,  and  next  day  in  the  Abbey  church. || 
On  the  7lh  of  July,  the  protestant  inhabitants  met  in 
the  Tolbooth,  and  made  choice  of  him  as  their  Minis- 
ter.§  With  this  choice,  which  was  approved  of  by  his 
brethren,  he  judged  it  his  duty  to  comply,  and  imme- 
diately began  his  labours  in  the  city.  Meanwhile,  the 
Regent,  who  lay  at  Dunbar  with  her  army,  neglected 


•  Knox,  Historie.  p.  332.         f  lb.  p.  145. 
II  MS.  Historie  of  the  EsUte  of  Scotland. 


\  lb.  p.  146. 
}  lb.  p.  9. 


LIFE    OF  JOHN  KNOX. 


76 


no  means  for  disuniting  the  Lords  of  the  Congregation. 
Having  spun  out  the  negociations  which  they  had 
opened  with  her  until  she  understood  that  the  greater 
part  of  their  forces  had  left  them,  she  advanced  sud- 
denly to  Edinburgh.  The  protestants  took  up  a  posi- 
tion on  the  east  side  of  Craigingate,*  and  resolved  to 
defend  the  capital  and  Leith  against  the  superior  forces 
of  the  Regent,|  but  the  inhabitants  of  Leith  having 
opened  their  gates  to  her,  and  Lord  Erskine,  who  com- 
manded the  Castle,  threatening  to  fire  upon  them,  they 
were  forced  to  conclude  a  treaty,  by  which  they  agreed 
to  leave  Edinburgh.  They  stipulated,  however,  that 
the  inhabitants  should  be  left  at  liberty  to  use  that 
form  of  worship  which  was  most  acceptable  to  them.ij: 
Knox  would  have  remained  with  his  congregation  after 
the  Regent  took  possession  of  the  city ;  but  the  nobles, 
knowing  the  value  of  his  life,  and  the  hostility  with 
which  the  court  and  clergy  were  inflamed  against  him, 
would  not  consent  to  this.||  Willock,  who  was  less 
obnoxious  to  them,  was  therefore  substituted  in  his 
place;  and  the  prudence  and  firmness  which  this 
preacher  displayed  in  that  difficult  situation  proved 
that  he  was  not  unworthy  of  their  choice.  The  Re- 
gent was  extremely  anxious  to  have  the  Roman  Ca- 
tholic service  re-established  in  the  church  of  St.  Giles, 
and  she  employed  the  Earl  of  Huntly  to  persuade  the 
citizens  to  declare  that  this  was  their  wish;  but  nei- 
ther the  authority  of  the  Queen,  nor  the  entreaties 
which  Huntly  employed,  both  in  private  and  in  a 
public  meeting  called  with  that  view,  could  prevail 
with  them  to  swerve  from  their  profession  of  the  re- 
formed religion,  or  to  relinquish  the  right  which  was 
secured  to  them  by  the  late  treaty. §  Although  the 
French  soldiers  paraded  the  city,  and  often  disturbed 
the  proteslant  service,^  Willock  maintained  his  place; 
and  in  the  month  of  August  he  administered  the  sacra- 
ment of  the  supper  after  the  reformed  manner,  for  the 
first  time  at  Edinburgh,  in  St.  Giles's  church.**  The 
celebration  of  the  popish  worship  was  confined  to  the 
royal  chapel  and  the  church  of  Holyroodhouse,  during 
the  time  that  the  capital  was  in  the  possession  of  the 
Queen  Regent.|| 

In  the  month  of  August,  a  singular  phenomenon  was 
seen  in  the  Abbey  church.  The  Archbishop  of  St. 
Andrews  appeared  in  the  pulpit,  and  preached.  If  his 
Grace  did  not  acquit  himself  with  great  ability  on  the 
occasion,  he  at  least  behaved  with  becoming  modesty. 
After  discoursing  for  a  short  space  of  time,  he  requested 
the  audience  to  excuse  the  defects  of  his  sermon,  as  he 
had  not  really  been  accustomed  to  the  employment, 
and  told  them  that  he  had  provided  a  very  skilful 
preacher  to  succeed  him ;  upon  which  he  concluded, 
and  gave  way  to  friar  Black. :J:t 

On  retiring  from  Edinburgh,  Knox  undertook  a  tour 
of  preaching  through  the  kingdom.  The  wide  field 
which  was  before  him,  the  interesting  situation  in 
which  he  was  placed,  the  dangers  by  which  he  was 
surrounded,  and  the  hopes  which  he  cherished,  in- 
creased the  ardour  of  his  zeal,  and  stimulated  him 
to  extraordinary  exertions  both  of  body  and  mind. 
Within  less  than  two  months,  he  travelled  over  the 

freater  part  of  Scotland.  He  visited  Kelso,  and 
edburgh,  and  Dumfries,  and  Ayr,  and  Stirling,  and 
Perth,  and  Brechin,  and  Montrose,  and  Dundee,  and 
returned  again  to  St.  Andrews.  This  itinerancy  had 
great  influence  in  diffusing  the  knowledge  of  the  truth, 
and  in  strengthening  the  protestant  interest.  The  at- 
tention of  the  nation  was  aroused ;  their  eyes  were 


*  Probably  a  part  of  the  Caltonhill. 

+  The  army  of  the  Regent  consisted  of  5000  men,  the  Cnn- 
greg-ation  could  not  muster  above  1500.  MS.  Historie  of  the 
Estate  of  Scotland,  p.  9. 

t  Ibid.  p.  10.     Knox,  Historie,  151—5. 

I  Knox,  Historie,  p.  158. 

\  MS.  Historie  of  the  Estate,  &c.  p.  11 

««  MS.  Historie,  p.  12. 


II    MS.  Historie  of  the  Estate  of  Scotland,  p.  12. 


IT  Knox,  159. 
t+  Ibid.  Knox,  159. 


opened  to  the  errors  by  which  they  had  been  deluded  ; 
and  they  panted  for  a  continued  and  more  copious 
supply  of  the  word  of  life,  which  they  had  once  been 
permitted  to  taste,  and  had  felt  so  refreshing  to  their 
souls.*  I  cannot  better  describe  the  emotions  which 
this  success  excited  in  Knox's  breast,  than  by  quoting 
from  the  familiar  letters  which  he  wrote  at  intervals 
snatched  from  his  constant  employment. 

"  Thus  far  (says  he,  in  a  letter  from  St.  Andrews, 
June  23d)  hath  God  advanced  the  glory  of  his  dear 
Son  among  us.  O  !  that  my  heart  could  be  thankful 
for  the  Superexcellent  benefit  of  my  God.  The  long 
thirst  of  my  wretched  heart  is  satisfied  in  abundance 
that  is  above  my  expectation;  for  now  forty  days  and 
more  hath  my  God  used  my  tongue,  in  my  native 
country,  to  the  manifestation  of  his  glory.  Whatso- 
ever now  shall  follow  as  touching  my  own  carcase,  his 
holy  name  be  praised.  The  thirst  of  the  poor  people, 
as  well  as  of  the  nobility  here  is  wondrous  great; 
which  putteth  me  in  comfort,  that  Christ  Jesus  shall 
triumph  here  in  the  north  and  extreme  parts  of  the 
earth  for  a  space."  In  another  letter,  dated  Septem- 
ber 2d,  he  says,  "  Time  to  me  is  so  precious,  that  with 
great  difficulty  can  I  steal  one  hour  in  eight  days, 
either  to  satisfy  myself,  or  to  gratify  my  friends.  I 
have  been  in  continual  travel  since  the  day  of  appoint- 
ment;! and,  notwithstanding  the  fevers  have  vexed 
me,  yet  have  I  travelled  through  the  most  part  of  this 
realm,  where  (all  praise  to  His  blessed  Majesty  !)  men 
of  all  sorts  and  conditions  embrace  the  truth.  Ene- 
mies we  have  many,  by  reason  of  the  Frenchmen  who 
lately  arrived,  of  whom  our  papists  hope  golden  hills. 
As  we  be  not  able  to  resist,  we  do  nothing  hut  go  about 
Jericho,  blowing  with  trumpets,  as  God  giveth  strength, 
hoping  victory  by  his  power  alone.":): 

Soon  after  his  arrival  in  Scotland,  he  wrote  for  his 
wife  and  family,  whom  he  had  left  behind  him  at 
Geneva.  On  the  13th  of  June  Mrs.  Knox  and  her 
mother  were  at  Paris,  and  applied  to  Sir  Nicolas 
Throkmorton,  the  English  ambassador,  for  a  safe  con- 
duct to  pass  into  England.  Throkmorton,  who  by  this 
time  had  begun  to  penetrate  the  counsels  of  the  French 
court,  not  only  granted  this,  but  wrote  a  letter  to  the 
Queen,  in  which  he  urged  the  propriety  of  overlook- 
ing the  offence  which  Knox  had  given  by  his  publica- 
tion, and  of  conciliating  him  by  the  kind  treatment  of 
his  wife;  seeing  he  was  in  great  credit  with  the  Lords 
of  the  Congrregation,  had  been  the  principal  instru- 
ment in  producing  the  late  change  in  that  kingdom,  and 
was  capable  of  doing  essential  service  to  her  majesty. (| 
Accordingly,  Mrs.  Knox  came  into  England,  and, 
being  conveyed  to  the  borders  by  the  directions  of  the 
court,  reached  her  husband  in  safety,  on  the  20th  of 
September.§  Mrs  Bowes,  after  remaining  a  short 
time  in  her  native  country,  followed  her  daughter  "ftito 
Scotland,  where  she  remained  until  her  death.^ 


*  Cald.  MS.  i.  472,  473.  Forbes,  i.  131,  155.  Sadler,  i. 
431,  432. 

f  This  refers  to  the  agreement  between  the  Regent  and 
Lords  of  the  Congregation,  by  which  the  latter  gave  up  Edin- 
burgh. The  Lords  left  Edinburgh  on  the  25th  of  July.  MS. 
Historie  of  the  Estate,  &c.  p.  10.  comp.  Knox,  Historie,  p.  154, 

t  Cald.  MS.  i.  428,471. 

II  Forbes,  i.  129,  130.  Throkmorton  wrote  to  the  same  ef- 
fect to  Cecil,  in  letters  dated  7th  June,  and  19th  July.  Ibid, 
p.  119,  167.  The  ambassador  was  probably  moved  to  more 
earnestness  in  this  matter  by  the  influence  of  Alexander  Whit- 
law  of  Greenrig,  a  particular  friend  of  our  Reformer,  who  was 
at  this  time  in  France.  He  returned  soon  after  to  Scotland, 
and  Throkmorton  recommended  him  to  Cecil,  as  "  a  very  hon- 
est, sober,  and  godly  man." — "You  must  let  hmi  se  as  littel  sin 
in  England  as  yowe  maye." — He  "  is  greatly  estemyd  of  Jhone 
Knokes,  and  he  dothallso  favour  hyni  above  other:  neverthe- 
less, he  is  sory  for  his  boke  rashly  written."  Ibid.  137,  147 — 
149.  §  Cald.  MS.  i.  491. 

IT  Knox  applied  to  the  English  court  for  a  safe-conduct  for 
Mrs.  Bowes  to  come  into  Scotland,  which  was  granted  about 
the  month  of  October,  1559.  Sadler,  i.  456,  479,  509.  I  have 
aIrs'  dy  noticed,  (p.  57.)  that  Mrs.  Bovres's  husband  wag  dead. 


76 


LIFE    OF  JOHN    KNOX. 


The  arrival  of  his  family  was  the  more  gratifying  to 
our  Reformer,  that  they  were  accompanied  by  Chris- 
topher Goodman,  his  late  colleague  at  Geneva.  He 
had  repeatedly  written,  in  the  most  pressing  manner, 
for  him  to  come  to  his  assistance,  and  expressed  much 
uneasiness  at  the  delay  of  his  arrival.*  Goodman 
became  minister  of  St.  Andrews.  The  settlement  of 
protestant  ministers  began  to  take  place  at  an  earlier 
period  than  is  mentioned  in  our  common  histories. 
Previous  to  September,  1559,  eight  towns  were  provi- 
ded with  pastors  ;  and  other  places  remained  unprovi- 
ded owing  to  the  scarcity  of  preachers,  which  was 
severely  felt.f 

In  the  mean  time,  it  became  daily  more  apparent 
that  the  Lords  of  the  Congregation  would  be  unable, 
without  foreign  aid,  to  maintain  the  struggle  in  which 
they  were  involved.  Had  the  contest  been  merely 
between  them  and  the  domestic  party  of  the  Regent, 
they  would  soon  have  brought  it  to  a  successful  ter- 
mination ;  but  they  could  not  withstand  the  veteran 
troops  which  France  had  already  sent  to  her  assistance, 
and  was  preparing  to  send  in  still  more  formidable 
numbers. :|:  As  far  back  as  the  middle  of  June,  our 
Reformer  had  renewed  his  exertions  for  obtaining 
assistance  from  England ;  and  persuaded  William 
Kircaldy  of  Grange,  first  to  write,  and  afterwards  to 
pay  a  visit  to  Sir  Henry  Percy,  who  held  a  public 
situation  on  the  English  marches.  Percy  immediately 
transmitted  his  representations  to  London,  and  an 
answer  was  returned  from  Secretary  Cecil,  encouraging 
the  correspondence.!! 

Knox  himself  wrote  to  Cecil,  requesting  permis- 
sion to  visit  England,§  and  inclosed  a  letter  to  queen 
Elizabeth  in  which  he.  attempted  to  apologize  for  his 
rude  attack  upon  female  government. 

When  a  man  has  been  "  overtaken  in  a  fault,"  it  is 
his  glory  to  confess  it ;  but  those  who  have  been  so 
unfortunate  as  to  incur  the  resentment  of  princes,  must, 
if  they  expect  to  appease  them,  condescend  to  very 
ample  and  humiliating  apologies.  Luther  involved 
himself  more  than  once  by  attempting  this  task,  and, 
had  not  the  lustre  of  his  talents  protected  him,  his 
reputation  must  have  suffered  materially  from  his  ill 
success.  He  was  prevailed  on  to  write  submissive 
apologies  to  Leo  X.  and  Henry  VHL  for  the  abuse 
with  which  he  had  treated  them  in  his  writings,  and, 
in  both  instances,  his  apologies  were  rejected  with 
contempt,  and  he  found  himself  under  the  necessity 
of  retracting   his   retractations.^      Knox  was   in   no 


The  particular  time  of  his  death  I  have  not  ascertained,  but  it 
seems  to  have  been  between  1554  and  1556.  She  is  designed 
a  widow,  in  the  correspondence  between  Cecil  and  Sadler. 

*  Cald.  MS.  i.  429.  473. 

t  •dinburgh,  St.  Andrews,  Dundee,  Perth,  Brechin,  Mon- 
trose, Stirling,  Ayr,  were  the  towns  provided  with  ministers. 
Letter,  Knox  to  Locke,  2d  Sept.  1559,  apud  Cald.  MS.  i.  472. 

J  Sadler,  i.  403,  411.  Forbe.s,  vol.  i.  passim.  Dr.  Robertson 
complains  that,  from  the  carelessness  of  the  contemporary  his- 
torians, it  is  impossible  to  ascertain  the  number  of  French  sol- 
diers in  Scotland,  or  at  what  times,  and  under  what  pretexts, 
they  had  returned,  after  having  left  the  kingdom  in  1550.  His- 
tory of  Scotland,  p.  108.  Lond.  1791.  In  September,  1559, 
when  the  Queen  Regent  retired  within  the  fortifications  of 
Leith,  her  forces  amounted  to  3000  soldiers,  of  whom  500  only 
were  Scots.  MS.  Historie  of  the  Estate  of  Scotland  from  1559 
to  1566.  p.  13.  In  August,  1000  of  these  had  arrived  from 
France,  and  it  does  not  appear  that  any  other  arrival  had  taken 
place  since  the  commencement  of  the  late  commotions.  It  seems 
pretty  evident  that  the  other  1500  had  been  sent  from  France 
during  the  war  between  Scotland  and  England,  in  1556  and 
1557.  The  Lords  of  the  Congregation  mustered  8000  men  in 
September;  but  only  1000  of  these  were  trained  to  arms.  Ibid. 

n  Knox,  Historie,  p.  207. 

X  Ibid.  p.  209.     Forbes,  i.  155,  167. 

V  Beausobre,  Hist.  Reform,  i.  355—377.  Macaulay's  transla- 
tion. Milner'g  History  of  the  Church,  iv.  948— 9.  This  last 
historian,  in  speaking  of  Luther's  apology  to  Henry,  says,  that 
he  went  "quite  far  enough,  either  for  the  dignity  of  a  leading 
Reformer,  or  the  simplicity  of  a  follower  of  Christ."  Luther 
himself,  after  receiving  Henry's  reply,  seems  to  have  been  abun- 
dantly tensibU  of  the  ridicule  to  which  he  had  exposed  himself, 


danger  of  committing  himself  in  this  way.  He  was 
less  violent  in  his  temper  than  the  German  Reformer, 
but  he  was  also  less  flexible  and  accommodating. 
There  was  nothing  at  which  he  was  more  awkward 
than  apologies,  condescensions,  and  civilities ;  and  on 
the  present  occasion  he  was  placed  in  a  very  embar- 
rassing predicament,  as  his  judgment  would  not  permit 
him  to  retract  the  sentiment  which  had  given  oflfence 
to  the  English  Queen.  In  his  letter  to  Elizabeth  he 
expresses  deep  distress  at  having  incurred  her  displea- 
sure, and  warm  attachment  to  her  government ;  but  the 
grounds  on  which  he  advises  her  to  found  her  title  to 
the  crown,  and  indeed  the  whole  strain  in  which  the 
letter  is  written,  are  such  as  must  have  aggravated 
instead  of  extenuating  his  offence  in  the  opinion  of  that 
high-minded  princess.*  But  although  his  apology 
had  been  more  ample  and  humble,  I  question  if  he 
would  have  succeeded  better  with  Elizabeth  than 
Luther  did  with  her  father.  Christopher  Goodman, 
after  his  return  to  England,  was  obliged,  at  two  sev- 
eral periods,  to  subscribe  a  recantation  of  the  opinion 
which  he  had  given  against  the  lawfulness  of  female 
government,  nor  could  all  his  condescensions  procure 
for  him  the  favour  of  his  sovereign. f  In  fact,  Eliza- 
beth was  all  along  extremely  tender  on  the  subject  of 
her  right  to  the  crown  ;  she  never  failed  to  resent  every 
attack  that  was  made  upon  this,  from  whatever  quarter 
it  came ;  and  although  several  historians  have  amused 
their  readers  with  accounts  of  her  ambition  to  be 
thought  more  beautiful  and  accomplished  than  the 
Queen  of  Scots,:!:  I  am  persuaded  that  she  was  always 
more  jealous  of  Mary  as  a  competitor  for  the  crown, 
than  as  a  rival  in  personal  charms. 

I  do  not,  however,  suppose  that  Elizabeth  ever  saw 
Knox's  letter,  and  have  little  doubt  that  it  was  sup- 
pressed by  the  sagacious  Secretary. jj  Cecil  was  him- 
self friendly  to  the  measure  of  assisting  the  Scottish 
Congregation,  and  exerted  all  his  influence  to  bring 
over  the  Queen  and  her  Council  to  his  opinion.  A 
message  was,  accordingly,  sent  to  Knox,  desiring  hira 
to  meet  Sir  Henry  Percy  at  Alnwick,  on  the  2d  of 
August,  upon  business  which  required  the  utmost 
secrecy  and  despatch ;  and  Cecil  came  down  to  Stam- 
ford to  hold  an  interview  with  the  Reformer.^  The 
confusion  produced  by  the  advance  of  the  Regent's  army 
upon  Edinburgh,  retarded  his  journey  ;  but  no  sooner 
was  this  settled,  than  he  sailed  from  Pittenweem  to  Holy 
Island.  Finding  that  Percy  was  recalled  from  the 
borders,  he  applied  to  Sir  James  Croft,  the  governor 
of  Berwick.  Croft,  who  was  not  unapprized  of  the 
design  on  which  he  came,  dissuaded  him  from  pro- 
ceeding farther  into  England,  and  undertook  to  des- 
patch his  communications  to  London,  and  to  procure  a 
speedy  return.  Alexander  Whitlaw  of  Greenrig,  who 
had  been  banished  from  Scotland,  having  come  to  Lon- 
don on  his  way  from  France,  was  entrusted  by  the 
English  court  with  their  answers  to  the  letters  of  the 
Congregation.  Arriving  at  Berwick,  he  delivered  the 
despatches  to  Knox,  who  hastened  with  them  to  Stir- 
ling, where  a  meeting  of  the  protestant  Lords  was  to 
be  held.    He  prudently  returned  by  sea  to  Fife;  for  the 


and,  with  a  facetiousness  which  seldom  forsook  him,  asked  hi* 
friends,  if  they  would  not  now  advise  him  to  write  penitential 
epistles  to  the  archbishop  of  Mentz,  the  archduke  Ferclinand,  and 
other  princes  whom  he  had  offended.     Milner,  ut  sup.  p.  966. 

«  Knox,  Historie,  p.  210—2. 

+  Strype,  Annals,  i.  126.  ii.  95—6.  Life  ofGrindal,  170 
and  of  Parker,  325—6. 

\  See  Sir  James  Melvil's  account  of  his  interview  with  Eli- 
zabeth, Memoirs,  p.  49 — 51,  which  has  been  adopted,  and 
detailed  by  Mr.  Hume,  Dr.  Robertson,  and  other  historians. 

II  Cecil  was  accustomed  to  keep  back  intelligence  which  he 
knew  would  be  disagreeable  to  his  mistress.  A  curious  instanco 
of  this  occurs  with  respect  to  the  misfortune  which  happened 
to  Cockburn  of  Ormiston,  while  conveying  a  subsidy  which 
she  had  sent  to  the  Congregation.  Sadler,  i.  573.  We  learn, 
from  one  of  his  letters,  that  he  did  not  usually  communicate 
the  epistles  of  our  Reformer,  whom  he  knew  to  be  no  favourite 
with  Eliiabeth.     Ibid.  p.  S3S.  }  Knox,  Historic,  p.  212. 


LIFE  OF  JOHN   KNOX. 


77 


Queen  Regent  had  come  to  the  knowledge  of  his  jour- 
ney to  England,  and  Whitlaw,  in  travelling  through 
East  Lothian,  being  mistaken  for  Knox,  was  hotly 
pursued,  and  escaped  with  great  difficulty.*  The  ir- 
resolution or  the  caution  of  Elizabeth's  cabinet  led 
them  to  express  themselves  in  such  general  and  un- 
satisfactory terms,  that  the  Lords  of  the  Congregation, 
when  the  letters  were  laid  before  them,  were  both 
disappointed  and  displeased  ;  and  it  was  with  some 
difficulty  that  our  Reformer  obtained  permission  from 
them  to  write  again  to  London  in  his  own  name.  The 
representation  which  he  gave  of  the  urgency  of  the 
case,  and  the  danger  of  further  hesitation  or  delay, 
produced  a  speedy  reply,  desiring  them  to  send  a  con- 
fidential messenger  to  Berwick,  who  would  receive  a 
sum  of  money,  to  assist  them  in  prosecuting  Ihe  war. 
About  the  same  time.  Sir  Ralph  Sadler  was  sent  down 
to  Berwick,  to  act  as  accredited  but  secret  agent,  and 
the  correspondence  between  the  court  of  London  and 
the  Lords  of  the  Congregation  continued  afterwards  to 
be  carried  on  through  him  and  Sir  James  Croft,  until 
the  English  auxiliary  army  entered  Scotland.]" 

If  we  reflect  upon  the  connection  which  the  religious 
and  civil  liberties  of  the  nation  had  with  the  contest  in 
which  the  protestants  were  engaged,  and  upon  our  Re- 
former's zeal  in  that  cause,  we  shall  not  be  greatly 
surprised  to  find  him  at  this  time  acting  in  the  charac- 
ter of  a  politician.  Extraordinary  cases  cannot  be 
measured  by  ordinary  rules.  In  a  great  emergency, 
like  that  under  consideration,  when  all  that  is  valuable 
and  dear  to  a  people  is  at  stake,  it  becomes  the  duty 
of  every  individual  to  step  forward,  and  exert  all  his 
talents  for  the  public  good.  Learning  was  at  this 
time  rare  among  the  nobility ;  and  though  there  were 
men  of  distinguished  abilities  among  the  protestant 
leaders,  few  of  them  had  been  accustomed  to  transact 
public  business.  Accordingly,  the  management  of  the 
correspondence  with  England  was  for  a  time  devolved 
chiefly  on  Knox  and  Balnaves.  But  our  Reformer 
submitted  to  this  merely  from  a  sense  of  duty  and  re- 
gard to  the  common  cause ;  and  when  the  younger 
Maitland  acceded  to  their  party,  he  expressed  the 
greatest  satisfaction  at  the  prospect  which  this  gave 
him  of  being  relieved  from  the  burden.:^ 

It  was  not  without  reason  that  he  longed  for  this 
deliverance.  He  now  felt  that  it  was  as  difficult  to 
preserve  Christian  integrity  and  simplicity  amidst  the 
crooked  wiles  of  political  intrigue,  as  he  had  formerly 
found  it  to  pursue  truth  through  the  perplexing  mazes 
of  scholastic  sophistry.  In  performing  a  task  foreign 
to  his  habits,  and  repugnant  to  his  disposition,  he  met 
with  a  good  deal  of  vexation,  and  several  unpleasant 
rubs.  These  were  owing  partly  to  his  own  impetu- 
osity, partly  to  the  grudge  entertained  against  him  by 
the  English  court,  but  chiefly  to  the  particular  line  of 
policy  which  the  latter  had  resolved  to  pursue.  They 
were  convinced  of  the  danger  of  suffering  the  Scottish 
protestants  to  be  suppressed  ;  but  they  wished  to  con- 
fine themselves  to  pecuniary  aid,  believing  that  by 
such  assistance  the  Lords  of  the  Congregation  would 
be  enabled  to  expel  the  French,  and  bring  the  contest 
to  a  successful  issue,  while,  by  the  secrecy  with  which 
it  could  be  conveyed,  an  open  breach  between  France 
and  England  would  be  more  easily  prevented.  This 
plan,  which  originated  in  the  personal  disinclination 
of  Elizabeth  to  the  Scottish  war,*  rather  than  in  the 
judgment  of  her  wisest  counsellors,  protracted  the  con- 
test, and  gave  occasion  to  some  angry  disputes  between 


*  Knox,  Historic,  159,  213. 

t  Knox,  Historie,  p.  212—214.  The  State  Papers  of  Sir 
Ralph  Sadler  have  been  lately  published  in  2  vols.  4to.  The 
1st  volume  contains  the  greater  part  of  the  letters  that  passed 
between  him  and  the  agents  of  the  Congregation.  These 
throw  much  light  upon  this  interesting  period  of  our  national 
history,  and  ought  to  be  consulted,  in  addition  to  the  histories 
which  appeared  previous  to  their  publication. 

t  Keith,  Append.  42.  ||  See  Note  XXXIV. 


the  English  agents  and  those  of  the  Congregation.' 
The  former  were  continually  urging  the  associated 
Lords  to  attack  the  Regent,  before  she  received  fresh 
succours  from  France,  and  blaming  their  slow  opera- 
tions; they  complained  of  the  want  of  secrecy  in 
the  correspondence  with  England  ;  and  even  insinuated 
that  the  moneyt  intended  for  the  common  cause,  was 
partially  applied  to  private  purposes.  The  latter  were 
irritated  by  this  insinuation,  and  urged  the  necessity 
of  military  as  well  as  pecuniary  assistance.^ 

In  a  letter  to  Sir  James  Croft,  Knox  represented 
the  great  importance  of  their  being  speedily  assisted 
with  troops,  without  which  they  would  be  in  much 
hazard  of  miscarrying  in  an  attack  upon  the  fortifica- 
tions of  Leith.  The  court  of  England,  he  said,  ought 
not  to  hesitate  at  oflfending  France,  of  whose  hostile 
intentions  against  them  they  had  the  most  satisfactory 
evidence.  But  "if  ye  list  to  craft  with  ihame  (con- 
tinued he),  the  sending  of  a  thousand  or  mo  men  to  us 
can  breake  no  league  nor  point  of  peace  contracted  be- 
twixt you  and  France  :  For  it  is  free  for  your  subjects 
to  serve  in  warr  anie  prince  or  nation  for  their  wages; 
and  if  yee  fear  that  such  excuses  will  not  prevail,  ye 
may  declare  thame  rebelles  to  your  realme  when  ye 
shall  be  assured  that  thei  be  in  our  companye."  No 
doubt  such  things  have  been  often  done ;  and  such 
political  casuisijry  (as  Keith  very  properly  styles  it)  is 
not  unknown  at  courts.  But  it  must  be  confessed,  that 
the  measure  recommended  by  Knox  (the  morality  of 
which  must  stand  on  the  same  grounds  with  the  assist- 
ance which  the  English  were  at  that  time  aiford- 
ing)  was  too  glaring  to  be  concealed  by  the  excuses 
which  he  suggested.  Croft  laid  hold  of  this  opportu- 
nity to  check  the  impetuosity  of  his  correspondent,  and 
wrote  him,  that  he  wondered  how  he,  "  being  a  wise 
man,"  would  require  from  them  such  aid  as  they  could 
not  give  "without  breach  of  treaty,  and  dishonour;" 
and  that  "  the  world  was  not  so  blind  but  that  it  could 
soon  espy"  the  "  devices"  by  which  he  proposed  "  to 
colour  their  doings."  Knox,  in  his  reply,  apologized 
for  his  "  unreasonable  request ;"  but,  at  the  same  time, 
reminded  Croft  of  the  common  practice  of  courts  in 
such  matters,  and  particularly  of  the  French  court 
towards  themselves  in  a  recent  instance.f  He  was 
not  ignorant,  he  said,  of  the  inconveniences  which 
might  attend  an  open  declaration  in  their  favour,  but 
feared  that  they  would  have  cause  to  "  repent  the  drift 
of  time,  when  the  remedy  would  not  be  so  easy.":}: 

This  is  the  only  instance  in  which  I  have  found  our 
Reformer  recommending  dissimulation,  which  was 
very  foreign  to  the  openness  of  his  natural  temper, 
and  the  blunt  and  rigid  honesty  that  marked  his  gen- 
eral conduct.  His  own  opinion  was,  that  the  English 
court  ought  from  the  first  to  have  done  what  they  found 
themselves  obliged  to  do  at  last,  to  avow  their  resolu- 
tion to  support  the  Congregation.  Keith  praises  Croft's 
"just  reprimand  on  Mr.  Knox's  double  fac'd  proposi- 


*  Sadler,  i.  520,  524.  Randolph  mentions  in  one  of  his 
letters,  that  both  Knox  and  Balnaves  were  discontented.  Keith 
has  inserted  a  letter  in  which  Balnaves  complained  of,  and 
vindicated  himself  from  the  charges  brought  against  him. 
Sadler  afterwards  endeavoured  to  pacifj-  them.  Keith,  Ap.  43, 
44.  Sadler,  i.  p.  537,  548.  Notwithstanding  the  complaints 
against  the  Congregation  for  being  too  "open,"  there  is  some 
reason  to  think  that  Sir  James  Croft's  own  secretary  bad  in- 
formed the  Queen  Regent  of  the  correspondence  between 
England  and  the  Congregation.     Forbes,  i.  p.  137. 

t  "  See  how  Mr.  Knox  still  presses  his  under-hand  manage- 
ment!" saj's  Keith.  Qucere:  Did  the  honest  Bishop  never  find 
any  occasion,  in  the  course  of  his  history  to  reprimand  such 
management  in  his  own  friends?  or,  did  he  think  that  intrigue 
was  criminal,  only  when  it  was  employed  by  protestant  cabinets 
and  ministers? 

\  Keith,  Ap.  40—42.  Sadler,  i.  p.  523.  In  fact,  if  a  storm 
had  not  dispersed  and  shattered  the  French  fleet,  which  had 
on  board  the  Marquis  D'Elbcuf,  and  a  large  body  of  French 
troop.s,  destined  for  the  reinforcement  of  the  Queen  Regent 
the  English,  after  so  long  delay,  would  have  found  it  very 
difficult  to  expel  the  French  from  Scotland. 


7a 


LIFE    OF  JOHN   KNOX. 


tion,"  and  Cecil  says,  that  his  "  audacite  was  well 
tamed."  We  must  not,  however,  imagine  that  these 
statesmen  had  any  scruple  of  conscience,  or  nice  feel- 
ing of  honour  on  this  point.  For,  on  the  very  day  on 
■which  Croft  answered  Knox's  letter,  he  wrote  to  Cecil 
that  he  thought  the  Queen  ought  openly  to  take  part 
with  the  Congregation.  And  in  the  same  letter  in 
which  Cecil  speaks  of  Knox's  audacity,  he  advises 
Croft  to  adopt  in  substance  the  very  measure  which 
Knox  had  recommended,  by  sending  five  or  six  officers, 
who  should  "  steal  from  thence  with  appearance  of 
displeasure  for  lack  of  interteynment;"  and  in  a  sub- 
sequent letter,  he  gives  directions  to  send  three  or  four, 
fit  for  being  captains,  who  should  give  out  that  they 
left  Berwick,  "  as  men  desyrous  to  be  exercised  in  the 
warres,  rather  than  to  lye  idely  in  that  towne."* 

Notwithstanding  the  prejudice  which  existed  in  the 
English  court  against  our  Reformer,]"  on  account  of 
his  "  audacity"  in  attacking  female  prerogative,  they 
were  too  well  acquainted  with  his  integrity  and  influ- 
ence to  decline  his  services.  Cecil  kept  up  a  corres- 
Eondence  with  him;  and  in  the  directions  sent  from 
lOndon  for  the  management  of  the  subsidy,  it  was  ex- 
pressly provided,  that  he  should  be  one  of  the  council 
for  examining  the  receipts  and  payments,  to  see  that  it 
was  applied  to  "  the  common  action,"  and  not  to  any 
private  use.:}: 

In  the  mean  time,  his  zeal  and  activity,  in  the  cause 
of  the  Congregation,  exposed  him  to  the  deadly  resent- 
ment of  the  Queen  Regent  and  the  papists.  A  reward 
was  publicly  offered  to  any  one  who  who  should  ap- 
prehend or  kill  him  ;  and  not  a  few,  actuated  by  hatred 
or  avarice,  lay  in  wait  to  seize  his  person.  But  this 
did  not  deter  him  from  appearing  in  public,  nor  from 
travelling  through  the  country,  in  the  discharge  of  his 
duty.  His  exertions  at  this  period  were  incredibly 
great.  By  day  he  was  employed  in  preaching,  by 
night  in  writing  letters  on  public  business.  He  was 
the  soul  of  the  Congregation  ;  was  always  found  at  the 
post  of  danger ;  and  by  his  presence,  his  public  dis- 
courses, and  private  advices,  animated  the  whole  body, 
and  defeated  the  schemes  employed  to  corrupt  and  dis- 
unite them.  II 


«  Sadler,  i.  522,  534,  568. 

f  The  Lords  of  the  Congregation  having  proposed  to  send 
our  Reformer  to  London  as  one  of  their  commissioners,  Cecil 
found  it  necessary  to  discourage  the  proposal.  "Of  all  others, 
Knoxees  name,  if  it  be  not  Goodman's,  is  most  odiose  here; 
and  therefore,  (  wish  no  mention  of  him  [coming]  hither." 
And  in  another  letter  he  saysj  "his  writmgs  [i.  e.  Knox's 
letters]  doo  no  good  here;  and  therefore  I  doo  rather  suppress 
them,  and  yet  I  meane  not  but  that  ye  should  contynue  in 
sending  of  them."  Sadler,  i.  532,  535.  The  editor  of  Sadler 
supposes,  without  any  reason,  that  Knox  and  Goodman  were 
obnoxious  to  the  court  on  account  of  their  Geneva  discipline, 
and  republican  tenets.  The  unpardonable  offence  of  which 
both  had  beeg  guilty  was  different  from  either  of  these:  they 
had  attacke^Huie  Regiment  of  Women." 

t  Sadler,  W5o.     Keith,  Ap.  40. 

II  "  In  twenty-four  hours,  I  have  not  four  free  to  natural 
rest,  and  easce  of  this  wicked  carcass.  Remember  my  last  re- 
quest for  my  mother,  and  say  to  Mr.  George  [Mr.  George 
Bowes,  his  brother-in-law]  that  I  have  need  of  a  good  and  an 
assured  horse;  for  great  watch   is  laid  for  my  apprehension, 

and  large  money  promissed  till  any  that  shall  k'yli  me. And 

this  part  of  my  care  now  poured  in  your  bosom,  T  cease  farther 
to  trouble  you,  being  troubled  myself  in  body  and  spirit, 
for  the  troubles  that  be  present,  and  appear  to  grow. — At 
niydnicht. 

•'  Many  things  I  have  to  writ,  which  now  tym  sufTereth  not, 
but  after,  if  ye  mak  haste  with  this  messinger,  ye  shall  undir- 
stand  more.  R         ryt         I  write  with         sleaping  eis.'" 

Knox's  Letter  to  Raylton,  23d  October,  1559.  Keith,  Ap.  38. 
Sadler,  i.  681,682. 

This  letter,  written  with  the  Reformer's  own  hand,  is  in  the 
British  Museum.  Cotton  MS.  Calig.  B.  ix.  f.  38.  The  con- 
clusion of  the  letter,  which  is  here  printed  in  imitation  of  the 
original,  is  very  descriptive  of  the  state  of  the  writer  at  the 
time. — It  appears  from  the  same  letter,  that,  amidst  his  other 
employments,  he  had  already  begun  and  made  considerable 
progress  in  his  History  of  the  Refornoation. 


The  Congregation  had  lately  received  a  consider* 
able  increase  of  strength  by  the  accession  of  the  former 
regent,  the  Duke  of  Chastelherault.  His  oldest  son, 
the  Earl  of  Arran,  who  commanded  the  Scots  guard 
in  France,  had  embraced  the  principles  of  the  Refor- 
mation. Understanding  that  the  French  court,  which 
was  entirely  under  the  direction  of  the  princes  of  Lor- 
rain,  intended  to  throw  him  into  prison,  he  secretly 
retired  to  Geneva,  from  which  he  was  conveyed  by  the 
assistance  of  Elizabeth's  ministers  to  London.  In  the 
month  of  August  he  came  to  his  father  at  Hamilton. 
The  representation  of  his  son,  joined  with  those  of 
the  English  cabinet  and  with  his  own  jealousy  of  the 
designs  of  the  Queen  Regent,  easily  gained  over  the 
vacillating  Duke,  who  met  with  the  Lords  of  the 
Congregation,  and  subscribed  their  bond  of  confedera- 
tion.* 

Our  Reformer  was  now  called  to  take  a  share  in  a 
very  delicate  and  important  measure.  When  they  first 
had  recourse  to  arms  in  their  own  defence,  the  Lords 
of  the  Congregation  had  no  intention  of  making  any 
alteration  in  the  government,  or  of  assuming  the  exer- 
cise of  the  supreme  authority. f  Even  after  they  had 
adopted  a  more  regular  and  permanent  system  of  resist- 
ance to  the  measures  of  the  Queen  Regent,  they  con- 
tinued to  recognise  the  station  which  she  held,  presented 
petitions  to  her,  and  listened  respectfully  to  the  propo- 
sals which  she  made  for  removing  the  grounds  of  vari- 
ance. But  finding  that  she  was  fully  bent  upon  the  exe- 
cution of  her  plan  for  subverting  the  national  liberties, 
and  that  her  official  situation  gave  her  great  advantages 
in  carrying  on  this  design,  they  began  to  deliberate  upon 
the  propriety  of  adopting  a  different  line  of  conduct. 
Their  sovereigns  were  minors,  in  a  foreign  country, 
and  under  the  management  of  persons  to  whose  influ- 
ence the  evils  of  which  they  complained  were  princi- 
pally to  be  ascribed.  The  queen  dowager  held  the 
regency  by  the  authority  of  Parliament;  and  might 
she  not  be  deprived  of  it  by  the  same  authority  1  In 
the  present  state  of  the  country,  it  was  impossible  for 
a  free  and  regular  Parliament  to  meet ;  but  the  major- 
ity of  the  nation  had  declared  their  dissatisfaction  with 
her  administration ;  and  was  it  not  competent  for  them 
to  provide  for  the  public  safety,  which  was  exposed  to 
such  imminent  danger?  These  were  questions  which 
formed  the  topic  of  frequent  conversation  at  this  time. 

After  much  deliberation  on  this  important  point,  a 
numerous  assembly  of  nobles,  barons,  and  representa- 
tives of  boroughs  met  at  Edinburgh,  on  the  2 1st  of 
October,  to  bring  it  to  a  solemn  issue.  To  this  assem- 
bly Knox  and  Willock  were  called  ;  and  the  question 
being  stated  to  them,  they  were  required  to  deliver 
their  opinions  as  to  the  lawfulness  of  the  proposed 
measure.  Willock,  who  officiated  as  minister  of  Edin- 
burgh, being  first  asked,  declared  it  to  be  his  judg- 
ment, founded  on  reason  and  scripture,  that  the  power 
of  rulers  was  limited  ;  that  they  might  be  deprived  of 
it  upon  valid  grounds;  and  that  the  Queen  Regent, 
having,  by  the  fortification  of  Leith,  and  the  introduc- 
tion of  foreign  troops,  evinced  a  fixed  determination  to 
oppress  and  enslave  the  kingdom,  might  justly  be 
divested  of  her  authority,  by  the  nobles  and  barons, 
the  native  counsellors  of  the  realm,  whose  petitions 
and  remonstrances  she  had  repeatedly  rejected.  Knox 
assented  to  the  opinion  delivered  by  his  brother,  and 
added,  that  the  assembly  might,  with  safe  consciences, 
act  upon  it,  provided  they  attended  to  the  three  follow- 
ing things :  first,  that  they  did  not  suffer  the  miscon- 
duct of  the  Queen  Regent  to  alienate  their  affections 
from  due  allegiance  to  their  sovereigns,  Francis  and 
Mary ;  second,  that  they  were  not  actuated  in  the  mea- 
sure by  private  hatred  or  envy  of  the  queen  dowager, 
but  by  regard  to  the  safety  of  the  commonwealth  ;  and, 
third,  that  any  sentence  which  they  might  pronounce 


»  Forbes,  i.  117.  144, 163, 166.     Sadler,  i.  404,  417.  447 
+  See  Note  XXXV. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


79 


at  this  time  should  not  preclude  her  re-admission  to 
the  office,  if  she  afterwards  discovered  sorrow  for  her 
conduct,  and  a  disposition  to  submit  to  the  advice  of 
the  counsellors  of  the  kingdom.  After  this,  the  whole 
assembly,  having  severally  delivered  their  opinions, 
did,  by  a  solemn  deed,  suspend  the  queen  dowager 
from  her  authority  as  Regent  of  the  kingdom,  until 
the  meeting  of  a  free  parliament;*  and,  at  the  same 
time,  elected  a  counsel  for  the  management  of  public 
affairs  during  the  interval. f  When  the  council  had 
occasion  to  treat  of  matters  connected  with  religion, 
four  of  the  ministers  were  appointed  to  assist  in  their 
deliberations.  These  were  Knox,  Willock,  Goodman, 
and  Alexander  Gordon,  bishop  of  Galloway,  who  had 
embraced  the  Reformation. :{: 

It  has  been  alleged  by  some  writers,  that  the  ques- 
tion respecting  the  suspension  of  the  Queen  Regent 
was  altogether  incompetent  for  ministers  of  the  gospel 
to  determine,  and  that  Knox  and  Willock,  by  the  ad- 
vice which  they  gave  on  this  occasion,  unnecessarily 
exposed  themselves  to  odium. ||  But  it  is  not  easy  to 
see  how  they  could  have  been  excused  in  refusing  to 
deliver  their  opinion,  when  required  by  those  who  had 
submitted  to  their  ministry,  upon  a  measure  which  in- 
volved a  case  of  conscience,  as  well  as  a  question  of 
law  and  political  right.  The  advice  which  was  ac- 
tually given  and  followed  is  a  matter  of  greater  conse- 
quence, than  the  quarter  from  which  it  came.  And  as 
this  proceeded  upon  principles  very  different  from  those 
which  produced  resistance  to  princes,  and  the  limita- 
tion of  their  authority,  under  feudal  governments,  and 
as  our  Reformer  has  been  the  object  of  much  animad- 
version for  inculcating  these  principles,  I  shall  em- 
brace the  present  opportunity  of  offering  a  few  remarks 
for  the  elucidation  of  this  important  subject. 


Among  the  various  causes  which  aff"ected  the  gen- 
eral state  of  society  and  government  in  Europe,  during 
the  middle  ages,  the  influence  of  religion  cannot  be 
overlooked.  Debased  by  ignorance,  and  fettered  by 
superstition,  the  minds  of  men  were  prepared  to  ac- 
quiesce without  examination  in  the  claims  of  authority, 
and  tamely  to  submit  to  every  yoke.  In  whatever 
light  we  view  popery,  the  genius  of  that  singular  sys- 
tem of  religion  will  be  found  to  be  adverse  to  liberty. 
The  Romish  court,  while  it  aimed  directly  at  the 
establishment  of  a  spiritual  despotism  in  the  hands  of 
ecclesiastics,  contributed  to  rivet  the  chains  of  political 
servitude  upon  the  people.  In  return  for  the  support 
which  princes  yielded  to  its  arrogant  claims,  it  was 
content  to  invest  them  with  an  absolute  authority  over 
the  bodies  of  their  subjects.  By  the  priestly  unction, 
performed  at  the  coronation  of  kings  in  the  name  of  the 
Holy  See,  a  sacred  character  was  understood  to  be 
communicated,  which  raised  them  to  a  superiority  over 
their  nobility  which  they  did  not  possess  according  to 
feudal  ideas,  rendered  their  persons  inviolable,  and 
their  office  divine.  Although  the  sovereign  pontiff's 
claimed,  and,  on  different  occasions,  exercised  the 
power  of  dethroning  kings,  and  absolving  subjects 
from  their  allegiance,  yet  any  attempt  of  this  kind, 
when  it  proceeded  from  the  people  themselves,  was 
denounced  as  a  crime  deserving  the  severest  punish- 
ment in  this  world,  and  damnation  in  the  next.  Hence 
sprung  the  divine  right  of  kings  to  rule  independently 

*  Dr.  Robertson  says,  "  [t  was  the  work  but  of  one  day  to 
examine  and  resolve  this  nice  problem,  concerning  the  beha- 
viour of  subjects  towards  a  ruler  who  abuses  his  power."  But 
it  may  be  observed,  that  this  was  the  Jbrmal  determination  of 
the  question.  It  had  been  discussed  among  the  protestants 
frequently  before  this  meeting,  and,  as  early  as  the  beginning 
of  September,  they  were  nearfy  unanimous  about  it.  Sadler,  i. 
433.  It  should  also  be  noticed,  that  the  queen  was  only  sus- 
pended from,  not  absolutely  "deprived  of  her  office." 

f  Knox,  182—187.  \  Sadler,  i.  510,  511. 

II  Spottiswood,  p.  137.     Keith,  p.  104. 


of  their  people,  and  of  passive  obedience  and  non-re- 
sistance to  their  will ;  under  the  sanction  of  which  they 
were  encouraged  to  sport  with  the  lives  and  happiness 
of  their  subjects,  and  to  indulge  in  the  most  tyrannical 
and  wanton  acts  of  oppression,  without  the  dread  of 
resistance,  or  of  being  called  to  an  account  by  any 
power  on  earth.  Even  in  countries  where  the  people 
were  understood  to  enjoy  certain  political  privileges, 
transmitted  from  remote  ages,  or  wrested  from  their 
princes  on  some  favourable  occasions,  these  principles 
were  generally  prevalent;  and  it  was  easy  for  an  am- 
bitious and  powerful  monarch  to  avail  himself  of  them, 
to  violate  the  rights  of  the  people  with  impunity,  and 
upon  a  constitution,  the  forms  of  which  were  friendly 
to  popular  liberty,  to  establish  an  administration  com- 
pletely despotic  and  arbitrary. 

The  contest  between  Papal  sovereignty  and  the  au- 
thority of  General  Councils,  which  was  carried  on 
during  the  fifteenth  century,  elicited  some  of  the  essen- 
tial principles  of  liberty,  which  were  afterwards  ap-» 
plied  to  political  government.  The  revival  of  learning, 
by  unfolding  the  principles  of  legislation  and  modes 
of  government  in  the  republics  of  ancient  Greece  and 
Rome,  gradually  led  to  more  liberal  notions  on  this 
subject.  But  these  were  confined  to  a  few,  and  had 
no  influence  upon  the  general  state  of  society.  The 
spirit  infused  by  philosophy  and  literature  is  too  feeble 
and  contracted  to  produce  a  radical  reform  of  estab- 
lished abuses ;  and  learned  men,  satisfied  with  their 
own  superior  illumination,  and  the  liberty  of  indulging 
their  speculations,  have  generally  been  too  indifferent 
or  too  timid  to  attempt  the  improvement  of  the  multi- 
tude. It  is  to  the  religious  spirit  excited  during  the 
sixteenth  century,  which  spread  rapidly  through  Eu- 
rope, and  diff'used  itself  among  all  classes  of  men,  that 
we  are  chiefly  indebted  for  the  propagation  of  the 
genuine  principles  of  rational  liberty,  and  the  conse- 
quent amelioration  of  government. 

Civil  and  ecclesiastical  tyranny  were  so  closely 
combined,  that  it  was  impossible  for  men  to  emanci- 
pate themselves  from  the  latter  without  throwing  off 
the  former ;  and  from  arguments  which  established 
their  religious  rights,  the  transition  was  easy,  and 
almost  unavoidable,  to  disquisitions  about  their  civil 
privileges.  In  those  kingdoms  in  which  the  rulers 
threw  off"  the  Romish  yoke,  and  introduced  the  Refor- 
mation by  their  authority,  the  influence  was  more  im- 
perceptible and  slow;  and  in  some  of  them,  as  in  Eng- 
land, the  power  taken  from  the  ecclesiastical  was 
thrown  into  the  regal  scale,  which  proved  so  far  preju- 
dicial to  popular  liberty.  But  where  the  Reformation 
was  embraced  by  the  ^reat  body  of  a  nation,  while 
the  ruling  powers  contmued  to  oppose  it,  the  eflfect 
was  visible  and  immediate.  The  interested  and  obsti- 
nate support  which  rulers  gave  to  the  old  system  of 
error  and  ecclesiastical  tyranny,  and  their  cruel  perse- 
cution of  all  who  favoured  the  new  opinions,  drove 
their  subjects  to  inquire  into  the  just  limi^  of  autho- 
rity and  obedience.  Their  judgments  once  informed 
as  lo  the  rights  to  which  they  were  entitled,  and  their 
consciences  satisfied  respecting  the  means  which  they 
might  employ  to  acquire  them,  the  immense  import- 
ance of  the  immediate  object  in  view,  their  emancipa- 
tion from  religious  bondage,  and  the  salvation  of  them- 
selves and  their  posterity,  impelled  them  to  make  the 
attempt  with  an  enthusiasm  and  perseverance  which 
the  mere  love  of  civil  liberty  could  not  have  in- 
spired. 

In  eflTecting  that  memorable  revolution,  which  termi- 
nated in  favour  of  religious  and  political  liberty  in  so 
many  nations  of  Europe,  the  public  teachers  of  the 
protestant  doctrine  had  a  principal  influence.  By  their 
instructions  and  exhortations,  they  roused  the  people 
to  consider  their  rights  and  exert  their  power;  they 
stimulated  timid  and  w^ary  politicians  ;  they  encouraged 
and  animated  princes,  nobles,  and  confederated  states, 
with  their  armies,  against  the  most  formidable  opposi- 


80 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX. 


tion,  and  under  the  most  overwhelming  difficulties, 
until  their  exertions  were  ultimately  crowned  with 
success.  These  facts  are  now  admitted,  and  this 
honour  at  last,  through  the  force  of  truth,  conceded  to 
the  religious  leaders  of  the  prolestant  Reformation,  by 
philosophical  writers,  who  had  too  long  branded  them 
as  ignorant  and  fanatical.* 

Our  national  Reformer  had  caught  a  large  portion 
of  the  spirit  of  civil  liberty.  We  have  already  ad- 
verted to  the  circumstance  in  his  education  which 
directed  his  attention,  at  an  early  period,  to  seme  of  its 
principles."!"  His  subsequent  studies  introduced  him 
to  an  acquaintance  with  the  maxims  and  modes  of 
government  in  the  free  states  of  antiquity;  and  it  is 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  his  intercourse  with  the 
republics  of  Switzerland  and  Geneva  had  some  influ- 
ence on  his  political  creed.  Having  formed  his  senti- 
ments independently  of  the  prejudices  arising  from 
established  laws,  long  usage,  and  commonly  received 
opinions,  his  zeal  and  intrepidity  prompted  him  to 
avow  and  to  propagate  them,  when  others,  less  san- 
guine and  resolute,  would  have  been  restrained  by  fear, 
or  by  despair  of  success. :t  Extensive  observation  had 
convinced  him  of  the  glaring  perversion  of  government 
in  most  of  the  European  kingdoms.  But  his  principles 
led  him  to  desire  their  reform,  not  their  subversion. 
His  admiration  of  the  policy  of  republics,  ancient  or 
modern,  was  not  so  great  or  indiscriminate  as  to  pre- 
vent him  from  separating  the  essential  principles  of 
equity  and  freedom  which  they  contained,  from  others 
which  were  incompatible  with  monarchy.  He  was 
perfectly  sensible  of  the  necessity  of  regular  govern- 
ment to  the  maintenance  of  justice  and  order  among 
mankind,  and  aware  of  the  danger  of  setting  men  loose 
from  its  salutary  control.  He  uniformly  inculcated  a 
conscientious  obedience  to  the  lawful  commands  of 
rulers,  and  respect  to  their  persons  as  well  as  to  their 
authority,  even  when  they  were  chargeable  with  vari- 
ous mismanagements ;  as  long  as  they  did  not  break 
through  all  the  restraints  of  law  and  justice,  and  cease 
to  perform  the  essential  duties  of  their  office. 

But  he  held,  that  rulers,  supreme  as  well  as  subor- 
dinate, were  invested  with  authority  for  the  public 
good  ;  that  obedience  was  not  due  to  them  in  any  thing 
contrary  to  the  divine  law;  that,  in  every  free  and  well- 
constituted  government,  the  law  of  the  land  was  supe- 
rior to  the  will  of  the  prince,  and  that  inferior  magis- 
trates and  subjects  might  restrain  the  supreme  magis- 
trate from  particular  illegal  acts,  without  throwing  off 
their  allegiance,  or  being  guilty  of  rebellion  ;  that  no 
class  of  men  have  an  original,  inherent,  and  indefeasi- 
ble right  to  rule  over  a  people,  independently  of  their 
will  and  consent;  that  every  nation  is  entitled  to  pro- 
vide and  require  that  they  be  ruled  by  laws  which  are 
agreeable  to  the  divine  law,  and  calculated  to  promote 
their  welfare ;  that  there  is  a  mutual  compact,  tacit 
and  implied,  if  not  formal  and  explicit,  between  rulers 
and  their  subjects;  and,  if  the  former  shall  fla<^rantly 
violate  this,  employ  that  power  for  the  destruction  of  a 
commonwealth  which  was  committed  to  them  for  its 
preservation  and  benefit,  in  one  word,  if  they  shall  be- 
come habitual  tyrants  and  notorious  oppressors,  that 
the  people  are  absolved  from  allegiance,  and  have  a 
right  to  resist  them,  formally  to  depose  them  from 
their  place,  and  to  elect  others  in  their  room. 

The  real  power  of  the  Scottish  kings  was,  indeed, 
always  limited,  and  there  are  in  our  history,  previous 
to  the  era  of  the  Reformation,  many  instances  of  re- 
sistance to  their  authority.  But,  though  these  were 
pleaded  as  precedents  on  this  occasion,  it  must  be  con- 


«  Villiers's  Essay  on  the  Spirit  and  inffaence  of  the  Refor- 
mation of  Luther,  Mill's  Transration,  p.  183,  186,  321,  327. 

+  See  above,  p.  7 — 9. 

t  "I  prai*  my  God  (said  he)  I  hare  not  learned  to  cry  con- 
juration and  treasoun  at  every  thing  that  the  godles  multitude 
does  condero,  neither  yet  to  fear  the  things  that  they  fear." 
Conference  with  Murray  and  Maitland,  Historie,  p.  339. 


fessed  that  we  cannot  trace  them  to  the  principles  of 
genuine  liberty.  They  were  the  effects  of  sudden 
resentment  on  account  of  some  extraordinary  act  of 
mal-administration,  or  of  the  ambition  of  some  power- 
ful baron,  or  of  the  jealousy  with  which  the  feudal 
aristocracy  watched  over  the  privileges  of  their  order. 
The  people  who  followed  the  standards  of  their  chiefs 
had  little  interest  in  the  struggle,  and  derived  no  bene- 
fit from  the  limitations  which  were  imposed  upon  their 
sovereign.  But,  at  this  time,  more  just  and  enlarged 
sentiments  were  diffused  through  the  nation,  and  the 
idea  of  a  commonwealth,  including  the  mass  of  the 
people  as  well  as  the  privileged  orders,  began  to  be 
entertained.  Our  Reformer,  whose  notions  of  heredi- 
tary right,  whether  in  kings  or  nobles,  were  not  exalted, 
studied  to  repress  the  insolence  and  oppression  of  the 
nobles.  He  reminded  them  of  the  original  equality 
of  men,  and  the  ends  for  which  some  were  raised 
above  others ;  and  he  taught  the  people  that  they  had 
rights  to  preserve,  as  well  as  duties  to  perform.*  With 
respect  to  female  government,  he  never  moved  any 
question  among  his  countrymen,  nor  attempted  to  gain 
proselytes  to  his  opinion. 

Such,  in  substance,  were  the  political  sentiments 
which  were  inculcated  by  our  Reformer,  and  which 
were  more  than  once  acted  upon  in  Scotland  during 
his  life.  That  in  an  age  when  the  principles  of  poli- 
tical liberty  were  only  beginning  to  be  understood,  such 
sentiments  should  have  been  regarded  with  a  suspi- 
cious eye  by  some  of  the  learned  who  had  not  yet 
thrown  off  common  prejudices,  and  that  they  should 
have  exposed  those  who  maintained  them  to  a  charge 
of  treason  from  despotical  rulers  and  their  numerous 
satellites,  is  far  from  being  matter  of  wonder.  But  it 
must  excite  both  surprise  and  indignation,  to  find 
writers,  in  the  present  enlightened  age,  and  under  the 
sunshine  of  British  liberty  (if  our  sun  is  not  fast  going 
down),  expressing  their  abhorrence  of  these  principles, 
and  exhausting  upon  their  authors  all  the  invective 
and  virulence  of  the  former  Anti-monarcho-machi,  and 
advocates  of  passive  obedience.  They  are  essentially 
the  principles  upon  which  the  free  constitution  of  Bri- 
tain rests ;  and  the  most  obnoxious  of  them  were  re- 
duced to  practice  at  the  memorable  era  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, when  the  necessity  of  employing  them  was  not 
more  urgent  or  unquestionable,  than  it  was  at  the  sus- 
pension of  the  Queen  Regent  of  Scotland,  and  the 
subsequent  sequestration  of  her  daughter. 

I  have  said  essentially  .•  for  I  would  not  be  under- 
stood as  meaning,  that  every  proposition  advanced  by 
Knox,  on  this  subject,  is  expressed  in  the  most  guarded 
and  unexceptionable  manner,  or  that  all  the  cases  in 
which  he  was  led  to  vindicate  forcible  resistance  to 
rulers,  were  such  as  rendered  it  necessary,  and  may 
be  pleaded  as  precedents  in  modern  times.  The  poli- 
tical doctrines  maintained  at  that  time  received  a  tinc- 
ture from  the  spirit  of  the  age,  and  were  accommodated 
to  a  state  of  society  and  government  comparatively 
rude  and  unsettled.  The  checks  which  have  since 
been  introduced  into  the  constitution,  and  the  influence 
which  public  opinion,  expressed  by  the  organ  of  a  free 
press,  has  upon  the  conduct  of  rulers,  are  sufficient,  in 
ordinary  cases,  to  restrain  dangerous  encroachments, 
or  to  afford  the  means  of  correcting  them  in  a  peace- 
able way  ;  and  have  thus  happily  superseded  the  neces- 
sity of  having  recourse  to  those  desperate  but  decisive 
remedies  which  were  formerly  applied  by  an  oppressed 
and  indignant  people.  But  if  ever  the  time  come  when 
these  principles  shall  be  generally  abjured  or  forgotten, 
the  extinction  of  the  boasted  liberty  of  Britain  will  not 
be  far  off. 

There  are  objections  against  our  Reformer's  political 
principles  which  demand  consideration,  from  the  au- 
thority to  which  they  appeal,  and  the  influence  which 
they  may  have  on   pious  minds.     'The  doctrine  of  re- 

*  The  authorities  for  this  statement  of  Knox's  political 
opinions  will  be  found  in  Note  XXXVI. 


LIFE    OF  JOHN   KNOX. 


81 


sistance  to  civil  rulers,'  it  is  alleged,  '  is  repugnant  to 
the  express  directions  of  the  New  Testament,  which 
repeatedly  enjoin  Christians  to  be  subject  to  "the 
powers  that  be,"  and  denounce  damnation  against  such 
as  disobey  or  resist  them  on  any  pretext  whatever. 
With  the  literal  and  strict  import  of  these  precepts  the 
example  of  the  primitive  Christians  agreed  ;  for  even 
after  they  became  very  numerous,  so  as  to  be  capable 
of  opposing  the  government  under  which  they  lived, 
they  never  attempted  to  shake  off  the  authority  of  the 
Roman  emperors,  or  to  employ  force  to  protect  them- 
selves from  the  tyrannical  persecutions  to  which  they 
were  exposed.  Besides,  granting  that  it  is  lawful  for 
subjects  to  vindicate  their  civil  rights  and  privileges 
by  resisting  arbitrary  rulers,  to  have  recourse  to  forci- 
ble measures  for  promoting  Christianity,  is  diametri- 
cally opposite  to  the  genius  of  that  religion,  which 
was  propagated  at  first,  and  is  still  to  be  defended, 
not  by  arms  and  violence,  but  by  teaching  and  suffer- 
ing.' 

These  objections  are  more  specious  than  solid.  The 
directions  and  precepts  on  this  subject,  which  are  con- 
tained in  the  New  Testament,  must  not  be  stretched 
beyond  their  evident  scope  and  proper  import.  They 
do  not  give  greater  power  to  Magistrates  than  they 
formerly  possessed,  nor  do  they  supersede  any  of  the 
rights  or  privileges  to  which  subjects  were  entitled,  by 
the  common  law  of  nature,  or  by  the  particular  statutes 
of  any  country.  The  New  Testament  does  not  give 
directions  to  communities  respecting  the  original  for- 
mation or  subsequent  improvement  of  their  civil  con- 
stitutions, nor  prescribe  the  course  which  ought  to  be 
pursued  in  certain  extraordinary  cases,  when  rulers 
abuse  the  power  with  which  they  are  invested,  and 
convert  their  legitimate  authority  into  an  engine  of 
despotism  and  oppression.*  It  supposes  magistrates 
to  be  acting  within  the  proper  line  of  their  office,  and 
discharging  its  duties  to  the  advantage  of  the  society 
over  which  they  are  placed.  And  it  teaches  Chris- 
tians, that  the  liberty  which  Christ  purchased,  and  to 
the  enjoyment  of  which  they  are  called  by  the  gospel, 
does  not  exempt  them  from  subjection  and  obedience 
to  civil  authority,  which  is  a  divine  ordinance  for  the 
good  of  mankind  ;  that  they  are  bound  to  obey  existing 
rulers,  although  they  should  be  of  a  different  religion 
from  themselves ;  and  that  Christianity,  so  far  from 
setting  them  free  from  obligations  to  this  or  any  other 
relative  duty,  strengthens  these  obligations,  and  re- 
quires them  to  discharge  their  duties  for  conscience- 
sake,  with  fidelity,  cheerfulness,  patience,  long-suffer- 
ing, and  singleness  of  heart.  Viewed  in  this  light, 
nothing  can  be  more  reasonable  in  its  own  nature,  or 
more  honourable  to  the  Gospel,  than  the  directions 
which  it  gives  on  this  subject ;  and  we  must  perceive 
a  peculiar  propriety  in  the  frequency  and  earnestness 
with  which  they  are  urged,  when  we  consider  the 
danger  in  which  the  primitive  Christians  were  of  sup- 
posing, that  they  were  liberated  from  the  ordinary 
restraints  of  the  rest  of  mankind.  But  if  we  shall  go 
beyond  this,  and  assert  that  the  Scriptures  have  pro- 
hibited resistance  to  rulers  in  every  case,  and  that  if 
the  great  body  of  a  nation  consisting  of  Christians 
shall  attempt  to  curb  the  fury  of  their  rulers,  or  de- 
prive them  of  the  power  which  they  have  grossly 
abused,  they  are  guilty  of  that  crime  against  which  the 


*  "Concedit  auletn  (says  Melanchthon)  Evangelium  uti 
legibus  politicis  cum  ratione  congruentibus.  Imo  si  talis  de- 
fensio  non  esset  concessa,  transformaretur  Erangelium  in  doc- 
trinani  politicam,  et  stabiliret  infinitaiu  tyraniiidera."  Com- 
ment, in  Prov.  xxiv.  21,  22.  And  again:  "Non  constituit 
Evangelium  novas  politias,  quare  nee  infinitam  servitutem  prae- 
cepit."  2.  Artie.  Symbol.  Nicen.  sub  quasst.  Utrum  armis 
reprimendi  sunt  Tyranni?  Tlais  argument  influeneed  Luther 
to  retraet  the  unlimited  condemnation  of  resistance  which  he 
had  formerly  published,  and  to  approve  of  the  League  of  Smal- 
cald.  Sleicfan,  Comment,  lib.  8.  Dean  Milner  seems  to  have 
overlooked  this  fact  in  his  statement  of  the  political  principles 
of  that  Reformer. 


apostle  denounces  damnation,  we  represent  the  benefi- 
cent religion  of  Jesus  as  sanctioning  despotism,  and 
entailing  upon  mankind  all  the  evils  of  political  bond- 
age ;  and  we  tread  in  the  steps  of  those  enemies  to 
Christianity,  who,  under  the  colour  of  paying  a  com- 
pliment to  its  pacific,  submissive,  tolerating,  and  self- 
denying  maxims,  have  represented  it  as  calculated  to 
produce  a  passive,  servile  spirit,  and  to  extinguish 
courage,  patriotism,  the  love  of  civil  liberty,  the  desire 
of  self-preservation,  and  every  kind  of  disposition  to 
repel  injuries,  or  to  obtain  the  redress  of  the  most  in- 
tolerable grievances. 

The  example  of  the  primitive  Christians  is  not  bind- 
ing upon  others  any  farther  than  it  is  conformable  to 
the  Scriptures;  and  the  circumstances  in  which  they 
were  placed  were  totally  different  from  those  of  the 
protestants  in  Scotland,  and  in  other  countries,  at  the 
time  of  the  Reformation.  The  Fathers  often  indulge 
in  oratorical  exaggerations  when  speaking  of  the  num- 
bers of  the  Christians,  nor  is  there  any  satisfactory 
evidence  that  they  ever  approached  near  to  a  majority 
of  the  Roman  empire,  during  the  time  that  they  were 
exposed  to  persecution. 

"  If  thou  mayest  be  made  free,  use  it  rather,"  says 
the  Apostle;  a  maxim  which  is  applicable  by  just 
analogy  to  political,  as  well  as  to  domestic  freedom. 
The  Christian  religion  natively  tends  to  cherish  and 
diffuse  a  spirit  favourable  to  civil  liberty,  and  this  in 
its  turn  has  the  most  happy  influence  upon  Christia- 
nity, which  never  flourished  extensively,  and  for  a  long 
period,  in  any  country  where  despotism  prevailed.  It 
must  therefore  be  the  duty  of  every  Christian  to  exert 
himself  for  the  acquisition  and  defence  of  this  invalu- 
able blessing.  Although  Christianity  ought  not  to  be 
propagated  by  force  of  arms;  yet  the  external  liberty 
of  professing  it  maybe  vindicated  in  ihat  way  both 
against  foreign  invaders  and  against  domestic  tyrants  ; 
and  if  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion,  or  their  right 
to  remove  religious  abuses,  enter  into  the  grounds  of 
the  struggle  which  a  nation  maintains  against  oppres- 
sive rulers,  the  cause  becomes  of  vastly  more  import- 
ance, its  justice  is  more  unquestionable,  and  it  is  still 
more  worthy  not  only  of  their  prayers  and  petitions, 
but  of  their  blood  and  treasure,  than  if  it  had  been 
maintained  solely  for  the  purpose  of  securing  their 
fortunes,  or  of  acquiring  some  mere  worldly  privilege. 
And  to  those  whose  minds  are  not  warped  by  preju- 
dice, and  who  do  not  labour  under  a  confusion  of  ideas 
on  the  subject,  it  must  surely  appear  paradoxical  to 
assert,  that,  while  God  has  granted  to  subjects  a  right 
to  take  the  sword  of  just  defence  for  securing  objects 
of  a  temporary  and  inferior  nature,  he  has  prohibited 
them  from  using  this  remedy,  and  left  them  at  the 
mercy  of  every  lawless  despot,  with  respect  to  a  con- 
cern the  most  important  of  all,  whether  it  be  viewed 
as  relating  to  His  own  honour,  or  to  the  welfare  of 
mankind. 


Those  who  judge  of  the  propriety  of  any  measure 
from  the  success  with  which  it  is  accompanied,  will 
be  disposed  to  condemn  the  suspension  of  the  Queen 
Regent.  Soon  after  this  step  was  taken,  the  affairs 
of  the  Congregation  began  to  wear  a  gloomy  aspect. 
The  messenger  whom  they  had  sent  to  Berwick  to  re- 
ceive a  remittance  from  the  English  court,  was  inler- 
cepted  on  his  return,  and  rifled  of  the  treasure ;  their 
soldiers  mutinied  for  want  of  pay  ;  they  were  repulsed 
in  a  premature  assault  upon  the  fortifications  of  Leith, 
and  worsted  in  a  skirmish  with  the  French  troops ;  the 
secret  emissaries  of  the  Regent  were  too  successful 
among  them ;  their  numbers  daily  decreased  ;  and  the 
remainder,  disunited,  dispirited,  and  dismayed,  came 
to  the  resolution  of  abandoning  Edinburgh  on  the 
evening  of  the  5th  of  November,  and  retreated  with 
precipitation  and  disgrace  to  Stirling. 

Amidst  the  universal  dejection  produced  bv  these 
6 


82 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    KNOX. 


disasters,  the  spirit  of  Knox  remained  unsubdued. 
On  the  day  after  their  arrival  at  Stirling,  he  mounted 
the  pulpit,  and  delivered  a  discourse,  which  had  a 
wonderful  effect  in  rekindling  the  zeal  and  courage  of 
the  Congregation.  Their  faces  (he  said)  were  con- 
founded, their  enemies  triumphed,  their  hearts  had 
quaked  for  fear,  and  still  remained  oppressed  with 
sorrow  and  shame.  What  was  the  cause  for  which 
God  had  thus  dejected  them?  The  situation  of  their 
affairs  required  plain  language,  and  he  would  use  it. 
In  the  present  distressed  state  of  their  minds,  they 
were  in  danger  of  attributing  these  misfortunes  to  a 
wrong  cause,  and  of  imagining  that  they  had  offended 
in  taking  the  sword  of  self-defence  into  their  hands; 
just  as  the  tribes  of  Israel  did,  when  twice  discomfited 
in  the  war  which  they  undertook,  by  divine  direction, 
against  their  brethren  the  Benjamites.  Having  divided 
the  Congregation  into  two  classes,  those  who  had  been 
embarked  in  this  cause  from  the  beginning,  and  those 
who  had  lately  acceded  to  it,  he  proceeded  to  point  out 
what  he  considered  as  blameable  in  the  conduct  of  each. 
The  former  (he  said)  had  laid  aside  that  humility  and 
dependence  upon  divine  providence  which  they  had 
discovered  when  their  number  was  small,  and,  since 
they  were  joined  by  the  Hamiltons,  had  become  elated, 
secure,  and  self-confident.  "  But  wherein  had  my 
Lord  Duke  and  his  friends  offended?  I  am  uncertain 
if  my  Lord's  Grace  has  unfeignedly  repented  of  his 
assistance  to  these  murderers,  unjustly  pursuing  us. 
Yea,  I  am  uncertain  if  he  has  repented  of  that  innocent 
blood  of  Christ's  blessed  martyrs,  which  was  shed  in 
his  default.  But  let  it  be  that  so  he  has  done,  (as  I 
hear  that  he  has  confessed  his  fault  before  the  Lords 
and  brethren  of  the  Congregation)  ;  yet  I  am  assured 
that  neither  he,  nor  yet  his  friends  did  feel  before  this 
time  the  anguish  and  grief  of  heart  which  we  felt, 
when  in  their  blind  fury  they  pursued  us.  And  there- 
fore God  hath  justly  permitted  both  them  and  us  to 
fall  in  this  fearful  confusion  at  once ;  us,  for  that  we 
put  our  trust  and  confidence  in  man,  and  them,  because 
they  should  feel  in  their  own  hearts  how  bitter  was 
the  cup  which  they  made  others  drink  before  them." 
After  exhorting  all  to  amendment  of  life,  to  prayers, 
and  works  of  charity,  he  concluded  with  an  animating 
address.  God  (he  said)  often  suffered  the  wicked  to 
triumph  for  a  while,  and  exposed  his  chosen  congrega- 
tion to  mockery,  dangers,  and  apparent  destruction,  in 
order  to  abase  their  self-confidence,  and  induce  them 
to  look  to  Him  for  deliverance  and  victory.  If  they 
turned  unfeignedly  to  the  Eternal,  he  no  more  doubted 
that  their  present  distress  would  be  converted  into  joy, 
and  followed  by  success,  than  he  doubted  that  Israel 
was  finally  victorious  over  the  Benjamites,  after  being 
twice  repulsed  with  ignominy.  The  cause  in  which 
they  were  engaged  would,  in  spite  of  all  opposition, 
prevail  in  Scotland.  It  was  the  eternal  truth  of  the 
eternal  God  which  they  maintained  ;  it  might  be  op- 
pressed for  a  time,  but  would  ultimately  triumph.* 

The  audience,  who  had  entered  the  church  in  deep 
despondency,  left  it  with  renovated  courage.  In  the 
afternoon  the  council  met,  and,  after  prayer  by  the 
Reformer,  unanimously  agreed  to  despatch  William 
Maitland  of  Lethington  to  London,  to  supplicate  more 
effectual  assistance  from  Elizabeth.  In  the  mean  time, 
as  they  were  unable  to  keep  the  field,  it  was  agreed 
that  they  should  divide,  and  that  the  one  half  of  the 
council  should  remain  at  Glasgow,  and  the  other  at 
St.  Andrews.  Knox  was  appointed  to  attend  the  latter 
in  the  double  capacity  of  preacher  and  secretary.  The 
French  having,  in  Ihe  beginning  the  year  1560,  pene- 
trated into  Fife,  he  encouraged  that  small  band,  which, 
under  the  Earl  of  Arran  and  the  Prior  of  St.  Andrews, 
bravely  resisted  their  progress,  until  the  appearance 

»  Knox  has  preserved  in  his  history,  (p.  194 — 197.)  the  prin- 
cipal topics  on  which  he  insisted  in  this  sermon,  which  liavc 
been  highly  praised  both  by  Buchanan  and  Robertson. 


of  the  English  fleet  obliged  them  to  retreat  with  pre- 
cipitation.* 

The  disaster  which  obliged  the  protestant  army  to 
raise  the  siege  of  Leith,  and  to  evacuate  Edinburgh, 
turned  out  eventually  to  the  advantage  of  their  cause. 
It  induced  the  English  court  to  abandon  the  line  of 
cautious  policy  which  they  had  hitherto  pursued. 
Maitland's  embassy  to  London  was  successful ;  and, 
on  the  27th  of  February  1560,  Elizabeth  concluded  a 
formal  treaty  with  the  Lords  of  the  Congregation,  by 
which  she  engaged  to  send  an  army  into  Scotland,  to 
assist  them  in  expelling  the  French  forces.  Being 
informed  of  this  treaty,  the  Queen  Regent  resolved  to 
disperse  the  troops  which  were  collected  at  Glasgow 
under  the  Duke  of  Chastelherault,  before  the  English 
army  could  arrive.  On  the  7th  of  March,  the  French, 
to  the  number  of  two  thousand  foot,  and  three  hundred 
horse,  issued  from  Leith,  and,  proceeding  by  Linlith- 
gow and  Kirkintilloch,  suddenly  appeared  before  Glas- 
gow. The  Duke  having  retired  with  his  retinue  at 
their  approach,  they  reduced  the  episcopal  Castle,  and 
prepared  to  advance  to  Hamilton.  But  having  re- 
ceived a  message  from  the  Queen  Regent  that  the 
English  auxiliary  army  had  begun  its  march  into  Scot- 
land, they  relinquished  their  design,  and  returned  to 
Leith,  carrying  along  with  them  a  number  of  prison- 
ers, and  a  considerable  booty.f  In  the  beginning  of 
April,  the  English  army  joined  the  forces  of  the  Con- 
gregation. The  French  shut  themselves  up  within 
the  fortifications  of  Leith,  which  were  invested  both 
by  sea  and  land.  And  the  Queen  Regent,  who  was 
in  a  declining  state  of  health,  was  received  by  Lord 
Erskine  into  the  Castle  of  Edinburgh,  where  she  died 
during  the  siege  of  Leith. 

These  proceedings  were  viewed  with  deep  interest 
by  the  court  of  France.  Henry  II.  having  died  in 
July  1559,  was  succeeded  by  Francis  II.  the  husband 
of  the  young  Queen  of  Scots,  and  the  administration 
of  affairs  consequently  fell  wholly  into  the  hands  of 
the  Duke  of  Guise  and  the  Cardinal  of  Lorrain.  They 
employed  every  art  of  political  intrigue  to  prevent 
Elizabeth  from  giving  assistance  to  the  Scottish  Con- 
gregation, and  to  prevail  on  her  to  desert  them,  after 
she  had  undertaken  their  protection.  Nor  were  they 
altogether  unsuccessful  in  their  attempts.  For  the 
English  Queen,  partly  from  her  extreme  caution  and 
parsimony,  and  partly  from  the  influence  of  some  of 
her  counsellors,  was  induced  to  listen  to  their  plausi- 
ble proposals  ;  she  delayed  the  march  of  her  army  into 
Scotland,  and  even  after  they  had  undertaken  the  siege 
of  Leith,  she  suspended  the  military  operations,  and 
engaged  in  premature  negociations  for  peace.  This 
last  step  justly  alarmed  the  Congregation,  and  while 
they  neglected  no  means  to  persuade  the  English 
court  to  perform  the  stipulations  of  the  late  treaty, 
they  prepared  for  the  worst,  by  renewing  their  cove- 
nant among  themselves.  Elizabeth  at  last  listened  to 
the  advice  of  her  ablest  counsellors,  and  resolved  to 
prosecute  the  war  with  vigour.  No  sooner  did  she 
evince  this  determination  than  the  French  court  yielded 
to  all  her  demands.  The  armament  which  they  had 
formerly  fitted  out  at  great  expence  for  Scotland  had 
been  dispersed  by  a  storm;  the  Frith  of  Forth  was 
blocked  up  by  an  English  fleet;  and  a  confederacy 
had  been  formed  among  a  number  of  the  French  nobi- 
lity, to  remove  the  princes  of  Lorrain  from  the  admin- 
istration of  public  affairs,  and  to  free  the  protestants 
in  that  kingdom  from  the  severe  persecutions  to  which 


»  Knox,  Historic,  p.  197,  201.  215.  Spottiswood,  p.  140. 
MS.  Historie  of  the  Estate  of  Scotland,  p.  19—22. 

+  A  particular  account  of  this  expedition  is  given  in  MS. 
Historie  of  the  Estate  of  Scotland  from  1559  to  1566,  p. 
25 — 7.  Lesley  (p.  519.)  refers  to  it  obscurely.  Spottiswood 
(p.  140.)  ana  Keith  (p.  110.)  have  confounded  it  with  a 
different  expedition  which  was  undertaken  in  November  pre- 
ceding. 


LIFE    OF  JOHN   KNOX. 


83 


they  had  been  hitherto  exposed.*  Influenced  by  these 
circumstances,  France  sent  plenipotentiaries  to  Edin- 
burgh, who  concluded  a  treaty  with  England,  by  which 
the  Scottish  differences  were  also  adjusted.  By  this 
treaty  it  was  provided,  that  the  French  troops  should 
immediately  be  removed  from  Scotland  ;  that  an  am- 
nesty should  be  granted  to  all  who  had  been  engaged  in 
the  late  resistance  to  the  Queen  Regent ;  that  the  prin- 
cipal grievances  of  which  they  complained  in  the  civil 
administration  should  be  redressed  ;  that  a  free  parlia- 
ment should  be  held  to  settle  the  other  affairs  of  the 
kingdom ;  and  that,  during  the  absence  of  their  sove- 
reigns, the  government  should  be  administered  by  a 
council  to  be  chosen  partly  by  Francis  and  Mary,  and 
partly  by  the  estates  of  the  nation.  The  treaty  was 
signed  on  the  7th  of  July;  on  the  16th,  the  French 
troops  were  embarked  at  Leith,  and  the  English  army 
began  their  march  into  their  own  country;  and  on 
the  19th,  the  Congregation  assembled  in  St.  Giles's 
church,  and  returned  solemn  thanks  to  God  for  the 
restoration  of  peace,  and  the  success  which  had  crowned 
their  exertions.f  In  this  manner  terminated  the  civil 
war  which  attended  the  Scottish  Reformation,  after  it 
had  continued  for  twelve  months,  with  less  rancour 
and  bloodshed  than  have  distinguished  any  other  con- 
test of  a  similar  kind. 

During  the  continuance  of  the  war,  the  protestant 
preachers  had  been  assiduous  in  disseminating  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth  through  all  parts  of  the  king- 
dom. They  had  lately  received  a  considerable  acces- 
sion to  their  number.  While  we  venerate  those  men 
who  enlisted  under  the  banners  of  truth  when  her 
friends  were  few,  and  who  boldly  took  the  field  in  her 
defence  when  the  victory  was  dubious  and  distant, 
and  while  we  cheerfully  award  to  them  the  highest 
meed  of  praise,  let  us  not  load  with  heavy  censure,  or 
even  deprive  of  all  praise,  such  as,  less  enlightened  or 
less  courageous,  were  more  tardy  in  their  appearances 
in  behalf  of  this  cause,  in  the  dawn  of  light,  and  in 
perilous  times.  He  who  "  knew  what  is  in  man" 
did  not  reject  such  disciples.  Nicodemus,  who  at  first 
"came  to  Jesus  by  night,"  and  Joseph  of  Arimathea, 
who  was  his  disciple,  "  but  secretly  for  fear  of  the 
Jews,"  afterwards  avouched  their  faith  in  him,  and 
obtained  the  honour  of  embalming  and  interring  his 
body,  when  all  his  early  followers  had  forsaken  him 
and  fled.  Several  of  the  Scottish  clergy  who  were 
favourable  to  the  protestant  doctrine  had  contrived  to 
retain  their  places  in  the  church,  by  concealing  their 
sentiments,  or  through  the  favour  of  some  powerful 
patron.  Of  this  number  were  John  Winram,  sub-prior 
of  the  Abbey  of  St.  Andrews,  Adam  Herriot,  a  friar 
of  that  Abbey,  John  Spottiswood,  parson  of^  C alder, 
and  John  Carsewell,  rector  of  Kilmartine.  In  the 
gradual  diffusion  of  knowledge  through  the  nation,  the 
minds  of  many  who  were  attending  the  schools  had 
been  also  enlightened  ;  among  whom  were  David  Lind- 
say, William  Christison,  Andrew  Hay,  Robert  Mont- 
gomery, Patrick  Adamson,  and  Archibald  Hamilton. 
During  the  year  1559,  these  men  came  forward  as 
auxiliaries  to  the  first  protestant  preachers ;  and  so 
successful  were  they  in  instructing  the  people,  that 
even  though  the  French  had  proved  victorious  in  the 
military  contest,  they  would  have  found  it  extremely 
difficult  to  support  the  ancient  superstition. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  exertions  of  the  popish 
clergy  had  been  feeble  in  the  extreme.  Too  corrupt 
to  think  of  reforming  their  manners,  too  illiterate  to 
be  capable  of  defending  their  errors,  they  placed  their 
forlorn  hope  on  the  success  of  the  French  arms,  and 

*  Those  who  wish  to  see  a  particular  account  of  the  nego- 
ciations  between  F'rance  and  England,  and  of  the  motives 
which  inrtuenced  both  courts  in  their  conduct  towards  Scot- 
land, may  consult  the  Letters  published  b}'  Forbes  and  Haynes, 
particularly  from  November  1559  to  July  1560. 

t  Buchanan!  Oper.  i.  313.  Knox,  229—234.  Spottiswood, 
p.  147—9.     Keith,  p.  130—145. 


looked  forward  to  the  issue  of  the  war  as  involving 
the  establishment  or  the  ruin  of  their  religion.  The 
bishop  of  Amiens,  who  came  into  Scotland  in  the 
double  capacity  of  ambassador  from  the  French  court 
and  of  papal  legate,  was  accompanied  by  three  doctors 
of  the  Sorbonne,  who  gave  out  that  they  would  con- 
found the  reformed  ministers,  and  bring  back  the  peo- 
ple whom  they  had  misled  to  the  bosom  of  the  church, 
by  the  force  of  argument  and  persuasion.  Lesley 
boasts  of  the  success  which  attended  their  exertions  ; 
but  there  is  good  reason  for  thinking,  that  these  foreign 
divines  confined  themselves  to  the  easier  task  of  in- 
structing the  Scottish  clergy  to  perform  the  religious 
service  with  greater  solemnity,  and  to  purify  the 
churches,  in  a  canonical  manner,  from  the  pollution 
which  they  had  contracted  from  the  profane  worship 
of  heretics.*  One  attempt,  however,  was  made  by 
the  popish  clergy  to  support  their  sinking  cause,  which, 
if  it  had  succeeded,  would  have  done  more  to  retrieve 
their  reputation  than  all  the  arguments  of  the  Sorbo- 
nists.  As  this  was  the  last  attempt  of  the  kind  that 
ever  was  made  in  Scotland,  the  reader  may  be  gratified 
with  the  following  account  of  it. 

In  the  neighbourhood  of  Musselburgh  was  a  chapel 
dedicated  to  our  Lady  of  Loretto,  the  sanctity  of  which 
was  increased  from  its  having  been  the  favourite  abode 
of  the  celebrated  Thomas  the  Hermit.  To  this  sacred 
place  the  inhabitants  of  Scotland,  from  time  imme- 
morial, had  repaired  in  pilgrimage,  to  present  their  of- 
ferings to  the  Virgin,  and  to  experience  the  virtue  of 
her  prayers  ;  and  the  healing  power  of  the  wonder- 
working "  Hermit  of  Lareit.'*f  In  the  course  of  the 
year  1559,  public  notice  was  given  by  the  friars,  that 
they  intended  to  put  the  truth  of  their  religion  lo  the 
proof,  by  performing  a  miracle  at  the  chapel  of  Loretto 
upon  a  young  man  who  had  been  born  blind.  On  the 
day  appointed,  a  vast  concourse  of  people  assembled 
from  the  three  Lothians.  The  young  man,  accom- 
panied with  a  solemn  procession  of  monks,  was  con- 
ducted to  a  scaffold,  erected  on  the  outside  of  the 
chapel,  and  was  exhibited  to  the  multitude.  Many  of 
them  knew  him  to  be  the  blind  man  whom  they  had 
often  seen  begging,  and  whose  necessities  they  had  re- 
lieved :  all  looked  on  him,  and  pronounced  him  stone 
blind.  The  friars  then  proceeded  to  their  devotions 
with  great  fervency,  invoking  the  assistance  of  the 
Virgin,  at  whose  shrine  they  stood,  and  of  all  the  saints 
whom  they  honoured  ;  and  after  some  time  spent  in 
prayers  and  religious  ceremonies,  the  blind  man  open- 
ed his  eyes,  to  the  astonishment  of  the  spectators. 
Having  returned  thanks  to  the  friars  and  their  saintly 
patrons  for  this  wonderful  cure,  he  was  allowed  to  go 
down  from  the  scaffold,  to  gratify  the  curiosity  of  the 
people,  and  to  receive  their  alms. 

It  happened  that  there  was  among  the  crowd  a 
gentleman  of  Fife,  Robert  Colville  of  Cleish,^:  who, 
from  his  romantic  bravery,  was  usually  called  Squire 
Meldrum,  in  allusion  to  a  person  of  that  name  who 
had  been  celebrated  by  Sir  David  Lindsay.  He  was 
of  protestant  principles,  but  his  wife  was  a  Roman 
Catholic,  and,  being  pregnant  at  this  time,  had  sent  a 
servant  with  a  present  to  the  chapel  of  Loretto,  to  pro- 
cure the  assistance  of  the  Virgin  in  her  labour.  The 
Squire  was  too  gallant  to  hurt  his  lady's  feelings  by 
prohibiting  the  present  from  being  sent  off,  but  he 
resolved  to  prevent  the  superstitious  offering,  and  with 
that  view,  had  come  to  Musselburgh.  He  had  wit- 
nessed the  miracle  of  curing  the  blind   man  with  the 


*  Lesley,  p.  516—7.  Spottiswood,  133—4.  Keith,  102. 
Sadler  says,  that  the  bishop  of  Amiens  came  "  to  curse,  and 
also  to  dispute  with  the  protestants,  and  to  reconcile  them,  if 
it  wolbe."     State  Papers,  i.  470. 

f  The  Earl  of  Glencairn's  satirical  poem  against  the  friars 
is  written  in  the  form  of  an  epistle  from  this  nermil.  Knox 
Historie,  p.  25. 

\  He  was  the  ancestor  of  Lord  Colville  of  Ochiltree  (Doug- 
las's Peerage,  p.  147);  and  was  killed  at  the  siege  of  Leith,  ob 
the  7th  of  May  1560.     Knox,  Historie,  p.  227. 


84 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX. 


distrust  natural  to  a  protestant,  and  he  determined,  if 
possible,  to  detect  the  imposition  before  he  left  the 
place.  Wherefore,  having  sought  out  the  young  man 
from  the  crowd,  he  put  a  piece  of  money  of  consider- 
able value  into  his  hand,  and  persuaded  him  to  accom- 
pany him  to  his  lodgings  in  Edinburgh.  Taking  him 
along  vi^ith  him  into  a  private  room,  and  locking  the 
door,  he  told  him  plainly  that  he  was  convinced  he 
had  engaged  in  a  wicked  conspiracy  with  the  friars  to 
impose  on  the  credulity  of  the  people,  and  at  last  drew 
from  him  the  secret  of  the  story.  When  a  boy,  he 
had  been  employed  to  tend  the  cattle  belonging  to  the 
nuns  ofSciennes,  in  the  vicinity  of  Edinburgh,  and 
had  attracted  their  attention  by  a  peculiar  faculty 
which  he  had  of  turning  up  the  white  of  his  eyes,  and 
of  keeping  them  in  this  position,  so  as  to  appear  quite 
blind.  This  being  reported  to  some  of  the  friars  in 
the  city,  they  immediately  conceived  the  design  of 
making  him  subservient  to  their  purposes;  and  having 
prevailed  on  the  sisters  of  Sciennes  to  part  with  the 
poor  boy,  lodged  him  in  one  of  their  cells.  By  daily 
practising,  he  became  an  adept  in  the  art  of  counter- 
feiting blindness;  and  after  he  had  remained  so  long 
in  concealment  as  not  to  be  recognized  by  his  former 
acquaintances,  he  was  sent  forth  to  beg  as  a  blind 
pauper;  the  friars  having  previously  bound  him,  by  a 
solemn  vow,  not  to  reveal  the  secret.  To  confirm  his 
narrative,  he  "played  his  pavie"  before  CI eish,  by 
"flypingup  the  lid  of  his  eyes  and  casting  up  the 
white,"  so  as  to  appear  as  blind  as  he  did  on  the 
scaffold  at  Loretto.  The  gentleman  laid  before  him 
the  iniquity  of  his  conduct,  and  told  him  that  he  must 
next  day  repeat  the  whole  story  publicly  at  the  Cross 
of  Edinburgh;  and  as  this  would  expose  him  to  the 
vengeance  of  the  friars,  he  engaged  to  become  his 
protector,  and  to  retain  him  as  a  servant  in  his  house. 
The  young  man  complied  with  his  directions,  and 
Cleish,  with  his  drawn  sword  in  his  hand,  having 
stood  by  him  till  he  had  finished  his  confession,  placed 
him  on  the  same  horse  with  himself,  and  carried  him 
off  to  Fife.  The  detection  of  this  imposture  was  quick- 
ly published  through  the  country,  and  covered  the 
friars  with  confusion.  My  author  does  not  say  whe- 
ther it  cured  Lady  Cleish  of  her  superstition,  but  I 
shall  afterwards  have  occasion  to  notice  its  influence 
in  opening  the  eyes  of  one  who  became  a  distinguished 
promoter  of  the  Reformation.* 

The  treaty  which  put  an  end  to  the  civil  war  in 
Scotland,  made  no  particular  settlement  respecting  the 
religious  differences, f  but  it  was,  on  that  very  account, 
the  more  fatal  to  popery.  The  proteslants  were  left 
in  the  possession  of  authority;  and  they  were  now  by 
far  the  most  powerful  party  in  the  nation,  both  in  rank 
and  in  numbers.  Excepting  those  places  which  had 
been  occupied  by  the  Queen  Regent  and  her  foreign 
auxiliaries,  the  Roman  Catholic  worship  "was  almost 
universally  deserted  throughout  the  kingdom,  and  no 
provision  was  made  in  the  treaty  for  its  restoration. 
The  firm  hold  which  it  once  had  of  the  opinions  and 
affections  of  the  people  was  completely  loosened ;  it 
was  supported  by  force  alone  ;  and  the  moment  that  the 
French  troops  embarked,  that  fabric,  which  had  stood 

*  Row's  MS.  Historic  of  the  Kirk,  p.  356.  of  a  copy  tran- 
scribed in  1726.  An  account  of  this  pretended  miracle  and 
its  detection,  probably  taken  from  the  above  MS.  will  be  found 
iii_  the  Weekly  Magazine  for  June  1772,  and  also  in  Scott's 
History  of  the  Scottish  Reformers,  p.  159. 

+  The  English  ambassadors,  in  a  letter  to  Elizabeth,  gay: 
"Two  thinig's  have  bene  to  whott  [too  hotj  for  the  French  too 
meddle  withal;  and  therefore  they  be  passed,  and  left  as  they 
found  them.  The  first  is  the  matter  of  religion,  which  is  here 
as  freely,  and  rather  more  earnestly  (a<  I  the  Secretary  thynk) 
feceaved  than  in  England:  a  hard  thing  now  to  alter,  as  it  is 
planted."  Hayncs,  p.  352.  Dr.  Wotton,  Dean  of  Windsor, 
and  Secretary  Cecil  are  the  subscribers  of  this  letter;  but  as 
it  would  rather  have  been  too  much  for  the  Dean  to  say  that 
religion  wag  more  earnestly  received  in  Scotland  than  in  Eng- 
land, the  Secretary  alone  vouches  for  that  fact. 


for  ages  in  Scotland,  fell  to  the  ground.  Its  feehle 
and  dismayed  priests  ceased,  of  their  own  accord,  from 
the  celebration  of  its  rites  :  and  the  reformed  service 
was  peaceably  set  up,  wherever  ministers  could  be 
found  to  perform  it.  The  parliament,  when  it  met  in 
August,  entered  upon  the  consideration  of  the  state  of 
religion,  as  one  of  the  points,  undecided  by  the  com- 
missioners, which  had  been  left  to  them  ;*  and  they 
had  little  else  to  do  but  to  sanction  what  the  nation 
had  previously  done,  by  legally  abolishing  the  popish, 
and  establishing  the  protestant  religion. 

When  the  circumstances  in  which  they  were  assem- 
bled, and  the  affairs  on  which  they  were  called  to 
deliberate  are  taken  into  consideration,  this  must  be 
regarded  as  the  most  important  meeting  of  the  Estates 
that  had  been  ever  held  in  Scotland.  It  engrossed  the 
attention  of  the  nation,  and  the  eyes  of  all  Europe 
were  fixed  on  its  proceedings.  The  parliament  met 
on  the  10th  of  July,  but,  agreeably  to  the  terms  of  the 
treaty,  it  was  prorogued,  without  entering  on  business, 
until  the  first  day  of  August.  Although  a  great  con- 
course of  people  resorted  to  Edinburgh  on  that  occa- 
sion, 3'et  no  tumult  or  disturbance  of  the  public  peace 
occurred.  Many  of  the  lords,  both  spiritual  and  tem- 
poral, who  were  attached  to  popery,  absented  them- 
selves; but  the  chief  patrons  of  the  old  religion,  as  the 
archbishop  of  St.  Andrews,  and  the  bishops  of  Dun- 
blane and  Dunkeld,  countenanced  the  assembly  by 
their  presence,  and  were  allowed  to  act  with  freedom 
as  lords  of  parliament.  There  is  one  fact  in  the  con- 
stitution and  proceedings  of  this  parliament  which 
strikingly  illustrates  the  influence  of  the  Reformation 
upon  political  liberty.  In  the  reign  of  James  I.  the 
lesser  barons  had  been  exempted  from  personal  attend- 
ance on  parliament,  and  permitted  to  elect  representa- 
tives in  their  different  shires.  But  a  privilege  which 
in  modern  times  is  so  eagerly  coveted  was  then  so 
little  prized,  that,  except  in  a  few  instances,  no  repre- 
sentatives from  the  shires  had  appeared  in  parliament,f 
and  the  lesser  barons  had  almost  forfeited  their  right 
by  neglecting  to  exercise  it.  At  this  time,  however, 
they  assembled  at  Edinburgh,  and  agreed  upon  a  peti- 
tion to  the  parliament,  claiming  to  be  restored  to  their 
ancient  privilege  of  sitting  and  voting  in  that  assem- 
bly. The  petition  was  granted,  and  in  consequence 
of  it  about  a  hundred  gentlemen  took  their  seats. :|: 

The  business  of  religion  was  brought  under  the 
consideration  of  parliament  in  consequence  of  a  peti- 
tion presented  by  a  number  of  protestants  of  different 
ranks,  in  which,  after  rehearsing  their  former  endea- 
vours to  procure  the  reformation  of  the  corruptions 
which  had  infected  the  church,  they  requested  them 
to  use  the  power  which  Providence  had  now  put  into 
their  hands  for  effecting  this  great  and  urgent  work. 
They  craved  three  things  in  general,  that  the  anti- 
christian  doctrine  maintained  in  the  popish  church 
should  be  discarded;  that  means  should  be  used  to 
restore  purity  of  worship,  and  of  primitive  discipline; 
and  that  the  ecclesiastical  revenues  which  had  been 
engrossed  by  a  corrupt  and  indolent  hierarchy,  should 
be  applied  to  the  support  of  an  useful  ministry,  to  the 
promotion  of  learning,  and  the  relief  of  the  poor.  They 
declared,  that  they  were  ready  to  substantiate  the  jus- 
tice of  all  these  demands;  and,  in  particular,  to  prove, 
that  those  who  arrogated  to  themselves  the  name  of 
clergy  were   destitute   of  all   right  to  be  accounted 


•  By  one  of  the  articles  of  the  treaty,  the  Parliament,  after 
agreeing  upon  such  things  as  they  thought  necessary  to  be 
done  for  the  reformation  of  religion,  were  to  send  deputies 
into  France  to  represent  them  to  their  Majesties.  Knox,  His- 
torie,  p.  234.     Spottiswood,  p.  149. 

t  Robertson's  Hist,  of  Scotland,  B.  i.     Keith,  p.  147—8. 

\  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  p.  525—6.  Keith,  146—7.  Robertson,  i. 
Append.  No.  iv.  In  the  list  of  members  in  this  parliament, 
the  names  of  the  lesser  barons,  or  gentlemen  of  the  shire,  are 
inserted  after  those  of  the  commissioners  of  boroughs;  the  roll 
having  been  made  up  previous  to  the  admission  of  the  former. 
Act  Pari.  Scot,  ut  lup. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


85 


ministers  of  religion,  and  tliat,  from  the  tyranny  whicii 
they  had  exercised,  and  their  vassalage  to  the  court  of 
Rome,  they  could  not  be  safely  tolerated,  and  far  less 
intrusted  with  power,  in  a  reformed  commonwealth.* 

In  answer  to  the  first  demand,  the  parliament  re- 
quired the  reformed  ministers  to  draw  up  and  lay 
before  them  a  summary  of  doctrine  which  they  could 
prove  to  be  consonant  with  the  scriptures,  and  which 
they  desired  to  have  established.  The  ministers  were 
not  unprepared  for  the  task;  and  in  the  course  of  four 
days,  they  presented  a  Confession  of  Faith,  as  the 
product  of  their  joint  labours,  and  an  expression  of 
their  unanimous  judgment.  It  agreed  with  the  Con- 
fessions which  had  been  published  by  other  reformed 
churches.  It  professed  belief  in  the  common  articles 
of  Christianity  respecting  the  divine  nature,  the  trinity, 
the  creation  of  the  world,  the  origin  of  evil,  and  the 
person  of  the  Saviour,  which  were  retained  by  the  Ca- 
tholic church,  in  opposition  to  the  errors  broached  by 
ancient  heretics.  On  the  different  points  in  controversy 
between  the  papists  and  protestants,  it  condemned  not 
only  the  idolatrous  and  superstitious  tenets  of  the 
church  of  Rome,  but  also  its  gross  depravation  of  the 
doctrine  of  scripture  respecting  the  slate  of  fallen  man, 
and  the  method  of  his  recovery.  It  declared  that  by 
"  original  sin  was  the  image  of  God  defacit  in  man, 
and  he  and  his  posteritie  of  nature  become  enemies  to 
God,  slaifis  to  Sathan,  and  servandis  to  sin  :"  That 
"all  our  saluatioun  springs  fra  the  eternall  and  immu- 
tabill  decre  of  God,  quha  of  meir  grace  electit  us  in 
Christ  Jesus  his  Sone,  before  the  foundatione  of  the 
warld  was  laid  :"  That  it  behoves  us  "  to  apprehend 
Christ  Jesus,  with  his  justice  and  satisfactioun,  quha 
is  the  end  and  accomplischement  of  the  law,  be  quhome 
we  ar  set  at  this  libertie,  that  the  cursse  and  maledic- 
tioun  of  God  fall  not  upon  us:"  That  "as  God  the 
Father  creatit  us  quhan  we  war  not,  as  his  Sone  our 
Lord  Jesus  redemit  us  quhan  we  war  enemeis  to  him, 
sa  alswa  the  Haly  Gaist  dois  sanctifie  and  regenerat 
us,  without  all  respect  of  ony  merite  proceeding  fra 
us,  be  it  befoir  or  be  it  efter  our  regeneratioun ;  to 
speik  this  ane  thing  yit  in  mair  plaine  wordis,  as  we 
willinglie  spoyl?  ourselfis  of  all  honour  and  gloir  of 
our  awin  creatioun  and  redemptioun,  sa  do  we  alswa 
of  our  regeneratioun  and  sanctificatioun  :  for  of  our 
selfis  we  ar  not  sifficient  to  think  ane  gude  thocht,  bot 
he  quha  hes  begun  the  wark  in  us  is  onlie  he  thatcon- 
tinewis  us  in  the  same,  to  the  praise  and  glorie  of  his 
undeseruit  grace  :"  In  fine,  that,  although  good  works 
proceed  "  not  from  our  fre-will,  but  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,"  and  although  those  that  boast  of  the 
merit  of  their  own  works,  "  boist  them  selfis  of  that 
quhilk  is  nocht,"  yet  "blasphemie  it  is  ro  say,  that 
Christ  abydis  in  the  hartis  of  sic  as  in  quhome  thair  is 
no  Spirite  of  sanctificatioun; — and  all  wirkers  ofini- 
quitie  have  nouther  trew  faith,  nouther  ony  portioun 
of  the  Spirite  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  sa  lang  as  obslinatlie 
they  continew  in  thair  wickitnes."]- 

The  Confession  was  read  first  before  the  Lords  of 
Articles,  and  afterwards  before  the  whole  parliament. 
The  protestant  ministers  attended  in  the  house  to  de- 
fend it,  if  attacked,  and  to  give  satisfaction  to  the 
members  respecting  any  point  which  might  appear 
dubious.  Those  who  had  objections  to  it  were  form- 
ally required  to  state  them.  And  the  farther  consider- 
ation of  it  was  adjourned  to  a  subsequent  day,  that 
none  might  pretend  that  an  undue  advantage  had  been 
taken,  or  that  a  matter  of  such  importance  had  been 
concluded  precipitately.  On  the  17th  of  August,  the 
parliament  resumed  the  subject,  and  previous  to  the 
vote,  the  Confession  was  again  read,  article  by  article.:): 
"The  bischopis  spak  nothing."j|    The  Earl  of  Athole, 


*   Knox,  Histoiit^,  p.  237—3. 

f  Act.  Pari.  Si'ot.  p.  526—534.  Knox,  Historic,  p.  240— 
253.     Dunlop's  Confessions,  ii.  21—98. 

.|  In  Knox's  Hislorie,  "  the  17th  day  of  July"  is  printed,  by 
mistake,  instead  of  the  17th  oi  August. 

II  Keith  is  at  a  great  loss  to  account  for,  and  excuse,  the 


and  Lords  Somerville  and  Borthwick  were  the  only 
persons  of  the  temporal  estate  who  voted  in  the  nega- 
tive, assigning  this  reason,  We  will  beleve  as  our  fore- 
fatheris  belevit,*  After  the  vote  establishing  the  Con- 
fession, the  Earl  Marischal  made  a  speech,  in  which 
he  declared,  that  the  silence  of  the  clergy  that  day  had 
confirmed  him  in  his  belief  of  the  truth  of  the  protes- 
tant doctrine  ;  and  he  protested  that  if  any  of  the  eccle- 
siastical estate  should  afterwards  oppose  the  Confes- 
sion now  received,  they  should  be  entitled  to  no  credit, 
seeing,  after  full  knowledge  of  it,  and  ample  time  for 
deliberation,  they  had  allowed  it  to  pass  without  the 
smallest  opposition  or  contradiction. f  On  the  24th 
of  August,  the  parliament  abolished  the  papal  jurisdic- 
tion, prohibited  under  certain  penalties  the  celebration 
of  mass,  and  rescinded  all  the  laws  formerly  made  in 
support  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  and  against  the 
reformed  religion. + 

Thus  did  the  reformed  religion  advance  in  Scotland, 
from  small  beginnings,  and  amidst  great  opposition, 
until  it  attained  a  parliamentary  establishment.  Be- 
sides the  influence  of  Heaven  which  secretly  accom- 
panied the  labours  of  the  preachers  and  confessors  of 
the  truth,  the  serious  and  inquisitive  reader  will  trace 
the  hand  of  Providence  in  that  concatenation  of  event 
which  contributed  to  its  rise,  preservation,  and  increase  ; 
in  the  over-ruling  of  the  caprice,  the  ambition,  the 
avarice,  and  the  interested  policy  of  princes  and  cabi- 
nets, many  of  whom  had  nothing  less  in  view  than  to 
favour  that  cause,  which  they  were  so  instrumental  in 
promoting. 

The  breach  of  Henry  VIII.  of  England  with  the 
Romish  See,  awakened  the  attention  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  northern  part  of  the  island  to  a  controversy 
which  had  formerly  been  carried  on  at  too  great  a  dis- 
tance to  interest  them,  and  led  not  a  few  to  desire  a 
reformation  more  improved  than  the  model  which  that 
monarch  had  held  out  to  them.  The  premature  death 
of  James  V.  of  Scotland  saved  the  Reformers  from 
destruction.  And  during  the  short  period  in  which 
they  received  the  countenance  of  civil  authority,  at  the 
commencement  of  Arran's  regency,  the  seeds  of  the 
reformed  doctrine  were  so  widely  spread,  and  had  taken 
such  deep  root,  as  to  be  able  to  resist  the  violent  mea- 
sures which  the  Regent,  after  his  recantation,  employ- 
ed to  extirpate  them.  Those  who  were  driven  from 
the  country  by  persecution  found  an  asylum  in  Eng- 
land, under  the  decidedly  protestant  government  of 
Edward  VI.  After  his  death,  the  alliance  of  England 
with  Spain,  and  of  Scotland  with  France,  the  two 
great  contending  powers  on  the  continent,  prevented 
any  concert  between  the  two  courts,  which  might 
have  proved  fatal  to  the  protestant  religion  in  Britain. 
While  the  cruelties  of  the  English  Queen  drove  preach- 
ers into  Scotland,  the  political  schemes  of  the  Queen 
Regent  induced  her  to  favour  the  protestants,  and  to 
connive  at  the  propagation  of  their  opinions.  At  the 
critical  moment  when  she  had  accomplished  her 
favourite  designs,  and  was  prepared  to  crush  the  Re- 
formation, Elizabeth  ascended  the  throne  of  England, 
who  was  induced,  by  political  no  less  than  religious 
considerations,  to  support  the  Scottish  reformers.  The 
French  court  were  equally  bent  on  their  suppression, 
and,  having  lately  concluded  peace  with  Spain,  were 
preparing  to  turn  the  whole  force  of  the  kingdom 
against  them ;  but  at  this  very  time,  those  intestine 
dissentions,  which  continued  so  long  to  desolate  France, 
broke  out,  and  forced  them  to  accede  to  that  treaty, 
which  put  an  end  to  the  French  influence,  and  the 
Roman  Catholic  religion,  in  Scotland. 

silence  of  the  popish  clergy  (to  whom  he  is  almost  uniformly 
partial);  and  he  found  himself  obliged  to  retract  one  apology 
which  he  had  made  for  them,  viz.  that  they  were  deterred 
from  speaking  by  the  threatenings  of  their  opponents.  His- 
tory, p.  149,  150,  488,  note  (a). 

*  Knox,  Historie,  p.  253.  +  Ibid. 

I  Act  Pari.  Scot.  p.  534—5.     Knox,  Historie,  p.  254. 


88 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


PERIOD  VII. 

From  Aug-ust  1560,  when  he  was  settled  as  Minister  of  Edin- 
burgh, at  the  establishment  of  the  Reformation,  to  Decem- 
ber 1563,  when  he  was  acquitted  from  a  charge  of  treason. 

In  appointing  the  protestant  ministers  to  particular  sta- 
tions throughout  the  kingdom,  a  measure  which  engaged 
the  attention  of  the  council  immediately  after  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  civil  war,  the  temporary  arrangements  that 
had  been  formerly  made  were  in  general  confirmed,  and 
our  Reformer  resumed  his  charge  as  minister  of  Edin- 
burgh.* He  returned  to  that  city  in  the  end  of  April, | 
and  continued  to  preach  there  during  the  siege  of  Leith, 
and  during  the  negociations  which  terminated  in  a  peace. 

Although  the  Parliament  had  abolished  the  papal 
jurisdiction  and  worship,  and  ratified  the  protestant 
doctrine,  as  laid  down  in  the  Confession  of  Faith,  the 
reformed  church  was  not  yet  completely  organized  in 
Scotland.  Hitherto  the  Book  of  Common  Order,  used 
by  the  English  church  at  Geneva,  had  been  generally 
followed  as  the  rule  of  public  worship  and  discipline. 
But  this  having  been  compiled  for  the  use  of  a  single 
congregation,  composed,  too,  chiefly  of  men  of  educa- 
tion, was  found  inadequate  for  an  extensive  church, 
consisting  of  a  multitude  of  confederated  congrega- 
tions. Our  reformers  were  anxious  to  provide  the 
means  of  religious  instruction  to  the  whole  people  in 
the  kingdom ;  but  they  were  very  far  from  approving 
of  the  promiscuous  admission  of  persons  of  all  descrip- 
tions to  the  peculiar  privileges  of  the  church  of  Christ. 
From  the  beginning,  they  were  sensible  of  the  great 
importance  of  ecclesiastical  discipline,  to  the  prosper- 
ity of  religion,  to  the  maintenance  of  order,  and  the 
preservation  of  pure  doctrine  and  morals.  In  the  peti- 
tion presented  to  Parliament  in  August,  the  restoration 
of  this  was  specially  requested.:}:  And  Knox,  who 
had  observed  the  great  advantages  which  attended  the 
observance  of  a  strict  discipline  at  Geneva,  and  the 
manifold  evils  which  resulted  from  the  want  of  it  in 
England,  insisted  very  particularly  on  this  topic,  in 
the  discourses  which  he  delivered  from  the  book  of 
Haggai  during  the  sitting  of  Parliament.||  The  diffi- 
culties which  the  reformed  ministers  had  to  surmount, 
before  they  could  accomplish  this  great  object,  began 
to  present  themselves  at  this  early  stage  of  their  pro- 
gress. When  it  is  considered,  that  Calvin  was  sub- 
jected to  a  sentence  ot  banishment  from  the  senate  of 
Gfeneva,  and  exposed  to  the  rage  of  a  popular  tumult, 
before  he  could  prevail  on  the  citizens  to  submit  to 
ecclesiastical  discipline,§  we  need  not  be  surprised  at 


*  Knox,  Historie,  p.  236. 

+  Records  of  Town  Council,  May  8,  1560. 

i  Knox,  Historie,  p.  238.  ||  Ibid.  p.  237. 

}  Beza.  Vita  Calvini.  Melchior.  Adami  Vitae  Exter.  Theo- 
\og.  p.  70,  88.  After  the  Senate  had  made  a  decree  which 
subverted  the  discipline  of  the  church,  Calvin,  in  the  course 
of  a  sermon  which  he  delivered  before  the  dispensation  of  the 
Supper,  lifted  up  his  hand,  and  said,  "  I  will  die  sooner  than 
this  hand  shall  reach  the  symbols  of  the  Lord's  body  to  any 
one  who  has  been  found  a  despiser  of  God:''  which  worcfs 
struck  such  an  awe  on  the  minds  of  the  persons  who  had  been 
absolved  by  the  senate  from  the  sentence  of  the  churcb-court, 
that  none  of  them  ventured  to  approach  the  table.  Persons 
unfriendly  to  the  government  and  discipline  of  the  Reformed 
churches  have  represented  the  opposition  made  to  them,  in 
this  and  other  instances,  as  arising  from  the  attempts  of  the 
reformers  to  have  their  discipline  established  by  human  laws, 
and  supported  by  civil  penalties.  But  this  is  a  complete  mis- 
representation of  the  case.  "  Neque  enim  consentaneum  est 
(says  Calvin)  ut  qui  monitionibus  nostris  obtemperare  nolu- 
erint,  eos  ad  magistratum  deferanius."  Institut.  Christ.  Relig. 
p.  434.  Lugd.  Batav.  1654.  The  proper  question  between  him 
and  his  opponents  was.  Whether  ministers  were  obliged  to 
administer  the  sacraments  to  those  whom  they  judged  unwor- 
thy? Or,  (which  amounted  to  the  same  thing)  Whether  the 
decisions  of  the  church-court  in  such  matters  were  to  be  re- 
viewed and  reversed  by  the  civil  court?  Melch.  Adam,  ut 
supra.  And  this  will  be  found  to  have  been  the  true  state  of 
the  question,  in  the  greater  part  of  the  dissentions  between  the 
church  and  the  court  in  Scotland,  after  the  establishment  of 
the  Refomiation. 


the  opposition  which  our  reformers  met  with  in  their 
endeavours  to  introduce  this  into  Scotland.  Knox's 
warm  exhortations  on  this  head  were  at  first  disre- 
garded, and  his  plan  of  church-polity  derided  as  a  de- 
vout imagination,  by  some  of  the  professors  of  the 
reformed  doctrine.*  And  the  Parliament  dissolved 
without  adopting  any  measure  relative  to  this  matter. 

As  the  ministers,  however,  continued  to  urge  the 
subject,  and  as  the  reasonableness  of  their  demands 
could  not  be  denied,  the  Privy  Council,  soon  after  the 
dissolution  of  the  Parliament,  gave  a  commission  to 
Knox,  and  four  other  ministers,  who  had  formerly  been 
employed  along  with  him  in  composing  the  Confes- 
sion, to  draw  up  a  plan  of  ecclesiastical  government.^ 
They  immediately  set  about  this  task,  with  a  diligence 
and  care  proportioned  to  their  convictions  of  its  im- 
portance. They  "  took  not  their  example  (says  Row) 
from  any  kirk  in  the  world,  no,  not  from  Geneva ;" 
but  drew  their  plan  from  the  sacred  scriptures.  Hav- 
ing arranged  the  subject  under  different  heads,  they 
divided  these  among  them ;  and,  after  they  had  finished 
their  several  parts,  they  met  together,  and  examined 
them  with  great  attention,  spending  much  time  in  read- 
ing and  meditation  on  the  subject,  and  in  earnest 
prayers  for  divine  direction.  When  they  had  drawn 
up  the  whole  in  form,  they  laid  it  before  the  General 
Assembly,  by  whom  it  was  approved,  after  they  had 
caused  some  of  its  articles  to  be  abridged.:}:  It  was 
also  submitted  to  the  Privy  Council.  But  although 
many  of  the  members  highly  approved  of  the  plan,  it 
was  warmly  opposed  by  others.  This  opposition  did 
not  arise  from  any  difference  of  sentiment  between  them 
and  the  ministers  respecting  ecclesiastical  government, 
but  partly  from  aversion  to  the  strict  discipline  which 
it  appointed  to  be  exercised  against  vice,  and  partly 
from  reluctance  to  comply  with  its  requisition  for  the 
appropriation  of  the  revenues  of  the  popish  church  to 
the  support  of  the  new  religious  and  literary  establish- 
ments. Though  not  formally  ratified  by  the  Council, 
it  was,  however,  subscribed  by  the  greater  part  of  the 
members  ;||  and  as  the  sources  of  prejudice  against  it 
were  well  known,  it  was  submitted  to  the  nation,  and 
carried  into  effect  in  all  its  principal  ecclesiastical 
regulations. §  It  is  known  in  history  by  the  name  of 
the  Book  of  Policy,  or  First  Book  of  Discipline. 

Considering  the  activity  of  Knox  in  constructing  and 
recommending  this  platform,  and  the  importance  of  the 
subject  in  itself,  it  cannot  be  altogether  foreign  to  our 
object,  to  take  a  view  of  the  form  and  order  of  the  pro- 
testant church  of  Scotland,  as  delineated  in  the  Book 
of  Discipline,  and  in  other  authentic  documents  of  that 
period. 

The  ordinary  and  permanent  office-bearers  of  the 
church  were  of  four  kinds :  the  minister  or  pastor,  to 
whom  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  and  administration 

*  Knox,  Historie,  p.  237,  256. 

f  The  names  of  the  ministers  who  composed  the  Confession 
of  Faith,  and  the  Book  of  Discipline,  were  John  Winram,  John 
Spottiswood,  John  Douglas,  John  Row,  and  John  Knox.  Ibid. 
p.  256. 

i  Row,  MS.  Historie  of  the  Kirk,  p.  12,  16,  17.  It  is  most 
probable  that  the  meeting  of  Assembly  by  which  the  Book  of 
Discipline  was  approved,  was  that  which  Knox  calls  a  conven- 
tion, neld  on  the  5th  of  January  1561.  Historie,  p.  261.  295. 
The  first  General  Assembly  appointed  a  meeting  to  be  held  nt 
that  time.  Buik  of  the  Universall  Kirk,  p.  3.  MS.  Advocates' 
Library.  But  there  is  no  account  of  its  proceedings  in  that, 
or  in  any  other  register  which  I  have  had  access  to  see.  In 
the  copy  of  the  First  Book  of  Discipline,  published  (by  Cal- 
derwood,  I  believe,)  anno  1621.  p.  23,  70.  and  in  Dunlop's  Con- 
fessions, ii.  517,  605,  it  is  said  that  the  order  for  compiling  it 
was  given  on  the  29th  of  April  1560;  and  that  it  was  finished 
by  them  on  the  20th  May  following.  But  as  the  civil  war  was 
not  then  concluded,  I  have  preferred  the  account  which  Knox 
gives,  that  it  was  undertaken  subsequent  to  the  meeting  of 
parliament  in  August  that  year.     Historie,  p.  256. 

II  In  Dunlop  ii.  436.  the  approbation  of  it  is  styled  an  Act. 
of  Secret  Council,  25th  January  1560.  t.  e.  1561. 

}  Knox,  Historie,  p.  256,  257,  295,  296.  Keith,  496,  497. 
Dunlop,  ii.  606—608. 


LIFE   OF  JOHN   KNOX. 


87 


of  the  sacraments  belonged  ;  the  doctor  or  teacher,  whose 
province  it  was  to  interpret  scripture,  and  confute  errors 
(including  those  who  taught  theology  in  schools  and 
universities)  ;  the  ruling  elder,  who  assisted  the  min- 
ister in  exercising  ecclesiastical  discipline  and  govern- 
ment; and  the  deacon,  who  had  the  special  over- 
sight of  the  revenues  of  the  church  and  the  poor. 
But  besides  these,  it  was  found  necessary,  at  this 
time,  to  employ  some  persons  in  extraordinary  and 
temporary  charges.  As  there  was  not  a  sufficient 
number  of  ministers  to  supply  the  different  parts  of  the 
country,  that  the  people  might  not  be  left  altogether 
destitute  of  public  worship  and  instruction,  certain 
pious  persons  who  had  received  a  common  education 
were  appointed  to  read  the  scriptures  and  the  common 
prayers.  These  were  called  readers.  In  large  parishes, 
persons  of  this  description  were  also  employed  to  re- 
lieve the  ministers  from  a  part  of  the  puolic  service. 
If  they  advanced  in  knowledge,  they  were  encouraged 
to  add  a  few  plain  exhortations  to  the  reading  of  the 
scriptures.  In  this  case  they  were  called  exhort ers ; 
but  they  were  examined  and  admitted,  before  entering 
upon  this  employment. 

The  same  cause  gave  rise  to  another  temporary  ex- 
pedient. Instead  of  fixing  all  the  ministers  in  particu- 
lar charges,  it  was  judged  proper,  after  supplying  the 
principal  towns,  to  assign  to  the  rest  the  superintend- 
ence of  a  large  district,  over  which  they  were  appointed 
regularly  to  travel,  for  the  purpose  of  preaching,  of 
planting  churches,  and  inspecting  the  conduct  of  min- 
isters, exhorters,  and  readers.  These  were  called 
superintendents.  The  number  originally  proposed  was 
ten ;  but  owing  to  the  scarcity  of  proper  persons,  or 
rather  to  the  want  of  necessary  funds,  there  were  never 
more  than  six  appoinioi-  The  deficiency  was  sup- 
plied by  commissioners  or  visitors,  appointed  from  time 
to  time  by  the  General  Assembly. 

None  were  allowed  to  preach,  or  to  administer  the 
sacraments,  till  they  were  regularly  called  to  this  em- 
ployment. Persons  were  invested  with  the  pastoral 
office  in  the  way  of  being  freely  elected  by  the  people,* 
examined  by  the  ministers,  and  publicly  admitted  in 
the  presence  of  the  congregation.  On  the  day  of  ad- 
mission, the  minister  who  presided,  after  preaching  a 
sermon  suited  to  the  occasion,  put  a  number  of  ques- 
tions to  the  candidate,  to  satisfy  the  church  as  to  his 
soundness  in  the  faith,  his  willingness  to  undertake 
the  charge,  the  purity  of  his  motives,  and  his  resolu- 
tion to  discharge  the  duties  of  the  office  with  diligence 
and  fidelity.  Satisfactory  answers  having  been  given 
to  these  questions,  and  the  people  having  signified 
their  adherence  to  their  former  choice,  the  person  was 
admitted  and  set  apart  by  prayer,  without  the  imposi- 
tion of  hands ;]  and  the  service  was  concluded  with 
an  exhortation,  the  singing  of  a  psalm,  and  the  pro- 
nouncing of  the  blessing.  Superintendents  were  ad- 
mitted in  the  same  way  as  other  ministers.:^  The 
affairs  of  each  congregation  were  managed  by  the 
minister,  elders,  and  deacons,  who  constituted  the 
kirk-session,  which  met  regularly  once  a-week,  and 
oftener  if  business  required.  There  was  a  meeting 
called  the  weekly  exercise,  or  prophesying,  held  in  every 
considerable  town,  consisting  of  the  ministers,  exhort- 
ers, and  learned  men  in  the  vicinity,  for  expounding 
the  scripture.  This  was  afterwards  converted  into  the 
presbytery  or  classical  assembly.  The  superintendent 
met  with  the  ministers  and  delegated  elders  of  his  dis- 
trict, twice  a-year,  in  the  provincial  synod,  which  took 
cognizance  of  ecclesiastical  affairs  within  its  bounds. 
And  the  general  assembly,  which  was  composed  of 
ministers  and  elders  commissioned  from  the  different 
parts  of  the  kingdom,  met  twice,  sometimes  thrice  in 


»  Dunlop's  Confessions,  ii.  524,  526,  545,  577,  638,  639. 

I  Dunlop,  ii.  526.  Imposition  of  hands  was  afterwards  ap- 
pointed to  be  used  by  the  Second  Book  of  Discipline.  Ibid. 
768—9.  t  Knox,  Historie,  p.  263—266. 


a  year,  and  attended  to  the  interests  of  the  national 
church. 

Public  worship  was  conducted  according  to  the 
Book  of  Common  Order,  with  a  few  variations  adapted 
to  the  state  of  Scotland.  On  Sabbath-days,  the  people 
assembled  twice  for  public  worship ;  and,  to  promote 
the  instruction  of  the  ignorant,  catechizing  was  sub- 
stituted for  preaching  in  the  afternoon.  In  towns, 
a  sermon  was  regularly  preached  on  one  day  of  the 
week  besides  Sabbath  ;  and  on  almost  every  day  the 
people  had  an  opportunity  of  hearing  public  prayers 
and  the  reading  of  the  scriptures.  Baptism  was  never 
dispensed  unless  it  was  accompanied  with  preaching 
or  catechizing.  The  Lord's  supper  was  administered 
four  times  a  year  in  towns,  and  there  were  ordinarily 
two  "  ministrations,"  one  at  an  early  hour  of  the  morn- 
ing, and  another  later  in  the  day.  The  sign  of  the 
cross  in  baptizing,  and  kneeling  at  the  Lord's  table, 
were  condemned  and  laid  aside;  and  anniversary  holy- 
days  were  wholly  abolished.*  We  shall  afterwards 
have  occasion  to  advert  to  the  discipline  under  which 
offenders  were  brought. 

The  compilers  of  the  First  Book  of  Discipline  paid 
particular  attention  to  the  state  of  education.  They, 
required  that  a  school  should  be  erected  in  every 
parish,  for  the  instruction  of  youth  in  the  principles 
of  religion,  grammar,  and  the  Latin  tongue.  They 
proposed  that  a  college  should  be  erected  in  every 
"  notable  town,"  in  which  logic  and  rhetoric  should 
be  taught  along  with  the  learned  languages.  They 
seem  to  have  had  it  in  their  eye  to  revive  the  system 
adopted  in  some  of  the  ancient  republics,  in  which  the 
youth  were  considered  as  the  property  of  the  public 
rather  than  of  their  parents,  by  obliging  the  nobility 
and  gentry  to  educate  their  children,  and  by  providing, 
at  the  public  expense,  for  the  education  of  the  children 
of  the  poor  who  discovered  talents  for  learning.  Their 
regulations  for  the  three  national  universities  discover 
an  enlightened  regard  to  the  interests  of  literature,  and 
may  suggest  hints  which  deserve  attention  in  the  pre- 
sent age.f  If  they  were  not  reduced  to  practice,  the 
blame  cannot  be  imputed  to  the  reformed  ministers, 
but  to  those  persons  who,  through  avarice,  defeated 
the  execution  of  their  plans. 

To  carry  these  important  measures  into  effect,  per- 
manent funds  were  requisite;  and  for  these  it  was 
natural  to  look  to  the  patrimony  of  the  church.  The 
popish  clergy  had  been  superseded,  and  excluded  from 
all  religious  services,  by  the  alterations  which  the  par- 
liament had  introduced;  and,  whatever  provision  it 
was  proper  to  allot  for  the  individual  incumbents  dur- 
ing life,  it  was  unreasonable  that  they  should  continue 
to  enjoy  the  whole  of  the  emoluments  which  were  at- 
tached to  the  offices  for  which  they  had  been  found 
totally  unfit.  No  successors  could  be  appointed  to 
them;  and  there  was  not  any  individual,  or  class  of 
men  in  the  nation,  who  could  justly  claim  a  title  to 
the  rents  of  their  benefices.  The  compilers  of  the 
Book  of  Discipline,  therefore,  proposed  that  the  patri- 
mony of  the  church  should  be  appropriated,  in  the  first 
instance,  to  the  support  of  the  new  ecclesiastical  esta- 
blishment. Under  this  head  they  included  the  min- 
istry, the  schools,  and  the  poor.  For  the  ministers 
they  required  that  such  "  honest  provision"  should  be 
made,  as  would  give  "neither  occasion  of  solicitude, 
neither  yet  of  insolencie  and  wantonnesse."  In  ordi- 
nary cases,  they  thought  that  forty  bolls  of  meal,  and 
twenty-six  bolls  of  malt,  with  a  reasonable  sum  of 
money  to  purchase  other  necessary  articles  of  provi- 
sion for  his  family,  was  an  adequate  stipend  for  a 
minister.  To  enable  superintendents  to  defray  the 
extraordinary  expenses  of  travelling  in  the  discharge 
of  their  duty,  six  chalders  of  bear,  nine  chalders  of 
meal,  three  chalders  of  oats,  and  six  hundred  merks  in 


*  For  an   illustration   of  some   of  these   facts,   see   A^ote 
XXXVII. 

t  First  Book  of  Discipline,  chap.  vii.    Dunlop,  ii.  547 — 561. 


88 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX. 


money,  were  thought  necessary  as  an  annual  stipend. 
The  salaries  of  professors  were  fixed  from  one  to  two 
hundred  pounds ;  and  the  particular  mode  of  support- 
ing the  poor  was  delayed,  until  means  should  be 
adopted  to  suppress  "stubborne  and  idle  beggars," 
and  to  ascertain  the  number  of  the  really  necessitous 
in  each  parish.  The  stipends  of  ministers  were  to  be 
collected  by  the  deacons  from  the  tithes  ;  but  all  illegal 
exactions  were  to  be  previously  abolished,  and  mea- 
sures taken  to  relieve  the  labourers  of  the  ground  from 
the  oppressive  manner  in  which  the  tithes  had  been 
gathered  by  the  clergy,  or  by  those  to  whom  they  had 
farmed  them.  The  revenues  of  bishopricks,  and  of 
cathedral  and  collegiate  churches,  with  the  rents  aris- 
ing from  the  endowments  to  monasteries  and  other 
religious  foundations,  were  to  be  divided  and  appro- 
priated to  the  support  of  the  universities,  or  of  the 
churches  within  their  bounds. 

Nothing  could  be  more  unpalatable  than  doctrine  of 
this  kind  to  a  considerable  number  of  the  proleslant 
nobility  and  gentry.  They  had  for  some  time  fixed  a 
covetous  eye  on  the  rich  revenues  of  the  popish  clergy. 
Some  of  them  had  seized  upon  the  church-lands,  or 
retained  the  tithes  in  their  own  hands.  Others  had 
taken  long  leases  of  them  from  the  clergy  for  small 
sums  of  money,  and  were  anxious  to  have  these  pri- 
vate bargains  legalized.  Hence  their  aversion  to  have 
the  Book  of  Discipline  ratified  ;*  hence  the  poverty  and 
the  complaints  of  the  ministers,  and  the  languishing 
state  of  the  universities.  The  Swiss  Reformer,  by  his 
eloquence  and  his  firmness,  enabled  his  countrymen  to 
gain  a  conquest  over  their  avarice  which  was  more 
honourable  to  them  than  any  of  their  other  victories, 
and  prevailed  on  them  to  appropriate  the  whole  reve- 
nues of  the  popish  establishment  to  the  support  of  the 
protestant  church  and  seminaries  of  literature. f  But 
it  was  not  so  easy  a  matter  to  manage  the  numerous 
and  powerful  barons  of  Scotland  as  it  was  to  sway  the 
minds  of  the  burgo-masters  of  Zurich.  When  we 
consider,  however,  the  extent  of  the  establishments 
proposed  by  our  reformers,  including  the  support  of 
the  ministry,  of  parochial  schools,  of  city  colleges,  and 
of  national  universities,  we  cannot  regard  the  demand 
which  they  made  on  the  funds  devoted  to  the  church 
as  extravagant  or  unreasonable.  They  shewed  them- 
selves disinterested  by  the  moderate  share  which  they 
asked  for  themselves;  and  the  worst  that  we  can  say 
of  their  plan  is,  that  it  was  worthy  of  a  more  enlight- 
ened and  liberal  age,  in  which  it  might  have  met  with 
rulers  more  capable  of  appreciating  its  utility,  and 
better  disposed  to  carry  it  into  execution.:^ 

It  is  peculiarly  pleasing  to  observe  the  restoration 
of  religion  and  of  letters  going  hand  in  hand,  in  our 
native  country.  Every  where,  indeed,  the  Reforma- 
tion had  the  most  powerful  influence,  direct  and  remote, 
on  the  general  promotion  of  literature.  It  aroused  the 
human  mind  from  the  lethargy  in  which  it  had  slum- 
bered for  ages,  released  it  from  the  fetters  of  implicit 
faith  and  blind  obedience  to  human  authority,  and 
stimulated  it  to  the  exertion  of  its  powers  in  the  search 
of  truth,  it  induced  the  learned  to  study  with  care 
the  original  language  in  which  the  sacred  books  were 
written ;  and  it  diffused  knowledge  among  the  illiterate, 

•  Knox  mentions  Lord  Erskine,  (afterwards  Earl  of  Mar) 
as  one  of  the  chief  iiobleaierj  who  refused  to  subscribe  the  dis- 
cipline, and  assigns  two  reasons  for  his  refusal;  first,  "he  hesa 
very  Jesabell  to  hi*  wife,"  and  second,  "  if  the  pure,  the  senilis, 
ana  ministry  of  the  kirk,  had  thair  awn,  his  kitcheine  wald 
want  twa  partes  and  niair  of  that  quhiik  he  now  injustly  pos- 
sesses." Historie,  p.  256.  My  lady  Mar's  passion  for  niouey 
was  well  known  at  that  time,  and  is  referred  to  in  Lord  Thirl- 
stane's  "  Admonitioun  to  my  Lord  of  Mar  Regent,"  published 
in  Ancient  Scottish  Poems  from  Maitland  MS.  p.  164.  Lond. 
1786, 

Nor,  to  content  thy  marrovj''s  covatice, 
Put  not  thyself  in  perrell  for  to  pereis. 

+  Hess,  Life  of  Zuingle,  p.  201-207.    Gerdes.  i.  309. 
t  See  Note  XXXVIII 


by  laying  open  the  scriptures,  and  calling  upon  all  to 
examine  them  for  themselves.  'I'he  unintelligible  jar- 
gon which  had  long  infested  the  schools  began  to  be 
discarded.  Controversies  were  now  decided  by  ap- 
peals to  scripture  and  common  sense ;  and  the  disputes 
which  were  eagerly  maintained  led  to  the  improvement 
of  the  art  of  reasoning,  and  a  more  rational  method  of 
communicating  knowledge.  Superstition  and  credu- 
lity being  undermined,  the  spirit  of  inquiry  was  soon 
directed  to  the  discovery  of  the  true  laws  of  nature,  as 
well  as  the  genuine  doctrines  of  revelation. 

In  the  south  of  Europe,  the  revival  of  letters  pre- 
ceded the  reformation  of  religion,  and  materially  facili- 
tated its  progress.  In  the  north,  this  order  was  re- 
versed ;  and  Scotland,  in  particular,  must  date  the 
origin  of  her  literary  acquirements  from  the  first  intro- 
duction of  the  protestant  opinions.  As  the  one  gained 
ground,  the  other  was  brought  forward.  We  have 
already  seen  that  the  Greek  language  began  to  be 
studied  almost  as  soon  as  the  light  of  Reformation 
dawned  upon  this  country  ;  and  I  have  now  to  state 
that  the  first  school  for  teaching  the  Hebrew  language 
in  Scotland  was  opened  immediately  after  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  protestant  church.  Hebrew  was  one 
of  the  branches  of  education  appointed  by  the  Book 
of  Discipline  to  be  taught  in  the  reformed  seminaries, 
and  Providence  had  furnished  a  person  who  was  well 
qualified  for  that  task  which  the  incumbent  professors 
in  the  universities  were  totally  unfit  to  undertake. 

The  person  to  whom  I  refer  was  John  Row.  After 
finishing  his  education  at  St.  Andrews,  and  practising 
for  some  time  as  an  advocate  before  the  consistorial 
court  there,  he  had  left  the  countr)^,  about  the  year 
1550,  with  the  view  of  prosecuting  his  studies  to 
greater  advantage  on  the  continent.  Within  a  short 
time  he  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  from 
two  Italian  universities.  He  did  not,  however,  confine 
himself  to  one  branch  of  study,  but,  improving  the  op- 
portunity which  he  enjoyed,  made  himself  master  of 
the  Greek  and  Hebrew  languages.  His  reputation  as 
a  lawyer  being  high,  the  Scottish  clergy  employed  him 
as  agent  to  manage  some  of  their  causes  before  the 
court  of  Rome.  This  introduced  him  to  the  friendsliip 
of  Guide  Ascanius  Sforza,  Cardinal  of  Sancta  Flora, 
and  to  the  acquaintance  of  two  sovereign  Pontiffs, 
Julius  HI.  and  Paul  IV.  Had  he  remained  in  Italy, 
it  is  highly  probable  that  he  would  soon  have  attained 
to  honourable  preferment  in  the  church ;  but  having 
lost  his  health,  he  determined  in  1558  to  return  to  his 
native  country.  The  reigning  Pope  had  heard  with 
concern  of  the  progress  which  the  Reformation  was 
making  in  Scotland,  and,  as  he  had  great  confidence  in 
Row's  talents,  appointed  him  his  nuncio,  with  instruc- 
tions to  use  his  utmost  exertions  to  oppose  the  new 
opinions.  When  he  came  home  he  endeavoured  for 
some  time  to  discharge  his  commission,  but  despairing 
of  success,  and  foreseeing  the  confusions  in  which  the 
country  was  in  danger  of  being  involved,  he  resolved 
on  returning  to  Italy.  From  this  resolution  he  was 
diverted  by  the  Prior  of  St.  Andrews,  who  admired 
his  learning,  and  conceived  good  hopes  from  the  can- 
dour which  he  displayed  in  the  management  of  religi- 
ous controversy.  His  constancy  was  soon  after  shaken 
by  the  discovery  of  the  imposture  which  the  clergy 
attempted  to  practise  at  Musselburgh,  and  having  held 
some  conferences  with  Knox,  he  became  a  convert  to 
the  protestant  faith.  Upon  the  establishment  of  the 
Reformation  he  was  admitted  minister  of  Perth,  and, 
at  the  recommendation  of  his  brethren,  began  to  give 
lessons  on  the  Hebrew  language  to  young  men  who 
were  placed  under  his  tuition.* 

The  interests  of  literature  in  Scotland  were  not  a 
little  promoted  at  this  time  by  the  return  of  Buchanan 
to  his  native  country.     That  accomplished    scholar. 


•  Row's  MS.  Historie  ut  sup^p.  308,  356,  372.    See  also 
Note  XXXIX. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX. 


80 


since  his  flight  in  1538,  had  visited  the  most  celebrated 
seminaries  on  the  continent,  improved  his  stock  of 
learning,  and  given  diiferent  specimens  of  those  talents 
which,  in  the  opinion  of  posterity  as  well  as  of  his 
contemporaries,  have  placed  him  indisputably  at  the 
head  of  modern  Latin  poets.  The  reception  which  he 
obtained  from  his  countrymen  evinced  that  they  were 
not  incapable  of  estimating  his  merits;  and  the  satis- 
faction with  which  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life 
among  them,  after  he  had  enjoyed  the  society  of  the 
most  learned  men  in  Europe,  is  a  sufficient  proof  that 
they  had  already  made  no  inconsiderable  advances  in 
the  acquisition  of  polite  literature.* 

We  are  apt  to  form  false  and  exaggerated  notions 
of  the  rudeness  of  our  ancestors.  Scotland  was,  in- 
deed, at  that  period,  as  she  is  still  at  the  present  day, 
behind  many  of  the  southern  countries  in  the  cultiva- 
tion of  some  of  the  fine  arts,  and  she  was  a  stranger  to 
that  refinement  of  manners  which  has  oftener  been  a 
concealment  to  vice  than  an  ornament  to  virtue.  Bat 
that  her  inhabitants  were  "  men  unacquainted  with  the 
pleasures  of  conversation,  ignorant  of  arts  and  civility, 
and  corrupted  beyond  their  usual  rusticity  by  a  dis- 
mal fanaticism,  which  rendered  them  incapable  of  all 
humanity  or  improvement,"!  is  an  assertion  which 
argues  either  inexcusable  ignorance  or  deplorable  pre- 
judice. Will  this  character  apply  to  such  men  as 
Buchanan,  Knox,  Row,  Willock,  Balnaves,  Erskine, 
Maitland,  Glencairn,  and  James  Stewart,  not  to  name 
many  others ;  men,  who  excelled  in  their  respective 
ranks  and  professions,  who  had  received  a  liberal  edu- 
cation, travelled  into  foreign  countries,  conversed  with 
the  best  company,  and,  in  addition  to  their  acquaint- 
ance with  ancient  learning,  could  speak  the  most  polite 
languages  of  modern  Europe?  Perhaps  some  of  our 
literati,  who  entertain  such  a  diminutive  idea  of  the 
taste  and  learning  of  those  times,  might  be  surprised, 
if  they  could  be  set  down  at  the  table  of  one  of  our 
Scottish  reformers,  surrounded  with  a  circle  of  his 
children  and  pupils,  where  the  conversation  was  all 
carried  on  in  French,  and  the  chapter  of  the  bible,  at 
family  worship,  was  read  by  the  boys  in  French,  Latin, 
Greek,  and  Hebrew.  Perhaps  they  might  have  blushed, 
if  the  book  had  been  put  into  their  hands,  and  they  had 
been  required  to  perform  a  part  of  the  exercises.  It  is 
certain,  however,  that  this  was  the  common  practice 
in  the  house  of  John  Row.:^:  Nor  was  the  improve- 
ment of  our  native  tongue  neglected  at  that  time. 
David  Ferguson,  minister  of  Dunfermline,  was  much 
celebrated  for  his  attention  to  this  branch  of  composi- 
tion. He  had  not  enjoyed  the  advantage  of  an  univer- 
sity education,  but  possessing  a  good  taste  and  lively 
imagination,  was  very  successful  in  refining  and  en- 
riching the  Scottish  language,  by  his  discourses  and 
writings.|| 

The  first  General  Asse7nhly  of  the  reformed  church 
of  Scotland  met  at  Edinburgh  on  the  20th  of  Decem- 
ber 1560.  It  consisted  of  forty  members,  only  six  of 
whom  were  ministers.§  Knox  was  one  of  these  ;  and 
he  continued  to  sit  in  most  of  the  meetings  of  that 
court  until  the  time  of  his  death.  Its  deliberations 
were  conducted  at  first  with  great  simplicfty  and  una- 
nimity. It  is  a  singular  circumstancB  that  there  were 
seven  different  meetings  of  Assembly  without  a  mode- 
rator or  president.  But  as  the  number  of  members 
increased,  and  business  became  more  complicated,  a 
moderator  was  appointed  to  be  chosen  at  every  meet- 
ing; he  was  invested  with  authority  to  maintain  order; 
and  regulations  were  enacted  concerning  the  constit- 
uent members  of  the  court,  the  causes  which  ought  to 
come  before  them,  and  the  mode  of  procedure.     The 


*  See  Note  XL. 

f  Hume,  History  of  England,  vol.  v.  chap.  38,  p.  51.  Lend. 
1807.  X  See  the  last  note  on  the  preceding'  page. 

II  See  Note  XLI. 
5  Bulk  of  the  Universal  Kirk, p.  2.  MS.  Adv.  Lib.  Keith,  49C. 

M 


first  person  who  occupied  the  place  of  moderator  was 
John  Willock,  Superintendent  of  Glasurow  and  the 
West.* 

In  the  close  of  this  year,  our  Reformer  suffered  a 
heavy  domestic  loss,  by  the  death  of  his  valuable  wife, 
who,  after  sharing  in  the  hardships  of  her  husband's 
exile,  was  removed  from  him  just  when  he  had  ob- 
tained a  comfortable  settlement  for  his  family.f  He 
was  left  with  the  charge  of  two  young  children,  in 
addition  to  his  other  cares.  His  mother-in-law  was 
still  with  him;  but  though  he  took  pleasure  in  her 
religious  conversation,  the  dejection  of  mind  to  which 
she  was  subject,  and  which  all  his  efforts  could  never 
completely  cure,  rather  increased  than  lightened  his 
burden. +  His  acute  feelings  were  severely  wounded 
by  this  stroke ;  but  he  endeavoured  to  moderate  his 
grief  by  the  consolations  which  he  administered  to 
others,  and  by  application  to  public  duty.  He  had 
the  satisfaction  of  receiving,  on  this  occasion,  a  letter 
from  his  much  respected  friend  Calvin,  in  which  ex- 
pressions of  great  esteem  for  his  deceased  partner  were 
mingled  with  condolence  for  his  loss.|| 

I  may  take  this  opportunity  of  mentioning,  that 
Knox,  with  the  consent  of  his  brethren,  consulted  the 
Genevan  reformer  upon  several  difficult  questions 
which  occurred  respecting  the  settlement  of  the  Scot- 
tish Reformation,  and  that  a  number  of  letters  passed 
between  them  on  this  subject. § 

Anxieties  on  a  public  account  were  felt  by  Knox 
along  with  his  domestic  distress.  The  Reformation 
had  hitherto  advanced  with  a  success  equal  to  his 
most  sanguine  expectations ;  and,  at  this  time,  no  op- 
position was  publicly  made  to  the  new  establishment. 
But  matters  were  still  in  a  very  critical  state.  There 
were  a  party  in  the  nation,  by  no  means  inconsiderable 
in  numbers  and  power,  who  remained  addicted  to 
popery ;  and,  though  they  had  given  way  to  the  tor- 
rent, they  anxiously  waited  for  an  opportunity  to  em- 
broil the  country  in  another  civil  war,  for  the  restora- 
tion of  the  ancient  religion.  Queen  Mary,  and  her 
husband  the  King  of  France,  had  refused  to  ratify  the 
late  treaty,  and  had  dismissed  the  deputy  sent  by  the 
Parliament,  with  marks  of  the  highest  displeasure  at 
the  innovations  which  they  had  presumed  to  introduce. 
A  new  array  was  preparing  in  France  for  the  invasion 
of  Scotland  against  the  spring;  emissaries  were  sent, 
in  the  mean  time,  to  encourage  and  unite  the  Roman 
Catholics;  and  it  was  doubtful  if  the  Queen  of  Eng- 
land would  subject  herself  to  new  expense  and  odium, 
by  protecting  them  from  a  second  attack. If 

The  danger  was  not  unperceived  by  our  Reformer, 
who  laboured  to  impress  the  minds  of  his  countrymen 
with  a  due  sense  of  it,  and  to  excite  them  speedily  to 
complete  the  settlement  of  religion  throughout  the 
kingdom,  which,  he  was  persuaded,  would  prove  the 
principal  bulwark  against  the  assaults  of  th«ir  adver- 
saries. His  admonitions  were  now  listened  to  with 
attention  by  many  who  bad  formerly  treated  them  with 
indifference.**  The  threatened  storm,  however,  blew 
over,  in  consequence  of  the  death  of  the  French  kingj 
but  this  necessarily  led  to  a  measure  which  involved 
the  Scottish  protestants  in  a  new  struggle,  and  exposed 
the  reformed  church  to  dangers  less  obvious  and  strik- 


*  See  Note  XLIL  f  Knox,  Historie,  p.  269. 

\  Preface  to  a  Letter,  added  to  An  Answer  to  a  Letter  ofa! 
Jesuit,  named  Tyrie,  be  Johne  Knox. — Sanctandrois. — Anno 
Do.  1572. 

II  Calvini  Epistolie,  p.  150,  apud  Oper.  torn.  ix.  "  Viduitas 
tua  mihi,  ut  debet,  tristis  et  acerba  est.  Uxorem  iiactus  eras 
cui  non  reperiuntur  passim  similes,"  &c.  In  a  letter  to  Clirist. 
Goodman,  written  at  tlie  same  time,  Calvin  says,  '•  Fratrem 
nostrum  Knoxuni,  etsi  non  pavum  doleo  suavissimauxore  fuisse 
privatum,  gaudeo  tamen  ejus  morte  non  ita  fuisse  afflictum 
quin  strenue  operam  suam  Christo  et  ecclesiae  impendat."  Ibid 
Calvin  had  lost  his  own  wife  in  1549.  Epistolae  et  Responsa, 
p.  212—3,  225.     Hanov.  1597.  }  See  Note  XLllI. 

T  Knox.  257,  258.  Buchanan.  L  326,  327.  Spottiswood, 
159,151.     Keith,  154,  157.  **  Knox,  260. 


90 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    KNOX. 


ing,  but,  on  that  account,  not  less  to  be  dreaded  than 
open  violence  and  hostility.  This  was  the  invitation 
given  by  the  protestant  nobility  to  their  young  Queen, 
who,  on  the  19th  of  August  1561,  arrived  in  Scotland, 
and  assumed  the  reins  of  government  into  her  own 
hands. 

The  education  which  Mary  had  received  in  France, 
whatever  embellishments  it  added  to  her  beauty,  was 
the  very  worst  which  can  be  conceived  for  fitting  her 
to  rule  her  native  country,  in  the  present  juncture.  Of 
a  temper  naturally  violent,  the  devotion  which  she  had 
been  accustomed  to  see  paid  to  her  personal  charms 
rendered  her  extremely  impatient  of  contradiction.* 
Habituated  to  the  Siplendour  and  gallantry  of  the  most 
luxurious  and  dissolute  co\jrt  of  Europe,  she  could  not 
submit  to  tliose  restraints  which  the  more  severe  man- 
ners/ of  her  subjects  imposed  ;  and  while  they  took 
offence  at  the  freedom  of  her  behaviour,  she  could  not 
conceal  the  antipathy  and  disgust  which  she  felt  at 
theirs. f  Full  of  high  notions  of  royal  prerogative,  she 
regarded  the  late  proceedings  in  Scotland  as  a  course 
of  rebellion  against  her  authority.  Nursed  from  her 
infancy  in  a  blind  attachment  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
religion,  every  means  was  employed,  before  she  left 
France,  to  strengthen  this  prejudice,  and  to  inspire  her 
with  aversion  to  the  religion  whicli  had  been  embraced 
by  her  people.  She  was  taught  that  it  would  be  the 
great  glory  of  her  reign  to  reduce  her  kingdom  to  the 
obedience  of  the  Romish  See,  and  to  co-operate  with 
the  popish  princes  on  the  continent  in  extirpating 
heresy.  If  she  forsook  the  religion  in  which  she  had 
been  educated,  she  would  forfeit  their  powerful  friend- 
ship;  if  she  persevered  in  it,  she  might  depend  upon 
their  assistance  to  enable  her  to  chastise  her  rebellious 
subjects,  and  prosecute  her  claims  to  the  English 
crown  against  a  heretical  usurper. 

With  these  fixed  prepossessions,  Mary  came  into 
Scotland,  and  she  adhered  to  them  with  singular  per- 
tinacity to  the  end  of  her  life.  To  examine  the  sub- 
jects of  controversy  between  the  papists  and  protes- 
tants,  with  the  view  of  ascertaining  on  which  side  the 
truth  lay;  to  hear  the  reformed  preachers,  or  permit 
them  to  lay  before  her  the  grounds  of  their  faith,  even 
in  the  presence  of  the  clergy  whom  she  had  brought 
along  with  her;  to  do  any  thing  which  might  lead  to 
a  doubt  in  her  mind  respecting  the  religion  in  which 
she  had  been  brought  up,  these  were  condescensions 
which  she  had  formed  an  unalterable  determination  to 
avoid.  As  the  protestants  were  at  present  in  posses- 
sion of  power,  it  was  necessary  for  her  to  temporize; 
but  she  resolved  to  withhold  her  ratification  of  the  late 
proceedings,  and  to  embrace  the  first  favourable  oppor- 
tunity to  overturn  them,  and  re-establish  the  ancient 
system.:}: 

The  reception  which  she  met  with  on  her  first  ar- 
rival in  Scotland  was  flattering;  but  an  occurrence  that 
took  place  soon  after,  damped  the  joy  which  had  been 
expressed,  and  prognosticated  future  jealousies  and 
confusion.  Resolved  to  give  her  subjects  an  early 
proof  of  her  firm  determination  to  adhere  to  the  Roman 
Catholic  worship,  Mary  directed  preparations  to  be 
made  for  the  celebration  of  a  solemn  mass  in  the 
chapel  of  Holyroodhouse,  on  the  first  Sabbath  after 
her  arrival.  This  service  had  not  been  celebrated  in 
Scotland  since  the  conclusion  of  the  civil  war,  and  was 
prohibited,  under  certain  penalties,  by  an  act  of  the 
late  Parliament.     And   so   great  was  the  horror  with 


*  Mr.  Hume's  letter,  printed  in  the  Life  of  Dr.  Robertson, 
apul  History  of  Scotland,  vol.  i.  25.  Loud.  1809.  Anderson's 
ColKctions,  vol.  iv.  part  i.  p.  71,  72,  74,  79. 

t  "How  sone  that  ever  her  French  fillokes,  fidlnrs,  and 
utheris  of  that  band  gat  the  hous  alone,  thair  niycht  be  sene 
9ki;)ping  not  veray  conielie  for  honest  women.  Her  coniune 
talk  was  ill  secrete,  that  sche  saw  nothing  in  Scotland  bot 
gr;ivity,  quhilk  repugned  altogidder  to  her  nature,  for  sche 
was  brocht  up  in  joyeusetie."     Knox,  Historie,  p.  294. 

t  See  Note  XLIV 


which  the  protestants  viewed  its  restoration,  and  the 
alarm  which  they  felt  at  finding  it  countenanced  by 
their  Queen,  that  the  first  rumour  of  the  design  excited 
violent  murmurs,  which  would  have  burst  into  an  open 
tumult,  had  not  some  of  the  leading  men  among  the 
protestants  interfered,  and  exerted  their  authority  to 
repress  the  zeal  of  the  multitude.  From  regard  to 
public  tranquillity,  and  reluctance  to  offend  the  Queen 
at  her  first  return  to  her  native  kingdom,  Knox  used 
his  influence  in  private  conversation  to  allay  the  fer- 
vour of  the  more  zealous  reformers,  who  were  ready  to 
prevent  the  service  by  force.  But  he  was  not  less 
alarmed  at  the  precedent  than  his  brethren  were ;  and 
having  exposed  the  evil  of  idolatry  in  his  sermon  on 
the  following  Sabbath,  he  said,  that  "  one  mess  was 
more  fearful!  unto  him,  than  if  ten  thousand  armed 
enemies  wer  landed  in  ony  parte  of  the  realme,  of  pur- 
pose to  suppress  the  hole  religioun."* 

At  this  day,  we  are  apt  to  be  struck  with  surprise 
at  the  conduct  of  our  ancestors,  to  treat  their  fears  as 
visionary,  or  at  least  as  highly  exaggerated,  and  sum- 
marily to  pronounce  them  guilty  of  the  same  intoler- 
ance of  which  they  complained  in  their  adversaries. 
Persecution  for  conscience'  sake  is  so  odious,  and  the 
least  approach  to  it  so  dangerous,  that  we  deem  it  im- 
possible to  express  too  great  detestation  of  any  mea- 
sure which  tends  to  countenance  or  seems  to  encourage 
it.  But  let  us  be  just  as  well  as  liberal.  A  little  re- 
flection upon  the  circumstances  in  which  our  reform- 
ing forefathers  were  placed  may  serve  to  abate  our 
astonishment,  and  to  qualify  our  censures.  They  were 
actuated  by  a  strong  abhorrence  of  popish  idolatry,  a 
feeling  which  is  fully  justified  by  the  spirit  and  the 
precepts  of  Christianity  ;  and  the  prospect  of  the  land 
being  again  defiled  by  the  revival  of  its  impure  rites 
produced  on  their  minds  a  sensation,  with  which,  from 
our  ignorance  and  lukewarmness  as  much  as  our  ideas 
of  religious  liberty,  we  are  incapable  of  sympathizing. 
But  they  were  also  influenced  by  a  proper  regard  to 
their  own  preservation ;  and  neither  were  the  fears 
which  they  entertained  on  this  head  fanciful,  nor  the 
precautions  which  they  adopted  unnecessary. 

The  warmest  friends  of  toleration  and  liberty  of  con- 
science (some  of  whom  will  not  readily  be  charged 
with  protestant  prejudices)  have  granted,  that  persecu- 
tion of  the  most  sanguinary  kind  was  inseparable  from 
the  system  and  spirit  of  popery  which  was  at  that  time 
dominant  in  Europe;  and  they  cannot  deny  the  infer- 
ence, that  the  profession  and  propagation  of  it  were, 
on  this  account,  justly  subjected  to  penal  restraints,  as 
far,  at  least,  as  was  requisite  to  prevent  it  from  obtain- 
ing the  ascendency,  and  from  re-acting  the  bloody 
scenes  which  it  had  already  exhibited. t  The  protes- 
tants of  Scotland  had  these  scenes  before  their  eyes, 
and  fresh  in  their  recollection ;  and  infatuated  and 
criminal  indeed  would  they  have  been,  if,  by  listening 
to  the  Syren  song  of  toleration  (by  which  their  adver- 
saries, with  no  less  impudence  than  artifice,  now  at- 
tempted to  lull  them  asleep),  they  had  suffered  them- 
selves to  be  thrown  off  their  guard,  and  neglected  to 
provide  against  the  most  distant  approaches  of  the 
danger  by  which  they  were  threatened.  Could  they 
be  ignorant  of  the  perfidious,  barbarous,  and  unrelent- 
ing cruelty  with  which  protestants  were  treated  in 
every  Roman  Catholic  kingdom?  In  France,  where 
so  many  of  their  brethren  had  been  put  to  death,  under 
the  influence  of  the  house  of  Guise;  in  the  Nether- 
lands, where  such  multitudes  had  been  tortured,  be- 
headed, hanged,  drowned,  or  buried  alive  ;  in  England, 
where  the  flames  of  persecution  were  but  lately  extin- 
guished ;  and  in  Spain,  where  they  still  continued  to 
blaze  1  Could  they  have  forgotten  what  had  taken 
place  in  their  own  country,  or  the  perils  from  which 
they  had  themselves  so  recently  and  so  narrowly 
escaped  1    "  God  forbid  !"  (exclaimed  the  lords  of  the 


*  Knox,  Historie,  p.  284—287. 


t  See  Note  XLV. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


n 


privy  council,  in  the  presence  of  queen  Mary,  at  a  time 
when  they  were  not  disposed  to  offend  her)  "  God  for- 
bid !  that  the  lives  of  the  faithful  stood  in  the  power 
of  the  papists  :  for  just  experience  has  taught  us  what 
cruelty  is  in  their  hearts."* 

Nor  was  this  an  event  so  improbable,  and  so  un- 
likely to  happen,  as  many  seem  to  imagine.  The  rage 
for  conquest,  on  the  continent,  was  now  converted  into 
a  rage  for  proselytism  ;  and  steps  had  already  been 
taken  towards  forming  that  league  among  the  Catholic 
princes,  which  had  for  its  object  the  universal  exter- 
mination of  the  protestants.  The  Scots  Queen  was 
passionately  addicted  to  the  intoxicating  cup  of  which 
so  many  of  "  the  kings  of  the  earth  had  drunk." 
There  were  numbers  in  the  nation  who  were  similarly 
disposed.  The  liberty  taken  by  the  Queen  would  soon 
be  demanded  for  all  who  declared  themselves  Catho- 
lics. Many  of  those  who  had  hitherto  ranged  under 
the  protestant  standard  were  lukewarm  in  the  cause; 
the  zeal  of  others  had  already  suffered  a  sensible  abate- 
ment since  the  arrival  of  the  Queen  ;f  and  it  was  to  be 
feared,  that  the  favours  of  the  Court,  and  the  blandish- 
ments of  an  artful  and  engaging  princess,  would  make 
proselytes  of  some,  and  lull  others  into  security,  while 
designs  were  carried  on  pregnant  with  ruin  to  the  reli- 
gion and  liberties  of  the  nation.  In  one  word,  the 
public  toleration  of  the  popish  worship  was  only  a  step 
to  its  re-establishment,  and  this  would  be  the  signal 
for  kindling  afret^h  the  fires  of  the  Inquisition.  It  was 
in  this  manner  that  some  of  the  wisest  persons  in  the 
kingdom  reasoned  at  that  time  ;:J:  and,  had  it  not  been 
for  the  uncommon  spirit  which  then  existed  among  the 
reformers,  there  is  every  reason  to  think  that  their  pre- 
dictions would  have  been  realized. 

To  those  who  accuse  the  Scottish  protestants  of  dis- 
playing the  same  spirit  of  intolerance  by  which  the 
Roman  Catholics  were  distinguished,  I  would  recom- 
mend the  following  statement  of  a  sensible  French 
author,  who  had  formed  a  more  just  notion  of  these 
transactions  than  many  of  our  own  writers.  "  Mary 
(says  he)  was  brought  up  in  France,  accustomed  to 
see  protestants  burned  to  death,  and  instructed  in  the 
maxims  of  her  uncles,  the  Guises,  who  maintained 
that  it  was  necessary  to  exterminate,  without  mercy, 
the  pretended  reformed.  With  these  dispositions  she 
arrived  in  Scotland,  which  was  wholly  reformed,  with 
the  exception  of  a  few  lords.  The  kingdom  receive 
her,  acknowledge  her  as  their  Queen,  and  obey  her  in 
all  things  according  to  the  laws  of  the  country.  1 
maintain,  that,  in  the  state  of  men's  spirits  at  that 
time,  if  a  Huguonot  Queen  had  come  to  take  posses- 
sion of  a  Roman  Catholic  kingdom,  with  the  retinue 
with  which  Mary  came  to  Scotland,  the  first  thing 
they  would  have  done  would  have  been  to  arrest  her ; 
and  if  she  had  persevered  in  her  religion,  they  would 
have  procured  her  degradation  by  the  Pope,  thrown 
her  into  the  Inquisition,  and  burned  her  as  a  heretic. 
There  is  not  an  honest  man  who  dare  deny  this."|| 

After  all,  it  is  surely  unnecessary  to  apologize  for 
the  restrictions  which  our  ancestors  were  desirous  of 
imposing  on  Queen  Mary,  to  those  who  approve  of  the 

*   Knox,  Historic,  p.  341.  +  lb.  p.  282,  283,  285,  287-. 

I  Several  of  the  aoo\re  considerations,  alon^  with  others, 
are  forcibly  stated  in  a  letter  of  Maitland  to  Cecil,  written  a 
short  time  before  Queen  Mary's  arrival  in  Scotland.  Keith, 
App.  92 — 95.  That  sagacious,  but  supple  politician  viras 
among  the  first  to  verily  some  of  his  own  predictions.  That 
such  fears  were  very  general  in  the  nation  appears  also  from  a 
letter  of  Randolph.     Robertson,  Ap.  No.  5. 

II  Histoire  du  Calvinism«  et  celle  du  Papisme  mises  et  Parel- 
lele;  ou  Apologie  pour  les  Reformateurs,  pour  la  Reformation, 
et  pour  les  Reformez,  tome  i.  334.  A  Rotterdam,  1683.  4to. 
The  affirmation  of  this  writer  is  Completely  supported  by  the 
well-known  history  of  Henry  IV.  of  France  (not  to  mention 
other  instances);  whose  recantation  of  Calvinism,  although  it 
smoothed  his  way  to  the  throne,  was  never  able  to  efface  the 
indelible  stigma  of  his  former  heresy,  to  secure  the  affections 
of  his  Roman  Catholic  subjects,  or  to  avert  from  his  bresist  the 
consecrated  poignard  of  the  assassin. 


present  constitution  of  Britain,  according  to  which 
every  papist  is  excluded  from  succeeding  to  the  throne, 
and  the  reigning  monarch,  by  setting  up  mass  in  his 
chapel,  would  virtually  forfeit  his  crown.  Is  popery 
more  dangerous  now  than  it  was  two  hundred  and  fifty 
years  ago  1 

Besides  his  fears  for  the  common  cause,  Knox  had, 
at  this  time,  grounds  for  apprehension  as  to  his  per- 
sonal safety.  The  Queen  was  peculiarly  incensed 
against  him  on  account  of  the  active  hand  which  he 
had  in  the  late  revolution;  the  popish  clergy  who  left 
the  kingdom  had  represented  him  as  the  ring-leader 
of  her  factious  subjects;  and  she  had  signified,  before 
she  left  France,  that  she  was  determined  he  should  be 
punished.  His  book  against  female  government  was 
most  probably  the  ostensible  charge  on  which  he  was 
to  be  prosecuted  ;  and  accordingly  we  find  him  making 
application,  through  the  English  resident  at  Edin- 
burgh, to  secure  the  favour  of  Elizabeth,  reasonably 
suspecting  that  she  might  be  induced  to  abet  the  pro- 
ceedings against  him  on  this  head.*  But  whatever 
perils  he  apprehended,  from  the  personal  presence  of 
the  Queen,  either  to  the  public  or  to  himself,  he  used 
not  the  smallest  influence  to  prevent  her  being  invited 
home.  On  the  contrary,  he  concurred  with  his  brethren 
in  this  measure,  and  also  in  using  means  to  defeat  a 
scheme  which  the  Duke  of  Chastelherault,  under  the 
direction  of  the  archbishop  of  St.  Andrews,  had  formed 
to  exclude  her  from  the  government.f  But  when  the 
Prior  of  St.  Andrews  was  sent  to  France  with  the  in- 
vitation, he  urged  that  her  desisting  from  the  celebra- 
tion of  mass  should  be  one  of  the  conditions  of  her 
return;  and  when  he  found  him  and  the  rest  of  the 
council  disposed  to  grant  her  this  liberty  within  her 
own  chapel,  he  predicted  that  "her  liberty  would  be 
their  thraldom. ":^: 

In  the  beginning  of  Septomber,||  only  a  few  days 
after  the  Queen's  arrival  in  Scotland,  she  sent  for  Knox 
to  the  palace,  and  held  a  long  conversation  with  him, 
in  the  presence  of  her  brother,  the  Prior  of  St.  An- 
drews. Whether  she  did  this  of  her  own  accord,  or 
in  consequence  of  the  advice  of  some  of  her  counsel- 
lors, is  uncertain;  but  she  seems  to  have  expected  to 
awe  him  into  submission  by  her  authority,  if  not  to 
confound  him  by  her  arguments.  The  bold  freedom, 
however,  with  which  he  replied  to  all  her  charges, 
and  vindicated  his  own  conduct,  convinced  her  that 
the  one  expectation  was  not  more  vain  than  the  other ; 
and  the  impression  which  she  wished  to  make  on  him 
was  left  on  her  own  mind. 

She  accused  him  of  raising  her  subjects  against  her 
mother  and  herself;  of  writing  a  book  against  her  just 
authority,  which  (she  said)  she  would  cause  the  most 
learned  in  Europe  to  answer;  of  being  the  cause  of 
sedition  and  bloodshed,  when  he  was  in  England;  and 
of  accomplishing  his  purposes  by  magical  arts. 

To  these  heavy  charges  Knox  replied,  that,  if  to 
teach  the  truth  of  God  in  sincerity,  to  rebuke  idolatry, 
and  exhort  a  people  to  worship  God  according  to  his 
word,  were  to  excite  subjects  to  rise  against   their 


*  Randolph  to  Cecil,  9lh  Aug.  1561.  apud  Robertson's  Scot- 
land, Appendix,  No.  5.  and  Keith,  p.  190.  A  letter  of  Mail- 
land  to  Cecil,  of  the  same  date  with  the  above,  seems  to  refer 
to  the  same  design;  and  I  shall  take  the  opportunity  of  cor- 
recting (what  appears  to  me)  an  error  in  the  transcription  of 
this  letter.  "  I  wish  to  God  (says  Maitland),  the  first  warre 
may  be  planely  intended  against  them  by  Knox,  for  so  shold 
it  be  manifest  that  the  suppressing  off  religion  was  ment;  but  I 
fear  more  she  will  proceed  tharunto  by  indirect  meanes:  And 
nothing  for  us  so  dangerouse  as  temporising."  Haynes,  p.  369. 
This  seems  altogether  unintelligible;  but  it  the  words  which  I 
have  printed  in  Italics  be  transposed,  and  read  thus,  ''by  them 
against  Knox,"  they  will  make  sense,  and  correspond  with  the 
strain  of  the  letter,  and  with  the  fact  mentioned  by  Randolph, 
in  his  letter  to  Cecil  written  on  the  same  day.  Maitland  ex- 
presses his  fears  that  Mary  would  have  recourse  to  crafty  mea- 
sures for  undermining  their  cause,  instead  of  persevering  in  the 
design  which  she  had  avowed  of  prosecuting  Knox. 

t  Knox,  Historie,  p.  269.     t  ^^  P-  2C2,  293.     \\  Keith.  188 


92 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


princes,  then  he  stood  convicted  of  that  crime;  for  it 
had  pleased  God  to  employ  him,  among  many  others, 
to  disclose  unto  that  realm  the  vanity  of  the  papistical 
religion,  with  the  deceit,  pride,  and  tyranny  of  the 
Roman  antichrist.  But  if  the  true  knowledge  of  God 
and  his  right  worship  were  the  most  powerful  induce- 
ments to  subjects  cordially  to  obey  their  princes  (as 
they  certainly  were),  then  was  he  innocent.  Her 
Grace,  he  was  persuaded,  had  at  present  an  unfeigned 
obedience  from  the  protestants  of  Scotland,  as  ever  her 
father,  or  any  of  her  ancestors,  had  from  those  called 
bishops.  With  respect  to  what  had  been  reported  to 
her  Majesty  concerning  the  fruits  of -his  preaching  in 
England,  he  was  glad  that  his  enemies  laid  nothing  to 
his  charge  but  what  the  world  knew  to  be  false.  If 
they  could  prove,  that  in  any  of  the  places  where  he 
had  resided  there  was  either  sedition  or  mutiny,  he 
would  confess  himself  to  be  a  malefactor.  But  so  far 
from  this  being  the  case,  he  was  not  ashamed  to  say, 
that  in  Berwick,  where  bloodshed  among  the  soldiers 
had  formerly  been  common,  God  so  blessed  his  weak 
labours,  that  there  was  as  great  quietness  during  the 
time  he  resided  in  it,  as  there  was  at  present  in  Edin- 
burgh. The  slander  of  practising  magic  (an  art  which 
he  had  condemned  wherever  he  preached)  he  could 
more  easily  bear,  when  he  recollected  that  his  master, 
the  Lord  Jesus,  had  been  defamed  as  one  in  league 
with  Beelzebub.  As  to  the  book  which  seemed  so 
highly  to  offend  her  Majesty,  he  owned  that  he  wrote 
it,  and  he  was  willing  that  all  the  learned  should  judge 
of  it.  He  understood  that  an  Englishman  had  written 
against  it,  but  he  had  not  read  his  work.  If  he  had 
sufficiently  confuted  his  arguments,  and  established 
the  contrary  opinion,  he  would  confess  his  error;  but 
to  that  hour  he  continued  to  think  himself  alone  more 
able  to  maintain  the  propositions  affirmed  in  that  book 
than  any  ten  in  Europe  were  to  confute  them. 

"You  think  I  have  no  just  authority T"  said  the 
Queen.  "  Please  your  Majesty  (replied  he),  learned 
men  in  all  ages  have  had  their  judgments  free,  and 
most  commonly  disagreeing  from  the  common  judg- 
ment of  the  world  ;  such  also  have  they  published  both 
with  pen  and  tongue;  notwithstanding,  they  them- 
selves have  lived  in  the  common  society  with  others, 
and  have  borne  patiently  with  the  errors  and  imperfec- 
tions which  they  could  not  amend.  Plato  the  philoso- 
pher wrote  his  book  Of  the  Commonwealth,  in  which 
he  condemned  many  things  that  then  were  maintained 
in  the  world,  and  required  many  things  to  have  been 
reformed  ;  and  yet,  notwithstanding,  he  lived  under 
such  policies  as  then  were  universally  received,  with- 
out farther  troubling  of  any  state.  Even  so,  madam, 
am  I  content  to  do,  in  uprightness  of  heart,  and  with  a 
testimony  of  a  good  conscience."  He  added,  that  his 
sentiments  on  that  subject  should  be  confined  to  his 
own  breast;  and  that,  if  she  refrained  from  persecu- 
tion, her  authority  would  not  be  hurt,  either  by  him  or 
his  book,  "which  was  written  most  especially  against 
that  wicked  Jesabeli  of  England." 

"  But  ye  speak  of  women  in  general,"  said  the  Queen. 
"  Most  true  it  is,  madam;  yet  it  appeareth  to  me,  thit 
wisdom  should  persuade  your  Grace  never  to  raise 
trouble  for  that  which  to  this  day  has  not  troubled 
your  Majesty,  neither  in  person  nor  in  authority:  for 
of  late  years  many  things,  which  before  were  held 
stable,  have  been  called  in  doubt;  yea  they  have  been 
plainly  impugned.  But  yet,  madam,  I  am  assured 
that  neither  protestant  nor  papist  shall  be  able  to 
prove,  that  any  such  question  was  at  any  time  moved 
either  in  public  or  in  secret.  Now,  madam,  if  I  had 
intended  to  have  troubled  your  estate,  because  ye  are 
a  woman,  I  would  have  chosen  a  time  more  convenient 
for  that  purpose  than  I  can  do  now,  when  your  pre- 
sence is  within  the  realm." 

Changing  the  subject,  she  charged  him  with  having 
taught  the  people  to  receive  a  religion  different  from 
that  which  was  allowed  by  their  princes;  and  she 


asked,  if  this  was  not  contrary  to  the  divine  command, 
that  subjects  should  obey  their  rulers.  He  replied,  that 
true  religion  derived  its  origin  and  authority  not  from 
princes,  but  from  the  eternal  God  ;  that  princes  were 
often  most  ignorant  of  the  true  religion  ;  and  that  sub- 
jects were  not  bound  to  frame  their  religion  according 
to  the  arbitrary  will  of  their  rulers,  else  the  Hebrews 
would  have  been  bound  to  adopt  the  religion  of  Pha- 
raoh, Daniel  and  his  associates  that  of  Nebuchadnezzar 
and  Darius,  and  the  primitive  Christians  that  of  the 
Roman  Emperors.  "Yea,"  replied  the  Queen,  quali- 
fying her  assertion  ;  "but  none  of  these  men  raised  the 
sword  against  their  princes."  "  Yet  you  cannot  deny," 
said  he,  "  that  they  resisted  ;  for  those  who  obey  not 
the  commandment  given  them  do  in  some  sort  resist." 
"  But  they  resisted  not  with  the  sword,"  rejoined  the 
Queen,  pressing  home  the  argument.  "  God,  madam, 
had  not  given  unto  them  the  power  and  the  means." 
"Think  you,"  said  the  Queen,  "  that  subjects,  having 
the  power,  may  resist  their  princes  1" — "If  princes 
exceed  their  bounds,  madam,  no  doubt  they  may  be 
resisted,  even  by  power.  For  no  greater  honour,  or 
greater  obedience,  is  to  be  given  to  kings  and  princes, 
than  God  has  commanded  to  be  given  to  father  and 
mother.  But  the  father  may  be  struck  with  a  phrenzy, 
in  which  he  would  slay  his  children.  Now,  madam, 
if  the  children  arise,  join  together,  apprehend  the  father, 
take  the  sword  from  him,  bind  his  hands,  and  keep  him 
in  prison,  till  the  phrenzy  be  over;  think  you,  madam, 
that  the  children  do  any  wrong]  Even  so,  madam,  is 
it  with  princes  that  would  murder  the  children  of  God 
that  are  subject  unto  them.  Their  blind  zeal  is  nothing 
but  a  mad  phrenzy  ;  therefore,  to  take  the  sword  from 
them,  to  bind  their  hands,  and  to  cast  them  into  prison, 
till  they  be  brought  to  a  more  sober  mind,  is  no  dis- 
obedience against  princes,  but  just  obedience,  because 
it  agreeth  with  the  will  of  God." 

The  Queen,  who  had  hitherto  maintained  her  courage 
in  reasoning,  was  completely  overpowered  by  this  bold 
answer:  her  countenance  changed,  and  she  continued 
in  a  silent  stupor.  Her  brother  spoke  to  her,  and  in- 
quired the  cause  of  her  uneasiness;  but  she  made  no 
reply.  Recovering  herself  at  length,  she  said,  "Well 
then,  I  perceive  that  my  subjects  shall  obey  you,  and 
not  me,  and  will  do  what  they  please,  and  not  what  I 
command  ;  and  so  must  I  be  subject  to  them,  and  not 
they  to  me."  "God  forbid!"  replied  the  Reformer, 
"that  ever  I  take  upon  me  to  command  any  to  obey 
me,  or  to  set  subjects  at  liberty  to  do  whatever  pleases 
them.  But  my  travel  is,  that  both  princes  and  subjects 
may  obey  God.  And  think  not,  madam,  that  wrong 
is  done  you,  when  you  are  required  to  be  subject  unto 
God :  for  it  is  he  who  subjects  people  under  princes, 
and  causes  obedience  to  be  given  unto  them.  He 
craves  of  kings  that  they  be  as  foster-fathers  to  his 
church,  and  commands  queens  to  be  nurses  to  his  peo- 
ple. And  this  subjection,  madam,  unto  God  and  his 
church,  is  the  greatest  dignity  that  flesh  can  get  upon 
the  face  of  the  earth ;  for  it  shall  raise  them  to  ever- 
lasting glory." 

"  But  you  are  not  the  church  that  I  will  nourish," 
said  the  Queen  :  "  I  will  defend  the  church  of  Rome  ; 
for  it  is,  I.  think,  the  true  church  of  God."  "  Youi 
will,  madam,  is  no  reason ;  neither  doth  your  thous;ht 
make  the  Roman  harlot  to  be  the  true  and  immaculate 
spouse  of  Jesus  Christ.  Wonder  not,  madam,  that  1 
call  Rome  an  harlot,  for  that  church  is  altogether  pol- 
luted with  all  kinds  of  spiritual  fornication,  both  in 
doctrine  and  manners."  He  added,  that  he  was  ready 
to  prove  that  the  Romish  church  had  declined  farther 
from  the  purity  of  religion  taught  by  the  apostles,  than 
the  Jewish  church  had  degenerated  from  the  ordinances 
which  God  gave  them  by  Moses  and  Aaron,  at  the 
time  when  they  denied  and  crucified  the  Son  of  God. 
"  My  conscience  is  not  so,"  said  the  Queen.  "  Con- 
science, madam,  requires  knowledge ;  and  I  fear  that 
right  knowledge  you  have  none." — "  But  I  have  both 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


heard  and  read." — So,  madam,  did  the  JewfS  who 
crucified  Christ  Jesus  read  the  law  and  the  pro- 
phets, and  heard  the  same  interpreted  after  their  man- 
ner. Have  you  heard  any  teach  but  such  as  the  pope 
and  cardinals  have  allowed  1  and  you  may  be  assured, 
that  such  will  speak  nothing  to  offend  their  own 
estate." 

"  You  interpret  the  scriptures  in  one  way,"  said  the 
Queen  evasively, '"  and  they  in  another:  whom  shall 
I  believe,  and  who  shall  be  judge?"  "You  shall 
believe  God,  who  plainly  speaketh  his  word,"  replied 
the  Reformer,  "  and  farther  than  the  word  teacheth 
you,  you  shall  believe  neither  the  one  nor  the  other. 
The  word  of  God  is  plain  in  itself;  and  if  there  appear 
any  obscurity  in  one  place,  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  is 
never  contrary  to  himself,  explains  the  same  more 
clearly  in  other  places,  so  that  there  can  remain  no 
doubt,  but  unto  such  as  are  obstinately  ignorant."  As 
an  example,  he  selected  one  of  the  articles  in  contro- 
versy, that  concerning  the  sacrament  of  the  supper, 
and  proceeded  to  shew,  that  the  popish  doctrine  of  the 
sacrifice  of  the  mass  was  destitute  of  all  foundation  in 
scripture.  But  the  Queen,  who  was  determined  to 
avoid  all  discussion  of  the  articles  of  her  creed,  inter- 
rupted him,  by  saying,  that  she  was  unable  to  contend 
with  him  in  argument,  but  if  she  had  those  present 
whom  she  had  heard,  they  would  answer  him. 
"Madam,"  replied  the  Reformer  fervently,  "would 
to  God  that  the  learnedest  papist  in  Europe,  and  he 
whom  you  would  best  believe,  were  present  with  your 
Grace  to  sustain  the  argument,  and  that  you  would 
wait  patiently  to  hear  the  matter  reasoned  to  the  end  ! 
for  then,  I  doubt  not,  madam,  but  you  would  hear  the 
vanity  of  the  papistical  religion,  and  how  little  ground 
it  hath  in  the  word  of  God."  "  Well,"  said  she,  "you 
may  perchance  get  that  sooner  than  you  believe." — 
"  Assuredly,  if  ever  I  get  that  in  my  life,  I  get  it 
sooner  than  I  believe;  for  the  ignorant  papist  cannot 
patiently  reason,  and  the  learned  and  crafty  papist  will 
never  come,  in  your  audience,  madam,  to  have  the 
ground  of  their  religion  searched  out.  When  you  shall 
let  me  see  the  contrary,  I  shall  grant  myself  to  have 
been  deceived  in  that  point." 

The  hour  of  dinner  afforded  an  occasion  for  breaking 
off  this  singular  conversation.  At  taking  leave  of  her 
Majesty,  the  Reformer  said,  "  I  pray  God,  madam, 
that  you  may  be  as  blessed  within  the  commonwealth 
of  Scotland,  as  ever  Deborah  was  in  the  commonwealth 
of  Israel."* 

I  have  been  the  more  minute  in  the  narrative  of  this 
curious  conference,  because  it  affords  the  most  satis- 
factory refutation  of  the  charge,  that  Knox  treated 
Mary  with  rudeness  and  disrespect.  For  the  same 
reason  I  shall  lay  before  the  reader  a  circumstantial 
account  of  the  subsequent  interviews  between  them, 
from  which  he  will  perceive  that,  though  the  Reformer 
addressed  her  with  a  plainness  to  which  crowned  heads 
are  seldom  accustomed,  he  never  lost  sight  of  the  re- 
spect which  was  due  to  the  person  of  his  sovereign,  or 
of  the  decorum  which  became  his  own  character. 

The  interview  between  the  Queen  and  the  Reformer 
excited  great  speculation,  and  different  conjectures 
were  formed  as  to  its  probable  consequences.  The 
Catholics,  whose  hopes  now  depended  solely  on  the 
Queen,  were  alarmed,  lest  Knox's  rhetoric  should  have 
shaken  her  constancy.  The  protestants  cherished  the 
expectation  that  she  would  be  induced  to  attend  the 
protestant  sermons,  and  that  her  religious  prejudices 
would  gradually  abate.f  Knox  indulged  no  such 
flattering  expectations.  He  had  made  it  his  study, 
during  the  late  conference,  to  discover  the  real  charac- 
ter of  the  Queen;  and  when  some  of  his  confidential 
friends  asked  his  opinion  of  her,  he  told  them  that  he 
was  very  much  mistaken,  if  she  was  not  proud,  crafty, 
obstinately  wedded  to  the  popish  church,  and  averse  to 


*  Knox,  Historie,  p.  287—292. 


+  Ibid.  p.  292. 


all  means  of  instruction.*  Writing  to  Cecil,  he  saya, 
"  The  Queen  ney  ther  is,  neyther  shal  be  of  our  opinion ; 
and,  in  very  dead,  her  hole  proceedings  do  declair  that 
the  cardinalles  lessons  ar  so  deaplie  printed  in  her 
heart,  that  the  substance  and  the  qualitie  are  lick  to 
perishe  together.  I  wold  be  glad  to  be  deceaved,  but 
I  fear  I  shall  not.  In  communication  with  her,  I 
espyed  such  craft  as  I  have  not  found  in  such  aige. 
Since,  hath  the  court  been  dead  to  me  and  I  to  it."f 

He  resolved,  therefore,  vigilantly  to  watch  her  pro- 
ceedings, and  to  give  timely  warning  of  any  danger 
which  might  result  from  them  to  the  reformed  interest; 
and  the  more  that  he  perceived  the  zeal  of  the  protes- 
tant nobles  to  cool,  and  their  jealousy  to  be  laid  asleep 
by  the  winning  arts  of  the  Queen,  the  more  frequently 
and  loudly  did  he  sound  the  alarm.  Vehement  and 
harsh  as  his  expressions  often  were  ;  violent,  seditious, 
and  insufferable,  as  his  sermons  and  prayers  have  been 
pronounced,  I  have  little  hesitation  in  saying,  that  as 
the  public  peace  was  never  disturbed  by  them,  so  they 
were  useful  to  the  public  safety,  and  a  principal  means 
of  warding  off  for  a  time  those  confusions  in  which  the 
country  was  afterwards  involved,  and  which  brought 
on  the  ultimate  ruin  of  the  infatuated  Queen.  His  un- 
courtly  and  rough  manner  was  not,  indeed,  calculated 
to  gain  upon  her  mind,  (nor  is  there  reason  to  think 
that  an  opposite  manner  would  have  had  this  effect), 
and  his  admonitions  often  irritated  her ;  but  they  obliged 
her  to  act  with  greater  reserve  and  moderation  ;  and 
they  operated,  to  an  indescribable  degree,  in  arousing 
and  keeping  awake  the  zeal  and  the  fears  of  the  nation, 
which,  at  that  period,  were  the  two  great  safeguards 
of  the  protestant  religion  in  Scotland.  W^e  may  form 
an  idea  of  the  effect  produced  by  his  pulpit  orations, 
from  the  account  of  the  English  ambassador,  who  was 
one  of  his  constant  hearers.  "  Where  your  honour 
(says  he,  in  a  letter  to  Cecil)  exhorted  us  to  stoutness, 
I  assure  you  the  voice  of  one  man  is  able,  in  an  hour, 
to  put  more  life  in  us,  than  six  hundred  trumpets  con- 
tinually  blustering  in  our  ears.":): 

The  Reformer  was  not  ignorant  that  some  of  his 
friends  thought  him  too  severe  in  his  language,  nor 
was  he  always  disposed  to  vindicate  the  expressions 
which  he  employed.  Still,  however,  he  was  per- 
suaded, that  the  times  required  the  utmost  plainness  ; 
and  he  was  afraid  that  snares  lurked  under  the  smooth- 
ness which  was  recommended  and  practised  by  cour- 
tiers. Cecil  having  given  him  an  advice  on  this  head, 
in  one  of  his  letters,  we  find  him  replying :  "  Men 
deliting  to  swym  betwix  two  waters,  have  often  com- 
pleaned  upon  my  severitie.  I  do  fear  that  that  which 
men  term  lenitie  and  dulcenes  do  bring  upon  them- 
selves and  others  mor  fearful  destruction,  thanyit  hath 
ensewed  the  vehemency  of  any  preacher  within  this 
realme."|| 

The  abatement  of  zeal  which  he  dreaded  from  "  the 
holy  water  of  the  court,"  soon  began  to  appear  among 
the  protestant  leaders.  The  general  assemblies  of  the 
church  were  a  great  eye-sore  to  the  Queen,  who  was 
very  desirous  to  have  them  put  down.  At  the  first 
assembly  held  after  her  arrival,  the  courtiers,  through 
her  influence,  absented  themselves,  and  when  chal- 
lenged for  this,  began  to  dispute  the  propriety  of  such 

*  Knox,  Historie,  p.  292.     Keith,  197. 

\  Letter,  Knox  to  Cecil,  7th  October  1561,  Haynes,  State 
Papers,  p.  372. 

t  Randolph's  letter,  in  Keith,  188.  In  this  letter,  the  ambas- 
sador states  some  circumstances  relating  to  the  first  interview 
between  the  Queen  and  the  Reformer,  which  are  not  mentioned 
in  Knox's  History.  He  "knocked  so  hastily  upon  her  heart, 
that  he  made  her  to  weep,  as  well  you  know  there  be  some  of 
that  sex  that  will  do  that  as  well  for  anger  as  for  grief;  though 
in  this  the  lord  James  will  disagree  with  me.  He  concluded 
so  in  the  end  with  her,  that  he  hath  liberty  to  speak  his  con- 
science; [and]  to  give  unto  her  such  reverence  as  becoraeth 
the  ministers  of  God  unto  the  superior  powers." 

II  Haynes,  372.  An  epistolary  correspondence  was  at  this 
time  maintained  between  Secretary  Cecil  and  our  Reformer. 
Keith,  191,  192,  194.    Robertson,  Append.  No.  5. 


04 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


conventions  without  her  majesty's  pleasure.  On  this 
point,  there  was  sharp  reasoning  between  Knox  anc^ 
Maltland,  who  was  now  made  Secretary  of  State. 
"  Take  from  us  the  liberty  of  assemblies,  and  take 
from  us  the  gospel,"  said  the  Reformer.  "  If  the 
liberty  of  the  church  must  depend  upon  her  allowance 
or  disallowance,  we  shall  want  not  only  assemblies, 
but  also  the  preaching  of  the  gospel."  It  was  propo- 
sed that  the  Book  of  Discipline  should  be  ratified  by 
the  Queen  and  Council,  but  this  was  keenly  opposed 
by  secretary  Maltland.  "  How  many  of  those  that 
subscribed  that  book  will  be  subject  to  if?"  said  he, 
scoffingly.  "  All  the  godly,"  it  was  answered.  "  Will 
the  Duke?"  said  he.  "  If  he  will  not,"  replied  Lord 
Ochiltree,  "  I  wish  that  his  name  were  scraped  not 
only  out  of  that  book,  but  also  out  of  our  number 
and  company  ;  for  to  what  end  shall  men  subscribe 
and  never  mean  to  keep  word  of  that  which  they 
promise.*'  Maitland  said,  that  many  subscribed  it 
infide  parentuni,  implicitly.  Knox  replied,  that  the 
scoff  was  as  untrue  as  it  was  unbecoming;  for  the 
book  was  publicly  read  and  its  different  heads  dis- 
cussed for  a  number  of  days,  and  no  man  was  required 
to  subscribe  what  he  did  not  understand.  "  Stand 
content,"  said  one  of  the  courtiers ;  "  that  book  will 
not  be  obtained."  "  And  let  God  require  the  injury 
which  the  commonwealth  shall  sustain,  at  the  hands 
of  those  who  hinder  it,"  replied  the  Reformer.* 

He  was  still  more  indignant  at  their  management 
in  settling  the  provision  for  the  ministers  of  the 
church.  Hitherto  they  had  lived  chiefly  on  the  be- 
nevolence of  their  hearers,  and  many  of  them  had 
scarcely  the  means  of  subsistence  ;  but  repeated  com- 
plaints having  obliged  the  Privy  Council  to  take  up 
the  affair,  they  came  at  last  to  a  determination,  that 
the  ecclesiastical  revenues  should  be  divided  into  three 
parts  ;  that  two  of  these  should  be  given  to  the  ejected 
popish  clergy  ;  and  that  the  third  part  should  be  divided 
between  the  court  and  the  protestant  ministry  !  f  The 
persons  appointed  to  "  modify  the  stipends"^  were 
disposed  to  gratify  the  Queen,  and  the  demands  of 
the  court  were  readily  answered,  while  the  sums  allot- 
ted to  the  ministers  were  as  ill  paid  as  they  were  paltry 
and  inadequate.  "  Weall  !  (exclaimed  Knox,  when 
he  heard  of  this  disgraceful  arrangement)  if  the  end 
of  this  ordour,  pretendit  to  be  takin  for  sustentation 
of  the  ministers,  be  happie,  my  jugement  failes  me. 
I  sie  twa  pairtis  freelie  gevin  to  the  devill,  and  the 
third  mon  be  devyded  betwix  God  and  the  devill. 
Quho  wald  have  thocht,  that  quhen  Joseph  reuUed  in 
Egypt,  his  brethren  sould  have  travellit  for  victualles, 
and  have  returned  with  emptie  sackes  unto  thair  fami- 
lies ■?  O  happie  servands  of  the  devill,  and  miserabill 
servands  of  Jesus  Christ,  if  efter  this  lyf  thair  wer  not 
hell  and  heavin  !"|| 

He  vented  his  mind  more  freely  on  this  subject,  as 
his  complaints  could  not  be  imputed  to  personal  mo- 


»  Kuox,  Historie.  p.  295—6. 

+  Keith,  App.  175—179.     Knox,  296—300. 

i  The  Privy  Council  appointed  certain  persons  to  fix  the 
sunis  which  were  to  be  appropriated  to  the  court  and  to  the 
ministry,  and  also  the  particular  salaries  which  were  to  be  al- 
lotted to  individual  ministers,  according  to  the  circumstances 
in  which  they  were  placed.  The  officers  appointed  for  this 
purpose  composed  a  board  or  court,  under  the  Privy  Council, 
which  was  called  the  Court  of  Modification. 

Ij  "  So  busie,"  says  he,  "  and  circumspect  wer  the  modifica- 
tors  (because  it  was  a  uew  office,  the  ternie  must  also  be  new.) 
that  the  ministers  should  not  be  over-wantoun,  that  an  hun- 
dreth  merks  was  sufficient  to  an  single  man,  being  a  commone 
minister:  Thre  hundreth  merks  was  the  hiest  apoynted  to  anv 
except  the  superintendents,  and  a  few  utheris."  Historie,  301. 
"Mr.  Knox,  is  not  at  all  here  diminishing  the  sum  (says  Keith) ; 
for  the  original  books  o(  Asais;nalion  to  the  ministers,  which 
now  ly  before  me,  ascertain  the  truth  of  what  he  says,"  p.  508. 
Wishart  of  Pittarrow,  who  was  comptroller  of  the  modification, 
pinched  the  ministers  so  much,  that  it  became  a  proverb.  The 
gude  laird  of  Petarro  was  an  emest  professoxir  of  Christ,  Lot 
the  mekill  aevill  receave  tlu  Comptroller. 


tives ;  for  his  own  stipend,  though  moderate,  was 
liberal  when  compared  with  those  of  the  most  of  his 
brethren.  From  the  time  of  his  last  return  to  Scot- 
land until  the  conclusion  of  the  war,  he  had  been 
indebted  to  the  liberality  of  individuals  for  the  support 
of  his  family.  After  that  period,  he  lodged  for  some 
time  in  the  house  of  David  Forrest,  a  burgess  of  Edin- 
burgh, from  which  he  removed  to  the  lodging  which 
had  belonged  to  Durie,  abbot  of  Dunfermline.  As 
soon  as  he  began  to  preach  statedly  in  the  city,  the 
town  council  assigned  him  an  annual  stipend  of  two 
hundred  pounds,  which  he  was  entitled  to  receive 
quarterly ;  and  they  also  paid  his  house-rent,  and  his 
board  during  the  time  that  he  had  resided  with  For- 
rest. Subsequent  to  the  settlement  made  by  the  Privy 
Council,  it  would  seem  that  he  received  at  least  a  part 
of  his  income  from  the  common  fund  allotted  to  the 
ministers  of  the  church  ;  but  the  good  town  had  still 
an  opportunity  of  testifying  their  generosity,  by  sup- 
plying the  deficiencies  of  the  legal  allowance.  Indeed, 
the  uniform  attention  of  the  town  council  to  his  exter- 
nal support  and  accommodation,  was  honourable  to 
them,  and  deserves  to  be  recorded  to  their  commenda- 
tion.* 

In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1562,  he  went  to  Angus 
to  preside  in  the  election  and  admission  of  John  Ers- 
kine  of  Dun  as  superintendent  of  Angus  and  Mearns. 
That  respectable  baron  was  one  of  those  whom  the 
first  General  Assembly  declared  "  apt  and  able  to 
minister  ;"f  and  having  already  contributed  in  different 
ways  to  the  advancement  of  the  Reformation,  he  now 
devoted  himself  to  the  service  of  the  church,  in  a 
laborious  employment,  at  a  time  when  she  stood  emi- 
nently in  need  of  the  assistance  of  all  the  learned  and 
pious.  Knox  had  formerly  presided  at  the  installation 
of  John  Spottiswood,  as  superintendent  of  Lothian.:^ 

The  influence  of  our  Reformer  appears  from  his 
being  employed  on  different  occasions  to  compose 
variances  of  a  civil  nature,  which  arose  among  the 
protestants.  He  was  applied  to  frequently  to  intercede 
with  the  town  council  in  behalf  of  some  of  the  inhabit- 
ants, who  had  subjected  themselves  to  punishment  by 
their  disorderly  conduct.||  Soon  after  his  return  to 
Scotland,  he  had  composed  a  disagreeable  domestic 
variance  between  the  Earl  and  Countess  of  Argyle.§ 
And  he  was  now  urged  by  the  Earl  of  Bothwell  to 
assist  in  removing  a  deadly  feud  which  subsisted  be- 
tween him  and  the  Earl  of  Arran.  He  was  averse  to 
interfere  in  this  business,  which  had  already  baffled 
the  authority  of  the  privy  council  ;1[  but  at  the  desire 
of  some  friends,  he  yielded,  and,  after  considerable 
pains,  had  the  satisfaction  of  bringing  the  parlies  to 
an  amicable  interview,  at  which  they  mutually  pro- 
mised to  bury  their  former  differences.  But  ail  the 
fine  hopes  which  he  had  formed  from  this  reconcilia- 
tion were  speedily  blasted.  For  in  the  course  of  a  few 
days,  Arran  came  to  him  in  great  agitation,  and  in- 
formed him,  that  Bothwell  had  endeavoured  to  engage 
him  in  a  conspiracy,  to  seize  upon  the  person  of  the 
Queen,  and  to  kill  the  Prior  of  St.  Andrews,  Maitland, 
and  the  rest  of  her  counsellors.  Knox  does  not  seem 
to  have  given  much  credit  to  this  information ;  he  even 
endeavoured  to  prevent  Arran  from  making  it  public; 
in  this,  however,  he  did  not  succeed,  and  both  noble- 
men were  imprisoned.  It  soon  after  became  evident 
that  Arran  was  lunatic,  but  the  fears  of  the  courtiers 
shew  that  they  did  not  altogether  disbelieve  his  accu- 
sation, and  that  they  suspected  that   Bothwell   had 


*  See  Extracts  from  the  Records  of  the  Town  Council,  in 
Note  XLVI. 

t  Keith,  p.  498. 

\  The  form  observed  on  that  occasion,  which  was  followed 
ill  the  admission  or  ordination  of  all  the  superintendents  and 
other  ministers,  is  inserted  at  length  in  Knox's  Historie,  p. 
263—266,  and  in  Dunlop's  Confessions,  ii.  627—636. 

11  Knox,  Historie,  p.  ^70.  }  Ibid.  p.  328-9. 

\  Keith.  215. 


LIFE    OF  JOHN   KNOX. 


m 


formed  that  wicked  design,  of  which  his  future  con- 
duct proved  that  he  was  capable.* 

In  the  month  of  May,  Knox  had  another  interview 
with  the  Queen,  on  the  following  occasion.  The 
family  of  Guise  were  at  this  time  maliing  the  most 
vigorous  efforts  to  regain  that  ascendancy  in  the  French 
counsels  which  they  had  been  deprived  of  since  the 
death  of  Francis  II.  and,  as  zeal  for  the  Catholic  reli- 
gion was  the  cloak  under  which  they  concealed  their 
ambitious  designs,  they  began  by  stirring  up  persecu- 
tion against  the  protestants.  The  massacre  of  Vassy, 
in  the  beginning  of  March,  was  a  prelude  to  this;  in 
which  the  duke  of  Guise  and  cardinal  of  Lorrain  at- 
tacked, with  an  armed  force,  a  congregation  assembled 
for  worship,  killed  a  number  of  ihem,  and  wounded 
and  mutilated  others,  not  excepting  women  and  chil- 
dren.|  Intelligence  of  the  success  which  attended  the 
measures  of  her  uncles  was  brought  to  Queen  Mary, 
who  immediately  after  gave  a  splendid  ball  to  her 
foreign  servants,  at  which  the  dancing  was  prolonged 
to  a  late  hour. 

Knox  was  advertised  of  the  festivities  in  the  palace, 
and  had  no  doubt  that  they  were  occasioned  by  the 
accounts  which  the  Queen  had  received  from  France. 
He  always  felt  a  lively  interest  in  the  concerns  of  the 
French  protestants,  with  many  of  whom  he  was  inti- 
mately acquainted ;  and  he  entertained  a  very  bad 
opinion  of  the  princes  of  Lorrain.  In  his  sermon  on 
the  following  Sabbath,  having  discoursed  of  the  dig- 
nity of  magistrates,  and  the  obedience  which  was  due 
to  them,  he  proceeded  to  lament  the  abuse  which  the 
greater  part  of  rulers  made  of  their  power,  and  intro- 
duced some  severe  strictures  upon  the  vices  to  which 
princes  were  commonly  addicted,  their  oppression, 
ignorance,  hatred  of  virtue,  attachment  to  bad  com- 
pany, and  fondness  for  foolish  pleasures.  Glancing  at 
the  amusements  which  were  common  in  the  palace,  he 
said  that  princes  were  more  exercised  in  dancing  and 
music  than  in  reading  or  hearing  the  word  of  God,  and 
they  delighted  more  in  fiddlers  and  flatterers  than  in 
the  company  of  wise  and  grave  men,  who  were  capable 
of  giving  them  wholesome  counsel.  As  to  dancing, 
(he  said),  although  he  did  not  find  it  praised  in  Scrip- 
ture, and  profane  writers  had  termed  it  a  gesture  more 
becoming  mad  than  sober  men,  yet  he  would  not  utter- 
ly condemn  it,  provided,  first,  that  persons  did  not 
neglect  the  duties  of  their  station  by  indulging  in  it, 
and  secondly,  that  they  did  not  dance,  like  the  Philis- 
tines, from  joy  at  the  misfortunes  of  God's  people. 
If  they  were  guilty  of  these,  their  mirth  would  be  soon 
converted  into  sorrow.  Information  of  this  discourse 
was  quickly  conveyed  to  the  Queen,  with  many  exag- 
gerations ;  and  the  preacher  was  next  day  ordered  to 
attend  at  the  palace.  Being  conveyed  into  the  royal 
chamber,  where  the  Queen  sat  with  her  maids  of  honour 
and  her  principal  counsellors,  he  was  accused  of  hav- 
ing spoken  of  her  Majesty  irreverently,  and  in  a  man- 
ner calculated  to  bring  her  under  the  contempt  and 
hatred  of  her  subjects. 

After  the  Queen  had  made  a  long  speech  on  that 
theme,  he  was  allowed  to  state  his  defence.  He  told 
her  Majesty,  that  she  had  been  treated  as  persons 
usually  were  who  refused  to  attend  the  preaching  of 
the  word  of  God  :  she  had  been  obliged  to  trust  to  the 
false  reports  of  flatterers.  For,  if  she  had  heard  the 
calumniated  discourse,  he  did  not  believe  she  could 
have  been  oflTended  with  any  thing  that  he  had  said. 
She  would  now,  therefore,  be  pleased  to  hear  him  re- 
peat, as  exactly  as  he  could,  what  he  had  preached 
yesterday.  Mary  was  obliged  for  once  to  listen  to  a 
protestant  sermon.  Having  finished  the  recapitulation 
of  his  discourse,  he  said,  "If  any  man,  madam,  will 
say,  that  I  spake  more,  let  him  presently  accuse  me; 

«  Knox,  Historic,  305—308,  and  Letter  to  Locke,  6th  May, 
1562,  in  Cald.  MS.  i.  755,  756.     Spottis.  184. 

t  Histoire  des  Martyrs,  fol.  658,  559.  printed  A.  1.597. 


for  I  think  I  have  not  only  touched  the  sum,  but  the 
very  words  as  I  spake  them."  Several  of  the  com- 
pany, who  had  heard  the  sermon  preached,  attested 
that  he  had  given  a  fair  and  accurate  account  of  it. 
The  Queen,  after  turning  round  to  the  informers,  who 
were  dumb,  told  him,  that  his  words,  though  sharp 
enough  as  related  by  himself,  had  been  reported  to  her 
in  a  different  way.  She  added,  that  she  knew  that  her 
uncles  and  he  were  of  a  diflferent  religion,  and  there- 
fore did  not  blame  him  for  having  no  good  opinion  of 
them;  but  if  he  heard  anything  about  her  conduct 
which  displeased  him,  he  should  come  to  herself  pri- 
vately, and  she  would  willingly  listen  to  his  admoni- 
tions. Knox  easily  saw  through  this  proposal  ;  and, 
from  what  he  already  knew  of  Mary's  character,  he 
was  convinced  that  she  had  no  inclination  to  receive 
his  private  instructions,  but  wished  merely  to  induce 
him  to  refrain  in  his  sermons  from  every  thing  that 
might  be  displeasing  to  the  court.  He  replied,  that 
he  was  willing  to  do  any  thing  for  her  Majesty's  con- 
tentment, which  was  consistent  with  his  ofllice  ;  if  her 
Grace  chused  to  attend  the  public  sermons,  she  would 
have  an  opportunity  of  knowing  what  pleased  or  dis- 
pleased him  in  her  and  in  others;  or  if  she  chose  to 
appoint  a  -time  when  she  would  hear  the  substance 
of  the  doctrine  which  he  preached  in  public,  he  would 
most  gladly  wait  upon  her  Grace's  pleasure,  lime,  and 
place  :  but  to  come  and  wait  at  her  chamber-door,  and 
then  to  have  liberty  only  to  whisper  in  her  ear  what 
people  thought  and  said  of  her,  that  would  neither  his 
conscience  nor  his  office  permit  him  to  do.  "  For, 
(added  he,  in  a  strain  which  he  sometimes  used  even 
on  serious  occasions),  albeit  at  your  Grace's  command- 
ment, I  am  heir  now,  yit  can  I  not  tell  quhat  uther 
men  shall  judge  of  me,  that,  at  this  time  of  day,  am 
absent  from  my  buke,  and  waitting  upon  the  court." 
"  Ye  will  not  alwayes  be  at  your  buke,"  said  the 
Queen  pettishly,  and  turned  her  back.  As  he  left  the 
room  "  with  a  reasounable  merry  countenance,"  some 
of  the  popish  attendants  said  in  his  hearing.  He  is  not 
afraid !  "  Why  sould  the  plesing  face  of  a  genlilwoman 
afray  me?  (said  he,  regarding  them  with  a  sarcastic 
scowl)  I  have  luiked  in  the  faces  of  mony  angry  men, 
and  yit  have  not  bene  aflfrayed  above  measour."* 

There  was  at  that  time  but  one  place  of  worship  in 
the  city  of  Edinburgh. f  The  number  of  inhabitants 
was,  indeed,  small,  when  compared  with  its  present 
population  ;  but  still  they  must  have  formed  a  very 
large  congregation.  The  place  used  for  worship  in  St. 
Giles's  church  was  capacious;  for  we  learn  that,  on 
some  occasions,  three  thousand  persons  assembled  in 
it  to  hear  sermon.:^  In  this  church,  Knox  had,  since 
1560,  performed  all  the  parts  of  ministerial  duty,  with- 
out any  other  assistant  than  John  Cairns,  who  acted  as 
reader. II  He  preached  twice  every  Sabbath,  and  thrice 
on  other  days  of  the  week.§  He  met  regularly  once 
every  week  with  his  kirk-session  for  discipline,^^  and 
with  the  assembly  of  the  neighbourhood  for  the  exer- 
cise on  the  scriptures.  He  attended,  besides,  the 
meetings  of  the  provincial  synod  and  general  assem- 
bly; and  at  almost  every  meeting  of  the  latter,  he  re- 
ceived an  appointment  to  visit  and  preach  in  some 
distant  part  of  the  country.  These  labours  must  have 
been  oppressive  to  a  constitution  which  was  already 
much  impaired ;  especially  as  he  did  not  indulge  in 
extemporaneous  effusions,  but  devoted  a  part  of  every 
day  to  study.  His  parish  was  sensible  of  this;  and, 
in  April  1562,  the  town  council  came  to  an  unanimous 

*  Knox,  Historic,  308—311. 

\  St.  Cuthberts,  or  the  West  Church,  was  at  that  time  (a» 
it  is  at  present),  a  distinct  parish,  of  which  William  Harlow 
was  minister.  There  was  also  a  minister  in  Canong^ate  or 
Holyroodhouse.  |  Cald.  MS.  ii.  157. 

II  Records  of  Town  Council,  26tb  October,  1561. 

£  Ibid.  10th  April,  1562. 

IT  The  number  of  elders  in  the  session  of  Edinburgh  was 
twelve,  and  of  deacons  sixteen.     Dunlop's  Confes.sions,  ii.  638. 


96 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX. 


resolntion  to  solicit  the  minister  of  Canongate  to  under- 
take the  half  of  the  charge.  The  ensuing  general  as- 
sembly approved  of  the  council's  proposal,  and  ap- 
pointed the  translation.*  It  did  not,  however,  take 
place  before  June  15G3,  owing,  as  it  would  seem,  to 
the  difficulty  of  obtaining  an  additional  stipend,  j" 

The  person  who  was  appointed  colleague  to  our 
Reformer  was  John  Craig.  A  short  account  of  this 
distinguished  minister  cannot  be  altogether  foreign 
to  the  history  of  one  with  whom  he  was  so  strictly 
associated,  and  it  will  present  incidents  which  are 
both  curious  in  themselves,  and  illustrative  of  the 
singular  manner  in  which  many  of  the  promoters  of 
the  Reformation  were  fitted  by  providence  for  engaging 
in  that  great  undertaking.  He  was  born  in  1512,  and 
soon  after  lost  his  father  in  the  battle  of  Flodden, 
which  proved  fatal  to  so  many  families  in  Scotland. 
After  finishing  his  education  at  the  university  of  St. 
Andrews,  he  went  to  England,  and  became  tutor  to  the 
family  of  Lord  Dacres,  but  war  having  broken  out 
between  England  and  Scotland,  he  returned  to  his  na- 
tive country,  and  entered  into  the  order  of  Dominican 
friars.  The  Scottish  clergy  were  at  that  time  eager  in 
making  inquisition  for  Lutherans  ;  and  owing  either 
to  the  circumstance  of  his  having  been  in  England,  or 
to  his  having  dropped  some  expressions  respecting 
religion  which  were  deemed  too  free,  Craig  fell  under 
the  suspicion  of  heresy,  and  was  thrown  into  prison. 
The  accusation  was  found  to  be  groundless,  and  he 
was  set  at  liberty.  But  althoutrh  he  was  still  attach- 
ed to  the  Roman  Catholic  religion,  the  ignorance 
and  bigotry  of  the  clergy  gave  him  such  a  disgust 
at  his  native  country  that  he  left  it  in  1537,  and 
having  remained  a  short  time  in  England,  went  to 
France,  and  from  that  to  Italy.  At  the  recommen- 
dation of  the  celebrated  Cardinal  Pole,  he  was  admit- 
ted among  the  Dominicans  in  the  city  of  Bologna,  and 
was  soon  raised  to  an  honourable  employment  in  that 
body.  In  the  library  of  the  Inquisition,  which  was 
attached  to  the  monastery,  he  found  Calvin's  Inslilu- 
tions.  Being  fond  of  books,  he  determined  to  read 
that  work,  and  the  consequence  was  that  lie  became  a 
complete  convert  to  the  reformed  opinions.  In  the 
warmth  of  his  first  impressions,  he  could  not  restrain 
himself  from  imparling  the  change  of  his  sentiments 
to  his  associates,  and  he  must  have  soon  fallen  a  sacri- 
fice to  the  vigilant  guardians  of  the  faith,  had  not  the 
friendship  of  a  fother  in  the  monastery  saved  him.  The 
old  man,  who  also  was  a  native  of  Scotland,  represent- 
ed the  danger  to  which  he  exposed  himself  by  avow- 
ing such  tenets  in  that  place,  and  advised  him,  if  he 
was  fixed  in  his  views  to  retire  immediately  to  some 
protestant  country.  With  this  prudent  advice  he 
complied  so  far  as  to  procure  his  discharge  from  the 
monastery. 

At  a  very  early  period  of  the  Christian  era  there 
were  converts  to  the  gospel  "  in  Caesar's  household," 
and  in  the  sixteenth  century  the  light  of  reformation 
penetrated  into  Italy,  and  even  into  the  territories  of 
the  Roman  Pontiff.t  On  leaving  the  monastery  of 
Bologna,  Craig  entered  as  tutor  into  the  family  of  a 
neighbouring  nobleman,  who  had  embraced  the  pro- 
testant principles ;  but  he  had  not  resided  long  in  it 
when  he  was  delated  for  heresy,  seized  by  the  famil- 
iars of  the  Inquisition,  and  carried  to  Rome.  After 
being  confined  nine  months  in  a  noisome  dungeon,  he 
was  brought  to  trial,  and  condemned  to  be  burned, 
along  with  some  others,  on  the  20th  of  August  1559. 
On  the  evening  previous  to  their  appointed  execution, 
the  reigning  Pontiff,  Paul  IV.  died;  and,  according 
to  an  accustomed  practice  on  such  occasions,  the 
prisons  in  Rome  were  all  thrown  open.  Those  who 
were  confined  for  debt  and  other  civil  offences  were 
liberated,   but    heretics,   after  being    allowed   to   go 


*  Calderwood,  apud  Keith,  514. 
J  See  Note  XLVIII. 


t  See  Note  XLVII. 


without  the  walls  of  their  prison,  were  again  thrown 
into  confinement.  But  a  tumult  having  been  excited 
that  night  in  the  city,  Craig  and  his  companions  ef- 
fected their  escape,  and  took  refuge  in  an  inn  at  a 
small  distance  from  Rome.  They  had  not  been  long 
there  when  they  were  followed  by  a  company  of  sol- 
diers, sent  to  apprehend  them.  On  entering  the  house, 
the  Captain  looked  steadfastly  on  Craig's  countenance, 
and  taking  him  aside,  asked  him,  if  he  recollected  of 
once  relieving  a  poor  wounded  soldier  in  the  vicinity 
of  Bologna.  Craig  was  in  too  great  confusion  to  re- 
member the  circumstance.  "  But  I  recollect  it  (replied 
the  captain,)  and  I  am  the  man  whom  you  relieved, 
and  providence  has  now  put  it  in  my  power  to  return 
the  kindness  which  you  shewed  to  a  distressed  stran- 
ger. You  are  at  liberty  ;  your  companions  I  must 
take  along  with  me,  but  for  your  sake  I  shall  shew 
them  every  favour  in  my  power."  He  then  gave  hira 
what  money  he  had  upon  hira,  and  directions  how  to 
make  his  escape. 

We  are  not  yet  done  with  the  wonderful  incidents 
in  the  life  of  Craig.  "  Another  accident  (says  arch- 
bishop Spotliswood)  befel  him,  which  I  should  scarce- 
ly relate,  so  incredible  it  seemeth,  if  to  many  of  good 
place  he  himself  had  not  often  repeated  it  as  a  singular 
testimony  of  God's  care  for  him."  In  the  course  of 
his  journey  through  Italy,  while  he  avoided  the  public 
roads,  and  took  a  circuitous  route  to  escape  from  pur- 
suit, the  money  which  he  had  received  from  the  grate- 
ful soldier  failed  him.  Having  laid  himself  down  by 
the  side  of  a  wood  to  ruminate  on  his  condition,  he 
perceived  a  dog  approaching  him  with  a  purse  in  its 
teeth.  It  occurred  to  him  that  it  had  been  sent  by 
some  evil  disposed  person,  who  was  concealed  in  the 
wood,  and  wished  to  pick  a  quarrel  with  him.  He 
therefore  endeavoured  to  drive  it  away,  but  the  animal 
continuing  to  fawn  upon  him,  he  at  length  took  the 
purse,  and  found  in  it  a  sum  of  money  which  enabled 
him  to  prosecute  his  journey.  Having  reached  Vien- 
na, and  announced  himself  as  a  Dominican,  he  was 
employed  to  preach  before  the  Emperor  Maximilian. 
His  Majesty  was  so  much  pleased  that  he  was  desi- 
rous of  retaining  him ;  but  the  Pope,  Pius  IV.  having 
heard  of  his  reception  at  the  Austrian  capital,  applied 
to  have  him  sent  back  to  Rome  as  a  condemned  here- 
tic, upon  which  the  Emperor  dismissed  him  with  a 
safe-conduct.  When  he  arrived  in  England  in  1560, 
and  was  informed  of  the  establishment  of  the  reformed 
religion  in  his  native  country,  he  immediately  repaired 
to  Scotland,  and  was  admitted  to  the  ministry.  Hav- 
ing in  a  great  measure  forgotten  his  native  language, 
during  an  absence  of  twenty-four  years,  he  for  a  short 
time  preached  in  Latin  to  some  of  the  learned  in 
Magdalene's  chapel.  He  was  afterwards  appointed 
minister  of  the  parish  of  Canongate,  where  he  had 
not  officiated  long,  till  he  was  elected  colleague  to 
Knox.* 

The  Queen  still  persevered  in  the  line  of  policy 
which  she  had  adopted  at  her  first  arrival  in  Scotland, 
and  employed  none  but  protestant  counsellors.  She 
entrusted  the  chief  direction  of  public  affairs  to  the 
Prior  of  St.  Andrews,  who,  in  1502,  was  created  Earl 
of  Murray,!  aiul  married  a  daughter  of  the  Earl 
Marishal.  The  marriage  ceremony  was  performed  by 
Knox  publicly  before  the  congregation,  according  to 
the  custom  at  that  time  ;  and  on  that  occasion  the 
Reformer  reminded  the  Earl  of  the  benefit  which  the 
church  had  hitherto  received  from  his  services,  and 
exhorted  him  to  persevere  in  the  same  course,  lest,  if 

•  Row,  MS.  Historie  of  the  Kirk,  p.  47.  Spottiswood,  p. 
463 — 4.  1  have  chiefly  followed  Row's  narrative.  By  com- 
paring; it  with  Spottiswood 's,  the  reader  will  perceive  that  they 
(iirt'er  in  a  few  unimportant  circumstances.  Row  mentions  that 
he  had  his  information  from  several  persons  who  had  heard 
Craig  himself  relate  the  story,  and  particularly  from  his  widow, 
Dame  Craie,  who  survived  her  husband,  and  lived  in  Edin- 
burgh until  1630.  t  Keith,  p.  226. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX. 


97 


an  unfavourable  chancre  was  perceived,  the  blame 
should  be  imputed  to  his  wife.*  Tlie  fact,  however, 
was,  that  Knox  was  more  afraid  that  Murray  would 
be  corrupted  by  his  connection  with  the  court,  than  by 
his  matrimonial  alliance. 

Although  the  protestants  filled  the  cabinet,  it  was 
well  known  that  they  did  not  possess  the  affection  and 
confidence  of  her  majesty,  and  in  consequence  of  this 
various  plots  were  laid  to  displace  and  ruin  them. 
During  the  autumn  of  1562,  the  Roman  Catholics  in 
Scotland  entertained  great  hopes  of  a  change  in  their 
favour.  After  several  unsuccessful  attempts  to  cut 
off  the  principal  protestant  courtiers,f  the  Earl  of 
Huntly  openly  took  arms  in  the  North,  to  rescue  the 
Queen  from  their  hands;  while  the  archbishop  of  St. 
Andrews  endeavoured  to  unite  and  rout  the  papists  of 
the  South.  On  this  occasion,  our  Reformer  acted  with 
his  usual  zeal  and  foresight.  Being  appointed  by  the 
general  assembly  as  commissioner  to  visit  the  church- 
es of  the  West,  he  persuaded  the  gentlemen  of  that 
quarter  to  enter  into  a  new  bond  of  defence.  Hasten- 
ing into  Nithsdale  and  Galloway,  he,  by  his  sermons 
and  conversation,  confirmed  the  protestants  in  these 
places.  He  employed  the  Master  of  Maxwell  to  write 
to  the  Earl  of  Bothwell,  who  had  escaped  from  con- 
finement, and  meant,  it  was  feared,  to  join  Huntly.  He 
himself  wrote  to  the  Duke  of  Chastelherault,  warning 
him  not  to  listen  to  the  solicitations  of  his  brother, 
the  archbishop,  nor  accede  to  a  conspiracy  which 
would  infallibly  prove  the  ruin  of  his  house.  By 
these  means,  the  southern  parts  of  the  kingdom  were 
preserved  in  a  state  of  peace,  while  the  vigorous 
measures  of  the  Council  crushed  the  rebellion  in  the 
North.:]:  The  Queen  expressed  little  satisfaction  at 
the  victory  over  Huntly,  and  there  is  every  reason  to 
think,  that,  if  she  was  not  privy  to  his  rising,  she  at 
least  expected  to  turn  it  to  the  advancement  of  her 
projects.!!  According  to  archbishop  Spottiawood,  she 
scrupled  not  to  say,  at  this  time,  that  she  "  hoped, 
before  a  year  was  expired,  to  have  the  mass  and  Cath- 
olic profession  restored  through  the  whole  kingdom."§ 

While  these  hopes  were  indulged,  the  popish  clergy 
thought  it  necessary  to  gain  credit  to  their  cause, 
by  appearing  more  openly  in  defence  of  their  tenets 
than  they  had  lately  done.  They  began  to  preach 
publicly  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  and  boasted 
that  they  were  ready  to  dispute  with  the  protestant 
ministers.^ 

The  person  who  stepped  forward  as  their  champion 
was  Quintin  Kennedy,  uncle  to  the  Earl  of  Cassilis, 
and  abbot  of  Crossraguel.  Though  his  talents  were 
not  of  a  superior  order,  the  abbot  was  certainly  one 
of  the  most  respectable  of  the  popish  clergy  in  Scot- 
land, not  only  in  birth,  but  also  in  regularity  and 
decorum  of  conduct.  He  seems,  however,  to  have 
spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life  in  the  same  neglect 
of  professional  duty  which  characterized  his  brethren  ; 
but  he  was  roused  from  his  inactivity  by  the  zeal  and 
success  of  the  protestant  preachers,  who,  in  the  years 
1556  and  1557,  attacked  the  popish  faith,  and  inveigh- 
ed against  the  idleness  and  corruption  of  the  clergy.** 
At  an  age  when  others  retire  from  the  field,  he  began 
to  rub  up  his  long  neglected  theological  armour,  and 
to  gird  himself  for  the  combat. 


*  Knox,  Historie,  p.  302.  f  Keith,  230:     Knox,  321. 

t  Knox,  316—318. 

II  The  historian  of  the  family  of  Grordon  expressly  says,  that 
"  her  majesty  thought,  by  the  Earle  of  Huntlie  his  power  in 
the  north,  to  get  herself!  fred  from  the  hands  of  her  bastard 
brother,  James  Earle  of  Morray ;"  and  that  "  the  Earle  of 
Huntlie  (at  the  quein's  owne  desyre)  did  gather  some  forces,  to 
get  her  out  of  the  Earle  of  Murraye's  power."  Genealogical 
History  of  the  Earldom  of  Sutherland,  by  Sir  Robert  Gordon 
of  Gordonstoun,  p.  140,  141 ;  just  published  Jrom  a  MS.  inthe 
possession  of  the  Marchioness  of  Stafford. 

{  Spottiswood,  185.  T  Knox,  Historie,  p.  316,  318. 

**  The  reasoning  betwix  Jo.  Knox  and  the  abbote  of  C'ross- 
raguell,  fol.  4.    Edinburgh,  1563. 

N 


His  first  appearance  as  a  polemical  writer  was  in 
1558,  when  he  published  a  short  system  of  catholic 
tactics,  under  the  title  of  ^ne  Compendius  Tractive^ 
shewing  "  the  nerrest  and  onlie  way  to  establish  the 
conscience  of  a  Christian  man,"  in  all  matters  which 
were  in  debate  concerning  faith  and  religion.  This 
way  was  no  other  than  implicit  faith  in  the  decisions 
of  the  church  or  clergy.  When  any  point  of  religion 
was  controverted,  the  scripture  might  be  cited  as  a 
witness,  but  the  church  was  the  judge,  whose  deter- 
minations, in  general  councils  canonically  assembled, 
were  to  be  humbly  received  and  submitted  to  by  all 
the  faithful.*  It  was  but  "  a  harbour  saying"  which 
the  protestants  had  commonly  in  their  mouths,  that 
every  man  ought  to  examine  the  scriptures  for  himself. 
It  was  sufficient  for  those  who  did  not  occupy  the 
place  of  teachers,  that  they  had  a  'general  knowledge 
of  the  creed,  the  ten  commandments,  and  the  Lord's 
prayer,  according  to  the  sense  in  which  these  were 
explained  by  the  church.  And  "as  to  the  sacramentis, 
and  all  other  secretis  of  the  scripture,"  every  Chris- 
tian man  ought  to  "  stand  to  the  judgement  of  his  pastor, 
who  did  bear  his  burden  in  all  matters  doubtsome 
above  his  knowledge. "f 

This  was  doubtless  a  very  near  way  to  stability  of 
mind,  and  a  most  compendious  mode  of  deciding  every 
controversy  which  might  arise,  without  havino-  re- 
course to  examination,  or  reasoning,  or  debate.  But 
as  the  wilful  and  stubborn  reformers  would  not  submit 
to  this  easy  and  short  mode  of  decision,  the  abbot 
was  reluctantly  obliged  to  enter  the  lists  of  argument 
with  them.  Accordingly,  in  the  beginning  of  1559, 
he  challenged  Willock,  who  was  preaching  in  his 
neighbourhood,  to  a  dispute  on  the  sacrifice  of  the 
mass.  The  challenge  was  accepted,  the  time  and 
place  of  meeting  were  fix^d  ;  but  the  dispute  did  not 
take  place,  as  Kennedy  refused  to  appear,  unless  his 
antagonist  would  previously  engage  to  submit  to  the 
interpretations  of  scripture  which  had  been  given  by 
the  ancient  doctors  of  the  church. ij:  From  this  time 
he  seems  to  have  made  the  mass  the  great  subject  of 
his  study,  and  in  1561  wrote  a  book  in  its  defence, 
which  was  answered  by  George  Hay.!| 

On  the  30th  of  August  1562,  the  abbot  read,  in  his 
chapel  of  Kirk  Oswald,  a  number  of  articles  respect- 
ing the  mass,  purgatory,  praying  to  saints,  the  use  of 
images,  &c.  which,  he  said,  he  would  defend  against 
any  who  would  impugn  them,  and  he  promised  to 
declare  his  mind  more  fully  respecting  them  on  the 
following  Sabbath.  Knox,  who  was  in  the  vicinity, 
came  to  Kirk  Oswald  on  that  day,,  with  the  design  of 
hearing  the  abbot,  and  granting  him  the  disputation 
which  he  had  courted.  In  the  morning,  he  sent  some 
gentlemen  who  accompanied  him  to  acquaint  Kennedy 
with  the  reason  of  his  coming,  and  to  desire  him 
either  to  preach  according  to  his  promise,  or  to  attend 
Knox's  sermon,  and  afterwards  to  state  his  objeetrons 
to  the  doctrine  which  might  be  delivered.  The  abbot 
did  not  think  it  proper  to  appear,  and  Knox  preached 
in  the  chapel.  When  he  came  down  from  the  pulpit, 
a  letter  from  Kennedy  was  put  into  his  hand,  which 
led  to  an  epistolary  correspondence  between  them, 
fully  as  curious  as  the  dispute  which  followed. 

The  abbot  wrote  to  Knox,  that  he  was  informed  he 
had  come  to  that  quarter  of  the  country  "  to  seik  dis- 
putation," which  he  was  so  far  from  refusing  that  he 
"  ernestlie  and  eflfectuouslie  covated  the  samin,"  and 


*  Kennedy,  Compendius  Tractive,  A,  iiij.         f  Ibid.  D,  vii. 

:|;  Keith,  App.  195 — 199.  Kennedy,  in  a  letter  to  the  arch- 
bishop of  Glasgow,  says,  "  Willock,  and  the  rest  of  his  counsell 
labourit  earnestlie  to  sie  gif  I  wald  admitt  the  scripture  onlye 
juge,  and,  be  that  meines,  to  haif  maid  me  contrarry  to  my 
awin  buke;  bot  thair  labouris  wes  in  waist. — I  held  me  evir 
fast  at  ane  grounde."  And  he  triumphs,  that  he  "draif  the 
lymmar — to  refuse  the  interpretation  of  the  doctoris  allegeit  be 
him  and  all  utheris,  bot  so  far  as  he  thocht,  thay  war  agreable 
with  the  worde  of  God,  auhilk  was  as  rycht  nocht."'  Ut  supra, 
193,  194.  II  See  Note  XLIX. 

7 


98 


LIFE    OF  JOHN    KNOX. 


with  that  view  should  meet  him  next  Sunday  in  any 
house  in  Maybole  that  he  choosed,  provided  not 
more  than  twenty  persons  on  each  side  were  allowed 
to  be  present.  The  reformer  replied,  that  he  had 
come  to  that  quarter  for  the  purpose  of  preaching  the 
gospel,  and  not  of  disputing;  that  he  was  under  a 
previous  engagement  to  be  in  Dumfries  on  the  day 
mentioned  by  the  abbot ;  but  that  lie  would  return 
with  all  convenient  speed,  and  fix  a  time  for  meeting 
him.  To  this  letter  the  abbot  sent  an  answer,  to  which 
Knox  returned  a  verbal  message  only  at  the  time,  but 
when  he  afterwards  published  the  correspondence, 
affixed  short  notes  to  it  by  way  of  reply.  The  abbot 
proposed  that  they  should  have  "  familear,  formall, 
and  gentill  ressoning."  "  With  my  whole  hart  I  ac- 
cept the  condition,"  replies  the  reformer,  "  for  assured- 
lie,  my  lord,  (so  I  style  you  by  reason  of  blood,  and 
not  of  office)  chiding  and  brawling  1  utterlie  abhor." 
To  Knox's  declaration  that  he  had  come  to  "preach 
Jesus  Christ  crucified  to  be  the  only  Saviour  of  the 
world,"  the  abbot  answers,  "  Praise  be  to  God,  that  was 
na  newings  in  this  conntrie,  or  ye  war  borne."  "  I 
greatlie  dout,"  replies  the  reformer,  "if  ever  Christ 
Jesus  was  treulie  preached  by  a  papistical  prelat  or 
monk."  As  an  excuse  for  his  not  preaching  at  Kirk 
Oswald  on  the  day  he  had  promised,  the  abbot  says, 
that  Knox  had  come  to  the  place  convoyed  by  five  or 
six  score  strangers.  "  I  lay  the  night  before,"  says 
Knox,  "  in  Mayboil,  accompanied  with  fewer  than 
twentie."  The  abbot  boasted  that  Willock  at  a  for- 
mer period,  and  Hay  more  lately,  had  refused  to  dis- 
pute with  him,  until  they  consulted  the  council  and 
their  brethren. — "  Maister  George  Hay  offered  unto 
you  disputation,  but  ye  fled  the  barrass."  Knox  wish- 
ed the  dispute  to  be  conducted  publicly  in  St.  John's 
Church,  Ayr;  for,  says  he,  "I  wonder  with  what 
conscience  ye  can  require  privat  conference  of  those 
artikles  that  ye  have  publicklie  proponed.  Ye  have 
infected  the  ears  of  the  simple  ;  ye  have  wounded  the 
hearts  of  the  godlie  ;  and  ye  have  spoken  blasphemie 
in  oppen  audience.  Let  your  owne  conscience  now 
be  judge,  if  we  be  bouiKl  to  answer  you  in  the  audi- 
ence of  20  or  40,  of  whom  the  one  half  are  alreadie 
persuaded  in  the  treuth,  and  the  other  perchance  so 
addicted  to  your  error,  that  they  will  not  be  content 
that  light  be  called  light,  and  darkness,  darkness." — 
"  Ye  said  ane  lytill  afore,"  answers  the  abbot,  "  ye 
did  abhor  all  chiding  and  railling,  hot  nature  passis 
nurtor  with  yow." — "  I  will  nether  interchange  nature 
nor  nurtor  with  yow,  for  all  the  proffets  of  Crosragu- 
ell." — "  Gif  the  victorie  consist  in  clamor  or  crying 
out,"  says  the  abbot,  objecting  to  a  public  meeting, 
"  I  wil  quite  you  the  cause  but  farder  pley  ;*  and  yet, 
praise  be  to  God,  I  may  quhisper  in  sic  manner  as  I 
wilbe  hard  sufficientlie  in  the  largest  house  in  all  car- 
rick.''f  "The  larger  hous,  the  belter  for  the  auditor 
and  me,"  says  the  reformer. 

The  Earl  of  Cassilis  wrote  to  Knox,  expressing  his 
disapprobation  of  the  proposed  disputation,  as  unlikely 
to  do  any  good,  and  calculated  to  endanger  the  public 
peace;  to  which  the  reformer  replied,  by  signifying, 
that  his  relation  had  given  the  challenge,  which  he 
was  resolved  not  to  decline,  and  that  his  lordship 
ought  to  encourage  him  to  keep  the  appointment, 
from  which  no  bad  effects  were  to  be  dreaded.  Upon 
this  the  abbot  wrote  a  letter  to  Knox,  charging  him 
with  having  procured  Cassiiis's  letter,  to  bring  him 
into  disgrace,  and  to  advance  his  own  honour,  and  say- 
ing that  lie  would  have  "  rancountered"  him  the  last 
time  he  was  in  that  country,  bad  it  not  been  for  the 
interposition  of  his  nephew.  "  Ye  sal  be  assured 
(adds  he)  I  sal  keip  day  and  place  in  Mayboill,  ac- 
cording to  my  writing,  and  I  haif  my  life,  and  my  feit 

•  without  farther  plea. 

t  The  shire  of  Ari  is  divided  into  three  districts,  Carrick, 
Kyle,  and  Cunning^hani. 


louse ;"  and  in  another  letter  to  Knox  and  the  baillics 
of  Ayr,  he  says,  "  keip  your  promes,  and  pretex  na 
joukrie,  be  my  lorde  of  Cassilis  writing."  "  To  nether 
of  these,"  says  Knox,  "  did  I  answer  otherwise  than 
by  appointing  the  day,  and  promising  to  keap  the 
same.  For  I  can  pacientlie  suffer  wantone  men  to 
speak  wantonlie,  considering  that  I  had  sufficientlie 
answered  my  Lord  of  Cassilis  in  that  behalf." 

The  conditions  of  the  combat  were  now  speedily 
settled.  They  agreed  to  meet  on  the  28th  of  Septem- 
ber, at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  in  the  house  of 
the  provost  of  Maybole.  Forty  persons  on  each  side 
were  to  be  admitted  as  witnesses  of  the  dispute,  with 
"as  many  mo  as  the  house  might  goodly  hold,  at  the 
sight  of  my  lord  of  Cassilis."  And  notaries  or  scribes 
were  chosen  on  each  side  to  record  the  papers  which 
might  be  given  in  by  the  parties,  and  the  arguments 
which  they  advanced  in  the  course  of  reasoning,  to 
prevent  unnecessary  repetition,  or  a  false  report  of  the 
proceedings.  These  conditions  were  formally  drawn 
out,  and  subscribed  by  the  abbot  and  the  reformer,  on 
the  day  preceding  the  meeting. 

When  they  met,  "John  Knox  addressed  him  to 
make  publict  prayer,  whereat  the  abbot  wes  soir  of- 
fended at  the  first,  but  whil  the  said  John  wold  in 
nowise  be  stayed,  he  and  his  gave  audience;  which 
being  ended,  the  abbote  said.  Be  my  faith,  il  is  weill 
said.''^  The  reasoning  commenced  by  reading  a  paper 
presented  by  the  abbot,  in  which,  after  rehearsing  the 
occasion  of  his  present  appearance,  and  protesting  that 
his  entering  into  dispute  was  not  to  be  understood  as 
implying  that  the  points  in  question  were  disputable 
or  dubious,  being  already  determined  by  lawful  gen- 
eral councils,  he  declared  his  readiness  to  defend  the 
articles  which  he  had  exhibited,  beginning  with  that 
concerning  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass.  To  this  paper 
Knox  gave  in  a  written  answer  in  the  course  of  the 
disputation:  in  the  mean  time,  after  stating  his  opinion 
respecting  general  councils,  he  proceeded  to  the  article 
in  dispute.  It  was  requisite,  he  said,  to  stale  clearly 
and  distinctly  the  subject  in  controversy ;  and  he 
thought  it  contained  the  four  following  things,  the 
name,  the  form  and  action,  the  opinion  entertained  of 
it,  and  the  actor  with  the  authority  which  he  had  to 
do  what  he  pretended  to  do :  all  of  which  he  was  pre- 
pared to  shew  were  destitute  of  any  foundation  in 
scripture.  The  abbot  was  aware  of  the  difficulty  of 
managing  the  dispute  on  such  broad  ground,  and  he 
had  taken  up  ground  of  his  own  which  he  thought  he 
could  maintain  against  his  antagonist.  "  As  to  the 
masse  that  he  will  impung  (said  he)  or  any  mannes 
masse,  yea,  and  it  war  the  paipes  awin  masse,  I  will 
maintein  na  thing  but  Jesus  Christes  masse,  conforme 
to  my  article,  as  it  is  written,  and  diffinition  con- 
tened  in  my  bulk,  quhilk  he  hes  tane  on  hand  to  im- 
pung." 

Knox  expressed  his  delight  at  hearing  the  abbot  say 
that  he  would  defend  nothing  but  the  mass  of  Christ, 
for  if  he  adhered  to  this,  they  were  "on  the  verray 
point  of  an  chrisliane  agreement,"  as  he  was  ready  to 
allow  whatever  could  be  shewn  to  have  been  instituted 
by  Christ.  As  to  his  lordship's  book,  he  confessed  he 
had  not  read  it,  and  (without  excusing  his  negligence) 
requested  the  definition  to  be  read  to  him  from  it.  The 
abbot  qualified  his  assertion,  by  saying,  that  he  meant 
to  defend  no  other  mass,  except  that  which  in  its 
"  substance,  institution,  and  effect,"  was  appointed  by 
Christ;  and  he  defined  the  mass,  as  concerning  the 
substance  and  effect,  to  be  the  sacrifice  and  oblation 
of  the  Lord's  body  and  blood,  given  and  offered  by 
him  in  the  last  supper;  and  for  the  first  confirmation 
of  this,  he  rested  upon  the  oblation  of  bread  and  wine 
by  Melchizedeck.  His  argument  was,  that  the  scrip- 
ture declared  that  Christ  was  a  priest  after  the  order 
of  Melchizedeck :  Melchizedeck  offered  bread  and 
wine  to  God :  therefore  Christ  offered  or  made  obla- 
tion of  his  body  and  blood  in  the  last  supper,  which 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


was  the  only  instance  in  which  the  priesthood  of  Christ 
and  Melchizedeck  could  agree. 

Knox  said,  that  the  ceremonies  of  the  mass,  and  the 
opinion  entertained  of  it,  (as  procuring  remission  of 
sins  to  the  quick  and  the  dead)  were  viewed  as  im- 
portant parts  of  it,  and  having  a  strong  hold  of  the 
consciences  of  the  people,  ought  to  be  taken  into  the 
argument;  but  as  the  abbot  declared  himself  willing 
to  defend  these  afterwards,  he  would  proceed  to  the 
substance,  and  proposed,  in  the  first  place,  to  fix  the 
sense  in  which  the  word  sacrifice  or  oblation  was  used 
in  this  question.  There  were  sacrifices  propitiatorix, 
for  expiation,  and  eucharisticac,  of  thanksgiving ;  in 
which  last  sense  the  mortification  of  the  body,  prayer, 
and  alms-giving,  were  called  sacrifices  in  scripture. 
He  wished,  therefore,  to  know  whether  the  abbot  un- 
derstood the  word  in  the  first  or  second  of  these  senses 
in  this  dispute.  The  abbot  said,  that  he  would  not  at 
present  dispute  what  his  opponent  meant  by  a  sacrifice 
propitiatorum  ,•  but  he  held  the  sacrifice  on  the  cross  to 
be  the  only  sacrifice  of  redemption,  and  that  of  the 
mass  to  be  the  sacrifice  of  commemoration  of  the  death 
and  passion  of  Christ.  Knox  replied,  that  the  chief 
head  which  he  intended  to  impugn  seemed  to  be  yielded 
by  the  abbot;  and  lie,  for  his  part,  cheerfully  granted, 
that  there  was  a  commemoration  of  Christ's  death  in 
the  right  use  of  the  ordinance  of  the  supper. 

The  abbot  insisted  that  Knox  should  proceed  to 
impugn  the  warrant  which  he  had  taken  from  scripture 
for  his  article.  "  Protesting  (said  the  reformer)  that 
this  mekle  is  win,  that  the  sacrifice  of  the  messe  being 
denied  by  me  to  be  a  sacrifice  propitiatorie  for  the  sins 
of  the  quick  and  the  dead  (according  to  the  opinion 
thereof  before  conceaved),  hath  no  patron  at  the  pre- 
sent, I  am  content  to  procede." — "  I  protest  he  hes 
■win  nothing  of  me  as  yit,  and  referres  it  to  black  and 
quhite  contened  in  our  writing." — "  I  have  openlie 
denied  the  masse  to  be  an  sacrifice  propitiatorie  for  the 
quick,  &c.  and  the  defence  thereof  is  denied.  And, 
therefore,  I  referre  me  unto  the  same  judges  that  my 
lord  hath  clamed." — "  Ye  may  denie  quhat  ye  pleis  ; 
for  all  that  ye  denie  I  tak  not  presentlie  to  impung ; 
but  quhair  I  began  there  will  I  end,  that  is,  to  defend 
the  messe  conform  to  my  artickle."  "  Your  lordship's 
ground  (said  Knox,  after  some  altercation)  is,  that 
Melchizedeck  is  the  figure  ofChriste  in  that  he  did 
offer  unto  God  bread  and  wine,  and  that  it  behoved 
Jesus  Christ  to  offer,  in  his  latter  supper,  his  body 
and  blude,  under  the  forms  of  bread  and  wine.  I 
answer  to  your  ground  yet  againe,  that  Melchizedeck 
offered  neither  bread  nor  wine  unto  God ,-  and  there- 
fore, it  that  ye  would  thereupon  conclude  hath  no  as- 
surance of  your  ground."  "  Preve  that,"  said  the 
abbot.  Knox  replied,  that,  according  to  the  rules  of 
just  reasoning,  he  could  not  be  bound  to  prove  a  nega- 
tive;  that  it  was  incumbent  on  his  opponent  to  bring 
forward  some  proof  for  his  affirmation,  concerning 
which  the  text  was  altogether  silent;  and  that  until 
the  abbot  did  this,  it  was  sufficient  for  him  simply  to 
deny.  But  the  abbot  said,  he  "  stuck  to  his  text," 
and  insisted  that  his  antagonist  should  shew  for  what 
purpose  Melchizedeck  brought  out  the  bread  and  wine, 
if  it  was  not  to  offer  them  to  God.  After  proteslino- 
that  the  abbot's  position  remained  destitute  of  any 
support,  and  that  he  was  not  bound  in  argument  to 
shew  what  became  of  the  bread  and  wine,  or  what  use 
was  made  of  them,  Knox  consented  to  state  his  opinion, 
that  they  were  intended  by  Melchizedeck  to  refresh 
Abraham  and  his  company.  The  abbot  had  now 
gained  what  he  wished  ;  and  he  had  a  number  of  objec- 
tions ready  to  start  against  this  view  of  the  words,  by 
which  he  was  able  at  least  to  protract  and  involve  the 
dispute.     And  thus  ended  the  first  day's  contest. 

When  the  company  convened  on  the  following  day, 
ihe  abbot  proceeded  to  impugn  the  view  which  his 
opponent  had  given  of  the  text.  He  urged,  first,  that 
Abraham  and  his  company  had  a  sufl[iciency  of  provi- 


sion in  the  spoils  which  they  had  taken  from  the  enemy 
in  their  late  victory,  and  did  not  need  Melchizedeck'a 
bread  and  wine;  and,  secondly,  that  the  text  said  that 
Melchizedeck  brought  them  forth,  and  it  was  impro- 
bable that  one  man,  and  he  a  king,  should  carry  as 
much  as  would  refresh  three  hundred  and  eighteen 
men.  To  these  objections  Knox  made  such  replies  as 
will  occur  to  any  person  who  thinks  on  the  subject. 
And  in  this  manner  did  the  second  day  pass. 

When  they  met  on  the  third  day,  the  abbot  presented 
a  paper,  in  which  he  stated  another  objection  to  Knox's 
view  of  the  text.  After  some  more  altercation  on  this 
subject,  Knox  desired  his  opponent  to  proceed  to  his 
promised  proof  of  the  argument  upon  which  he  had 
rested  his  cause.  But  the  abbot,  being  indisposed, 
rose  up,  and  put  into  Knox's  hand  a  book  to  which  he 
referred  him  for  the  proof.*  By  this  time,  the  noble- 
men and  gentlemen  present  were  completely  wearied 
out.  For  besides  the  tedious  and  uninteresting  mode 
in  which  the  disputation  had  been  managed,  they 
could  find  entertainment  neither  for  themselves  nor  for 
their  retinue  in  Maybole;  so  that  if  any  person  had 
brought  in  bread  and  wine  among  them,  it  is  presum- 
able that  they  would  not  have  debated  long  upon  the 
purpose  for  which  it  was  brought.  Knox  proposed 
that  they  should  adjourn  to  Ayr  and  finish  the  dispute, 
which  was  refused  by  the  abbot,  who  said  he  would 
come  to  Edinburgh  for  that  purpose,  provided  he 
could  obtain  the  Queen's  permission.  Upon  this  the 
company  dismissed. 

The  dispute  was  never  resumed,  though  Knox  says 
that  he  applied  to  the  privy  council  for  liberty  to  the 
abbot  to  come  to  Edinburgh  for  this  purpose.  Kennedy 
died  in  August  1564.  It  has  been  said  that  he  was 
canonized  as  a  saint  after  his  death, f  and  Dempster 
makes  him  both  a  saint  and  a  martyr.:}:  I  have  not 
seen  his  name  in  the  Romish  calendar,  but  I  find 
(what  is  of  as  great  consequence)  that  the  grand  argU' 
ment  upon  which  he  insisted  in  his  disputation  with 
the  reformer  has  been  canonized.  For  in  the  calendar, 
at  "March  25,"  it  is  written,  "  Melchezedec  sacrifeit 
breid  and  wyne  in  figure  of  ye  bodie  and  blond  of  our 
lord,  whilk  is  offerit  in  ye  messe."  Doubtless,  those 
who  knew  the  very  month  and  day  on  which  this 
happened,  must  have  been  belter  acquainted  with  the 
design  of  Melchizedeck,  and  with  the  whole  transac- 
tion, than  Moses. II 

The  abbot,  or  his  friends,  having  circulated  the 
report  that  he  had  the  advantage  in  the  disputation, 
Knox,  in  1563,  published  the  account  of  it  from  the 
records  of  the  notaries,  to  which  he  added  a  prologue 
and  short  marginal  notes.  The  prologue  and  his  an- 
swer to  the  abbot's  first  paper,  especially  the  latter, 
are  pieces  of  good  writing.  I  have  been  more  minute 
in  the  narration  of  this  dispute  than  its  merits  deserve, 
because  no  account  of  it  has  hitherto  appeared,  the 
tract  itself  being  so  exceedingly  rare,  as  to  have  been 
seen  by  few  for  a  long  period.§ 

*  This  seems  to  have  been  the  book  published  by  Kennedy 
duriiig  the  preceding  year. 

f  Crawford's  Peerage  of  Scotland,  p.  75. 

\  "  Augustus  22 — IVIonast«'rio  Crucis  regalis  obitus  Beati 
Quintini  Kennedii  abbatis,  Comitis  Cassilii  fratris,  qui  adriii- 
i-anda  constantia  sex  annis  totis,  cum  haeresi  nascente,  et  jam 
confirniata  conflixit,  ad  extremuni  lento  veneno  nonsumptus, 
corruptoqne  sanguine  excessit."  Dempster!  Menologiuni  Sco- 
torum,  p.  20.  Bononiae^  1622. 

[|  See  Calendar  by  "  M.  ,\dam  King,  profeseur  of  philosophic 
and  Mathimatikis  at  Paris"  prefixed  to  a  Scots  translation  of 
Canisius's  Catechism,  which  was  printed  in  1587. 

^  Knox  gives  merely  a  general  notice  of  this  disputation  in 
his  Historie,  p.  318.  Keith,  who  was  very  industrious  in  col- 
lecting whatever  referred  to  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  that 
period,  could  not  obtain  a  copy  of  the  printed  disputation,  and 
nad  heard  of  but  one  imperfect  copy.  History,  App.  255. 
The  only  copy  known  to  exist  at  present,  is  in  the  library  of 
Alexander  Boswell,  Esq.  ofAuchinleck.  Since  the  publica- 
tion of  the  first  edition  of  this  Life,  Mr.  Boswell  has  reprinted 
a  small  impression  of  this  unique,  being  an  exact  ^ac  simile  of 
the  original  edition,  for  the  gratification  of  the  curioug. 


100 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX. 


Another  priest  who  advocated  the  Roman  Catholic 
cause  at  this  time  was  Ninian  Wingaie,  who  had  been 
schoolmaster  of  Linlithg^ow,  from  which  situation  he 
was  removed  by  Spottiswood,  superintendent  of  Lo- 
thian, on  account  of  his  attachment  to  popery.  In  the 
month  of  February,  1562,  he  sent  to  Knox  a  writing, 
consisting  of  eighty-three  questions  upon  the  principal 
topics  of  dispute  between  the  papists  and  protestants, 
which  he  had  drawn  up  in  the  name  of  the  inferior 
clergy  and  laity  of  the  Catholic  persuasion  in  Scot- 
land. To  some  of  these,  particularly  the  questions 
which  related  to  the  call  of  the  protestant  ministers, 
the  Reformer  returned  an  answer  from  the  pulpit,  and 
Wingaie  addressed  several  letters  to  him,  complaining 
that  his  answers  were  not  satisfactory.  These  letters, 
with  addresses  to  the  Queen,  nobility,  bishops,  and 
magistrates  of  Edinburgh,  Wingate  committed  to  the 
press,  but  the  impression  being  seized  in  the  printer's 
house  (according  to  bishop  Lesley,)  the  author  escaped 
and  went  to  the  continent.*  Knox  intended  to  pub- 
lish an  answer  to  Wingate's  questions,  and  to  defend 
the  validity  of  the  protestant  ministry;  but  it  does  not 
appear  that  he  carried  his  design  into  execution. f 

In  the  beginning  of  1563,  Knox  went  to  Jedburgh, 
by  appointment  of  the  General  Assembly,  to  investi- 
gate a  scandal  which  had  broken  out  against  Paul 
Methven,  the  minister  of  that  place,  who  was  sus- 
pected of  adultery.  Methven  was  found  guilty,  and 
excommunicated. ][:  Having  fled  to  England,  he  sent 
a  letter  to  the  General  Assembly,  professing  his  wil- 
lingness to  submit  to  the  discipline  of  the  church,  but 
requesting  that  the  account  of  his  process  should  be 
deleted  from  the  records.  The  Assembly  declared  that 
he  might  return  with  safety  to  his  native  country,  and 
that  he  should  be  admitted  to  public  repentance,  but 
refused  to  erase  the  process  from  their  minutes. ||  He 
afterwards  returned  to  Scotland ;  and  a  severe  and 
humiliating  penance  was  prescribed  to  him.  He  was 
enjoined  to  appear  at  the  church-door  of  Edinburgh, 
when  the  second  bell  rang  for  public  worship,  clad  in 
sackcloth,  bare-headed,  and  bare-footed  ;  to  stand  there 
until  the  prayer  and  psalms  were  finished,  when  he 
was  to  be  brought  into  the  church  to  hear  sermon, 
during  which  he  was  to  be  "placeit  in  the  public 
spectakell  above  the  peiple."  This  appearance  he 
was  to  make  on  three  several  preaching-days,  and  on 
the  last  of  them,  being  a  Sabbath-day,  he  was,  at  the 
close  of  the  sermon,  to  profess  his  sorrow  before  the 
congregation,  and  to  request  their  forgiveness ;  upon 
which  he  was  again  to  be  "  clad  in  his  awin  apparell," 
and  received  into  the  communion  of  the  church.  He 
was  to  repeat  this  course  at  Dundee  and  at  Jedburgh, 
where  he  had  officiated  as  minister.§  Methven  went 
through  a  part  of  this  humbling  scene,  with  professions 
of  deep  sorrow;  but  being  overwhelmed  with  shame, 


*  Lesley,  apud  Keith,  p.  501.  App.  203.  Lesley  speaks  of 
a  dispute  between  Knox  and  Wingate,  but  that  nislorian  is 
often  incorrect  in  his  details.  The  dispute  between  the  doctors 
of  Aberdeen  and  the  ministers,  which  took  place  in  the  begin- 
ning of  1561  is  Hientioned  by  Knox,  Historie,  p.  261,  262.  It 
would  seem  from  a  letter  of  llandolph,  that  there  was  a  dispute 
in  the  end  of  1561,  between  some  of  the  ministers  and  a  Pari- 
sian divine,  who  had  come  over  with  the  Queen.  Keith,  208. 
Wingate  published,  at  Antwerp,  his  "  Buke  of  Fourscoir  Three 
Questionis,"  anno  1563.  Keitn  has  reprinted  this,  and  also  his 
"  Ti"actatis,"  originally  printed  at  Edinburgh.  He  calls  them 
"  very  rare  and  much  noted  pieces."  History,  App.  203.  In 
point  of  argument  or  sentiment  they  are  certainly  not  noted; 
but  they  contain  a  strong  proof  of  the  extreme  corruption 
which  prevailed  among  the  superior  popish  clergy,  agiiinst 
which  Wingate  inveighs  as  keenly  as  any  reformer.  His  second 
book  concludes  with  this  exclamation,  "  Och  for  mair  paper  or 
penyis!"  Wingate' translated  several  works  of  the  Fathers 
into  the  Scottish  language,  some  of  which  are  mentioned  by 
him  in  his  Tractates.  Keith,  App.  226,  227.  He  was  made 
abbot  of  a  Scots  monastery  at  Ratisbon.  Mackenzie's  Lives, 
Tol.  iii.  p.  149.  +  See  Note  L. 

\  Knox,  Historie,  p.  323,  324.     Keith,  522. 

n  Keith,  p.  538. 

\  Bulk  of  the  UniTenal  Kirk,  p.  23.     Keith,  559,  660. 


and  despairing  to  regain  his  lost  reputation,  he  stopped 
in  the  midst  of  it,  and  again  retired  to  England.*  Pru- 
dential considerations  were  not  wanting  to  induce  the 
reformed  church  of  Scotland  to  stifle  this  aflfair,  and  to 
screen  from  public  ignominy  a  man  who  had  acted  a 
distinguished  part  in  the  late  reformation  of  religion. 
But  they  refused  to  listen  to  these;  and  by  instituting  a 
strict  scrutiny  into  the  fact,  and  inflicting  an  exemplary 
punishment  upon  the  criminal,  they  '*  approved  them- 
selves to  be  clear  in  this  matter,"  and  efTectually  shut 
the  mouths  of  their  popish  adversaries. 

The  mode  of  public  repentance  enjoined  on  this  oc- 
casion was  appointed  to  be  afterwards  used  in  all  cases 
of  aggravated  immorality. f  There  was  nothing  in 
which  the  Scottish  reformers  approached  nearer  to  the 
primitive  church  than  in  the  rigorous  and  impartial 
exercise  of  ecclesiastical  discipline,  the  relaxation  of 
which,  under  the  papacy,  they  justly  regarded  as  one 
great  cause  of  the  universal  corruption  of  religion. 
While  they  rejected  many  of  the  ceremonies  which 
were  introduced  into  the  worship  of  the  Christian 
church,  during  the  three  first  centuries,  they,  from 
detestation  of  vice,  and  a  desire  to  restrain  it,  did  not 
scruple  to  conform  to  a  number  of  their  penitential 
regulations.  In  some  instances  they  might  carry  their 
rigour  against  offenders  to  an  extreme ;  but  it  was  a 
virtuous  extreme,  compared  with  the  dangerous  laxity, 
or  rather  total  disuse  of  discipline,  which  has  gradually 
crept  into  almost  all  the  churches  which  retain  the 
name  of  reformed  :  even  as  the  scrupulous  delicacy 
with  which  our  forefathers  shunned  the  society  of 
those  who  had  transgressed  the  rules  of  morality,  is  to 
be  preferred  to  modern  manners,  by  which  the  vicious 
obtain  easy  admission  into  the  company  of  the  virtuous. 

'Twas  hard  perhaps  on  here  and  there  a  waif, 

Desirous  to  return,  and  not  received; 

But  was  an  wholesome  rigour  in  the  main, 

And  taught  the  unblemished  to  preserve  with  care 

That  purity,  whose  loss  was  loss  of  all. 

But  now — yes,  now, 

We  are  become  so  candid  and  so  fair. 
So  liberal  in  construction,  and  so  rich 
In  Christian  charity,  (good-natured  age!) 
That  the)-  are  safe,  sinners  of  either  sex. 
Transgress  what  laws  they  may. 

Cowper,  Task,  B.  iii. 

In  the  month  of  May,  the  Queen  sent  for  Knox  to 
Lochlevin.  The  popish  priests,  presuming  upon  her 
avowed  partiality  to  them,  and  her  secret  promises  of 
protection,  had  of  late  become  more  bold,  and  during 
the  late  Easter,  masses  had  been  openly  celebrated  in 
diflferent  parts  of  the  kingdom.  Repeated  proclama- 
tions had  been  issued  against  this  practice  by  the 
Queen  in  Council,  but  none  of  them  were  carried  into 
execution.  The  gentlemen  of  the  West,  who  were  the 
most  zealous  protestants,  perceiving  that  the  laws  were 
eluded,  resolved  to  execute  them,  without  making  any 
application  to  the  court,  and  apprehended  some  of  the 
offenders  by  way  of  example.  The  Queen  was  highly 
offended  at  these  decided  proceedings,  which  were  cal- 
culated to  defeat  the  scheme  of  policy  which  she  had 
formed  ;  but  finding  that  the  signification  of  her  dis- 
pleasure had  not  the  effect  of  stopping  them,  she 
wished  to  avail  herself  of  the  Reformer's  influence  for 
accomplishing  her  purpose. 

She  dealt  with  him  very  earnestly,  for  two  hours 
before  supper,  to  persuade  the  western  gentlemen  to 
desist  from  all  interruption  of  the  Catholic  worship. 
He  told  her  Majesty,  that  if  she  would  exercise  her 
authority  in  executing  the  laws  of  the  land,  he  could 
promise  for  the  peaceable  behaviour  of  the  protestants; 
but  if  she  thought  to  elude  them,  he  feared  that  there 
were  some  who  would  let  the  papists  understand  that 
they  should  not  offend  with  impunity.  "  Will  ye 
allow,  that  they  shall  take  my  sword  in  their  hands'!" 
said  the  Queen.     ♦'  The  sword  of  justice  is  GodCs,  (re- 


•  Koox,  Hiatorie,  p.  398. 


+  See  Note  LI. 


LIFE    OF   JOHP^   KNOX. 


I<H 


plied  the  Reformer  with  equal  firmness),  and  is  given 
to  princes  and  rulers  for  one  end,  which,  if  they  trans- 
gress, sparing  the  wicked  and  oppressing  the  innocent, 
they  who,  in  the  fear  of  God,  execute  judgment  where 
God  has  commanded,  offend  not  God,  although  kings 
do  it  not."  Having  produced  some  examples  from 
scripture  to  shew  that  criminals  might  be  punished  by 
persons  who  did  not  occupy  the  place  of  supreme  rulers, 
he  added,  that  the  gentlemen  of  the  West  were  acting 
strictly  according  to  law;  for  the  act  of  parliament 
gave  power  to  all  judges  within  their  bounds,  to  search 
for  and  punish  those  who  should  transgress  its  enact- 
ments. He  concluded  with  inculcating  a  doctrine 
which  has  seldom  been  very  pleasing  to  princes.  "It 
shall  be  profitable  to  your  Majesty  to  consider  what  is 
the  thing  your  Grace's  subjects  look  to  receive  of  your 
Majesty,  and  what  it  is  that  ye  ought  to  do  unto  them 
by  mutual  contract.  They  are  bound  to  obey  you,  and 
that  not  but  in  God :  ye  are  bound  to  keep  laws  to 
them.  Ye  crave  of  them  service :  they  crave  of  you 
protection  and  defence  against  wicked  doers.  Now, 
madam,  if  you  shall  deny  your  duty  unto  them  (which 
especially  craves  that  ye  punish  malefactors),  think  ye 
to  receive  full  obedience  of  them  1  I  fear,  madam,  ye 
shall  not."  The  Queen  broke  off  the  conversation 
with  evident  marks  of  displeasure. 

Having  communicated  what  had  passed  between 
them  to  the  Earl  of  Murray,  Knox  meant  to  return  to 
Edinburgh  next  day,  without  wailing  for  any  further 
communication  with  the  Queen.  But  a  message  was 
delivered  to  him  early  in  the  morning,  desiring  him 
not  to  depart  until  he  had  again  spoken  with  her  Ma- 
jesty. He  accordingly  met  her  at  a  place  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Kinross,  where  she  took  the  amusement 
of  hawking.  This  interview  was  very  different  from 
that  of  the  preceding  evening.  Waving  entirely  the 
subject  on  which  they  had  differed,  she  conversed  with 
him  upon  a  variety  of  other  topics,  with  the  greatest 
familiarity  and  apparent  confidence.  Lord  Ruthven 
(she  said)  had  offered  her  a  ring;  but  she  could  not 
love  that  nobleman.  She  knew  that  he  used  enchant- 
ment;* and  yet  he  had  been  made  a  member  of  her 
Privy  Council.  And  she  blamed  Secretary  Lethington 
for  procuring  his  admission  among  that  body.  Knox 
excused  himself  from  saying  any  thing  of  the  Secre- 
tary in  his  absence.  "I  understand,"  said  she,  intro- 
ducing another  subject  of  discourse,  "  that  ye  are  ap- 
pointed to  go  to  Dumfries,  for  the  election  of  a  super- 
intendent to  be  established  in  these  countries."  He 
answered  in  the  affirmative.  "  But  I  understand  the 
bishop  of  Athenst  would  be  superintendent." — "  He 
is  one,  madam,  that  is  put  in  election." — "  If  you 
knew  him  as  well  as  I  do,  you  would  not  promote  him 
to  that  oflSce,  nor  yet  to  any  other  within  your  kirk." 
Knox  said  that  the  bishop  deceived  many,  if  he  did 
not  fear  God.  "  Well,  do  as  you  will ;  but  that  man 
is  a  dangerous  man." 

Knox  wished  to  take  his  leave  of  her  Majesty,  but 
she  pressed  him  to  stay.  "  I  have  one  of  the  greatest 
matters  that  have  touched  me  since  I  came  into  this 
realm  to  open  to  you,  and  I  must  have  your  help  in 
it,"  said  she,  with  an  air  of  condescension  and  confi- 
dence as  enchanting  as  if  she  had  put  a  ring  on  his 
finger.  She  then  entered  into  a  long  discourse  with 
him  concerning  a  domestic  difference  between  the  Earl 
and  Countess  of  Argyle.     Her  ladyship  had  not,  she 


*  Comp.  Knox,  Historie,  327,  with  Keith.  App.  125. 

t  In  Knox's  Historie,  it  is  printed  Cathenis,  by  mistake,  in- 
stead of  ./3</i  em's.  The  person  referred  to  is  Alexander  Gor- 
don, brother  to  George,  Earl  of  Huntly,  who  was  slain  at 
Corrichie  in  1562.  Scarcel}'  any  Scottish  prelate  ever  occu- 
pied so  many  different  sees,  or  occupied  them  for  so  short  a 
time.  He  was  bishop  of  Caithness,  archbishop  of  Glasgow, 
bishop  of  the  Isles,  and  bishop  ofGallowaj'.  When  he  was 
deprived  of  the  see  of  Glasgow,  the  Pope,  as  a  recompense, 
created  him  titular  krchhishop  of  Athens.  Gordon's  Genea- 
logical History  of  the  Earldom  of  Sutherland,  p.  Ill — 12, 137, 
290.     Keith's  Scottish  Bishops,  p.  128,  153,  166,  175. 


said,  been  so  circumspect  in  every  thing  as  she  could 
have  wished,  but  still  she  was  of  opinion  that  his  lord- 
ship had  not  treated  her  in  an  honest  and  godly  man- 
ner. Knox  said  that  he  was  not  unacquainted  with 
the  disagreeable  variance  which  had  subsisted  between 
that  honourable  couple,  and,  before  her  Majesty's  ar- 
rival in  this  country,  he  had  effected  their  reconcilia- 
tion. On  that  occasion,  the  Countess  had  promised 
not  to  complain  to  any  creature  before  acquainting 
him ;  and  as  he  had  never  heard  from  her  on  that  sub- 
ject, he  had  concluded  that  there  was  nothing  but 
concord  between  her  and  his  lordship.  "  Well,"  said 
the  Queen,  "  it  is  worse  than  ye  believe.  But  do  this 
much /or  my  sake,  as  once  again  to  put  them  at  unity, 
and  if  she  behave  not  herself  as  she  ought  to  do,  she 
shall  find  no  favour  of  me ;  but  in  any  wise  let  not  my 
lord  know  that  1  have  requested  you  in  this  matter." 
Then  introducing  the  subject  of  their  reasoning  on  the 
preceding  evening,  she  said,  "  I  promise  to  do  as  ye 
required  :  I  shall  cause  summon  all  oflTenders;  and  ye 
shall  know  that  I  shall  minister  justice."  "  I  am  as- 
sured then,"  said  he,  "  that  ye  shall  please  God,  and 
enjoy  rest  and  tranquillity  within  your  realm,  which  to 
your  Majesty  is  more  profitable  than  all  the  pope's 
power  can  be."  Upon  this  he  took  his  leave  of  the 
Queen.* 

This  interview  exhibits  one  part  of  Queen  Mary's 
character  in  a  striking  light.  It  shews  how  far  she 
was  capable  of  dissembling,  what  artifice  she  could 
employ,  and  what  condescensions  she  could  make, 
when  she  was  bent  on  accomplishing  a  favourite 
scheme.  She  had  formerly  attacked  the  Reformer  on 
another  quarter  without  success,  and  was  convinced 
that  it  was  vain  to  think  of  working  on  his  fears  ;  she 
now  resolved  to  try  if  she  could  soothe  his  stern  tem- 
per by  flattering  his  vanity,  and  disarm  his  jealousy 
by  strong  marks  of  confidence.  There  is  some  reason 
to  think  that  she  partly  succeeded  in  her  design.  For 
though  he  was  not  very  susceptible  of  flattery,  and 
must  have  been  struck  with  the  sudden  change  in  the 
Queen's  views  and  behaviour,  there  are  few  minds 
that  can  altogether  resist  the  impression  made  by  the 
condescending  familiarity  of  persons  of  superior  rank; 
and  our  feelings,  on  such  occasions,  chide  as  unchari- 
table the  cold  suspicions  suggested  by  our  judgment. 
In  obedience  to  her  Majesty's  request,  he  wrote  a  letter 
to  the  Earl  of  Argyle,  which  was  not  very  pleasing  to 
that  nobleman.  From  deference  to  the  opinion  which 
she  had  expressed  of  the  bishop  of  Galloway,  he  en- 
quired more  narrowly  into  his  conduct,  and  finding 
some  grounds  of  suspicion,  postponed  the  election. 
And  the  report  which  he  gave  of  the  Queen's  gracious 
answer  operated  in  her  favour  on  the  public  mind.f 

But  if  his  zeal  suflfered  a  temporary  intermission,  it 
soon  kindled  with  fresh  ardour.  On  the  19th  of  May, 
the  archbishop  of  St.  Andrews  and  a  number  of  the 
principal  papists  were  arraigned,  by  the  Queen's  orders, 
before  the  Lord  Justice  General,  for  transgressing  the 
laws;  and  having  come  in  her  Majesty's  will,  were 
committed  to  ward.  But  this  was  merely  a  stroke  of 
policy,  to  enable  her  the  more  easily  to  carry  her  mea- 
sures in  the  parliament  which  met  on  the  following 
day.t  ^ 

This  was  the  first  parliament  which  had  been  held 
since  the  Queen's  arrival  in  Scotland  ;  and  it  was  natu- 
ral to  expect  that  they  would  proceed  to  ratify  the 
treaty  of  peace  made  in  July  1560,  and  the  establish- 
ment of  the  protestant  religion.  If  the  acts  of  the 
former  parliament  were  invalid,  as  the  Queen  had 
repeatedly  declared,  the  protestants  had  no  law  on 
their  side;  they  hela  their  religion  at  the  mercy  of 
their  sovereign,  and  might  be  required,  at  her  plea- 
sure, to  submit  to  popery,  as  the  religion  which  still 
possessed  the  legal  establishment.     But  so  well  had 

*  Knox,  Historie,  p.  326—328.  f  Ibid.  p.  327,  329. 

\  The  prisoners  were  set  at  liberty  as  soon  as  the  parliament 
was  dissolved.    Ibid.  p.  330,  334. 


102 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX. 


she  laid  her  plans,  such  was  the  effect  of  her  insinuat- 
ing address,  and,  above  all,  so  powerful  was  the  temp- 
tation of  self-interest  on  the  minds  of  the  protestant 
leaders,  that,  by  general  consent,  they  passed  from 
this  demand,  and  lost  the  only  favourable  opportunity 
which  presented  itself,  during  the  reign  of  Mary,  for 
giving  a  legal  security  to  the  reformed  religion,  and 
thereby  removing  one  principal  source  of  national  fears 
and  jealousies.  An  act  of  oblivion,  securing  indemnity 
to  those  who  had  been  engaged  in  the  late  civil  war, 
was  indeed  passed  ;  but  the  mode  of  its  enactment  vir- 
tually implied  the  invalidity  of  the  treaty  in  which  it 
had  been  originally  embodied;  and  the  protestants  on 
their  bended  knees,*  supplicated,  as  a  boon  from  their 
sovereign,  what  they  had  formerly  won  with  their 
swords,  and  repeatedly  demanded  as  their  right.  The 
other  acts  made  to  please  the  more  zealous  reformers 
were  expressed  with  such  studied  and  glaring  am- 
biguity, as  to  offer  an  insult  to  their  understandings.! 

Our  Reformer  was  thunderstruck  when  first  in- 
formed of  the  measures  which  were  in  agitation,  and 
could  scarcely  believe  that  it  was  seriously  intended 
to  carry  them  into  execution.  He  immediately  pro- 
cured an  interview  with  some  of  the  leading  members 
of  parliament,  to  whom  he  represented  the  danger  of 
allowing  that  meeting  to  dissolve  without  obtaining 
the  ratification  of  the  acts  of  the  preceding  parliament, 
or  at  least  those  acts  which  established  the  Reforma- 
tion. They  alleged  that  the  Queen  would  never  have 
agreed  to  call  this  meeting,  if  they  had  persisted  in 
these  demands;  but  that  there  was  a  prospect  of  her 
being  soon  married,  and  on  that  occasion  they  would 
obtain  all  their  wishes.  In  vain  he  reminded  them 
that  poets  and  painters  had  represented  Occasion  with 
a  bald  hind-head  ;  in  vain  he  urged,  that  the  event  to 
which  they  looked  forward  would  be  accompanied 
with  difficulties  of  its  own,  which  would  require  all 
their  skill  and  circumspection.  Their  determination 
was  fixed.  He  now  perceived  the  full  extent  of  the 
Queen's  dissimulation ;  and  the  selfishness  and  servil- 
ity of  the  protestant  leaders  affected  him  deeply. 

So  hot  was  the  altercation  between  the  Earl  of  Mur- 
ray and  him  on  this  subject,  that  an  open  rupture 
ensued.  Knox  had  long  looked  upon  that  nobleman 
as  one  of  the  most  sincere  and  steady  adherents  to  the 
reformed  cause ;  and  therefore  felt  the  greater  disap- 
pointment at  his  conduct.  Under  his  first  irritation  he 
wrote  a  letter  to  the  Earl,  in  which,  after  reminding 
him  of  his  condition  when  they  first  became  acquainted 
in  London,:J:  and  the  honours  to  which  providence  had 
now  raised  him,  he  solemnly  renounced  friendship 
with  him  as  one  who  preferred  his  own  interest,  and 
the  pleasure  of  his  sister,  to  the  advancement  of  reli- 
gion, left  him  to  the  guidance  of  the  new  counsellors 
whom  he  had  chosen,  and  exonerated  him  from  all 
future  concern  in  his  affairs.     This  variance,  which 


*  Spottiswood,  188.  "  We  are  very  much  obliged  to  the 
iaforination  of  archbishop  Spottiswoocl"  for  this,  says  honest 
Keith.     History,  240. 

+  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  p.  536—8.     Knox,  331.     Keith.  240. 

\  I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain  the  time  at  which  the 
acquaintance  between  the  Earl  of  Murray  and  the  Reformer 
commenced.  It  was  probably  soon  after  Knox  came  into  Eng- 
land, in  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.  A  popish  writer  has  men- 
tioned their  meeting,  and  grafted  upon  it  the  calumny,  current 
among  the  party,  that  the  Earl  had  formed  the  ambitious  pro- 
ject of  wresting  the  crown  from  his  sister,  and  placing  it  on 
ois  own  head.  "Johann  Kmnox  deceavit"  him,  siays  he,  "in 
S.  Pauleg  kirk  in  Londone,  bringand  him  in  consait,  that  God 
had  chosen  him  extraordinarilie  as  ane  Josias  to  be  king  of 
Scotland,  to  rute  out  idolatrie,  and  to  plant  the  licht  of  the 
new  evangel:  quhair  they  convenit  in  this  manner,  That  the 
prior  of  Sanct  Androis,  erl  of  Murray,  sould  mentene  the  new 
£/ta«  aganis  the  priestes  of  Baal,  (for  sua  blasphemouslie  he 
namit  the  priestes  of  Christ  Jesus.)  And  the  neu  Eliai  gould 
fortifie  the  new  Josias,  be  procuring  the  favour  of  the  people 
aganis  lesabel,  blaspheming  niaist  impudentlie  the  quenis  M." 
Nicol  Burne's  Disputation,  p.  156.  Knox  was  belter  acquainted 
with  scripture-history  than  to  make  Josias  contemporary  with 


continued  nearly  two  years,  was  very  gratifying  to  the 
Queen,  and  to  others  who  disliked  their  former  fami- 
liarity, and  who  failed  not  (as  Knox  informs  us)  to 
"  cast  oil  into  the  flame,  until  God  did  quench  it  by 
the  water  of  affliction."  * 

Before  the  dissolution  of  the  parliament,  the  Re- 
former embraced  an  opportunity  of  disburdening  his 
mind  in  the  presence  of  the  greater  part  of  the  mem- 
bers assembled  in  his  church.  After  discoursing  of 
the  great  mercy  of  God  shewn  to  Scotland,  in  marvel- 
lously delivering  them  from  bondage  of  soul  and  body, 
and  of  the  deep  ingratitude  which  he  perceived  in  all 
ranks  of  persons,  he  addressed  himself  particularly  to 
the  nobility.  He  praised  God  that  he  had  an  opportu- 
nity of  pouring  out  the  sorrows  of  his  heart  in  the  pre- 
sence of  those  who  could  attest  the  truth  of  all  that  he 
said.  He  appealed  to  their  consciences,  if  he  had  not, 
in  their  greatest  extremities,  exhorted  them  to  depend 
upon  God,  and  assured  them  of  preservation  and  vic- 
tory, provided  they  preferred  the  divine  glory  to  their 
own  lives  and  secular  interests.  "I  have  been  with 
you  in  the  most  desperate  temptations  (continued  he, 
in  a  strain  of  impassioned  eloquence) :  In  your  most 
extreme  dangers  I  have  been  with  you.  St.  Johnston, 
Cupar-moor,  and  the  Craggs  of  Edinburghf  are  yet 
recent  in  my  heart;  yea,  that  dark  and  dolorous  night 
wherein  all  ye,  my  lords,  with  shame  and  fear,  left 
this  town,+  is  yet  in  my  mind  ;  and  God  forbid  that 
ever  I  forget  it !  What  was,  I  say,  my  exhortation  to 
you,  and  what  has  fallen  in  vain  of  all  that  ever  God 
promised  unto  you  by  my  mouth,  ye  yourselves  yet 
live  to  testify.  There  is  not  one  of  you,  against  whom 
was  death  and  destruction  threatened,  perished  :  and 
how  many  of  your  enemies  has  God  plagued  before 
your  eyes!  Shall  this  be  the  thankfulness  that  ye 
shall  render  unto  your  God  1  To  betray  his  cause, 
when  ye  have  it  in  your  hands  to  establish  it  as  you 
please  ■?"  He  saw  nothing  (he  said)  but  a  cowardly 
desertion  of  Christ's  standard.  Some  had  even  the 
effrontery  to  say  that  they  had  neither  law  nor  parlia- 
ment for  their  religion.  They  had  the  authority  of 
God  for  their  religion,  and  its  truth  was  independent 
of  human  laws  ;  but  it  was  also  accepted  within  this 
realm  in  public  parliament;  and  that  parliament  he 
would  maintain  to  have  been  as  lawful  as  any  one  that 
had  ever  been  held  within  the  kingdom. 

In  the  conclusion  of  his  discourse,  he  adverted  to 
the  reports  of  her  Majesty's  marriage,  and  of  the 
princes  who  courted  this  alliance ;  and  (desiring  the 
audience  to  mark  his  words)  he  predicted  the  conse- 
quences which  were  to  be  dreaded,  if  ever  the  nobility 
consented  that  their  sovereign  should  marry  a  papist. 

Protestants  as  well  as  papists  were  offended  with 
the  freedom  of  this  sermon,  and  some  who  had  been 
most  familiar  with  the  preacher  now  shunned  his  com- 
pany. Flatterers  were  not  wanting  to  run  to  the 
Queen,  and  inform  her  that  John  Knox  had  preached 
against  her  marriage.  After  surmounting  all  opposi- 
tion to  her  measures,  and  managing  so  successfully 
the  haughty  and  independent  barons  of  her  kingdom, 
Mary  was  incensed  to  think  that  there  should  yet  be 
one  man  of  obscure  condition,  who  ventured  to  con- 
demn her  proceedings ;  and  as  she  could  not  tame  his 
stubbornness,  she  determined  to  punish  his  temerity. 
Knox  was  ordered  instantly  to  appear  before  her. 
Lord  Ochiltree,  with  several  gentlemen,  accompanied 
him  to  the  palace;  but  the  superintendent  of  Angus, 
Erskine  of  Dun,  was  the  only  person  allowed  to  go 
with  him  into  the  royal  presence. 

Her  Majesty  received  him  in  a  very  different  manner 
from  what  she  had  done  at  Lochlevin.  Never  had 
prince  been  handled  (she  passionately  exclaimed)  aa 


Eliaa  and  Jesabel. 


■w^ 


•  Knox,  Historic,  p.  331. 

+  Referring  to  the  critical  circumstances  in  which  the  Lords 
of  the  Congregation  had  been  situated  at  these  places,  when 
the  Queen  Regent  threatened  to  attack  them  with  superior 
forces.     Sec  p.  71,  73,  76.  t  ^H*  81. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


103 


she  was :  she  had  home  with  him  in  all  his  rigorous 
speeches  against  herself  and  her  uncles :  she  had 
sought  his  favour  by  all  means :  she  had  offered  unto 
him  audience  whenever  he  pleased  to  admonish  her: 
"And  yet  (said  she)  I  cannot  be  quit  of  you.  I  vow 
to  God  I  shall  be  once  revenged" — On  pronouncing 
these  words  with  great  violence,  she  burst  into  a  flood 
of  tears  which  interrupted  her  speech.  When  the 
Queen  had  composed  herself,  Knox  proceeded  calmly 
to  make  his  defence.  Her  Grace  and  he  had  (he  said) 
at  different  times  been  engaged  in  controversy,  and  he 
never  before  had  perceived  her  offended  with  him. 
When  it  should  please  God  to  deliver  her  from  the 
bondage  of  error  in  which  she  had  been  trained  through 
want  of  instruction  in  the  truth,  he  trusted  that  her 
Majesty  would  not  find  the  liberty  of  his  tongue  offen- 
sive. Out  of  the  pulpit,  he  believed,  few  had  occasion 
to  be  offended  with  him  ;  but  there  he  was  not  his  own 
master,  but  was  bound  to  obey  Him  who  commanded 
him  to  speak  plainly,  and  to  flatter  no  flesh  on  the  face 
of  the  earth. 

"  But  what  have  you  to  do  with  my  marriage  ?"  said 
the  Queen.  He  was  proceeding  to  state  the  extent  of  his 
commission  as  a  preacher,  and  the  reasons  which  led  him 
to  touch  on  that  delicate  subject;  but  she  interrupted 
him  by  repeating  her  question ;  "  What  have  ye  to  do 
with  my  marriage  1  Or  what  are  you  in  this  common- 
wealth 1" — "  A  subject  born  within  the  same,  madam," 
replied  the  Reformer,  piqued  by  the  last  question,  and 
by  the  contemptuous  tone  in  which  it  was  proposed. 
"  And  albeit  I  be  neither  earl,  lord,  nor  baron  in  it,  yet 
has  God  made  me  (how  abject  that  ever  I  be  in  your 
eyes)  a  profitable  member  within  the  same.  Yea, 
madam,  to  me  it  appertains  no  less  to  forewarn  of  such 
things  as  may  hurt  it,  if  I  foresee  them,  than  it  doth 
to  any  of  the  nobility  ;  for  both  my  vocation  and  con- 
science requires  plainness  of  me.  And  therefore, 
madam,  to  yourself  I  say  that  which  I  spake  in  public 
place :  Whensoever  the  nobility  of  this  realm  shall 
consent  that  ye  be  subject  to  an  unfaithful  husband, 
they  do  as  much  as  in  them  lieth  to  renounce  Christ, 
to  banish  his  truth  from  them,  to  betray  the  freedom, 
of  this  realm,  and  perchance  shall  in  the  end  do  small 
comfort  to  yourself."  At  these  words,  Mary  began 
again  to  weep  and  sob  with  great  bitterness.  The 
superintendent,  who  was  a  man  of  mild  and  gentle 
spirit,  tried  to  mitigate  her  grief  and  resentment:  he 
praised  her  beauty  and  her  accomplishments;  and  told 
her,  that  there  was  not  a  prince  in  Europe  who  would 
not  reckon  himself  happy  in  gaining  her  hand.  During 
this  scene,  the  severe  and  inflexible  mind  of  the  Re- 
former displayed  itself.  He  continued  silent,  and 
with  unaltered  countenance,  until  the  Queen  had  given 
vent  to  her  feelings.  He  then  protested,  that  he  never 
took  delight  in  the  distress  of  any  creature;  it  was 
with  great  difficulty  that  he  could  see  his  own  boys 
weep  when  he  corrected  them  for  their  faults,  far  less 
could  he  rejoice  in  her  Majesty's  tears;  but  seeing  he 
had  given  her  no  just  reason  of  offence,  and  had  only 
discharged  his  duty,  he  was  constrained,  though  un- 
willingly, to  sustain  her  tears,  rather  than  hurt  his 
conscience,  and  betray  the  commonwealth  through  his 
silence. 

This  apology  inflamed  the  Queen  still  more :  she 
ordered  him  instantly  to  leave  her  presence,  and  to 
wait  the  signification  of  her  pleasure  in  the  adjoining 
room.  There  he  stood  as  "  one  whom  men  had  never 
seen;"  all  his  friends,  lord  Ochiltree  excepted,  being 
afraid  to  shew  him  the  smallest  countenance.  In  this 
situation  he  addressed  himself  to  the  court-ladies,  who 
sat  in  their  richest  dress  in  the  chamber.  "  O  fair 
ladies,  how  plesing  war  this  lyfe  of  yours,  if  it 
sould  ever  abyde,  and  then,  in  the  end,  that  we  might 
pas  to  hevin  with  all  this  gay  gear!"  Having  en- 
gaged them  in  a  conversation,  he  passed  the  time  till 
the  superintendent  came,  and  informed  him  that  he 
was  allowed  to  go  home  until  her  Majesty  had  taken 


further  advice.  The  Queen  insisted  to  have  the  judg- 
ment of  the  Lords  of  Articles,  whether  the  words  he 
had  used  in  the  pulpit  were  not  actionable;  but  she 
was  persuaded  by  her  counsellors  to  abandon  the  idea 
of  a  prosecution.  "  And  so  that  storme  quietit  in  ap- 
pearance, hot  nevir  in  the  hart."* 

No  expressions  are  sufficiently  strong  to  describe 
the  horror  which  many  feel  at  the  monstrous  inhuman- 
ity of  Knox,  in  remaining  unmoved,  while  "  youth, 
beauty,  and  royal  dignity"!  were  dissolved  in  tears 
before  him.  Enchanting,  surely,  must  the  charms  of 
the  Queen  of  Scots  have  been,  and  iron-hearted  the 
Reformer  who  could  resist  their  impression,  when  they 
continue  to  his  day  to  exercise  such  a  sway  over  the 
hearts  of  men,  that  even  grave  and  serious  authors,  not 
addicted  to  the  language  of  gallantry  and  romance,  do 
protest  that  they  cannot  read  of  the  tears  which  she 
shed  on  this  occasion,  without  feeling  an  inclination  to 
weep  along  with  her.  There  may  be  some,  however, 
who,  knowing  how  much  real  misery  there  is  in  the 
world,  are  not  disposed  to  waste  their  feelings  unne- 
cessarily, and  who  are  of  opinion,  that  there  was  not 
much  to  commiserate  in  the  condition  of  the  Queen, 
nor  to  reprobate  in  the  conduct  of  the  Reformer.  Con- 
sidering that  she  had  been  so  fortunate  in  her  mea- 
sures, and  had  found  her  nobility  so  ready  to  gratify 
her  wishes,  the  passion  by  which  she  suffered  herself 
to  be  transported  was  extravagant,  and  her  tears  must 
have  been  those  of  anger  rather  than  of  grief.  On  the 
other  hand,  when  we  consider  that  Knox  was  at  this 
time  deserted  by  his  friends,  and  stood  almost  alone 
in  resisting  the  will  of  a  princess,  who  accomplished 
her  measures  chiefly  by  caresses  and  tears,  we  may  be 
disposed  to  form  a  more  favourable  idea  of  his  conduct 
and  motives.  We  behold  not,  indeed,  the  enthusiastic 
lover,  mingling  his  tears  with  those  of  his  mistress, 
and  vowing  to  revenge  her  wrongs ;  nor  the  man  of 
nice  sensibility,  who  loses  every  other  consideration 
in  the  gratification  of  his  feelings ;  but  we  behold, 
what  is  more  rare,  the  stern  patriot,  the  rigid  reformer, 
who,  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty,  and  in  a  public 
cause,  can  withstand  the  tide  of  tenderness  as  well  as 
the  storm  of  passion.  There  have  been  times  when 
such  conduct  was  regarded  as  the  proof  of  a  superior 
mind  ;  and  the  man  who,  from  such  motives,  "  heark- 
ened not  to  the  wife  of  his  bosom,  nor  knew  his  own 
children, "t  has  been  the  object  not  of  censure,  but  of 
admiration,  in  sacred  as  well  as  pagan  story. 

Fertur  pudicce  conjugis  osculiim. 

Parvosque  natos,  ut  capitis  minor, 

Ab  se  reniovisse,  et  virilem 

Torrus  hutui  posuisse  vultum.      HoR.  lib.  iii.  Od.  r. 

When  Knox  lay  under  the  displeasure  of  the  court, 
and  had  lost  the  confidence  of  his  principal  friends,  his 
enemies  judged  it  a  favourable  opportunity  for  attack- 
ing him  in  (what  had  been  universally  allowed  to  be 
irreproachable)  his  moral  conduct.  At  the  very  time 
that  he  was  engaged  in  scrutinizing  the  scandal  against 
Methven,  and  inflicting  upon  him  the  highest  censure 
of  the  church,  it  was  alleged  that  he  was  himself  guilty 
of  the  same  crime.  Euphemia  Dundas,  an  inhabitant 
of  Edinburgh,  inveighing  one  day,  in  the  presence  of  a 
circle  of  her  acquaintances,  against  the  protestant  doc- 
trine and  ministers,  said,  among  other  things,  that  John 
Knox  had  been  a  common  whoremonger  all  his  days, 
and  that,  within  a  few  days  past,  he  "  was  apprehendit 
and  tane  furth  of  ane  killogye  with  ane  commoun  hure." 
This  might  perhaps  have  been  passed  over  by  Knox 
and  the  church,  as  an  effusion  of  popish  spleen  and 
female  scandal ;  but  the  recent  occurrence  at  Jedburgh, 
the  situation  in  which  the  Reformer  at  present  stood 

*  Knox.  Historic,  p.  332—834. 

+  These  are  the  words  of  Mr.  Hume,  who  holds  a  distin. 
guished  place  among  the  writers  who  have  excited  prejudice* 
against  our  Reformer  on  the  score  of  cruelty  to  Mary.  The 
reader  will  find  some  remarks  on  the  statements  of  that  able 
but  artful  historian,  in  Note  LII.  J  Deut.  xxxiii.  9. 


104 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX 


with  the  court,  the  public  manner  in  which  the  charge 
had  been  brought,  and  the  specification  of  a  particular 
instance,  seemed  to  them  to  justify  and  call  for  a  legal 
investigation.  Accordingly,  the  clerk  of  the  General 
Assembly,  on  the  18th  of  June,  gave  in  a  formal  repre- 
sentation and  petition  to  the  town  council,  praying  that 
the  woman  might  be  called  before  them,  and  the  matter 
examined  ;  that,  if  the  accusation  was  found  true,  the 
accused  might  be  punished  with  every  degree  of 
merited  rigour;  and  that,  if  false,  the  accuser  might 
be  dealt  with  according  to  the  demerit  of  her  offence. 
She  was  called,  and,  appearing  before  the  council, 
flatly  denied  that  she  had  ever  used  any  such  words  ; 
although  Knox's  procurator  afterwards  produced  re- 
spectable witnesses  to  prove  that  she  had  spoken 
them.* 

This  convicted  calumny,  which  never  gained  the 
smallest  credit  at  the  time,  would  scarcely  have  de- 
served notice,  had  it  not  been  revived,  after  the  Reform- 
er's death,  by  the  popish  writers,  who,  having  caught 
hold  of  the  report,  and  dressed  it  out  in  all  the  horrid 
colours  which  malice  or  credulity  could  suggest,  circu- 
lated it  industriously,  by  their  publications,  through  the 
continent.  Though  I  had  not  been  able  to  trace  their 
slanders  to  this  source;  the  atrocity  of  the  imputed 
crimes,  the  unspotted  reputation  which  Knox  uniformly 
maintained  among  all  his  contemporaries,  the  glaring 
self-contradictions  of  the  accusers,  and,  above  all,  the 
notorious  spirit  of  slander  and  defamation  for  which 
they  have  long  been  stigmatized  in  the  learned  world, 
would  have  been  grounds  sufficient  for  rejecting  such 
charges  with  detestation.  Those  who  are  acquainted 
with  the  writings  of  that  period  will  not  think  that  I 
speak  too  strongly  ;  those  who  are  not  may  be  satis- 
fied by  looking  into  the  notes. f 

The  Queen  flattered  herself  that  she  had  at  last 
caught  the  Reformer  in  an  offence,  which  would  infal- 
libly subject  him  to  exemplary  punishment.  During 
her  residence  at  Stirling,  in  the  month  of  August,  the 
domestics  whom  she  left  behind  her  in  Holyrood- 
house  celebrated  the  popish  worship  with  greater  pub- 
licity than  had  been  usual  when  she  herself  was  pres- 
ent ;  and  at  the  time  when  the  sacrament  of  the  supper 
was  dispensed  in  Edinburgh,  they  revived  certain 
superstitious  practices  which  had  been  laid  aside  by 
the  Roman  Catholics,  since  the  establishment  of  the 
Reformation.  This  boldness  offended  the  protestants, 
and  some  of  them  went  down  to  the  palace  to  mark 
the  inhabitants  who  repaired  to  the  service.  Perceiv- 
ing numbers  entering,  they  burst  into  the  chapel,  and 
presenting  themselves  at  the  altar,  which  was  prepared 
for  mass,  asked  the  priest  how  he  durst  be  so  malapert 
as  to  proceed  in  that  manner,  when  the  queen  was 
absent?  Alarmed  at  this  intrusion,  the  mistress  of 
the  house  despatched  a  messenger  to  the  comptroller 
(who  was  attending  sermon  in  St.  Giles's  church), 
desiring  him  to  come  instantly  to  save  her  life  and  the 
palace.  Having  hurried  down  accompanied  with  the 
magistrates  and  a  guard,  the  comptroller  found  every 
thing  quiet,  and  no  appearance  of  tumult,  except  what 
was  occasioned  by  the  retinue  which  he  brought  along 
with  him.:^     When  the  report  of  this  affair  was  con- 


»  See  Note  LIII.  +  See  Note  LIV. 

X  SpottUwood  g^ves  a  different  account  of  this  affair,  which 
has  been  adopted  by  several  writers.  He  not  only  says  that 
the  protestants  "  forced  the  gates  ;"  but  that  [some  of  the 
papists]  were  taken  and  carried  to  prison,  many  escaped  the 
back  way  with  the  priest  himself."  History,  p.  188.  But  he 
could  not  have  the  opportunity  of  being  so  well  acquainted 
with  the  circumstances  as  Knox,  whose  account  is  totally  irrec- 
oncilable with  the  Archbishop's.  Knox  expressly  says,  that, 
besides  bursting  into  the  chapel,  and  addressing  the  priest  as 
above  mentioned,  "  no  farther  was  done  or  said."  Historic, 
p.  335,  336.  Had  some  of  the  papists  been  carried  to  prison, 
ne  never  could  have  given  such  an  account  of  it  as  he  did,  not 
only  in  his  history,  but  also  in  his  circular  letter,  which  was 
produced  at  his  trial,  without  any  allegation  that  it  contained 
an  unfair  or  partial  statement  of  facts. 


veyed  to  the  Queen,  she  declared  her  resolution  not  to 
return  to  Edinburgh  unless  this  riot  was  punished,  and 
indicted  two  of  the  protestants  who  had  entered  the  chap- 
el, to  stand  trial  "  for  forethought  felony,  hamesuckin, 
and  invasion  of  the  palace."  Fearing  that  she  inten- 
ded to  proceed  to  extremities  against  these  men,  and 
that  their  condemnation  was  a  preparative  to  some  hos- 
tile measure  against  their  religion,  the  protestants  in 
Edinburgh  resolved  that  Knox,  agreeably  to  a  commis- 
sion which  he  had  received  from  the  church,  should 
write  a  circular  letter  to  the  principal  gentlemen  of 
their  persuasion,  informing  them  of  the  circumstances, 
and  requesting  their  presence  on  the  day  of  trial.  He 
wrote  the  letter  according  to  their  request.*  A  copy 
of  it  having  come  into  the  hands  of  Sinclair,  bishop  of 
Ross,  and  president  of  the  Court  of  ISession,  who  was  a 
great  personal  enemy  to  Knox,  he  conveyed  it  immedi- 
ately to  the  Queen  at  Stirling.  She  communicated  it 
to  the  privy  council,  who,  to  her  great  satisfaction,  pro- 
nounced it  treasotiable  ,•  but  to  give  the  greater  solem- 
nity to  the  proceedings,  it  was  resolved  that  an  extra- 
ordinary convention  of  the  counsellors  and  other  noble- 
men should  be  called  to  meet  at  Edinburgh,  in  the  end 
of  December,  to  try  the  cause.  The  Reformer  was 
summoned  to  appear  before  this  convention. f 

Previous  to  the  day  of  trial  great  influence  was 
used  in  private  to  persuade  or  intimidate  him  to  ac- 
knowledge a  fault,  and  to  throw  himself  on  the  Queen's 
mercy.  This  he  peremptorily  refused  to  do.  The 
Master  of  Maxwell  (afterwards  Lord  Herries),  with 
whom  he  had  long  been  very  intimate,  threatened  him 
with  the  loss  of  his  friendship,  and  told  him  that  he 
would  repent,  if  he  did  not  submit  to  the  Queen,  for 
men  would  not  bear  with  him  as  they  had  hitherto 
done.  He  replied  that  he  did  not  understand  such  lan- 
guage ;  he  had  never  opposed  her  Majesty  except  in 
the  article  of  religion,  and  surely  it  was  not  meant 
that  he  should  bow  to  her  in  that  matter ;  if  God 
stood  by  him  (which  he  would  do  as  long  as  he  confi- 
ded in  Him,  and  preferred  his  glcry  to  his  own  life), 
he  regarded  little  how  men  should  behave  towards  him  ; 
nor  did  he  know  wherein  they  had  borne  with  him, 
unless  in  hearing  the  word  of  God  from  his  mouth, 
which,  if  they  should  reject,  he  would  mourn  for 
them,  but  the  danger  would  be  their  own. 

The  Earl  of  Murray,  and  Secretary  Maitland, 
sent  for  him  to  the  Clerk  Register's  house,  and  had  a 
long  conversation  with  him  to  the  same  purpose.  They 
represented  the  pains  which  they  had  taken  to  mitigate 
the  Queen's  resentment,  and  that  nothing  could  save 
him  but  a  timely  submission.  He  gave  them  the  same 
answer,  that  he  never  would  confess  a  fault  when  he 
was  conscious  of  none,  and  had  not  learned  to  cry  trea- 
son at  every  thing  which  the  multitude  called  treason, 
nor  to  fear  what  they  feared.  The  wily  Secretary  find- 
ing him  determined  to  abide  the  consequences  of  a 
trial,  endeavoured  to  bring  on  a  dispute  on  the  subject, 
and  to  draw  from  him  the  defence  which  he  meant  to 
make  for  himself;  but  Knox,  aware  of  his  craft,  de- 
clined the  conversation,  and  told  him  that  it  would  be 
foolish  to  intrust  with  his  defence  one  who  had  already 
prejudged  his  cause,  and  pronounced  him  guilty. 

On  the  day  appointed  for  the  trial,  the  public  anxiety 
was  greatly  raised,  and  the  palace-yard  and  avenues 


«  Knox,  Historic,  p.  336,  337. 

+  It  has  been  doubted,  whether  this  convention  acted  as  a 
court  of  judicature  in  Knox's  trial,  or  met  merely  to  determine 
whether  he  should  be  brought  to  a  judicial  trial.  Dalyeil's 
Cursory  Remarks,  prefixed  to  .Scottish  Poems,  vol.  i.  72.  The 
justice-general,  the  lord  advocate,  and  the  other  law-lords  were 
present  ;  but  they  had  seals  in  the  privy  council.  Upon  the 
whole,  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  this  was  an  extraordinary 
meeting  of  the  privy  council,  to  which  other  noblemen, 
besides  the  counsellors,  were  called,  to  give  their  proceedings 
greater  weight  with  the  public.  The  object  of  the  Queen  was 
in  the  first  place,  to  procure  the  imprisonment  of  Knox,  after 
which  she  might  proceed  against  him  as  she  thought  most  pru- 
dent.    Knox,  Historie,  p  339,  340.— Spottiiwood,  p.  188. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    KNOX. 


im 


were  crowded  with  people,  who  waited  to  learn  the 
result.  The  Reformer  was  conducted  to  the  chamber 
in  which  the  Lords  were  already  assembled,  and  en- 
gaged in  consultation.  When  the  Queen  had  taken 
her  seat  and  perceived  Knox  standing  uncovered  at  the 
foot  of  the  table,  she  burst  into  a  loud  fit  of  laughter. 
"  That  man,"  she  said,  "  had  made  her  weep,  and 
shed  never  a  tear  himself:  she  said  she  would  now 
see  if  she  could  make  him  weep."  The  Secretary 
opened  the  proceedings  with  greater  gravity,  by  stating, 
in  a  speech  addressed  to  the  Reformer,  the  reasons 
why  the  Queen  had  convened  him  before  her  nobility. 
"  Let  him  acknowledge  his  own  hand  writing,"  said 
the  Queen,  "  and  then  we  shall  judge  of  the  contents 
of  the  letter."  A  copy  of  the  circular  letter  being 
handed  to  him,  he  looked  at  the  subscription,  and 
owned  that  it  was  his  ;  and  though  he  had  subscribed 
a  number  of  blanks,  he  had  such  confidence,  he  said, 
in  the  fidelity  of  the  scribe,  that  he  was  ready  to  ac- 
knowledge the  contents  as  well  as  the  subscription. 
"  You  have  done  more  than  I  would  have  done,"  said 
Maitland.  "  Charity  is  not  suspicious,"  replied  the 
Reformer,  "  Well,  well,"  said  the  Queen,  "  read 
your  own  letter,  and  then  answer  to  such  things  as 
shall  be  demanded  of  you."  "  I  will  do  the  best  I  can," 
said  he ;  and  having  read  the  letter  with  an  audible 
voice,  returned  it  to  the  Queen's  advocate,  who  was 
commanded  to  accuse  him. 

"  Heard  you  ever,  my  Lords,  a  more  despiteful  and 
treasonable  letter]"  said  the  Queen,  looking  round  the 
table.  "  Mr.  Knox,  are  you  not  sorry  from  your  heart, 
and  do  you  not  repent  that  such  a  letter  has  passed 
your  pen,  and  from  you  has  come  to  the  know- 
ledge of  others  V  said  Maitland. — "  My  Lord  Secre- 
tary, before  I  repent  I  must  be  taught  my  offence." — 
"  Offence  !  if  there  were  no  more  but  the  convocation 
of  the  Queen's  lieges,  the  offence  cannot  be  denied." 
— "  Remember  yourself,  my  lord,  there  is  a  difference 
between  a  lawful  convocation  and  an  unlawful.  If  I 
have  been  guilty  in  this,  I  offended  oft  since  I  last 
came  into  Scotland  ;  for  what  convocation  of  the  breth- 
ren has  ever  been  to  this  hour,  unto  which  my  pen 
served  not  ]" — "  Then  was  then,  and  now  is  now," 
said  the  Secretary  ;  "  we  have  no  need  of  such  convo- 
cations as  sometimes  we  have  had."  "  The  time  that 
has  been  is  even  now  before  my  eyes,"  rejoined  the 
Reformer;  "  for  I  see  the  poor  flock  in  no  less  danger 
than  it  has  been  at  any  time  before,  except  that  the 
devil  has  got  a  vizor  upon  his  face.  Before,  he  came 
in  with  his  own  face,  discovered  by  open  tyranny, 
seeking  the  destruction  of  all  that  refused  idolatry  ; 
and  then,  I  think,  you  will  confess  the  brethren  law- 
fully assembled  themselves  for  defence  of  their  lives  : 
and  now  the  devil  comes  under  the  cloak  of  justice,  to 
do  that  which  God  would  not  suffer  him  to  do  by 
strength" 

"  What  is  this  ?"  interrupted  her  Majesty,  who  was 
offended  that  he  should  be  allowed  such  liberty  of 
speech,  and  thought  that  she  could  bring  him  more 
closely  to  the  question  than  any  of  her  counsellors. 
"  What  is  this  1  Methinks  you  trifle  with  him. 
Who  gave  him  authority  to  make  convocation  of  my 
lieges  1  Is  not  that  treason?"  "No,  madam,"  re- 
plied Lord  Ruthven,  displeased  at  the  active  keenness 
which  the  Queen  shewed  in  the  cause ;  "  for  he  makes 
convocation  of  the  people  to  hear  prayer  and  sermon 
almost  daily  ;  and  whatever  your  Grace  or  others  will 
think  thereof,  we  think  i-t  no  treason."  "  Hold  your 
peace,"  said  the  Queen  ;  "  and  let  him  make  answer 
for  himself." — "  I  began,  madam,"  resumed  Knox,  "  to 
reason  with  the  Secretary  (whom  I  take  to  be  a  better 
dialectician  than  your  Grace)  that  all  convocations  are 
not  unlawful;  and  now  my  Lord  Ruthven  has  given 
the  instance." — "  I  will  say  nothing  against  your  reli- 
gion, nor  against  your  convening  to  your  sermons  ;  but 
what  authority  have  you  to  convocate  my  subjects 
when  you  will,  without  my  commandment?"  He 
O 


answered  that  at  his  own  will  he  had  never  convened 
four  persons  in  Scotland,  but  at  the  orders  of  his 
brethren  he  had  given  many  advertisements,  and  great 
multitudes  had  assembled  in  consequence  of,.lhem; 
and  if  her  Grace  complained  that  this  had  been  done 
without  her  command,  he  begged  leave  to  answer,  that 
so  was  all  that  had  been  done  respecting  the  reforma- 
tion of  religion  in  this  kingdom.  He  had  never,  he 
said,  loved  to  stir  up  tumults,  never  been  a  preacher 
of  rebellion  ;  on  the  contrary,  he  had  always  taught  the 
people  to  obey  princes  and  magistrates  in  all  their  law- 
ful commands.  If  he  had  been  moro  active  than  the 
rest  of  his  brethren  in  calling  extraordinary  assemblies 
of  the  protestants,  it  was  owing  to  a  charge  which 
he  had  received  from  the  church  to  do  so,  as  often  as 
he  saw  a  necessity  for  such  meetings,  and  especially 
when  religion  was  exposed  to  danger;  and  he  had 
repeatedly  requested  to  be  exonerated  from  this  irk- 
some and  invidious  charge,  but  could  not  obtain  his 
wish.  He  must,  therefore,  be  convicted  by  a  just  law, 
before  he  would  profess  sorrow  for  what  he  had  done  : 
he  thought  he  had  done  no  wrong. 

"You  shall  not  escape  so,"  said  the  Queen.  "Is 
it  not  treason,  my  lords,  to  accuse  a  prince  of  cruelty  ? 
I  think  there  be  acts  of  parliament  against  such  whis- 
perers." Several  of  their  lordships  said  that  there 
were  such  laws.  "  But  wherein  can  I  be  accused  of 
this?" — "  Read  this  part  of  your  own  bill,"  said  the 
queen,  who  shewed  herself  an  acute  prosecutor. 
She  then  ordered  the  following  sentence  to  be  read 
from  his  letter:  "This  fearful  summons  is  directed 
against  them,  [the  two  persons  who  were  indicted]  to 
make  no  doubt  a  preparative  on  a  few,  that  a  door  may 
be  opened  to  execute  cmelty  upon  a  greater  multi- 
tude."— "  Lo!"  exclaimed  the  Queen  exultingly; 
"what  say  you  to  that?"  The  eyes  of  the  assembly 
were  fixed  on  the  Reformer,  anxious  to  know  what 
answer  he  would  make  to  this  charge. 

"  Is  it  lawful  for  me,  madam,  to  answer  for  myself? 
or,  shall  I  be  condemned  unheard  ?" — "  Say  what  you 
can  ;  for  I  think  you  have  enough  to  do." — "  1  will 
first  then  desire  of  your  Grace,  madam,  and  of  this 
most  honourable  audience.  Whether  your  Grace 
knows  not,  that  the  obstinate  papists  are  deadly  ene- 
mies to  all  such  as  profess  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  that  they  most  earnestly  desire  the  extermination 
of  them,  and  of  the  true  doctrine  that  is  taught  with- 
in this  realm?" — The  Queen  was  silent;  but  the 
Lords,  with  one  voice,  exclaimed,  "  God  forbid,  that 
ever  the  lives  of  the  faithful,  or  yet  the  staying  of  the 
doctrine,  stood  in  the  power  of  the  papists!  for  just 
experience  has  taught  us  what  cruelty  lies  in  their 
hearts."  "  1  must  proceed  then,"  said  the  Reformer. 
"  Seeing  that  I  perceive  that  all  will  grant,  that  it 
were  a  barbarous  thing  to  destroy  such  a  multitude  as 
profess  the  gospel  of  Christ  within  this  realm;  which 
oftener  than  once  or  twice  they  have  attempted  to  do 
by  force, — they,  by  God  and  by  his  providence  being 
disappointed,  have  invented  more  crafty  aad  danger- 
ous practices,  to  wit,  to  make  the  prince  a  party  ander 
colour  of  law  ;  and  so  what  they  could  not  do  by  open 
force,  they  shall  perform  by  crafty  deceit.  For  who 
thinks,  my  Lords,  that  the  insatiable  cruelty  of  the  pa- 
pists (within  this  realm  I  mean)  shall  end  in  the  mur- 
dering of  these  two  brethren,  now  unjustly  summoned, 
and  more  unjustly  to  be  accused  ? — And  therefore, 
madam,  cast  up,  when  you  list,  the  acts  of  your  par- 
liament;  I  have  offended  nothing  against  them;  for  I 
accuse  not,  in  my  letter,  your  Grace,  nor  yet  your 
nature,  of  cruelty.  But  I  aflirm  yet  again,  that  the 
pestilent  papists,  who  have  inflamed  your  Grace 
against  those  poor  men  at  this  present,  are  the  sons  of 
the  devil,  and  therefore  must  obey  the  desires  of  their 
father,  who  has  been  a  liar  and  a  manslayer  from  the 
beginning."  "  You  forget  yourself!  you  are  not  now 
in  the  pulpit,"  said  the  Chancellor. — "I  am  in  the 
place  where  I  am   demanded   of  conscience  to  speak 


10« 


LIFE    OF  JOHN   KNOX 


the  truth  ;  and  therefore  the  truth  I  speak,  impugn  it 
whoso  list."  He  added,  again  addressing  the  Queen, 
that  persons  who  appeared  to  be  of  honest,  gentle,  and 
meek  natures,  had  often  been  corrupted  by  wicked 
counsel  ;  and  that  the  papists  who  had  her  ear  were 
dangerous  counsellors,  and  such  her  mother  had  found 
them  to  be. 

Mary,  perceiving  that  nothing  was  to  be  gained  by 
reasoning,  began  lo  upbraid  him  with  his  harsh  be- 
haviour to  her,  at  their  last  interview.  He  spake 
"  fair  enough"  at  present  before  the  Lords,  she  said, 
but  on  that  occasion  he  caused  her  to  shed  many  salt 
tears,  and  said,  "  he  set  not  by  her  weeping."  This 
drew  from  him  a  vindication  of  his  conduct,  in  which 
he  gave  a  narration  of  that  conference.  After  this, 
the  Secretary,  having  spoken  with  the  Queen,  told 
Knox  that  he  was  at  liberty  to  return  home  for  that 
night.  "I  thank  God  and  t\te  Queen's  majesty,"  said 
he. 

When  Knox  had  withdrawn,  the  judgment  of  the 
nobility  was  taken  respecting  his  conduct.  All  of 
them,  with  the  exception  of  the  immediate  depend- 
ents of  the  Court,  voted,  that  he  had  not  been  guilty 
of  any  breach  of  the  laws.  The  Secretrary,  who  had 
assured  the  Queen  of  his  condemnation,  was  enraged 
at  this  decision.  He  brought  her  Majesty,  who  had 
retired  before  the  vote,  again  into  the  room,  and  pro- 
ceeded  to  call  the  votes  a  second  time  in  her  presence. 
This  attempt  to  overawe  them  incensed  the  nobility. 
"  What !"  said  they,  "  shall  the  laird  of  Lethington 
have  power  to  control  us  1  or,  shall  the  presence  of 
a  woman  cause  us  to  offend  God,  and  to  condemn  an 
innocent  man,  against  our  conscience  1"  They  then 
repeated  the  votes  which  they  had  already  given,  ab- 
solving him  from  all  offence,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
praising  his  modest  appearance  and  the  judicious  man- 
ner in  which  he  had  conducted  his  defence. 

Mary  was  unable  to  conceal  the  mortification  and 
displeasure  which  she  felt  at  this  unexpected  acquit- 
tal. When  the  bishop  of  Ross,  who  had  been  the 
informer,  gave  his  vote  on  the  same  side  with  the  rest, 
she  taunted  him  openly  in  the  presence  of  the  Court. 
"  Trouble  not  the  child  !  I  pray  you  trouble  him  not ! 
for  he  is  newly  wakened  out  of  his  sleep.  Why 
should  not  the  old  fool  follow  the  footsteps  of  those 
that  have  passed  beibre  him  ?"  The  bishop  replied 
coldly,  that  her  Majesty  might  easily  know,  that  his 
vote  was  not  influenced  by  partiality  to  the  accused. 
"  That  nicht  was  nyther  dancing  nor  fiddeling  in  the 
court ;  for  madam  was  disappoynted  of  hir  purpose, 
quhilk  was  to  have  had  Johne  Knox  in  hir  will,  be 
vote  of  hir  nobility."* 


PERIOD  VIIL 

From  December  1563,  when  he  wag  acquitted  fronj  a  charjj-e 
of  treason,  to  the  year  1570,  when  he  was  struck  with 
apoplexy. 

The  indignation  of  the  Queen  at  the  Reformer's 
escape  from  punishment  did  not  soon  abate,j"  and 
the  effects  of  it  fell  both  upon  the  courtiers  who  had 
voted  /or  his  exculpation,  and-  upon  those  who  had 
been  unsuccessful  in  opposing  it.  The  Earl  of  Mur- 
ray was  among  the  former  ;:J:  Mailland  among  the 
latter.  In  order  to  appease  her,  they  again  attempted 
to  persuade  Knox  to  soothe  her  by  some  voluntary 
submission ;    and    they   engaged    that,   provided    he 


*  Knox.  Historie,  p.  238— 343.     Spottiswood,  p.  188. 
ccounl  of  the  trial  given  by  Calderwowl,  in  hi?  MS.  has 


The 
account  ol  the  trial  given  by  Calderwowi,  in  hi?  MS.  has  been 
compared  with  that  of  Knox,  and  exactly  agrees  with  it 

+  Keith,  248,  251. 

t  In  a  letter  to  Randolph,  27th  Feb.  1564,  there  is  mention 
made  of  "  some  unkindness  between  Murray  and  the  Queen, 
aboat  Knox,  whose  parte  be  [Murray]  taketh."     Keith,  249. 


would  only  agree  to  go  within  the  walls  of  the  castle, 
he  should  be  allowed  to  return  immediately  to  his 
own  house.  But  he  refused  to  yield,  being  convinced 
that  by  such  compliances  he  would  throw  discredit 
on  the  judgment  of  the  nobility  who  had  acquitted  him, 
and  confess  himself  to  be  a  mover  of  sedition.  Disap- 
pointed in  this,  they  endeavoured  to  injure  him  by 
whispers  and  detraction,  circulating  that  he  had  no 
authority  from  his  brethren  for  what  he  had  done  ; 
and  that  he  arrogated  a  papal  and  arbitrary  power 
over  the  Scottish  church,  issuing  his  letters,  and 
exacting  obedience  to  them.  These  charges  were 
very  groundless  and  injurious;  for  there  never  was 
any  one  perhaps  who  possessed  as  much  influence,  and 
at  the  same  time  was  so  careful  to  avoid  all  appearance 
of  assuming  superiority  over  his  brethren,  or  of  acting 
by  his  own  authority,  in  matters  of  public  and  com- 
mon concern. 

In  the  General  Assembly,  which  met  at  the  close 
of  this  year,  he  declined  taking  any  share  in  the  de- 
bates. When  their  principal  business  was  settled, 
he  requested  liberty  to  speak  on  an  affair  which  con- 
cerned himself.  He  stated  what  he  had  done  in 
writing  the  late  circular  letter,  the  proceedings  to 
which  it  had  given  rise,  and  the  surmise*  which  were 
still  circulated  to  his  prejudice;  and  insisted  that  the 
church  should  now  examine  his  conduct  in  that  mat- 
ter, and  particularly  that  they  should  declare,  whether 
or  not  they  had  given  him  a  commission  to  advertise 
the  brethren,  when  he  foresaw  any  danger  threatening 
their  religion,  or  any  difiicuU  case  which  required  their 
advice.  The  courtiers  strenuously  opposed  the  dis- 
cussion of  this  question  ;  but  it  was  taken  up,  and  the 
Assembly,  by  a  great  majority,  found  that  he  had 
been  burthened  with  such  a  commission,  and,  in  the 
advertisement  which  he  had  lately  given,  had  not 
exceeded  his  powers.* 

Knox  had  remained  a  widower  upwards  of  three 
years.  But  in  March  1564,  he  contracted  a  second 
marriage  with  Margaret  Slewart,-\  daughter  of  Lord 
Ochillree,X  a  nobleman  of  amiable  dispositions,]!  who 
had  been  long  familiar  with  our  Reformer,  and  steadily 
adhered  to  him  when  he  was  deserted  by  his  other 
friends.  She  continued  to  discharge  the  duties  of  a 
wife  to  him,  with  pious  and  affectionate  assiduity, 
until  the  time  of  his  death.  The  popish  writers 
who  envied  the  honours  of  the  Scottish  Reformer, 
have  represented  this  marriage  as  a  proof  of  his  great 
ambition  :  and,  in  the  excess  of  their  spleen,  have 
ridiculously  imputed  to  him  the  project  of  aiming  to 
raise  his  progeny  to  the  throne  of  Scotland  ;  because 
the  family  of  Ochiltree  were  of  the  blood  royal !  They 
are  quite  clear,  too,  that  he  gained  the  heart  of  the  young 
lady  by  means  of  sorcery,  and  the  assistance  of  the 
devil.  But  it  seems,  that,  powerfully  as  he  was  sec- 
onded, he  could  not  succeed  in  another  attempt  which 
he  had  previously  made  ;  for  the  same  writers  inform 
us,  that  he  had  paid  his  addresses  to  Lady  Barbara  Ham- 
ilton, eldest  daughter  of  the  duke  of  Chastelherault, 
and  widow  of  James  Lord  Fleming,  and  that  he  was 


«  Keith,  527,  528.     Knox.  344.  345. 

+  Randolph,  in  a  letter  to  Cecil,  18th  March,  156},  say*: 
"  Knox  askt  in  church  to  be  marryed  to  Margrett  Steward,  the 
daughter  of  the  lortl  Ochiltre;"  referring  to  the  proclamatioD 
of  banns.     Ktith,  251. 

}  Lord  Ochiltree  wag  descended  from  Robert,  duke  of  Alba- 
ny, second  son  of  king  Robert  II.  His  father  exchanged  the 
lands  and  title  o(  Evandale  for  those  of  Ochiltree,  Douglas's 
Peerage,  522.  Crawford's  Renfrew,  and  Royal  House  of  Stew- 
art, by  Seniple,  part  i.  p.  92 — 94.  The  second  son  of  lord 
Ochiltree,  and  brother-in-law  of  the  Reformer,  was  Sir  James 
Stewart  of  Bothwelmuir,  afterwards  the  infamous  favourite  of 
James  VI.  who  created  him  Earl  of  Arran.  Crawfurd,  in  his 
Officers  of  State,  (p.  448.)  has  published  a  protestation  which 
Arran  made  of  his  lineage,  and  title  of  priority  to  the  Duke  of 
Lennox,  his  rival  in  James's  favour. 

II  He  was  usually  called,  the  good  Lord  Ochiltree.  Knox 
says,  that  he  was  "  a  man  rather  borne  to  mak  peace  then  to 
brag  nponn  the  calsejr."    Historie,  p.  304. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


IflT 


repulsed.  The  account  of  the  appearance  that  he 
made  about  the  time  of  his  marriage,  which  shall  be 
inserted  in  the  notes,  the  reader  will  receive  according 
to  the  degree  of  its  probability,  and  the  credit  he  may 
think  due  to  the  authority  upon  which  it  rests.* 

The  country  continued  in  a  state  of  quietness  during 
the  year  1564;  but  the  same  jealousies  still  subsisted 
between  the  court  and  the  church.  Her  Majesty's 
prejudices  against  the  reformed  religion  were  unabated, 
and  she  maintained  a  correspondence  with  its  sworn 
enemies  on  the  continent,  which  could  not  altogether 
escape  the  vigilance  of  her  protestant  subjects.")-  The 
preachers,  on  their  side,  did  not  relax  in  their  zealous 
warnings  against  popery,  and  concerning  the  dangers 
which  they  apprehended  ;  they  complained  of  llie 
beggary  to  which  the  greater  part  of  their  own  number 
was  reduced,  and  of  the  growing  lukewarmness  of  the 
protestant  courtiers.  The  latter  were  uneasy  under 
these  reproaches,  and,  in  concert  with  the  Queen,  were 
anxious  to  restrain  the  license  of  the  pulpit.  They 
began  by  addressing  themselves  in  private  to  some  of 
the  more  moderate  and  complying  of  the  ministers, 
whom  they  had  gained  over,  by  their  persuasions,  to 
a  partial  appiobation  of  their  measures.  Having  so 
far  succeeded,  they  ventured  to  propose  the  matter  more 
publicly,  and  to  request  the  sanction  of  the  leading 
members  of  the  General  Assembly.  Without  design- 
ing to  vindicate  the  latitude  which  might  be  taken  by 
particular  preachers  at  this  time,  I  may  say  in  general, 
that  a  systematic  attempt  to  restrain  the  liberty  of 
speech  in  the  pulpit  (farther  than  the  correction  of  any 
occasional  excess  might  require)  would  have  been  a 
measure  fraught  with  danger  to  the  protestant  interest. 
The  reformed  preachers  were  the  most  vigilant  and 
incorrupt  guardians  of  national  liberty;  an  honourable 
distinction  which  their  successors  maintained  during 
the  remainder  of  that  century.  It  is  better  to  be  awa- 
kened with  rudeness,  or  even  by  a  false  alarm,  than 
to  be  allowed  to  sleep  on  in  the  midst  of  dangers. 
Who  would  muzzle  the  mouth  of  the  wakeful  animal 
who  guards  the  house  against  thieves,  because  the 
inhabitants  are  sometimes  disturbed  by  his  nocturnal 
vociferation'?  or  substitute  in  his  place,  a  "dumb  dog, 
that  cannot  bark,  sleeping,  lying  down,  loving  to 
slumber  1" 

Knox,  the  freedom  and  sharpness  of  whose  censures 
the  courtiers  felt  most  deeply,  was  the  person  whom 
they  chiefly  wished  to  restrain ;  but  it  was  no  easy 
matter  either  to  overawe  or  reason  him  into  silence. 
In  the  month  of  June  they  obtained  a  conference  with 
the  leading  members  of  the  General  Assembly,  when 
this  subject  was  discussed  ;  and  in  an  elaborate  debate 
with  Maitland,  Knox  defended  the  principal  points  of 
his  doctrine  which  gave  offence  to  the  court.  This  de- 
bate, says  Dr.  Robertson,  "admirably  displays  the 
talents  and  character  of  both  the  disputants  ;  the  acute- 
ness  of  the  former,  embellished    with   learning,    but 

{»rone  to  subtilty ;  the  vigorous  understanding  of  the 
atter,  delighting  in  bold  sentiments,  and  superior  to 
all  fear.":|: 

Maitland  opened  the  conference  with  a  plausible 
speech.     He   set  forth    the  benefits  which  they  had 


*  See  Note  LV. 

t  Robertson's  Histor}-  of  Scotland,  vol  ii.  108.  Lend.  1809. 
MS.  Letters  (extracted  from  the  Barberini  Library).  Adv. 
Lib.  A.  2.  11.  In  a  letter  to  the  Council  of  Trent,  18th  March 
156|  Mary  expresses  her  regret  that  the  situation  of  her  affairs 
(hujus  temporis  tanta  injuria)  did  not  permit  her  to  send  some  of 
her  prelates  to  that  council  ;  and  assures  them  of  her  great 
and  unalterable  devotion  to  the  apostolic  See,  "  nostra  perpet- 
ua  mente  ac  voluntate,  in  ejusdem  sedis  observantia  et  subiiiis- 
sione."  In  a  letter  written  Jan.  3.  the  same  year,  she  entreats 
the  Cardinal  of  Lorrain  to  assure  the  Pope  of  her  resolution 
to  live  and  die  a  Catholic.  And  on  the  last  day  of  the  same 
month,  she  writes  to  his  Holines  himself,  laments  the  damnable 
tiTors  (damnabili  errori)  in  which  she  found  her  subjects 
•lunged,  and  informs  him  that  her  intention,  from  the  time  she 
liad  left  France,  had  uniformly  been  to  re-establish  the  ancient 
reliffion.  |  Hist,  of  Scotland,  ut  supra,  p.  109. 


enjoyed  under  her  Majesty's  government,  and  partic- 
ularly the  liberty  which  she  had  granted  thein  in  reli- 
gious matters ;  he  insisted  on  the  great  importance  of 
the  ministers  of  the  church  cultivating  her  favour  by 
every  good  office  in  their  power,  and  endeavouring  to 
inspire  the  people  with  a  good  opinion  of  her  person 
and  administration;  and  he  represented  the  hurtful 
effects  of  their  being  observed  to  disagree  in  their 
form  of  prayer  for  her,  and  in  their  doctrine  concerning 
the  duty  of  subjects.  Addressing  himself  to  Knox 
in  particular,  he  told  him,  with  much  politeness  and 
address,  that  it  was  the  earnest  wish  of  the  Council 
that  he  should  study  greater  caution  when  he  had  occa- 
sion to  speak  of  her  Majesty  from  the  pulpit;  not  that 
they  were  afraid  of  his  saying  any  thing  v(-ry  im- 
proper, but  because  the  liberty  which  he  used  would 
be  taken  by  persons  less  modest  and  prudent.  Knox 
replied  to  the  Secretary's  speech.  He  drew  a  very 
different  picture  of  matters  since  the  Queen  came  to 
the  country  ;  he  stated  the  grievances  under  which 
the  church  laboured,  and  which  were  daily  increasing, 
instead  of  being  diminished ;  and  he  said,  that  in 
these  circumstances  the  courtiers  ought  not  to  be  sur- 
prised at  the  complaints  of  the  ministers,  and  the  liber- 
ties which  they  took  in  rebuking  sins,  which  were 
openly  committed,  and  persisted  in  notwithstanding  all 
due  admonitions.  At  the  same  time  he  professed  his 
readiness  to  account  for  any  part  of  his  own  conduct 
which  had  given  offence,  and  to  listen  to  the  objections 
which  might  be  urged  against  it. 

Maitland  specified  the  mode  in  which  the  Reformer 
usually  prayed  for  her  Majesty,  as  one  thing  which  gave 
offence  to  him  and  his  colleagues.  Prayers  and  tears, 
it  has  often  been  alleged,  are  the  only  arms  which 
Christians  ought  to  employ  against  injuries.  But 
those  who  have  deprived  them  of  other  weapons,  have 
usually  envied  them  the  use  of  these  also :  and  if 
their  prayers  have  not  been  smoothed  down  to  the  tem- 
per of  their  adversaries,  so  as  to  become  mere  compli- 
ments to  princes  under  colour  of  an  address  to  the 
Almighty,  they  have  often  been  pronounced  seditious 
and  treasonable.*  Knox  repeated  his  common  form 
of  prayer  for  the  Queen,  and  requested  to  be  informed 
in  what  respects  it  was  deserving  of  reprehension. 
"  Ye  pray  for  the  Queen's  Majesty  with  a  condition, 
(said  Maitland)  saying,  'Illuminate  her  heart  if  thy 
good  pleasure  be.'  Where  have  ye  example  of  such 
prayer  V  "  Wherever  the  examples  are,"  replied 
Knox,  "  I  am  assured  of  the  rule,  '  If  we  shall  ask  any 
thing  according  to  his  will  he  will  hear  us  ;'  and  Christ 
commanded  us  to  pray,  '  Thy  will  be  done."  "  But 
in  so  doing  ye  put  a  doubt  in  the  people's  head  of  her 
conversion,"  said  Maitland. — "  Not  I,  my  Lord  ;  hax. 
her  own  obstinate  rebellion  causes  more  than  me  to 
doubt  of  her  conversion." — "Wherein  rebels  she 
against  God  T' — "In  all  the  actions  of  her  life,  but 
in  these  two  heads  especially  ;  that  she  will  not  hear 
the  preaching  of  the  blessed  evangel  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  that  she  maintains  that  idol  the  mass." — "  She 
thinks  not  that  rebellion,  but  good  religion." — "So 
thought  they  who  offered  their  children  to  Moloch,  and 
yet  the  spirit  of  God  affirms,  that  they  offered  them 
unto  devils,  and  not  unto  God."  "  But  yet  ye  can  pro- 
duce the  example  of  none  that  has  so  prayed  before 
you,"  said  the  Secretary,  pressing  his  former  objec- 
tion. "  Well  then,"  said  Knox  ;  "  Peter  said  these 
words  to  Simon  Magus, '  Repent  of  this  thy  wickedness, 
and  pray  to  God,  that,  if  it  be  possible,  the  thought 
of  thine  heart  may  be  forgiven  thee.'  And  think  ye 
not,  my  Lord  Secretary,  that  the  same  doubt  may 
touch  my  heart  as  touching  the  Queen's  conversion  that 


*  During  the  reign  of  Mary  of  England,  the  manner  in  which 
the  protestants  prayed  for  her,  in  their  conventicles,  was  declar- 
ed High  Treason.  Act.  Pari.  1.  and  2.  Philip  and  Mary,  cap.  9. 
Nor  did  the  psalms  and  pra;  ers  of  the  primitive  Christians  es- 
cape punishment  under  the  tolerant  emperor  Julian.  Work* 
of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Johnson,  p.  20—22,     Lend.  1713. 


108 


LIFE   OF  JOHN   KNOX. 


then  touched  the  heart  of  the  Apostle  1" — "  I  would 
never  hear  you  or  any  other  call  that  in  doubt,"  replied 
Maitland. — "  But  your  will  is  no  assurance  to  my  con- 
science." "  Why  say  ye  that  she  refuses  admoni- 
tions?" said  Maitland;  "she  will  gladly  hear  any 
man." — "  But  what  obedience  ensues  1  Or,  when 
shall  she  be  seen  to  grive  her  presence  to  the  public 
preachinff?"  "I  think  never,  so  long  as  she  is  thus 
entreated,"  replied  the  Secretary.  "  And  so  long," 
rejoined  the  Reformer,  "ye  and  all  others  must  be 
contefit  that  I  pray  so  as  I  may  be  assured  to  be  heard 
of  my  God,  either  in  making  her  comfortable  to  his 
church,  or,  if  he  has  appointed  her  to  be  a  scourge  to 
the  same,  that  we  may  have  patience,  and  she  may  be 
bridled." 

"  Well  then,"  said  the  Secretary,  "  let  us  come  to 
the  second  head.  W'here  find  ye  that  the  Scripture 
calls  any  '  the  bond-slaves  of  Satan  V  Or,  that  the 
prophets  spake  so  irreverently  of  kings  and  princes  1" 
"If  the  sharpness  of  the  term  oifend  you,"  replied  the 
Reformer,  "  I  have  not  invented  that  phrase  of  speak- 
ing, but  have  learned  it  out  of  God's  scriptures  ;  for 
these  words  I  find  spoken  unto  Paul,  '  Behold,  I 
send  thee  unto  the  Gentiles,  to  open  their  eyes,  that 
they  may  turn  from  darkness  lo  light,  and  from  the 
POWER  OF  SATAN  unto  God.'  Mark  thir  words,  my 
Lord,  and  stur  not  at  the  speaking  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 

The  Secretary,  who  during  the  greater  part  of  the 
dispute  leaned  on  the  Master  of  Maxwell's  breast,  said 
that  he  was  fatigued,  and  desired  some  other  person  to 
reason  with  Knox  on  the  point  which  remained  to  be 
discussed,  respecting  the  authority  of  magistrates  and 
the  duty  of  subjects.  The  Chancellor  Morton  ordered 
George  Hay  to  perform  this  part.  Knox  was  aware, 
that  the  object  of  the  Court  was,  if  possible,  to  divide 
the  ministers,  and  that  they  would  improve  any  ap- 
pearance of  diversity  of  opinion  among  them  to  the 
prejudice  of  the  common  cause.  He  therefore  told 
his  brother,  Hay,  that  he  had  no  objections  to  reason 
with  him,  as  he  knew  him  to  be  a  man  of  learning  and 
modesty  ;  but  he  should  be  sorry  to  think  that  they 
opposed  each  other,  like  two  scholars  of  Pythagoras, 
to  shew  the  quickness  of  their  parts  by  supporting 
either  side  of  a  question  ;  and  as  he,  for  his  own  part, 
protested  that  he  durst  no  more  support  a  proposition 
which  he  knew  to  be  untrue  than  he  durst  teach 
false  doctrine  in  the  pulpit,  so  he  hoped  that  his  broth- 
er would,  on  the  present  occasion,  advance  or  main- 
tain nothing  but  what  he  was  persuaded  of  in  his 
conscience.  This  caution  had  the  desired  effect,  and 
Hay  declared  before  the  whole  assembly,  that  his 
judgment  exactly  coincided  with  Knox's  on  the  sub- 
ject proposed  for  discussion.  "  Marry,"  said  the  dis- 
appointed Secretary,  "  ye  are  the  well  worst  of  the 
two ;  far  I  remember  our  reasoning  when  the  Queen 
was  in  Carrick." 

Perceiving  that  none  of  the  company  was  disposed 
lo  enter  the  lists  with  the  Reformer,  the  Secretary 
again  returned  to  the  charge,  and  engaged  to  defend 
the  uncontrollable  authority  of  rulers.  "  Well,"  said 
he,  "  I  am  somewhat  better  provided  in  this  last  head, 
than  I  was  in  the  other  two.  Mr.  Knox,  yesterday 
we  heard  your  judgment  upon  the  13th  to  the  Romans ; 
we  heard  the  mind  of  the  apostle  well  opened  ;  we 
heard  the  causes  why  God  has  established  powers 
upon  the  earth  ;  we  heard  the  necessity  that  mankind 
h?.s  of  the  same;  and  we  heard  the  duty  of  magis- 
trates sufficiently  declared.  But  in  two  things  I  was 
offended,  and  I  think  some  more  of  my  Lords  that 
then  were  present :  The  one  was,  ye  made  difference 
betwixt  the  ordinance  of  God,  and  the  persons  that 
were  placed  in  authority  ;  and  ye  affirmed,  that  men 
might  resist  the  persons,  and  yet  not  offend  God's 
ordinance :  The  other  was,  that  subjects  were  not 
bound  to  obey  their  princes  if  they  commanded  unlaw- 
ful things,  but  that  they  might  resist  their  princes,  and 
were  not  ever  bound  to  suffer."     Knox  said  that  the 


Secretary  had  given  an  exact  statement  of  his  senti- 
ments. "  How  will  you  prove  your  division  and 
difference,"  said  Maitland,  "  and  that  the  person 
placed  in  authority  may  be  resisted,  and  God's  ordin- 
ance not  transgressed,  seeing  that  the  apostle  says, 
'  He  that  resists  the  powers,  resists  the  ordinance  of 
God  ?"  Knox  replied,  that  the  difference  was  evi- 
dent from  the  words  of  the  apostle,  and  that  his 
affirmative  was  supported  by  approved  examples.  For 
the  apostle  asserts,  that  the  powers  ordained  of  God 
are  for  the  preservation  of  quiet  and  peaceable  men, 
and  for  the  punishment  of  malefactors  ;  whence  it  is 
plain,  that  God's  ordinance  is  wholly  intended  for  the 
preservation  of  mankind,  the  punishment  of  vice,  and 
the  maintaining  of  virtue  :  but  the  persons  placed  in 
authority  are  often  corrupt,  unjust,  and  oppressive. 
Having  referred  to  the  instance  of  the  people  of  Is- 
rael rescuing  Jonathan  from  the  hands  of  Saul,  and 
mentioned  the  conduct  of  Doeg  in  executing  the 
command  of  that  monarch,  by  putting  the  priests  to 
death,  he  proceeded  thus:  "And  now,  my  Lord,  in 
answer  to  the  place  of  the  apostle,  I  say,  that  '  the 
power'  in  that  place  is  not  to  be  understood  of  the 
unjust  commandment  of  men,  but  of  the  just  power 
wherewith  God  has  armed  his  magistrates  to  punish 
sin  and  to  maintain  virtue.  As  if  any  man  should 
interprise  to  take  from  the  hands  of  a  lawful  judge 
a  murderer,  an  adulterer,  or  any  other  malefactor  that  by 
God's  law  deserved  the  death,  this  same  man  resisted 
God's  ordinance,  and  procured  to  himself  vengeance 
and  damnation,  because  that  he  stayeih  God's  sword 
to  strike.  But  so  it  is  not,  if  that  men,  in  the  fear  of 
God,  oppose  themselves  to  the  fury  and  blind  ragre  of 
princes  ;  for  so  they  resist  not  God  but  the  Devil, 
who  abuses  the  sword  and  authority  of  God."  "I 
understand  sufficiently,"  said  Maitland,  "  what  you 
mean  ;  and  unto  the  one  part  I  will  not  oppose  my- 
self, but  I  doubt  of  the  other.  For  if  the  Queen 
would  command  me  to  slay  John  Knox,  because  she 
is  offended  at  him,  I  would  not  obey  her ;  but  if  she 
would  command  others  to  do  it,  or  yet  by  a  colour  of 
justice  to  take  his  life  from  him,  I  cannot  tell  if  I  be 
bound  to  defend  him  against  the  Queen,  and  against 
her  officers."  "  Under  protestation,"  replied  the  Re- 
former, "  that  the  auditory  think  not  that  I  speak  in 
favours  of  myself,  I  say,  my  Lord,  that  if  ye  be  per- 
suaded of  my  innocence,  and  if  God  hath  given  you 
such  power  or  credit  as  might  deliver  me,  and  yet  ye 
suffer  me  to  perish,  that  in  so  doing  ye  should  be  crim- 
inal, and  guilty  of  my  blood."  "  Prove  that,  and  win 
the  plea,"  said  Maitland.  "  Well,  my  Lord,"  an- 
swered Knox,  "  remember  your  promise,  and  I  shall 
be  short  in  my  probation."  He  then  produced  the 
example  of  Jeremiah,  who,  when  accused  by  the  priests 
and  false  prophets,  said  to  the  princes,  '  but  know 
ye  for  certain,  that  if  ye  put  me  to  death,  ye  shall 
surely  bring  innocent  blood  upon  yourselves,  and  upon 
this  city,  and  upon  the  inhabitants  thereof.'  "The 
cases  are  not  like,"  said  Maitland.  "  And  I  would 
learn,"  said  Knox,  "  wherein  the  dissimilitude  stands." 
"  First,"  replied  the  other,  "  the  king  had  not  con- 
demned him  to  death."  And  next,  the  false  prophets, 
the  priests,  and  the  people,  accused  him  without  a 
cause,  and  therefore  they  could  not  but  be  guilty  of 
his  blood."  To  this  the  Reformer  answered,  thai  the 
princes  sitting  in  judgment  represented  the  king,  and 
thai  the  text  plainly  stated  that  the  princes  defended 
him,  and  no  doubt  also  a  great  part  of  the  people,  and 
yet  Jeremiah  afllirms,  that  they  should  be  all  guilty  of 
his  blood,  if  he  should  be  put  to  death.  "Then  will 
ye,"  said  the  Secretary,  "make  subjects  to  control 
their  princes  and  rulers'?"  "And  what  harm,"  asked 
the  Reformer,  "  should  the  commonwealth  receive,  if 
the  corrupt  affections  of  ignorant  rulers  were  modera- 
ted, and  so  bridled  by  the  wisdom  and  discretion 
of  godly  subjects,  that  they  should  do  wrong  or  vio- 
lence lo  no  man  1" 


LIFE   OF  JOHN   KNOX. 


100 


The  Secretary,  finding  himself  hard  pushed,  said 
that  they  had  wandered  from  the  argument ;  and  he 
professed  that  if  the  Queen  should  become  a  perse- 
cutor, he  would  be  as  ready  as  any  within  the  realm  to 
adopt  the  doctrine  of  the  Reformer.  "  But  our  ques- 
tion," said  he,  "  is,  whether  that  we  may,  and  ought, 
suppress  ihe  Queen's  mass  1  Or,  whether  that  her 
idolatry  should  be  laid  to  our  charge  T"  "  Idolatry 
ought  not  only  to  be  suppressed,"  said  Knox,  "  but 
the  idolater  ought  to  die  the  death."  "I  know,"  an- 
swered Maitland,  "that  the  idolater  ought  to  die  the 
death  ;  but  by  whom  T'  "  By  the  people,"  rejoined 
the  Reformer ;  "  for  the  commandment  was  made  to 
Israel,  as  ye  may  read,  '  Hear,  O  Israel,  saith  the 
Lord,  the  statutes  and  commandments  of  the  Lord 
thy  God." — "  But  there  is  no  commandment  given 
to  the  people  to  punish  their  king,  if  he  be  an  idol- 
ater." "  I  find  no  privilege  granted  unto  kings," 
said  Knox,  "  more  than  unto  the  people,  to  oifend 
God's  majesty."  "  I  grant,"  said  the  Secretary  ; 
"  but  yet  the  people  may  not  be  judge  unto  their  king, 
to  punish  him,  albeit  he  be  an  idolater.  The  people 
may  not  execute  God's  judgment,  but  must  leave  it 
unto  himself,  who  will  either  punish  it  by  death,  by 
war,  by  imprisonment,  or  by  some  other  kind  of  his 
plagues."  "I  know,"  said  Knox,  "the  last  part  of 
your  reason  to  be  true;  but  for  the  first  I  am  assured 
ye  have  no  other  warrant  except  your  own  imagina- 
tion, and  the  opinion  of  such  as  more  fear  to  offend 
princes  than  God." 

"  Why  say  you  so?"  said  Maitland.  "  I  have  the 
judgments  of  the  most  famous  men  within  Europe, 
and  of  such  as  ye  yourself  will  confess  both  godly 
and  learned."  Upon  which  he  produced  a  bundle 
of  papers,  and  read  extracts  from  the  writings  of  the 
principal  reformed  divines  on  the  subject  of  resistance 
to  rulers  ;  adding,  that  he  had  bestowed  more  labour 
on  the  collection  of  these  than  on  the  reading  of  com- 
mentaries for  seven  years.  Knox  replied,  that  it  was 
a  pity  he  had  given  himself  so  much  labour,  for  none 
of  the  extracts  which  he  had  read  bore  upon  the 
question  between  them  ;  some  of  them  being  directed 
against  the  Anabaptists,  who  denied  that  Christians 
should  be  subject  to  magistrates,  and  that  it  was  law- 
ful for  them  to  hold  the  office  of  magistracy ;  and  the 
rest  referring  to  the  case  of  a  small  number  of  Chris- 
tians scattered  through  heathen  and  infidel  countries, 
as  was  the  situation  of  the  primitive  church.  In  this 
last  case,  he  said,  he  perfectly  agreed  with  the  writers 
whom  Maitland  had  quoted  ;  but  when  a  majority  of 
a  nation  were  professors  of  the  true  religion,  the  case 
was  very  different.  While  the  posterity  of  Abraham 
were  few  in  number,  and  while  they  sojourned  in  dif- 
ferent countries,  they  were  merely  required  to  avoid 
all  participation  in  the  idolatrous  rites  of  the  heathen  ; 
but  as  soon  as  they  "  prospered  into  a  kingdom,"  and 
obtained  possession  of  Canaan,  they  were  strictly 
charged  to  suppress  idolatry,  and  to  destroy  all  its 
monuments  and  incentives.  The  same  duty  was  now 
incumbent  on  the  professors  of  the  true  religion  in 
Scotland,  whose  release  from  bondage,  temporal  and 
spiritual,  was  no  less  wonderful  than  the  redemption  of 
the  Israelites  from  Egypt.  Formerly,  when  not  more 
than  ten  persons  in  a  county  were  enlightened,  and 
these  were  called  to  seal  their  testimony  to  the  truth 
by  giving  their  bodies  to  the  flames,  it  would  have 
been  foolishness  to  have  demanded  of  the  nobility  the 
suppression  of  idolatry.  But  now,  when  knowledge 
had  increased,  and  God  had  given  such  a  signal  victo- 
ry to  the  truth,  that  it  had  been  publicly  embraced  by 
the  realm,  if  they  suffered  the  land  to  be  again  defiled, 
both  they  and  their  Queen  should  drink  of  the  cup 
of  divine  indignation  ;  she,  because,  amidst  the  great 
light  of  the  gospel,  she  continued  obstinately  addicted 
to  idolatry,  and  they,  because  they  permitted,  and 
even  countenanced  her  in  this  sinful  practice. 

Maitland  challenged  his  opponent  to  prove  that  the 


apostles  or  prophets  ever  taught  that  subjects  might 
suppress  the  idolatry  of  their  rulers.  Knox  appeal- 
ed to  the  conduct  of  the  prophet  Elisha  in  anointing 
Jehu,  and  giving  him  a  charge  to  punish  the  idolatry 
and  bloodshed  of  the  royal  family  of  Ahab.  "  Jehu 
was  a  king  before  he  put  any  thing  in  execution,"  said 
the  Secretary.  "  My  Lord,  he  was  a  mere  subject, 
and  no  king,  when  the  prophet's  servant  came  to  him; 
yea,  and  albeit  that  his  fellow  captains,  hearing  of  the 
message,  blew  the  trumpet,  and  said  '  Jehu  is  king,* 
yet  I  doubt  not  but  Jezebel  both  thought  and  said,  he 
was  a  traitor,  and  so  did  many  others  in  Israel  and  Sa- 
maria." "  Besides  this,"  said  Maitland,  "the  fact  is 
extraordinary,  and  ought  not  to  be  imitated.  "  It  had 
the  ground  of  God's  ordinary  judgment,  which  com- 
mands the  idolater  to  die  the  death,"  answered  Knox. 
"  We  are  not  bound  to  imitate  extraordinary  exam- 
ples," rejoined  Maitland,  "  unless  we  have  like  com- 
mandment and  assurance."  Knox  granted,  that  this 
was  true  when  the  example  was  repugnant  to  the 
ordinary  precept  of  the  law,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
Israelites  borrowing  from  the  Egyptians  without  re- 
payment. But  when  the  example  agreed  with  the  law, 
he  insisted  that  it  was  imitable  ;  and  of  this  kind  was 
the  instance  to  which  he  had  appealed.  But,  said 
Maitland,  "  whatsoever  they  did,  was  done  at  God's 
commandment."  "  That  fortifies  my  argument,"  re- 
torted the  Reformer  ;  "  for  God  by  his  commandment 
has  approved  that  subjects  punish  their  princes  for 
idolatry  and  wickedness  by  them  committed."  "  We 
have  not  the  like  commandment,"  said  the  Secretary. 
— "That  I  deny;  for  the  commandment,  that  the 
idolater  shall  die  the  death,  is  perpetual,  as  ye  your- 
self have  granted  ;  ye  doubted  only  who  should  be 
the  executioner,  and  I  have  sufficiently  proven  that 
God  has  raised  up  the  people,  and  by  his  prophet  has 
anointed  a  king,  to  take  vengeance  upon  the  king  and 
his  posterity,  which  fact  God  since  that  time  has  never 
retracted."  "  Ye  have  produced  but  one  example," 
said  Maitland. — "  One  sufficeth  ;  but  yet,  God  be 
praised,  we  lack  not  others,  for  the  whole  people  con- 
spired against  Amaziah,  king  of  Judah,  after  he  had 
turned  away  from  the  Lord."  "  I  doubt  whether 
they  did  well,  or  not,"  said  Maitland. — "God  gave 
sufficient  approbation  of  their  fact,  for  he  blessed  thena 
with  victory,  peace,  and  prosperity,  the  space  of  fifty- 
two  years  after." — "  But  prosperity  does  not  always 
prove  that  God  approves  the  facts  of  men." — "  Yes, 
when  the  facts  of  men  agree  with  the  law  of  God,  and 
are  rewarded  according  to  his  promise,  I  say  that  the 
prosperity  succeeding  the  fact  is  a  most  infallible  assu- 
rance, that  God  has  approved  that  fact.  And  now, 
my  Lord,  I  have  but  one  example  to  produce,  and  then 
I  will  put  an  end  to  my  reasoning,  because  I  weary 
longer  to  stand."  The  Lords  desired  him  to  take  a 
chair;  but  he  declined  it,  saying,  "that  melancholic 
reasons  needed  some  mirth  to  be  intermixed  with 
them."  After  a  short  dispute  on  the  resistance  of  the 
priests  to  Uzziah,  the  Reformer  recapitulated  the  prop- 
ositions which  he  considered  as  established  in  the 
course  of  the  debate.  "Well,"  said  Maitland,  "I 
think  ye  shall  not  have  many  learned  men  of  your 
opinion."  Knox  replied,  that  the  truth  ceased  not  to 
be  the  truth,  because  men  misunderstood  or  opposed  if, 
and  yet  he  did  not  want  the  suffrages  of  learned  men 
to  his  opinions.  Upon  which  he  presented  ihe  Apology 
of  Magdeburgh.  and  desired  the  Secretary  to  look  at 
the  names  of  the  ministers  who  had  approved  of  the 
defence  of  that  city  against  the  Emperor,  and  who 
had  subscribed  the  proposition,  that  to  resist  a  tyrant 
is  not  to  resist  the  ordinance  of  God.  "  Homines 
obscuri  !"*  said  Maitland,  slightingly,  after  perusing 
the  list.  "  Dei  tamen  servi,"f  replied  the  Reformer. 
The  Secretary  now  insisted  that  the  questions  dis- 
cussed should  be  put  to  the  vote,  and  that  the  deter- 


*  Men  of  no  note. 


t  Servants  of  God,  however. 


no 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX. 


mination  of  the  meeting  should  fix  a  rule  for  uniformi- 
ty of  doctrine  among  the  ministers.  Knox  protested 
against  this  naolion,  and  reminded  their  Lordships  that 
the  General  Assembly  had  agreed  to  the  present  con- 
ference upon  the  express  condition  that  nothing  should 
be  voted  or  decided  at  it.  At  last,  it  was  agreed  that 
the  opinions  of  those  who  were  present  should  be 
taken,  but  that  they  should  not  be  considered  as 
decisive.  Winram,  superintendent  of  Fife,  and  Doug- 
las, rector  of  the  University  of  St.  Andrews,  were  the 
principal  persons  among  the  ministers,  who  agreed  in 
sentiment  with  the  courtiers.  Knox's  colleague,  in 
delivering  his  judgment,  took  occasion  to  give  an 
account  of  a  public  disputation,  which  he  liad  witness- 
ed in  Bologna,  upon  the  question.  Whether  subjects 
have  a  right  to  control  and  reform  their  rulers,  when 
they  have  been  guilty  of  violating  their  oaths  of  office. 
Thomas  de  Finola,  rector  of  the  University,  and  Vin- 
centius  de  Placentia,  persons  celebrated  for  their 
learning,  maintained  the  affirmative  of  this  question, 
and  their  opinion  was  adopted  after  long  discussion. 
"  Ye  tell  us  what  was  done  in  Bononia,"  exclaimed 
one  of  the  courtiers  ;  "  we  are  in  a  kingdom,  and  they 
are  but  a  commonwealth."  "  My  Lord,"  replied 
Craig,  "  my  judgment  is  that  every  kingdom  is  a  com- 
monwealth, or  at  least  should  be,  albeit  that  every 
commonwealth  is  not  a  kingdom ;  and  therefore  I 
think  that  in  a  kingdom  no  less  diligence  ought  to  be 
taken  that  laws  be  not  violated  than  in  a  common- 
wealth, because  the  tyranny  of  princes  who  continually 
reign  in  a  kingdom  is  more  hurtful  to  the  subjects, 
than  the  misgovernment  of  those  that  from  year  to  year 
are  changed  in  free  commonwealths."  He  added, 
that  the  dispute  to  which  he  had  referred  was  con- 
ducted on  general  principles,  applicable  to  all  king- 
doms and  commonwealths  ;  and  the  conclusion  adopted 
was,  that,  although  laws  contrary  to  the  law  of  God, 
and  to  the  true  principles  of  government,  had  been 
introduced,  through  the  negligence  of  the  people  or 
the  tyranny  of  princes,  yet  the  same  people,  or  their 
posterity,  had  a  right  to  demand  that  all  things  should 
be  reformed  according  to  the  original  institution  of 
kings  and  commonwealths. 

This  speech  of  Craig*  alarmed  the  courtiers  as  to 
the  issue  of  the  vote ;  and  the  Clerk  Register  took 
occasion  to  observe  that,  at  a  former  conference,  it  had 
been  agreed  that  Knox  should  write  to  Calvin  to  ob- 
tain his  opinion  on  this  question.  Knox  corrected  this 
statement,  by  saying  that  the  Secretary  had  undertaken 
to  consult  that  reformer,  but  although  repeatedly  re- 
minded of  his  promise,  he  had  never  fulfilled  it.  Mait- 
land  acknowledged  this,  and  said  that  upon  mature 
deliberation  he  durst  not,  considering  his  station,  ask 
advice  respecting  any  controversy  between  the  Queen 
and  her  subjects,  without  her  Majesty's  consent.  It 
was  now  proposed  that  Knox  should  write  to  Calvin; 
but  he  refused  to  be  employed  in  the  business.  Before 
he  returned  to  the  kingdom,  he  said,  he  had  obtained 
the  judgment  of  the  most  eminent  foreign  divines  on 
that  question,  and  he  could  not  renew  his  application 
to  them  without  exposing  himself  to  the  charge  of  for- 
getful ness  or  of  inconstancy.  The  proper  course  was 
for  them  to  write,  complaining  that  he  had  taught  such 
doctrines  as  he  had  now  defended,  and  requesting 
Calvin  to  communicate  his  judgment  respecting  them. 
This  proposal  was  thought  reasonable,  but  none  would 
undertake  the  task  ;  and  the  conference  broke  oif  with- 
out any  determinate  resolution  being  adopted. f 


*  Crai^,  who  was  rather  facile  in  his  disposition  and  apt  to 
be  mouhled  by  those  who  were  »boiit  him,  seems  afterwards  to 
have  recanted  the  principle  which  he  niaintaincfl  on  this  occa- 
sion. For  I  suppose  he  is  the  person  who  preaclied  (he  ser- 
mon «t  I/mlith^ow,  mentioned  by  Hume  of  Godscroft.  His- 
tory of  the  house  of  Douglas  and  Angus,  ii.  383,  385.  The 
historian  has  inserted  some  very  ingenious  observations  on 
the  subject,  by  way  of  strictures  on  that  sermon. 

•I  Knnx.  Historie,  p.  348—366. 


The  reader  must  be  struck  with  the  difference  be- 
tween this  dispute  and  that  which  Knox  formerly 
maintained  with  the  Abbot  of  Crossraguel.  Although 
long,  it  was  kept  up  by  the  disputants  with  great 
spirit;  nor  did  they  flee  to  these  ambiguities  of  speech, 
or  to  those  sophistical  forms  of  argument,  of  which 
those  who  were  trained  to  wrangle  in  the  schools  were 
ever  ready  to  avail  themselves,  to  perplex  an  adver- 
sary, or  to  conceal  their  own  defeat.  Few  Secretaries 
of  State  in  modern  times  would,  it  is  presumed,  be 
able  to  acquit  themselves  so  well  as  Mailland  did,  on 
questions  which  were  decided  chiefly  by  an  appeal  to 
the  scriptures.  But  learned  and  acute  as  Maitland 
was,  Knox  was  fully  a  match  for  him,  and  on  the 
greater  part  of  the  topics  introduced  into  the  debate,  he 
evidently  had  the  advantage,  according  to  the  princi- 
ples held,  and  the  concessions  made  by  his  opponent. 
For  both  parties  maintained,  that  idolatry  ought  to  be 
punished  by  death;  a  sentiment  which  they  were  led 
to  adopt  in  consequence  of  their  holding  the  untenable 
opinion,  that  Christian  nations  are  bound  to  enact  the 
same  penalties,  against  all  breaches  of  the  moral  law, 
which  were  enjoined  by  the  judicial  laws  of  the  Jews.* 
This  being  taken  for  granted,  the  dispute  between 
them  resolved  itself  entirely  into  a  question  respecting 
the  prerogatives  of  princes  and  the  rights  and  duties 
of  subjects.  It  may  be  questioned,  too,  whether 
Knox's  reasoning  from  extraordinary  examples,  quali- 
fied as  it  was  by  him,  is  sufficiently  guarded  and  cor- 
rect; for  the  instances  in  which  punishment  was  in- 
flicted in  an  extraordinary  way  on  criminals,  although 
the  punishment  itself  was  merited  and  agreeable  to 
law,  cannot  be  pleaded  as  precedents  in  ordinary  cases. 
But  even  when  we  cannot  approve  of  his  reasonings, 
we  are  compelled  to  admire  the  manly  openness  and 
boldness  with  which  he  avowed  and  defended  senti- 
ments so  opposite  to  those  which  were  generally  re- 
ceived in  that  age. 

In  the  month  of  August,  Knox  went,  by  appointment 
of  the  General  Assembly,  as  visitor  of  the  churches,  to 
Aberdeen  and  the  North,  where  he  remained  six  or 
seven  weeks. f  The  subsequent  Assembly  gave  him 
a  similar  appointment  to  Fife  and  Perthshire.^ 

Our  Reformer's  predictions  at  the  last  meeting  of 
parliament  were  now  fully  realized.  Another  parlia- 
ment was  held  in  the  end  of  15G4,  but  nothing  was 
dene  for  securing  the  protestant  religion. ||  The 
Queen's  marriage  had  long  engaged  the  anxious  at- 
tention of  her  ministers,  and  had  been  the  object  of 
much  negociation  with  England  and  at  foreign  courts. 
But  the  various  proposals  which  had  been  made  with 
a  view  to  this,  and  the  political  intrigues  to  which 

*  This  was  an  ophiion  g-enerally  entertained  among  the  Re- 
formers; and  it  was  one  ground  (though  not  the  only  one,  as 
we  have  seen,  p.  25.)  upon  which  they  vindicated  the  penal 
statutes  against  the  mass  and  image  worship.  At  the  same 
time,  while  they  laboured  to  restrain  these  evils,  they  dis- 
covered no  disposition  to  proceed  to  capital  punishment,  even 
when  it  was  completely  in  their  power.  I  never  read  nor 
heard  of  an  instance,  in  the  time  of  our  Reformer,  of  a  person 
being  put  to  death  for  performing  any  part  of  the  Roman  Ca- 
tholic worship.  If  the  reason  of  this  disconformity  between 
their  opinion  and  their  practice  be  asked,  it  may  be  answered, 
— their  aversion  to  blood.  "  God  (says  our  Reformer,  ad- 
dressing the  popish  princes  who  persecuted  the  protestants) 
will  not  use  his  saintes  and  chosen  children  to  punish  you. 
For  with  them  is  alwaies  niercie,  yea,  even  althogh  God  nave 
pronounced  a  curse  and  malediction;  as  in  the  history  of  Josua 
is  plaine.  But  as  ye  have  pronounced  wrong  and  cruel  judg- 
ment without  mercie,  so  will  he  punish  you  bv  such  as  m 
whom  there  is  no  mercie."  Answer  to  the  Caviflations  of  an 
Anabaptist,  p.  449. 

t  The  magistrates  of  F.dinburgh,  understanding  that  Mr. 
Christopher  TJoodman  was  ajipointed  to  preach  during  the 
absence  of  their  own  ministers,  directed  a  committee  of  their 
number  to  wait  upon  him,  and  to  "  ofl'er  him  in  their  names 
all  honourabill  intertenment,  and  cause  the  stewart  of  Jhonne 
Knox  house  to  keep  table  to  him  upoun  the  town's  expcnsis." 
Records  of  Town  Council  for  23d  Aug.  1564. 

\  Keith.  535,  537,  540.  I  Knox,  Historie,  p.  36» 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    KNOX. 


Ill 


they  gave  rise,  were  all  thwarted  hy  the  sudden  and 
strong  passion  which  Mary  conceived  for  Lord  Henry 
Darnly,  the  son  of  the  Earl  of  Lennox.  As  this  young 
noblemar.,  so  far  as  he  had  discovered  any  religious 
sentiments,  was  inclined  to  popery,*  the  match  could 
not  be  very  agreeable  to  the  great  body  of  the  nation, 
who  had  already  testified  the  strongest  jealousy  at  the 
Queen's  attachment  to  that  religion.  It  was,  there- 
fore, natural  for  the  nobility,  in  the  prospect  of  this 
event,  to  provide  additional  securities  for  the  protes- 
tant  church,  and  to  insist  that  its  legal  establishment, 
which  had  hitherto  been  evaded,  should  now  be  granted. 
Provided  this  condition  was  complied  with,  they  pro- 
mised their  consent  to  the  marriage,  f  The  Queen 
agreed  to  summon  a  parliament  to  deliberate  on  this 
important  affair,  but  she  found  some  pretext  for  pro- 
roguing its  meeting;:}:  and,  having  gained  a  number  of 
the  nobility  by  favours  and  promises,  she  proceeded, 
in  .Tuly  1565,  not  only  to  solemnize  the  nuptials,  but 
to  proclaim  her  husband  King,  without  the  consent 
of  the  estates  of  the  kingdom. 

The  dissatisfaction  produced  by  these  precipitate 
and  illegal  steps  was  heightened  by  the  conduct  of 
Darnly.  Naturally  vain,  rash,  and  vindictive,  his 
unexpected  prosperity  rendered  him  insolent  and  over- 
bearing; and  it  required  all  the  prudence  of  the  Queen 
to  preserve  him  from  falling  into  contempt  even  before 
their  marriage. ||  Although  he  could  not  have  come 
to  Scotland,  and  his  father  could  not  have  been  re- 
stored to  his  honours  and  possessions,  considering  the 
opposition  made  by  the  Duke  of  Chaslelherault,  with- 
out the  concurrence  and  interest  of  the  Earl  of  Murray ; 
yet,  he  no  sooner  found  himself  seated  in  the  affections 
of  Marj^  than  he  exerted  his  influence  to  deprive  that 
nobleman  of  her  favour,  represented  the  honours  which 
she  had  conferred  on  him  as  excessive,  and  leagued 
with  those  who  were  enemies  to  him  and  to  the  re- 
formed religion.  Lennox,  Athole,  and  David  Rizio, 
a  low-bred  Italian,  who  had  insinuated  himself  into 
the  good  graces  of  Mary,  now  ruled  the  court,  to  the 
exclusion  of  the  most  able  counsellors. §  Murray  had 
been  urged  in  private  to  sign  an  approbation  of  the 
intended  marriage,  but  refused  to  do  it  until  the  nobil- 
ity had  been  consulted.^  His  refusal  to  gratify  the 
Queen,  by  forwarding  a  match  on  which  she  was  pas- 
sionately bent,  obliterated  the  memory  of  all  his  past 
services,  and  drew  upon  him  the  furious  resentment 
of  Darnly.  Having  declined  to  attend  a  convention  at 
Perth,  from  just  apprehensions  of  personal  danger,  he 
was  summoned  to  Court  by  the  Queen.  The  summons 
was  repeated  three  days  after  her  marriage,  and  be- 
cause he  refused  to  entrust  his  person,  on  her  safe 
conduct,  to  a  court  where  the  influence  of  his  declared 
enemies  prevailed,  he  was  immediately  proclaimed  an 
outlaw.**  In  the  mean  time,  the  persons  who  had  dis- 
covered the  greatest  hostility  to  him  were  openly  en- 
couraged. Bothwell  was  invited  to  return;  Lord 
George  Gordon  was  set  at  liberty,  and  the  earldom  of 
Huntly  restored  to  him;  and  the  Earl  of  Sutherland 
was  recalled  from  banishment. f|  The  Lords  who  were 
dissatisfied  with  the  late  proceedings  assembled  at 
Stirling,  and,  after  agreeing  to  request  the  protection 
of  Elizabeth,  retired  to  their  houses. +:J:  But  the  Queen 
taking  the  field  with  all  the  forces  which  she  could 
collect,  they  were  at  last  compelled  to  arm  in  their 
own  defence. I) II  Even  after  they  were  driven  to  this 
extremity  they  neglected  no  means  of  conciliation. 
They  professed  their  stedfast   loyally  to  the  Queen. 

*  Keith,  p.  278,  note  (a.)  f  Knox,  p.  373. 

t  Keith,  279.     Knox,  374,  378. 
11  Keith,  329.     Robertson,  ii.  123. 

}  Knox,  372,  374.     Robertson,  ii.  114, 120.         IT  Knox,  372. 
»»  Ibid.  379.     Keith.  309,  310.     Append.  108—110. 
t+  Knox,  368,  379,  386.     Keith,  309,   310.     Gordon's  Ge- 
nealog.  Hist,  of  the  Earldom  of  Sutherland,  143 — 4. 
tt  Keith  300,  304,  306. 
III!  Robertson,  ii.  131.    Laing,  History  of  Scotland,  i.  5 — 8. 


They  declared  that  they  desired  only,  that  the  reformed 
religion  should  be  secured  against  the  dangers  to  which 
it  was  exposed,  and  that  the  administration  of  public 
aflTairs  should  be  put  into  the  hands  of  those  whom  the 
nation  could  trust.  And  they  offered  to  submit  their 
own  cause  to  be  tried  by  the  laws  of  their  country.* 
But  the  Queen  spurned  all  their  offers  of  submission, 
refused  to  listen  to  any  intercession  in  their  favour, 
and  advancing  against  them  with  her  army,  obliged 
them  to  take  refuge  in  England. f 

While  her  marriage  with  Darnly  was  in  dependance, 
and  while  she  laboured  to  surmount  the  opposition 
made  to  it  by  the  nobility,  the  Queen  condescended  to 
court  the  protestant  ministers.  She  sent  for  the  super- 
intendents of  Lothian,  Glasgow,  and  Fife  (for  Knox 
could  not  now  be  admitted  to  her  presence),  and 
amused  them  with  fair  words.  She  was  not  yet  per- 
suaded, she  said,  of  the  truth  of  their  religion,  but  she 
was  willing  to  hear  conference  and  reasoning  on  the 
subject;  she  was  also  content  to  attend  the  public  ser- 
mons of  some  of  them  ;  and,  "above  all  others,  she 
would  gladly  hear  the  superintendent  of  Angus,  for  he 
was  a  mild  and  sweet-naturod  man,  with  true  honesty 
and  uprightness.  Sir  John  Erskine  of  Dun.":j:  She 
even  went  so  far'  as  to  be  present  at  the  sermon 
preached  by  one  of  the  ministers  in  Callendar-house, 
at  the  baptism  of  a  child  of  Lord  Livingston. ||  But 
as  soon  as  her  marriage  was  accomplished,  she  told 
the  commissioners  of  the  church,  in  very  plain  and 
determined  language,  "  her  Majesty  neither  will,  nor 
may  leave  the  religion  wherein  she  has  been  nourished, 
and  brought  up."§  And  there  was  no  further  proposal 
of  attending  either  sermon  or  conference. 

The  friendship  between  the  Earl  of  Murray  and  the 
Reformer  had  been  renewed  in  the  beginning  of  15G5. 
Knox  was  placed  in  a  very  delicate  predicament  by 
the  insurrection  under  Murray,  and  the  other  Lords 
who  opposed  the  Queen's  marriage.  His  father-in-law 
was  one  of  their  number.  They  professed  that  the 
security  of  the  protestant  religion  was  the  principal 
ground  of  their  taking  arms ;  and  they  came  to  Edin- 
burgh to  collect  men  to  their  standard.  But  whatever 
favour  he  might  have  for  them,  he  kept  himself  clear 
from  any  engagement.^  If  he  had  taken  part  in  this 
unsuccessful  revolt,  we  need  not  doubt  that  her  Majesty 
would  have  embraced  the  opportunity  of  punishing 
him  for  it,  when  his  principal  friends  had  fled  the 
kingdom. 

We  find,  in  fact,  that  she  immediately  proceeded 
against  him  on  a  different,  but  far  more  slender  pretext. 
The  young  King,  who  could  be  either  papist  or  pro- 
testant, as  it  suited  him,  went  sometimes  to  mass  with 
the  Queen,  and  sometimes  attended  the  reformed  ser- 
mons.** To  silence  the  suspicions  of  his  alienation 
from  the  reformed  religion,  circulated  by  the  insurgent 
Lords,  he,  on  the  19lh  of  August,  made  a  solemn  ap- 
pearance in  St.  Giles's  church,  sitting  on  a  throne 
which  had  been  prepared  for  his  reception.  Knox 
preached  that  day  on  Isa.  xxvi.  13,  14.  and  happened 
to  prolong  the  service  beyond  his  usual  time.  In  one 
part  of  the  sermon,  he  quoted  these  words  of  scripture, 
"  I  will  give  children  to  be  their  princes,  and  babes 
shall  rule  over  them — children  are  their  oppressors, 
and  women  rule  over  them;"  and  in  another  part  of 
it,  he  mentioned  that  God  punished  Ahab,  because  he 
did  not  correct  his  idolatrous  wife  Jesabel.f  f    Though 

»  Knox,  nistorie,  382,  284,  386.  +  Ibid.  388. 

t  Ibid.  p.  373.  374.  ||  Ibid.  p.  377.  j  Ibid.  p.  376. 

H  Goodall  says,  that  Knox  was  engaged  with  the  Earl  of 
Murray  in  a  plot  for  seizing  Darnly;  but  he  has  not  produced 
the  evidence  lor  his  assertion.  Life  of  Queen  Mary,  i.  207 — 
209.  **  Keith,  301—2. 

tt  Sermon,  apud  History  of  the  Reformation,  Edin.  1644. 
4to.  Append,  p.  120,  128.  Spottiswood  says,  that  Knox,  in 
his  sermon,  (either  doubting  the  king's  sincerity,  or  favouring 
the  faction  of  the  noblemen),  "fell  upon  him  with  a  bitter  re- 

Eroof."     History,  191.     But  the  archbishop  docs  not  seem  to 
ave  read  tiie  sermon,  which  contains  no  reproof  of  the  king. 


112 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX. 


no  particular  application  was  made  by  the  preaclier, 
the  King  applied  these  passages  to  himself  and  the 
Queen,  and,  returning  to  the  palace  in  great  wrath,  re- 
fused to  taste  dinner.  The  papists,  who  had  accom- 
panied him  to  church,  inflamed  his  resentment  and  that 
of  the  Queen,  by  their  representations. 

That  very  afternoon  Knox  was  taken  from  bed,*  and 
carried  before  the  privy  council.  Some  respectable 
inhabitants  of  the  city,  understanding  his  citation,  ac- 
companied him  to  the  palace.  He  was  told  that  he 
had  offended  the  King,  and  must  desist  from  preaching 
as  long  as  their  Majesties  were  in  Edinburgh.  He 
replied,  that  "  he  had  spoken  nothing  but  according  to 
his  text;  and  if  the  church  should  command  him  to 
speak  or  abstain,  he  would  obey,  so  far  as  the  word 
of  God  would  permit  him."f  Spottiswood  says,  that 
he  not  only  stood  to  what  he  had  said  in  the  pulpit, 
but  added,  "That  as  the  King,  for"  the  Queen's 
"  pleasure,  had  gone  to  mass,  and  dishonoured  the 
Lord  God,  so  should  He  in  his  justice  make  her  the 
instrument  of  his  overthrow.  This  speech  (continues 
the  archbishop's  manuscript),  esteemed  too  bold  at  the 
time,  came  afterwards  to  be  remembered,  and  was 
reckoned  among  other  his  prophetical  sayings,  which 
certainly  were  marvelous.  The  Queen,  enraged  at  this 
answer,  burst  forth  into  tears. "t 

The  report  of  the  inhibition  laid  upon  the  Reformer 
created  great  agitation  in  the  city.  His  colleague, 
who  was  appointed  to  supply  his  place  during  the  sus- 

?ension,  threatened  to  desist  entirely  from  preaching. 
'he  town  council  met,  and  appointed  a  deputation  to 
wait  on  their  Majesties,  and  to  request  the  reversal  of 
tlie  sentence ;  and  in  a  second  meeting  held  on  the 
same  day,  they  came  to  an  unanimous  resolution,  that 
they  would  "in  no  manner  of  way  consent  or  grant 
that  his  mouth  be  closed,"  but  that  he  should  be 
desired,  "at  his  pleasure,  and  as  God  should  move  his 
heart,  to  proceed  forward  to  the  true  doctrine  as  before, 
which  doctrine  they  would  approve  and  abide  at  to 
their  life's  end."|| 

It  does  not  appear  that  he  continued  any  time  sus- 
pended from  preaching.  For  the  King  and  Queen  left 
Edinburgh  before  next  Sabbalh,§  and  the  prohibition 
extended  only  to  the  time  of  their  residence  in  the  city. 

either  bitter  or  mild.  Indeed,  the  preacher  seems,  on  that 
occasion,  to  have  used  less  freedom  in  the  application  than 
ordinary. 

*  Preface  to  the  Sermon,  ut  supra. 

t  Ibid.  Records  of  Town  Council,  ut  infra.  Knox,  Historie, 
p.  381.  In  consequence  of  being  called  before  the  privy  coun- 
cil, he  immediately  wrote  out  the  sermon,  as  exactly  accord- 
ing to  what  he  preached  as  he  could,  and  sent  it  to  the  press, 
to  let  the  impartial  see,  "  upon  how  small  occasions  great 
offence  is  now  taken."  At  the  end  of  it  is  this  postscript: 
•■Lord,  into  thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit;  for  the  terrible 
roaring  of  gunnes,  and  the  noise  of  armour  do  so  pierce  my 
heart,  that  my  soul  thirsteth  to  depart."  On  the  margin  are 
these  words:  "  The  castle  of  Edinburgh  was  shooting  against 
the  exiled  for  Christ  Jesus  sake."  Then  follows  the  date  at 
which  the  writing  was  finished.  "The  last  day  of  August 
1565,  at  four  of  the  clock  in  the  afternoon,  written  indigestly, 
but  yet  truly  so  farre  as  memory  would  serve,  of  those  things 
that  in  publike  I  spake  on  Sunday,  August  19,  for  the  which  I 
wag  discharged  to  preach  for  a  time.  Be  mercifull  to  thy 
flock,  O  Lord,  and  at  thy  pleasure  put  end  to  my  misery. 
John  Knox." 

t  Spottiswood,  191,  192.  Keith,  546,  547.  Keith  calls  in 
question  the  archbishop's  narrative;  because  Knox,  in  his  his- 
tory, does  not  say  that  the  queen  wag  present,  and  does  not 
mention  the  prediction,  although  "fond  enough  to  catch  at 
and  force  such  things  upon  his  readers."  But  it  should  be 
noticed,  that  Knox  did  not  write  this  part  of  the  history;  the 
fifth  book  having  been  compiled  after  his  death,  and  not  being 
found  in  old  MSS.  See  Advertisement  prefixed  to  the  edition 
of  his  Historie,  Edin.  1732.  It  must  be  confessed,  however, 
that  Spottiswood's  account  of  this  affair  is  inaccurate  in  a  num- 
ber of  particulars.  David  Buchanan  says  that  the  king  had 
"cast  the  psalme  booke  in  the  fire,"  which  was  the  cause  of 
Knox's  denunciation  against  him.  Life  prefixed  to  History 
of  the  Reformation. 

I)  Records  of  Town  Council,  23d  August,  1565.     Keith,  547. 

§  Knox,  Historie,  p.  381. 


Upon  their  return,  it  is  probable  that  the  Court  judged 
it  unadvisable  to  enforce  an  order  which  had  already 
created  much  discontent,  and  might  alienate  the  minds 
of  the  people  still  farther  from  the  present  administra- 
tion. Accordingly,  we  find  him  exercising  his  minis- 
try in  Edinburgh  with  the  same  boldness  as  formerly. 
Complaints  were  made  to  the  Council  of  tiie  manner 
in  which  he  prayed  for  the  exiled  noblemen  ;  but  Se- 
cretary Maitland,  who  had  formerly  found  so  much 
fault  with  his  prayers,  defended  them  on  the  present 
occasion,  saying,  that  he  had  heard  them,  and  they 
were  such  as  nobody  could  blame.* 

Christopher  Goodman  had  ofiiciated  with  much  ap- 
probation as  minister  of  St.  Andrews,  since  the  year 
1560;  but  he  was  prevailed  on,  by  the  solicitations  of 
his  friends  in  England,  to  return,  about  this  time,  to 
his  native  country. f  The  commissioners  from  St. 
Andrews  were  instructed  to  petition  the  General  As- 
sembly, which  met  in  December  this  year,  that  Knox 
should  be  translated  from  Edinburgh  to  their  city. 
They  claimed  a  right  to  him,  as  he  had  commenced 
his  ministry  among  them  ;  and  they  might  think,  that 
the  dissentions  in  which  he  was  involved  with  the 
court  would  induce  him  to  prefer  a  more  retired  situa- 
tion.    But  the  petition  was  refused. :j: 

This  Assembly  imposed  on  him  several  important 
services.  He  was  commissioned  to  visit  the  churches 
in  the  south  of  Scotland,  and  appointed  to  write  "  a 
comfortable  letter,"  to  encourage  the  ministers,  ex- 
horters,  and  readers,  throughout  the  kingdom,  to  per- 
severe in  the  discharge  of  their  functions,  which  many 
of  them  were  threatening  to  abandon  on  account  of  the 
non-payment  of  their  stipends  ;  and  to  excite  the  people 
among  whom  they  laboured  to  relieve  their  necessi- 
ties.|j  He  had  formerly  received  an  appointment  to 
draw  up  The  Form  of  Excommunication  and  oi  Public 
Repentance.^  And  he  was  now  required  to  compose  a 
Treatise  of  Pasting.  The  Assembly,  having  taken  into 
consideration  the  troubles  of  the  country,  and  the  dan- 
gers which  threatened  the  whole  protestant  interest, 
appointed  a  general  fast  to  be  kept  through  the  king- 
dom. The  form  and  order  to  be  observed  on  that 
occasion  they  left  to  be  drawn  out  by  Knox  and  his 
colleague.  As  nothing  had  been  hitherto  published 
expressly  on  this  subject,  they  were  authorized  to  ex- 
plain the  duty,  as  well  as  to  state  the  reasons  which 
at  that  period  called  for  this  solemn  exercise.  It  was 
appointed  to  be  published  before  the  time  of  the  fast, 
to  serve  as  a  directory  to  ministers  and  people.  The 
treatise  does  credit  to  the  compilers,  both  as  to  matter 
and  form.  It  is  written  in  a  perspicuous  and  nervous 
style.  In  the  grounds  assigned  for  fasting,  the  critical 
state  of  all  the  reformed  churches,  the  late  decree  of 
the  Council  of  Trent  for  the  extirpation  of  the  protes- 
tant name,  the  combination  of  the  popish  princes  for 
carrying  it  into  execution,  and  the  barbarities  exer- 
cised upon  their  brethren  in  different  countries,  are  all 
held  forth  as  a  warning  to  the  protestants  of  Scotland, 
and  urged  as  calls  to  repentance  and  prayer. 

The  following  may  serve  as  a  specimen.  "  Sup- 
posing, we  say,  that  wee  had  none  of  these  foresaid 
causes  to  moove  us,  yet  is  there  one  which  if  it 
moove  us  not  to  humiliation,  wee  shew  ourselves 
more  than  insensible.  For  now  is  Satan  so  enlarged 
against  Jesus  Christ,  and  so  odious  is  the  light  of  nis 

*  Knox,  Historie,  p.  389.  \  See  Note  LVI. 

\  Keith,  562.  ||  Ibid.  533. 

{  This  appointment  was  laid  upon  him  in  June  1563.  Keith, 
525.  He  does  not  seem  to  have  executed  it  till  1567;  which  is 
the  date  subjoined  to  a  prayer  at  the  end  of  the  treatise.  Then 
follows  a  postscript:  "This  booke  is  thought  necessary  and 
profitable  for  the  church,  and  commanded  to  be  printed  by  the 
Generall  Assemblie."  The  order  for  printing  it  seems  to  have 
been  first  given  by  the  Assembly  in  1568,  and  renewed  in  1571. 
Psalmes  in  meeter,  &c.  (commonly  called  Knox's  Liturojy) 
printed  by  .\ndro  Hart,  A.  1611.  p.  28,  67.  .  Dunlop's  Confei- 
gions,  ii.  705,  747. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    KNOX. 


1% 


gospel  unto  the  Romaine  Antichrist,  that  to  suppresse 
It  in  one  province,  realme,  or  nation,  he  thinketh  it 
nothing,  unlesse  that  in  all  Europe  the  godly,  and 
such  as  abhorre  the  papisticall  impietie,  be  therewith 
also  utterlie  destroyed,  and  so  rased  from  the  face  of 
the  earth  that  no  memory  of  them  shal  after  remaine. 
If  any  thinke  that  suche  crueltie  cannot  fall  into  the 
hearts  of  men,  we  send  them  to  be  resolved  of  those 
fathers  of  the  last  Councel  of  Trenf,  who  in  one  of 
their  sessions  have  thus  concluded  :  All  Lutherans, 
Calvinists,  and  such  as  are  of  the  new  religion,  shall 
utterly  be  rooted  out.  The  beginning  shall  be  in 
France,  by  conducting  of  the  Catholike  King,  Philip 
of  Spaine,  and  by  some  of  the  nobilitie  of  France, 
which  matter  (they  say)  put  in  execution,  the  whole 
power  of  both  together  with  the  Popes  armie,  and  force 
of  the  Duke  of  Savoy  and  Ferrar,  shall  assault  Geneva, 
and  shall  not  leave  it,  till  that  they  have  put  it  to 
sacke,  saving  in  it  no  living  creature.  And  with  the 
same  mercie  shall  so  many  of  France  as  have  tasted 
of  the  new  religion  be  served.  From  thence  expedition 
shall  be  made  against  the  Germanes,  to  reduce  them  to 
the  obedience  of  the  Apostolike  seate.  And  so  shall  they 
proceed  to  other  realmes  and  nations,  never  ceasing  till 
that  all  be  rooted  out,  that  will  not  make  homage  to 
that  Romane  Idoll.  How  fearefull  a  beginning  this 
conclusion  and  determination  had,  France  will  remem- 
ber moe  ages  than  one.  For  how  manie,  above  a  hun- 
dreth  thousand  men,  women,  babes,  virgines,  matrones, 
and  aged  fathers  suffered,  some  by  sworde,  some  by 
water,  some  by  fire,  and  other  torments,  the  verie  ene- 
mies themselves  are  compelled  to  acknowledge.  And 
albeit  that  God  of  his  mercie  in  part  disappoynted  their 
cruell  enterprises,  yet  let  us  not  thinke  that  their  will 
is  changed,  or  their  malice  asswaged.  No;  let  us  be 
assured,  that  they  abide  but  opportunitie  to  finish  the 
worke,  that  cruellie  against  God,  against  his  trueth, 
and  the  true  professors  of  the  same,  they  have  begunne. 
The  whisperings  whereof  are  not  secreete,  neither  yet 
the  tokens  obscure.  For  the  traffike  of  that  Dragon 
now  with  the  Princes  of  the  earth,  his  promises  and 
flattering  enticements,  tende  to  none  other  ende,  but  to 
enflame  them  against  Jesus  Christ,  and  against  the 
true  proffessours  of  his  gospel.  For  who  can  thinke 
that  the  Pope,  Cardinals,  and  horned  Bishops,  will 
offer  the  greatest  portion  of  their  rents,  for  sustaining 
of  a  warre,  whereof  no  commoditie  should  redound  (as 
they  suppose)  to  themselves?"  Having  quoted  that 
part  of  the  decree  of  the  Council  which  relates  to  the 
assessment  imposed  on  the  clergy  for  carrying  on  this 
Holy  War,  the  compilers  of  the  Treatise  add:  "But 
let  us  hear  their  conclusion.  France  and  Germanic 
(say  they)  being  by  these  meanes  so  chastised,  abased, 
and  brought  to  the  obedience  of  the  holy  Romane 
Church,  the  fathers  doubt  not  but  time  shall  provide 
both  counsell  and  commoditie,  that  the  rest  of  the 
realmes  about  may  be  reduced  to  one  flocke,  and  one 
Apostolike  Governour  and  Pastour. — But  some  shall 
say,  they  are  yet  far  from  the  end  of  their  purpose,  and 
therefore  wee  neede  not  to  be  so  fearefull,  nor  so 
troubled.  We  answere,  the  danger  may  be  nearer 
than  wee  beleeve,  yea,  perchance  a  part  of  it  hath 
bene  nearer  to  our  neckes,  then  we  have  considered. 
But  how  so  ever  it  be,  seeing  that  God  of  his  mercie 
hath  brought  foorth  to  light  their  cruell  and  bloodie 
counsell,  in  which  we  neede  not  to  doubt  but  still  they 
continue,  it  becummeth  us  not  to  be  negligent  or 
slouthful."* 

Strong  as  their  apprehensions  were,  the  danger  was 
nearer  to  them  than  they  imagined.  The  most  zeal- 
ous and  powerful  of  the  protestant  nobles  being  exiled, 
the  Queen  determined'  to  carry  into  execution  the 
designs  of  which  she  had  never  lost  sight ;  and  while 
she  amused    the  nation  with   proclamations  against 

*  Treatise  of  Fasting,  in  Knox's  Liturgy,  p.  157 — 160.  edit. 
1611.  and  Dunlop's  Confessions,  ii.  661 — 664. 


altering  the  received  religion,  and  tantalized  the  min- 
isters with  offers  of  more  adequate  support,  was 
preparing  for  the  speedy  restoration  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  worship.  No  means  were  left  unattempted 
for  gaining  over  the  nobility  to  that  religion.  The 
King  openly  professed  himself  a  convert,  and  officia- 
ted in  some  of  its  most  superstitious  rites.  The  Earls 
of  Lennox,  Cassilis,  and  Caithness,  with  Lord  Mont- 
gomery and  Seton,  followed  his  example.*  The  fri- 
ars were  employed  to  preach  at  Holyroodhouse,  and, 
to  gain  the  favour  of  the  people,  endeavoured  to  imi- 
tate the  popular  method  of  the  protestant  preachers. | 
In  the  beginning  of  February  1566,  a  messenger  ar- 
rived from  the  Cardinal  of  Lorrain,  with  a  copy  of 
the  catholic  league  for  extirpating  the  protestants,  and 
instructions  to  obtain  the  Queen's  subscription  to  it, 
and  to  urge  the  propriety  of  adopting  the  most  rigor- 
ous measures  against  the  exiled  noblemen.  Mary 
scrupled  not  to  set  her  hand  to  the  league. :|:  Previous 
to  this,  it  is  said,  that  she  was  inclined  to  yield  to  the 
intercessions  made  in  behalf  of  the  exiles;  but  if  ever 
she  felt  this  disposition,  it  is  certain  that,  from  the 
arrival  of  this  embassy,  the  door  of  mercy  was  shut; 
for  Murray  and  his  associates  were  immediately  sum- 
moned to  appear  before  the  parliament  which  was  to 
meet  on  the  twelfth  of  March.  The  Lords  of  the 
Articles  were  chosen  according  to  the  Queen's  plea- 
sure ;  the  popish  ecclesiastics  were  restored  to  their 
place  in  parliament ;  the  altars  to  be  erected  in  St. 
Giles's  church  for  the  celebration  of  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic worship  were  already  prepared. || 

But  these  measures,  when  ripe  for  execution  were 
blasted  in  consequence  of  a  secret  engagement  which 
the  King  had  entered  into  with  some  of  the  protes- 
tant nobles.  The  first  effect  produced  by  this  en- 
gagement was  the  well  known  assassination  of  Rizio, 
the  unworthy  favourite  of  the  Queen,  who  was  the 
principal  instigator  of  the  measures  against  the  pro- 
testant religion  and  the  banished  Lords,  and  had  in- 
curred the  jealousy  of  the  King,  the  contempt  of  the 
nobility,  and  the  hatred  of  the  people.  To  have  re- 
moved this  minion  from  her  Majesty'^s  counsels  and 
presence  by  legitimate  means  would  have  been  meri- 
torious ;  but  the  manner  in  which  it  was  accomplish- 
ed was  equally  inconsistent  with  law  and  humanity, 
and  fixes  a  deep  stigma  on  the  character  of  those  who 
perpetrated  the  deed.§ 

A  complete  change  in  the  state  of  the  Court  suc- 
ceeded this  event :  the  popish  counsellors  fled  from 
the  palace ;  the  exiled  Lords  returned  out  of  England  ; 
and  the  parliament  was  prorogued,  without  accomplish- 
ing any  of  the  objects  for  which  it  had  been  assembled. 
But  the  Queen  soon  persuaded  the  weak  and  uxorious 
King  to  desert  the  noblemen,  to  retire  with  her  to 
Dunbar,  and  to  issue  a  proclamation,  disowning  his 
consent  to  the  late  attenvpt,  by  which  he  exposed 
himself  to  the  contempt  of^the  nation,  without  regain- 
ing her  affection.      Having  collected  an  army,  she 


*  Robertson,  App.  No.  14.  Keith,  App.  p.  165, 167.  Knox, 
389,391. 

t  The  friars  were  so  little  esteemed,  that  they  soon  wearied 
of  preaching.  They  boasted  that  they  would  dispute  with  the 
protestant  ministers  ;  but  when  the  commissioners  of  the 
General  Assembly  waited  on  their  Majesties,  and  requested 
that  this  might  be  j^ranted  in  their  presence,  the  Queen  repli- 
ed, that  "sche  wald  not  jeopard  her  religioun  upon  sick  as 
were  thare  present  ;  for  sche  knew  weill  enouch,  that  the  pro- 
testants wer  more  Teamed."     Knox,  Historic,  p.  291. 

t  Keith,  p.  326.  App.  167.  Melvir'sMemoires,. 63,64.  Ro- 
bertson, App.  No.  14. 

II  Knox,  392,  394.  Keith,,  App.  126.  The  Queen's  letter 
to  the  archbishop  of  Glasgow,  apud  Keith,  331.  Goodall  and 
Blackwood,  apud  Robertson,  ii.  145.  Lond.  1809. 

\  The  noblemen  wished  to  bring  Rizio  to  a  public  trial;  but 
the  kingwoufd  not  wait  for  this,  and  determined  that  he  should 
be  seized  in  the  gueen's  presence,  although  she  was  big;  with 
child,  that  he  might  upbraid  her  for  the  wrongs  which  he  had 
suffered.  Keith,  App.  121.  122.  Robertson,  iii.  318,  Apn. 
No.  15.  -  ^* 

8 


114 


LIFE    OF  JOHN   KNOX. 


returned  to  Edinburgh,  threatening  to  inflict  the  most 
exemplary  vengeance  on  all  who  nad  been  accessory 
to  the  murder  of  her  secretary,  and  the  indignity 
shewn  to  her  person.  She  found  herself,  however, 
unable  to  resume  her  plan  for  altering  the  received 
religion  ;  and,  while  the  conspirators  against  Rizio 
were  forced  to  flee  to  England,  the  Earl  of  Murray, 
and  the  other  Lords  who  had  opposed  her  marriage, 
were  allowed  to  remain  in  the  country  and  soon  after 
pardoned. 

When  the  Queen  returned  to  Edinburgh,  Knox  left 
it,  and  retired  to  Kyle.  There  is  no  reason  to  think 
that  he  was  privy  to  the  conspiracy  which  proved  fatal 
to  Rizio.  But  it  is  probable  that  he  had  expressed  his 
satisfaction  at  an  event  which  contributed  to  the  safety 
of  religion  and  the  commonwealth,  if  not  also  his 
approbation  of  the  conduct  of  the  conspirators.*  At 
any  rate,  he  was  sufficienily  obnoxious  to  the  Queen 
on  other  grounds;  and  as  her  resentment,  on  the 
present  occasion,  was  exceedingly  inflamed,  it  was 
deemed  prudent  for  him  to  withdraw. | 

Having  at  last  "  got  quit"  of  one  who  had  long 
been  troublesome  to  her,  Mary  was  determined  to 
prevent  his  return  to  the  capital.  We  need  not  doubt 
that  the  town-council  and  inhabitants,  who  had  for- 
merly refused  to  agree  to  his  suspension  from  preach- 
ing for  a  short  time,  would  exert  themselves  to  obtain 
his  restoration  ;  and  powerful  intercession  was  made 
in  his  behalf  by  mafly  of  the  nobility  and  gentry. 
But  the  queen  was  deaf  to  all  their  entreaties.  She 
was  even  unwilling  that  he  should  find  a  refuge  within 
the  kingdom,  and  wrote  to  a  nobleman  in  the  west 
country,  with  whom  he  resided,  to  banish  him  from 
his  house.:}:  It  does  not  appear  that  he  returned  to 
Edinburgh,  or,  at  least,  that  he  resumed  his  ministry 
in  it,  until  the  Queen  was  deprived  of  the  government. 

Being  banished  from  his  flock,  he  judged  this  a 
favourable  opportunity  for  paying  a  visit  to  England. 
Parental  affection  increstsed  at  this  time  the  desire 
which  he  had  long  fell  to  accomplish  his  journey. 
His  two  sons  had  been  lately  sent  by  him  into  that 
kingdom,  to  reside  with  some  of  their  mother's  re- 
lations, and  to  obtain  their  education  in  the  English 
seminaries.  Having  procured  the  Queen^s  safe-con- 
duct, he  applied  to  the  General  Assembly,  which  met 
in  December  1556,  for  their  permission  to  remove. 
This  was  readily  granted  by  them,  upon  condition  of 
his  returning  against  the  time  of  their  next  meeting 
in  June.  The  Assembly  likewise  gave  him  a  most 
ample  and  honourable  testimonial,  in  which  they  de- 
scribe him  as  "  a  true  and  faithfull  minister,  in  doctrine 
pure  and  sincere,  in  life  and  conversation  in  our  sight 
inculpable,"  and  one  who  "  has  so  fruitfully  used  that 
talent  granted  to  him  by  the  Eternal,  to  the  advance- 
ment of  the  glory  of  his  godly  name,  to  the  propaga- 
tion of  the  kmgdom  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  edifying  of 
them  who  heard  his  preaching,  that  of  duty  we  most 
heartily  praise  His  godly  name,  for  that  so  great  a 
benefit  granted  unto  him  for  our  utility  and   profit. "|| 

The  Reformer  was  charged  with  a  letter  from  the 
Assembly  to  the  bishops  and  ministers  of  England, 
interceding  for  lenity   to   such   of  their   brethren  as 

*  King  James  VI.  having  found  jjreat  fault  with  Knox  for 
approving  of  the  assassination  of  Rizio,  one  of  the  ministers 
said,  that  "  the  slaughter  of  David  [RiiioJ,  so  far  as  it  was  the 
work  of  God  was  allowed  by  Mr.  Kaox^and  not  otherwise." 
Cald.  MS.  ad  Ann.  1591.  Knox  himself  does  not,  however, 
make  this  qualification,  when  he  mentions  the  subject  incident- 
ally.    Historic,  p.  86.     Robertson,  ii.  161—2. 

t  Knox,  Historic,  395.     Answer  to  T^rie,  A.  iiij. 

I  Letter  from  archbishop  Grindal  to  BuUinger,  I7th  August, 
1566.  Strype's  Grindal,  A  pp.  20.  Letter  from  bishop  Fark- 
hurst,  written  in  December,  1566.  Burnet's  Hist,  ot  Refor. 
iii.  App.  No.  91.  In  the  .Assembly  which  met  in  June  this  year, 
Craig  desired  that  "John  Carnes,  who  had  read  prayers,  and 
exhorted  four  years  and  more  in  Edinburgh,  and  had  weill 
profited, — might  be  joyned  with  him  as  colleague  in  the  kirk 
of  Edinburgh,  in  respect  he  wat  alone."     Keith,  560. 

II  Keith,  564. 


scrupled  to  use  the  sacerdotal  dress  enjoined  by  the 
laws.  The  controversy  on  that  subject  was  at  this 
time  carried  on  with  great  heat  among  the  English 
clergy.  It  is  not  improbable,  that  the  Assembly  in- 
terfered in  this  business  at  the  desire  of  Knox,  to 
whom  the  composition  of  the  letter  was  committed.* 
He  could  not  have  forgotten  the  trouble  which  he 
himself  had  suffered  on  a  similar  ground,  and  he  had 
a  high  regard  for  many  of  the  scniplers.  This  inter- 
position did  not  procure  for  them  any  relief.  Even 
though  the  superior  clergy  had  been  more  zealous  to 
obtain  it  than  they  were,  Elizabeth  was  inflexible,  and 
would  listen  neither  to  the  supplications  of  her  bishops, 
nor  to  the  advice  of  her  counsellors.  Knox's  good 
opinion  of  the  English  Queen  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  improved  by  this  visit."}" 

He  performed  one  important  piece  of  public  service 
before  undertaking  his  journey  to  England.  On  the 
23d  of  December,  the  Queen  granted  a  commission  to 
the  archbishop  of  St.  Andrews,  under  the  Privy  Seal, 
restoring  him  to  his  ancient  jurisdiction,  which  had 
been  abolished  in  15G0,  by  act  of  parliament.:}:  This 
step  was  taken,  partly  to  prepare  for  the  restoration  of 
the  popish  religion,  and  partly  to  facilitate  another 
dark  design  which  was  soon  after  disclosed.  The 
protestants  could  not  fail  to  be  both  alarmed  and 
enraged  at  this  daring  measure.  Moved  by  his  own 
zeal  no  less  than  by  the  advice  of  his  brethren,  the 
Reformer  addressed  a  circular  letter  to  the  principal 
protestants  in  the  kingdom,  requesting  their  immedi- 
ate advice  on  the  measures  most  proper  to  be  adopted 
on  this  occasion,  and  inclosing  a  copy  of  a  proposed 
supplication  to  the  Queen.  This  letter  discovers  all 
the  ardour  of  the  writer's  spirit,  called  forth  by  such 
an  alarming  occurrence.  After  mentioning  the  late 
acts  for  the  provision  of  the  ministry, ||  by  which  the 
Queen  attempted  to  blind  them,  he  says  ;  "  How  that 
any  such  assignation,  or  any  promise  made  thereof, 
can  stand  in  any  stable  assurance,  when  that  Roman 
Antichrist,  by  just  laws  once  banished  from  this  realm, 
shall  be  intrusted  above  us  we  can  no  ways  under- 
stand. Yea,  farther,  we  cannot  see  what  assurance 
can  any  within  this  realm,  that  hath  professed  the 
Lord  Jesus,  have  of  life,  or  inheritance,  if  the  head  of 
that  odious  Beast  be  cured  among  us."  Having  in- 
forced  his  request,  he  adds :  "  As  from  the  beginning 
we  have  neither  spared  substance  nor  life,  so  mind  we 
not  to  faint  unto  the  end,  to  maintain  the  same,  so  long 
as  we  can  find  the  concurrence  of  brethren  ;  of  whom 
(as  God  forbid)  if  we  be  destitute,  yet  are  we  determin- 
ed never  to  be  subject  to  the  Roman  Antichrist,  neither 
yet  to  his  usurped  tyranny ;  but  when  we  can  do  no 
farther  to  suppress  that  odious  Beast,  we  mind  to  seal 
it  with  our  blood  to  our  posterity,  that  the  bright 
knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ  hath  banished  that  Man 
of  Sin,  and  his  venomous  doctrine,  from  our  hearts  and 
consciences.  Let  this  our  letter  and  request  bear 
witness  before  God,  before  his  church,  before  the 
world,  and  before  your  own  consciences."§  The  sup- 
plication of  the  General  Assembly  to  the  Lords  of  the 
Privy  Council,  on  the  same  subject,  also  bears  marks 
of  the  Refonner's  pen.^f 


*  Keith,  565,  566.  Knox,  402,405.  Spottiswood,  198, 199. 
The  letter  was  subscribed  by  "  John  Davidson,  for  James 
Nicoldson,  writer  and  clarke  of  the  church  of  Edinborough." 
Strype's  Life  of  Archbishop  Parker,  App.  p.  88. 

f  Speaking  of  England,  he  says:  "  And  yet  is  sche  that  now 
rignetn  over  thanie  nether  gude  protestant,  nor  yet  resolute  pa- 
pist; let  the  warld  juge  qunilk  is  the  third.''  Historie,  u.  277. 
By  comparing  p.  269,  it  appears  that  this  was  written  by  nim  in 
1567,  and  consequently  after  his  return  from  England. 

}  Laing's  History  of  Scotland,  vol.  i.  75,  76.  2d  edit.  This 
historian  has  refuted  the  charges  of  forgery  which  Whitaker 
had  brought  against  Knox  and  Calderwood  on  this  head.  Ibid, 
p.  78,  79. 

y  Keith,  p.  561.562.  The  occurrence  which  had  taken  place 
helps  to  explain  the  coldness  with  which  the  Assembly  received 
the  information  of  these  acts  in  their  favour.     Ibtd.  p.  563. 

i  Cald.  MS.  apud  Keith,  566,  567.  H  Ibid.  567—8. 


LIFE    OF  JOHN   KNOX. 


m 


During  the  time  that  Knox  was  in  England,  that 
tragedy,  so  well  known  in  Scottish  history,  was  acted, 
which  led  to  a  complete  revolution  in  the  government 
of  the  kingdom,  and,  contrary  to  the  designs  of  the 
principal  actors,  threw  the  power  wholly  into  the 
hands  of  the  protestants.  Mary's  affection  for  her 
husband  which  had  cooled  soon  after  their  marriage, 
was,  from  the  time  of  Rizio's  assassination,  converted 
into  a  fixed  hatred,  which  she  was  at  little  pains  to 
conceal.  The  birth  of  an  heir  to  the  crown  produced 
no  reconciliation  between  the  royal  parents;  the  King 
was  not  allowed  to  be  present  at  the  baptism  of  his 
own  son  ;  and  was  treated  with  such  marked  disrespect 
even  by  the  servants,  that  he  abandoned  the  Court, 
and  shut  himself  up  in  his  father's  house.  In  pro- 
portion as  the  Queen's  mind  was  alienated  from  the 
King,  the  unprincipled  Earl  of  Bothwell  grew  in  her 
favour.  He  engrossed  the  whole  management  of 
public  affairs,  was  loaded  with  honours,  and  treated 
by  her  Majesty  with  every  mark  of  personal  regard 
and  affection.  In  these  circumstances,  the  neglected, 
unhappy  King  was  decoyed  to  Edinburgh,  lodged  in 
a  solitary  dwelling  at  the  extremity  of  the  city,  and 
murdered  on  the  morning  of  February  10,  1567;  the 
house  in  which  he  lay  being  blown  up  with  gun- 
powder. 

It  would  be  unsuitable  to  the  nature  of  the  present 
work  to  enter  into  the  controversy  respectingr  the 
authors  of  this  murder,  which  has  been  agitated  with 
uncommon  keenness  from  that  day  to  the  present  time. 
The  accusation  of  the  Earl  of  Murray  as  a  party  to 
the  deed,  is  destitute  of  all  proof,  and  utterly  uncredi- 
ble.  It  was  at  first  circulated  with  the  evident  design 
of  turning  away  the  public  mind  from  the  real  perpe- 
trators; it  was  insinuated,  and  afterwards  directly 
brought  forward,  in  the  conferences  at  York  and 
Westminster,  as  a  retaliation  upon  him  for  the  charge 
which  he  exhibited  against  the  Queen  ;  and  it  is  now 
kept  up  only  by  the  most  blind  and  bigoted  of  her  par- 
tizans.  That  Bothwell  was  the  prime  contriver  and 
agent  in  the  murder  cannot  admit  of  a  doubt  with  any 
impartial  and  judicious  inquirer.  And  that  Mary  was 
privy  to  the  design,  and  accessory  to  its  execution  by 
permission  and  approbation,  there  is,  I  think,  all  the 
evidence,  moral  and  legal,  which  could  reasonably 
be  expected  in  a  case  of  this  kind.  The  whole  of  her 
behaviour  towards  the  King,  from  the  time  that  she 
brought  him  from  Glasgow  till  she  left  him  on  the 
fatal  night;  the  remissness  which  she  discovered  in 
inquiring  into  the  murder;  the  shameful  manner  in 
which  she  suffered  the  farce  of  Bothwell's  trial  to  be 
conducted  ;  the  glaring  act  (which  struck  with  horror 
the  whole  of  Europe,  and  even  her  own  friends)  of 
taking  to  her  bed,  with  indecent  haste,  the  man  who 
was  stigmatized  as  the  murderer  of  her  husband  ;  and 
the  manner  in  which  she  refused  to  defend  herself,  and 
broke  off  the  conference  to  which  she  had  agreed,  as 
eoon  as  the  charge  of  accession  to  the  murder  was 
brought  against  her, — afford  the  strongest  presumption 
of  her  guilt ;  and,  when  taken  in  connection  with  the 
direct  evidence  arising  from  letters  and  depositions, 
would  have  been  sufficient  long  ago  to  shut  the 
mouths  of  any  but  the  defenders  of  Mary,  Queen  of 
Scots.* 

Knox  was  absent  from  Edinburgh  at  the  time  of 


*  Those  who  wish  to  see  the  proof  of  these  assertions,  niaj' 
';onsiilt  Mr.  Hume's  History  of  the  period,  with  the  Notes;  Dr. 
Robertson's,  with  his  Dissertation;  and  especially  Mr.  Laing-'s 
Dissertation  on  the  subject.  This  last  writer  has  examined  the 
point  with  great  calmness,  accuracy,  and  acuteness,  has  estab- 
lishetl  the  genuineness  of  the  letters  to  Bothwell,  and  cleared 
the  whole  evidence  from  the  objections  and  cavils  of  the  fan- 
tastical Whilaker,  a  late  author,  who  has  equalled  any  of  his 
predecessors  in  prejudice,  and  exceeded  all  of  them  in  the 
:Uiberal  and  virulent  abuse  with  which  he  has  treated  the  most 
respectable  of  his  opponents.  The  principal  writers  who  in 
modern  times  have  undertaken  the  defence  of  Mary  are  Goodall, 
Tytler,  Stuart,  and  Whitaker. 


the  Queen's  marriage  with  Bothwell ;  hut  his  col- 
league ably  supported  the  honour  of  his  place  and 
order  on  that  occasion,  when  the  whole  nobility  of 
Scotland  preserved  a  passive  and  disgraceful  silence. 
Being  required  by  both  the  parties  to  publish  the 
banns,  Craig  reluctantly  complied,  after  taking  the 
advice  of  his  session  ;  but  he  at  the  same  time  protest- 
ed from  the  pulpit,  on  three  several  days,  and  took 
heaven  and  earth  to  witness,  that  he  abhorred  and 
detested  the  intended  inarriage  as  unlawful  and  scan- 
dalous, and  solemnly  charged  the  nobility  to  use  their 
influence  to  prevent  the  Queen  from  taking  a  step, 
which  would  inevitably  cover  her  with  infamy,  and 
involve  her  in  ruin.  Being  called  before  the  Council, 
and  accused  of  having  exceeded  the  bounds  of  his 
commission,  he  boldly  replied,  that  the  bounds  of  his 
commission,  were  the  word  of  God,  good  laws,  and 
natural  reason,  to  all  of  which  the  proposed  marriage 
was  contrary.  And  Bothwell  being  present,  he  charg- 
ed him  with  the  crime  of  adultery,  the  precipitancy 
with  which  the  process  of  divorce  had  been  carried 
through,  and  the  suspicions  entertained  of  collusion 
between  him  and  his  wife,  of  his  having  murdered  the 
King,  and  ravished  the  Queen,  all  of  which  would  be 
confirmed,  if  they  carried  their  purpose  into  execution.* 

The  events  which  followed  in  a  rapid  succession 
upon  this  infamous  marriage;  the  confederation  of  the 
nobility  for  revenging  the  King's  death,  and  preserving 
the  person  of  the  infant  Prince  ;  the  flight  of  Bothwell ; 
the  surrender  and  imprisonment  of  Mary  ;  her  resigna- 
tion of  the  government;  the  coronation  of  her  son; 
and  the  appointment  of  the  Earl  of  Murray  as  Regent 
during  his  minority,  are  all  well  known  to  the  readers 
of  Scottish  history. 

Knox  seems  to  have  returned  to  his  charge  at  the 
time  that  the  Queen  fled  with  Bothwell  to  Dunbar. 
He  was  present  in  the  General  Assembly  which  met 
at  Edinburgh  on  the  25th  of  June,  and  was  delega- 
ted by  them  to  go  to  the  west  country,  and  endeavour 
to  persuade  the  Hamiltons  and  others  who  stood  aloof 
from  the  confederated  Lords,  to  join  with  them  in  set- 
tling the  distracted  affairs  of  the  country,  and  to 
attend  a  general  convention  of  the  delegates  of  the 
churches,  to  be  held  on  the  20th  of  July  following. f 
He  was  unsuccessful  in  this  negociation.  But  the 
convention  was  held,  and  the  nobles,  barons,  and 
commissioners  of  boroughs,  who  were  present,  sub- 
scribed a  number  of  articles,  with  reference  to  religion 
and  the  state  of  the  nation. :|: 

On  the  29th  of  July  1567,  the  Reformer  preached 
the  sermon  at  the  coronation  of  James  VL  in  the  parish 
church  of  Stirling.||  He  objected  to  the  ceremony  of 
unction,  as  a  Jewish  rite  abused  under  the  papacy ; 
but  on  the  present  occasion  it  was  deemed  inexpedient 
to  depart  from  the  accustomed  ceremonial.  It  was 
therefore  performed  by  the  bishop  of  Orkney ;  the 
superintendents  of  Lothian  and  Angus  assisting  him 
to  place  the  crown  on  the  King's  head.§  After  the 
coronation,  Knox,  along  with  some  others,  took  in- 
struments, and  craved  extracts  of  the  proceedings.^" 


*  Bulk  of  the  Universal  Kirk,  p.  85,  87,  103.  Anderson's 
Collections,  ii.  278— 283.  Knox,  405,  406.  Spottiswood,  202, 
203.  Craig  gave  in  a  narrative  and  defence  of  his  conduct  to 
the  General  Assembly,  30th  Dec.  1567  ;  but  it  was  not  until 
the  6th  July,  1569,  t'lat  the  Assembly  overtook  the  formal  con- 
sideration of  that  affair,  when  they  declared  that  "  be  had  done 
the  dewtie  of  a  faithfull  minister." 

t  Keith,  574,  577.     Knox,  410. 

t  Keith,  581— 583.     Knox,  411.    Spottis.  209,  210. 

11  Knox,  412.  Buchanan  calls  it  luculentam  concionetn. 
Hist.  lib.  xviii.  Oper.  torn.  i.  p.  366. 

§  Cald.  MS.  ii.67,68.  Anderson's  Collections,  ii.  249.  One 
author  says  that  Knox  was  employed  in  putting  the  crown  on 
the  king's  head.  "  Diadema  Joannis  Knoxii  manibus  capiti 
regio  iniposituni."  Arcbibaldus  Sinisonus,  Annates  Eccleg. 
Scotican.  p.  9.  MS.  in  the  ]K)s$ession  of  Thomas  Thomson,  Esq. 

1[  Keith,  439.  Keith  expresses  his  surprise  at  Knox's  taking 
instruments  in  the  name  of  the  estates,  as  he  "could  properly 
belong-  to  no  estate  at  all."  p.  440.    But  the  record  does  not  say 


116 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    KNOX. 


When  the  Queen  was  confined  by  the  Lords  in  the 
castle  of  Lochlevin,  they  had  not  resolved  in  what 
manner  they  should  dispose  of  her  person  for  the 
future.  Some  proposed  that  she  should  be  allowed 
to  leave  the  kingdom  ;  some  that  she  should  be  im- 
prisoned during  life;  while  others  insisted  that  she 
ought  to  suffer  capital  punishment.  Of  this  last  opin- 
ion was  Knox,  with  almost  all  the  ministers,  and  the 
great  body  of  the  people.  The  chief  ground  upon 
which  they  insisted  for  this,  was  not  her  maladminis- 
tration in  the  government,  or  the  mere  safety  and  peace 
of  the  commonwealth  ;  which  were  the  reasons  upon 
which  the  parliament  of  England,  in  the  following 
century,  proceeded  to  the  execution  of  her  grandson. 
But  they  founded  their  opinion  upon  the  personal 
crimes  with  which  Mary  was  charged.  Murder  and 
adultery,  they  reasoned,  were  crimes  to  which  the 
punishment  of  death  was  allotted  by  the  law  of  God 
and  of  nations.  From  this  penalty  persons  of  no 
rank  could  plead  exemption.  The  ordinary  forms  of 
judicial  procedure,  indeed,  made  no  provision  for  the 
trial  of  a  supreme  magistrate;  because  the  laws  did  not 
suppose  that  such  enormous  crimes  would  be  commit- 
ted by  them.  But  extraordinary  cases  required  extra- 
ordinary remedies ;  and  new  offences  gave  birth  to 
new  laws.  There  were  also  examples  in  scripture  of 
the  capita]  punishment  of  princes,  nor  were  precedents 
for  it  wanting  in  the  history  of  their  own  country.* 

Upon  these  grounds,  Knox  scrupled  not  publicly  to 
maintain,  that  the  estates  of  the  kingdom  ought  to 
bring  Mary  to  a  trial ;  and,  if  she  was  found  guilty  of 
the  murder  of  her  husband,  and  an  adulterous  connec- 
tion with  Both  well,  that  she  ought  to  be  put  to  death. 
Throkmorton,  the  English  ambassador,  held  a  confer- 
ence with  him,  with  the  view  of  mitigating  the  rigour 
of  this  judgment ;  but  though  he  acquiesced  in  the  re- 
solution adopted  by  the  Lords  to  detain  her  in  prison, 
he  retained  his  own  sentiment,  and,  after  the  civil  war 
was  kindled  by  her  escape  from  confinement,  repeat- 
edly said,  that  he  considered  the  nation  as  suffering 
for  their  criminal  lenity. f 

Though  the  Earl  of  Murray,  after  his  return  from 
banishment,  was  pardoned,  and  re-admitted  to  his 
place  in  the  privy  council,  he  did  not  regain  the  confi- 
dence of  her  Majesty.  Perceiving  the  ruinous  tendency 
of  the  course  on  which  she  was  bent,  and  despairing 
of  being  able  to  prevent  it  by  his  advice,  he  declined 
taking  an  active  part  in  the  management  of  public 
affairs,  and  appeared  very  seldom  at  Court.  Soon 
after  the  King  was  murdered,  he  obtained  liberty  to 
leave  the  kingdom,  and  retired  to  France,  where  he 
remained  till  recalled  by  a  message  from  the  confeder- 
ated Lords,  after  Mary  had  subscribed  the  instruments 
by  which  she  resigned  the  crown  and  appointed  him 
Regent,  Having  arrived  in  Scotland,  he  was  formally 
invested  with  the  regency,  on  the  22d  of  August  15G7. 
As  soon  as  he  was  confirmed  in  the  government,  he 
exerted  himself  with  great  zeal  and  prudence,  to  secure 
the  peace  of  the  kingdom,  and  to  settle  the  affairs  of 
the  church.  A  parliament  being  summoned  to  meet 
in  the  middle  of  December,  he,  with  the  advice  of  the 
privy  council,  previously  nominated  certain  barons, 
and  commissioners  of  boroughs,  to  consult  upon  and 
digest  such  overtures  as  were  proper  to  be  laid  before 
that  assembly.  "With  these  he  joined  Knox,  and  four 
other  ministers,  to  assist  in  matters  which  related  to 
the  church.     This  committee  met  in  the  beginning  of 

that  he  took  instrument?  in  the  name  of  the  estates.  It  is  evi- 
dent that  he  acted  in  the  name  of  ilie  church,  whicli  was  con- 
sidered as  having  an  interest  in  the  transaction,  as  by  one 
clause  of  the  coronation  oath  the  king  engaged  to  maintain  the 
reformed  religion,  and  the  privileges  of  the  protestant  church. 
Ibid.  p.  438. 

»  Keith,  421,  422,  428.  Throkmorton's  Letters,  14th  and 
18th  July;  apnd  Robertson,  App.  No.  21.  "The  women  (says 
the  ambassador)  be  most  furious  and  impudent  against  the 
Queen,  and  yet  the  men  be  mad  enough." 

t  Cald.  MS.  ii.  73.     Bannatyne's  Journal,  p.  113. 


December,  and  sat  until  the  opening  of  the  parliament. 
The  record  of  their  proceedings,  both  as  to  civil  and 
ecclesiastical  affairs,  is  preserved  ;  and,  as  many  of 
their  propositions  were  not  adopted  by  the  parliament, 
it  is  valuable  as  a  declaration  of  the  sentiments  of  a 
number  of  the  most  able  men  in  the  kingdom.* 

On  the  15th  of  December,  Knox  preached  at  the 
opening  of  the  parliament,  and  exhorted  them  to  begin 
with  the  affairs  of  religion,  in  which  case  they  would 
find  better  success  in  their  other  business.  The  par- 
liament ratified  all  the  acts  which  had  been  passed  in 
1560,  in  favour  of  the  protestant  religion,  and  against 
popery.  New  statutes  of  a  similar  kind  were  a'dded. 
It  was  provided,  that  no  prince  should  afterwards  be 
admitted  to  the  exercise  of  authority  in  the  kingdom, 
without  taking  an  oath  to  maintain  the  protestant  reli- 
gion;  and  that  none  but  protestants  should  be  admitted 
to  any  office,  not  hereditary  nor  held  for  life.  The 
ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  exercised  by  the  assemblies 
of  the  church,  was  formally  ratified,  and  commissioners 
appointed  to  define  more  exactly  the  causes  which 
came  within  the  sphere  of  their  judgment.  The  thirds 
of  benefices  were  appointed  to  be  paid  immediately  to 
collectors  appointed  by  the  church,  who  were  to  ac- 
count to  the  exchequer  for  the  overplus  after  paying 
the  stipends  of  the  ministers.  And  the  funds  of  pro- 
vostries,  prebendaries,  and  chaplainries  were  appropri- 
ated to  maintain  bursars  in  colleges.")" 

In  the  act  ratifying  the  jurisdiction  of  the  church, 
Knox  was  appointed  one  of  the  commissioners  for 
drawing  out  the  particular  points  which  pertained  to 
ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  to  be  presented  to  next  meet- 
ing of  parliament.  The  General  Assembly,  which  met 
about  the  same  time,  gave  him  a  commission,  along 
with  some  others,  to  act  for  them  in  this  matter,  and, 
in  general,  to  consult  with  the  Regent  and  council  on 
such  ecclesiastical  questions  as  might  occur  after  their 
dissolution.  He  was  also  appointed  to  assist  the  su- 
perintendent of  Lothian  in  his  visitation,  and  after- 
wards to  visit  the  churches  in  Kyle,  Carrick,  and 
Cunningham.:}: 

During  the  regency  of  Murray,  there  were  no  jars 
between  the  church  and  the  court,  nor  any  of  those  un- 
pleasant complaints  which  had  been  made  at  every 
meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  before  that  period, 
and  which  were  renewed  under  the  succeeding  Re- 
gents.||  All  the  grievances  of  which  they  complained 
were  not  indeed,  redressed ;  and  the  provision  made 
by  law  was  still  inadequate  for  the  support  of  such  an 
ecclesiastical  establishment  as  the  nation  required,  in- 
cluding the  seminaries  of  education.  But  the  Regent 
not  only  received  the  addresses  of  the  general  assem- 
blies in  a  "manner  very  different  from  that  to  which 
they  had  been  accustomed  ;"  but  shewed  a  disposition 
to  grant  their  petitions,  whenever  it  was  in  his  power. 
It  was  chiefly  through  his  influence  that  the  favourable 
arrangement  concerning  the  thirds  of  benefices  was 
made ;  and  he  endeavoured,  though  unsuccessfully,  to 
obtain  the  consent  of  parliament  to  the  dissolution  of 

*  See  Note  LVII. 

t  Cald.  MS.  ad  ann.  1567;  and  Acts  Pari.  1st,  James  VI. 

t  Cald.  ut  supra.     Keith,  585,  586. 

jl  Dr.  Robertson  says,  that  the  regulation  respecting  the 
thirds,  made  by  the  parliament  in  December  1567,  did  not 
produce  any  considei-able  change  in  the  situation  of  the  clergy, 
and  speaks  of  them  as  still  "groaning  under  extreme  poverty, 
unable  to  obtain  any  thing  but  fair  words  and  liberal  promises." 
History  of  Scotland,  ii.  250,  312.  Loud.  1809.  But  the  law 
which  gave  power  to  the  collectors  appointed  by  the  church  to 
uplift  the  thirds,  and  to  pay  the  stipends,  before  any  thing  was 
allowed  to  the  court,  was  certainly  a  very  considerable  benefit. 
The  church  herself  viewed  it  in  this  light.  Calderwood  says 
that  "the  ministers  were  now  refreshed  with  the  allowance 
made  by  the  last  parliament."  MS.  ad  ann.  1567.  And  the 
Assembly,  in  their  letter  inviting  Wilock  to  return  from  Kng-  ' 
land,  ex))ressly  say,  "  Our  enemies,  praised  be  God, are  dashed; 
religion  established;  sufficient  provision  made  for  minisltrs" 
&c.  Keith,  590.  The  account  which  I  have  given  in  the  text 
is,  I  think,  supported  by  the  register  of  the  five  general  assem- 
blies which  were  held  cluring  the  regency  of  Murray. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


Iff 


the  prelacies,  and  the  appropriation  of  their  revenues 
to  the  common  fund  of  the  church.* 

Our  Reformer  had  now  reached  that  point  from 
which  he  could  take  a  calm  and  deliberate  view  of  the 
bustling  scene  through  which  he  had  passed,  and  of 
the  arduous  struggle  which  he  had  been  so  long  en- 
gaged in,  and  had  at  length  brought  to  a  happy  ter- 
mination. Papal  superstition  and  tyranny  were  sup- 
pressed and  abolished  by  law;  the  protestant  religion 
was  established  ;  the  supreme  government  of  the  nation 
was  in  the  hands  of  one  in  whose  wisdom  and  integrity 
he  had  the  greatest  confidence;  the  church  was  freed 
from  many  of  those  grievances  under  which  she  had 
hitherto  groaned,  and  enjoyed  the  prospect  of  obtain- 
ing the  redress  of  such  as  still  remained.  The  work 
on  which  his  heart  had  been  so  ardently  set  for  such  a 
long  period,  and  for  the  success  of  which  he  had  so 
often  trembled,  had  prospered  beyond  his  utmost  ex- 
pectation. He  now  congratulated  himself  on  the  pros- 
pect of  being  released  from  all  burden  of  public  affairs, 
and  of  spending  the  remainder  of  his  days  in  religious 
meditation,  and  in  preparation  for  that  event  of  which 
his  increasing  infirmities  admonished  him.f  He  even 
secretly  cherished  the  wish  of  resigning  his  charge  in 
Edinburgh,  and  of  retiring  to  that  privacy,  from  which 
he  had  been  drawn  at  the  commencement  of  the  Scot- 
tish Reformation.  Speaking  of  the  congregation  of 
which  he  had  been  pastor  at  Geneva,  he  says  in  one 
of  his  confidential  letters :  "  God  comfort  that  dispersed 
little  flock,  among  whom  I  lived  with  quietness  of  con- 
science, and  contentment  of  heart ;  and  amongst  whom 
I  would  be  content  to  end  my  days,  if  so  it  might  stand 
with  God's  good  pleasure.  For,  seeing  it  hath  pleased 
His  Majesty,  above  all  men's  expectations,  to  prosper 
the  work,  for  the  performing  whereof  I  left  that  com- 
pany, 1  would  even  as  gladly  return  to  them,  if  they 
stood  in  need  of  my  labours,  as  ever  I  was  glad  to  be 
delivered  from  the  rage  of  mine  enemies.  I  can  give 
you  no  reason  that  1  should  so  desire  other  than  that 
my  heart  so  thirsteth.":}: 

But  "  the  way  of  man  is  not  in  himself."  Provi- 
dence had  allotted  to  him  further  trials  of  a  public 
nature  :  he  was  yet  to  see  the  security  of  the  reformed 
religion  endangered,  and  the  country  involved  in  an- 
other civil  war,  even  more  distressing  than  the  former, 
in  as  much  as  the  principal  persons  on  each  side  were 
professed  proiestants. 

From  the  time  that  the  Queen  was  imprisoned,  and 
the  government  transferred  to  the  young  prince  under 
the  regency  of  Murray,  a  very  considerable  number  of 
the  nobility  had  withheld  their  approbation  of  these 
proceedings.  The  popish  party  were  decidedly  at- 
tached to  Mary,  and  inimical  to  a  revolution  which 
crushed  all  the  hopes  which  they  had  cherished  of  ac- 
complishing the  restoration  of  the  ancient  religion. 
Others,  though  professed  protestants,  were  induced 
by  personal  motives  to  oppose  the  new  government. 
Argyle  was  at  this  time  alienated  from  Murray  by  a 
family  quarrel. ||  The  house  of  Hamilton  followed 
that  line  of  narrow  and  interested  policy  which  they 
had  adopted  on  former  occasions  of  a  similar  kind. 
They  were  jealous  lest  the  late  settlement  of  the  crown 
should  invalidate  the  right  of  their  chief,  the  Duke  of 
Chastelherault,  to  the  succession,  and  they  were  of- 
fended that  the  regency,  which  they  considered  as  due 
to  him,  should  have  been  conferred  on  the  Earl  of 
Murray .§     The  very  means  which  it  was  requisite  for 


*  Letter  from  the  Recent  to  the  General  Assembly,  ult.  June, 
1569.     Bulk  of  the  Universal  Kirk,  p.  45 — 47. 

t  Cald.  MS.  ii.  108. 

i  Letter  to  John  Wood,  14th  of  February.  1568:  Cald.  MS. 
ii.  9L 

II  Throkmorton  to  Elizabeth.  22d  August,  1567:  Keith,  450. 

}  Throkmortou's  Letters  of  14th,  16th,  18th,  and  19th  July, 
1567:  Robertson,  Append.  No.  21.  Laing-,  ii.  App.  No.  13.  p. 
125.  Keith,  p.  423.  The  protestation  taken,  at  the  corona- 
tion of  James  VI.  by  Arthur  Hamilton  of  Meritoo,  in  the  name 


the  Regent  to  employ,  to  restore  tranquillity  and  order 
to  the  kingdom,  created  him  enemies.  During  the 
late  confusions,  many  parts  of  the  country  had  fallen 
into  a  state  of  anarchy ;  and  the  north  and  the  borders 
presented  nothing  but  scenes  of  rapine  and  bloodshed. 
It  was  impossible  to  repress  these  disorders  without 
making  severe  examples  of  the  most  guilty  ;  and  the 
turbulent  and  licentious  naturally  sought  the  overthrow 
of  a  government  by  which  they  felt  themselves  over- 
awed and  restrained.*  The  abilities  of  the  Regent, 
however,  enabled  him  to  overcome  these  difficulties, 
and  he  was  daily  receiving  submissions  from  the  most 
powerful  of  the  opposite  parly;  when,  on  the  2d  of 
May  1568,  the  Queen  escaped  from  her  confinement 
in  Lochlevin.  The  discontented  nobles  immediately 
joined  her  standard,  and  having  mustered  a  large  force, 
avowed  their  determination  to  restore  her  to  the  exer- 
cise of  that  authority  which  she  had  renounced  by 
constraint.  This  formidable  insurrection  was  defeated 
by  the  promptitude  of  the  Regent ;  and  in  consequence 
of  the  battle  of  Langside,  Mary  was  driven  into  Eng- 
land, and  her  party  broken.  Elizabeth  having  pro- 
cured herself  to  be  chosen  umpire  between  the  two 
parties,  the  conferences  were  protracted  during  so  long 
a  period,  and  the  conduct  of  the  English  court  was  so 
equivocal  and  contradictory,  that  the  friends  of  Mary 
were  encouraged  to  renew  their  attempts  to  restore  her 
by  force  of  arms.  But  although  the  Duke  of  Chastel- 
herault returned  from  France  with  a  large  sum  of 
money  contributed  by  the  popish  princes,  and  came 
into  Scotland  in  the  character  of  Lieutenant  for  the 
Queen, f  the  Regent,  by  his  vigilance,  and  vigorous 
measures,  prevented  any  insurrection,  and  preserved 
the  kingdom  in  a  state  of  obedience  to  the  young  King's 
authority. 

Despairing  to  accomplish  their  daring  object  during 
his  life,  the  partizans  of  Mary  resolved  to  cut  off  Mur- 
ray by  private  means.  During  the  year  1568,  two 
persons  were  employed  to  assassinate  him  ;  but  the 
design  was  discovered  and  prevented.:!:  This  did  not 
hinder  new  machinations.  Hamilton  of  Bothwell- 
haugh,  a  nephew  of  the  archbishop  of  St.  Andrews, 
undertook  to  perpetrate  the  deed.  He  was  one  of  the 
prisoners  taken  at  the  battle  of  Langside,  and  after 
being  arraigned,  condemned,  and  brought  out  to  execu- 
tion, had  his  life  given  him  by  the  Regent.]]  Some 
time  after  he  was  set  at  liberty  along  with  the  other 
prisoners.§  It  is  said,  that  he  was  actuated  by  revenge, 
on  account  of  an  injury  which  he  had  received,  by  de- 
taining one  of  his  forfeited  estates,  or  by  the  cruel 
manner  in  which  his  wife  had  been  dispossessed  of  it.^f 


of  the  Duke,  is  confined  to  the  point  of  his  succession  to  the 
crown,  and  does  not  allude  in  the  slightest  degree  to  the  right 
of  the  Queen.  Keith,  437.  Of  the  same  strain  was  the  protest 
which  was  intended  to  have  been  made  at  the  parliament  held 
in  December  1567;  a  copy  of  which,  and  a  minute  of  a  conver- 
sation on  the  subject  between  the  Regent  and  Arthur  Hamil- 
ton are  preserved  among  the  Hamilton  MSS. 

»  Buchanan,  Oper.  i.  346.     Keith,  407. 

+  Spottiswood,  216.  Letter,  Knox  to  Wood,  10th  Septem- 
ber 1568,  published  in  the  Appendix,  No.  X. 

I  The  Hist,  of  King  James  the  Sext,  p.  48.  Birrel's  Diary, 
17,  in  Dalyell's  Fragments  of  Scottish  History.  Laing,  ii.  269. 
See  also  Letter,  Knox  to  Wood,  10th  September,  1568,  pub-- 
lished  in  the  Appendix,  No.  X. 

II  Hist,  of  King  James  the  Sext,  p.  43.  {  Ibid.  p.  63. 

1r  This  story  is  related  in  very  diflferent  ways.  One  account 
makes  the  revenge  to  turn  solely  upon  the  treatment  of  hi.'? 
wife,  who,  expecting  to  be  allowed  to  remain  in  her  house  of 
"  Woodislie,"  was  "  uncourtouslie  and  uumercifullie,  put  thair- 
fra,  all  her  gudis  tane  fra  hir,  and  schoe  left  stark  naked.  The 
gentilwoman,  quhat  for  grief  of  mynd  and  exceeding  cald,  that 
schoe  had  then  contractit,  conceaved  sic  madness  as  was  almost 
incredible."  Historie  of  King  James  the  Sext,  p.  74.  Spottis- 
wood's  account  is  different.  He  says,  that  Bothwellhaugh  had 
redeemed  his  life  by  yielding  up  the  lands  of  Woodhouselie, 
which  were  given  to  the  Justice  Clerk,  and  he  refusing  to  part 
with  them,  Bothwellhaugh  "  made  his  quarrel  to  the  regent, 
[i.  e.  revenged  himself  upon  the  regent],  who  was  most  inno- 
cent, and  had  restored  him  to  life  and  liberty."     Spottis.  His- 


ire 


LIFE    OF  JOHN   KNOX. 


Whether  this  was  really  the  case,  or  whether  it  was 
afterwards  alleged  to  diminish  the  odium  of  his  crime, 
and  turn  it  away  from  his  party,  cannot  perhaps  be 
now  certainly  determined.  But  it  does  not  appear, 
that  any  part  of  the  Regent's  conduct  towards  him 
was  such  as  to  afford  the  slightest  alleviation  of  a 
crime,  in  the  commission  of  which  he  burst  the  ties 
of  gratitude  as  well  as  of  humanity  and  justice.  On 
the  other  hand,  there  is  ample  proof  that  he  was  incited 
to  make  the  attempt  by  the  political  party  with  which 
he  was  connected.*  Having  formed  his  resolution,  he 
deliberately  followed  the  Regent  in  his  progress  to 
Glasgow,  Stirling,  and  Linlithgow;  and,  finding  an 
opportunity  in  the  last  of  these  places,  shot  him 
through  the  body  with  a  musket-ball.  The  wound 
proved  mortal,  and  the  Regent  died  the  same  evening. 
While  some  of  his  friends,  who  stood  round  his  bed, 
lamented  the  excessive  lenity  which  he  had  shewn  to 
his  enemies,  and  particularly  to  his  murderer,  he  re- 
plied, with  a  truly  noble  and  Christian  spirit,  that 
nothing  would  ever  make  him  repent  of  an  act  of  cle- 
mency.^ 

The  consternation  which  is  usuall)'  produced  by  the 
fall  of  a  distinguished  leader  was  absorbed  in  the  deep 
distress  which  the  tidings  of  the  Regent's  murder 
spread  through  the  nation.  The  common  people,  who 
had  experienced  the  beneficial  effects  of  his  short  ad- 
ministration to  a  degree  altogether  unprecedented  in 
the  country,  felt  as  if  each  had  lost  a  father,  and 
loudly  demanded  vengeance  against  the  authors  of  the 
parricide.  Many  who  had  envied  or  hated  him  during 
his  life  were  now  forward  to  do  justice  to  his  virtues. 
Those  who  had  not  been  able  to  conceal  their  satisfac- 
tion on  the  first  intelligence  of  his  death,  became 
ashamed  of  the  indecent  exultation  which  they  had 
imprudently  expressed.  The  Hamiltons  were  anxious 
to  clear  themselves  from  the  imputation  of  a  crime 
which  they  saw  to  be  universally  detested.  The 
murderer  was  dismissed  by  them,  and  was  glad  to 
conceal  his  ignominy  by  condemning  himself  to  per- 
petual banishment.  The  only  one  of  his  crimes  for 
which  the  archbishop  of  St.  Andrews  afterwards  ex- 
pressed contrition  before  his  execution,  was  his  acces- 
sion to  the  murder  of  the  Regent.:^     Nor  were  these 

tory,  p.  233.  Crawfurd,  in  his  Memoirs  of  the  Affairs  of  Scot- 
land, p.  140.  1st  edit,  says,  that  ''Murray  sent  some  officers  to 
talce  possession  of  the  house,  who  not  only  turned  the  gentle- 
woman out  of  doors,  but"  &c.  This  is  the  authority  which  has 
been  relied  upon  by  ail  those  writers  who  have  charged  the 
regent  with  cruelty  in  this  transaction;  yet  it  is  now  discovered 
that  the  interpolation  of  Murray's  name  in  this  place  is  one  of 
those  forgeries  by  which  that  work  is  disgraced  from  beginning 
to  end.     See  Hist,  of  King  James  the  Sext,  preface,  and  p.  74. 

*  This  is  clear  from  many  considerations.  Within  a  few 
days  after  the  regent's  assassination,  his  secretary,  Mr.  John 
Wood,  was  n)urdered  in  Fife:  Anderson's  Coll.  iii.  84.  The 
bouse  in  which  Cothwellhaugh  concealed  himself,  while  he 
committed  the  murder,  belonged  to  the  archbishop  of  St.  An- 
drews, who  acknowledged  that  he  was  privy  and  accessory  to 
the  deed.  Historic  of  King  James  the  Sext,  p.  117.  the 
horse  on  which  the  murderer  escaped  belonged  to  John  Hamil- 
ton, abbot  of  Arbroath,  one  of  the  Duke's  sons.  Cald.  ad.  ann. 
1570.  He  rode  immediately  to  Hamilton,  where  he  was  "re- 
ceived with  great  applause."  Ibid.  Nay,  grounds  are  not 
wanting  for  strong  suspicion,  that  Maitland,  and  even  Grange 
himself  who  had  long  been  the  bosom  friend  of  the  Regent, 
were  acquainted  with  the  conspiracy  against  his  life.  Ibid. 
Bannatyne's  Journal,  p.  429.     Buchan.  i.  384. 

+  Caul,  ut  supra.   Buchanani  Oper.  i.  385.  Spottiswood,  233. 

t  Bannatyne,  p.  121.  Hist,  of  James  the  Sext,  p.  117.  "To 
the  thrid  head"  (his  participation  in  the  murder  of  the  regent) 
the  archbishop  "  answerit  thus:  That  he  not  only  knew  thairof, 
and  wald  not  stopp  it.  bot  rather  furlherit  the  deed  thairof, 
quhilk  he  repentit,  and  askit  God  mercie  for  the  same."  Yet 
an  author,  in  the  nineteenth  century,  can  write  of  this  deed  in 
the  following  terms:  "The  heiress  of  Woodhouselie  fell  a 
sacrifice  to  the  corrupt  tyranny  of  the  regent  Murray.  Her 
husband,  Hamilton  of  Bothwellhaugh,  put  the  guilty  tyrant  to 
ueatn,  as  'base-born  Murray  rode  through  old  Linlithgow's 
rrowfled  town."  Chalmers's  Caledonia,  ii.  571.  Did  7  not 
respect  the  erudition  of  this  writer,  and  pity  his  prejudice 
(which,  ou  ecclesiastical  and  political  subjects,  is  worthy  of  the 


feelings  confined  to  Scotland  ;  the  sensation  was  gen- 
eral through  England,  and  the  expressions  of  grief 
and  condolence  from  that  country  evinced  the  uncom- 
mon esteem  in  which  he  was  held  by  all  ranks. 

It  was  the  happiness  of  the  Regent,  that,  in  his 
early  years,  he  fell  into  the  company  of  men,  who  cul- 
tivated his  vigorous  understanding,  gave  a  proper 
direction  to  his  activity,  and  instilled  into  his  mind 
the  principles  of  religion  and  virtue.  His  early  adop- 
tion of  the  reformed  sentiments,  the  steadiness  with 
which  he  adhered  to  them,  the  uniform  correctness  of 
his  morals,  his  integrity,  sagacity,  and  enterprising 
but  cool  courage,  soon  placed  him  in  the  first  rank 
among  those  who  embarked  in  the  struggle  for  the 
reformation  of  religion,  and  maintenance  of  national 
liberties,  and  secured  to  him  their  cordial  and  un- 
bounded confidence.  The  honours  which  Queen  Mary 
conferred  on  him  were  not  too  great  for  the  services 
which  he  rendered  to  her ;  and  had  she  continued  to 
entrust  him  with  the  direction  of  her  counsels,  those 
measures  would  have  been  avoided  which  brought  on 
her  ruin.  He  was  repeatedly  placed  in  a  situation 
which  would  have  tempted  the  ambition  of  persons 
less  qualified,  to  aspire  to  the  supreme  authority;  yet 
he  shewed  no  disposition  to  grasp  at  this.  When  he 
accepted  the  regency,  it  was  in  compliance  with  the 
decided  and  uncorrupled  voice  of  the  acting  majority 
in  the  nation,  pointing  him  out  as  the  fittest  person  for 
occupying  that  high  station.  His  conduct,  in  one  of 
the  most  delicate  and  embarrassing  situations  in  which 
a  governor  was  ever  placed,  shewed  that  his  country- 
men were  not  mistaken  in  their  choice.  He  united, 
in  no  ordinary  degree,  those  qualities  which  are  rarely 
combined  in  the  same  individual,  and  which  make  up 
the  character  of  an  accomplished  prince.  Excelling 
equally  in  the  arts  of  war  and  peace,  he  reduced  the 
country  to  universal  obedience  to  the  King's  authority 
by  his  military  skill  and  valour,  and  preserved  it  in  a 
state  of  tranquillity  and  order  by  the  wise  and  impar- 
tial administration  of  justice.  Successful  in  all  his 
warlike  enterprises,  he  never  once  tarnislied  the  laurels 
of  victory,  by  cruelty  or  unnecessary  rigour  to  the 
vanquished.  He  knew  how  to  maintain  the  authority 
of  the  laws,  and  to  bridle  the  licentious,  by  salutary 
severity,  and  at  the  same  time  to  temper  the  rigour 
of  justice  by  the  interposition  of  mercy.  He  used  to 
sit  personally  in  the  courts  of  judicature,  and  exerted 
himself  to  obtain  for  all  the  subjects  an  easy  and  ex- 
pieditious  decision  of  litigated  causes.  His  hospitality, 
his  unostentatious  charity,  his  uncommon  liberality  to 
learned  men,  and  the  anxiety  he  shewed  to  confer  his 
favours  in  the  manner  least  calculated  to  hurt  their 
feelings,  have  been  celebrated  by  one  who  had  the  best 
opportunities  of  becoming  acquainted  with  these  ami- 
able traits  of  his  character.*  Nor  has  the  breath  of 
calumny,  which  has  laboured  in  many  ways  to  blast 
his  reputation,  ever  insinuated  that  he  oppressed  or 
burdened  the  public  during  his  regency,  in  order  to 
enrich  himself  or  his  family.  Add  to  all  his  exem- 
plary piety,  the  only  source  of  genuine  virtue.  His 
family  was  so  regulated  as  to  resemble  a  church  rather 
than  a  court.  Not  a  profane  nor  a  lewd  word  was  to 
be  heard  from  any  of  his  domestics.  Besides  the 
ordinary  exercises  of  devotion,  a  chaper  of  the  bible 
was  always  read  at  dinner  and  supper;  and  it  was  his 
custom,  on  such  occasions,  to  require  his  chaplain,  or 
some  other  learned  men  (of  whom  he  had  always  a 
number  about  him)  to  give  their  opinion  upon  the  pas- 
sage, for  his  own  instruction  and  that  of  his  family. 
"A  man  truly  good  (says  Archbishop  Spottiswood), 
and  worthy  to  be  ranked  amongst  the  best  governors 
that  this  kingdom  hath  enjoyed,  and,  therefore,  to  this 
day  honoured  with  the  title  of  The  good  Regent.'*''^ 


darkest  age  into  which  he  has  carried  his  researches),  there  are 
few  exjiressions  which   I  would  reckon   too  strong  to   be  em- 
ployed in  reprobating  the  spirit  which  breathes  in  this  passage. 
•  Buchanan.  Oper.  i.  385.  t  Historv  234. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX. 


119 


This  may  be  deemed,  by  some  readers,  an  improper 
digression  from  the  subject  of  this  work.  But  even 
though  it  had  been  still  less  connected  with  it  than  it 
is,  though  there  had  not  subsisted  that  intimate  fami- 
liarity and  co-operation  between  the  Regent  and  the 
Reformer,  I  could  scarcely  have  denied  myself  the 
satisfaction  of  paying  a  small  tribute  to  the  memory 
of  one  of  the  greatest  men  of  his  age,  who  has  been 
traduced  and  vilified  in  a  most  unjustifiable  manner, 
and  whose  character  has  been  drawn  with  unfavour- 
able, and,  in  my  opinion,  with  unfair  colours,  by  the 
most  moderate  and  impartial  of  our  historians.  All 
that  I  have  attempted  is  to  sketch  the  more  prominent 
features  of  his  character.  That  he  was  faultless,  I  am 
far  from  wishing  to  insinuate  ;  but  the  principal  charges 
which  have  been  brought  against  him,  I  consider  as 
either  irrelevant,  or  unproved,  or  greatly  exaggerated. 
That  his  exaltation  to  the  highest  dignity  in  the  state 
which  a  subject  could  enjoy,  produced  no  unfavourable 
change  on  his  temper  and  behaviour,  is  what  none  can 
be  prepared  to  affirm ;  but  I  have  not  seen  the  contrary 
established.  The  confidence  which  he  reposed  in  his 
friends  was  great,  and  he  was  inclined  to  pay  nmch 
deference  to  their  advice;  but  that  he  became  the  dupe 
of  worthless  favourites,  and  fell  by  listening  to  their 
flattery  and  refusing  to  hearken  to  wholesome  advice, 
and  not  by  the  treachery  of  his  friends  and  the  malice 
of  his  implacable  enemies,  are  assertions  which  have 
been  repeated  upnn  the  authority  of  a  single  witness, 
unsupported  by  facts,  and  capable  of  being  disproved.* 

The  Regent  died  on  the  evening  of  Saturday,  the 
23d  of  January  1570;  and  the  intelligence  of  his  mur- 
der was  conveyed  early  next  morning  to  Edinburgrh. 
It  is  impossible  to  describe  the  anguish  which  the  Re- 
former felt  on  this  occasion.  A  cordial  and  intimate 
friendship  had  long  subsisted  between  them.  Of  all 
the  Scottish  nobility,  he  placed  the  greatest  confidence 
in  Murray's  attachment  to  religion ;  and  his  conduct 
after  his  elevation  to  the  regency  had  served  to  heighten 
the  good  opinion  which  he  formerly  entertained  of  him. 
He  looked  upon  his  death  as  the  greatest  calamity 
which  could  befal  the  nation,  and  as  a  forerunner 
of  many  evils.f  When  the  shock  produced  by  the 
melancholy  tidings  had  subsided,  the  first  thought  that 
rushed  into  his  mind  was,  that  he  had  himself  been 
the  instrument  of  obtaining,  from  his  clemency,  a  par- 
don to  the  man  who  had  become  his  murderer :  a 
thought  which  naturally  produced  a  very  different  im- 
pression on  him  from  what  it  did  on  the  mind  of  the 
dying  Regent. :J: 

In  his  sermon  that  day,  he  introduced  the  melan- 
choly subject :  and  after  saying,  that  God  in  his  great 
mercy  raised  up  pious  rulers,  and  took  them  away  in 
his  displeasure  on  account  of  the  sins  of  a  nation,  he 
thus  poured  out  the  sorrows  of  his  heart.  "  O  Lord, 
in  what  misery  and  confusion  found  he  this  realm  ! 
To  what  rest  and  quietness  now  by  his  labours  sud- 
denly he  brought  the  same,  all  estates,  but  especially 
the  poor  commons,  can  witness.  Thy  image.  O  Lord, 
did  so  clearly  shine  in  that  personage,  that  the  devil, 
and  the  wicked  to  whom  he  is  prince,  could  not  abide 
it;  and  so  to  punish  our  sins  and  our  ingratitude  (who 
did  not  rightly  esteem  so  precious  a  gift),  thou  hast 
permitted  him  to  fall,  to  our  great  grief,  in  the  hands 
of  cruel  and  traitorous  murderers.  He  is  at  rest,  O 
Lord :  we  are  left  in  extreme  misery."|| 

*  See  Note  LVIII. 

t  Snietoni  Responsioad  Hatuiltonii  Dialog^uni,  p.  116. 

j  "  Upon  the  22  of  Mali,  the  sherife  of  Linlithgow,  the  laird 
of  Iiinerweek,  James  Hamilton  of  Bothelhaugh,  and  six  others, 
were  put  to  an  assyse;  their  hands  bound;  and  pardoned,  at 
request  of  Mr.  Knox,  whereof  he  sore  repented;  for  Bothwell- 
haugh  killed  the  regent  shortlie  after."  Caid.  MS.  ad  ann.  1568. 

II  Cald.  MS.  ii.  150.  He  is  said  to  have  added  this  to  his 
usual  prayers  after  dinner  and  supper.  But  in  a  volume  of 
Calderwood's  History,  in  the  Advocates'  Library  in  Edinburgh 
(which  has  been  transcribed  more  early  than  any  coi)y  which  I 
have  seen),  these  words  are  scored  out;  and,  it  is  introduced 


Only  a  few  days  before  this,  when  the  murder  was 
fully  concerted,  Gavin  Hamilton,  abbot  of  Kilwinning, 
applied  to  Knox  to  intercede  with  the  Regent  in  be- 
half of  his  kinsmen,  who  were  confined  for  practising 
against  the  government.  He  signified  his  readiness 
to  do  all  in  his  power  for  the  relief  of  any  of  that 
family  who  were  willing  to  own  the  authority  of  the 
King;  but  he  entreated  him  not  to  abuse  him,  by  em- 
ploying his  services,  if  his  relations  intended  to  do 
any  mischief  to  the  Regent:*  for  "I  protest  (said  he) 
before  God,  who  is  the  only  witness  now  betwixt  us, 
that  if  there  be  any  thing  attempted,  by  any  of  that 
surname,  against  the  person  of  that  man,  in  that  case, 
I  discharge  myself  to  you  and  them  for  ever."  After 
the  assassination,  the  abbot  sent  to  desire  another  in- 
terview ;  but  Knox  refused  to  see  him,  and  desired  the 
messenger  to  say  to  him,  "  I  have  not  now  the  Regent 
to  niake  suit  unto  for  the  HamiItons."f 

At  this  time  there  were  handed  about  a  fabricated 
account  of  a  pretended  conference  held  by  the  late 
Regent  with  Lord  Lindsay,  Wishart  of  Pittarrow,  the 
tutor  of  Pitcur,  James  Macgill,  and  Knox;  in  which 
they  were  represented  as  advising  him  to  set  aside  the 
young  King,  and  to  place  the  crown  on  his  own  head. 
The  modes  of  expression  peculiar  to  each  of  the  per- 
sons were  carefully  imitated  in  the  speeches  put  into 
their  mouths,  to  give  it  the  greater  air  of  credibility. 
The  evident  design  of  circulating  it  at  this  time,  was 
to  lessen  the  odium  of  the  murder,  and  the  veneration 
of  the  people  for  the  memory  of  Murray  ;  but  it  was 
universally  regarded  as  an  impudent  and  gross  forgery. 
The  person  who  fabricated  it  was  Thomas  Maitland,  a 
young  man  of  talents,  but  corrupted  by  his  brother  the 
Secretary,  who  before  this  had  engaged  himself  to  the 
Queen's  party,  and  was  suspected  of  having  a  deep 
hand  in  the  plot  for  assassinating  the  Regent.:^: 

On  the  day  on  which  the  weekly  conference  was  held 
in  Edinburgh,  the  same  person  slipped  into  the  pulpit 
a  schedule,  containing  words  to  this  effect,  "Take  up 
now  the  man  whom  you  accounted  another  God,  and 
consider  the  end  to  which  his  ambition  hath  brought 
him."  Knox,  whose  turn  it  was  to  preach  that  day, 
took  up  the  paper  on  entering  the  pulpit,  supposing  it 
to  be  a  note  requesting  the  prayers  of  the  congregation 
for  a  sick  person,  and,  having  read  it,  laid  it  aside 
without  any  apparent  emotion.  But  towards  the  con- 
clusion of  his  sermon,  having  deplored  the  loss  which 
the  church  and  commonwealth  had  recently  sustained, 
and  declared  the  account  of  the  conference,  which  had 
been  circulated,  to  be  false  and  calumnious,  he  said 
that  there  were  persons  who  rejoiced  at  the  treasonable 
murder,  and  scrupled  not  to  make  it  the  subject  of  their 
merriment;  particularly,  there  was  one  present  who 
had  thrown  into  the  pulpit  a  writing  insulting  over  an 
event  which  was  the  cause  of  grief  to  all  good  men. 
"that  wicked  man,  whosoever  he  be,  shall  not  go  un- 
punished, and  shall  die  where  there  shall  be  none  to 
lament  him."  Maitland,  after  he  went  home,  said  to 
his  sister,  that  the  preacher  was  raving,  when  he  spake 
in  such  a  manner  of  a  person  who  was  unknown  to 
him;  but  she  understanding  that  her  brother  had 
written  the  line,  reproved  him,  saying  with  tears,  that 
none  of  that  man's  denunciations  were  wont  to  prove 
idle.  Spottiswood  (who  had  his  information  person- 
ally from  the  mouth  of  that  lady)  says,  that  Maitland 
died  in  Italy,  "  having  no  known  person  to  attend 
him."|| 


as  the  prayer  which  he  offered  up  in  public,  the  day  on  which 
he  was  informed  of  the  regent's  death. 

*  Great  apprehensions  of  this  were  entertained  by  the  Re- 
gent's friends.     Bannatyne,  428 — 9. 

+  Cald.  MS.  ad  ann.  1570.  {  Ibid.  ii.  151—157. 

II  Spottiswood,  p.  234.  Mackenzie  labours  to  discredit  the 
archbishop's  narrative  of  this  affair.  Lives  of  Scottish  Writers, 
iii.  195,  196.  But  whatever  opinion  we  may  form  about  the 
prediction,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  Spottiswood  had  the  best 
means  of  information  respecting  the  facts  which  he  relates. 
Nor  has  Mackenzie  any  other  authority  for  what  he  says  about 


120 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX. 


On  Tuesday  the  14th  of  February,  the  Rpgent's 
corpse  was  brought  from  the  palace  of  Holyrood- 
house,  and  interred  in  the  south  aisle  of  the  collegi- 
ate church  of  St.  Giles.  Before  the  funeral,  Knox 
preached  a  sermon  on  these  words,  JBlessed  are  the 
dead  luhich  die  in  the  Lord.  Three  thousand  persons 
were  dissolved  in  tears  before  him,  while  he  described 
the  Regent's  virtues,  and  bewailed  his  loss.*  Buchanan 
paid  a  tribute  to  the  memory  of  his  deceased  patron, 
by  writing  the  inscription  placed  on  his  monument, 
with  that  expressive  simplicity  and  brevity  which  are 
dictated  by  genuine  grief  f  A  convention  of  the  no- 
bility was  held  after  the  funeral,  at  which  it  was 
resolved  to  avenge  his  death  ;  but  different  opinions 
were  entertained  as  to  the  mode  of  doing  this,  and  the 
commons  complained  loudly  as  to  the  remissness  with 
which  the  resolution  was  prosecuted.  The  General 
Assembly,  at  their  first  meeting,  testified  their  detesta- 
tion of  the  crime,  by  ordering  the  assassin  to  be  publicly 
excommunicated  in  all  the  chief  towns  of  the  king- 
dom, and  by  appointing  the  same  process  to  be  used 
against  all  who  should  afterwards  be  convicted  of 
accession  to  the  murder. :j: 

During  the  sitting  of  the  convention,  Knox  received 
a  number  of  letters  from  his  acquaintances  in  England, 
expressive  of  their  high  regard  for  the  character  of  the 
Regent,  and  their  sorrow  at  so  grievous  a  loss.||  One 
of  his  correspondents.  Dr.  Laurence  Humphrey,§ 
urged  him  to  write  a  memoir  of  the  deceased.  Had 
he  done  this,  his  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  Re- 
gent would,  no  doubt,  have  enabled  him  to  communi- 
cate many  particulars,  of  which  we  must  now  be 
content  to  remain  ignorant.  But  though  he  had  been 
disposed  to  undertake  this  task,  the  state  of  his  health 
would  have  prevented  its  execution. 

The  grief  which  he  indulged  on  account  of  this 
mournful  event,  and  the  confusions   which   followed 


the  death  ofMaitland  than  the  archbishop's,  who  must  have 
been  satisfied,  that  what  he  says  in  the  account  of  Smeaton  was 
not  inconsistent  with  what  he  had  written  as  to  Knox's  denun- 
ciation. *  Cald.  MS,  ii.  157. 

t  The  inscription,  engraved  on  brass,  is  ye.t  preserved  ;  a 
copy  of  which  shall  be  inserted  in  Note  LIX.  But  Buchanan 
has,  in  his  History,  reared  to  the  Regent  '"a  monument  more 
durable  than  brass,"  which  will  preserve  his  memory  as  lon^  as 
the  language  in  which  it  is  written  shall  continue  to  be  under- 
stood, and  as  long  as  a  picture  taken  from  life  shall  be  prefer- 
red to  the  representations, of  fancy  or  of  prejudice.  Nor  has 
Buchanan  neglected  to  celebrate  him  in  his  verses.  Epigram. 
lib.  ii.  29.  iii.  7,  9,  18.  \  Spottiswood,  235. 

II  Among  others,  he  received  letters  from  Christopher  Good- 
man, and  John  Willock.  Cald.  ut  supra.  It  appears  from 
these,  that  Willock  had  returned  to  England,  after  he  vvps  re- 
called from  it  by  the  General  Assembly  which  met  in  1568.  I 
find  no  mention  made  of  that  reformer,  after  this  period,  by 
any  of  the  writers  of  the  age.  A  late  author  has  very  wan- 
tonly attempted  to  load  the  memory  of  this  excellent  man 
with  a  capital  crime.  He  gives  the  following  extract  from  the 
paper  office,  22d  April  1590.  "  Twa  men,  the  ane  naniyt 
Johnne  Gibsone,  Scottishman,  preacher,  and  the  other  Johnne 
Willokis,  now  baith  lying  in  prison  at  Leicester,  were  convict- 
ed by  ajury  of  robbery."  The  last  of  these  convicts,  says  he, 
was  ■'  the  reforming  co-adjutor  of  Knox."  Chalmers's  Life  of 
Ruddiman,  p.  307.  What  evidence  has  this  author  for  saying 
so  7  Nothing  but  the  sameness  of  the  name  !  Just  as  if  a 
person,  on  reading  in  the  public  papers  of  one  George  Chal- 
mers who  was  convicted  of  a  robbery,  (no  unlikely  thing) 
should  immediately  take  it  into  his  head  that  this  was,  and 
could  be,  no  other  than  the  author  of  the  Life  of  Ruddiman, 
«nd  Caledonia  !  It  is  evident  that  the  second  convict  was  no 
preacher,  else  this  designation  would  have  been  added  to  his 
name,  as  well  as  to  that  of  the  first.  It  is  probable  that  Wil- 
lock, who  was  a  preacher  as  early  as  1540,  was  not  alive  in 
1590  :  it  is  utterly  incredible  that  he  should  then  have  been 
in  a  condition  to  act  as  a  robber. — But  it  is  paying  too  much 
regard  to  such  a  charge,  to  bring  exculpatory  proof. 

}  In  the  r^py  of  Cald.  MS.  belonging  to  the  church  of 
Scotland,  the  name  is  written  Winfrid  ;  out  in  the  copy  in 
the  Advocates'  Library,  it  is  Umfrede.  The  person  meant  is 
evidently  Dr.  Laurence  Humphrey  (Umfredius),  Profe.wor  of 
divinity,  and  Head  of  one  of  the  colleges,  in  the  University 
of  Oxford.  This  learned  man  was  a  puritan,  but  enjoyed  the 
patronage  of  Secretary  Cecil.  Strype's  Annals,  i.  421,  430 — 
432. 


it,  preyed  upon  his  spirits,  and  injured  his  health.* 
In  the  month  of  October,  he  had  a  stroke  of  apoplexy, 
which  affected  his  speech  to  a  considerable  degree. 
On  this  occasion,  his  enemies  exulted,  and  circulated 
the  most  exaggerated  tales  respecting  his  disorder. 
The  report  ran  through  Scotland  and  England,  that 
John  Knox  would  never  preach  nor  speak  more ; 
that  his  face  was  turned  into  his  neck  ;  that  he  was 
become  the  most  deformed  creature  ever  seen ;  that  he 
was  actually  dead.j-  A  most  unequivocal  expression 
of  the  high  consideration  in  which  he  was  held,  which 
our  Reformer  received  in  common  with  some  other 
great  men  of  his  age.:j: 


PERIOD  IX. 

From  October  1570.  when  he  was  struck  with  apoplexy,  to  his 
death,  in  November  1572. 

Those  who  flattered  themselves  that  the  Reformer's 
disorder  was  mortal  were  disappointed  ;  for  he  was 
restored  to  the  use  of  his  speech,  and  was  able,  in  the 
course  of  a  few  days,  to  resume  preaching,  at  least  on 
Sabbath  days.||  He  never  recovered,  however,  from 
the  debility  which  was  produced  by  the  apoplectic 
stroke. 

The  confusions  which  he  had  augured  from  the  death 
of  the  good  Regent  soon  broke  out,  and  again  spread 
the  flames  of  civil  discord  though  the  nation.  The 
Earl  of  Lennox,  who  was  the  natural  guardian  of  the 
young  King,  was  advanced  to  the  regency  ;  but  he  was 
deficient  in  the  talents  which  were  requisite  for  so  diffi- 
cult a  station,  and  the  knowledge  of  his  weakness  em- 
boldened and  increased  the  party  which  was  attached  to 
the  Queen.  The  Hamiltons  openly  raised  her  stand- 
ard, and  were  strengthened  by  the  influence  and  abili- 
ties of  Maitland.  Kircaldy  of  Grange,  governor  of 
the  castle  of  Edinburgh,  after  concealing  his  defection 
for  a  time  under  the  flag  of  neutrality,  declared  him- 
self on  the  same  side,  and  became  the  principal  agent 
in  attempting  to  overturn  the  government  which  he 
had  been  so  zealous  in  erecting.  The  defection  of 
Kircaldy  was  a  source  of  great  injury  to  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Edinburgh,  and  of  keen  distress  to  Knox. 
He  had  a  warm  affection  for  the  governor,  on  account 
of  the  important  services  which  he  had  rendered  to 
the  Reformation  ;  and  he  continued  always  to  think 
that  he  was  at  bottom  a  sincere  friend  to  religion. 
Under  this  conviction,  he  spared  no  pains  in  endeav- 
ouring to  prevent  him  from  renouncing  his  fidelity  to 
the  King,  and  afterwards  to  reclaim  him  from  his 
apostasy.     But  he  was  unsuccessful  in  both  attempts. 

In  the  end  of  the  year  1570,  he  was  personally  in- 
volved in  a  disagreeable  quarrel  with  Kircaldy.  One 
of  the  soldiers  belonging  to  the  castle  having  been 
imprisoned  by  the  magistrates  on  a  charge  of  murder, 
the  governor  sent  a  party  from  the  garrison,  who  broke 
open  the  tolbooth,  and  carried  off  the  prisoner.  In  his 
sermon  on  the  following  Sabbath,  Knox  condemned 
this  riot,  and  violation  of  the  house  of  justice.  Had 
it  been  done  by  the  authority  of  a  blood-thirsty  man, 

*  Snietoni  Rcspons.  ad  Hamilt.  p.  116. 

+  Banivntyne's  Journal,  p.  54.  Cald.  MS.  ii.  206.  Banna- 
tyne  says  "  the  disorder  was  a  kynd  of  apoplexia,  called  by 
the  phisitiones  resolutioac  ;"  probably  a  more  gentle  stroke 
of  the  disorder,  attended  with  relaxation  of  the  system. 

\  In  1556,  Calvin  was  suddenly  seized  in  the  pulpit  with  a 
fever,  which  confined  him  to  his  bed  for  a  considerable  time, 
and  from  which  it  was  not  thought  he  would  recover.  On 
hearing  this,  the  popish  clergy  of  Noyon  (his  native  city)  met, 
and,  rather  prematurelv,  gave  public  thanks  to  God  "for  his 
death.  Melch.  Adam,  Vit.  Exter.  Theol.  p.  93.—"  Plusieurs 
grands  horanies  (says  Senebier)  ont  partag6  cet  honneur  avec 
Calvin,  et  ont  eu,  comme  lui,  la  satisfaction  de  connoitre  la 
rofonde   estinie   qu'on   avoit  concue   pour   eux."      Histoire 

tteralre  de  Geneve,  torn.  i.  228. 

II  Bannatyne's  Journal,  p.  55. 


K 


LIFE    OF    JOHN   KNOX. 


121 


and  one  who  had  no  fear  of  God,  he  would  not,  he  said, 
have  been  so  much  moved  at  it;  but  he  was  affected 
to  think  that  one  of  whom  all  good  men  had  formed 
so  great  expectations,  should  l)ave  fallen  so  far  as  to 
act  such  a  part;  one  too  who,  when  formerly  in  prison, 
had  refused  to  purchase  his  own  liberty  by  the  shedding 
of  blood.*  An  erroneous  and  exaggerated  report  of 
this  censure  being  conveyed  to  the  castle,  the  govern- 
or, in  great  rage,  made  his  complaint,  first  to  Knox's 
colleague,  and  afterwards  formally  to  the  kirk-session, 
that  he  had  been  calumniated  as  a  murderer,  and  re- 
quired that  his  character  should  be  vindicated  as 
publicly  as  it  had  been  traduced.  Knox,  understand- 
ing that  his  words  had  been  misrepresented,  embraced 
the  first  opportunity  of  explaining  and  vindicating 
them  from  the  pulpit.  On  a  subsequent  Sabbath, 
Kircaldy,  who  had  been  absent  from  the  church 
nearly  a  whole  year,  came  down  to  St.  Giles's,  ac- 
companied with  a  number  of  the  persons  who  had 
been  active  in  the  murder  and  riot.  Regarding  this 
as  an  attempt  to  set  at  defiance  the  offence  which  had 
been  taken  at  his  conduct,  the  Reformer  dwelt  partic- 
ularly, in  his  discourse,  upon  the  sinfulness  of  forget- 
ting benefits  received  from  God,  and  warned  his 
hearers  against  confiding  in  the  divine  mercy,  while 
they  were  knowingly  transgressing  any  of  the  com- 
mandments, or  proudly  defending  their  transgression. 

Kircaldy  was  much  incensed  at  these  warnings, 
which  he  considered  as  levelled  at  him,  and,  in  speak- 
ing of  the  preacher,  made  use  of  very  threatening 
language.  The  report  spread  that  the  governor  of  the 
castle  was  become  a  sworn  enemy  to  Knox,  and  that 
he  intended  to  kill  him.  And  several  noblemen  and 
gentlemen  of  Kyle  and  Cunningham  sent  a  letter  to 
Kircaldy,  in  which,  after  reminding  him  of  his  former 
appearances  for  religion,  and  mentioning  the  reports 
which  had  reached  their  ears,  they  warned  him  against 
doing  any  thing  to  the  hurt  of  that  man  whom  "  God 
had  made  the  first  planter  and  chief  waterer  of  his 
church  among  them,"  and  protested  that  "  his  death 
and  life  were  as  dear  to  them  as  their  own."!" 

Knox  was  not  to  be  deterred,  by  threatenings,  from 
doing  what  he  considered  to  be  his  duty.  He  persisted 
in  warning  his  hearers  to  avoid  all  participation  with 
those  who  prevented  the  punishment  of  atrocious 
crimes  by  supporting  the  pretensions  of  the  Queen, 
and  who  exposed  the  reformed  religion  to  the  utmost 
hazard  by  opposing  the  King's  authority.  When  the 
General  Assembly  met  in  March  157i,  anonymous 
libels  were  thrown  into  the  assembly-house,  and  pla- 
cards fixed  on  the  church-door,  accusing  him  of  sedi- 
tious railing  against  their  sovereign,  the  Queen,  refu- 
sing to  pray  for  her  welfare  and  conversion,  represent- 
ing her  as  a  reprobate  whose  repentance  was  hopeless, 
and  uttering  imprecations  against  her.  One  of  the 
placards  concluded  with  a  threat,  that,  if  the  assembly 
did  not  restrain  him  by  their  authority  from  using  such 
language,  the  complainers  would  themselves  apply  a 
remedy  to  the  evil  "with  greater  unquietness."  The 
assembly  having,  by  public  intimation,  required  the 
complainers  to  come  forward  and  substantiate  their 
charges,  another  anonymous  bill  appeared,  promising 
that  accusers  should  not  be  wanting  against  next  as- 
sembly, if  the  preacher  continued  his  offensive  speech- 
es, and  was  "  then  law-byding,  and  not  fugitive 
according  to  his  accustomed  manner." 

Several  of  his  friends  dealt  with  him  to  pass  over 
these  anonymous  libels  in  silence,  but  he  refused  to 
comply  with  this  advice,  considering  that  the  credit 
of  his  ministry  was  implicated.  Accordingly,  he 
produced  them  in  the  pulpit,  and  returned  a  particular 
answer  to  the  accusations  which  they  contained.  That 
he  had  charged  the  late  Queen  with  the  crimes  of 
which  she  had  been  notoriously  guilty,  he  granted,  but 
that  he  had  railed  against  her,  he  denied  ;  nor  would 


*  See  page  35. 


+  Bannatyije's  Journal,  p.  67 — 87. 


they  be  able  to  substantiate  this  charge  against  him, 
without  at  the  same  time  proving  Isaiah,  Jeremiah, 
and  other  inspired  writers,  to  have  been  railers.  "  From 
them  we  had  learned  plainly  and  boldly  to  call  wick- 
edness by  its  own  terms,  a  fig,  a  fig,  and  a  spade,  a 
spade."  He  had  never  called  the  Queen  reprobate, 
nor  said  that  her  repentance  was  impossible  ;  but  he 
had  affirmed  that  pride  and  repentance  could  not  remain 
long  together  in  one  heart.  H«  had  prayed  that  God, 
for  the  comfort  of  his  church,  would  oppose  his  power 
to  her  pride,  and  confound  her  and  her  assistants  in 
their  impiety:  this  prayer,  let  them  call  it  imprecation 
or  execration  as  they  pleased,  had  stricken,  and  would 
yet  strike,  whoever  supported  her.  To  the  charge  of 
not  praying  for  her,  he  answered,  "I  am  not  bound 
to  pray  for  her  in  this  place,  for  sovereign  to  me  she  is 
not ;  1  let  them  understand  that  I  am  not  a  man  of  law 
that  has  my  tongue  to  sell  for  silver,  or  favour  of  the 
world."*  What  title  she  how  had,  or  ever  had  to  the 
government,  he  would  not  dispute  :  the  estates  had 
deprived  her  of  it,  and  it  belonged  to  them  to  answer 
for  this  :  as  for  him,  he  had  hitherto  lived  in  obedience 
to  all  lawful  authority  within  the  kingdom.  To  the 
threatening  against  his  life,  and  the  insinuation  that  he 
might  not  be  "  law-byding  but  fugitive"  against  next 
assembly,  he  replied,  that  his  life  was  in  the  custody 
of  Him  who  had  hitherto  preserved  him  from  many 
dangers,  that  he  had  reached  an  age  at  which  he  was 
not  apt  to  flee  far,  nor  could  any  yet  accuse  him  of 
having  left  the  people  committed  to  his  charge,  except 
at  their  own  command. 

After  these  answers,  his  enemies  fled,  as  their  der- 
nier-resort, to  an  attack  upon  his  Blast  of  the  Trumpet, 
and  accused  him  of  inconsistency  in  writing  against 
female  goverment,  and  yet  praying  for  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, and  seeking  her  aid  against  his  native  country. 
This  accusation  he  also  met  in  the  |)ulpit,  and  refuted 
with  great  spirit.  After  vindicating  his  consistency, 
he  concludes  in  the  following  manner  :  "  One  thing,  in 
the  end,  I  may  not  pretermit,  that  is,  to  give  him  a  lie 
in  his  throat  that  either  dare,  or  will  say,  that  ever  I 
sought  support  against  my  native  country.  What  I 
have  been  to  my  country,  albeit  this  unthankful  age 
will  not  know,  yet  the  ages  to  come  will  be  compelled 
to  bear  witness  to  the  truth.  And  thus  I  cease,  re- 
quiring of  all  men  that  has  to  oppose  any  thing  against 
me,  that  he  will  do  it  so  plainly  as  1  make  myself  and 
all  my  doings  manifest  to  the  world  ;  for  to  me  it 
seems  a  thing  most  unreasonable,  that,  in  my  decrepid 
age,  I  shall  be  compelled  to  fight  against  shadows,and 
houlets  that  dare  not  abide  the  light. "| 

The  conduct  of  our  Reformer  at  this  time  affords  a 
striking  display  of  the  unextinguishable  ardour  of  his 
mind.  He  was  so  debilitated  in  body,  that  he  never 
went  abroad  except  on  Sabbath  days,  to  preach  in  the 
forenoon. :{:  He  had  given  up  attendance  on  church- 
courts.  And  previous  to  the  breaking  out  of  the  last 
disturbances,  he  had  weaned  his  heart  from  public 
affairs.  But  whenever  he  saw  the  welfare  of  the 
church  and  commonwealth  threatened,  he  forgot  his 
resolutions  and  his  infirmities,  and  entered  into  the 
cause  with  all  the  keenness  of  his  more  vigorous  days. 
Whether  the  public  proceedings  of  the  nation,  or  his 
own  conduct,  were  arraigned  and  condemned,  whether 
the  attacks  upon  them  were  open  or  clandestine,  be 


*  Crawfurd,  in  his  Memoirs  of  Scotland,  (p.  186.  Edin. 
Anno.  1706.)  among  other  things  disgraceful  to  the  Reformers, 
says  that  they  openly  avowed,  on  this  occasion,  "  That  to  pray 
for,  or  forgive  our  real  or  reputed  enemies,  was  no  part  of  a 
Christian's  duty."  It  is  sufficient  to  sav,  that  there  is  not  one 
word  of  this  in  the  "authentick  MS."  from  which  he  professes 
that  his  Memoirs  were  "  faithfully  publish "d."  See  Historic 
and  Life  of  King  James  the  Sext,  p.  113,  114.  The  public  are 
under  great  obligations  to  Mr.  Malcolm  Laing,  for  exposing 
this  literary  forgery,  which  had  continued  so  long  to  impose 
upon  our  most  acute  and  industrious  historians. 

t  The  accusation  and  defence  may  be  seen  at  full  length  in 
Bannatyne's  Journal,  p.  99 — 120.  \  Bannatyne,  p.  77. 


122 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX. 


stood  prepared  to  repel  them,  and  convinced  the  ad- 
versaries, that  they  could  not  accomplish  their  designs 
without  opposition,  as  long  as  he  was  able  to  act  or 
speak.* 

His  situation  became  very  critical  in  April  1571, 
when  Kircaldy  received  the  Hamiltons,  with  their 
forces,  into  the  castle.  Their  inveteracy  against  him 
was  so  great,  that  his  friends  were  obliged  to  watch 
his  house  during  the  night.  They  proposed  forming 
a  guard  for  the  protection  of  his  person  when  he  went 
abroad  ;  but  the  governor  of  the  castle  forbade  this, 
as  implying  a  suspicion  of  him,  and  offered  to  send 
Melvil,  one  of  his  officers,  to  conduct  him  to  and  from 
church.  "  He  wold  gif  the  woulf  the  wedder  to 
keip,"  says  Bannatyne.  Induced  by  the  importunity 
of  the  citizens,  Kircaldy  applied  to  the  Duke  and  his 
parly  for  a  special  protection  to  Knox ;  but  they  re- 
fused to  pledge  their  word  for  his  safety,  because 
"  there  were  many  rascals  and  others  among  them  who 
loved  him  not,  that  might  do  him  harm  without  their 
knowledge."!  Intimations  were  often  given  him  of 
threatenings  against  his  life;  and  one  evening,  a  mus- 
ket ball  was  fired  in  at  his  window,  and  lodged  in  the 
roof  of  the  apartment  in  which  he  was  sitting.  It 
happened  that  he  sat  at  the  time  in  a  different  part  of 
the  room  from  that  in  which  he  had  been  accustomed 
to  take  liis  seat,  otherwise  the  ball,  from  its  direction, 
must  have  struck  him.:^:  Alarmed  by  these  circum- 
stances, a  deputation  of  the  citizens,  accompanied  by 
his  colleague,  wailed  upon  him,  and  renewed  a  re- 
quest which  they  had  formerlj'  made,  that  he  would 
remove  from  Edinburgh,  to  a  place  where  his  life 
would  be  in  greater  safety,  until  the  Queen's  party 
should  evacuate  the  town.  But  he  refused  to  yield  to 
them,  apprehending  that  his  enemies  wished  to  in- 
timidate him  into  flight,  that  they  might  carry  on  their 
designs  more  quietly,  and  then  ac&use  him  of  cow- 
ardice. Being  unable  to  persuade  him  by  any  other 
means,  they  at  last  had  recourse  to  an  argument  which 
prevailed.  They  told  him  that  if  he  was  attacked, 
they  were  determined  to  risk  their  lives  in  his  defence, 
and  if  blood  was  shed  in  the  quarrel,  which  was  high- 
ly probable,  they  would  leave  it  on  his  head.  Upon 
this,  he  consented,  "  sore  against  his  will,"  to  remove 
from  the  city.|f' 

On  the  5th  of  May  1571,  he  left  Edinburgh,  and 
crossing  the  firth  at  Leith,  travelled  by  short  stages 
to  St.  Andrews,  which  he  had  chosen  as  the  place  of 
his  retreat.§  Alexander  Gordon,  bishop  of  Galloway, 
occupied  his  pulpit.^  He  preached  and  prayed  in  a 
manner  more  acceptable  to  the  Queen's  party  than  his 
predecessor,  but  little  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  people, 
who  despised  him  on  account  of  his  weakness,  and 
disliked  him  for  supplanting  their  favourite  pastor.** 
A  great  number  of  the  most  respectable  inhabitants 
were  either  driven  from  the  city  by  violence,  or  in- 
duced to  quit  it,  and  retire  to  Leith,  which  was  occu- 
pied by  the  Regent,  that  they  might  not  be  understood 
as  even  practically  and  tacitly  submittii>g  to  the 
Queen's  authority.     The   church  of  Edinburgh  was 

*  The  lively  interest  which  he  continued  to  take  in  public 
affairs  is  apparent  from  the  letters  of  his  correspondents.  Cap- 
tain Crawford  of  Jordaiihill  sent  him,  at  his  desire,  a  minute 
account  of  the  taking  of  Dunbarton  castle,  with  an  inventory 
of  the  arms,  anmmnition,  and  provisions  which  were  found  in 
it.  Bannatyne,  123.  There  are  also  two  letters  to  him  from 
Alexander  Hay,  clerk  of  the  Privy  Coimcil,  informing  him  of 
the  roost  important  transactions  in  England,  and  on  the  Conti- 
nent.    Ibid.  294—302.  +  Bannatyne,  132—3,  145. 

I  Cald.  MS.  ad  ann.  1572.  Life  prefixed  to  History,  anno 
1644.  II  Bannatyne,  144—146. 

{  Bannatyne,  144,  146.  Hi^torie  of  King  James  the  Sext, 
p.  123.  t  Keith  Scottish  Bishops,  166. 

*•  The  princ'mles  upon  which  the  bishop  vindicated  the 
authority  of  the  Queen,  and  the  duty  of  praying  for  her  in  the 
pulpit,  sheiv  the  strung  and  universal  opioion  entertained  of 
tier  guilt  at  that  time.  He  did  not  venture  to  insinuate  her 
innocence,  although  the  town  was  full  of  armed  men,  who  were 
enlisted  under  her  banners.     I'aiinntvne,  181,  182. 


for  a  time  dissolved.  The  celebration  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  was  suspended.  And  while  formerly  scarce  a 
day  passed  without  some  public  exercises  of  religion, 
there  was  now,  during  a  whole  week,  "  neither  preach- 
ing nor  prayer,  neither  was  there  any  sound  of  bell 
heard  in  all  the  town,  except  the  ringing  of  the 
cannon."* 

The  kingdom  was  now  subjected  to  all  the  miseries 
of  civil  war  and  intestine  faction.  In  almost  every 
part  of  the  country  there  were  adherents  lo  the  King 
and  to  the  Queen,  who  exasperated  each  other  by  re- 
ciprocal reproaches  and  injuries.  The  Regent  fortified 
Leith,  while  the  Queen's  party  held  possession  of  the 
castle  and  town  of  Edinburgh.  As  the  two  armies  lay 
within  so  small  a  distance,  and  neither  of  them  was 
sufficiently  strong  for  undertaking  to  dispossess  the 
other,  they  were  daily  engaged  in  petty  skirmishes ; 
and  several  acts  of  disgracef^u!  retaliation,  which  rarely 
happen  in  the  open  field,  were  committed  on  both 
sides.  The  evidences  which  the  Qneen's  friends  gave 
of  their  personal  antipathy  to  the  Reformer  fully  de- 
monstrated that  his  life  would  have  been  in  danger,  if 
he  had  remained  among  them.  An  inhabitant  of  Leith 
was  assaulted,  and  his  body  mutilated,  because  he 
was  of  the  same  name  with  him.  A  servant  of  John 
Craig,  being  met  one  day  by  a  reconnoitring  party, 
and  asked  who  was  his  master,  answered  in  his  trepi- 
dation, Mr.  Knox,  upon  which  he  was  seized  ;  and, 
although  he  immediately  corrected  his  mistake,  they 
desired  him  to  "  hold  at  his  first  master,"  and  dragged 
him  to  prison.  Having  fortified  St.  Giles's  steeple  to 
overawe  the  inhabitants,  the  soldiers  baptized  one  of 
the  cannons  by  the  name  of  Knox,  which  they  were  so 
fond  of  firing,  that  it  burst,  killed  two  of  the  party, 
and  wounded  others.!  They  circulated  the  most  ri- 
diculous tales  respecting  his  conduct  at  St.  Andrews. 
John  Law,  the  letter  carrier  of  St.  Andrews,  being 
in  the  castle  of  Edinburgh,  "  the  ladie  Home  and 
utheris  wald  neidis  thraip  in  his  face,  that"  John 
Knox  "  was  banist  the  said  toune,  becaus  that  in  the 
yarde  he  had  reasit  sum  sandis,  amongis  whome  thair 
came  up  Ihe  devill  with  kornis,  which  when  his  servant 
Richart  sawe,  [he]  ran  woode,  and  so  died.":J: 

Although  ne  was  now  free  from  personal  danger, 
Knox  did  not  find  St.  Andrews  that  peaceful  retreat 
which  he  had  expected.  The  friends  of  Kircaldy, 
and  Sir  James  Balfour,  resided  in  the  neighbourhood, 
and  the  Hamiltons  had  their  relations  and  partizans 
both  in  the  university  and  among  the  ministry.  These 
were  thorns  in  the  Reformer's  side,  and  made  his 
situation  very  uneasy,  as  long  as  he  resided  among 
them.  Having  left  Edinburgh,  because  he  could  not 
be  permitted  to  discharge  his  conscience,  in  testifying 
against  the  designs  of  persons  whom  he  regarded  as 
conspirators  against  the  legal  government  of  the  coun- 
try, and  as  favourers  of  a  faction  who  intended  nothing 
less  than  the  overthrow  of  the  reformed  religion,  it 
was  not  to  be  expected  that  he  would  preserve  silence 
on  this  subject  at  St.  Andrews.  Accordingly,  in  the 
discourses  which  he  preached  on  the  eleventh  chapter 
of  Daniel's  prophecy,  he  frequently  took  occasioa  io 
advert  to  the  transactions  of  his  own  time,  ar^d  to 
inveigh  against  the  murder  of  the  late  King,  and  of 
the  Regent.  This  was  very  grating  to  the  ears  of  the 
opposite  faction,  particularly  to  Robert  and  Archibald 
Hamilton,  the  former  one  of  the  ministers  of  the  city, 
and  the  latter  a  professor  in  one  of  the  colleges.  Irri- 
tated by  the  censures  which  Knox  pronounced  against 
his  kinsmen,  Robert  Hamilton  attempted  to  injure  his 
reputation,  by  circulating  in  private  that  it  did  not 
become  him  to  exclaim  so  loudly  against  murderers  ; 


*  Bannatyne,  144,  169,  170.  Hist,  of  King  James  the  Sext, 
123,  124.  Knox's  Epistle  to  his  Brethren  of  the  Church  of 
Edinburgh,  now  dispersed.     Streveling,  1571. 

+  Bannatyne,  154,  240.  322. 

I  Ibid.  309,  310.  "Oif  this  had  bene  thair  first  inventit  lie 
(says  the  same  Richart)  1  wald  never  have  blecket  paper  for  it." 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


123 


for  he  had  seen  his  subscription,  along  with  that  of 
the  Earl  of  Murray,  to  a  bond  for  assassinating  Darnly 
at  Perth.  When  this  came  to  the  Reformer's  ears, 
he  immediately  wrote  a  letter  to  Hamilton,  desiring 
him  to  say  whether  he  was  the  author  of  this  report. 
Not  receiving  a  satisfactory  answer,  he  communicated 
the  matter  to  Douglas,  rector  of  the  University,  and 
Rutherford,  provost  of  St.  Salvador's  college ;  re- 
questing them  to  converse  with  Robert  Hamilton  on 
the  subject,  and  to  inform  him,  that  if  he  did  not  give 
satisfaction  for  the  slander  which  he  had  propagated,  a 
complaint  would  be  lodged  against  him  before  the 
church.  Upon  this  he  came  to  Knox's  room,  and 
denied  that  he  had  ever  given  any  ground  for  such  a 
scandalous  surmise.* 

Archibald  Hamilton  being  complained  of  for  with- 
drawing from  Knox's  sermons,  and  for  accusing  him 
of  intolerable  railing,  endeavoured  to  bring  the  matter 
under  the  cognizance  of  the  masters  of  the  university, 
among  whom  he  possessed  considerable  influence.} 
Knox  did  not  scruple  to  give  an  account  of  his  con- 
duct before  the  professors,  for  their  satisfaction  ;  but 
he  judged  it  necessary  to  enter  a  protestation,  that  his 
appearance  should  not  invalidate  the  liberty  of  the 
pulpit,  nor  the  authority  of  the  regular  church-courts, 
to  which,  and  not  to  any  university,  the  judgment  of 
religious  doctrine  belonged.:^:  This  incident  accounts 
for  the  zeal  with  which  he  expresses  himself  on  this 
subject,  in  one  of  his  letters  to  the  General  Assembly; 
in  which  he  exhorts  them,  above  all  things,  to  preserve 
the  church  from  the  bondage  of  the  universities,  and 
not  to  exempt  them  from  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  or 
allow  them  to  become  judges  of  the  doctrine  taught 
from  the  pulpit.|| 

The  military  operations  during  the  civil  war  were 
chiefly  distinguished  bj'  two  enterprises,  which  claim 
our  notice  from  the  influence  which  they  had  upon 
the  affairs  of  the  church.  The  one  was  the  taking 
of  Dunbarton  castle,  which  was  surprised,  on  the  2d 
of  April  1571,  by  a  small  party  of  the  Regent's  forces, 
led  by  captain  Crawford  of  .lordanhill.  Archbishop 
Hamilton  having  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  captors, 
was  soon  after  condemned,  and  ended  his  life  on  the 
gibbet.     The  execution  of  prisoners,  although  charge- 


*  Bannatyne,  380 — 3.  Goodall,  after  relating  this  story, 
attempts,  but  with  his  usual  imbecility  of  argument,  to  deduce 
from  it,  that  Murray  had  reall)'  conspired  to  murder  Dariily, 
and  that  Knox  was  one  of  his  accomplices.  "  They  all  talk  of 
it  (says  he)  as  a  known  uncontroverted  matter  of  fact.  And 
Knox's  waving  all  prosecution,  and  hushing  up  the  business, — 
is  more  than  a  tacit  acknowledgement  that  he  was  in  that  plot, 
and  a  subscriber."  Kxamination,  i.  211.  According  to  this 
doctrine,  if  a  person  shall  rest  satisfied  with  a  private  apolog'y 
for  a  slander  which  a  weak  and  irritable  man  had  imprudently 
circulated  to  his  prejudice,  and  if  he  shall  decline  a  public 
prosecution,  this  must  be  regarded  as  good  proof  of  his  guilt, 
and  of  the  truth  of  the  report  !  With  respect  to  Murray's 
having  conspired  against  Darnly  at  the  time  of  his  marriage,  it 
is  true  that  such  a  thing  was  reported ;  but  it  is  not  mentioned 
in  the  proceedings  against  that  nobleman,  nor  is  there  the  least 
allusion  to  it  in  any  of  the  proclamations  which  the  Queen 
issued  against  him,  although  Murray  publicly  accused  Darnly 
of  a  plot  against  his  life.  If  the  court  had  credited  that  report, 
and  possessed  any  evidence  of  its  truth,  it  will  not  be  easj-  to 
account  for  this  silence. 

f  Archibald  Hamilton,  a  short  time  after  this,  left  Scotland; 
and  going  to  France,  made  a  recantation  of  the  protestant  reli- 
gion. As  an  evidence  of  the  sincerity  of  his  conversion  to 
popery,  he  published  De  Confusione  Calvinianm  Secfa  apud 
Scotos  Dialogiis;  a  book  which  I  have  frequently  referred  to, 
and  which  strikingly  exemplifies  the  adage,  Omnis  aposlata 
osor  acerrimus  sui  ordinis.  In  the  copious  abuse  of  Knox 
with  which  it  teems,  we  are  reminded  of  the  present  quarrel. 
Thomas  Smeton,  principal  of  the  university  of  Glasgow, 
published  an  elegant  and  masterly  answer  to  this  Dialogue. 
Hamilton  replied,  in  a  work  entitled,  Calvinianm  Canfiisionis 
Demonstrafio :  Parisiis  1581.  Of  this  treatise,  wliich  is  more 
rare  than  his  first,  some  specimens  will  be  found  in  Notes  XL. 
«nd  LIV. 

I  Hamiltonii  Dialog,  p.  61.  Smetoni  Respons.  ad  Hainilt. 
/)ialog.  p.  90,  91.     Bannatyne,  383—385. 

II  Bannatyne,  364. 


able  with  crimes  which  merit  death,  is  ordinarily 
avoided  in  civil  contests,  because  it  produces  reprisals 
from  the  opposite  party ;  but  in  every  other  respect  the 
fate  of  Hamilton  is  not  a  subject  of  regret  or  of  cen- 
sure. Of  all  the  Queen's  adherents  his  motives  for 
supporting  her  cause  appear  to  have  been  the  most  un- 
worthy ;  and  his  talents  and  station  in  the  church 
ought  not  to  be  pleaded  in  extenuation  of  the  vices  by 
which  his  private  character  was  stained,  or  the  crimes 
of  which  he  had  been  guilty.*  The  death  of  Hamil- 
ton gave  occasion  to  a  change  on  the  ecclesiastical 
government  of  which  I  shall  speak  in  the  sequel. 

An  enterprise  equally  bold  with  Crawford's,  but 
less  successful,  was  planned  by  Kircaldy.  While  the 
Regent  Lennox  held  a  parliament  at  Stirling,  which 
was  very  numerously  attended,  a  party  of  soldiers 
entered  the  town  early  in  the  morning  of  September 
.3,  1571,  suddenly  seized  the  Regent  and  the  nobility 
who  were  along  with  him,  and  carried  them  away 
prisoners.  But  the  alarm  having  been  given,  the  Earl 
of  Mar  sallied  from  the  castle,  and  being  assisted  by 
the  townsmen,  dispersed  the  assailants,  and  rescued 
the  noblemen. f  This  was  not  accomplished,  how- 
ever, without  the  loss  of  the  Regent,  who  was  slain 
by  the  orders  of  Lord  Claud  Hamilton,  in  revenge  for 
the  death  of  the  archbishop  of  St.  Andrews.  Lennox 
was  succeeded  in  the  Regency  by  the  Earl  of  Mar,  a 
nobleman  of  great  moderation,  who,  during  the  short 
time  that  ho  held  that  office,  exerted  himself  to  restore 
peace  to  the  kingdom,  and  brought  the  negociations 
for  this  purpose  very  near  to  a  successful  termination. 

In  addition  to  his  other  distresses,  our  Reformer 
was  at  this  time  much  grieved  with  a  new  scheme 
which  the  courtiers  had  formed  for  altering  the  polity 
of  the  church,  and  for  securing  to  themselves  the  prin- 
cipal part  of  the  ecclesiastical  revenues.  We  have 
repeatedly  had  occasion  to  notice  the  aversion  of  the 
nobility  to  the  Book  of  Discipline,  and  the  principal 
source  from  which  this  aversion  sprung.  VVhile  the 
Earl  of  Murray  administered  the  government,  he  pre- 
vented any  new  encroachments  upon  the  rights  of  the 
church  ;  but  the  succeeding  regents  were  either  less 
friendly  to  them,  or  less  able  to  bridle  the  avarice  of 
the  more  powerful  nobles.  Several  of  the  richest 
benefices  becoming  vacant  by  the  death,  or  by  the  for- 
feiture of  the  popish  incumbents,  who  had  been  per- 
mitted to  retain  them,  it  was  necessary  to  determine 
in  what  manner  they  should  be  disposed  of  for  the 
future.  The  church  had  uniformly  required  that  their 
revenues  should  be  divided,  and  applied  to  the  support 
of  the  religious  and  literary  establishnnents ;  l)ut  with 
this  demand  the  courtiers  were  as  much  indisposed  to 
comply  as  ever.  At  the  same  time,  the  total  seculari- 
zation of  them  was  deemed  too  bold  a  step  ;  nor  could 
laymen,  with  any  shadow  of  consistency,  or  by  a  valid 


*  Archbishop  Spottiswood  is  displeased  that  a  bishop,  and 
one  of  his  predecessors  in  the  see  of  St.  Andrews,  should  have 
suffered  so  disgraceful  a  punishment.  History,  p.  252.  Even 
Dr.  Robertson  seems  to  have  felt  the  esprit  de  corps  on  this 
occasion.  It  is  surprising  that  this  accurate  historian  should 
say,  that  the  accusations  against  Hamilton,  as  "  accessorv  to 
the  murder  both  of  the  king  and  regent  were  supported  by  no 
proof,"  and  that  his  enemies>  by  "  imputing  to  hin!  such  odious 
crimes,"  merely  "sought  some  colour,"  for  the  sentence  which 
they  pronounced  against  him.  History  of  Scotland,  ii.  334. 
Hamilton  confessed  his  accession  to  the  regent's  murder.  See 
above,  p.  168.  As  the  record  of  the  trial  has  not  been  pre- 
served, we  cannot  determine  what  evidence  was  brought  for- 
ward; but  there  are  good  grounds  for  believing  that  he  was 
equally  concerned  in  the  murder  of  the  King.  Keith.  447. 
Spottiswood,  252. 

f  Dr.  Robertson  seems  to  regret  the  failure  of  this  expedi- 
tion, and  says  that  if  Kircaldy 's  plan  had  succeeded,  it  would 
have  "restored  peace  to  his  country."  History  of  Scotland, 
ii.  339.  It  would  certainly  have  given  a  very  dangerous  blow 
to  the  King's  party ;  but  it  is  not  easy  to  conceive  how  it  could 
have  produced  a  desirable  or  lasting  peace,  when  we  considei 
the  disposition  of  the  great  body  of  the  nation,  the  situation  of 
the  Queen,  and  the  temper  and  views  of  her  adherents. 


124 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX. 


title,  hold  benefices  which  the  law  declared  to  be 
ecclesiastical.  The  expedient  resolved  on  was,  that  the 
bishopricks  and  other  livings  should  be  presented  to 
certain  ministers,  who,  previous  to  their  admission, 
should  make  over  the  principal  part  of  the  revenues  to 
such  noblemen  as  had  obtained  the  patronage  of  them 
from  the  court.  This  plan  was  concerted  under  the 
regency  of  Lennox ;  it  began  to  be  carried  into  exe- 
cution during  that  of  Mar,  and  was  afterwards  com- 
pleted by  Morton. 

The  Earl  of  Morton,  having  obtained  from  the  court 
a  gift  of  the  vacant  archbishoprick  of  St.  Andrews, 
entered  into  a  private  agreement  respecting  its  reve- 
nues with  John  Douglas,  Rector  of  the  University, 
whom  he  presented  to  that  See.  At  the  meeting  of 
parliament  in  Stirling,  August  1571,  the  commission- 
ers of  the  General  Assembly  protested  against  this 
transaction ;  but  through  the  influence  of  Morton, 
Douglas,  though  not  yet  elected,  was  admitted  to  a 
seat  in  parliament,  and  the  new  scheme  for  seizing  on 
the  ecclesiastical  livings  was  confirmed,  notwithstand- 
ing the  warm  remonstrances  of  the  ministers  of  the 
church,  and  the  strenuous  opposition  of  the  more 
zealous  and  disinterested  barons.*  Bishopricks  and 
other  benefices  were  now  openly  conferred  on  noble- 
men, on  persons  totally  unqualified  for  the  ministry, 
and  even  on  minors.  Pluralities  were  multiplied  ;  the 
ecclesiastical  courts  were  hindered  in  the  exercise  of 
their  jurisdiction  ;  and  the  collectors  of  the  church 
were  prohibited  from  gathering  the  thirds,  until  some 
new  regulation  was  adopted  for  supplying  the  necessi- 
ties of  the  court.f 

These  proceedings  having  created  great  dissatisfac- 
tion through  the  nation,  the  Regent  and  council  called 
an  extraordinary  assembly  of  superintendents  and 
other  ministers,  to  meet  at  Leith  in  January  1572,  to 
consult  about  an  order  which  might  prove  more  ac- 
ceptable. This  convention,  through  the  influence  of 
the  court,  consented  that  the  titles  of  archbishop,  and 
of  other  ecclesiastical  dignitaries,  should  be  retained, 
that  the  bounds  of  the  ancient  dioceses  should  not  be 
altered  during  the  King's  minority,  and  that  qualified 
persons  from  among  the  ministers  should  be  advanced 
to  these  dignities.  They,  however,  allotted  no  greater 
power  to  archbishops  and  bishops  than  to  superintend- 
ents, with  whom  they  were  to  be  equally  subject  to  the 
assemblies  of  the  church. :|:  These  regulations  were 
submitted  to  the  ensuing  General  Assembly  at  St. 
Andrews,  but  as  that  meeting  was  thinly  attended,  it 
eame  to  no  determination  respecting  them.  The  As- 
sembly held  at  Perth,  August  1572,  resumed  the  sub- 
ject, and  came  to  the  following  resolution:  That  the 
regulations  contained  Certain  titles,  such  as  archbishop, 
dean,  archdean,  chancellor,  and  chapter,  which  savour- 
ed of  popery,  and  were  scandalous  and  offensive  to 
their  ears;  and  that  the  whole  assembly,  including 
the  commissioners  which  had  met  at  Leith,  unani- 
mously protested  that  they  did  not  approve  of  these 
names,  that  they  submitted  to  the  regulations  merely 
as  an  interim  arrangement,  and  that  they  would  exert 
themselves  to  obtain  a  more  perfect  order  from  the 
Regent  and  council. ||  Such  was  the  origin  and  nature 
of  that  species  of  episcopacy  which  was  introduced 
into  the  reformed  church  of  Scotland,  in  the  minority 
of  James  VL  It  was  disapproved  of  by  the  ministers 
of  the  church  ;  and  on  the  part  of  the  courtiers  and 
nobility,  it  does  not  appear  to  have  proceeded  in  any 
degree  from  predilection  to  hierarchical  government, 
but  from  the  desire  which  they  had  to  secure  to  them- 
selves the  revenues  of  the  church.     This   was  em- 


»  Bannatyne,  246,  250,  255,  257,  260,  285. 

t  Ibid.  253,  250,  312,  367. 

i  Calderwoo'l,  De  rcg.  Eccl.  Scotic.  relatio,  p.  8.  anno  1618. 
and  Epist.  Philad.  VinH.  apiul  Altarc  Damasc.  p.  727,  729. 
Lugd.  Batav.  1708.     Petrie,  part.  ii.  p.  372,  374. 

II  Bulk  of  the  Universal)  Kirk,  p.  55.  Matthew  Crawfurd'i 
Hiitorj  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  MS.  toI.  i.  p.  80. 


phalically  expressed  by  the  name  of  tulchan  biihops,* 
which  was  commonly  applied  to  those  who  were  at 
that  time  admitted  to  the  oflice. 

Knox  did  not  fail  from  the  beginning  to  oppose  these 
innovations  on  the  polity,  and  these  invasions  of  the 
property  of  the  church.  Being  unable  to  attend  the 
General  Assembly  at  Stirling  in  August  1571,  he  ad- 
dressed a  letter  to  them,  warning  them  of  the  contest 
which  he  foresaw  they  would  have  to  maintain,  and 
animating  them  to  fidelity  and  courage.  "  And  now 
brethren,  (says  he)  because  the  daily  decay  of  natural 
strength  threateneth  my  certain  and  sudden  departing 
from  the  misery  of  this  life,  of  love  and  conscience  I 
exhort  you,  yea,  in  the  fear  of  God,  I  charge  and  com- 
mand you,  that  ye  take  heed  unto  yourselves,  and  to 
the  flock  over  which  God  hath  placed  you  pastors. 
Unfaithful  and  traitorous  to  the  flock  shall  ye  be  before 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  if,  with  your  consent  directly, 
ye  suffer  unworthy  men  to  be  thrust  into  the  ministry 
of  the  church,  under  whatever  pretence  it  shall  be. 
Remember  and  judge  before  whom  we  must  make  our 
account,  and  resist  that  tyranny  as  ye  would  avoid 
hell-fire.  This  battle  will  be  hard,  but  in  the  second 
point  it  will  be  harder;  that  is,  tliat  with  the  like  up- 
rightness and  strength  in  God,  ye  gain-stand  the  mer- 
ciless devourers  of  the  patrimony  of  the  church.  If 
men  will  spoil,  let  them  do  it  to  their  own  peril  and 
condemnation,  but  communicate  ye  not  with  their  sins, 
(of  whatsoever  estate  they  be)  by  consent  nor  by 
silence  ;  but  with  public  proclamation  make  this 
known  unto  the  world,  that  ye  are  innocent  of  robbery, 
whereof  ye  will  seek  redress  of  God  and  man.  God 
give  you  wisdom  and  stout  courage  in  so  just  a  cause, 
and  me  an  happy  end."f  In  a  letter  which  he  after- 
wards wrote  to  Wishart  of  Pitarrow,  he  also  expresses 
himself  in  a  strain  of  honest  but  keen  indignation  at 
the  avarice  of  the  nobility.:}: 

It  has  been  insinuated,  that  Knox  approved  of  the 
resolutions  of  the  convention  at  Leith  to  restore  the 
episcopal  office  ;  and  the  articles  sent  by  him  to  the 
General  Assembly,  August  1572,  have  been  appealed 
to  as  a  proof  of  this.  But  all  that  can  be  deduced 
from  these  articles  is,  that  he  desired  the  conditions 
and  limitations  agreed  upon  by  that  convention  to  be 
strictly  observed  in  the  election  of  bishops,  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  granting  of  bishopricks  to  laymen, ||  and 
also  to  the  simoniacal  pactions  which  the  ministers 
made  with  the  nobles  on  receiving  presentations.  Pro- 
vided one  of  the  propositions  made  by  him  to  the 
Assembly  had  been  enforced,  and  the  bishops  had 
been  bound  to  give  an  account  of  the  whole  of  their 
rents,  and  either  to  support  ministers  in  the  particular 
places  from  which  they  derived  these,  or  else  to  pay 
into  the  funds  of  the  church  the  sums  requisite  for  this 
purpose,  it  is  evident  that  the  mercenary  views  both 
of  patrons  and  presentees  would  have  been  defeated, 
and  the  church  would  have  gained  her  object,  the  use 
of  the  episcopal  revenues.  The  prospect  of  this  in- 
duced some  honest  ministers  to  agree  to  the  proposed 
regulations,  at  the  convention  held  in  Leith.  But  it 
required  a  greater  portion  of  disinterested  firmness 
than  falls  to  most  men  to  act  upon  this  principle  ;$ 

*  A  Tidchan  is  a  calf's  skin  stuflfed  with  straw,  set  up  to 
make  the  cow  give  her  milk  freely. 

+  Buik  of  the  Universal  Kirk,  p.  53.  Cald.  MS.  ii.  280,  281. 
Petrie,  part  ii.  370.  Spottis.  258.  Collier  says,  that  in  Knox's 
Utter  to  the  Assembly  at  Stirling,  "  there  are  some  passages 
not  unbecoming  a  person  of  integrity  and  courao:e,"  ii.  533. 
Those  who  are  acquainted  with  the  spirit  of  this  historian  will 
think  this  high  praise  from  such  a  quarter. 

t  See  this  letter  in  the  Appendix,  No.  XIII. 

II  One  glaring  instance  of  this  had  just  taken  place,  in  giving 
the  bishoprick  of  Ross  to  Lord  Methven.  Bannatyne,  366. 
Robertson's  History  of  Scotland,  ii.  358,  359.     Lond.  1809. 

}  I  have  read  somewhere  (though  I  cannot  at  present  find 
my  authority)  that  Robert  Pont,  when  offered  a  bishoprick, 
took  the  advice  of  the  General  Assembly  as  to  accepting  it,  and 
professed  hii>  readiness  to  apply  its  funds  to  the  support  of  the 
ministry  within  the  diocese. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


125 


and  the  nobles  were  able  to  find,  even  at  that  period, 
a  sufficient  number  of  pliant,  needy,  or  covetous 
ministers,  to  be  the  partners  or  the  dupes  of  their 
avarice. 

Though  our  Reformer  was  of  opinion,  that,  in  cer- 
tain circumstances  of  the  church,  a  power  might  be 
delegated  to  some  ministers  to  inspect  the  congrega- 
tions within  a  particular  district,  and  accordingly  re- 
commended the  appointment  of  superintendents  at  ihi^ 
first  establishments  of  the  Reformation  in  Scotland, 
yet  he  did  not  allow  of  any  class  of  office-bearers  in 
the  church,  under  whatever  name,  who  were  superior 
either  in  office  or  in  order  to  ministers  or  presbyters. 
His  sentiments  were  not  more  favourable  to  English 
episcopacy  in  his  latter  than  in  his  earlier  days. 
Writing  to  a  correspondent  in  England,  in  1568,  he 
says,  "  I  would  most  gladly  pass  through  the  course 
that  God  hath  appointed  to  my  labours,  giving  thanks 
to  his  holy  name,  for  that  it  hath  pleased  his  mercy  to 
make  me  not  a  Lord  Bishop,  but  a  painful  preacher 
of  his  blessed  evangel."*  In  his  correspondence  with 
Beza,  he  had  informed  him  of  the  government  establish- 
ed in  the  Scottish  church ;  and  at  this  very  time  he  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  that  reformer,  congratulating  him 
that  he  had  banished  the  order  of  bishops,  and  admon- 
ishing him  and  his  colleagues  to  beware  of  suffering 
it  to  re-enter  under  the  deceitful  pretext  of  preserving 
unity. f  He  had  an  opportunity  of  publicly  declaring 
his  sentiments  on  this  subject,  at  the  installation  of 
Douglas  as  archbishop  of  St.  Andrews.  Having 
preached  as  usual  on  Sabbath,  February  10,  1572, 
the  Earl  of  Morton,  who  was  present,  desired  him  to 
iflaugurate  Douglas;  but  he  positively  refused,  and 
pronounced  an  anathema  against  both  the  donor  and 
the  receiver  of  the  bishoprick.  The  provost  of  St. 
Salvador's  having  said  that  Knox's  conduct  proceeded 
from  disappointment,  because  the  bishoprick  had  not 
been  conferred  on  himself,  he,  on  the  following  Sab- 
bath, repelled  the  invidious  charge.  He  had  refused, 
he  said,  a  greater  bishoprick  than  that  of  St.  Andrews, 
which  he  might  have  had  by  the  favour  of  greater 
men  than  Douglas  had  his;:J:  what  he  had  spoken  was 
for  the  exoneration  of  his  conscience,  that  the  church 
of  Scotland  might  not  be  subject  to  that  order,  espe- 
cially after  a  very  different  one  had  been  settled  in  the 
book  of  discipline,  subscribed  by  the  nobility,  and  rati- 
fied by  parliament.  He  lamented  also  that  a  burden 
should  have  been  laid  upon  one  old  man,  which  twenty 
men  of  the  greatest  ability  could  not  sustain. ||  In  the 
General  Assembly  held  at  St.  Andrews  in  the  follow- 
ing month,  he  not  only  entered  a  protest  against  the 
election  of  Douglas, §  but  also  "  opponed  himself 
directly  to  the  making  of  bishops."^ 

While  he  was  engaged  in  these  contests,  his  bodily 
strength  was  every  day  sensibly  decaying.  Yet  he 
continued  to  preach,  although  unable  to  walk  to  the 
pulpit  without  assistance;  and,  when  warmed  with  his 
subject,  he  forgot  his  weakness,  and  electrified  the 
audience  with  his  eloquence.  James  Melville,  after- 
wards minister  of  Anstruther,  was  then  a  student  at 
the  college,  and  one  of  his  constant  hearers.  The  ac- 
count which  he  has  given  of  his  appearance  is  exceed- 
ingly striking;  and,  as  any  translation  would  enfeeble 


*  See  Letter  to  Mr.  John  Wood,  Feb.  14,  1568,  in  the  Ap- 
pendix, No.  X. 

t  In  this  letter  Beza  commends  Knox  for  establishing  not 
merely  the  purity  of  doctrine  in  the  Scottish  church,  but  also 
discipline  and  good  order,  without  which  the  former  could  not 
be  preserved  for  any  time,  Bezae  Epistol.  Theol.  ep.  Ixxxix. 
p.  344,  355,  edit.  1572. 

J  Meaning  Edward  VI.  of  England  and  his  council.  See 
page  40. 

II  Bannatyne,  321.  325,  375.  Cald.  MS.  ii.  269,338,340. 
Douglas,  after  he  was  made  bisbop,  was  continued  in  his  offices 
of  rector  of  the  university,  and  provost  of  the  new  college. 
James  .Melville  says  that  he  was  "  a  good  upright  hearted  man, 
but  ambitious  and  simple,"  and  that  Knox  spoke  against  him 
"  bot  sparinglie,  because  he  loved  the  man."  MS.  Diary,  p.  27. 

5  Bannatyne,  331.  IT  Melville's  MS.  Diary,  p.  26. 


it,  I  shall  give  it  in  his  own  words.  "  Of  all  the  bene- 
fits I  had  that  year  [1571],  was  the  coming  of  that 
maist  notable  profet  and  apostle  of  our  nation,  Mr. 
Johne  Knox,  to  St.  Andrews,  who,  be  the  faction  of 
the  Queen  occupeing  the  castell  and  town  of  Edin- 
burgh, was  compellit  to  remove  therefra,  with  a  num- 
ber of  the  best,  and  chusit  to  come  to  St.  Andrews.  I 
heard  him  teache  there  the  prophecies  of  Daniel,  that 
simmer  and  the  wintar  following.  I  had  my  pen  and 
my  litle  buike,  and  tuk  away  sic  things  as  I  could 
comprehend.  In  the  opening  up  of  his  text,  he  was 
moderat  the  space  of  an  half  houre;  but  when  he  en- 
terit  to  application,  he  made  me  so  to  grew,*  and  trem- 
ble, that  I  could  not  hald  a  pen  to  wryt. — He  was  very 
weik.  I  saw  him,  everie  day  of  his  doctrine,  go  hulie 
andfear,\  with  a  f^urring  of  marticks  about  his  neck,  a 
staffe  in  the  an  hand,  and  gud,  godlie  Richart  Ballan- 
den,  his  servand,  haldin  up  the  uther  oxter,\.  from  the 
abbey  to  the  parish  kirk,  and,  be  the  said  Richart,  and 
another  servand,  lifted  up  to  the  pulpit,  whar  he  beho- 
vit  to  lean,  at  his  first  entrie ;  bot,  er  he  haid  done 
with  his  sermone,  he  was  sa  active  and  vigorous, 
that  he  was  lyk  to  ding  the  pulpit  in  blads,^  and  file 
out  of  it."§ 

The  persons  with  whom  the  Reformer  was  most 
familiar  at  St.  Andrews  were  the  professors  of  St. 
Leonard's  college,  who  often  visited  him  at  his  lodg- 
ing in  the  abbey.  This  college  was  distinguished  by 
its  warm  attachment  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, which  it  had  embraced  at  a  very  early  period  ;^ 
while  the  two  other  colleges  were  disaffected  to  the 
authority  of  the  King,  and  several  of  their  teachers 
suspected  of  leaning  to  popery.  The  Reformer  was 
accustomed  to  amuse  himself  by  walking  in  St.  Leo- 
nard's Yard,  and  to  look  with  peculiar  complacency 
on  the  students,  whom  he  regarded  as  the  rising  hope 
of  the  church.  He  would  sometimes  call  them  to  him, 
and  bless  them,  and  exhort  them  to  be  diligent  in  their 
studies,  to  attend  to  the  instructions  of  their  teachers, 
and  imitate  the  good  example  which  they  set  before 
them,  to  acquaint  themselves  with  God  and  with  the 
great  work  which  he  had  lately  performed  in  their 
native  country,  and  to  cleave  to  the  good  cause.  These 
familiar  advices  from  a  person  so  venerable  made  a 
deep  impression  on  the  minds  of  the  young  men.  He 
even  condescended  to  be  present  at  a  college  exercise 
performed  by  them  at  the  marriage  of  one  of  their 
regents,  in  which  the  siege  and  taking  of  Edinburgh 
castle  was  dramatically  represented.** 

During  his  stay  at  St.  Andrews,  he  published  a 
vindication  of  the  reformed  religion,  in  answer  to  a 
letter  written  by  a  Scots  Jesuit,  called  Tyrie.  The 
argumentative  part  of  the  work  was  finished  by  him 
in  1568;  but  he  sent  it  abroad  at  this  time,  with  addi- 
tions, as  a  farewell  address  to  the  world,  and  a  dying 
testimony  to  the  truth  which  he  had  long  taught  and 
defended. ff  Along  with  it  he  published  one  of  the 
religious  letters  which  he  had  formerly  written  to  his 
mother-in-law,  Mrs.  Bowes  ;  and,  in  an  advertisement 
prefixed  to  this,  hs  informs  us  that  she  had  lately  de- 
parted this  life,  and  that  he  could  not  allow  the  oppor- 
tunity to  slip  of  acquainting  the  public,  by  means  of 
this  letter,  with  the  intimate  Christian  friendship 
which  had  so  long  subsisted  between  them. 


*  i.  e.  thrill.  f  i.  e.  slowly  and  warily. 

X  i.  e.  arm-pit.  ||  i.  e.  beat  the  pulpit  in  piece*. 

\  Melville's  Diary,  p.  23,  28'  T  See  page  27. 

*«  See  Note  LX. 

\\  Tyrie  published  a  reply  to  this,  under  the  title  of  "The 
Refutation  of  ane  answer  made  be  Schir  Johne  Knox  to  ane 
Letter,  send  be  James  Tyrie  to  his  vmquhyle  brother.  Set 
furth  be  James  Tyrie.  Parisiis  1573.  Cvm  Privilegio."  H.  fol. 
57.  12mo.  It  includes  Tyrie's  first  letter,  and  Knox's  answer, 
but  not  the  other  papers  originally  printed  along  with  that 
answer.  "  Mr.  Knox  (says  Keith)  makes  some  good  and  solid 
observations,  from  which,  in  my  opinion,  the  Jesuit  [in  his 
reply]  has  not  handsomely  extricated  himself"  History,  Ap- 
pencl.  p.  255. 


126 


LIFE   OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


The  ardent  desire  which  he  felt  to  be  released  by 
death,  from  the  troubles  of  the  present  life,  appears  in 
all  that  he  wrote  about  this  time.  "Wearieofthe 
world,"  and  "thirsting-  to  depart,"  are  expressions 
frequently  used  by  him.  The  dedication  of  the  above 
mentioned  work  is  thus  inscribed:  "John  Knox,  the 
servant  of  Jesus  Christ,  now  wearie  of  the  world,  and 
daylie  luiking  for  the  resolution  of  this  my  earthly 
tabernakle,  to  the  faithful  that  God  of  his  mercie  shall 
appoint  to  fight  after  me."'  In  the  conclusion  of  it  he 
says,  "Call  for  me,  deir  brethren,  that  God,  in  his 
mercie,  will  pleis  to  put  end  to  my  long  and  paneful 
battell.  For  now  being  unable  to  fight,  as  God  sum- 
tymes  gave  strenth,  I  thirst  an  end,  befoir  I  be  more 
Iroublesum  to  the  faithfull.  And  yet,  Lord,  let  my 
desyre  be  moderate  be  thy  holy  spirit."  In  a  prayer 
subjoined  to  the  dedication  are  these  words.  "To 
thee,  O  Lord,  I  commend  my  spirit.  For  I  thirst  to 
be  resolved  from  this  body  of  sin,  and  am  assured  that 
I  shall  rise  agane  in  glorie;  howsoever  it  be  that  the 
wicked  for  a  tyme  sail  trode  me  and  others  thy  ser- 
vandes  under  their  feit.  Be  merciful,  O  Lord,  unto 
the  kirk  within  this  realme;  continew  with  it  in  the 
light  of  thy  evangell ;  augment  the  number  of  true 
preicheris.  And  let  thy  mercyfull  providence  luke 
upon  my  desolate  bedfellow,  the  fruit  of  hir  bosome, 
and  my  two  deir  children,  Nathanael  and  Eleazar.* 
Now,  Lord,  put  end  to  my  miserie."  The  advertise- 
ment "to  the  Faithful  Reader,"  dated  from  St.  An- 
drews, 12th  July  1572,  concludes  in  the  following 
manner:  "I  hartly  salute  and  take  my  good  night  of 
all  the  faithful  of  both  realmes,  earnestly  desyring  the 
assistance  of  their  prayers,  that,  without  any  notable 
slander  to  the  evangel  of  Jesus  Christ,  I  may  end  my 
battel  ;  for,  as  the  worlde  is  wearie  of  me,  so  am  I  of  it.'''' 

The  General  Assembly  being  appointed  to  meet  at 
Perth  on  the  6th  of  August,  he  took  his  leave  of  them 
in  a  letter,  along  with  which  he  transmitted  certain 
articles  and  questions  which  he  recommended  to  their 
consideration.  The  Assembly  returned  him  an  answer, 
declaring  their  approbation  of  his  propositions,  and 
their  earnest  desires  for  his  preservation  and  comfort.f 
The  last  piece  of  public  service  which  he  performed 
at  their  request,  was  to  examine  and  approve  of  a  ser- 
mon which  had  been  lately  preached  by  David  Fer- 
guson, minister  of  Dunfermline.  His  subscription  to 
this  sermon,  like  every  thing  which  proceeded  from 
his  mouth  or  pen  about  this  time,  is  uncommonly 
striking.  "John  Knox,  with  my  dead  hand,  but  glaid 
heart,  praising  God,  that  of  his  mercy  he  levis  such 
light  to  his  kirk  in  this  desolatioun.":t: 

From  the  rapid  decline  of  our  Reformer's  health,  in 
spring  1572,  there  was  every  appearance  of  his  ending 
his  days  at  St.  Andrews;  but  it  pleased  God  that  he 
should  be  restored  once  more  to  his  flock,  and  allowed 
to  die  peaceably  in  his  own  bed.  In  consequence  of  a 
cessation  of  arms  agreed  to,  in  the  end  of  July,  between 
the  Regent  and  the  adherents  of  the  Queen,  the  city 
of  Edinburgh  was  abandoned  by  the  forces  of  the  latter. 


»  Tjrif,  in  his  reply,  scoffs  at  this  aniiable  expression  of 
pious  affection;  and  in  doing;  so  discovers  that  he  was  as  jjreat 
a  stranger  to  conjugal  and  parental  feelings,  as  he  was  to  the 
rules  ol  logic.  "He  [Knox]  sais,  that  of  tuay  propositiones 
quhilkis  ar  verray  trew,  I  collect  ane  conclusione  maist  false 
and  repugnant  to  all  veritie.  Ane  Dialectitian  wald  answer 
that  Schir  Johne  knox  hes  norht  weill  considderit  the  rewlis 
of  Dialectik,  to  affirme  ane  fals  conclusion  to  follow  of  trew 
preniissis.  Bot  becaus  I  knaw  his  greit  occupationis,  and 
sollieitude  he  hes  of  liis  wyf  and  cliiidrine,  that  he  culd  nocht 
take  tent  to  sic  trifflis,  I  will  pas  this  with  silence."  Refuta- 
tion, ut  supra,  fol.  4,  a. 

+  Bannatync,  364—369.     Cald.  ii.  355.  366. 

t  "  Ane  sermon  prechit  before  the  regent  and  nobilitie  upon 
a  part  of  the  third  chapter  of  Malachi  [verses  7 — 12.]  in  the 
kirk  of  Leith,  at  the  linie  of  the  Gencrall  Asscmblie,  on  Son- 
day  the  13.  of  Januarie.  Anno  Do.  1571.  Be  David  Fergu- 
sone,  minister  of  the  evangell  at  Dunfermlyne.  Iniprentit  at 
Saactandrois,  be  Robert  Lekpreuik.  Anno  Do.  MDLXXII." 
The  dedication  to  the  regent  Mar  is  dated  20th  August,  1572. 


and  secured  from  the  annoyance  of  the  garrison  in  the 
castle.  As  soon  as  the  banished  citizens  returned  to 
their  houses,*  they  sent  a  deputation  to  St.  Andrews, 
with  a  letter  to  their  minister,  expressive  of  their  earn 
est  desire  "  that  once  again  his  voice  might  be  heard 
among  them,"  and  intreating  him  immediately  to  come 
to  Edinburgh,  if  his  health  would  at  all  permit  hiiifi."|" 
After  reading  the  letter,  and  conversing  with  the  com- 
missioners, he  agreed  to  return,  but  under  the  express 
condition,  that  he  should  not  be  urged  to  preserve 
silence  respecting  the  conduct  of  those  who  held  the 
castle  ;  •'  whose  treasonable  and  tyrannical  deeds  (he 
said)  he  would  cry  out  against,  as  long  as  he  was  able 
to  speak."  He,  therefore,  desired  them  to  acquaint 
their  constituerts  with  this,  lest  they  should  afterwards 
repent  of  his  austerity,  and  be  apprehensive  of  ill- 
treatment  on  his  account.  The  commissioners  assured 
him,  that  they  did  not  mean  to  put  a  bridle  in  his 
mouth,  but  wished  him  to  discharge  his  duty  as  he 
had  been  accustomed  to  do.  On  his  arrival  at  Edin- 
burgh, he  repeated  this  intimation  to  the  principal 
persons  of  his  congregation,  and  received  the  same 
assurance  from  them,  before  he  would  resume  prcach- 

On  the  17th  of  August,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  Queen's 
faction,  whom  he  had  overawed  duting  his  residence 
among  them,  the  Reformer  left  St.  Andrews,  along 
with  his  family.  He  was  accompanied  so  far  on  his 
journey  by  a  number  of  his  acquaintances  in  the  town, 
who  sorrowfully  took  their  leave  of  him,  in  the  pros- 
pect of  seeing  his  face  no  more.  Being  obliged  by  his 
weakness  to  travel  slowly,  it  was  the  23d  of  the  month 
before  he  reached  Leith,  from  which,  after  resting  a 
day  or  two,  he  came  to  Edinburgh.  The  inhabitants 
enjoyed  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  him  again  in  his  own 
pulpit,  on  the  first  Sabbath  after  he  arrived  ;  but  his 
voice  was  now  so  enfeebled  that  he  could  not  be  heard 
by  the  half  of  the  congregation.  Nobody  was  more 
sensible  of  this  than  himself.  He  therefore  requested 
his  session  to  provide  a  smaller  house,  in  which  he 
could  be  heard,  if  it  were  only  by  a  hundred  persons; 
for  his  voice,  (he  said)  was  not  able,  even  in  his  best 
time,  to  extend  over  the  multitude  which  assembled  in 
that  large  church,  much  less  now  when  he  was  so 
greatly  debilitated.  This  request  was  readily  complied 
with  by  the  session. |) 

During  his  absence,  a  coolness  had  taken  place  be- 
tween his  colleague  and  the  parish,  who  found  fault 
with  him  for  temporizing  during  the  time  that  the 
Queen's  party  retained  possession  of  the  city.  In 
consequence  of  this,  they  had  mutually  agreed  to 
separate. §  After  preaching  two  years  in  Montrose, 
Craig  removed  to  Aberdeen,  where  he  acted  as  visitor 
of  the  churches  in  Buchan  and  Mar;  and  was  after- 
wards chosen  minister  to  the  Royal  household,  a  situ- 
ation which  he  held  until  his  death  in  1600,  at  the 
advanced  age  of  eighty-eight.^  Being  deprived  of 
both  their  pastors,  and  having  no  prospect  that  Knox, 

*  Previous  to  the  cessation  of  arms,  the  banished  citizens 
(who  had  taken  up  their  residence  chiefly-  in  Leith)  entered 
into  a  solemn  league,  by  which  they  engaged  "  in  the  fear  of 
God  the  Father,  of  his  Son  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  of  the 
Holie  Spirit,  tackand  to  witness  his  holie  name,"  that  they 
would,  with  their  lives,  lands,  and  goods,  promote  the  gospel 
professed  among  them,  maintain  the  authority  of  the  king  and 
regent,  a.ssist  and  concur  with  others  against  their  enemies  in 
the  castle,  defend  one  another  if  attacked,  and  submit  any 
variances  which  might  arise  among  themselves  to  brotherly 
arbitration,  or  to  the  judgment  of  the  town-council.  Bauna- 
tyne,  301—364. 

f  Bannatyne,  370 — 373.  "  Leath  we  are  to  diseas  or  hurt 
your  persone  ony  wayis,  and  far  leather  to  want  you." 

t  lb.  372,  373. 

II  Ibid,  p.  373,  385.     Smetoni  Rcspons.  p.  117,  118. 

S^Bannatyne,  150.  370. 

"IT  Spottiswood,  464.  When  informed  that  his  Majesty  had 
n)ade  choice  of  Ciai«f,  the  General  Assembly,  July  1580 
"  blessed  the  Lord,  and  praised  the  King  for  his'  zeal."  Row 
Hist,  of  the  Kirk,  47. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


12? 


although  he  should  return,  would  be  capable  of  per- 
forming the  public  service  among  them,  the  kirk-ses- 
sion of  Edinburgh  had  instructed  their  delegates  to 
Ihe  General  Assembly  which  lately  met  at  Perth,  to 
petition  that  court  for  liberty  to  choose  from  the  min- 
istry a  colleague  to  the  Reformer.  The  Assembly 
granted  their  request,  and  ordained  any  minister  (those 
of  Perth  and  Dundee  excepted)  who  might  be  chosen 
by  Knox,  the  superintendent  of  Lothian,  and  the  church 
of  Edinburgh,  to  comply  with  their  invitation  and  re- 
move to  the  capital.*  When  the  commissioners  came 
to  St.  Andrews,  they  found  the  superintendent  along 
with  Knox,  and  having  consulted  with  them,  it  was 
agreed  to  nominate  and  recommend  James  Lawson, 
Sub-principal  of  the  University  of  Aberdeen,  a  man 
eminent  for  piety,  learning,  and  eloquence. f  Perceiv- 
ing, on  his  return  to  Edinburgh,  that  he  would  not  long- 
be  able  to  endure  the  fatigue  of  preaching,  and  that  he 
was  already  incapacitated  for  all  other  ministerial 
duties,  Knox  was  extremely  solicitous  to  have  this 
business  speedily  settled,  that  the  congregation  might 
not  be  left  "  as  sheep  without  a  shepherd,"  when  he 
was  called  away.  The  session  and  the  superintendent 
having  written  letters  of  invitation  to  Lawson,  the  Re- 
former also  sent  a  letter  to  him,  urging  his  speedy 
compliance  with  their  requests.  Though  this  letter 
has  already  appeared  in  print,:}:  yet  as  it  is  not  long, 
and  is  very  descriptive  of  the  state  of  his  mind  at  this 
interesting  period,  I  shall  lay  it  before  the  reader. 

"All  worldie  strenth,  yea  ewin  in  thingis  spirituall, 
decayes ;  and  yit  sail  never  the  work  of  God  decay. 
Belovit  brother,  seeing  that  God  of  his  mercie,  far 
above  my  expectalione,  has  callit  me  ones  agane  to 
Edinburgh,  and  yit  that  I  feill  nature  so  decayed,  and 
daylie  to  decay,  that  1  luke  not  for  a  long  continewance 
of  my  battel!,  I  wald  gladlie  anes  discharge  my  con- 
science into  your  bosome,  and  into  the  bosome  of 
vlheris,  in  whome  I  think  the  feare  of  God  remanes. 
Gif  I  hath  had  the  habilitie  of  bodie,  I  suld  not  have 
put  you  to  the  pane  to  the  whilk  I  now  requyre  you, 
that  is,  anes  to  visite  me,  that  we  may  conferre  toge- 
ther of  heawinlie  thingis;  for  into  earth  there  is  no 
stabilitie,  except  the  kirk  of  Jesus  Christ,  ever  fightand 
vnder  the  crosse,  to  whose  myghtie  protectione  I 
hartlie  comitt  you.  Of  Edinburgh  the  vii  of  Septem- 
ber, 1572.     Jhone  Knox." 

In  a  postscript  these  expressive  words  were  added, 
"  Haist,  leist  ye  come  to  lait." 

In  the  beginning  of  September,  intelligence  came  to 
Edinburgh,  that  the  Admiral  of  France,  the  brave,  the 
generous,  the  pious  Coligni  was  murdered  in  the  city 
of  Paris,  by  the  orders  of  Charles  IX.  Immediately 
on  the  back  of  this,  tidings  arrived  of  that  most  detest- 
able and  unparalleled  scene  of  barbarity  and  treachery, 
the  general  massacre  of  the  protestants  throughout  that 
kingdom.  Post  after  post  brought  fresh  accounts  of 
the  most  shocking  and  unheard-of  cruelties.  Hired 
cut-throats,  and  fanatical  cannibals  marched  from  city 
to  city,  paraded  the  streets,  and  entered  into  the  houses 
of  those  that  were  marked  out  for  destruction.  No 
reverence  was  shewn  to  the  hoary  head,  no  respect  to 
rank  or  talents,  no  pity  to  tender  age  or  sex.  Infants, 
aged  matrons,  and  women  upon  the  point  of  their  de- 
livery, were  trodden  under  the  feet  of  the  assassins,  or 
dragged  with  hooks  into  the  rivers;  others,  after  being 
thrown  into  prison,  were  instantly  brought  out  and 
butchered  in  cold  blood.  Seventy  thousand  persons 
were  murdered  in  one  week.  For  several  days  the 
streets  of  Paris  literally  ran  with  blood.  The  savage 
monarch,  standing  at  the  windows  5T  the  palace,  with 
his  courtiers,  glutted  his  eyes  with  the  inhuman  spec- 


*  Smetoni  Respons.  118.     Bannatyne,  370. 
'    t  Siiieton,  ut  sup.     Bannatyne,  372.     James   Melville   thus 
describes  Lawson:    "  A    man   of  singular  learninfc.  zeal,  and 
eloquence,  whom  I  never  hard  preache  bot  he  meltit  my  hart 
with  teares."     MS.  Diary,  23.     Sec  also  Note  XXXIX. 

t  Bannatyne,  386. 


tacle,  and  amused  himself  with  firing  upon  the  miser 
able  fugitives  who  sought  shelter  at  his  merciless 
gates.* 

The  intelligence  of  this  massacre  (for  which  a  solemn 
thanksgiving  was  offered  up  at  Rome  by  order  of  the 
Pope)|  produced  the  same  horror  and  consternation  in 
Scotland  as  in  every  other  protestant  country. :|:  It  in- 
flicted a  deep  wound  on  the  exhausted  spirit  of  Knox. 
Besides  the  blow  struck  at  the  whole  reformed  body, 
he  had  to  lament  the  loss  of  many  individuals,  eminent 
for  piety,  learning,  and  rank,  whom  he  numbered 
among  his  acquaintances.  Being  conveyed  to  the  pul- 
pit, and  summoning  up  the  remainder  of  his  strength, 
he  thundered  the  vengeance  of  Heaven  against  that 
cruel  murderer  and  false  traitor,  the  king  of  France, 
and  desired  Le  Croc,  the  French  ambassador,  to  tell 
his  master,  that  sentence  was  pronounced  against  him 
in  Scotland,  that  the  divine  vengeance  would  never 
depart  from  him,  nor  from  his  house,  if  repentance  did 
not  ensue;  but  his  name  would  remain  an  execration 
to  posterity,  and  none  proceeding  from  his  loins  would 
enjoy  his  kingdom  in  peace.  The  ambassador  com- 
plained of  the  indignity  offered  to  his  master,  and  re- 
quired the  Regent  to  silence  the  preacher;  but  this 
was  refused,  upon  which  he  left  Scotland. || 

Lawson  having  received  the  letters  of  invitation, 
hastened  to  Edinburgh,  and  had  the  satisfaction  to 
find  that  Knox  was  still  able  to  receive  him.  Having 
preached  to  the  people,  he  gave  universal  satisfaction. 
On  the  following  Sabbath,  21st  September,  Knox 
began  to  preach  in  the  Tolbooth  church,  which  was 
now  fitted  up  for  him.  He  chose  for  the  subject  of 
his  discourses,  the  account  of  our  Saviour's  crucifix- 
ion, as  recorded  in  the  twenty-seventh  chapter  of  the 
Gospel  according  to  Matthew,  a  theme  upon  which  he 
often  expressed  a  wish  to  close  his  ministry.  On 
Sabbath,  the  9th  of  November,  he  presided  in  the 
installation  of  Lawson  as  his  colleague  and  successor. 
The  sermon  was  preached  by  him  in  the  Tolbooth 
church  ;  after  it  was  concluded,  he  removed,  with  the 
audience,  to  the  large  church,  where  he  went  through 
the  accustomed  form  of  admission,  by  proposing  the 
questions  to  the  minister  and  people,  addressing  an 
exhortation  to  both,  and  praying  for  the  Divine  bless- 
ing upon  the  connection.  On  no  former  occasion  did 
he  deliver  himself  more  to  the  satisfaction  of  those 
who  were  able  to  hear  him.  After  declaring  the  mu- 
tual duties  of  pastor  and  congregation,  he  protested,  in 
the  presence  of  Him  before  whom  he  expected  soon 
to  appear,  that  he  had  walked  among  them  with  a  good 
conscience,  preaching  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  in  all 
sincerity,  not  studying  to  please  men.  nor  to  gratify 
his  own  affections  ;  he  praised  God,  that  he  had  been 
pleased  to  give  them  a  pastor  in  liis  room,  when  he 
was  now  unable  to  teach;  he  fervently  prayed,  that 
any  gifts  which  had  been  conferred  on  himself  might 
be  augmented  a  thousand  fold  in  his  successor;  and, 
in  a  most  serious  and  impressive  manner,  he  exhorted 
and  charged  the  whole  assembly  to  adhere  steadfastly 
to  the  faith  which  they  had  professed.  Having  fin- 
ished the  service,  and  pronounced  the  blessing  with  a 
cheerful  but  exhausted  voice,  he  descended  from  the 
pulpit,   and,  leaning   upon  his   staff,  crept  down  the 

*  Menioires  cle  Sully,  torn.  i.  16.  Paris  1664.  Brantosiiie 
Memoires,  apud  Jurieu,  Apologie  pour  la  Reformation,  foni.  i. 
420.  Smetoni  Respons.  ad  Haiuilt.  Dial,  p  117.  Bannatyne's 
Journal,  p.  388—396. 

+  The  Pope's  Bull  for  the  Jubilee  may  be  seen  in  Strype's 
Life  of  archbishop  Parker,  Append.  No.  68,  p.  108. 

J  The  reg^ent  Mar  issued  a  proclamation  on  this  occasion, 
summoning  a  general  convention  of  deputies  from  all  parts  of 
the  kingdom,  to  deliberate  on  the  measures  proper  to  be 
adopted  for  defence  against  the  cruel  and  treasonable  conspi- 
racies of  the  papists.  Bannatyne,  397 — 401.  Strype  has  ui- 
serted  the  preamble,  and  one  of  the  articles  of  a  supplication 
presented  by  this  convention  to  the  regent  and  council.  An- 
nals, ii.  180,  181.  This  may  be  compared  with  the  more  full 
account  of  their  proceedings,  in  Bannatyne,  406 — 411. 

II  Bp.nnatyne,  401,  402. 


128 


LIFE    OF  JOHN    KNOX. 


street,  which  was  lined  with  the  audience,  who,  as  if 
anxious  to  take  the  last  sight  of  their  beloved  pastor, 
followed  him  until  he  entered  his  house, — from  which 
he  never  aorain  came  out  alive.* 

On  the  Tuesday  following,  the  11th  of  November, 
he  was  seized  with  a  severe  cough,  which  greatly  af- 
fected his  breathing.f  When  his  friends,  anxious  to 
prolong  his  life,  proposed  to  call  in  the  assistance 
of  physicians,  he  readily  acquiesced,  saying,  that  he 
would  not  neglect  the  ordinary  means  of  health,  al- 
though he  was  persuaded,  that  the  Lord  would  soon 
put  an  end  to  all  his  sorrows.  It  had  been  his  ordin- 
ary practice  to  read  every,  day  some  chapters  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments  ;  to  which  he  added  a  certain 
number  of  the  Psalms  of  David,  the  whole  of  which 
he  perused  regularly  once  a  month.  On  Thursday  the 
13th,  he  sickened,  and  was  obliged  to  desist  from  his 
course  of  reading;  but  he  gave  directions  to  his  wife, 
and  to  his  secretary,  Richard  Bannatyne,  that  one  of 
them  should  every  day  read  to  him,  with  a  distinct 
voice,  the  seventeenth  chapter  of  the  Gospel  according 
to  John,  the  fifty-third  of  Isaiah,  and  a  chapter  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Ephesians.  This  was  punctually  com- 
plied with  during  the  whole  time  of  his  sickness  ;  and 
scarcely  an  hour  passed  in  which  some  part  of  scrip- 
ture was  not  read  in  his  hearini.  Besides  the  above 
passages,  he,  at  different  times,  fixed  on  certain 
Psalms,  and  some  of  Calvin's  French  Sermons  on  the 
Ephesians.  Sometimes  when  they  were  engaged  in 
reading,  thinking  him  to  be  asleep,  they  asked  him  if 
he  heard  them,  to  which  he  answered,  "  I  hear  (I 
praise  God,)  and  understand  far  better;"  which  words 
he  uttered  for  the  last  time,  only  four  hours  before  his 
death. 

The  same  day  on  which  he  sickened,  he  desired  his 
wife  to  discharge  the  servants'  wages;  and  wishing 
next  day  to  pay  one  of  his  men  servants  himself,  he 
gave  him  twenty  shillings  above  his  fee,  sayin? 
"Thou  wilt  never  receive  more  from  me  in  this  life." 
To  all  of  them  he  addressed  suitable  exhortations  to 
walk  in  the  fear  of  God,  and  as  became  Christians 
who  had  lived  in  his  family. 

On  Friday  the  14th,  he  rose  from  bed  at  an  earlier 
hour  than  usual  ;  and  thinking  that  it  was  Sabbath, 
said,  that  he  meant  to  go  to  church,  and  preach  on  the 
resurrection  of  Christ,  upon  which  he  had  meditated 
through  the  whole  night.  This  was  the  subject  on 
which  he  should  have  preached  in  his  ordinary  course. 
But  he  was  so  weak,  that  he  needed  to  be  supported 
from  his  bed-side  by  two  men,  and  it  was  with  great 
difficulty  that  he  could  sit  on  a  chair. 

Next  day  at  noon,  John  Durie,  one  of  the  ministers 
of  Leith,  and  Archibald  Stewart,  who  were  among  his 
intimate  acquaintances,  came  into  his  room.  Per- 
ceiving that  he  was  very  sick,  they  wished  to  take 
their  leave,  but  he  insisted  that  they  should  remain, 
and  having  prevailed  with  them  to  stay  dinner,  he  rose 


*  Siiietoni  Responsio,  118.  The  house  which  the  Reformer 
possessed  is  situated  near  the  bottom  of  the  High  Street,  a  lit- 
tle below  the  Fountain  well.  It  has  these  three  words  inscribed 
on  it,  eEor,  Deus,  God. 

f  As  it  is  unnecessary  to  repeat  the  quotations,  the  reader 
may  be  informed,  once  for  all,  that  the  account  of  the  Reform- 
er's last  illness  and  death  is  taken  from  the  following;  authori- 
ties: "  Eximii  viri  Joannis  Knoxii,  Scoticanae  Ecclesias  instau- 
ratoris,  Vera  extremae  vitae  et  obitus  Historia,"  published  by 
Thomas  Smeton,  principal  of  the  university  of  Glasgow,  at  the 
end  of  his  "  Responsio  ad  Hainiltonii  Dialogum.  Edinburgi, 
•pud  Johannem  Kosseum.  Pro  Henrico  Charteris.  Anno  Do. 
1579.  Cum  Privilegio  Regali:" — "Journal  of  the  Transactions 
in  Scotland,  (Annis)  1570 — 1573,  by  Richard  Bannatyne,  secre- 
tary to  John  Knox,"  413 — 429,  edited  from  an  authenti  MS. 
by  J.  Graham  Dalyell,  Esq.  Anno  1806: — Spottiswood's  Histo- 
ry, p.  265—267.  Anno  1677:  and  Calderwood's  MS.  History, 
ad  Ann.  1572;  copy  in  Advocates'  Library,  Edinburgh,  transcri- 
bed Anno  1634.  The  two  first  of  these  works  contain  the  most 
ancient  and  authentic  narratives,  both  being  written  at  the  '.ime 
of  the  event,  and  by  persons  who  were  eye  and  ear  witnesses 
(vf  what  they  relate. 


froiri  bed,  and  came  to  the  table,  which  was  the  last 
time  that  he  ever  sat  at  it.  He  ordered  a  hogshead  of 
wine  which  was  in  his  cellar  to  be  pierced  for  them ; 
and,  with  a  hilarity  which  he  delighted  to  indulo-e 
among  his  friends,  desired  Archibald  Steward  to  send 
for  some  of  it  as  long  as  it  lasted,  for  he  would  not 
tarry  until  it  was  all  used. 

On  Sabbath,  the  IGth,  he  kept  his  bed,  and  mista- 
king it  for  the  first  day  of  the  fast  appointed  on 
account  of  the  French  massacre,  refused  to  take  any 
dinner.  Fairley  of  Braid,  who  was  present,  informed 
him  that  the  fast  did  not  commence  until  the  following 
Sabbath,  and  sitting  down,  and  dining  before  his  bed, 
prevailed  on  him  to  take  a  little  food. 

He  was  very  anxious  to  meet  once  more  with  the 
session  of  his  church,  to  leave  them  his  dying  charge, 
and  bid  them  a  last  farewell.  In  compliance  with  this 
wish,  his  colleague,  the  elders,  and  deacons,  with 
David  Lindsay,  one  of  the  ministers  of  Leith,  assem- 
bled in  his  room  on  Monday  the  17th,  when  he  ad- 
dressed them  in  the  following  w^ords,  which  made  a 
deep  and  lasting  impression  on  the  minds  of  all. 
"  The  day  approaches,  and  is  now  before  the  door,  for 
which  I  have  frequently  and  vehemently  thirsted, 
when  I  shall  be  released  from  my  great  labours"  and 
innumerable  sorrows,  and  shall  be  with  Christ.  And 
now,  God  is  my  witness,  whom  I  have  served  in  the 
spirit  in  the  gospel  of  his  Son,  that  I  have  taught 
nothing  but  the  true  and  solid  doctrine  of  the  gospel 
of  the  Son  of  God,  and  have  had  it  for  my  only  object 
to  instruct  the  ignorant,  to  confirm  the  faithful,  lo 
comfort  the  weak,  the  fearful,  and  the  distressed,  by 
the  promises  of  grace,  and  to  fight  against  the  proud 
and  rebellious,  by  the  divine  threatenings.  I  know 
that  many  have  frequently  complained,  and  still  loudly 
complain,  of  my  too  great  severity  ;  but  God  knows 
that  my  mind  was  always  void  of  hatred  to  the  per- 
sons of  those  against  whom  I  thundered  the  severest 
judgments.  I  cannot  deny  but  that  I  felt  the  greatest 
abhorrence  at  the  sins  in  which  they  indulged,  but  I 
still  kept  this  one  thing  in  view,  that,  if  possible,  I 
might  gain  them  to  the  Lord.  What  influenced  me  to 
utter  whatever  the  Lord  put  into  my  mouth,  so  boldly, 
without  respect  of  persons,  was  a  reverential  fear  of 
my  God,  who  called  and  of  his  grace  appointed  me  to 
be  a  steward  of  divine  mysteries,  and  a  belief  that  he 
will  demand  an  account  of  my  discharge  of  the  trust 
committed  to  me,  when  I  shall  stand  before  his  tribu- 
nal. I  profess,  therefore,  before  God,  and  before  his 
holy  angels,  that  I  never  made  merchandise  of  the 
sacred  word  of  God,  never  studied  to  please  men, 
never  indulged  my  own  private  passions  or  those  of 
others,  but  faithfully  distributed  the  talents  intrusted 
to  me  for  the  edification  of  the  church  over  which  1 
watched.  Whatever  obloquy  wicked  men  may  cast  on 
me  respecting  this  point,  I  rejoice  in  the  testimony  of 
a  good  conscience.  In  the  mean  time,  my  dearest 
brethren,  do  you  persevere  in  the  eternal  truth  of  the 

fospel ;  wait  diligently  on  the  flock  over  which  the 
rord  hath  set  you,  and  which  he  redeemed  with  the 
blood  of  his  only  begotten  Son.  And  thou,  my  dear 
brother  Lawson,  fight  the  good  fight,  and  do  the  work 
of  the  Lord  joyfully  and  resolutely.  The  Lord  from 
on  high  bless  you  and  the  whole  church  of  Edinburgh, 
against  whom,  as  long  as  they  persevere  in  the  word 
of  truth  which  they  have  heard  of  me,  the  gales  of 
hell  shall  not  prevail."*  Having  warned  them  against 
countenancing  those  who  disowned  the  King's  au- 
thority, and  made^some  observations  on  a  complaint 
which  Maitland  fiad  lodged  against  him  before  the 
session,  he  was  so  exhausted  that  he  was  obliged  to 
desist  from  speaking.  Those  who  were  present  were 
filled  both  with  joy  and  grief  by  this  affecting  address. 


*  This  speech  is  translated  from  the  Latin  of  Smeton,  which 
accounts  for  the  difference  of  style  which  the  intelligent  reader 
must  have  remarked. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN   KNOX. 


120 


After  reminding  him  of  the  warfare  which  he  had 
endured,  and  the  triumph  which  awaited  him,  and 
joining  in  prayer,  they  took  their  leave  of  him  drowned 
in  tears. 

When  they  were  going  out,  he  desired  his  colleague 
and  Lindsay  to  remain  behind,  "  There  is  one  thing 
that  greatly  grieves  me,"  said  he  to  them.  "  You 
have  been  witnesses  of  the  former  courage  and  con- 
stancy of  Grange  in  the  cause  of  God  ;  but  now,  alas  ! 
into  what  a  gulph  has  he  precipitated  himself!  1  en- 
treat you  not  to  refuse  the  request  which  I  now 
make  to  you :  Go  to  the  castle,  and  tell  him  from  me, 
'  That  John  Knox  remains  the  same  man  now  when  he 
is  about  to  die,  that  ever  he  knew  him  when  able  in 
body,  and  wills  him  to  consider  what  he  was,  and  the 
estate  in  which  he  now  stands,  which  is  a  great  part 
of  his  trouble.  Neither  the  craggy  rock  in  which  he 
miserably  confides,  nor  the  carnal  prudence  of  that 
man  (Maitland)  whom  he  esteems  a  demi-god,  nor 
the  assistance  of  strangers,  shall  preserve  him;  hut  he 
shall  be  disgracefully  dragged  from  his  nest  to  punish- 
ment, and  hung  on  a  gallows  before  the  face  of  the  sun, 
unless  he  speedily  amend  his  life,  and  flee  to  the  mercy 
of  God.'  That  man's  soul  is  dear  to  me,  and  I  would 
not  have  it  perish,  if  I  could  save  it."  The  ministers 
undertook  to  execute  this  commission  ;  and  going  up 
to  the  castle,  they  obtained  an  interview  with  the  gov- 
ernor, and  delivered  their  message.  He  at  first  exhib- 
ited some  symptoms  of  relenting,  but  having  consulted 
apart  with  Maitland,  he  returned,  and  gave  them  a  very 
unpleasant  answer.  This  being  reported  to  Knox,  he 
was  much  grieved,  and  said,  that  he  had  been  earnest 
in  prayer  for  that  man,  and  he  still  trusted  that  his  soul 
would  be  saved,  although  his  body  should  come  to  a 
miserable  end.* 

After  his  interview  with  the  session,  he  was  much 
worse ;  his  difficulty  of  breathing  increased,  and  he 
could  not  speak  without  great  and  obvious  pain.  Yet 
he  continued  still  to  receive  persons  of  every  rank, 
who  came  in  great  numbers  to  visit  him,  and  he  suf- 
fered none  to  go  away  without  exhortations,  which  he 
uttered  with  such  variety  and  suitableness  as  astonish- 
ed those  who  waited  upon  him.  Lord  Boyd  came  in 
and  said,  "  I  know.  Sir,  that  I  have  offended  you  in 
many  things,  and  am  now  come  to  crave  your  pardon." 
His  answer  was  not  heard,  as  the  attendants  retired 
and  left  them  alone.  But  his  Lordship  returned  next 
day,  in  company  with  the  Earl  of  Morton  and  the 
laird  of  Drumlanrig.  The  Reformer's  private  conver- 
sation with  Morton  was  very  particular,  as  afterwards 
related  by  the  Earl  himself.  He  asked  him,  if  he  was 
previously  acquainted  with  the  design  to  murder  the 
late  king.  Morton  having  answered  in  the  negative,! 
he  said,  "  Well,  God  has  beautified  you  with  many 
benefits  which  he  has  not  given  to  every  man ;  as  he 
has  given  you  riches,  wisdom,  and  friends,  and  now 
is  to  prefer  you  to  the  government  of  this  realm. :|: 
And  therefore,  in  the  name  of  God,  I  charge  you  to  use 
all  these  benefits  aright,  and  better  in  time  to  come 

*  After  the  castle  surrendered,  and  Kircaldy  was  condemned 
to  die,  Lindsay  attended  him  at  his  earnest  desire,  and  received 
much  satisfaction  from  conversation  with  him.  When  he  was 
on  the  scaffold,  he  desired  the  minister  to  repeat  Knox's  last 
words  respecting  him,  and  said  that  he  hoped  they  would  prove 
true.  James  Melville  had  this  information  from  Lindsay.  MS. 
Diary,  p.  29,  30.     See  also  Spottis.  266,  272. 

f  He  acknowledged  afterwards  that  he  did  know  of  the  mur- 
der; but  excused  himself  for  concealing  it.  "The  quene  (he 
said)  was  the  doare  thareof,"  and  as  for  the  king,  he  was  "sic 
a  bairne,  that  there  was  nothing  tauld  him  but  he  wald  reveill 
it  to  hir  agane."     Bannatyne,  494,  497. 

I  The  regent  Mar  died  on  tlie  29th  of  October  preceding. 
The  nobility  were  at  this  time  assembled  at  Edinburgh  to  chuse 
bis  successor,  and  it  was  understood  that  Morton  would  be 
raised  to  that  dignity.  He  was  elected  regent  on  the  day  of 
Knox's  death.  Bannatyne,  411,  412,  427.  The  author  of  the 
Historic  of  King  .Tames  the  Sext  says,  that  the  regent  died  Oc- 
tober 18,  and  adds,  "efter  him  dyed  Johne  Knox  in  that  same 
moiieth."  p.  197.     But  he  has  mistaken  the  dates. 

R 


than  ye  have  done  in  times  bypast;  first  to  God's 
glory,  to  the  furtherance  of  the  evangel,  the  mainten- 
ance of  the  church  of  God,  and  his  ministry;  next 
for  the  weal  of  the  King,  and  his  realm  and  true  sub- 
jects. If  so  ye  shall  do,  God  shall  bless  you  and 
honour  you  ;  but  if  ye  do  it  not,  God  shall  spoil  you 
of  these  benefits,  and  your  end  shall  be  ignominy  and 
shame."* 

On  Thursday,  the  20th,  Lord  Lindsay,  the  bishop  of 
Caithness,  and  several  gentlemen  visited  him.  He 
exhorted  them  to  continue- in  the  truth  which  they  had 
heard,  for  there  was  no  othef  word  of  salvation,  and 
besought  them  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  those  in  the 
castle.  The  Earl  of  Glencairri  (who  had  often  visited 
him)  came  in,  with  Lord  Ruthven.  The  latter,  who 
called  only  once,  said  to  him,  "  If  there  be  any  thing. 
Sir,  that  I  am  able  to  do  for  you,  I  pray  you  charge 
me."  His  reply  was,  "  I  care  not  for  all  the  pleasure 
and  friendsliip  of  the  world." 

A  religious  lady  of  his  acquaintance  desired  him  to 
praise  God  for  what  good  he  had  done,  and  was  begin- 
ning to  speak  in  his  commendation,  when  he  interrupted 
her.  "Tongue  !  tongue  !  lady,  flesh  of  itself  is  over- 
proud,  and  needs  no  means  to  esteem  itself."  He  put  her 
in  mind  of  what  had  been  said  to  her  long  ago,  "  Lady 
lady,  the  black  one  has  never  trarnpit  on  your  fute  ;" 
and  exhorted  her  to  lay  aside  pride,  and  be  clothed 
with  humility.  He  then  protested  as  to  himself,  as  he 
had  often  done  before,  that  he  relied  wholly  on  the 
free  merey  of  God,  manifested  to  mankind  through 
his  dear  Son  Jesus  Christ,  whom  alone  he  embraced 
for  wisdom,  and  righteousness,  and  sanctification,  and 
redemption.  The  rest  of  the  company  having  taken 
their  leave  of  him,  he  said  to  the  laird  of  Braid, 
"  Every  one  bids  me  good  night,  but  when  will  j'ou 
do  it  ?  I  have  been  greatly  indebted  unto  you  ;  for 
which  I  shall  never  be  able  to  recompense  you  ;  but  I 
commit  you  to  one  that  is  able  to  do  it,  to  the  eternal 
God." 

On  Friday  the  21st,  he  desired  Richard  Bannatyne 
to  order  his  coffin  to  be  made.  During  that  day  he 
was  much  engaged  in  meditation  and  prayer.  These 
words  were  often  in  his  mouth  :  "  Come,  Lord  Jesus. 
Sweet  Jesus,  into  thy  hands  I  commit  my  spirit.  Be 
merciful.  Lord,  to  thy  church  which  thou  hast  redeem- 
ed. Give  peace  to  this  afflicted  commonwealth. 
Raise  up  faithful  pastors  who  will  take  the  charge  of 
thy  church.  Grant  us.  Lord,  the  perfect  hatred  of 
sin,  both  by  the  evidences  of  thy  wrath  and  mercy." 
In  the  midst  of  his  meditations,  he  would  often  ad- 
dress those  who  stood  by,  in  such  sentences  as  these: 
"  O  serve  the  Lord  in  fear,  and  death  shall  not  be 
terrible  to  you.  Nay,  blessed  shall  death  be  to  those 
who  have  felt  the  power  of  the  death  of  the  only  be- 
gotten Son  of  God." 

On  Sabbath,  the  23d  (which  was  the  first  day  of  the 
national  fast,)  during  the  afternoon-sermon,  he,  after 
lying  a  considerable  time  quiet,  suddenly  exclaimed, 
"  If  any  be  present,  let  them  come  and  see  the  work 
of  God."  Richard  Bannatyne,  thinking  that  his  death 
was  at  hand,  sent  to  the  church  for  Johnston  of 
Elphingston.  When  he  came  to  his  bedside,  he  burst 
out  in  these  rapturous  expressions:  "I  have  been 
these  two  last  nights  in  meditation  on  the  troubled 
state  of  the  church  of  God,  the  spouse  of  Jesvis  Christ, 
despised  of  the  world,  but  precious  in  the  sight  of 
God.  I  have  called  to  God  for  her,  and  have  commit- 
ted her  to  her  head,  Jesus  Christ.  I  have  fought 
against  spiritual  wickedness  in  heavenly  things,  and 
have  prevailed.  I  have  been  in  heaven,  and  have  pos- 
session. I  have  tasted  of  the  heavenly  joys  where 
presently  I  am."     He  then  repeated  the  Lord's  prayer 


*  Morton  gave  this  account  of  his  conference  with  the  Re- 
former, to  the  ministers  who  attended  him  before  his  execution. 
Being  asked  by  them  if  he  had  uot  found  Knox's  admonition 
tine,  he  replied,  "  I  have  fand  it  indeid."  Morton's  Confes- 
sion, apud  Bannatyne,  608,  509. 


130 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX. 


and  the  creed,  interjecting  some  devout  aspiration  be- 
tween every  article. 

After  sermon  many  came  to  visit  him.  Perceiving 
that  he  breathed  with  great  difficulty,  some  of  them 
asked  if  he  felt  much  pain.  He  answered,  that  he 
was  willing  to  lie  there  for  years,  if  God  so  pleased, 
and  if  he  continued  to  shine  upon  his  soul  through 
Jesus  Christ.  He  slept  very  little;  but  was  employ- 
ed almost  incessantly  either  in  meditation,  in  prayer, 
or  in  exhortation.  "  Live  in  Christ.  Live  in  Christ, 
and  then  flesh  need  not  fear  death.  Lord,  grant 
true  pastors  to  thy  church,  that  purity  of  doctrine  may 
be  retained.  Restore  peace  again  to  this  common- 
wealth, with  godly  rulers  and  magistrates.  Once, 
Lord,  make  an  end  of  my  trouble."  Stretching  his 
hands  towards  heaven,  he  said,  "  Lord,  I  commend  my 
spirit,  soiil,  and  body,  and  all,  into  thy  hands.  Thou 
knowest,  O  Lord,  my  troubles:  I  do  not  murmur 
against  thee."  His  pious  ejaculations,  were  so  nu- 
merous, that  those  who  waited  on  him  could  only 
recollect  a  small  portion  of  them  ;  for  seldom  was  he 
silent,  when  they  were  not  employed  in  reading  or  in 
prayer. — During  the  course  of  that  night  his  sickuess 
greatly  increased. 

Monday,  the  24th  of  November,  was  the  last  day 
that  he  spent  on  earth.  That  morning  he  could  not 
be  persuaded  to  lie  m  bed,  but,  though  unable  to  stand 
alone,  rose  between  nine  and  ten  o'clock,  and  put  on 
his  stockings  and  doublet.  Being  conducted  to  a 
chair,  he  sat  about  half  an  hoar,  and  then  was  put  in 
bed  again.  In  the  progress  of  the  day,  it  appeared 
evident  that  his  end  drew  near.  Besides  his  wife  and 
Richard  Bannatyne,  Campbell  of  Kinyeancleugh, 
Johnston  of  Elphingston,  and  Dr.  Preston,  three  of 
his  most  intimate  acquaintaflces,  sat  by  turns  at  his 
bed-side.     Kinyeancleugh  asked  him,  if  he  had  any 

fain.  "  It  is  no  painful  pain,  but  such  a  pain  as  shall, 
trust,  put  end  to  the  battle.  I  must  leave  the 
care  of  my  wife  and  children  to  you  (continued  he,) 
to  whom  you  must  be  a  husband  in  my  room."  About 
three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  one  of  his  eyes  failed, 
and  his  speech  was  considerably  affected.  He  desired 
his  wife  to  read  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  the  first  epistle 
to  the  Corinthians.  "  Is  not  that  a  comfortable  chap- 
ter ?"  said  he,  when  it  was  finished.  "  O  what  sweet 
and  salutary  consolation  the  Lord  hath  afforded  me 
from  that  chapter !"  A  little  after,  he  said,  "  Now, 
for  the  last  time,  I  commend  my  soul,  spirit,  and  body 
(touching  three  of  his  fingers)  into  thy  hand,  O  Lord." 
About  five  o'clock,  he  said  to  his  wife,  "  Go,  read 
where  I  cast  my  first  anchor;"  upon  which  she  read 
the  seventeenth  chapter  of  John's  Gospel,  and  after- 
wards a  part  of  Calvin's  sermons  on  the  Ephesians. 
After  this  he  appeared  to  fall  into  a  slumber,  inter- 
rupted by  heavy  moans,  during  which  the  attendants 
looked  every  moment  for  his  dissolution.  But  at 
length  he  awaked  as  if  from  sleep,  and  b«ing  asked 
the  cause  of  his  sighing  so  deeply,  replied  :  "  I  have 
formerly,  during  my  frail  life,  sustained  many  con- 
tests, and  many  assaults  of  Satan  ;  but  at  present  that 
roaring  lion  hath  assailed  me  most  furiously,  and  put 
forth  all  his  strength  to  devour,  and  make  an  end  of 
me  at  once.  Often  before  has  he  placed  my  sins 
before  my  eyes,  often  tempted  me  to  despair,  often 
endeavoured  to  ensnare  me  by  the  allurements  of  the 
world  ;  but  these  weapons  being  broken  by  the  sword 
of  the  Spirit,  the  word  of  God,  he  could  not  prevail. 
Now  he  was  attacked  me  in  another  way ;  the  cunning 
serpent  has  laboured  to  persuade  me  that  I  have  mer- 
ited heaven  and  eternal  blessedness,  by  the  faithful 
discharge  of  my  ministry.  But  blessed  be  God  who 
has  enabled  me  to  beat  down  and  quench  this  fiery  dart, 
by  suggesting  to  me  such  passages  of  scripture  as  these, 
JVfiai  hast  thou  that  thou  hast  nut  received  ?  By  the  grace 
of  God  I  am  what  I  am  .•  Not  i,  hut  the  grace  of  God  in 
me.  Being  thus  vanquished,  he  left  me.  Wherefore 
I  give  thanks  to  my  God  through  Jesus  Christ,  who 


was  pleased  to  give  me  the  victory ;  and  I  am  persuaded 
that  the  tempter  shall  not  again  attack  me,  but,  within 
a  short  time,  I  shall,  without  any  great  bodily  pain  or 
anguish  of  mind,  exchange  this  mortal  and  miserable 
life  for  a  blessed  immortality  through  Jesus  Christ." 

He  then  lay  quiet  for  some  hours,  except  that  now 
and  then  he  desired  them  to  wet  his  mouth  with  a  little 
weak  ale.  At  ten  o'clock,  they  read  the  evening- 
prayer,  which  they  had  delayed  beyond  the  usual  hour, 
from  an  apprehension  that  he  was  asleep.  After  the 
exercise  was  concluded.  Dr.  Preston  asked  him,  if  he 
had  heard  the  prayers.  "  Would  to  God,"  said  he, 
"  that  you  and  ail  men  had  heard  them  as  I  have  heard 
them  :  I  praise  God  for  that  heavenly  sound."  The 
doctor  rose  up,  and  Kinyeancleugh  sat  down  before  his 
bed.  About  eleven  o'clock,  he  gave  a  deep  sigh,  and 
said.  Now  it  is  come.  Richard  Bannatyne  immediately 
drew  near,  and  desired  him  to  think  upon  those  com- 
fortable promises  of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  which 
he  had  so  often  declared  to  others  ;  and,  perceiving  that 
he  was  speechless,  requested  him  to  give  them  a  sign 
that  he  heard  them,  and  that  he  died  in  peace.  Upon 
this  he  lifted  up  one  of  his  hands,  and,  sighing  twice, 
expired  without  a  struggle.* 

He  died  in  the  sixty-seventh  year  of  his  age,  not  so 
much  oppressed  with  years,  as  worn  out  and  exhausted 
by  his  extraordinary  labours  of  body  and  anxieties  of 
mind.  Few  men  were  ever  exposed  to  more  dangers, 
or  underwent  such  hardships.  From  the  time  that  he 
embraced  the  reformed  religion,  till  he  breathed  his 
last,  seldom  did  he  enjoy  a  respite  from  these,  and  he 
emerged  from  one  scene  of  difficulties,  only  to  be  in- 
volved in  another,  and  a  more  distressing  one.  Obli- 
ged to  flee  from  St.  Andrews  to  escape  the  fury  of 
Cardinal  Beatoun,  he  found  a  retreat  in  East  Lothian, 
from  which  he  was  hunted  by  Archbishop  Hamilton. 
He  lived  for  several  years  as  an  outlaw,  in  daily  ap- 
prehension of  falling  a  prey  to  those  who  eagerly 
sought  his  life.  The  few  months  during  which  he 
enjoyed  protection  in  the  castle  of  St.  Andrews  were 
succeeded  by  a  long  and  rigorous  captivity.  After 
enjoying  some  repose  in  England,  he  was  again  driven 
into  banishment,  and  for  five  years  wandered  as  an 
exile  on  the  continent.  When  he  returned  to  his 
native  country,  it  was  to  engage  in  a  struggle  of  the 
most  perilous  and  arduous  kind.  After  the  Reforma- 
tion was  established,  and  he  was  settled  in  the  capital, 
he  was  involved  in  a  continual  contest  with  the  Court. 
When  he  was  relieved  from  this  warfare,  and  thought 
only  of  ending  his  days  in  peace,  he  was  again  called 
into  the  field;  and,  although  scarcely  able  to  walk, 
was  obliged  to  remove  from  his  flock,  and  to  avoid  the 
fury  of  his  enemies  by  submitting  to  a  new  banish- 
ment. He  was  repeatedly  condemned  for  heresy  and 
proclaimed  an  outlaw  ;  thrice  he  was  accused  of  high 
treason,  and  on  two  of  these  occasions  he  appeared  and 
underwent  a  trial.  A  price  was  publicly  set  on  his 
head  ;  assassins  were  employed  to  kill  him ;  and  his 
life  was  attempted  both  with  the  pistol  and  the  dagger. 
Yet  he  escaped  all  these  perils,  and  finished  his  course 
in  peace  and  in  honour.  No  wonder  that  he  was 
weary  of  the  world,  and  anxious  to  depart ;  and  with 
great  propriety  might  it  be  said,  at  his  decease,  that 
"  he  rested  from  his  labours." 

On  Wednesday,  the  2Gth  of  November,  he  was  in- 
terred in  the  church-yard  of  St.  Giles. f     His  funeral 


*  "  Manum  itaque,  quasi  novas  vires  jainjatn  nioriturus  con- 
cipiens,  cceluni  versus  erigit,  duobusque  emissis  suspiriis,  e  nior- 
tali  corpore  eraigravit,  citra  ullum  aut  pedum  aut  aliaruin  par- 
tiuni  corporis  inotum,  ut  potius  dormire  quam  occidisse  videre- 
tur."     Smetoni  Responsio,  p.  123. 

+  Cald.  MS.  ad  Ann.  1572.  Bannatyne,  429.  Spottiswood, 
267.  The  area  of  the  parliament  square  was  fornierlv  the 
church-yard  of  St.  Giles.  Some  think  that  he  was  burfed  in 
one  of  the  aisles  of  his  own  church.  The  place  where  the  Re- 
former preached  is  that  which  it  now  called  The  Old  Church. 
It  has,  however,  undergone  a  great  change  since  hii  time. 
The  space  now  occupied  by  the  pu)pit  and  tnc  greater  part  of 


LIFE    OF  JOHN   KNOX. 


131 


was  attended  by  the  newly  elected  regent,  Morton,  by 
all  the  nobility  who  were  in  the  city,  and  a  great  con- 
course of  people.  When  his  body  was  laid  in  the 
grave,  the  Regent  emphatically  pronounced  his  eulo- 
gium,  in  the  well  known  words.  There  lies  He,  who 
never  feared  the  face  of  man."* 


The  character  of  this  extraordinary  man  has  been 
drawn  in  very  opposite  colours,  by  different  writers, 
and  at  different  times.  The  changes  which  have  taken 
place  in  the  public  opinion  about  him,  with  the  causes 
which  have  produced  them,  form  a  subject  not  uncuri- 
ous,  nor  unworthy  of  attention. 

The  interest  excited  by  the  ecclesiastical  and  poli- 
tical revolutions  of  Scotland,  in  which  he  acted  so 
conspicuous  a  part,  caused  his  name  to  be  known 
throughout  Europe,  more  extensively  than  those  of 
most  of  the  reformers.  When  we  reflect  that  the  Ro- 
man Catholics  looked  upon  him  as  the  principal  instru- 
ment in  overthrowing  their  religious  establishment  in 
this  country,  we  are  prepared  to  expect  that  the  writers 
of  that  persuasion  would  represent  his  character  in  an 
unfavourable  light;  and  that,  in  addition  to  the  com- 
mon charges  of  heresy  and  apostacy,  they  would  de- 
scribe him  as  a  man  of  a  restless,  turbulent  spirit,  and 
of  rebellious  principles.  We  will  not  even  be  greatly 
surprised  though  we  find  them  charging  him  with 
whoredom,  because,  being  a  priest,  he  entered  into 
wedlock,  once  and  a  second  time ;  and  imputing  his 
change  of  religion  to  a  desire  of  releasing  himself  from 
the  bonds  by  which  the  popish  clergy  were  profession- 
ally bound  to  chastity.  But  all  this  is  nothing  to  the 
portraits  which  they  have  drawn  of  him,  in  which,  to 
the  violation  of  all  credibility,  he  is  unblushingly  re- 
presented as  a  man,  or  rather  a  monster,  of  the  most 
profligate  character,  who  gloried  in  depravity,  who 
avowedly  indulged  in  the  most  vicious  practices,  and 
upon  whom  Providence  fixed  the  most  evident  marks 
of  reprobation  at  his  death,  which  was  accompanied 
with  circumstances  that  excited  the  utmost  horror  in 
the  beholders. f  This  might  astonish  us,  did  we  not 
know,  from  undoubted  documents,  that  there  were  at 
that  time  a  number  of  writers,  who,  by  inventing  or 
retailing  such  malignant  calumnies,  attempted  to  blast 
the  fairest  and  most  unblemished  characters  among 
those  who  appeared  in  opposition  to  the  church  of 
Rome,  and  that,  absurd  and  outrageous  as  the  accusa- 
tions were,  they  were  greedily  swallowed  by  the 
numerous  slaves  of  prejudice  and  credulity.  The 
memory  of  no  one  was  loaded  with  a  greater  share  of 
this  obloquy  than  our  Reformer's.  But  these  accounts 
have  long  ago  lost  every  degree  of  credit;  and  they 
now  remain  only  as  a  proof  of  the  spirit  of  lies  or  of 
strong  delusion,  by  which  these  writers  were  actuated, 
and  of  the  deep  and  deadly  hatred  which  they  had 
conceived  against  Knox,  on  account  of  his  strenuous 
and  successful  exertions  in  overthrowing  the  fabric  of 
papal  superstition  and  despotism. 

Knox  was  known  and  esteemed  by  the  principal 
persons  among  the  reformed  in  France,  Switzerland, 
and  Germany.  We  have  had  occasion  repeatedly  to 
mention  his  friendship  with  the  Reformer  of  Geneva. 
Beza,  the  successor  of  Calvin,  was  also  personally 
acquainted  with  him ;  the  letters  which  he  wrote  to 
him  abound  with  expressions  of  the  warmest  regard, 
and  highest  esteerh  ;  and  he  afterwards  raised  an  affec- 
tionate tribute  td  our  Reformer's  memory,  in  his  linages 

the  sf.ats,  was  then  an  aisle;  and  the  church  was  considerably 
more  to  the  north  of  the  building  than  at  present.  The  small 
church  fitted  up  for  him  a  few  weeks  before  his  death  is  called, 
by  Bannatyne,  the  Tolboofh.  Whether  it  was  exactly  that 
part  of  the  building  now  called  the  Tolbooth  church,  I  do  not 
know. 

*  Some  verses  written  to  the  Reformer's  memory  may  be 
»een  in  Note  LXI.  f  See  Note  LXll. 


of  Illustrious  men.  This  was  done,  at  a  subsequent 
period,  by  the  German  biographer,  Melchior  Adam, 
the  Dutch  Verheiden,  and  the  French  La  Roque.  The 
late  historian  of  the  literature  of  Geneva,  (whose  reli- 
gious sentiments  are  very  different  from  those  of  his 
countrymen  in  the  days  of  Calvin  and  Beza),  although 
he  is  displeased  with  the  philippics  which  Knox  some- 
times pronounced  from  the  pulpit,  says,  that  he  "im- 
mortalized himself  by  his  courage  against  popery,  and 
his  firmness  against  the  tyranny  of  Mary;"  and  that 
though  a  violent,  he  was  always  an  open  and  honour- 
able enemy  to  the  Catholics.* 

The  affectionate  veneration  in  which  his  memory 
continued  to  be  held  in  Scotland  after  his  death, 
evinces  that  the  influence  which  he  possessed  among 
his  countrymen  during  his  life  was  not  constrained, 
but  founded  on  the  opinion  which  they  entertained  of 
his  virtues  and  talents.  Bannatyne  has  drawn  his 
character  in  the  most  glowing  colours ;  and,  although 
allowances  must  he  made  for  the  enthusiasm  with 
which  a  favourite  servant  wrote  of  a  beloved  and  re- 
vered master,  yet,  as  he  lived  long  in  the  Reformer's 
family,  and  was  himself  a  man  of  respectability  and 
learning,  his  testimony  is  by  no  means  to  be  disre- 
garded.f  "In  this  manner  (says  he)  departed  this 
man  of  God  :  the  light  of  Scotland,  the  comfort  of  the 
church  within  the  same,  the  mirror  of  godliness,  and 
pattern  and  example  of  all  true  ministers,  in  purity  of 
life,  soundness  in  doctrine,  and  boldness  in  reproving 
of  wickedness;  one  that  cared  not  the  favour  of  men, 
how  great  soever  they  were.  W^hat  dexterity  in  teach- 
ing, boldness  in  reproving,  and  hatred  of  wickedness 
was  in  him,  my  ignorant  dulness  is  not  able  to  declare, 
which  if  I  should  preis:J;  to  set  out,  it  were  as  one  who 
would  light  a  candle  to  let  men  see  the  sun  ;  seeing  all 
his  virtues  are  better  known,  and  notified||  to  the  world 
a  thousand  fold  than  I  am  able  to  express. "§ 

Principal  Smeton's  character  of  him,  while  it  is  less 
liable  to  the  suspicion  of  partiality,  is  equally  honour- 
able and  flattering.  "I  know  not  (says  he)  if  ever  so 
much  piety  and  genius  were  lodged  in  such  a  frail  and 
weak  body.  Certain  I  am,  that  it  will  be  difficult  to 
find  one  in  whom  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit  shone  so 
bright,  to  the  comfort  of  the  church  of  Scotland.  None 
spared  himself  less  in  enduring  fatigues  of  body  and 
mind  :  none  was  more  intent  on  discharging  the  duties 
of  the  province  assigned  to  him."  And  again,  address- 
ing his  calumniator  Hamilton,  he  says,  "This  illus- 
trious, I  say  illustrious  servant  of  God,  John  Knox,  I 
will  clear  from  your  feigned  accusations  and  slanders, 
rather  by  the  testimony  of  a  venerable  assembly  than 
by  my  own  denial.  This  pious  duty,  this  reward  of  a 
well  spent  life,  all  of  them  most  cheerfully  discharge 
to  their  excellent  instructor  in  Christ  Jesus.  This 
testimony  of  gratitude  they  all  owe  to  him,  who,  they 
know,  ceased  not  to  deserve  well  of  all  till  he  ceased 


*  Mons.  Senebier,  Hist.  Lit.  de  Geneve,  i.  377. 

f  The  reader  should  observe,  that  the  word  servant,  or  ser- 
vitor, was  then  used  with  greater  latitude  than  it  is  now,  and 
in  old  writings  often  signifies  the  person  whom  we  call  by  the 
more  honourable  naiues  of  clerk,  secretary,  or  man  of  business. 
As  the  drawing  of  the  principal  ecclesiastical  papers,  and  the 
compiling  of  the  history  of  public  proceedings,  was  committed 
to  our  Reformer,  from  the  time  of  his  last  return  to  Scotland, 
he  kept  a  person  of  this  description  in  his  family,  and  Banna- 
tyne held  the  situation. 

In  a  speech  which  he  made  to  the  General  Assembly,  lOtk 
March,  1571,  Bannatyne  says:  "It  has  pleasit  God  to  n)ak  me 
a  servant  to  that  man  Johne  Knox,  whom  I  serve,  as  God  beiris 
me  witnes,  not  so  mekle  in  respect  of  my  worldlie  commoditie, 
as  for  that  integrity  and  vprytness  which  I  have  ever  knowin, 
and  presentlie  vnderstandis  to  be  in  him,  especiallie  in  the 
faythfull  administratione  of  his  office,  in  teaching  of  the  word 
of  God;  and  gif  I  vnderstude,  or  knew  that  he  ware  a  fals 
teacher,  a  seducer,  a  rasere  of  schisme,  or  ane  that  makis  divi- 
sione  in  the  kirk  of  God,  as  he  is  reported  to  be  by  the  former 
accusationes,  I  wald  not  serve  him  for  all  the  substance  in 
Edinburgh."     Journal,  p.  104,  105.  t  '■  ^-  labour. 

II  In  the  printed  book  it  is  "not  hid."  I  suppose  it  should 
be  "notified."  5  Bannatyne,  427,  429. 


132 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    KNOX. 


to  breathe.  Released  from  a  body  exhausted  in  Chris- 
tiaa  warfare,  and  translated  to  a  blessed  rest,  where  he 
has  obtained  the  sweet  reward  of  his  labours,  he  now 
triumphs  with  Christ.  But  beware,  sycophant,  of  in- 
sulting him  when  dead ;  for  he  has  left  behind  him  as 
many  defenders  of  his  reputation,  as  there  are  persons 
who  were  drawn,  by  his  faithful  preaching,  from  the 
gulph  of  ignorance  to  the  knowledge  of  the  gospel."* 

The  divines  of  ihe  church  of  England  who  were 
contemporary  with  Knox,  entertained  a  great  respect 
for  his  character,  and  ranked  him  along  with  the  most 
eminent  of  their  own  Reformers.")-  I  have  already 
produced  the  mark  of  esteem  which  bishop  Bale  con- 
ferred on  him.:):  Aylmer,  in  a  work  written  to  confute 
one  of  his  opinions,  bears  a  voluntary  testimony  to  his 
learning  and  integrity. ||  And  Ridley,  who  stickled 
more  for  the  ceremonies  of  the  church  than  any  of  his 
brethren  at  that  period,  and  who  was  displeased  with 
the  opposition  which  Knox  made  to  the  introduction 
of  the  English  liturgy  at  Frankfort,  expressed  his  high 
opinion  of  him,  as  "  a  man  of  wit,  much  good  learning, 
and  earnest  zeal."§  Whatever  dissatisfaction  they 
felt  at  his  pointed  reprehensions  of  several  parts  of 
their  ecclesiastical  establishment,  the  English  digni- 
taries rejoiced  at  the  success  of  his  exertions,  and  with- 
out scruple  expressed  their  approbation  of  many  of  his 
measures  which  were  afterwards  severely  censured  by 
their  successors.^  I  need  scarcely  add,  that  his  me- 
mory was  held  in  veneration  by  the  English  Puritans. 
Some  of  the  chief  men  among  them  were  personally 
acquainted  with  him  during  his  residence  in  England 
and  on  the  continent ;  others  corresponded  with  him  by 
letters.  They  greatly  esteemed  his  writings,  sought 
for  his  manuscripts  with  avidity,  and  published  them 
with  testimonies  of  the  warmest  approbation.** 

But  towards  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century,  there 
arose  another  race  of  prelates,  of  very  different  princi- 
ples from  the  English  reformers,  who  began  to  main- 
tain the  divine  right  of  diocesan  episcopacy,  with  the 
intrinsic  excellency  of  a  ceremonious  worship,  and 
to  adopt  a  new  language  respecting  other  reformed 
churches.  Dr.  Bancroft,  afterwards  archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  was  the  first  writer  among  them  who 
spoke  disrespectfully  of  Knox,if  after  whom  it  became 
a  fashionable  practice  among  the  hierarchical  party. 
This  was  resented  by  the  ministers  of  Scotland,  who 
warmly  vindicated  the  character  of  their  Reformer.:}::!: 


*  Smetoni  Resp.  ad  Haniilt.  Dial.  p.  95,  115. 

f  Calfhill's  Answere  to  the  Treatise  of  the  Crosse:  Preface 
to  the  Readers,  fol.  18,  a.  Lond.  1565.  This  writer  was  cousin 
to  Toby  Matthews,  archbishop  of  York;  and  in  the  Convoca- 
tion which  met  in  1562,  sat  as  a  representative  of  the  clerg-y 
of  London,  and  the  canons  of  Oxford.  Strype,  Annals,  i.  289, 
292—3.  t  See  p;,ge  67. 

II  Harborowe  for  Faithful  and  Trewe  Subjects,  B.  B  2.  C. 
C  2.  Life  of  Ayhuer,  p.  238. 

6  Strype's  Life  of  Grindal,  p.  19,  20. 

If  Burnet,  vol.  ii.  Appendix,  part  iii.  B.  vi.  p.  351,  352. 

**  In  a  dedication  of  Knox's  Exposition  of  Ihe  Temptalion 
of  Christ,  John  Field,  the  publisher,  says:  "  If  ever  God  shall 
vouchsafe  the  church  so  great  a  benefite;  when  his  inlinite 
letters,  and  sundry  other  treatises  shall  be  gathered  together, 
it  shall  appear  what  an  excellent  man  he  was,  and  what  a  won- 
derfnll  losse  that  church  of  Scotland  susteined  when  that  wor- 
tliie  man  was  taken  from  them. — If,  byyourstlfe  or  others, 30U 
can  procure  any  other  his  writings  or  letters  here  at  home,  or 
abroad  in  Scotland,  be  a  meane  that  we  may  receive  them.  It 
were  great  |)ittie  that  any  the  least  of  his  writingcs  should  be 
lost;  for  he  evermore  wrote  both  godly  and  diligently,  in  ques- 
tions of  divinitie,  and  also  of  church  pollicie;  and  nis  letters 
being  had  togeather,  would  togeather  set  out  an  whole  Listorie 
of  the  churches  where  be  lived." 

ft  In  a  sermon  preached  by  him  at  Paul's  Cross,  before  the 
Parliament  of  England,  Feb.  9,  1588,  on  1  John  iv.  1.  and 
which  was  afterwards  published.  He  enlarged  on  the  subject 
in  two  posterior  treatises,  the  one  entitled,  "  Dangerous  Posi- 
tions; or  Scottish  Genevating,  and  F.nglish  Scottizing  :"  The 
other  "  A  Survey  of  the  Pretended  Holy  Discipline.' 

}t  John  Daviclson,  minister  first  at  Libbrrton,  and  afterwards 
at  Prestonpaus,  answered  Bancroft  in  a  book  entitled,  "  Dr. 
Bancroft's  Rasbneti  in  Railing  againtt  the  Kirk  of  Scotland." 


In  discharging  this  duty  they  incurred  the  frowns  and 
resentment  of  their  sovereign.  Though  educated  un- 
der one  of  the  greatest  scholars  of  the  age,  and  a 
warm  friend  to  popular  liberty,  James,  in  spite  of  the 
instructions  of  Buchanan,  turned  out  a  pedant,  and 
cowardice  alone  prevented  him  from  becoming  a  tyrant. 
His  early  favourites  flattered  his  vanity,  fostered  his 
love  of  arbitrary  power,  and  inspired  him  with  the 
strongest  prejudices  against  the  principles  and  con- 
duct of  those  men  who,  during  his  early  years,  had 
been  the  instrument  of  preserving  his  life  and  sup- 
porting his  authority.  To  secure  his  succession  to  the 
English  crown,  he  entered  into  a  private  correspon- 
dence with  Bancroft,  and  concerted  with  him  the 
scheme  of  introducing  episcopacy  inio  the  church  of 
Scotland.  The  presbyterian  ministers  incurred  his 
deep  and  lasting  displeasure  by  their  determined  re- 
sistance to  this  design,  and  by  the  united  and  firm 
opposition  which  they  made  to  the  illegal  and  despotic 
measures  of  his  government.  He  was  particularly 
displeased  at  the  testimony  which  they  publicly  bore 
to  the  characters  of  Knox,  Buchanan,  and  the  regent 
Murray,  who  "  could  not  be  defended  (he  said)  but  by 
traitors  and  seditious  theologues."  Andrew  Melville 
told  him  that  they  were  the  men  who  had  set  the 
crown  on  his  head,  and  deserved  better  of  him  than 
to  be  so  traduced.  James  complained  that  Knox  had 
spoken  disrespectful!)'  of  his  mother ;  to  which  Pat- 
rick Galloway,  one  of  the  ministers  of  Edinburgh, 
replied,  "  if  a  king  or  a  queen  be  a  murderer,  why 
should  they  not  be  called  so]"  Walter  Balcanquhal, 
another  minister  of  the  city,  having,  in  one  of  his 
sermons,  rebuked  those  who  disparaged  the  Reformer, 
the  King  sent  for  him,  and  in  a  passion  protested,  that 
"  either  he  should  lose  his  crown,  or  Mr.  Walter 
should  recant  his  words."  Balcanquhal  "  prayed  God 
to  preserve  his  crown,  but  said,  that  if  he  had  his 
right  wits,  the  King  should  have  his  head,  before  he 
recanted  any  thing  he  spake."* 

James  carried  his  antipathies  to  the  presbyterian 
church  and  reformers  along  with  him  to  England,  and 
he  found  it  an  easy  matter  to  infuse  them  into  the 
minds  of  his  new  subjects.  Incensed  at  the  freedom 
which  Buchanan  had  used  in  his  history  of  the  Scot- 
tish Reformation,  and  of  the  transactions  during  the 
reign  of  Mary,  he  had  formerly  procured  the  condem- 
nation of  that  work  by  an  act  of  parliament.  And 
now  he  did  not  think  it  enough  that  he  had  got  Camb- 
den's  history  of  that  period  manufactured  to  his  mind, 
but  employed  agents  to  induce  the  French  historian, 
De  Thou,  to  adopt  his  representations;  and  because 
that  great  man  scrupled  to  receive  the  royal  testimony 
respecting  events  which  happened  before  James  was 
born,  or  when  he  was  a  child,  in  opposition  to  the 
most  credible  evidence,  his  Majesty  was  pleased  to 
complain  that  he  had  been  treated  disrespectfully. -J- 
Charles  I.  carried  these  prejudices  even  farther  than 
his  father  had  done.  During  his  reign,  passive  obedi- 
ence, arminianism,  and  semi-popery  formed  the  court- 
religion  ;  Calvinism  and  presbytery  were  held  in  the 
greatest  detestation,  and  proscribed  both  as  political 
and  religious  heresies.  In  the  reign  of  the  second 
Charles,  the  court,  the  bench,  the  pulpit,  the  press, 
and  the  stage,  united  in  loading  presbyterians  with 
every  species  of  abuse,  and  in  holding  them  forth  as  a 
gloomy,  unsocial,  turbulent,  and  fanatical  race.  And 
a  large  share  of  these  contumelies  uniformly  fell  on  the 
head  of  Knox,  who,  it  was  alleged,  jjiad  J) rough t  the 
obnoxious  principles  of  the  sect  from  Gen^yJ,  and 
planted  them  in  his  native  country,  from  whicii  they 
had  spread  into  England.  The  Revolution  was  effect- 
ed in  England  by  a  coalition  of  parties  of  very  different 


*  Cald.  MS.  ad  an.  1590.  Quarto  copy  in  Adv.  Lib.  vol.  ii. 
p.  260,  261. 

f  De  Thtiani  Hislor.  Successu  apud  Jacobum  I.  Mag.  Brit. 
Regem.  Thuani  Hist.  Ton),  vii.  pars.  r.  Buckley  1733.  La- 
ing\  Hist,  of  Scotland,  i.  228—241.  2nd  edit. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


133 


principles,  some  of  which  were  not  of  the  most  liber- 
al kind.  Though  this  event  abated  the  force  of  the 
prejudices  alluded  to,  it  by  no  means  removed  them; 
and  a  considerable  time  after  it  took  place,  the  great, 
the  fashionable,  and  even  the  learned  among  the  Eng- 
lish regarded  the  Scots  as  only  beginning  to  emerge 
from  that  inelegance  and  barbarism  which  had  been 
produced  among  them  by  the  peculiar  sentiments  of 
Knox  and  his  followers. 

The  great  body  of  his  countrymen,  however,  con- 
tinued long  to  entertain  a  just  sense  of  the  great  obli- 
gations which  they  were  under  to  Knox.  After  the 
government  of  the  church  of  Scotland  was  conformed 
to  the  English  model,  the  Scots  prelates  still  professed 
to  look  back  to  their  national  Reformer  with  gratitude 
and  veneration;  and  archbishop  Spolliswood  describes 
him,  in  his  History,  as  "  a  man  endued  with  rare 
gifts,  and  a  chief  instrument  that  God  used  for  the 
work  of  those  times."*  For  a  considerable  time  after 
the  Revolution,  the  Scottish  Presbyterians  treated  with 
deserved  contempt  the  libels  which  English  writers 
had  published  against  him  ;  and  blushed  not  to  avow 
their  admiration  of  a  man  to  whose  labours  they  were 
indebted  for  an  ecclesiastical  establishment,  more  scrip- 
tural and  more  liberal  than  that  of  which  their  neigh- 
hours  could  boast.  The  union  first  produced  a  change 
in  our  national  feelings  on  this  subject.  The  short- 
lived jealousy  of  English  predominance  felt  by  many 
of  our  countrymen  on  that  occasion,  was  succeeded  by 
a  passion  for  conformity  to  our  southern  neighbours  ; 
and  so  fond  did  we  become  of  their  good  opinion,  and 
so  eager  to  secure  it,  that  we  were  disposed  to  sacrifice 
to  their  taste  and  their  prejudices,  those  sentiments 
which  truth  as  well  as  national  honour  required  us  to 
retain.  Our  most  popular  writers  are  not  exempt  from 
this  charge ;  and  even  in  works  professing  to  be  execu- 
ted by  the  united  talents  of  our  literati,  the  misrepre- 
sentations and  gross  blunders  of  which  English  writers 
had  been  guilty  in  their  accounts  of  our  Reformation, 
and  the  false  and  scandalous  accusations  which  they 
had  brought  against  our  reformers,  have  been  generally 
adopted  and  widely  circulated,  instead  of  meeting 
with  the  exposure  and  reprobation  which  they  justly 
deserved. 

The  prejudices  entertained  against  our  Reformer  by 
the  friends  of  absolute  monarchy  were  taken  up  in  all 
their  force,  subsequent  to  the  Revolution,  by  the  ad- 
herents of  the  Stuart  family,  whose  religious  notions 
approximating  very  nearly  to  the  popish,  joined  with 
their  slavish  principle  respecting  non-resistance  to 
kings,  led  them  to  disapprove  of  almost  every  measure 
adopted  at  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  and  to  condemn 
the  whole  as  a  series  of  disorder,  sedition,  and  rebell- 
ion against  lawful  authority.  The  spirit  by  which  the 
Jacobitish  faction  was  actuated,  did  not  become  extinct 
with  the  family  which  was  so  long  the  object  of  their 
devotion;  and  while  they  transferred  their  allegiance 
to  the  house  of  Hanover,  they  retained  those  princi- 
ples which  had  incited  them  repeatedly  to  attempt  its 
expulsion  from  the  throne.  The  alarm  produced  by 
that  revolution  which  of  late  has  shaken  the  thrones 
of  so  many  of  the  princes  of  Europe,  has  greatly 
increased  this  party  ;  and  with  the  view  of  preserving 
the  present  constitution  of  Britain,  principles  have 
been  widely  disseminated,  which,  if  they  had  been 
generally  received  in  the  sixteenth  century,  would 
have  perpetuated  the  reign  of  popery  and  arbitrary 
power  in  Scotland.  From  persons  of  such  principles, 
nothing  favourable  to  our  Reformer  can  be  expected. 
But  the  greatest  torrent  of  abuse,  poured  upon  his 
character,  has  proceeded  from  those  literary  champions 
who  have  come  forward  to  avenge  the  wrongs,  and 
vindicate  the  innocence  of  the  peerless,  and  immaculate 
Mary,  Queen  of  Scots.  Having  conjured  up  in  their 
imagination  the  image  of  an  ideal  goddess,  they  have 

*  Spottiswood  261. 


sacrificed,  to  the  object  of  their  adoration,  all  the  char- 
acters which,  in  that  age,  were  most  estimable  for 
learning,  patriotism,  integrity,  and  religion.  As  if  the 
quarrel  which  they  had  espoused  exempted  them  from, 
the  ordinary  laws  of  controversial  warfare,  and  confer- 
red on  them  the  absolute  and  undefeasible  privilege 
of  calumniating  and  defaming  at  pleasure,  they  have 
pronounced  every  person  who  spoke,  wrote,  or  acted 
against  that  Queen,  to  be  a  hypocrite  or  a  villain.  In 
the  raving  style  of  these  writers,  Knox  was  "  a  fanat- 
ical incendiary — a  holy  savage — the  son  of  violence 
and  barbarism — the  religious  Sachem  of  religious 
Mohawks."* 

I  cannot  do  justice  to  the  subject  without  adverting 
here  to  the  influence  of  the  popular  histories  of  those 
transactions,  which  have  been  written  by  two  of  our 
own  countrymen.  The  political  prejudices  and  scep- 
tical opinions  of  Mr.  Hume  are  well  known,  and  ap- 
pear prominently  in  every  part  of  his  History  of 
England.  Regarding  the  various  systems  of  religious 
belief  and  worship  as  distinguished  from  one  another 
merely  by  different  shades  of  falsehood  and  supersti- 
tion, he  has  been  led,  by  a  strange  but  not  inexplicable 
bias,  uniformly  to  shew  the  most  marked  partiality  to 
the  grosser  and  more  corrupt  forms  of  religion;  has 
spoken  with  greater  contempt  of  the  Protestants  than 
of  the  Roman  Catholics,  and  treated  the  Scottish  with 
greater  severity  than  the  English  Reformers.  Forget- 
ting what  was  due  to  the  character  of  a  philosopher, 
which  he  was  so  ambitious  to  maintain  in  his  other 
writings,  he  has  acted  as  the  partizan  and  advocate  of 
a  particular  family;  and,  in  vindicating  some  of  the 
worst  measures  of  the  Stuarts,  has  done  signal  injus- 
tice to  the  memory  of  the  most  illustrious  patriots  of 
both  kingdoms.  Though  convinced  that  the  Queen  of 
Scotland  was  guilty  of  the  crimes  laid  to  her  charge, 
he  has  laboured  to  screen  her  from  the  infamy  to 
which  a  fair  and  unvarnished  statement  of  facts  must 
have  exposed  her,  by  fixing  the  attention  of  his  readers 
on  an  untrue  and  exaggerated  representation  of  the 
rudeness  of  Knox  and  the  other  reformers  by  whom 
she  was  surrounded,  and  by  absurdly  imputing  to  their 
treatment  of  her  the  faults  into  which  she  was  betrayed. 
No  person  who  is  acquainted  with  the  writings  of 
Dr.  Robertson  will  accuse  him  of  being  actuated  by 
such  improper  motives.  But  the  warmest  admirers  of 
his  History  of  Scotland  cannot  deny,  that  he  has  been 
misled  by  the  temptation  of  making  Mary  the  heroine 
of  his  story,  and  of  thus  interesting  his  readers  deep- 
ly in  his  narrative,  by  blending  the  tender  and  roman- 
tic with  the  more  dry  and  uninteresting  detail  of  pub- 
lic transactions.  By  a  studious  exhibition  of  the 
personal  charms  and  accomplishments  of  the  Queen, 
by  representing  her  faults  as  arising  from  the  unfor- 
tunate circumstances  in  which  she  was  placed,  by 
touching  gently  on  the  errors  of  her  conduct,  while  he 
dwells  on  the  cruelty  and  the  dissimulation  of  her 
rival,  and  by  describing  her  sufferings  as  exceeding 
the  tragical  distresses  which  fancy  has  feigned  to 
excite  sorrow  and  commiseration,  he  throws  a  veil  over 
those  vices  which  he  could  not  deny ;  and  by  the 
sympathy  which  his  pathetic  account  of  her  death 
naturally  awakens  in  the  minds  of  his  readers,  effaces 
the  impressions  of  her  guilt  which  his  preceding 
narrative  had  produced.  However  amiable  the  feel- 
ings of  the  author  might  be,  the  tendency  of  such  a 
representation  is  evident.  "  The  Dissertation  on  the 
murder  of  King  Henry"  has,  no  doubt,  convinced 
many  of  Mary's  accession  to  the  perpetration  of  that 
deed  ;  but  the  History  of  Scotland  has  done  more  to 
prepossess  the  public  mind  in  favour  of  that  princess 

*  Whitaker's  vindicatioTi  of  Queen  Mary,  passim.  The 
same  writer  desie:ns  Buchanan  "a  serpent — darings  calumniator 
— leviathan  of  slander — the  second  of  all  human  forg'ers,  and 
the  first  of  all  human  slanderers."'  Dr.  Robertson  he  calls  "  a 
disciple  of  the  old  school  of  slander — a  liar-— and  one  for  whom 
bedlam  is  no  bedlam." 


134 


LIFE    OF  JOHN   KNOX. 


than  all  the  defences  of  her  most  zealous  and  ingen- 
ious advocates,  and  consequently  to  excite  prejudices 
against  those  men,  who,  on  the  supposition  of  her  guilt, 
acted  a  most  meritorious  part, -and  who,  in  other 
respects,  are  entitled  to  the  gratitude  and  veneration 
of  posterity. 

The  increase  of  infidelity  and  of  indifference  to  re- 
ligion in  modern  times,  especially  among  the  learned, 
has  contributed,  in  no  small  degree,  to  swell  the  tide 
of  prejudice  against  our  Reformer.  Whatever  satis- 
faction such  persons  may  express  or  feel  at  the  ref- 
ormation from  popery,  as  the  means  of  emancipating 
the  world  from  superstition  and  priestcraft,  they  natu- 
rally despise  and  dislike  men  who  were  inspired  with 
the  love  of  religion,  and  in  whose  plans  of  reform  the 
acquisition  of  civil  liberty,  and  the  advancement  of 
literature,  held  a  subordinate  place  to  the  revival  of 
primitive  Christianity. 

Nor  can  it  escape  observation,  that  prejudices  against 
the  characters  and  proceedings  of  our  reformers  are 
now  far  more  general  than  they  formerly  were  among 
those  who  still  profess  to  adhere  to  their  doctrine  and 
system  of  church  government.  Impressed  with  the 
idea  of  the  high  illumination  of  the  present  age,  and 
having  formed  a  very  low  estimate  of  the  attainments 
of  those  which  preceded  it ;  imperfectly  acquainted 
with  the  enormity  and  extent  of  the  corrupt  system  of 
religion  which  existed  in  this  country  at  the  era  of  the 
Reformation  ;  inattentive  to  the  spirit  and  principles 
of  the  adversaries  with  whom  our  reformers  were 
obliged  to  contend,  and  to  the  dangers  and  difficulties 
with  which  they  had  to  struggle, — they  have  too  easi- 
ly received  the  calumnies  which  have  been  circulated 
to  their  prejudice,  and  rashly  condemned  measures 
which  will  be  found,  on  examination,  to  have  been 
necessary  to  secure,  and  to  transmit,  the  invaluable 
blessings  which  we  now  enjoy. 

Having  given  this  account  of  the  opinions  enter- 
tained respecting  our  Reformer,  I  shall  endeavour  to 
sketch  with  as  much  truth  as  I  can,  the  leading  fea- 
tures of  his  character. 

That  he  possessed  strong  natural  talents  is  unques- 
tionable. Inquisitive,  ardent,  acute ;  vigorous  and 
bold  in  his  conceptions;  he  entered  into  all  the  sub- 
tleties of  the  scholastic  science  then  in  vogue,  yet, 
disgusted  with  its  barren  results,  sought  out  a  new 
course  of  study,  which  gradually  led  to  a  complete 
revolution  in  his  sentiments.  In  his  early  years  he 
had  not  access  to  that  finished  education  which  many 
of  his  contemporaries  obtained  in  foreign  universities, 
and  he  was  afterwards  prevented,  by  his  unsettled  and 
active  mode  of  life,  from  prosecuting  his  studies  with 
leisure;  but  his  abilities  and  application  enabled  him 
in  a  great  measure  to  surmount  these  disadvantages, 
and  he  remained  a  stranger  to  none  of  the  branches  of 
learning  cultivated  in  that  age  by  persons  of  his  pro- 
fession. He  united  in  a  degree  the  love  of  study  with 
a  disposition  to  active  employment.  The  truths  which 
he  discovered  he  felt  an  irresistible  impulse  to  impart 
to  others,  for  which  he  was  qualified  by  a  bold,  fervid, 
and  impetuous  eloquence,  singularly  adapted  to  arrest 
the  attention,  and  govern  the  minds  of  a  fierce  and 
unpolished  people. 

From  the  time  that  he  embraced  the  reformed  doc- 
trines, the  desire  of  propagating  them,  and  of  deliver- 
ing his  countrymen  from  the  delusions  and  corruptions 
of  popery,  became  his  ruling  passion,  to  which  he  was 
always  ready  to  sacrifice  his  ease,  his  interest,  his  re- 

fiutation,  and  his  life.  An  ardent  attachment  to  civil 
iberty  held  the  next  place  in  his  breast  to  love  of  the 
reformed  religion.  That  the  zeal  with  which  he 
laboured  to  advance  these  was  of  the  most  disinterested 
kind,  no  candid  person  who  has  paid  attention  to  his 
life  can  doubt  for  a  moment,  whatever  opinion  may  be 
entertained  of  some  of  the  means  which  he  employed 
for  thai  purpose.  "  In  fact,  he  thought  only  of  ad- 
vancing the  glory  of  God,  and  promoting  the  welfare 


of  his  country."*  Intrepidity,  independence  and  ele- 
vation of  mind,  indefatigable  activity,  and  constancy 
which  no  disappointments  could  shake,  eminently 
qualified  him  for  the  hazardous  and  difficult  post  which 
he  occupied.  His  integrity  was  above  the  suspicion 
of  corruption  :  his  firmness  proof  equally  against  the 
solicitations  of  friends,  and  the  threats  of  enemies. 
Though  his  impetuosity  and  courage  led  him  frequent- 
ly to  expose  himself  to  danger,  we  never  find  him 
neglecting  to  take  prudent  precautions  for  his  safety. 
The  confidence  reposed  in  him  by  his  countrymen 
shews  the  high  opinion  which  they  entertained  of  his 
sagacity  as  well  as  of  his  honesty.  The  measures 
taken  for  advancing  the  reformation  were  either  adopt- 
ed at  his  suggestion,  or  submitted  to  his  advice ;  and 
we  must  pronounce  them  to  have  been  as  wisely 
planned,  as  they  were  boldly  executed. 

His  ministerial  functions  were  discharged  with  the 
greatest  assiduity,  fidelity,  and  fervour.  No  avocation 
or  infirmity  prevented  him  from  appearing  in  the  pulpit^ 
Preaching  was  an  employment  in  which  he  delighted, 
and  for  which  he  was  qualified,  by  an  extensive  ac- 
quaintance with  the  Scriptures,  and  by  the  happy  art 
of  applying  them,  in  the  most  striking  manner,  to  the 
existing  circumstances  of  the  church  and  of  his  hearers. 
His  powers  of  alarming  the  conscience,  and  arousing 
the  passions,  have  been  frequently  mentioned  ;  but  he 
also  excelled  in  unfolding  the  consolations  of  the  gos- 
pel, and  in  calming  the  breasts  of  those  who  were 
either  agitated  by  a  sense  of  guilt,  or  suffering  under 
the  ordinary  afflictions  of  life.  When  he  discoursed 
of  the  griefs  and  joys,  the  conflicts  and  triumphs  of 
genuine  Christians,  he  declared  what  he  himself  had 
known  and  experienced.  The  letters  which  he  wrote 
to  his  familiar  acquaintances  breathe  the  most  ardent 
piety.  The  religious  meditations  in  which  he  spent 
his  last  sickness  were  not  confined  to  that  period  of 
his  life ;  they  had  been  his  habitual  employment  from 
the  lime  that  he  was  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth,  and  his  solace  amidst  all  the  hardships  and  perils 
through  which  he  had  passed. 

With  his  brethren  in  the  ministry  he  lived  in  the 
most  cordiality.  We  never  read  of  the  slightest  vari- 
ance between  him  and  any  of  his  colleagues.  While 
he  was  dreaded  and  hated  by  the  licentious  and  pro- 
fane, whose  vices  he  never  spared,  the  religious  and 
sober  part  of  his  countrymen  felt  a  veneration  for  him, 
which  was  founded  on  his  unblemished  reputation,  as 
well  as  his  popular  talents  as  a  preacher.  In  private 
life,  he  was  both  beloved  and  revered  by  his  friends 
and  domestics.  He  was  subject  to  the  illapses  of 
melancholy  and  depression  of  spirits,  arising  partly 
from  natural  constitution,  and  partly  from  the  maladies 
which  had  long  preyed  upon  his  health  ;  which  made 
him  (to  use  his  own  expression)  churlish,  and  less 
capable  of  pleasing  and  gratifying  his  friends  than  he 
was  otherwise  disposed  to  be.  This  he  confessed,  and 
requested  them  to  excuse  ;f  but  his  friendship  was 
sincere,  affectionate,  and  steady.  When  free  from  this 
morose  affection,  he  relished  the  pleasures  of  society, 
and,  among  his  acquaintances,  was  accustomed  to  un- 
bend his  mind,  by  indulging  in  innocent  recreation, 
and  in  the  sallies  of  wit  and  humour,  to  which  he  had 
a  strong  propensity,  notwithstanding  the  graveness  of 
his  general  deportment.  Although  in  the  course  of  his 
public  life,  the  severer  virtues  of  his  character  were 
more  frequently  called  into  action,  yet  have  we  met 
with  repeated  instances  of  his  acute  sensibility ;  and 
the  unaffected  tenderness  which  occasionally  breaks 
forth  in  his  private  letters  shews  that  he  was  no  stran- 
ger to  *'  all  the  charities"  of  human  life,  and  that  he 
could  "  rejoice  with  them  that  rejoiced,  and  weep  with 
them  that  wept." 

*  Mons.  Seoebier,  ut  supra. 

+  See  ExtracU  from  his  Letters  to  "  Mrs.  Locke,  6th  April, 
1559;"  and  to  "  A  Friend  in  England,  19th  August,  1569;" 
published  iu  the  Appendix,  No.  XTl. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN   KNOX. 


135 


Most  of  his  faults  may  be  traced  to  his  natural  tem- 
perament, and  to  the  character  of  the  age  and  coun- 
try in  which  he  lived.  His  passions  were  strong ;  he 
felt  with  the  utmost  keenness  on  every  subject  which 
interested  him;  and  as  he  felt  he  expressed  himself, 
without  disguise  and  without  affectation.  The  warmth 
of  his  zeal  was  apt  to  betray  him  into  intemperate  lan- 
guage ;  his  inflexible  adherence  to  his  opinions  inclined 
to  obstinacy;  and  his  independence  of  mind  occasion- 
ally assumed  the  appearance  of  haughtiness  and  dis- 
dain. In  one  solitary  instance,  the  anxiety  which  he 
felt  for  the  preservation  of  the  great  cause  in  which  he 
was  so  deeply  interested,  betrayed  him  into  an  advice 
which  was  not  more  inconsistent  with  the  laws  of 
strict  morality,  than  it  was  contrary  to  the  stern  up- 
rightness, and  undisguised  sincerity,  which  character- 
i^d  the  rest  of  his  conduct.  A  stranger  to  compli- 
mentary or  smooth  language,  little  concerned  about 
the  manner  in  which  his  reproofs  were  received  pro- 
vided they  were  merited,  too  much  impressed  with  the 
evil  of  the  offence  to  think  of  the  rank  or  character  of 
the  offender,  he  often  "  uttered  his  admonitions  with 
an  acrimony  and  vehemence  more  apt  to  irritate  than 
to  reclaim.''  But  he  protested,  at  a  time  when  per- 
sons are  least  in  danger  of  deception,  and  in  a  manner 
which  should  banish  every  suspicion  of  the  purity  of 
his  motives,  that,  in  his  sharpest  rebukes,  he  was  in- 
fluenced by  hatred  of  vice,  not  of  the  vicious,  that  his 
great  aim  was  to  reclaim  the  guilty,  and  that,  in  using 
those  means  which  were  necessary  for  this  end,  he 
frequently  did  violence  to  his  own  feelings. 

Those  who  have  charged  him  with  insensibility  and 
inhumanity,  have  fallen  into  a  mistake  very  common 
with  superficial  thinkers,  who,  in  judging  of  the  cha- 
racters of  persons  who  lived  in  a  state  of  society  very 
different  from  their  own,  have  pronounced  upon  their 
moral  qualities  from  the  mere  aspect  of  their  exterior 
manners.  He  was  austere,  not  unfeeling;  stern,  not 
savage;  vehement,  not  vindictive.  There  is  not  an 
instance  of  his  employing  his  influence  to  revenge  any 
persona]  injury  which  he  had  received.  Rigid  as  his 
maxims  respecting  the  execution  of  justice  were,  there 
are  numerous  instances  on  record  of  his  interceding  for 
the  pardon  of  criminals  ;  and,  unless  when  crimes  were 
atrocious,  or  when  the  welfare  of  the  state  was  in  the 
most  imminent  danger,  he  never  exhorted  the  execu- 
tive government  to  the  exercise  of  severity.  The  bold- 
ness and  ardour  of  his  mind,  called  forth  by  the  pecu- 
liar circumstances  of  the  times,  led  him  to  push  his 
sentiments  on  some  subjects  to  an  extreme,  and  no 
consideration  could  induce  him  to  retract  an  opinion 
of  which  he  continued  to  be  persuaded;  but  his  beha- 
viour after  his  publication  against  female  government 
proves,  that  he  was  not  disposed  to  employ  them  to 
the  disturbance  of  the  public  peace.  His  conduct  at 
Frankfort  evinced  his  moderation  in  religious  differ- 
ences among  brethren  of  the  same  faith,  and  his  dispo- 
sition to  make  all  reasonable  allowances  for  those  who 
could  not  go  the  same  length  with  him  in  reformation, 
provided  they  abstained  from  imposing  upon  the  con- 
sciences of  others.  The  liberties  which  he  took  in 
censuring  from  the  pulpit  the  actions  of  individuals, 
of  the  highest  rank  and  station,  appear  the  more  strange 
and  intolerable  to  us,  when  contrasted  with  the  timidity 
of  modern  times;  but  we  should  recollect  that  they 
were  then  common,  and  that  they  were  not  without 
their  utility,  in  an  age  when  the  licentiousness  and  op- 
pression of  the  great  and  powerful  often  set  at  defiance 
the  ordinary  restraints  of  law. 

In  contemplating  such  a  character  as  that  of  Knox, 
it  is  not  the  man,  so  much  as  the  reformer,  that  ought 
to  engage  our  attention.  The  talents  which  are  suited 
to  one  age  and  station  would  be  altogether  unsuitable 
to  another;  and  the  wisdom  displayed  by  providence, 
in  raising  up  persons  endowed  with  qualities  singular- 
ly adapted  to  the  work  which  they  have  to  perform  for 
the  benefit  of  mankind,  demands  our  particular  consi- 


deration. We  must  admire  the  austere  and  rough  re- 
former, whose  voice  once  ''  cried  in  the  wilderness"' 
of  Judea,  who  was  "clothed  with  camel's  hair,  and 
girt  about  the  loins  with  a  leathern  girdle,"  who  "  came 
neither  eating  nor  drinking,"  but  "laying  the  axe  to 
the  root  of  every  tree,  warned  a  generation  of  vipers  to 
flee  from  the  wrath  to  come,"  saying  even  to  the  tyrant 
upon  the  throne,  "  It  is  not  lawful  for  thee."  And 
we  must  consider  him  as  fitted  tor  serving  the  will  of 
God  in  his  generation,"  according  to  his  rank  and 
place,  as  well  as  his  Divine  Master,  whose  advent  he 
announced,  who  "  did  not  strive,  nor  cry,  nor  cause 
his  voice  to  be  heard  in  the  streets,  nor  break  the 
bruised  reed,  nor  quench  the  smoking  flax."  To  those 
who  complain,  that  they  are  disappointed  at  not  find- 
ing, in  our  national  Reformer,  courteous  manners,  and 
a  winning  address,  we  may  say,  in  the  language  of  mr 
Lord  to  the  .Tews  concerning  the  Baptist;  "What 
went  ye  out  into  the  wilderness  for  to  see  ?  A  reed 
shaken  with  the  wind  %  What  went  ye  out  for  to  see? 
A  man  clothed  in  soft  raiment?  Behold,  they  which 
are  gorgeously  apparelled,  and  live  delicately,  are  in 
kings' courts.  But  what  went  ye  out  for  to  see  ?  A 
prophet?  Yea,  I  say  unto  you,  and  more  than  a  pro- 
phet." To  "the  men  of  this  generation,"  as  well  as 
to  the  Jews  of  old,  we  may  apply  the  parable  of  the 
"children  sitting  in  the  market-place,  and  calling  one 
to  another,  and  saying,  We  have  piped  unto  you,  and 
ye  have  not  danced  ;  we  have  mourned  unto  you,  and 
ye  have  not  wept."  Disaffection  to  the  work  often 
lurks  under  cavils  against  the  instruments  by  which  it 
is  carried  on  ;  and  had  Knox  been  soft  and  yielding  in 
his  temper,  he  would  have  been  pronounced  unfit  for 
his  ofl[ice  by  the  very  persons  who  now  censure  his 
harshness  and  severity.  "  But  Wisdom  is  justified 
of  all  her  children."*  Before  the  Reformation,  super- 
stition, shielded  by  ignorance,  and  armed  with  power, 
governed  with  gigantic  sway.  Men  of  mild  spirits, 
and  of  gentle  manners,  would  have  been  as  unfit  for 
taking  the  field  against  this  enemy,  as  a  dwarf  or  a 
child  for  encountering  a  giant.  "  What  did  Erasmus 
in  the  days  of  Luther?  What  would  Lowth  have  done 
in  the  days  of  Wicliffe,  or  Blair  in  those  of  Knox?" 
It  has  been  justly  observed  concerning  our  Reformer, 
that  "those  very  qualities  which  now  render  his  cha- 
racter less  amiable,  fitted  him  to  be  the  instrument  of 
providence  for  advancing  the  Reformation  among  a 
fierce  people,  and  enabled  him  to  face  danger,  and 
surmount  opposition,  from  which  a  person  of  a  more 
gentle  spirit  would  have  been  apt  to  shrink  back."f 
Viewing  his  character  in  this  light,  if  we  cannot  regard 
him  as  an  amiable  man,  we  may,  without  hesitation, 
pronounce  him  a  Great  Reformer. 

The  most  disinterested  of  the  nobility,  who  were 
embarked  with  him  in  the  same  cause,  sacrificed  on 
some  occasions  the  public^good  to  their  private  inter- 
ests, and  disappointed  the  hopes  which  he  had  formed 
of  them.  The  most  upright  of  his  associates  in  the 
ministry  relaxed  their  exertions,  or  suffered  themselves 
at  times  to  be  drawn  into  measures  that  were  unsuit- 
able to  their  station,  and  hurtful  to  the  reformed  reli- 
gion. Goodman,  after  being  adopted  by  the  church 
of  Scotland,  and  ranked  among  her  reformers,  yielded 
so  far  to  the  love  of  his  native  country  as  to  desert  a 
people  who  were  warmly  attached  to  him,  and  return 
to  the  bosom  of  a  less  pure  church  which  received  him 
with  coldness  and  distrust.  Willock,  after  acquitting 
himself  honourably  from  the  commencement  of  the  in- 
teresting conflict,  withdrew  before  the  victory  was 
completely  secured,  and,  wearied  out  with  the  succes- 
sive troubles  in  which  his  country  was  involved, 
sought  a  retreat  for  himself  in  England.  Craig,  being 
left  without  the  assistance  of  his  colleague,  and  placed 
between  two  conflicting  parties,  betrayed  his  fears  by 
having  recourse   to  temporizing  measures.     Douglas, 


*  Luke  vii.  35. 


f  Robertson,  Hist,  of  Scotland. 


136 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


in  his  old  age,  became  the  dupe  of  persons  whose  rapa- 
city had  empoverished  the  protestant  church.  And 
each  of  the  superintendents  was,  at  one  time  or  another, 
complained  of  for  neglect  or  for  partialit)',  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  functions.  But  from  llie  time  that  the 
standard  of  truth  was  first  raised  by  Knox  in  his  native 
country,  till  it  dropped  from  his  hands  at  death,  he 
never  shrunk  from  danger,  never  consulted  his  own 
ease  or  advantage,  never  entered  into  any  compromise 
with  the  enemy,  never  was  bribed  or  frightened  into 
cowardly  silence;  but  keeping  his  eye  singly  and 
steadily  fixed  on  the  advancement  of  religion  and  of 
liberty, — supported  throughout  the  character  of  the 
Reformer  of  Scotland. 

Knox  bore  a  striking  resemblance  to  Luther  in  per- 
sonal intrepidity,  and  in  popular  eloquence.  He  ap- 
proached nearest  to  Calvin  in  his  religious  sentiments, 
in  the  severity  of  his  manners,  and  in  a  certain  impres- 
sive air  of  melancholy  which  pervaded  his  character. 
And  he  resembled  Zuinglius  in  his  ardent  attachment 
to  the  principles  of  civil  liberty,  and  in  combining  his 
exertions  for  the  reformation  of  the  church  with  uni- 
form endeavours  to  improve  the  political  state  of  the 
people.  Not  that  I  would  place  our  Reformer  on  a 
level  with  this  illustrious  triumvirate.  There  is  a 
splendour  which  surrounds  the  great  German  Reformer, 
partly  arising  from  the  intrinsic  heroism  of  his  charac- 
ter, and  partly  reflected  from  the  interesting  situation 
in  which  his  long  and  doubtful  struggle  with  the  court 
of  Rome  placed  him  in  the  eyes  of  Europe,  which  re- 
moves him  at  a  distance  from  all  who  started  in  the 
same  glorious  career.  The  Genevan  Reformer  sur- 
passed Knox  in  the  extent  of  his  theological  learning, 
and  in  the  unrivalled  solidity  and  clearness  of  his  judg- 
ment. And  the  Reformer  of  Switzerland,  though  infe- 
rior to  him  in  masculine  elocution,  and  in  daring  cou- 
rage, excelled  him  in  self-command,  in  prudence,  and 
in  that  species  of  eloquence  which  steals  into  the  heart, 
which  persuades  without  irritating,  and  governs  with- 
out assuming  the  tone  of  authority.  But  although  "he 
attained  not  to  the  first  three,"  I  know  not,  among  all 
the  eminent  men  who  appeared  at  that  period,  any 
name  which  is  so  well  entitled  to  be  placed  next  to 
theirs  as  that  of  Knox,  whether  we  consider  the  talents 
with  which  he  was  endowed,  or  the  important  services 
which  he  performed. 

There  are  perhaps  few  who  have  attended  to  the 
active  and  laborious  exertions  of  our  Reformer,  who 
have  not  been  insensibly  led  to  form  the  opinion  that 
he  was  of  a  robust  constitution.  This  is  however  a 
mistake.  He  was  of  a  small  stature,  and  of  a  weakly 
habit  of  body  ;*  a  circumstance  which  serves  to  give 
us  a  higher  idea  of  the  vigour  of  his  mind.  His  por- 
trait seems  to  have  been  taken  more  than  once  during 
his  life,  and  has  been  frequently  engraved. f  It  con- 
tinues still  to  frown  in  the  anti-chamber  of  Queen  Mary, 
to  whom  he  was  often  an  ungracious  visitor.  We  dis- 
cern in  it  the  traits  of  his  characteristic  intrepidity, 
austerity,  and  keen  penetration.  Nor  can  we  overlook 
his  beard,  which,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  times, 
he  wore  long,  and  reaching  to  his  middle;  a  circum- 
stance which  I  mention  the  rather,  because  some  writ- 
ers have  gravely  assured  us,  that  it  was  the  chief  thing 
which  procured  him  reverence  among  his  countrymen. J 
A  popish  author  has  informed  us,  that  he  was  gratified 
with  having  his  picture  drawn,  and  has  expressed 
much  horror  at  this,  seeing  he  had  caused  all  the 
images  of  the  saints  to  be  broken. || 


*  "  (laud  Kcio  an  unquani — ma^is  ingenium  injrugili  et  imhe- 
cillo  corpusculo  collocarit."   Siiiet.  Resp.  ad  Dial.  Hamilt.  p.  1 15. 

+  A  print  of  him,  cut  in  wood,  was  inserted  by  Beza,  iu  his 
Iconet.  There  is  another  in  Verheideni  Imagines.  See  also 
Grain^r's  Biopraphiral  History  of  England,  i    164. 

\  Henry  Fovvlis,  apu<l  Mackenzie's  Lives  of  Scottish  Writers, 
ii.  132.  The  learned  Fellow  of  Lincoln  College  had  perhaps 
discovered  that  the  mag-ical  virtue,  which  the  popish  writers 
ascribed  to  Knox,  resided  in  his  beard. 

|{"  Audivi  niente  captos  hereticos  Scotos  eo  etiam  insanise 


There  is  one  charge  against  him  which  I  have  not 
yet  noticed.  He  has  been  accused  of  setting  up  for  a 
prophet,  of  presuming  to  intrude  into  the  secret  coun- 
sel of  God,  and  of  enthusiastically  confounding  the 
suggestions  of  his  own  imagination,  and  the  effusions 
of  his  own  spirit,  with  the  dictates  of  inspiration,  and 
immediate  communications  from  heaven.  Let  us  exa- 
mine this  accusation  a  little.  It  is  proper,  in  the  first 
place,  to  hear  his  own  statement  of  the  grounds  on 
which  he  proceeded  in  many  of  those  warnings  which 
have  been  denominated  predictions.  Having,  in  one 
of  his  treatises,  denounced  the  judgments  to  which  the 
inhabitants  of  England  exposed  themselves,  by  re- 
nouncing the  gospel,  and  returning  to  idolatry,  he 
gives  the  following  explication  of  the  warrant  which 
he  had  for  his  threatenings.  "Ye  wald  knaw  the 
groundis  of  my  certitude.  God  grant  that,  hering 
thame,  ye  may  understand,  and  stedfastlie  believe  the 
same.  My  assurances  ar  not  the  mervalles  of  Merlin, 
nor  yit  the  dark  sentences  of  prophane  prophesies;  but 
the  plane  treuth  of  Godis  word,  the  invincibill  justice 
of  the  everlasting  God,  and  the  ordinarie  coursofhis 
punismentis  and  plagis  frome  the  beginning,  ar  my 
assurance  and  groundis.  Godis  word  threalneth  de- 
structioun  to  all  inobedient;  his  immutabill  justice 
man  requyre  the  same;  the  ordinar  punishments  and 
plaguis  schawls  exempillis.  What  man  then  can  ceis 
to  prophesiel"*  We  find  him  expressing  himself  in 
a  similar  way,  in  his  defence  of  the  threatenings  which 
he  uttered  against  those  who  had  been  guilty  of  the 
murder  of  king  Henry,  and  the  regent  Murray.  He 
refused  that  he  had  spoken  "  as  one  that  entered  into 
the  secret  counsel  of  God,"  and  insisted  that  he  had 
merely  declared  the  judgment  which  was  pronounced 
in  the  divine  law  against  murderers,  and  which  had 
often  been  exemplified  in  the  vengeance  which  over- 
took them  even  in  this  life.f  In  so  far  then  his  threat- 
enings, or  prediction?,  (for  so  he  repeatedly  calls  them) 
do  not  stand  in  need  of  an  apology. 

There  are,  however,  several  of  his  sayings  that  can- 
not be  vindicated  upon  these  principles,  and  which  he 
himself  rested  upon  different  grounds. :J:  Of  this  kind 
were  the  assurance  which  he  expressed,  from  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Scottish  troubles,  that  the  cause  of  the 
Congregation  would  ultimately  prevail  ;  his  confident 
hope  of  again  preaching  in  his  native  country  and  at 
St.  Andrews,  avowed  by  him  during  his  imprisonment 
on  board  the  French  galleys,  and  frequently  repeated 
during  his  exile ;  with  the  intimations  which  he  gave 
respecting  the  death  of  Thomas  Maitland,  and  Kircal- 
dy  of  Grange.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  his  contempo- 
raries considered  these  as  proceeding  from  a  prophetic 
spirit,  and  have  attested  that  they  received  an  exact 
accomplishment.  Without  entering  on  a  particular  ex- 
amination of  these  instances,  or  venturing  to  give  a 
decisive  opinion  repecting  any  of  them,  T  shall  con- 
fine myself  at  present  to  a  few  general  observations. 

The  most  easy  way  of  getting  rid  of  this  delicate 
subject  is  to  dismiss  it  at  once,  and  summarily  to  pro- 
nounce that  all  pretensions  to  extraordinary  premoni- 
tions, since  the  completing  of  the  canon  of  inspiration, 
ar^  unwarranted,  and  that  they  ought,  without  examin- 
ation, to  be  discarded  and  treated  as  fanciful  and  vis- 

aliquando  veni$se,quod  sceleratissiuii.atque  omnium  literarum 
iuiperiti»slmi  nebulonis  Knox,  pessinii  haeretici,  qui  otuuei 
imagines  sanctorum  frangi  praeceperat,  iniaginem  suam  noo 
tarn  fabricari  passum  fuisse,  quani  jam  fabricatam  non  parum 
probasse."  Laingteus  de  Vita  et  Moribus  Ha;retic.  p.  65-6. 
The  same  writer  tells  us,  as  a  proof  of  Calvin's  vain-glory,  that 
he  allowed  his  picture  to  be  carried  about  on  the  necks  of  the 
men  and  women,  like  that  of  a  god;  and  that,  when  reminded 
that  the  picture  of  Christ  was  as  precious  as  his,  he  returned  a 
profane  "answer;  "  fertur  cum  hoc  tantum  respondisse,  Qui 
huic  rei  invidet  crepet  medius."     Ibid. 

»  Letter  to  the  Faithful  in  Londoun,  Newcastell,  and  Bar 
wick,  apud  MS.  Letters,  p.  113. 

-f  Bannatyne,  111,  112,  420,  421. 

\  See  the  Epistle  to  the  Reader,  prefixed  to  bis  Sermon, 
Append,  to  History,  p.  113.  Edin.  1644, 4to. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   KNOX. 


137 


ionary.  Nor  would  this  fix  any  peculiar  imputation 
on  the  character  or  talents  of  our  Reformer,  when  it 
is  considered  that  the  most  learned  persons  of  that  age 
were  under  the  influence  of  a  still  greater  weakness, 
and  strongly  addicted  to  the  belief  of  judicial  astrology. 
But  I  doubt  much  if  this  method  of  determining  the 
question  would  be  doing  justice  to  the  subject.  Est 
periculum,  ne,  aut  negledis  hts,  impia  fraude,  aut  sus- 
ceptts,  anili  super stitione,  obligemur.*  On  the  one 
hand,  the  disposition  which  mankind  discover  to  pry 
into  the  secrets  of  futurity,  has  been  always  accompa- 
nied with  much  credulity  and  superstition ;  and  it  can- 
not be  denied,  that  the  age  in  which  our  Reformer 
lived  was  prone  to  credit  the  marvellous,  especially  as 
to  the  infliction  of  divine  judgments  on  individuals. 
A  prudent  enquirer  who  is  aware  of  this,  will  not  be 
disposed  to  acknowledge  as  preternatural  whatever 
was  formerly  regarded  in  this  light,  and  will  be  on 
his  guard  against  the  illusions  of  imagination  as  to 
impressions  which  may  be  made  on  his  own  mind. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  danger  of  running  into 
scepticism,  and  of  laying  down  general  principles 
which  may  lead  us  obstinately  to  contest  the  truth  of 
the  best  authenticated  facts,  and  to  limit  the  operations 
of  divine  providence.  This  is  the  extreme  to  which 
the  present  age  inclines.  That  there  have  been  in- 
stances of  persons  having  had  presentiments  as  to 
events  which  afterwards  did  happen  to  themselves 
and  others,  there  is,  I  think,  the  best  reason  to  believe. 
The  esprits  forts,  who  laugh  at  vulgar  credulity,  and 
exert  their  ingenuity  in  accounting  for  such  phenomena, 
on  ordinary  principles,  have  been  exceedingly  puzzled 
with  some  of  these  facts,  a  great  deal  more  puzzled 
than  they  have  confessed  ;  and  the  solutions  which 
they  have  given  are,  in  some  instances,  as  mysterious 
as  any  thing  included  in  the  intervention  of  superior 
spirits,  or  in  preternatural  and  divine  intimations. f 
The  canon  of  our  faith,  as  Christians,  is  contained  in 
the  scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament ;  we 
must  not  look  to  impressions  or  new  revelations  as  the 
rule  of  our  duty  ;  but  that  God  may,  on  particular 
occasions,  forewarn  persons  of  some  things  which 
shall  happen,  to  testify  his  approbation  of  them,  to 
encourage  them  to  confide  in  him  in  circumstances  of 
peculiar  difficulty,  or  to  serve  other  important  purposes, 
is  not,  I  think,  inconsistent  with  the  principles  of 
either  natural  or  revealed  religion.  If  to  believe  this 
be  enthusiasm,  it  is  an  enthusiasm  into  which  some  of 
the  most  enlightened  and  sober  men,  in  modern  as  well 
as  ancient  times,  have  fallen. :j:  Some  of  the  reform- 
ers were  men  of  singular  piety ;  they  were  exposed  to 
uncommon  opposition,  and  had  uncommon  services  to 
perform  ;  they  were  endued  with  extraordinary  gifts, 
and,  I  am  inclined  to  believe,  were  occasionally  fa- 
voured with  extraordinary  premonitions,  with  respect 
to  certain  events  which  concerned  themselves,  other 


*  Cicero  de  Divinat.  lib.  i.  4. 

+  This  is  acknowleclg-ed  by  one  who  had  attempted  this 
more  frequently,  and  with  greater  acuteness,  than  any  of  tlicni. 
"  De  tels  faits,  dont  I'univei's  est  tout  plein,  embarassent  plus 
leg  esprits  forts  qu'ils  ne  le  tenioignent."  Bayle,  Dictionnaire, 
Art.  Maldonat,  Note  G.  What  he  saj's,  elsewhere,  of  dreams 
may  be  applied  to  this  subject  ;  "  they  contain  infinitely  less 
mystery  than  the  multitude  believe,  and  a  little  more  than 
sceptics  believe;  and  those  who  reject  them  wholly  give  reason 
either  to  suspect  their  sincerity,  or  to  charge  them  with  preju- 
dice and  incapacity  to  discern  the  force  of  evidence."  Ibid. 
Art.  Majus.  Note,  D. 

J  "  Setting  aside  these  sorts  of  divination  as  extremely  sus- 
picious, (says  a  modern  author,  who  was  not  addicted  to  en- 
thusiastic notions)  there  remain  predictions  by  dreams,  and  by 
sudden  impulses,  upon  persons  who  were  not  of  the  fraternity 
of  impostors  ;  these  were  allowed  to  be  sometimes  preter- 
natural by  many  of  the  learned  pagans,  and  cannot,  I  think,  be 
disproved,  and  should  not  1)e  totally  rejected."  Dr.  Jortin's 
Remarks  on  Ecclesinstical  History,  vol.  i.  p.  93.  See  also  p.  45, 
77.  Lond.  Iff05.  The  learned  reader  may  also  consult  the 
epicrisis  of  Witsius  on  this  question;  the  whole  dissertation, 
intended  chieflv  to  expose  the  opposite  extreme,  is  well  entitled 
to  a  perusal.    Miscellanea  Sacra,  torn.  i.  p.  391. 


individuals,  or  the  church  in  general.  But  whatever 
intimations  of  this  kind  they  received,  they  did  not  rest 
the  authority  of  their  mission  upon  these,  nor  appeal 
to  them  as  constituting  any  part  of  the  evidence  of 
those  doctrines  which  they  preached  to  the  world. 

Our  Reformer  left  behind  him  a  widow,  and  five 
children.  His  two  sons,  Nathanael  and  Eleazar,  were 
born  to  him  by  his  first  wife,  Mrs.  Marjory  Bowes. 
We  have  already  seen  that,  about  the  year  1566,  they 
went  to  England,  where  their  mother's  relations  re- 
sided. They  received  their  education  at  St.  John's 
college,  in  the  university  of  Cambridge ;  their  names 
being  enrolled  in  the  matriculation-book  only  eight 
days  after  the  death  of  their  father.  Nathanael,  the 
eldest  of  them,  after  obtaining  the  degrees  of  Bachelor 
and  Master  of  Arts,  and  being  admitted  Fellow  of  the 
College,  died  in  1580.  Eleazar,  the  youngest  son,  in 
addition  to  the  honours  attained  by  his  brother,  was 
created  Bachelor  of  Divinity,  ordained  one  of  the 
preachers  of  the  University,  and  admitted  to  the  Vicar- 
age of  Clacton-Magna.  He  died  in  1591,  and  was 
buried  in  the  chapel  of  St.  John's  College.*  It  ap- 
pears that  both  of  them  died  without  issue,  and  the 
family  of  the  Reformer  became  extinct  in  the  male 
line.  His  other  children  were  daughters  by  his  second 
wife.  The  General  Assembly  testified  their  respect 
for  his  memory  by  allotting  a  pension  to  his  widow 
and  three  daughters  ;|  and  the  regent  Morton,  although 
charged  with  great  avarice  during  his  administration, 
treated  them  with  uniform  attention  and  kindness.:}: 
Dame  Margaret  Stewart,  his  widow,  afterwards  mar- 
ried Sir  Andrew  Ker  of  Fadounside,  a  strenuous  sup- 
porter of  the  Reformation. (I  One  of  our  Reformer's 
daughters  was  married  to  Robert  Pont,  minister  of  St. 
Cutberts  ;§  another  of  them  to  James  Flemming, 
also  a  minister  of  the  church  of  Scotland  ;%  Eliza- 
beth, the  third  daughter,  was  married  to  John  Welch, 
minister  of  Ayr.** 

Mrs.  Welch  seems  to  have  inherited  a  considerable 
portion  of  her  father's  spirit,  and  she  had  her  share  of 
hardships  similar  to  his.  Her  husband  was  one  of 
those  patriotic  ministers  who  resisted  the  arbitrary 
measures  pursued  by  James  VI.  for  overturning  the 
government  and  liberties  of  the  presbyterian  church  of 
Scotland.  Being  determined  to  abolish  the  General 
Assembly,  James  had,  for  a  considerable  time,  prevent- 
ed the  meetings  of  that  court  by  successive  proroga- 
tions. Perceiving  the  design  of  the  court,  a  number 
of  the  delegates  from  synods  resolved  to  keep  the  diet 
which  had  been  appointed  to  be  held  at  Aberdeen  in 
July  1605.  They  merely  constituted  the  Assembly 
and  appointed  a  day  for  its  next  meeting,  and  being 
charged  by  Laurieston,  the  King's  Commissioner,  to 


*  Newcourt's  Repert.  Londin.  ii.  154.  Communications 
from  I\lr.  Thomas  Baker,  apud  Life  of  Knox»  prefixed  to  His- 
toric of  the  Reformation,  edit.  1732,  p.  xli.  xlii. 

f  III  the  records  of  the  General  Assembly,  March  1573,  is 
the  following  act.  "The  Assemblie,  considering  that  the 
travels  of  uniqll  Johne  Knox  merits  favourablie  to  be  reniera- 
brit  in  his  posteritie,  gives  to  Margaret  Stewart,  his  relict,  and 
hir  thrie  daughters  of  the  said  umqll  Johne,  the  pensione  qlk 
he  himselfe  had,  in  his  tyme,  of  the  kirk,  and  that  for  the  year 
aproachand,  and  following  his  deceis,  of  the  year  of  God  1573, 
to  their  education  and  support,  extending  to  five  hundreth 
merks  money,  twa  ch.  qunait,  sax  ch.  beir,  four  ch.  aittes." 
Bulk  of  the  Universall  Kirk,  p.  56. 

t  Melville's  MS.  Diary,  p.  39. 

11  Douglas's  Peerage  of  Scotland,  p.  522. 

I  See  Note  LXIIl. 

tT  He  was  the  grandfather  of  Mr.  Robert  Fleming,  minister 
in  London,  and  author  of  the  well  known  book,  The  Fulfilling 
of  the  Scriptures.  But  Mr.  Robert's  father  was  of  a  diflerent 
marriage.  Fleming's  Practical  Discourse  on  the  Death  of  King 
Williani,  preface,  p.  14.  Lond.  1702. 

**  Life  of  Mr.  John  Welch,  p.  9.  printed  at  Edinburgh, 
1703.  He  was  the  fatlier  of  Mr.  Josias  Welch,  minister  of 
Templepatrick  in  Ireland,  and  grandfather  of  Mr.  John  Welch, 
minister  of  Irongray,  in  Galloway,  who  lived  during  the  Scots 
episcopal  persecution.  [For  some  additional  particulars,  see 
Note  LXIY.— Ed.] 


138 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    KNOX, 


dissolve,  immediately  obeyed.  But  the  Commissioner 
having  antedated  the  charge,  several  of  the  leading 
members  were  thrown  into  prison.  Welch  and  five 
of  his  brethren,  when  called  before  the  Privy  Council, 
declined  that  court  as  incompetent  to  judge  the  offence 
of  which  they  were  accused,  according  to  the  laws  of 
the  kingdom  ;  on  which  account  they  were  indicted  to 
stand  trial  for  treason  at  Linlithgow.  Their  trial  was 
conducted  in  the  most  illegal  and  unjust  manner. 
The  King's  Advocate  told  the  jury  that  the  only  thing 
which  came  under  their  cognizance  was  the  fact  of  the 
declinature,  the  judges  having  already  found  that  it 
was  treasonable ;  and  threatened  them  with  an  azize 
of  error,  if  they  did  not  proceed  as  he  directed  them. 
After  the  jury  were  empannelled,  the  Justice-Clerk 
went  in  and  threatened  them  with  his  Majesty's  dis- 
pleasure, if  they  acquitted  the  prisoners.  The  greater 
part  of  the  jurors  being  still  reluctant,  the  Chancellor 
went  out  and  consulted  with  the  other  judges,  who 
promised  that  no  punishment  should  be  inflicted  on  the 
prisoners,  provided  the  jury  brought  in  a  verdict  agree- 
ably to  the  court.  By  such  disgraceful  methods,  they 
were  induced,  at  midnight,  to  find  by  a  majority  of 
three  that  the  prisoners  were  guilty,  upon  which  they 
were  condemned  to  suffer  the  death  of  traitors.* 

Leaving  her  children  at  Ayr,  Mrs.  Welch  attended 
her  husband  in  prison,  and  was  present  at  Linlithgow, 
with  the  wives  of  the  other  prisoners,  on  the  day  of 
trial.  When  informed  of  the  sentence,  these  heroines, 
instead  of  lamenting  their  fate,  praised  God  who  had 
given  their  husbands  courage  to  stand  the  cause  of 
their  Master,  adding,  that,  like  Him,  they  had  been 
judged  and  condemned  under  the  covert  of  night.f 

The  sentence  of  death  having  been  changed  into 
banishment,  she  accompanied  her  husband  to  France, 
where  they  remained  for  sixteen  years.  Mr.  Welch 
applied  himself  with  such  assiduity  to  the  acquisition 
of  the  language  of  the  country,  that  he  was  able,  in 
the  course  of  fourteen  weeks,  to  preach  in  French,  and 
was  chosen  minister  to  a  protestant  congregation  at 
Nerac,  from  which  he  was  translated  to  St.  Jean 
D'Angely,  a  fortified  town  in  Lower  Charente.  War 
having  broken  out  between  Lewis  XHL  and  his  pro- 
testant subjects,  St.  Jean  D'Angely  was  besieged  by 
the  King  in  person.  On  this  occasion,  Welch  not 
only  animated  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  to  a  vigor- 
ous resistance  by  his  exhortations,  but  he  appeared 
on  the  walls  and  gave  his  assistance  to  the  garrison. 
The  king  was  at  last  admitted  into  the  town  in  conse- 
quence of  a  treaty,  and  being  displeased  that  Welch 
preached  during  his  residence  in  it,  sent  the  Duke 
D'Espernon,  with  a  company  of  soldiers,  to  take  him 
from  the  pulpit.  When  the  preacher  saw  the  Duke 
enter  the  church,  he  ordered  his  hearers  to  make  room 
for  the  Marshal  of  France,  and  desired  him  to  sit 
down  and  hear  the  word  of  God.  He  spoke  with  such 
an  air  of  authority  that  the  Duke  involuntarily  took  a 
seat,  and  listened  to  the  sermon  with  great  gravity  and 
attention.  He  then  brought  him  to  the  King,  who 
asked  him,  how  he  durst  preach  there,  since  it  was 
contrary  to  the  laws  of  the  kingdom  for  any  of  the 
pretended  reformed  to  officiate  in  places  where  the 
court  resided.  "  Sir,"  replied  Welch,  "if  your  Ma- 
jesty knew  what  I  preached,  you  would  not  only  come 
and  hear  it  yourself,  but  make  all  France  hear  it;  for 
I  preach  not  as  those  men  you  use  to  hear.  First,  I 
preach  that  you  must  he  saved  by  the  merits  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  not  your  own  (and  I  am  sure  your  con- 


*  Matthew  Crawfurd's  History  of  the  church  of  Scotland, 
MS.  Tol.  i.  258—283.  The  Reformation  of  Religion  in  Scot- 
land, written  by  Mr.  John  Forbes.  MS.  p.  131—151.  The 
copy  of  this  last  history  which  is  in  my  poMession  was  transcri- 
bed "ex  Authoris  authographo,"  in  the  year  1726.  The 
author  wa»  one  of  the  condemned  ministers.  His  narrative 
properly  begins  at  the  year  1580,  but  is  chiefly  occupied  in 
detailing  the  transactions  which  preceded  and'  followed  the 
Aatembly  at  Aberdeen.  f  Row  s  MS.  Historie,  p.  Ill,  122. 


science  tells  you  that  your  good  works  will  never  merit 
heaven  :)  Next,  I  preach,  that,  as  you  are  a  king  of 
France,  there  is  no  man  on  earth  above  you ;  but  these 
men  whom  you  hear,  subject  you  to  the  Pope  of 
Rome,  which  I  will  never  do."  Pleased  with  this 
reply,  Lewis  said  to  him,  He  bien,  vous  seriez  mon 
Ministre  ,-*  and  addressing  him  by  the  title  of  Father, 
assured  him  of  his  protection.  And  he  was  as  good 
as  his  word  ;  for  St.  Jean  D'Angely  being  reduced  by 
the  royal  forces  in  1621,  the  king  gave  directions  to 
De  Vitry,  one  of  his  generals,  to  take  care  of  his 
Minister ;  in  consequence  of  which,  Welch  and  his 
family  were  conveyed  at  his  Majesty's  expense  to 
Rochelle.f 

Having  lost  his  health,  and  the  physicians  inform- 
ing him  that  the  only  prospect  which  he  had  of  re- 
covering it  was  by  returning  to  his  native  country, 
Mr.  Welch  ventured,  in  the  year  1622,  to  come  to 
London.  But  his  own  sovereign  was  incapable  of 
treating  him  with  the  generosity  which  he  had  experi- 
enced from,  the  French  monarch  ;  and,  dreading  the 
influence  of  a  man  who  was  far  gone  with  a  consump- 
tion, he  absolutely  refused  to  give  him  permission  to 
return  to  Scotland.  Mrs.  Welch,  by  means  of  some 
of  her  mother's  relations  at  court,  obtained  access  to 
James,  and  petitioned  him  to  grant  this  liberty  to  her 
husband.  The  following  singular  conversation  took 
place  on  that  occasion.  His  Majesty  asked  her,  who 
was  her  father.  She  replied,  "  Mr.  Knox."  "  Knox 
and  Welch !"  exclaimed  he,  "  the  Devil  never  made 
such  a  match  as  that." — "  Its  right  like.  Sir,"  said  she, 
"  for  we  never  speired:|:  his  advice."  He  asked  her, 
how  many  children  her  father  had  left,  and  if  they 
were  lads  or  lasses.  She  said,  three,  and  they  were  all 
lasses.  "  God  be  thanked  !"  cried  the  king,  lifting 
up  both  his  hands  ;  "  for  an  they  had  been  three  lads, 
I  had  never  bruiked||  my  three  kingdoms  in  peace." 
She  again  urged  her  request,  that  he  would  give  her 
husband  his  native  air.  "  Give  him  his  native  air  !" 
replied  the  king,  "  Give  him  the  devil !"  a  morsel 
which  James  had  often  in  his  mouth.  "  Give  that  to 
your  hungry  courtiers,"  said  she,  offended  at  his  pro- 
faneness.  He  told  her  at  last,  that,  if  she  would  per- 
suade her  husband  to  submit  to  the  bishops,  he  would 
allow  him  to  return  to  Scotland.  Mrs.  Welch,  lifting 
up  her  apron,  and  holding  it  towards  the  King,  replied, 
in  the  true  spirit  of  her  rather,  "  Please  your  Majesty, 
I'd  rather  kep§  his  head  there."!]' 


*  "  Very  well,  you  shall  be  my  Minister." 

t  History  of  Mr.  John  Welch,  p.  31—33.  Edinburo-h.  1703. 
Characteristics  of  Eminent  ministers,  subjoined  to  Livmgston's 
Life.  Art.  John  Welch.  Mr.  Livingston  received  his  account 
of  the  above,  transactions  in  France,  from  Lord  Kenniure,  who 
resided  in  Mr.  Welch's  house.  It  does  not  appear  who  was 
the  author  of  the  History  of  Welch,  but  he  says  that  he  receiv- 
ed  his  information  from  the  personal  acquaintances  of  that 
minister.  That  tract  contains  an  account  of  an  extraordinarr 
occurrence  in  the  life  of  the  first  Lord  Casflestewart,  (ancestor 
of  Lord  Castlereagh)  who,  when  a  young  man,  lodged  with 
Mr.  Welch  in  France. 

i  'Tis  very  likely — for  we  never  asked,  &c. 

II  If  they  had  been  three  lads,  I  would  never  have  en- 
joyed, &c. 

}  "  I  would  rather  receive  his  head"  in  my  apron,  when 
severed  from  his  lx)dy  by  the  executioner. 

%  I  met  with  the  account  of  this  conversation  in  a  MS. 
written  by  Mr.  Robert  Traill,  minister  in  London,  entitled, 
"  An  Accompt  of  Several  Passages  in  the  Lives  of  some  Emi- 
nent Men  in  the  Nation,  not  recorded  in  any  history."  It  is 
inserted  in  the  heart  of  a  common-place  book,  containing  notes 
of  sermons,  &c.  written  by  him  when  a  student  of  divinity  at  St. 
Andrews,  between  1659  and  1663.  He  received  the  account 
from  aged  persons,  and  says,  that  the  conference  between  king 
James  and  Mrs.  Welch  "is  current  to  this  day,  in  the  mouths 
of  many."  I  have  since  seen  the  same  story  in  Wodrow's  MS. 
Collections,  vol.  i.  Life  of  Welch,  n.  27.  Bibl.  Coll.  Glas. 
James  stood  much  in  awe  of  Mr.  Welch,  who  often  reproved 
him  for  his  habit  of  profane  swearing.  It  is  said,  that  if  he 
had,  at  any  time,  been  swearing  in  a  public  place,  he  would 
have  turned  round,  and  asked,  if  Welch  was  near.  Traill's 
MS.  ut  supra. 


LIFE    OF  JOHN   KNOX. 


139 


The  account  of  our  Reformer's  publication  has  been 
partly  anticipated  in  the  course  of  the  preceding 
narrative.  Though  his  writings  were  of  great  utility, 
it  was  not  by  them,  but  by  his  personal  exertions,  that 
he  chiefly  advanced  the  Reformation,  and  transmitted 
his  name  to  posterity.  He  did  not  view  this  as  the 
field  in  which  he  was  called  to  labour.  "  That  I  did 
not  in  writing  communicate  my  judgment  upon  the 
scriptures  (says  he,)  I  have  ever  thought  myself  to 
have  most  just  reason.  For,  considering  myself  rath- 
er called  of  my  God  to  instruct  the  ignorant,  comfort 
the  sorrowful,  confirm  the  weak,  and  rebuke  the  proud, 
by  tongue  and  lively  voice,  in  these  most  corrupt  days, 
than  to  compose  books  for  the  age  to  come  (seeing  that 
so  much  is  written,  and  by  men  of  most  singular  eru- 
dition, and  yet  so  little  well-observed ;)  I  decreed  to 
contain  myself  within  the  bounds  of  that  vocation 
whereunto  I  found  myself  especially  called."*  This 
resolution  was  most  judiciously  formed.  His  situation 
was  very  different  from  that  of  the  first  protestant  re- 
formers. They  found  the  whole  world  in  ignorance 
of  the  doctrines  of  Christianity.  Men  were  either 
destitute  of  books,  or  such  as  they  possessed  were 
calculated  only  to  mislead.  The  oral  instructions  of  a 
few  individuals  could  extend  but  a  small  way ;  it  was 
principally  by  means  of  their  writings,  which  circula- 
ted with  amazing  rapidity,  that  they  benefited  man- 
kind, and  became  not  merely  the  instructors  of  the 
particular  cities  and  countries  where  they  resided  and 
preached,  but  the  reformers  of  Europe.  By  the  time 
that  Knox  appeared  on  the  field,  their  translations  of 
Scripture,  their  judicious  commentaries  on  its  different 
books,  and  their  able  defences  of  its  doctrines,  were 
laid  open  to  the  English  reader.f  What  was  more 
immediately  required  of  him  was  to  use  the  peculiar 
talent  in  which  he  excelled,  and,  "by  tongue  and 
lively  voice,"  to  imprint  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible 
upon  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen.  When  he  was 
deprived  of  an  opportunity  of  doing  this  during  his 
exile,  there  could  not  be  a  more  proper  substitute  than 
that  which  he  adopted,  by  publishing  familiar  epistles, 
exhortations,  and  admonitions,  in  which  he  briefly 
reminded  them  of  the  truths  which  they  had  embraced, 
and  warned  them  to  flee  from  the  abominations  of  the 
popish  church.  These  could  be  circulated  and  read 
with  far  more  ease,  and  to  a  far  greater  extent,  than 
large  treatises. 

Of  the  many  sermons  preached  by  him  during  his 
ministry,  he  published  but  one,  which  was  extorted 
from  him  by  peculiar  circumstances.  It  affords  a  very 
favourable  specimen  of  his  talents  ;  and  shews,  that 
if  he  had  applied  himself  to  writing,  he  was  qualified 
for  excelling  in  that  department.  He  had  a  ready 
command  of  language,  and  expressed  himself  with 
great  perspicuity,  animation,  and  force.  Though  he 
despised  the  tinsel  of  rhetoric,  he  was  acquainted  with 
the  principles  of  that  art,  and  when  he  had  leisure  and 
inclination  to  polish  his  style,  wrote  with  propriety 
and  even  with  elegance.  Tfiose  who  have  read  his 
Letter  to  the  Queen  Regent,  his  Answer  to  Tyrie,  or 
his  papers  in  the  account  of  the  dispute  with  Kennedy, 
will  be  satisfied  of  this.      During   his   residence  in 

*  Preface  to  his  Sermon,  apud  History,  p.  113.  Edin.  1644. 

f  Those  who  have  not  directed  their  attention  to  this  point 
cannot  easily  conceive  to  what  extent  the  translation  of  foreign 
theological  books  into  our  language  was  carried  at  that  time. 
There  was  scarcely  a  book  of  any  celebrity  published  in  Latin 
by  the  continental  reformers,  that  did  not  appear  in  an  English 
version.  Bibliographers,  and  the  annalists  of  printing,  are 
very  defective  in  the  information  vchich  they  communicate  on 
this  branch. 


England,  he  acquired  the  habit  of  writing  the  language 
according  to  the  manner  of  that  country  ;  and  in  all  his 
publications  which  appeared  during  his  life-time,  the 
English  and  not  the  Scottish  orthography,  and  mode 
of  expression,  are  used.*  In  this  respect,  there  is  a 
very  evident  difference  between  them  and  the  vernacu- 
lar writings  of  Buchanan. 

The  freedoms  which  have  been  used  with  his  wri- 
tings, in  the  editions  commonly  read,  have  greatly  in- 
jured them.  They  were  translated  into  the  language 
which  was  used  in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, by  which  they  were  deprived  of  the  antique  cos- 
tume which  they  formerly  wore,  and  contracted  an  air 
of  vulgarity  which  did  not  originally  belong  to  them. 
Besides  this,  they  have  been  reprinted  with  innumera- 
ble omissions,  interpolations,  and  alterations,  which 
frequently  affect  the  sense,  and  always  enfeeble  the 
language.  Another  circumstance  which  has  impaired 
his  literary  reputation  is,  that  the  two  works  which 
have  been  most  read,  are  the  least  accurate  and  polish- 
ed, as  to  style,  of  all  his  writings.  His  tract  against 
female  government  was  hastily  published  by  him, 
under  great  irritation  of  mind  at  the  increasing  cruelty 
of  Queen  Mary  of  England.  His  History  of  the  Re- 
formation was  undertaken  during  the  confusions  of  the 
civil  war,  and  was  afterwards  continued  by  him  at  in- 
tervals snatched  from  numerous  avocations.  The  col- 
lection of  historical  materials  is  a  work  of  labour  and 
time  ;  the  digesting  and  arranging  of  them  into  a  regu- 
lar narrative  require  much  leisure  and  undivided  atten- 
tion. The  want  of  these  sufficiently  accounts  for  the 
confusion  that  is  often  observable  in  that  work.  But 
notwithstanding  this,  and  particular  mistakes  from 
which  no  work  of  the  kind  can  be  free,  it  still  continues 
to  be  the  principal  source  of  information  as  to  ecclesi- 
astical proceedings  in  that  period  ;  and  although  great 
keenness  has  been  shewn  in  attacking  its  authenticity 
and  accuracy,  it  has  been  confirmed,  in  all  the  leading 
facts,  by  an  examination  of  those  ancient  documents 
which  the  industry  of  later  times  has  brought  to  light.t 

His  defence  of  Predestination,  the  only  theological 
treatise  of  any  size  which  was  published  by  him,  is 
rare,  and  has  been  seen  by  few.  It  is  written  with 
perspicuity,  and  discovers  his  controversial  acuteness, 
with  becoming  caution,  in  handling  that  delicate  ques- 
tion. A  catalogue  of  his  publications,  as  complete  as 
I  have  been  able  to  draw  up,  shall  be  inserted  in  the 
notes.ij: 

I  have  thus  attempted  to  give  an  account  of  our  na- 
tional Reformer,  of  the  principal  events  of  his  life,  of 
his  sentiments,  his  writings,  and  his  exertions  in  the 
cause  of  religion  and  liberty.  If  what  I  have  done 
shall  contribute  to  set  his  character  in  a  more  just  light 
than  that  in  which  it  has  been  generally  represented, 
and  to  correct  the  erroneous  views  of  it  which  have  long 
been  prevalent;  if  it  shall  tend  to  elucidate  the  eccle- 
siastical history  of  that  period,  or  be  the  means  of  illus- 
trating the  superintendence  of  a  wise  and  merciful 
Providence,  in  the  accomplishment  of  a  revolution  of 
all  others  the  most  interesting  and  beneficial  to  this 
country,  I  shall  not  think  any  labour  which  I  have  be- 
stowed on  the  subject  to  have  been  thrown  away,  or 
unrewarded. 


*  It  is  to  this  that  Ninian  Winget  refers,  in  one  of  his  letters 
addressed  to  Knox.  "Gif  ye,  throw  curiositie  of  novationis, 
hes  forzet  our  auld  plane  Scottis,  quhilk  zour  mother  lernit 
zow,  in  tymes  cuming  I  sail  wrytt  to  zow  my  mynd  in  Latin, 
for  I  am  nocht  acquyntit  with  zour  Southeroun."  Keith, 
Append.  254.  f  See  Note  LXV. 

X  See  Note  LXVI. 


NOTES 


TO  THE 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    KNOX. 


Note  I.  p.  i-i. 

Of  the  place  of  Knox^s  birth, — Although  this  is  not  a  ques- 
tion of  very  great  importance,  I  shall  state  the  authorities  for  the 
different  opinions  which  are  entertained  on  that  subject. 

Beza,  who  was  contemporary,  and  personally  acquauited  with 
our  Reformer,  designs  him  "  Joannes  Cnoxus,  Scotus,  Gifford- 
iensis,"  evidently  meaning  that  he  was  a  native  of  the  town  of 
Giffonl.  Icones,  seu  Imagines  lUustrium  Virorum,  Ee.  iij.  An. 
1580.  Spottiswood,  who  was  born  in  1565,  and  could  receive 
information  from  his  father,  and  other  persons  intimately  ac- 
quainted with  Knox,  says  that  he  was  "  boni  in  Gifford  within 
Lothian."  History,  p.  265,  edit.  1677,  David  Buchanan,  in 
his  Memoir  of  Knox  prefixed  to  the  edition  of  his  History,  which 
he  published  in  1644,  gives  the  same  account ;  which  lias  been 
followed  in  the  Life  written  by  Matthew  Crawfurd,  and  prefixed 
to  the  edition  of  ihe  History,  1732 ;  and  by  Wodrow  in  his  MS 
Collections  respecting  the  Scottish  Reformers,  in  Bibl.  Coll. 
Glas.  In  a  Genealogical  Account  of  the  Knoxes,  wliich  is  in 
the  possession  of  the  family  of  the  late  Mr,  James  Knox,  minis- 
ter of  Scoon,  the  Reformer's  father  is  said  to  have  been  a  bro- 
ther of  the  family  of  Ranferlie,  and  "  proprietor  of  the  estate  of 
Gifford."     Scott's  History  of  the  Scottish  Reformers,  p.  94. 

On  the  other  hand,  Archibald  Hamilton,  who  was  his  coun- 
tryman as  well  as  his  contemporary  and  acquaintance,  says,  that 
iGiox  was  born  in  the  town  of  Haddington :  "  Obscuris  natus  pa- 
rentibus  in  Hadintona  oppido  in  Laudonia,"  De  Confusione 
Calvinianae  SectajapudScotosDialogus,fol.  64,  a.  Parisiis  1577, 
Another  Scotsman,  who  wrote  in  that  age,  says  that  he  was  born 
near  Haddington ;  "prope  Haddintonam."  Laingseus  De  vita, 
et  moribus,  atque  rebus  gestis  Hsereticorum  nostri  temporis,  fol. 
113,  b.  Parisiis,  1581.  Dr.  Barclay,  late  minister  erf  Hadding- 
ton, advanced  an  opinion  which  reconciles  the  two  last  authori- 
ties (although  it  is  probable  tliat  he  never  saw  either  of  them), 
by  asserting  that  our  Reformer  was  born  in  one  of  the  suburbs  of 
Haddington,  called  the  Giffordgaie.  Transactions  of  the  Society 
of  antiquaries  in  Scotland,  p.  69,  70. 

The  testimony  of  Archibald  Hamilton  is  not  altogether  with- 
out weight ;  for  although  he  has  retailed  a  number  of  gross  false- 
hoods in  the  work  referred  to,  there  does  not  seem  to  be  any  rea- 
son for  supposing  that  he  would  intentionally  mislead  his  readers 
in  such  a  circumstance  as  the  birth-place  of  the  Reformer.  But 
I  consider  Spottiswood's  statement  as  going  far  to  set  aside  Ham- 
ilton's ;  for  as  the  archbishop  could  scarcely  be  ignorant  of  his 
work,  and  as  he  fixes  Knox's  birth  at  a  different  place,  it  is  rea- 
sonable to  suppose  that  he  had  good  reasons  for  varying  from  a 
preceding  authority.  The  grounds  of  Dr.  Barclay's  opinion  are, 
that  according  to  the  tradition  of  the  place  the  Reformer  was  a 
native  of  Haddington  ;  that  tlie  house  in  which  he  was  born  is 
still  pointed  out  in  the  Giffordgate ;  and  that  this  house,  with 
some  adjoining  acres  of  land,  belonged  for  a  number  of  genera- 
tions to  a  &mily  of  the  name  of  Knox,  who  claimed  kindred  with 
the  Reformer,  and  who  lately  sold  the  property  to  the  Earl  of 
Wemyss.  I  acknowledge  that  popular  tradition  may  be  allowed 
to  determine  a  point  of  this  nature,  provided  it  is  not  contradicted 
by  other  evidence.    In  the  present  case  it  is  not  altogether  free 


from  this  objection.  As  the  sons  of  the  Reformer  died  without 
issue,  there  is  no  reason  to  think  that  the  family  which  resided 
in  the  Giffordgate  was  lineally  descended  from  him.  Still, 
however,  the  property  might  have  belonged  to  his  elder  brother, 
which  Is  consistent  with  the  supposition  of  his  being  bom  in 
the  house  which  tradition  has  marked  out  But  I  have  lately 
been  favoured,  witli  extracts  from  the  title-deeds  of  that  property, 
now  in  the  possession  of  the  Earl  of  Wemyss,  extending  from 
the  year  1598  downwards,  which  are  not  favourable  to  that 
supposition.  On  the  18th  of  February  1598,  Wilham  Knox 
in  Morehame,  and  Elizabeth  Schortes  his  wife,  were  infeft  in 
subjects  in  Nungate  (of  Haddington),  in  virtue  of  a  crown 
charter.  This  charter  contains  no  statement  of  the  wanants  on 
which  it  proceeded,  farther  than  that  the  lands  formerly  belonged 
to  the  Abbey  of  Haddington,  and  were  annexed  to  the  crown. 
Having  commimicated  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Scott  of  Perth  the  names 
of  the  persons  mentioned  in  the  first  charter  and  subsequent 
deeds,  with  a  request  to  be  informed,  if  any  such  names  occur 
in  the  genealogy  of  the  Knox  family  which  belonged  to  the  late 
Mr.  Knox,  minister  of  Scoon,  I  have  been  favoured  with  an 
answer,  saying,  that  neither  the  name  of  William  Knox  at 
Morehame,  nor  that  of  any  other  person  emswering  to  tlie  de- 
scription in  my  letter,  is  to  be  found  in  that  genealogy.  But 
farther,  the  charter  expressly  states,  that  the  lands  in  question 
belonged  to  the  Abbey  of  Haddington,  and,  as  they  must  have 
been  annexed  to  the  crown  subsequent  to  the  Reformation,  they 
could  not  be  the  property  of  the  family  at  the  time  of  our  Re- 
former's birth.  The  tradition  of  his  having  been  bom  in  the 
Giffordgate  is  tlierefore  supported  merely  by  the  possibility,  tliat 
his  parents  might  have  resided  in  that  house  while  it  was  the 
property  of  the  Abbey.  In  opposition  to  this,  we  have  the 
authorities  mentioned  above  in  support  of  the  opinion  that  he 
was  bom  in  the  village  of  Gifford. 

Note  IL  p.  2L 

Of  Knoa^s  parentage. — David  Buchanan  says,  that  our  Re- 
former's "  father  was  a  brother's  son  of  the  house  of  RanferUe." 
Life  prefixed  to  History  of  the  Reformation,  1 644.  In  a  con- 
versation with  the  Earl  of  Bothwell,  Knox  gave  the  following 
account  of  his  ancestors  :  "  My  Lord,  (says  he)  my  great 
grandfather,  gudeschir,  and  father,  have  served  your  Lordchip's 
predecessours,  and  some  of  them  have  dyed  under  their  stand- 
ards ;  and  this  is  a  pairt  of  the  obUgatioun  of  our  Scottish  kind- 
nes." — Historie  of  the  Reformatioun,  p.  306.  edit.  1732,  Mat- 
thew Crawfurd  says,  that  "  these  words  seem  to  import  that 
Mr.  Knox's  predecessors  were  in  some  honourable  station  under 
the  E^rls  of  Bothwell,  at  that  time  the  most  powerful  family  in 
East  Lothian."  Life  of  the  Author,  p.  ii.  prefixed  to  Historie, 
edit  1732.  The  only  thing  which  I  would  infer  from  his 
words  is,  that  his  ancestors  had  settled  in  Lothian  as  early  as 
the  time  of  his  great-grand-father.  I  do  not  wish  to  represent 
the  Reformer  as  either  of  noble  or  of  gentle  birth,  and  caimot 
place  much  dependance  on  the  assertion  in  the  preceding  MOte, 
which  makes  his  father  "  proprietor  of  the  estate  of  Gifford." 
John  Davidson,  in  the  poem  written  in  his  commendation,  say% 

141 


142 


NOTES. 


First,  he  descendit  bot  of  linage  small, 
As  commounly  God  usis  for  to  call 
The  sempill  sort  his  summoundis  til  expres. 
At  the  same  time,  the  statement  given  by  some  authors  of  the 
meanness  and  poverty  of  his  parents  is  not  supported  by  goal 
evidence,  and  can  in  part  be  disproved.  Dr.  Mackenzie  says,  the 
Reformer  was  "  the  son  of  a  poor  coimttyman,  as  we  are  in- 
formed by  those  who  knew  him  very  well :  his  parents,  though 
in  a  mean  condition,  put  their  son  to  the  grammar-school  of 
Haddington ;  where,  after  he  had  learned  his  grammar,  he  served 
for  some  time  the  laird  of  Langniddrie's  children,  who  being 
sent  by  their  parents  to  the  university  of  St.  A  ndrews,  he  tliereby 
had  occasion  of  learning  liis  philosophy."  JAxes  of  Scottish 
Writers,  vol.  iii.  p.  111.  As  his  authorities  for  these  assertions, 
the  Doctor  has  printed  on  the  margin, "  Dr.  Hamilton,  Dr.  Baillie, 
and  many  others  ;"  popish  writers,  who,  regardless  of  their  own 
character,  fabricated  or  retailed  such  tales  as  they  thought  most 
discreditable  to  the  Reformer,  many  of  which  Mackenzie  himself 
is  obliged  to  pronounce  "  ridiculous  stories  that  are  altogether 
improbable,"  p.  133.  "  Dr.  Baillie"  was  Alexander  Baillie,  a 
Benedictme  monk  in  the  Scottish  monastery  of  Wirtsburgh ; 
and,  as  he  published  the  work  to  which  Mackenzie  refers  in  the 
year  1628,  it  is  ridiculous  to  talk  of  his  being  well  acquainted 
with  either  the  Reformer  or  his  father.  Hamilton,  (the  earliest 
authority)  instead  of  supjxirting  Mackenzie's  assertions,  informs 
us,  so  far  as  his  language  is  intelligible,  that  Knox  was  in  priest's 
orders  before  he  undertook  the  care  of  children  :  "  quo  victmn 
sibi  pararet  magis,  quam  ut  deo  serviret  (Sunonis  illius  magi  hue 
usque  sequutus  vestigia)  presbyter  primvun  fieri  de  more 
quamvis  illitcratus  turn  in  privatis  sedibuspuerorum  in  vulgaribus 
Uteris  formandonmi  curam  capere  coactus  est."  De  Confusione 
Calv,  p.  64.  The  fact  is,  that  Knox  entered  into  the  family  of 
Langniddrie  as  tutor,  after  he  had  finished  liis  education  at  St 
Andrews ;  and  as  late  as  1547,  he  was  employed  in  teaching 
the  young  men  their  grammar.    Historic,  p.  67. 

NoteHI.  p.  22. 

Of  the  early  state  of  Grecian  literature  in  Scotland. — In  this 
note  I  shall  Jthrow  together  such  facts  as  I  have  met  with  relat- 
ing to  the  introduction  of  the  Greek  language  into  Scotland,  and 
the  progress  wliich  it  made  during  the  sixteenth  century.  They 
are  bare  gleanings ;  but  such  as  they  are,  I  trust  they  will  not 
be  altogether  unacceptable  to  those  who  take  an  interest  in  the 
subject.  Let  not  any  who  are  proud  of  the  present  state  of 
literature  in  this  country  disdain  ike  poor  appearance  which  it 
made  at  its  commencement.  The  com  which  covers  the  fields 
of  an  extensive  country,  and  which  supphes  millions  with  food, 
might  be  traced  back  to  a  single  grain  throwTi  into  the  earth. 

In  the  year  1522,  Boece  mentions  Geonre  I^undas  as  a  good 
Greek  scholar.  He  was  master  of  the  Knights  of  St  John  in 
Scotland,  and  had,  most  probably,  acquired  the  knowledge  of 
the  lemguage  on  the  continent.  "  Georgius  Dundas  grecas  atq , 
latinas  literas  apprime  doctus,  equitum  Hierosolymitanorum  intra 
Scotorum  regnum  magistratum  multo  sudore  (superatis  emuUs) 
postea  adeptus."  Boetii  Vitse  Episcop.  Murth.  et  Alierdon.  fol. 
xxvii.  b.  It  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  other  indinduals  in 
the  nation  might  acquire  it  in  the  same  way  ;  but  Boece  makes 
no  mention  of  Greek  among  the  branches  taught  at  the  univer- 
sities in  his  time,  although  he  is  minute  in  liis  details.  Nor  do 
I  find  any  other  reference  to  die  subject  previous  to  the  year 
1534,  when  Erskine  of  Dun  brought  a  learned  man  from  France, 
and  employed  him  to  teach  Greek  in  Montrose,  as  mentioned  in 
tliat  part  of  the  Life,  to  which  this  note  refers.  At  his  school, 
George  Wishart,  the  martyr,  must  have  obtained  the  knowledge 
of  the  language,  and  he  seems  to  have  been  successor  to  his 
master.  But  the  bishop  of  Brechin  (William  Chisholm),  hear- 
ing that  Wishart  taught  the  Greek  New  Testament,  summoned 
him  to  appear  before  him  on  a  charge  of  heresy,  upon  which  he 
fled  the  kingdom,  'i'his  was  in  1538,  Petrio,  part  ii.  p.  182. 
It  is  likely  that  Knox  first  derived  his  knowledge  of  Greek  from 
George  Wishart  after  his  return  from  England.  Buchanan 
seems  to  have  acquired  the  language  during  his  residence  on  the 
continent,  Buch.  Ep.  p.  25.  dp«!r.  edit.  Rudd 

Lesly  says  that  when  James  V.  during  his  progress  through 
the  kingdom  in  1 540,  came  to  Aberdeen,  among  other  entertain- 
ments which  were  given  to  him,  the  students  of  the  university 
"  recited  orations  in  the  Greek  and  Latin  tongue,  composed 
with  the  greatest  skill."  "  Orationes  in  Graec*  Latinaque  lingua, 
«ummo  artificio  instructs."  Leslteus  de  rebus  gestis  Scotorum, 
lib.  ii.  430.  anno  1675.  When  we  consider  the  state  of  learn- 
ing at  that  period  ia  Scotland,  tliere  is  strong  reason  to  suspect 


that  the  bishop's  description  is  highly  coloured,  yet  as  he  entered 
that  university  a  few  years  after,  we  may  conclude  from  it  that 
some  attention  had  been  paid  to  the  Greek  language  at  that  time 
in  Aberdeen.  It  had  most  probably  been  introduced  by  means 
of  Hector  Boece,  the  learned  principal  of  that  university.  If  the 
king  was  entertained  with  the  great  learning  of  the  students  of 
Abenleen,  the  English  ambassador  was  no  less  diverted,  on  the 
very  same  year,  with  the  ignorance  which  our  bishops  discovered 
of  the  Greek  tongue.  The  ambassador  who  was  a  scholar  as 
well  as  a  statesman,  had  caused  his  men  to  wear  on  their  sleeves 
the  following  Greek  motto,  MON.O  AN  AKTI  AOTAErn,  I  serve 
the  king  only.  This  the  Scottish  bishops  (whose  knowledge 
did  not  extend  beyoml  Latin)  read  Monaciiulus,  a  little  monk, 
and  thereupon  circulated  the  report  that  the  ambassador's  ser- 
vants were  monks,  who  had  been  taken  out  of  the  monasteries 
lately  suppressed  in  England.  To  counteract  this  report,  Sadler 
was  obliged  to  furnish  a  translation  of  the  inscription.  "  It  ap- 
peareth,  (says  he)  they  are  no  good  Grecians.  And  now  the 
effect  of  my  words  is  known,  and  they  be  well  laughed  at  for 
their  learned  interpretation."  Sadler's  letters,  i.  48, 49.  Edin- 
burgh 1809,  In  the  Parliament  which  met  in  1543,  individuals 
among  the  nobility  and  other  lay  members  discovered  more 
knowledge  of  Greek,  in  a  debate  which  occurred,  than  all  the 
ecclesiastical  bench.  Knox,  Historic,  34.  Foreign  writers  have 
been  amused  with  the  information,  tliat  many  of  the  Scottish 
clergy  affirmed,  "  that  Martin  Luther  had  lately  composed  a 
wicked  book  called  the  New  Testament  ,•  but  that  they,  for  their 
part,  would  adhere  to  the  Old  Testament."  Perizonii  Hist 
Seculi  xvi.  p.  233.  Gerdesii  Histor.  Reform.  I'om.  iv.  p.  314. 
Buchanani  Oper.  i.  29 1 .  Ignorant  however  as  our  clergy  were, 
they  were  not  more  so  than  many  on  the  continent.  A  foreign 
monk,  declaiming  one  day  in  the  pulpit  against  Lutherans  and 
Zuinghans,  said  to  his  audience  :  "  A  new  language  was  inven- 
ted some  years  ago,  called  Greek,  which  has  been  the  mother 
of  all  heresies.  A  book  is  printed  in  this  language,  called  the 
New  Testament,  which  contains  many  dangerous  things.  An- 
other language  is  now  forming,  the  Hebrew  ;  whoever  learns  it 
immediately  becomes  a  Jew ."  No  wonder,  after  this,  that  the 
commissioners  of  the  senate  of  Lucem  should  have  confiscated 
the  works  of  Aristotle,  Plato,  and  some  of  the  Greek  poets, 
which  they  found  in  the  library  of  a  friend  of  Zuinglius,  con- 
cluding that  every  book  printed  in  that  language  must  be  infected 
with  Lutheranism.  J.  von  MuUers  Schw.  Gesch.  apud.  Hess, 
Life  of  UWch  Zuingle,  p.  213. 

To  return  to  the  seminary  at  Montrose :  it  was  kept  up,  by  the 
public  spirit  of  its  patron,  until  the  establishment  of  the  Refor- 
mation. Some  years  before  that  event,  tlie  celebrated  linguis* 
Andrew  Melville,  received  his  education  at  tliis  school,  under 
Pierre  de  Marsiliers,  a  Frenchman.  A  nd  he  had  made  such  pro- 
ficiency in  Greek,  when  he  entered  the  imiversity  of  St  Andrews, 
about  the  year  1559,  that  he  was  able  to  read  Aristotle  in  the 
original  language,  "  which  even  his  masters  themselves  under- 
stood not"  Life  of  Andrew  Melville,  p.  2.  in  Wodrow's  MSS, 
in  Bibl.  Coll.  Glas.  vol.  i.  Mr.  James  Melville's  Diary,  p.  32. 
For  although  the  logics,  ethics,  &c.  of  Aristotle  were  then  read 
in  the  colleges,  it  was  in  a  Latin  translation.  The  regent  of  St 
Leonard's  (says  James  Mehdlle)  '•  tauld  me  of  mj'  uncle  Mr. 
Andro  Mehill  whom  he  knew  in  the  tyme  of  his  cours  in  the 
new  collag,  to  use  the  Greik  logicks  of  Aristotle,  quhilk  was  a 
wounder  to  them,  he  was  so  fyne  a  scholar,  and  (Aac  expecta- 
tion."    MS.  Diaiy,  p.  25. 

By  the  First  Book  of  Discipline,  it  was  provided,  that  there 
should  "  be  a  reader  of  Greek"  in  one  of  the  colleges  of  each 
university,  who  "  shall  compleat  the  grammar  thereof  in  three 
months,"  and  "  shall  interpret  some  book  of  Plato,  together  with 
some  places  of  the  New  Testament,  and  shall  compleat  his  course 
the  same  year."  Dunlop's  confessions,  ii.  553,  The  small 
number  of  leametl  men,  deficiency  of  funds,  and  the  confusions 
in  which  the  country  was  afterwards  involved,  prevented,  in  a 
great  degree,  the  execution  of  this  wise  measure.  Owing  to  the 
last  of  these  circumstances,  some  learned  Scotsmen  devoted  their 
talents  to  the  service  of  foreign  seminaries,  instead  of  retiuming 
to  their  native  country.  Buchanani  Epist  p.  7,  9, 10,  33.  One 
of  these  was  Henry  Scrimger,  a  good  Grecian.  Some  particulars 
respecting  him  not  commonly  known,  may  be  seen  in  Senebier, 
Hist  Litter,  de  Geneve,  tom.  i.  art.  Scrimger.  See  also  Teis- 
sier, Eloges.  tom.  iii.  383 — 385.  Leidc,  1715.  On  accoimt 
of  the  scarcity  of  preachers  it  was  also  found  necessary  to 
settle  several  learned  men  in  towns  which  were  not  the  seat 
of  a  university.  Some  of  these  undertook  the  instruction  of  youth, 
along  with  the  pastoral  inspection  of  their  parishes.  John  Row 
taught  the  Greek  tongue  in  Perth.    Sec  Note  XXXIX.    The 


NOTES. 


143 


venerable  teacher,  Andrew  Simson,  (See  p.  22.)  does  not  appear 
to  have  been  capable  of  this  t;usk ;  but  he  was  careful  that  his  son 
Patrick  should  not  labour  under  the  same  defect  He  was 
sent  to  the  university  of  Cambridge,  in  whidi  he  made  great 
proficiency,  and  after  his  return  to  Scotland,  taught  Greek  at 
Spot,  a  village  in  East  Lothian,  where  he  was  minister  for  some 
time.  Row's  MS.  p.  96.  of  a  copy  in  the  Divinity  Lib.  Edin. 
It  is  reasonable  to  suppose,  that  this  branch  of  study  would  not 
be  neglected  at  St.  Andrews  during  the  time  that  Buchanan  was 
Principal  of  St.  Leonard's  College,  from  15G5  to  1570.  Patrick 
Adamson,  to  whom  he  demitted  his  office,  and  whom  he  recom- 
me?ided  for  his  "literature  and  sufficiency,"  (Buch.  Op.  i.  10.) 
was  not  then  in  the  kingdom ;  and  the  state  of  education  lan- 
guished for  some  time  in  that  university.  James  Melville,  who 
entered  it  in  1570,  gives  the  following  account.  "Our  Re- 
gent begoud,  and  teacheth  us  the  a,  b,  c,  of  the  Grcik,  and  the 
simple  declinationis,  but  went  no  fardcr."  MS.  Diary,  p.  26. 
GraBcum  est,  non  kgitur,  was  at  this  time  an  adage,  even  with 
persons  who  had  received  an  university-education.  Row's  MS. 
ut  supra. 

The  return  of  Andrew  Melville  in  1573  gave  a  new  impulse 
to  hterature  in  Scotland.  That  celebrated  scholar  had  perfected 
himself  in  the  knowledge  of  the  languages  during  the  nine  years 
which  he  spent  on  the  continent,  and  had  astonished  the  learned 
at  Geneva  by  the  fluency  with  which  he  read  and  spoke  Greek. 
MS.  Diary,  ut.  sup.  p.  33.  He  was  first  placed  principal  of  the 
university  of  Glasgow,  and  afterwards  removed  to  the  same  situ- 
ation in  St.  Andrews.  Such  was  his  celebrity,  that  he  attracted 
students  from  England  and  foreign  countries,  whereas  formerly 
it  had  been  the  custom  for  the  Scottish  youth  to  go  abroad  for 
their  education.  Spottiswood,  with  whom  he  was  no  favourite, 
and  Calderwood,  equally  bear  testimony  to  his  profound  know- 
ledge of  this  language.  Soon  after  Melville,  Thomas  Smeton, 
another  Greek  scholar,  returned  to  Scotland,  and  was  principal 
of  the  university  of  Glasgow.  I  may  mention  here,  although  it 
belongs  to  the  subject  of  typography,  that  there  appear  to  have 
been  neither  Greek  nor  Hebrew  types  in  this  country  prmted  ; 
when  Smeton's  Answer  to  Archibald  Hamilton  was  in  1579, 
for  blanks  are  left  for  all  the  phrases  and  quotations  in  these  lan- 
goages,  which  the  author  intended  to  introduce.  In  my  copy 
of  the  book  a  number  of  the  blanks  have  been  filled  up  with  a  pen. 


Rome:  I  think  it  unquestionable.  The  fact  is  attested  both  by 
Protestant  and  popish  writers.  Beza  says,  "  Cnoxus,  igitur,  (ut 
manifesto  appareat  totum  hoc  admirabile  Domini  opus  esse)  ad 
Joannis  illius  Major  is,  celebenimi  inter  Sophistas  nominis,  veluti 
pedes  in  Sanctandrece  oppido  educatus,  atque  adco  Sacerhos 
FACTcs,  appcrtaque  celebri  schola,  quum  jam  videretur  illo  suo 
praeceptore  nihil  inferior  Sophista  futurus,  lucem  tamen  in  tene- 
bris  et  sibi  ct  aliis  accendit."  Icones  lUustr.  Viror.  Ee.  iij.  Comp. 
Spottiswood's  History, p.  265.  I^ond.  1677.  Ninian  Wmget,  in 
certain  letters  sent  by  him  to  Knox  in  the  year  1561,  says,  "  Ye 
renunce  and  estemis  that  ordination  null  or  erar  wikit,  be  the 
quhilk  sumtyme  ye  war  callit  Schir  Johne."  And  again :  "  We 
can  persave,  be  your  awin  allegiance,  na  power  that  ever  ye  had, 
except  it  quhilk  was  ge\-in  to  you  in  the  sacrament  of  ordination, 
be  auctoritie  of  priesthed.  Quhilk  auctoritie  give  ye  esteme  as 
nochtis,  be  reasoun  it  was  gevin  to  you  (as  ye  speik)  by  ane  Pap- 
ist Bishope,"  &c.  Wenzet's  Lctteris  and  Tractatis,  apud  Keith, 
Append,  p.  212,  213,  Winget's  drift  was  to  prove,  that  Knox 
had  no  lawful  call  to  the  ministry ;  consequently,  he  would  not 
have  mentioned  his  popish  ordination,  if  the  fact  had  not  been 
notour  and  undeniable.  Nicol  Bume,  arguing  on  the  same  point, 
allows  that  ho  had  received  the  order  of  priesthood  from  the 
Romish  church.  Disputation  concerning  the  Controversit  Head- 
dis  of  Religion,  p.  128.  Paris  1581,  And  irt  a  scurrilous  poem 
against  the  ministers  of  Scotland,  printed  at  the  end  of  that 
book,  he  calls  him, 


Note  IV.  p,  22. 

Of  Major'' s  political  sentiments. — The  following  arc  some  of 
the  passages  from  which  the  account  of  these,  given  in  the  text 
has  been  drawn.  Similar  sentiments  occur  in  his  Histozy  of 
Scotland ;  but  as  it  has  been  insinuated  that  he,  in  that  work, 
merely  copied  Boece,  and  as  his  otlicr  writings  are  more  rarely 
consulted,  I  shall  quote  from  them, 

"  Ad  poUciam  regalem  non  requiritur  quod  rex  sit  supra  omnes 
sui  regni  tam  regulariter  quam  casualiter — sed  sat  est  quod  rex 
sit  supra  unumquamlibet,  et  supra  totum  regnum  regulariter,  et 
regnum  sit  supra  eum  casualiter  et  in  aliquo  eventu."  Again, 
"  Similiter  in  regno :  et  in  toto  populo  Ubero  est  suprcma  fonta- 
lis  potestas  inabrogabaUs ;  in  rege  vero  potestas  mysteiialis  [_rtiin- 
isterialis .?]  honesto  ministerio.  Et  sic  aliquo  modo  sunt  duo  po- 
testates  ;  sed  quia  una  ordinetur  propter  aliam,  potest  vocari  una 
effectualiter,  et  casu  quo  regnum  rex  in  tyrannidcm  convertat  et 
etiam  incorrigibilis,  potest  a  populo  deponi,  tanquam  a  superiore 
potestate."  Expos.  Matth.  fol.  71,  a,  c.  Paris.  1518.  To  tlie 
objection  urged  against  this  principle  from  tlae  metaphorical  de- 
signation of  Head  given  to  a  king,  ho  answers :  "  Non  est  omni- 
no  simile  inter  caput  vcrum  et  corpus  vcrum,  et  inter  caput  mys- 
ticum  et  corpus  mysticum.  Caput  vcrum  est  supra  reliquam  par- 
tem sui  corporis,  et  tamen  nego  regem  esse  majoris  potestatis 
quam  reliquam  partem  sui  regni,"  &c.  Ibid.  fol.  C2,  b,  "  Rex 
utilitatem  reipublicas  dissipans  et  evertens  incorrigibilis,  est  depo- 
nendus  a  communitatc  cui  praeest. — Rex  non  habet  robur  et 
auctoritatem  nisi  a  regno  cui  libere  praeest."  Ibid.  fol.  69.  c. 
Speaking  of  the  excision  of  a  corrupt  member  from  the  human 
body,  in  illustration  of  the  treatment  of  a  tyrant,  he  says :  "  Cum 
Ucentia  totius  corporis  veri  tollitur  hoc  membrum  ;  etiam  facul- 
tate  totius  corporis  mystici,  tu,  tamque  minister  comitatis,  potes 
hunc  tyrannum  occidere,  dum  est  licite  condcmpnatus."  Tert. 
Sentent,  fol,  139,  c,  d,     Paris.  I5I7. 


Note  V.  p.  23. 


that  fals  apostat  jarj'es^, 

Enemie  to  Christ,  and  mannis  salvatioun. 
Your  Maister  Knox. 

The  objection  of  the  Roman  Catholics  to  the  legality  of  our 
Reformer's  vocation,  was,  that  although  he  had  received  the 
power  of  orcfer, he  wanted  that  oi jurisdiction;  these  two  behig 
distinct,  according  to  the  canon-law.  "  The  power  of  ordere  is 
not  sufficient  to  anc  man  to  preache,  bot  he  man  have  also  juris- 
dictione  over  thame  to  whom  he  preaches.  Johann  Kmnox 
resavit  never  sic  jurisdictione  fra  the  Roman  kirk  to  preache  in 
the  realme  of  Scotland :  thairfoir  suppoise  he  receavit  from  it  the 
ordere  of  pnestheade,  yet  he  had  na  pouar  to  preache,  nor  to 
lauchfuUie  administrat  the  Sacramentes."  Nicol  Bume's  Dis- 
putation, ut  supra,  p.  128. 


itatcd 


Concerning  the  popish  ordination  of  Knox. — Some  have  hea- 
ted to  admit  that  Kn( 


uiox  was  in  priests  orders  in  the  church  of 


Note  VL  p.  24. 

Number  of  Scottish  monks. — We  have  no  good  Monaatioon 
of  Scotland ;  and  it  is  now  impossible  to  ascertain  the  exact  num- 
ber of  regular  clergy,  or  even  religious  houses  that  were  in  this 
country.  The  best  and  most  particular  account  of  the  introduc- 
tion of  tlie  different  monastic  orders  from  England  and  the  conti- 
nent is  contained  in  the  first  volume  of  Mr.  Chalmers's  Caledonia. 
Dr.  Jamieson,  in  his  history  of  the  ancient  Culdees,  lately  pub- 
lished, has  traced,  with  much  attention,  the  measures  pursued 
for  suppressing  the  ancient  monks,  to  make  way  for  the  new 
orders  wliich  were  immediately  dependent  upon  Rome.  In 
Spottiswood's  Account,  published  at  the  end  of  Keith's  catalogue 
of  Bishops,  170  religious  houses  are  enumerated;  but  his  ac- 
count is  defective.  Mr.  Dalyell,  upon  the  authority  of  a  MS. 
has  stated  the  number  of  the  monks  in  this  country  as  amount- 
ing only  to  11 14,  about  the  period  of  the  reformation.  Cursory 
Remarks  prefixed  to  Scottish  poems  of  (he  16th  century,  vol.  L 
p.  38, 39.  Edin.  1801.  Taking  the  nmnber  of  monasteries  ac- 
cording to  Spottiswood's  account,  this  would  allow  only  seven 
persons  to  each  house  on  an  average,  a  number  incredibly  small. 
It  vsdll  be  still  smaller,  if  we  suppose  that  there  were  260  relig- 
ious houses,  as  stated  by  Mr.  Dalyell  in  another  publication. 
Fragments  of  Scottish  History,  p.  11,  28,  In  the  year  1542, 
there  were  200  monks  in  Melrose  atone.  Ibid.  The  number 
in  Dunfermline  seems  to  have  varied  from  30  to  59.  Dalyell's 
Tract  on  Monastic  Antiquities,  p.  13.  And  Paisley,  Elgin,  and 
Arbroath,  were  not  inferior  to  it  in  their  endowments. 

In  general  it  may  be  observed,  that  the  passion  for  the  mo- 
nastic life  appears  not  to  have  been  on  the  increase  even  in  the 
early  part  of  the  1 6th  century.  But  if  we  would  form  an  esti- 
mate of  the  number  of  the  monks,  we  must  allow  for  a  great 
diminution  of  them  from  1538  to  1559.  During  that  period, 
many  of  them,  especially  the  yoimger  ones,  embraced  the  refor- 
med opinions,  and  deserted  the  convents.  Cald.  MS.  i.  97, 100, 
151.  When  the  monastery  of  the  Greyfriars  at  Perth  was 
destroyed  in  1559,  only  eight  monks  belonged  to  it.  Knox, 
Historic,  p.  128. 


144 


NOTES. 


Note  Vn.  p.  25. 

Of  the  corps-present. — This  was  a  forced  benevolence,  not 
dne  by  any  law,  or  canon  of  the  church,  at  least  in  Scotland. 
It  was  demanded  by  the  vicar,  and  seems  to  have  been  distinct 
from  the  ordinary  dues  exacted  for  the  interment  of  the  body, 
and  deUveremce  of  the  soul  from  purgatory.  This  perquisite 
consisted,  in  country  parishes,  of  the  best  cow  which  belonged 
to  the  deceased,  and  the  uppennost  cloth  or  covering  of  his  bed, 
or  the  finest  of  his  body  clotlies.  It  has  been  suggested,  tliat  it 
was  exacted  on  pretext  of  dues  which  the  person  might  have 
feiled  to  pay  during  his  life-time.  But  whatever  might  after- 
wards be  made  the  pretext,  I  think  it  most  probable  that  the 
clergy  bonowed  the  hint  from  the  perquisites  common  ui  feudal 
times.  The  "  cors-presant  kow"  answers  to  Ae  "  hereyield 
horse,"  which  was  paid  to  a  landlord  on  the  death  of  his  tenant. 
The  uppermost  cloth  seems  to  have  been  a  perquisite  belonging 
to  persons  occupying  different  offices.  When  Bishop  Lesly 
was  relieved  from  the  Tower  of  London,  a  demsuid  of  tiiis  kind 
■was  made  Upon  him.  "  The  gentleman-porter  of  the  Tower 
(says  he)  retained  my  satin  gown  as  due  to  him,  because  it  was 
my  uppermost-cloth  when  I  entered  in  the  Tower."  Negoci- 
ations,  apud  Anderson's  Collections,  iii.  247. 

The  corps-present  was  not  confined  to  Scotland.  We  find 
the  English  House  of  Commons  complaining  of  it,  anno  1530. 
Fox,  907.  edit.  1596.  It  was  exacted  with  gresit  rigour  in 
Scotland ;  and  if  any  vicar,  more  humane  than  the  rest,  passed 
from  the  demand,  he  gave  an  unpardonable  offence  to  his  breth- 
ren. Lindsay  of  Pitscottie's  Hist.  p.  151.  fol.  ed.  Edin.  1728. 
Fox,  1 153.  It  was  felt  as  a  vciy  galling  oppression,  and  is  often 
mentioned  with  indignation  in  the  writings  of  Sir  David  Lindsay. 

Schir,  be  quhat  law,  tell  me  quharefor,  or  why, 

That  ane  vickar  suld  tak  fra  me  three  ky  t 

Ane  for  my  father,  and  for  my  wyfe  ane  uther. 

And  the  third  cow  he  tuke  for  Maid  my  motlier. 

Thay  haif  na  law,  cxceptand  consuetude, 

Quhilk  law,  t  j  thame,  is  sufficient  and  gude. 

•  •••»» 

And  als  the  ^^car,  as  I  trow, 

He  wdll  nocht  faill  to  tak  ane  kow 

And  upmaist  claith,  thocht  babis  thame  ban, 

From  ane  puire  selie  husbandman  ; 

Quhen  that  he  lyis  for  til  de. 

Having  small  baimis  twa  or  thre. 

And  hes  thre  ky  withoutin  mo, 

The  vicar  must  have  ane  of  tho. 

With  the  gray  cloke  that  happis  the  bed 

Howbeit  that  he  be  purclye  cled  ; 

And  gif  the  wyfe  de  on  the  mome, 

Thocht  all  the  babis  suld  be  forlorne, 

The  uther  kow  he  cleikis  away. 

With  liir  pure  cote  of  roplock  gray ; 

And  gif,  within  twa  days  or  thre, 

The  eldest  chyld  hapnis  to  de. 

Of  the  thrid  kow  he  will  be  sure. 

Quhen  he  his  all  then  under  his  cure, 

And  father  and  mother  baith  ar  deid. 

Beg  mon  the  babis,  without  remeid. 

Chalmers's  Lindsay,  ii.  7,  8.  iii.  105. 

When  the  alarming  progress  of  the  new  opinions  threatened 
the  overthrow  of  the  whole  establishment,  the  clergy  professed 
themselves  willing  to  remit,  or  at  least  to  moderate,  this  shame- 
ful tribute.  But  they  did  not  make  this  concession,  until  a 
remonstrance  on  the  subject  was  presented  by  a  number  of 
persons  who  were  attached  to  the  Roman  CatlioUc  faitli.  This 
Remonstrance  was  laid  before  the  Provincial  Council  in  1558-9, 
and  contains  the  following  article,  which  serves  to  corroborate 
tlie  strong  statement  which  the  poet  has  given  of  the  rigour  of 
the  clergy  in  extorting  these  benevolences.  "  Item,  Because 
yat  ye  corps  presentes,  kow,  and  finest  claith,  and  the  silver 
commonlie  callit  the  kirk  ritchts,  and  Pa.sch  offrands,  quhilk  is 
taldn  at  Pasch  fra  men  and  women  for  distribution  of  ye  sacra- 
ments of  ye  blessit  l)ody  and  blud  of  .Tesus  Christ,  were  at  ye 
beginning  but  as  offmnds  and  gifts,  at  the  discretion  and  bene- 
volence of  the  givar  only  ;  and  now  be  distance  of  tym,ye  kirk- 
mcn  usis  to  compell  men  to  ye  paying  yarof  be  authoiity  and 
jurisdiction,  sua  that  yai  will  not  only  fulminat  yar  sentence  of 
cursing,  but  als  stop  and  debar  men  and  women  to  cum  to  ye 
reddy  using  of  ye  sacraments  of  haly  kirk,  quliile  yai  be  satisfiet 
yarof,  with  all  rigour ;  quhilk  thing  has  na  ground  of  ye  law  of 
God,  nor  halie  kirk,  and  als  is  veray  sclandrous,  and  givis  occasion, 


to  the  puir  to  mturmur  gretymly  againes  ye  state  ecclesiastick  for 
the  doing  of  ye  premissis ;  and  therefore  it  is  thocht  expedient 
yat  ane  reformation  be  maid  of  ye  premissis,  and  that  sick  things 
be  na  mair  usit  in  tymes  to  cum  witliin  this  realm,  at  ye  lest  yat 
na  man  be  compelUt  be  authority  of  haly  kirk  t(?  pay  ye  prem- 
issis :  but  yat  it  shall  only  rcmane  in  the  free  will  of  the  giver  to 
gif  and  offir  sic  things  be  way  of  ahnons,  and  for  uphalding  of 
ye  priests  and  ministers  of  Uie  halie  kirk,  as  his  conscience  and 
charitie  moves  him  to :  and  quhair  ye  curatis  and  ministers 
forsaids,  hes  not  eneuch  of  yar  sustentation  by  the  saids  kirk 
ritchts,  that  ye  ordmares  every  man  within  his  awm  diocesie 
take  order,  that  the  persons  and  uplifters  of  ye  uther  deutys 
perteuiing  to  tlie  kirk,  contributs  to  yar  sustentation  effeirindhe." 
Wilkins,  Concilia  Magnae  BritamiisE,  Tom.  iv.  p.  208. 

Upon  this,  the  council  came  to  the  following  curious  resolu- 
tion on  the  subject :  That,  to  "take  away  the  murmurs  of  those 
who  spoke  agamst  mortuaries,"  when  any  person  died,  his  goods, 
after  paying  his  debts,  should  be  divided  into  due  portions  (debi- 
tas  partes),  and  if  the  deaiVspart, "  defuncti  pars,"  [See  Note  23.] 
did  not  exceed  ten  pounds  Scots,  the  vicar  should  compound  for 
liis  mortuary  and  uppermost  cloth  by  taking  forty  shillings;  if  it 
was  under  ten  pounds,  and  not  below  twenty  shilhngs,  that  he 
should  compound  according  to  the  above  proportion,  (pro  rata 
quadraginta  solidorum  de  decern  hbris)  ;  but  if  it  was  under 
twenty  shillings,  that  the  vicar  should  make  no  demand.  With 
respect  to  barons  and  burgesses,  and  all  persons  whose  portion 
exceeded  ten  pounds  ;  the  old  custom  was  to  remam  in  force ; 
and  tlie  ordinary  remedy  was  to  be  used  against  those  who 
should  make  wrong  inventaries ;  L  e.  they  should  be  subject  to 
excommunication  and  its  penalties. — With  respect  to  the  pasch- 
offerings,  and  small  tithes,  the  council  decreed,  that  "  for  avoid- 
ing popular  murmur,  especially  at  the  time  of  Easter,"  the  vicars 
should  a  little  before  Lent,  in  the  month  of  February,  settle  (or, 
make  an  estimate,  rationem  ineant)  with  their  parishioners  for 
their  small  tithes,  both  personal  and  mixed,  and  also  for  other 
offerings  due  to  the  church,  (aliis  quoque  oblationibus  ecclesiffl 
debitis),  and  that  there  should  be  no  exactions  dming  Easter, 
although  spontaneous  oblations  might  still  be  received  at  that 
time.  Can.  Concil.  21.  and  32.  apud  Wilkins,  Concil.  ut 
supra,  p.  214,  216. 

It  appears  from  tliis,  how  very  cautious  the  clergy  were  in 
their  plans  of  reform,  and  how  eagerly  they  clung  to  the  most 
illegal  and  invidious  claims,  even  at  the  very  time  when  they 
were  in  the  utmost  danger  of  being  deprived  of  all  their  usurped 
prerogatives  and  possessions.  Lord  Hailes's  words  need  ex- 
plication, when  he  says  that  "  the  32d  canon  (of  this  coiuicil) 
abolishes  oblations  at  Easter."     Provincial  Councils,  p.  40. 

I  need  scarcely  add,  that  all  these  exactions  were  abolished  at 
the  establishment  of  the  reformation.  "  The  uppermost  claith, 
corps-present,  clerk-maile,  the  pasche-oflering,  teind-aile,  and  all" 
handlings  upaland,  can  neither  be  required  nor  received  of  good 
conscience."  First  book  of  Discipline,  p.  48.  printed  Aimo 
1621.    Dimlop's  Confessions,  ii.  563. 

Note  Vm.  p.  27. 

Additional  particulars  concemine  Scottish  Martyrs. — We 
are  indebted  to  John  Fox,  the  industrious  English  martyrologist, 
for  the  greater  part  of  the  facts  respecting  our  countrj-mcn  who 
suffered  for  the  reformed  doctrine.  John  Davidson,  minister 
of  Prestonpans,  composed,  in  Latin,  an  account  of  Scottish  mar- 
tyrs, which,  if  it  had  been  preserved,  would  have  furnished  us 
witli  more  full  information  respecting  them.  Calderwood,  how- 
ever, had  the  use  of  it  when  he  compiled  liis  historj'.  A  late 
author  has  said,  that  "  most  of  those  martyred  seem  to  have 
been  weak  illiterate  men  ;  nay  they  appear  even  to  have  been 
deficient  in  hitellect."  Cursory  Remarks,  prefixed  to  Scottish 
Poems  of  16th  century,  i.  24.  I  must  take  it  for  granted,  that 
this  author  had  not  in  liis  eye  Patrick  Hamilton,  whose  vigor- 
ous understanding  discovered  truth  in  tfie  midst  of  darluiess 
worse  than  Cimmerian,  who  obtained  the  praises  of  Luther, 
Melancthon,  and  Lambert  of  Avignon,  and  of  whom  a  modem 
historian  has  said  that  he  received  "  the  eternal  fame  of  being 
tlie  proto-martyr  of  the  freedom  of  the  human  mind."  Nor 
George  Wishart,  whose  learnhig,  fortitude,  and  mild  lienevo- 
lence,  have  been  celebrated  by  writers  of  every  descrijition. 
But  even  among  those  who  suflered  from  Hamilton  to  Wishart, 
there  was  scarcely  one  who  was  not  abdve  tlie  ordinarj-  class, 
botli  as  to  talents  and  learning. 

Henry  Forrest,  who  suffered  at  St  Andrews  in  1530,  for 
possessing  a  copy  of  the  New  Testament,  and  affirming  tliat 
Patrick  Hamilton  was  a  true  martyr,  had  been,  though  a  young 


N  O  T  E  S. 


145 


man,  Invested  with  tlie  orders  of  Bennet  and  Colct.  Fox,  895. 
Knox,  19.  Spottis.  65.  David  Straiton  was  a  gentleman,  and 
brother  to  the  laird  of  Lauriston.  He  was  instructed  in  the 
Protestant  principles  by  John  Erskine  of  Dun,  who  had  newly 
arrived  from  his  travels.  In  1534,  he  was  committed  to  the 
flames  at  Greenside,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Edinburgh.  His 
fellow  sufferer, Norman  Gourlay,  was  in  secular  orders, and  "a 
man  of  reasonabell  eruditioun."  He  had  been  abroad,  and  had 
married  upon  his  return,  wliich  was  tlie  chief  olience  for  whicli 
he  suffered.  "  For  (says  Pitscottie)  they  would  thole  no  priest 
to  marry,  but  they  would  punish,  and  bum  him  to  the  dead  ; 
but  if  he  had  used  then  ten  thousand  whores,  he  had  not  been 
burnt."  History,  p.  150,  152.  Fox,  896.  Knox,  21,  22. 
Spottiswood,  66,  In  1538,  two  yovmg  men  of  tlie  most  inter- 
esimg  characters  suffered,  with  the  greatest  heroism,  at  Glasgow. 
The  one  was  Jerom  Russel,  a  cordelier  friar,  "  a  young  man  of 
a  meek  nature,  quick  spirit,  and  of  good  letteris ;"  the  other  was 
a  young  gentleman  of  the  name  of  Kemiedy,  only  eighteen 
years  of  age,  and  "  of  excellent  ingyne  for  Scottische  poctiy." 
Knox,  22.  Spottis.  67.  Keith,  9.  During  the  same  year, 
five  persons  were  burned  on  the  Castlehill  of  Edinburgh  : 
Robert  Forrester  was  a  gentleman ;  Sir  Duncan  Simpson*  was 
a  secular  priest ;  Bevcridge  and  Kyllor  were  friars.  The  last 
of  these  had,  (according  to  tlie  custom  of  the  times)  composed 
a  tragedy  on  the  ciiicifixion  of  Christ,  in  which  he  painted,  in 
a  very  hvely  manner,  the  conduct  of  the  popish  clergy,  under 
that  of  the  Jewish  priests.     Ut  supra. 

The  other  person  who  suffered  at  the  same  time  was  Thom- 
as Forrest,  commonly  called  the  Vicar  of  Dollar.  I  shall  add 
some  particulars  respecting  this  excellent  man,  which  are 
not  to  be  found  in  the  common  histories.  He  was  of  the 
house  of  Forret,  or  Forest,  in  Fife,  and  liis  father  had  been  mas- 
ter-stabler to  James  IV.  After  acquiring  the  rudiments  of 
grammar  in  Scotland,  he  was  sent  abroad  by  the  kindness  of  a 
rich  lady,  and  prosecuted  his  education  at  Cologne.  Return- 
ing to  his  native  country,  he  was  admitted  a  canon  regular  in 
the  monastery  of  St.  Cohn's  Inch.  It  hapj^ened  that  a  dispute 
arose  between  the  abbot  and  the  Canons,  respecting  the  allow- 
ance due  to  them,  and  the  latter  got  the  book  of  foundation  to 
exarame  into  their  rights.  The  abbot,  with  the  view  of  mdu- 
cing  them  to  part  with  this,  gave  them  a  volume  of  Augustine's 
works,  wliich  was  in  the  monastery.  "  O  happy  and  blessed 
was  that  book  to  me  (did  Forrest  often  say  afterwards)  by  which 
I  came  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth !"  He  then  applied  him- 
self to  the  reading  of  tlie  scriptures.  He  converted  a  nnniber 
of  the  young  canons  :  "but  the  old  bottles  (he  used  to  say), 
would  not  receive  the  new  wine."  The  abbot  frequently  ad- 
vised him  to  keep  his  mind  to  himself,  else  he  would  incur 
punishment.  "  I  thank  you,  my  lord,  (was-  his  answer)  ye  are 
a  friend  to  my  body,  but  not  to  my  soul."  He  was  afterwards 
admitted  to  the  vicarage  of  Dollar,  in  which  situation  he  ren- 
dered himself  obnoxious  to  his  brethren,  by  his  diligence  in 
instructing  liis  parish,  and  his  benevolence  in  frecuig  them 
from  oppressive  exactions.  When  the  agents  of  the  pope  came 
into  his  bounds  to  sell  indulgences,  he  said,  "  Parishioners,  I 
am  bound  to  speak  the  truth  to  you :  this  is  but  to  deceive  you. 
There  is  no  pardon  for  our  sins  that  can  come  to  us,  cither 
from  pope  or  any  other,  but  only  by  the  blood  of  Christ."  He 
composed  a  short  catechism.  It  was  his  custom  to  rise  at  six 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  study  till  mid-day.  He  committed 
tluree  chapters  of  the  Bible  to  memory  every  day,  and  made  his 
servant  hear  him  repeat  them  at  night.  He  was  often  sum- 
moned before  the  bishops  of  Dunkeld  and  St.  Andrews.  These 
facts  were  communicated  by  his  servant  Andrew  Kirkic,  in  a 
lettei  to  John  Davidson,  who  mst^rted  them  in  his  accoxmt  of 
Scottish  martyrs.     Cald.  MS.  L  99,  100,  151, 

An  amusing  account  of  the  vicar's  examination  before  the 
bishop  of  Dunkeld  may  be  seen  in  Fox,  1153  ;  and  an  inter- 
esting account  of  his  trial,  hi  Pitscottie,  150 — 152.  But  both 
these  authors  are  wrong  as  to  the  time  of  his  martyrdom,  the 
latter  placing  it  in  1530,  and  the  former  in  1.540,  instead  of 
1538.  Fox  says,  that  three  or  four  men  of  Sterling  suffered 
death  at  tlie  same  time,  because  they  were  present  at  the  mar- 
riage of  "  the  vicar  of  Twybodye,  (TuHybody)  near  Stirhng, 
and  did  eat  flesh  in  lent,  at  the  said  bridal,"  p.  1154. 

Note  IX.  p.  27. 

Exiles  from  Scotland. — I  shall,  in  this  note,  mention  a  few 
facts  respecting  those  eminent  men  who  were  obhged  to  forsake 


*  &r,  wai  a  title  given  to  priests.    Spottis.  95. 
T 


their  native  country,  at  an  early  period,  in  consequence  of 
having  expressed  sentiments  favourable  to  the  Reformation. 

Gawin  Louie,  who,  in  his  important  station  of  rector  of  St. 
Leonard's  College,  was  so  useful  in  spreading  the  reformed 
doctrine,  drew  upon  himself  the  jealousy  of  the  clergy.  More 
decided  in  his  sentiments,  and  more  avowed  in  his  censure  of 
the  prevailing  abuses,  than  the  sub-prior  of  the  abbey  (who 
maintained  his  situation  mitil  the  establishment  of  the  reforma- 
tion), liOgie  found  it  necessary  to  consult  his  safety  by  leaving 
the  country  in  1533.  Cald.  MS.  i.  82.  I  have  not  seen  any 
notice  taken  of  him  after  this.  Robert  Logic,  a  kinsman  of 
his,  was  a  canon  regular  of  Cambuskenneth,  and  employed  in 
instructing  the  noviciates.  Having  embraced  the  reformed 
sentiments,  he,  in  1538,  fled  into  England,  and  became  a 
preacher  there.  Thomas  Cockluw,  parish  priest  of  Tullibody, 
seems  to  have  accompanied  him,  and  was  also  employed  as  a 
preacher  in  England.     Ibid.  p.  97. 

Akxander  Seafoun  was  confessor  to  James  V.  The  cause 
of  his  flight  from  Scotland,  his  letter  to  the  king,  and  his  retir- 
ing to  England,  are  recorded  in  our  common  histories.  Fox, 
(p.  1000.)  informs  us  that  he  was  accused  of  heresy  before  Gar- 
diner, bishop  of  Winchester,  in  1541,  and  induced  to  recant 
certain  articles  which  he  had  preached.  Spottiswood  (p.  65.) 
speiiks  of  "  the  treatises  he  left  behind  him,"  and  among  others 
"  his  examination  by  Gardiner  and  Bonner,"  from  which  it 
appears  that  "he  never  denied  any  point  which  formerly 
he  tiiught."  Fox  had  not  seen  this.  We  learn  from  another 
quarter,  that  after  his  trial  he  continued  to  preach  the  truths 
ofwhichhehad  been  accused.  Bale  mentions  "  Processum 
suffi  exaniinationis"  among  his  works,  and  says,  that  he  died 
in  the  family  of  Charles  Brandon,  Duke  of  Suffolk,  who  re- 
tained him  as  his  chaplain.  He  places  his  death  in  1542. 
Balei  Script.  Brjtan.  post,  pars,  p.  224. 

Alexandir  Ak^s  was  a  canon  of  the  metropolitan  church  of 
St,  Andrews.  His  conversion  to  the  protestant  faith  was  very 
singular.  Being  a  young  man  of  quick  parts,  and  well  versed 
in  scholastic  theology,  and  having  studied  tlie  Lutheran  con- 
troversy, he  undertook  to  reclaim  Patrick  Hamilton  from  heresy, 
and  held  several  conferences  with  him  for  this  purpose.  But 
instead  of  making  a  convert  of  Hamilton,  he  was  himself  stag- 
gered by  the  reasoning  of  that  gentleman.  His  doubts  were 
greatly  strengthened  by  the  constancy  with  which  he  saw  the 
martyr  adhere  to  his  sentiments  to  the  last,  amidst  the  scorn, 
rage,  and  cruelty  of  his  enemies.  Alesii  Proefat.  Comment,  in 
Joannem,  Jacobi  Thomasii  Oratio  de  Alex,  Alesio,  Lipsise, 
1083,  apud  Bayle,  Dictionnairc,  Art,  Ales.  A  short  time  after, 
he  delivered  a  Latin  oration  before  an  ecclesiastical  synod,  in 
which  he  censured  the  vices  of  the  clergy  and  exhorted  them 
to  diligence  and  a  godly  life.  This  was  enough  to  bring  him 
under  the  suspicion  of  heresy,  and  he  was  thrown  into  prison, 
from  which  after  a  year's  confinement,  he  made  his  escape, 
and,  getting  into  a  vessel  which  lay  on  the  coast,  eluded  his 
persecutor*.  He  escaped  in  1532.  Cald.  MS.  i.  76.  On  leaving 
ins  native  country,  Aless  went  to  Germany,  where  he  was 
virulently  attacked  by  Cochteus,  whom  the  Scots  bishops  hired 
to  abuse  him.  On  the  invitation  of  Jjord  Cromwell  and  Arch- 
bishop Cranrner,  he  came  to  England  in  1535,  and  was  ap- 
pointed Professor  of  Theology  in  the  university  of  Cambridge. 
But  he  had  scarcely  commenced  his  lectures,  when  the  patrons 
of  poperj'  excited  such  opposition  to  him,  that  he  resolved  to 
relinquish  his  situation.  Having  at  a  former  period  of  his  life 
applied  to  medical  studies,  he  went  to  Dr.  Nicol,  a  celebrated 
physician  in  London,  and  after  remaining  with  him  for  some 
years,  commenced  practice,  not  without  success.  In  1537 
Lord  Cromwell  having  met  him  one  day  accidentally  on  the 
street,  carried  him  along  with  him  to  the  Convocation,  and 
persuaded  him  to  engage,  without  any  preparation,  in  a 
Dispute  with  the  Bishop  of  liOndon  on  the  subject  of  the 
sacraments  ;  of  which  Aless  has  given  a  particular  accoujit  in 
one  of  his  publications.  De  Authoriiaie  Verbi  Dei  Liber 
Alexandri  Alesi,  contra  Episcopum  Lundensem,  p.  13 — 31. 
Argentorati,  apud  Cratonem  Myl'iiim  An.  M.D.XLIL  Hen- 
ry VIII.  used  to  call  Aless  Ids  scholar;  and  Archbishop  Parker 
calls  him,  vinim  in  theologia perductum.  In  1540,  he  return- 
ed to  Germany,  and  was  made  professor  of  Divinity  at  Leipsic. 
He  assisted  at  a  public  conference  between  the  Roman  Catholics 
and  protestants ;  wrote  many  books  which  were  much  esteem- 
ed; and  was  alive  in  1557.  Strype's  Cranrner,  p.  402,  403. 
Bayle,  Diet,  ut  supra.  Bishop  Bale  was  personally  acquainted 
with  him,  and  has  enumerated  his  works,  ut  supra,  p,  176, 

John  Fife  also  fled  from  St.  Andrews,  accompanied  Aless  to 
Germany,  and  shared  hi  his  honours  at  Ijeipsic,  He  returned 
10 


146 


NOTES. 


to  Scotland,  acted  as  a  minister,  and  died  at  St  Leonards,  soon 
after  the  establishment  of  tlie  Reformation,  Cald.  MS.  i.  78. 
Knox.  20.     Strj-pe's  Cranmer,  403. 

John  M'Bee,  known  on  the  continent  by  the  name  of  Dr. 
Macabxus,  fled  to  England  in  1532,  and  was  entertained  by 
Bishop  Shaxton.  He  afterwards  retired  to  Denmai-k,  and  was 
of  great  use  to  Christian  III.  in  the  settlement  of  the  reformed 
religion  in  his  dominions.  He  was  made  a  professor  in  the  uni- 
versity of  Copenhagen.  Gerdesii  Histona  Evang.  Renovat  iii. 
417—425.  The  Danish  monarch  held  him  in  great  esteem, 
and,  at  his  request,  wrote  to  queen  Mary  of  England,  in  behalf 
of  his  brother-in-law,  Miles  Coverdale,  Bishop  of  Exeter,  and 
the  venerable  translator  of  the  bible,  who  was  released  from 
prison  through  his  importvmity.  Bale,  ut  supra,  p.  226.  Fox, 
1390.  Maccabaeus  was  acquainted  with  the  Danish  and  Ger- 
man languages,  and  assisted  in  the  translation  of  tlie  Bible  into 
Danish  (according  to  Luther's  first  Gennan  translation),  which 
was  printed  in  folio  at  Copenhagen,  in  1550,  by  Ludov.  Diest, 
accompanied  with  a  marginal  index,  parallel  places,  and  plates. 
Maittaire,  apud  Chalmers's  Lindsay,  i.  82.  Gerdes.  Hist  Tom. 
iiL  Pragfatio,  *  *  3.  An  edition  of  Lindsay's  "  Monarcliie" 
bears  on  the  title-page  that  it  was  "  imprintit  at  tlie  command 
and  expensis  off  Dr.  Machabaeus,  in  Capmanhouin."  But  the 
editor  of  Lindsay  insists  that  this  is  "  a  deceptious  title-page. 
Ut  supra.  80,  81.  That  Maccabaeus  was  alive  in  1557  appears 
from  the  following  passage  of  a  Danish  literary  work :  "  In 
feicultate  Theologica,  Doctores  creati  sequentes  in  Academia 
Hafniae  A°.  1557,  a  D.  Joh.  Maccabeo,  M.  Nic.  Hemmingius 
Theolog.  Professor,"  dtc.  Albert  Thura,  Idea  Histor.  Literar. 
Danorum,  p.  333.  Hamburgi,  1723.  This  writer  (p.  274.) 
mentions  "  Annot  in  Matthceum"  as  written  by  hiin,  but  does 
not  say  whether  it  was  a  MS.  or  a  printed  book.  Bale  men- 
tions another  work  of  liis,  entitled  De  vera  et  falsa  Rciigimie. 
Ut  supra,  p.  226.  Those  who  have  access  to  the  Bibliotheca 
Danica  will  find  some  of  his  writings  inserted  in  that  work. 
Part  V.  and  viii.     Gerdes,  iii.  417.^ 

We  learn  from  Bale,  that  Maccabaeus  was  well-bom  ("  prae- 
clara  familia,")  and  that,  having  discovered  from  his  infancy  a 
strong  propensity  to  learnijig,  his  parents  provided  him  with 
the  best  teachers.  But  I  have  an  additionsd  piece  of  informa- 
tion to  communicate  wliich  cannot  fail  to  be  gratifying  to  some 
readers.  The  proper  name  of  tliis  divine  was  neither  Macca- 
baeus nor  M'Bee,  but  Macalpine,  and  he  belonged  to  the  noble 
and  celebrated  Clan  Alpine  \  In  what  degree  of  kindred  he 
stood  to  the  noted  "  Roderigh  Vich  Alpine  dhu,"  and  whether 
he  was  obliged  to  change  his  name  on  account  of  the  outrage 
which  caused  that  chieftain  and  his  whole  clan  to  be  proclaim- 
ed rebels,  I  cannot  determine,  as  I  have  met  with  no  northern 
Scald,  or  Gaelish  bard,  who  has  touched  on  these  circumstances. 
But  the  following  are  my  authorities  for  the  statement  which 
I  have  given.  "  Ad  docendas  sacras  Uteras  accersivit  [Daniae 
Rex)  Johannem  Maccabaeum,  proprio  nomine  Macalpinum, 
Scotum,  virum  doctrina  et  pietate  gravem,  Regique  ac  bonis 
omnibus  modestia  longe  carissimum."  Vinding.  Descript 
Acad.  Hafniae,  p.  71 — 73.  "  Rcliquerat  is,  qui  ex  nubili  anti- 
qua  Macalpinorum  in  Scotiajamilia  ortvun  trahebat,  Religionis 
ergo  Scotiam,  et  migraverat  Witebergam,  atque  ibi  cum  Luthe- 
ro  et  Melanchthone,  familiaritatem  contraxerat,  unde  Hafhiam 
vocatus  Academiae  praefuit  per  aimes  sedecim,  mortuus  d.  6. 
Decemb.  1557."  Gerdes.  iiL  p.  417.  See  also  Verses  on 
Maccabaeus  in  Supplement 

Macdowal  repaired  to  Holland,  and  was  so  much  esteemed, 
that  he  was  raised,  though  a  stranger,  to  the  chief  magistracy 
in  one  of  its  boroughs.     Knox,  20. 

John  Mackbray,  or  Mackbrair,  a  gentleman  of  Galloway, 
fled  to  England  about  1538,  and  at  the  death  of  Edward  VI. 
retired  to  Frankfort,  where  he  preached  to  the  EngUsh  congre- 
gation. Troubles  at  Frankfbrd,  p..  13, 20, 25.  Spottiswood,  97. 
He  afterwards  became  pastor  of  a  congregation  in  Lower  Ger- 
many, and  wrote  an  accovmt  of  the  formation  and  progress  of 
that  church.  Balei  Scriptores  M.  Brytan.  p.  229.  On  the 
accession  of  Elizabeth,  he  returned  to  England,  and  officiated 
as  a  preacher  in  that  country.  He  is  called  "  an  eminent 
exile,"  in  Strjrpe's  Annals,  i.  130.  Grindid.  p.  26.  On  the  13th 
of  November  1568,  he  was  inducted  to  the  vicarage  of  St  Ni- 
cholas, in  Newcastle,  and  was  buried  there  on  November  16. 
1584.  Dr.  Jackson  complains  that  "  Mackbray,  Knox,  and 
Udale  had  sown  their  tares  in  Newcastle."  Hcylin  speaks  in 
the  same  strain.  Brand's  Hist  of  Newcastle,  p.  303.  Bale, 
(p.  229,  )  mentions  several  works  of  Mackbray,  and  says  that 
he  "  wrote  elegantly  in  Latin."  Spottiswood  also  mentions 
some  of  his  works.    Ut  supra. 


The  causes  o{  Buchanan^ s  imprisonment  and  escape  from 
Scotland,  and  his  reception  and  employments  on  the  continent, 
may  be  found  in  other  publications  which  sire  accessible  to  the 
reader.  See  Irving's  Alemoirs  of  Buchanan,  and  Chalmers's 
Life  of  Ruddiman.  Some  facts  ■which  have  not  been  fully 
stated  by  his  biographers  will  be  found  in  a  subsequent  part 
of  this  work. 

James  Harrison  was  a  native  of  the  south  of  Scotland,  and 
liberally  educated,  says  Bale.  He  seems  to  have  gone  to  Eng- 
land at  a  period  somewhat  later  than  the  others  mentioned  in 
this  note.  He  wrote  a  treatise  De  reg-norum  ttnione,  in  which 
he  warmly  recommended  to  his  countrymen  the  advantages  of 
an  union  with  England.  It  was  dedicated  to  the  Duke  of 
Somerset,  in  1547.  Bale  (p.  225.)  gives  the  first  words  of  it, 
Comminisceiis,  ut  soleo  per  odum  ;  and  calls  it  "elegans  ac 
mellitum  opus." 

Robert  Richardson  was  a  canon  of  the  monastery  of  Cam- 
buskcnneth,  and  fled  to  England  in  1538.  Cald.  MS.  i.  97. 
I  suppose  this  to  be  the  same  person  who  is  called  "  Sir  Robert 
Richardson,  priest,"  in  Sadler's  Letters.  He  was  sent  into 
Scotland  in  1543,  by  Henry  VIII.  with  a  recommendation  to 
the  regent  Arran,  who  employed  him  in  preaching  through  the 
kingdom,  along  with  Guillaume  and  Rough.  When  the  re- 
gent apostatized  from  the  reformed  cause,  he  withdrew  his 
protection  from  Richardson,  who  was  obliged  to  flee  a  second 
time  into  England,  to  escape  the  cardinal's  persecution.  Sad- 
ler's State  papers,  L  210,  217,  344. 

Note  X.  p.  27. 

Influence  of  poetry  inpromoting  the  Reformation. — As  the 
influence  which  the  poets  and  satirists  of  the  age  had  upon  the 
Reformation  is  a  subject  which  is  curious  in  itself,  and  to 
which  httle  attention  has  been  paid,  the  following  illustrations 
of  what  has  been  generally  stated  in  the  text  may  not  be  unac- 
ceptable to  some  readers.  Dante,  Petrarch,  Boccacio,  and 
other  Italian  writers,  bj'  descanting  upon  the  ambition,  luxury, 
aind  scandalous  manners  of  the  clergy,  had  contributed  greatly 
to  lessen  the  veneration  in  which  they  had  been  long  held,  and 
to  produce  in  the  minds  of  men  a  conviction  of  the  necessity 
of  a  reformation.  "  There  was  (says  John  Gerson,  Chancellor 
of  the  University  of  Paris)  one  called  Johannes  Meldinensis 
who  wrote  a  book  called  The  Romaunt  of  the  Rose,  which 
book,  if  I  only  had,  and  that  there  were  no  more  in  the  world, 
I  would  rather  bum  it  than  take  five  himdred  pounds  for  tlie 
same,  and  if  I  thought  the  author  thereof  did  not  repent  of  that 
book  before  he  died,  I  would  no  more  pray  for  him,  than  I 
would  for  Judas  that  betrayed  Christ"  Catal.  MSS.  in  Adv. 
Lib.  The  writings  of  Chaucer,  and  especially  those  of  Lang- 
land,  had  the  same  effect  in  England.  When  the  reUgious 
struggle  had  actually  commenced,  and  became  hot,  a  diversion, 
by  no  means  inconsiderable,  was  made  in  favour  of  the  reform- 
ers by  the  satirists  and  poets  of  the  age.  A  pantomime,  intended 
to  degrade  the  comt  of  Rome  and  the  clergy,  was  acted  before 
Charles  V.  at  the  Augustan  assembly.  Lud.  Fabricius  de  ludis 
scenicis,  p.  231.  Gerdesii  Historia  Evangel.  Renovat  torn.  ii. 
Docum.  No.  7.  p.  48.  In  1524,  a  tragedy  was  acted  at  Paris, 
in  the  presence  of  Francis  I.  in  which  the  success  of  I^uther 
was  represented,  and  the  pope  and  cardinals  were  ridiculed,  by 
kindling  a  fire  which  all  their  effoi-ts  could  not  extinguish. 
Jacob.  Burchard.  de  Vita  Llrici  Hutteni.  Pars.  ii.  293.  pars 
iii.  p.  296.  see  also  Gerdes.  iv.  315.  As  late  as  1561,  the  pope's 
ambassador  complained  to  the  queen  mother  of  France,  that 
the  young  king,  Charles  LX".  had  assisted  at  a  shew, in  which  he 
had  coimterfeited  a  friar.  Letters  of  the  cardinal  de  St  Croir, 
prefixed  to  Aymons,  Synodes  Nationaux  de  France,  tom.  i.  p. 
7 — 11.  In  Switzerland,  Nic.  Manuel  WTote  certain  comedies 
of  this  description  in  the  year  1522,  which  were  published 
under  the  title  oi Fastnachts  Spielcn,  at  Berne,  in  1525.  Ger- 
des. ii.  451.  There  were  similar  compositions  in  Holland. 
Brand's  Hist  of  the  Reformation,  i.  127.  128.  Lond.  1720. 
And  also  in  England.     Burnet's  Hist  of  the  Reform,  i.  318. 

In  Scotland,  the  same  weapons  were  employed  in  attacking 
the  church.  The  first  protestant  books  circulated  in  Scotland 
came  chiefly  from  England.  Mr.  Chalmers  has  mentioned 
"  the  very  first  reforming  treatise  which  was,  probably,  written 
in  Scotland,"  compiled  by  "  Johne  Gau,"  and  printed  at  Mal- 
moe  in  Sweden,  anno  1533.  We  would  have  been  still  more 
obliged  to  the  learned  author,  if  he  had  given  us  some  idea  of 
its  contents,  instead  of  dismissing  it  with  the  flourish,  "  Had  all 
been  like  this !"  wliich,  whether  he  meant  to  apply  to  the  ele- 
gance of  printing,  or  the  orthodoxy  of  the  sentiments,  it  is  dif- 


NOTES. 


t«7 


ficult  to  say.  Caledonia,  ii.  616.  Calderwood  seems  to  say 
that  books  against  popery  began  to  be  printed  in  this  country 
in  1543.  MS.  atl  h.  ann.  But  previous  to  that  period  the  re- 
formed sentiments  were  diffused  by  metrical  and  dramatic 
writings.  The  satire  of  Buchanan  against  the  Franciscan  friars 
for  which  he  was  thrown  into  prison,  was  elegant  and  pungent, 
but,  being  written  in  Latin,  it  could  be  felt  only  by  the  learned. 
The  same  may  be  said  as  to  his  Baptistes.  But  a  passion  for 
Scottish  poetry  had  been  lately  produced  in  the  nation  by  the 
compositions  of  some  of  our  ingenious  countrymen,  and  this 
now  began  to  be  improved  by  the  friends  of  the  Reformation. 
Kennedy  and  Kyllor  distinguished  themselves  in  this  line.  See 
above,  p.  354.  Kyllor's  scripture-drama  was  exhibited  before 
James  V.  at  Stirling,  about  the  year  1535  ;  and  the  most  sim- 
ple perceived  the  resemblance  between  the  Jewish  pri&sts  and 
the  Scottish  clergy,  in  opposing  the  truth,  and  persecuting  its 
friends.  Knox,  22.  Soon  after  this,  Alexander,  Lord  Kil- 
maurs,  wrote  his  epistle  from  the  Hermit  of  Lareit  to  the  grey- 
friars.  Ibid.  24,  25.  James  Stewart,  son  of  Lord  Mcthven, 
composed  poems  and  ballads  in  a  similar  strain,  after  the  death 
of  the  vicar  of  Dollar ;  and  Robert  Alexander,  advocate,  pub- 
lished the  Earl  of  Errol's  Testament,  in  Scots  metre,  which 
was  printed  at  Edinburgh.  Cald.  MS.  i.  103.  James  Wed- 
derburn,  son  of  a  merchant  in  Dundee,  converted  the  history 
of  the  beheading  of  John  the  Baptist  into  a  Dramatic  form,  and 
also  the  history  of  the  tyrant  Dionysius,  which  were  acted  at 
Dundee.  In  both  of  these,  the  popish  religion  was  attacked. 
Cald.  MS.  ad  ann.  1540.     Dalyell's  Cursory  Remarks,  p.  31. 

But  the  poet  who  had  the  greatest  influence  in  promoting 
the  Reformation  was  Sir  David  Lindsay.  His  "  Satyre  on  the 
three  Estates"  and  his  "  Monarchies"  had  this  for  their  princi- 
pal object.  The  former  was  acted  at  Cupar  in  Fife,  in  the  year 
1535 ;  at  Linlithgow,  before  the  king  and  queen,  the  court,  and 
country,  in  1540  ;  and  at  Edinburgh,  b  fore  the  queen  regent, 
a  great  part  of  the  nobility,  and  an  exceeding  great  number  of 
people,  in  1554.  Chalmers's  Lindsay,  i.  60,  61.  Row  says, 
that  it  was  also  acted  "  in  the  amphitheatre  of  St.  Johstoun." 
MS.  history  of  the  Kirk,  p.  3.  It  exposed  the  avarice,  luxury, 
and  profligacy  of  the  religious  orders ;  the  temporal  power  and 
opulence  of  the  bishops,  with  their  total  neglect  of  preaching ; 
the  prohibition  of  the  reading  of  the  scriptures  in  the  vulgar 
tongue,  the  extolling  of  pardons,  relics,  &c.  In  his  "  Monar- 
chies," composed  by  him  at  a  subsequent  period,  he  traced  the 
rise  and  progress  of  the  papacy,  and  has  discovered  a  knowledge 
of  history,  and  of  the  causes  that  produced  the  corruption  of 
Christianity,  which  would  not  disgrace  any  modern  author. 
The  poems  of  Ijindsay  were  read  by  "  every  man,  woman,  and 
child."  Row  has  preserved  an  anecdote  which  serves  to  illus- 
trate their  influence,  and  the  manner  in  which  the  Reformed 
sentiments  were  propagated  at  that  period.  Some  time  between 
1550  and  1558,  a  friar  was  preaching  at  Perth  in  the  church 
where  the  scholars  of  Andrew  Simson  attended  public  worship. 
In  the  course  of  his  sermon,  after  relating  some  of  the  miracles 
wrought  at  the  shrines  of  the  saints,  he  began  to  inveigh  bitterly 
against  the  Lutheran  preachers  who  were  going  about  the 
country,  and  endeavouring  to  withdraw  the  people  from  the 
CathoUc  faith.  When  he  was  in  the  midst  of  his  invective,  a 
loud  hissing  arose  in  that  part  of  the  church  where  the  boys, 
to  the  number  of  three  hundred,  were  seated,  so  that  the  friar, 
abashed  and  affrighted,  broke  off,  and  fled  from  the  pulpit.  A 
complaint  having  been  made  to  the  master,  he  instituted  an 
inquiry  into  the  cause  of  the  disturbance,  and  to  his  astonish- 
ment found,  that  it  originated  with  the  son  of  a  craftsman  in 
the  town,  who  had  a  copy  of  Lindsay's  Monarchy,  which  he 
had  read  at  intervals  to  his  school-fellows.  When  the  master 
was  about  to  administer  severe  chastisement  to  him,  both  for 
the  tumult  which  he  had  occasioned,  and  also  for  retaining  in 
his  possession  such  a  heretical  book,  the  boy  very  spiritedly 
replied,  that  the  book  was  not  heretical,  requested  his  master  to 
read  it,  and  professed  his  readiness  to  submit  to  punishment, 
provided  any  heresy  was  found  in  it.  This  proposal  appeared 
so  reasonable  to  Simson  that  he  perused  the  work,  which  he 
had  not  formerly  seen,  and  was  convinced  of  the  truth  of  the 
boy's  statement.  He  accordingly  made  the  best  excuse  which 
he  could  to  the  magistrates  for  the  behaviour  of  his  scholars,  and 
advised  the  friar  to  abstain  in  future  from  extolling  miracles, 
and  from  abusing  the  protestant  preachers.  From  that  time 
Simson  was  friendly  to  the  Reformation.  MS,  Historic  of  the 
Kirk,  p.  3,  4. 

In  every  protestant  country,  a  metrical  version  of  the  Psalms, 
in  the  vernacular  language,  appeared  at  a  very  early  period. 
The  French  version  begun  by  Clement  Marot,  and  comple- 


ted by  Beza,  contributed  much  to  the  sjiread  of  the  Reforma- 
tion in  France.  The  Psalms  were  sung  l)y  Francis  I.  and 
Henry  II.  and  by  their  courtiers  :  even  Catholics  flocked  for  a 
time  to  the  assemblies  of  the  protestants  to  listen  to  their  psal- 
mody. Bayle,  Dictionnaire,  art.  Marot,  Notes  N,  O,  P.  At  a 
later  period.  Cardinal  Chastillon  proposed  to  the  papal  ambas- 
sador, as  the  best  method  for  checking  the  progress  of  heresy, 
that  his  holiness  should  authorize  some  good  and  godly  songs  to 
be  sung  by  the  French,  "  cantar  alcune  cose  in  lingua  Francese, 
le  quali  pero  fossero  parole  buono  et  sante,  et  prima  approvate 
de  sua  Beatitudine."  Lettres  de  St.  Croix,  chez  Aymons,  ut 
supra,  tom.  i.  7,  9,  11.  It  has  been  said,  that  there  was  a  Scots 
version  of  the  Psalms  at  a  very  early  period.  Dalyell's  Cursory 
Remarks,  p.  35.  It  is  more  certain  that  before  the  year  1546, 
a  number  of  the  Psalms  were  translated  in  metre ;  for  George 
Wishart  sung  one  of  them  in  the  house  of  Ormiston,  on  the 
night  in  which  he  was  apprehended.  Knox,  Historic,  p.  49. 
The  two  lines  quoted  by  Knox  answer  to  the  beginning  of  the 
second  stanza  of  the  51st  Psalm,  inserted  in  Scottish  poems  of 
the  16th  century,  p.  111.  They  were  commonly  sung  in  the 
assemblies  of  the  protestants,  in  the  year  1556.  Knox,  96. 
John  and  Robert  WedderbUrh,  brothers  to  the  poet  mentioned 
above,  appear  to  have  been  the  principal  translators  of  them. 
Cald.  MS.  i.  108,  109.  The  version  was  not  completed  ;  and 
at  the  establishment  of  the  Reformation,  it  was  supplanted  in 
the  churches,  by  the  version  begun  by  Stemhold  and  Hopkins, 
and  finished  by  the  English  exiles  at  Geneva. 

But  the  most  singular  measure  adopted  for  circulating  the 
reformed  opinions  in  Scotland  was  the  composition  of  "  Gude 
and  godly  ballates,  changed  out  of  prophaine  sanges,  for  avoy- 
ding  of  sinne  and  harlotrie."  John  and  Robert  Wedderbum 
were  also  the  chief  authors  of  this  work.  Cald.  ut  supra.  Row's 
Hist,  of  the  Kirk,  p.  4.  The  title  suflficiently  indicates  their 
nature  and  design.  The  air,  the  measure,  the  initial  line,  or 
the  chorus  of  the  ballads  most  commonly  sung  by  the  people 
at  that  time,  were  transferred  to  hymns  of  devotion.  Uimatu- 
ral,  indelicate,  and  gross  as  these  associations  must  appear 
to  us,  these  spiritual  songs  edified  multitudes  at  that  time. 
We  must  not  think  that  this  originated  in  any  peculiar  depra- 
vation of  taste  in  our  reforming  coimtrymen.  Spiritual  songs 
constructed  upon  the  same  principle  obtained  in  Italy.  Ros- 
coe's  Lorenzo  de  Medici,  i.  309.  4to.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
Reformation  in  Holland  the  very  same  practice  was  adopted  as 
in  Scotland.  "  1'he  protestants  first  sung  in  their  families,  and 
private  assemblies,  the  Psalms  of  the  noble  lord  of  Nievelte, 
which  he  published  in  1540,  ut  hominis  ab  amatoriis,  baud  rare 
obscounis,  aliisque  vanis  canticis,  quibus  omnia  in  urbibus  et 
vicis  personabat,  avocaret  Sed  quia  modulationes  vanarum 
cautionum  (alias  enim  homines  non  tenebant)  adhibuerat,"  &c. 
Gisberti  Voetii  Politica  Ecclesiastica,  tom.  i.  p.  534.  Amsta-lod. 
1663.  4to.  Florimond  de  Remond  objected  to  the  psalms  of 
Marot,  that  the  airs  of  some  of  them  were  borrowed  from  vul- 
gar ballads.  A  Roman  Catholic  version  of  the  Psalms  in 
Flemish  verse,  printed  at  Anvcrs,  by  Simon  Cock,  an.  1540, 
has  the  first  line  of  a  ballad  printed  at  the  head  of  every  psalm, 
Bayle,  Diet.  art.  Marot.  Note  N.  The  spiritual  songs  of 
CoUetet,  although  composed  a  century  after  our  Godly  Bal- 
lates, were  constructed  on  still  more  exceptionable  models. 
"  Et  moy.  Monsieur,  je  vous  feray  voir  quand  il  vous  plaira.  les 
cantiques  spirituels  de  CoUetet  imprimes  a  Paris,  ches  Antoine 
de  Rafle,  avec  privilege  du  Roy,  de  1'  an  1660.  Livre  curieux, 
ou  vous  trouveres  des  Noels  sur  le  chant  de  ce  vaudeville 
infame  qui  commence,  Ilfaut  chanter  une  histoire  de  la  f(m- 
me  d'un  manant,  &c.  le  reste  est  un  conte  scandeleux  autant 
qu'il  y  en  ait  dans  le  Satyricon  de  Petrone.  Vous  en  trouveres 
un  autre  sin-  I'air  de  ces  paroles  Ubertines  d'une  chanson  de 
I'opera : 

A  quay  ban,  tant  de  raison,  dans  un  bel  ange. 
Un  autre  sur  ce  vaudeville  impudent : 

Alles  vous 

Un  galant  tout  rwuveau,  <^c. 
Des  le  temps  de  Henri  II.  parce  que  toute  la  cour  chantoit  les 
Pseaumes  de  Marot,  le  Cardinal  de  Lorraine  jugea  que  pour  ar- 
rester un  si  grand  desordre,  il  seroit  tres  edifiant  de  faire  toumer 
des  odes  d'Horace  en  rime  Francoise,  pour  nourrir  la  piete  de 
cette  cour  si  devote."  Jurieu,  Apologie  pour  les  Reformateiurs, 
&c,  tom.  i.  129,  4to.    A  Rotterdam,  1683. 

Note  XI.  p.  29. 
Of  George  Wishart. — ^The  following  graphic  description  of 
this  interesting  martyr  is  contained  in  a  letter  written  by  a 


148 


NOTES. 


person  who  had  been  one  of  his  pupils  at  Cambridge,  and 
transmitted  by  him  to  Fox,  who  inserted  it  in  his  work,  p. 
1155.  edit.  1596. 

"  About  the  yeare  of  our  Lord,  a  thousand,  five  hundreth, 
fortie  and  three,  there  was,  in  the  universitie  of  Cambridge, 
one  Maister  George  Wischart,  commonly  called  Maister  George 
of  Bennet's  Colledge,  who  was  a  man  of  tall  stature,  polde 
headed,  and  on  the  same  a  round  French  cap  of  the  best. 
Judged  of  melancholye  complexion  by  his  physiognomic, 
blacke  haired,  long  bearded,  comely  of  personage,  well  spoken 
after  his  country  of  Scotland,  courteous,  lowly,  lovely,  glad  to 
teach,  desirous  to  leeime,  and  was  well  trauailed,  hauing  on 
him  for  his  habit  or  clothing,  neuer  but  a  mantell  frise  gowne 
to  the  shoes,  a  blacke  MilUan  fustian  dublet,  and  plaine  blacke 
hosen,  course  new  canuasse  for  his  shirtes,  and  white  falling 
bandes  and  cuifes  at  the  hands.  All  the  wliich  apparell  he 
gaue  to  the  poorc,  some  weekly,  some  monethly,  some  quarterly 
as  hee  liked,  sauing  his  Frenche  cappe  which  hee  kept  the  whole 
yeare  of  my  beeing  with  him.  Hee  was  a  man  modest,  tempe- 
rate, fearing  Grod,  hating  couetousnesse :  for  his  charitie  had 
neuer  ende,  night,  noon,  nor  daye,  he  forbare  one  meal  in  three, 
one  day  in  foure  for  the  most  part,  except  something  to  comfort 
nature.  [When  accused,  at  his  trial,  of  contemning  fastuig, 
he  replied,  "  My  Lordis,  I  find  that  fastuag  is  commendit  in  the 
scriptur. — And  not  so  only ;  hot  I  have  leirnit  by  experience, 
that  fasting  is  gude  for  tlie  healthe  and  conservation  of  the 
body."  Knox,  60.]  Hee  lay  hard  upon  a  pouffe  of  straw ; 
course  new  canuasse  sheetes,  wliich,  when  he  changed,  he 
gaue  away.  He  had  commonly  by  his  bedside  a  tubbe  of 
water,  in  the  wliich  (his  people  being  in  bed,  the  candle  put 
out,  and  all  quiet)  hee  used  to  bathe  liimselfe,  as  I  being  very 
yong,  being  assured  offen  heard  him,  and  in  one  light  night 
discerned  him,  he  loved  mee  tenderly,  and  I  liim,  for  my  age 
as  effectually.  He  tauglit  me  with  great  modestie  and  gratu- 
itie,  so  that  some  of  liis  people  thought  him  seuere,  and  would 
haue  slaine  him,  but  the  Lord  was  Ms  defence.  And  hee,  after 
due  correction  for  their  mahce,  by  good  exhortation  amended 
them,  and  he  went  his  way.  O  that  tlie  Lord  had  left  him  to 
me  his  poore  boy,  that  hee  might  haue  finished  that  he  had 
begunne !  For  m  his  ReUgion  he  was  as  you  see  heere  in  the 
rest  of  his  life,  when  he  went  into  Scotland  with  diners  of  the 
NobiUtie,  that  came  for  a  treatie  to  king  Henry  the  eight. 
His  learning  was  no  less  sufficient,  then  his  desire,  always 
prest  and  readie  to  do  good  in  that  he  was  able  both  in 
the  house  priuately,  and  in  the  schoole  publikely,  professmg 
and  reading  divers  authours. 

If  I  should  declare  liis  loue  to  me  and  all  men,  liis  charitie 
to  the  poore,  in  giuing,  relieiung,  caring,  helping,  prouiding, 
yea  infinitely  studying  how  to  do  good  mito  all,  and  hurt  to 
none,  I  should  sooner  want  words  tlian  just  cause  to  com- 
mend him. 

All  this  I  testifie  with  my  whole  heart  and  truetb  of  this 
godly  man.  He  that  made  all,  gouemeth  all,  and  shall  iudge 
all,  knoweth  I  speake  the  troth,  that  the  simple  may  be  satis- 
fied, the  arrogant  confounded,  the  hypocrite  disclosed. 

Emery  Tylney." 
A  very  particular  account  of  Wishart's  trial  and  execution 
was  published  in  England,  apparently  soon  after  the  assassi- 
nation of  Beatoun.  This  very  rare  little  book  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  seen  by  any  of  the  writers  who  have  men- 
tioned it.  The  following  account  is  taken  from  a  copy,  belong- 
ing to  Richard  Heber,  Esq.  which  he  commmiicated  to  me 
with  that  Uberality  for  which  he  is  so  eminently  distinguished. 
The  general  title  is :  "  The  tragical  death  of  Dauid  Beato 
Bishoppe  of  sainct  Andrewes  in  Scotland:  Whereunto  is 
ioyned  the  martyrdom  of  maister  George  Wyseharte  gentle- 
man, for  whoee  sake  the  aforesayed  bishoppe  was  not  longe 
after  slayne.  Wherein  thou  maist  leame  what  a  buniynge 
charitie  they  shewed  not  only  towardes  him :  but  vnto  al  suche 
as. come  to  their  hades  for  the  blessed  Gospels  sake."  On  the 
next  leaf  begins,  "  Roberte  Burrant  to  the  reader,"  being  a 
preface  extending  to  12  leaves,  ending  on  B,  iiiii.  After  this 
is  the  following  title  of  the  Tragedy  or  poem :  "  Here  foloweth 
the  Tragedy  of  the  late  moste  reuerende  father  Dauid,  by  the 
mercie  of  God  Cardinall  and  archbishoppe  of  sainct  Andrewes. 
And  of  the  whole  rcalme  of  Scotland  primate.  Legate  and 
Chaunccler.  And  administrator  of  the  bishoprich  of  Merapois 
in  Fraunce.  And  comendator  perpetuall  of  the  Abbay  of 
Aberbrothoke,  compiled  by  Sir  Dauid  Lyndsayc  ofthcmounte 
knyghte.  AUaa,  I^ione,  kyng  of  armes.  Anno  M.D.xlvi. 
Ultimo  MaiL    The  wordes  of  Dauid  Beaton  the  Cardinall 


aforesaied  at  his  death.  Alas  alas,  slaye  me  not,  I  am  a 
Priest."  The  poem  begins  on  the  reverse,  and  ends  on  the 
first  page  of  C.  viL  On  the  back  of  tliat  leaf  is, — "  The  accu- 
sation of  maister  George  W'ysehart  gentlema,  who  suffered 
martyrdome  for  the  faith  of  Christ  Jesu,  at  St.  Andrewes  in 
Scotlad  the  first  day  of  March.  In  the  yere  of  our  Lorde,  M. 
D.xlvi.  wyth  the  articles,  which  he  was  accused  of,  and  his 
swete  answeres  to  the  same,  wherunto  are  ioyned  his  godly 
oratios  and  praiers. — With  most  tendre  affection  and  unfeyned 
herte,  considere,"  &c.  The  narrative  ends  on  the  first  page 
of  F,  vi,  with  these  words,  "  complayning  of  thys  innocent 
labes  slaughter." — "  Imprinted  at  London,  by  John  Day,  and 
WiUiam  Seres,  dwellynge  in  Scpulclires  parish,  at  the  signe  of 
the  Resurrection,  a  little  aboue  Holboume  conduite.  Cum 
gratia  et  priuilegio  ad  imprimendum  solum."  The  book  is  in 
eights,  and  the  Tragedy  of  Beatoun  is  printed  in  small,  and 
the  account  of  Wishart's  trial  in  large  black  letter. 

The  date  of  printing  is  not  mentioned.  Those  who  have 
fixed  on  the  year  1546  have  been  influenced  by  the  occurring 
of  tliis  date  on  the  title  to  the  Tragedy,  which  evidently  refers 
to  the  time  of  Bcatoun's  death.  It  is  probable,  however,  from 
some  expressions  in  the  preface,  as  well  as  from  other  consid- 
erations, that  it  was  printed  soon  after  that  event.  Fox  has 
embodied  the  whole  account  of  Wishart's  trial,  word  for  word, 
in  his  Acts  and  Monuments,  p.  1154 — 1158,  and  he  uiforms 
his  reader  that  he  took  it  "  Kx  Hiffor.  Impressa."  Knox  has 
transcribed  it  I'rom  Fox.     Historic,  p.  52. 

Wishart  travelled  on  the  continent,  but  whether  previous  to 
liis  banishment,  anno  1538,  or  after  it,  docs  not  appear. 
Knox,  56.  Buchanan  calls  him  Sophocardius,  supposing  his 
name  to  be  Wischeart,  a  mistake  which  has  been  corrected  by 
an  intelUgent  foreign  historian,  who  says  that  the  original 
name  was  Guiscard,  a  name  common  in  France,  from  which 
country  the  Wischards  (for  so  Knox  writes  it)  originally 
came  to  Scotland.  Gerdesii  Hist  Reformat,  tom.  iv.  p.  314. 
See  also  Ruddiman's  Propriorum  nominum  Interpretatio, 
subjoined  to  Buch.  Hist. 

Note  Xn.  p.  30. 

Of  Knox's  laneuage  respecting  the  assassination  of  Cardi- 
nal Beatoun. — Mr.  Hume  has,  not  very  philosophically,  infer- 
red the  savageness  of  Knox's  temper  from  the  evident  satisfac- 
tion with  which  he  wrote  of  Cardinal  Beatoun's  assassmation : 
and  in  this  judgment  he  has  been  followed  by  many.  K  to 
express  satisfaction  at  cutting  off  one  who  was  regarded  as  a 
public  enemy  be  viewed  as  an  infalUble  mark  of  cruelty,  we 
must  pronounce  this  verdict  upon  many  who  were  never  sus- 
pected of  such  a  disposition.  The  manner  in  which  the 
Christian  fathers  expressed  thcmst^lves,  respecting  the  deadi  of 
tlie  persecutors  of  the  church,  is  not  unknovra.  See  Julian  the 
apostate,  chap.  vii.  ^iii.  m  works  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Johnson, 
p.  22 — 24.  Bayle,  Critique  Generale  de  I'histoire  du  Calvinis- 
me,  p.  295.  Even  the  mild  and  philosophical  Erasmus  could 
not  refrain  from  declaring  his  joy  at  the  violent  death  of  two  of 
the  most  learned  and  eminent  reformers.  Bene  habet  (says  he) 
quod  duo  Coriphrei  jx^ricrunt,  Zuinglius  in  acie,  Oecolampadi- 
us  paulo  j)Ost  febri  et  apostcmate.  tjuod  si  ilhs  favisset  Evt/a- 
Ajoc,  actum  est  de  nobis."  Epist.  1205,  apud  Jortin's  Life  of 
Erasmus,  ii.  28.  Mr.  Walter  Scot,  in  his  Cadyaw  Cuaile 
(See  Lyrical  Pieces)  has  lately  exerted  all  liis  poetic  powers 
to  invest  Hamilton  of  BothwclUiaugh  with  the  character  of  a 
hero,  in  assassinating  the  regent  Murray,  a  person  who  is  no 
more  to  be  compared  to  Cardmal  Beatoun  than  "  Hyperion  to 
a  Satyr."  I  know  die,  apology  tliat  wUl  be  made  for  the  poet 
(although  I  think  he  might  have  found,  in  this,  and  in  many 
other  instances,  a  subject  infinitely  more  worthy  of  his  muse) ; 
but  what  shall  we  say  of  the  historian,  who  narrates  the  action 
of  Bothwellhaugh  approvingly,  celebrates  the  "  happy  pt^ncil" 
of  the  p)oet  in  describing  it,  and  insidts  over  tlie  fall  of  Murray, 
by  quoting  a  sarcastic  fine  from  the  poem,  in  the  very  act  of 
relating  his  death  !  Chalmers's  Caledonia,  ii.  571.  Yet  this 
same  \m\je.r  is  highly  displeased  that  Sir  David  Lindsay,  in 
his  Tragedy  of  Beaton,  has  "  no  burst  of  indignation"  at  the 
Cardinal's  murder ;  and  twice  over  in  die  same  work  has 
related  with  triumph,  that  on  the  margin  of  one  etlition  of 
Knox's  historj',  the  part  which  James  Melvin  acted  in  that 
scene  is  called  a  "godly  fact."  He  also  pronounces  the 
assassination  of  Beatoun  to  l>e  "the  y«MZe*<  crime  which  c\-er 
stained  a  country,  except  perhaps  the  similar  murder  of  Arclir 
bishop  Sliarpe,  wiUiin  tiic  same  sliire,  in  tlie  subsequent  cen- 


NOTES. 


149 


faiy,  by  similar  miscreants."  Chalmers's  Works  of  Lindsay, 
vol.  i.  34,  35.  ii.  23 1 .  How  marvellously  does  prejudice  distort 
the  judgment  even  of  learned  men  !  And  how  surprising  to 
find  the  assassination  of  two  sanguinary  persecutors  represen- 
ted as  more  crinrinal  than  the  murder  of  the  brave  Admiral 
Coligni,  the  generous  Henry  IV.  and  the  patriotic  prince  of 
Orange  !  There  are  not  a  few  persons  who  can  read  in  cold 
blood  of  thousands  of  innocent  persons  being  murdered  under 
the  consecrated  cloak  of  authority,  but  who  "  burst  into  indig- 
nation" at  the  mention  of  the  rare  fact  (occurring  once  in  a 
century)  of  a  person,  who,  goaded  by  oppression  and  reduced 
to  despair,  has  been  driven  to  the  extreme  of  taking  vengeance 
on  the  proud  and  tyrannical  author  of  his  wrongs. — I  mention 
tliese  things  to  shew  the  need  which  certain  writers  have  to 
look  at  home,  and  to  judge  of  characters  and  actions  with  a 
little  more  impartiality,  or  at  least  consistency. 

Honest  Keith,  whose  personal  feelings  do  not  appear  to 
have  been  violent,  has  with  much  simplicity  expressed  the 
feelings  of  his  party,  in  the  reflections  which  he  makes 
on  the  Cardinal's  assassination.  "  What  might  have  proved 
(says  he),  to  be  the  issue  of  such  procedure  [Beatoun's 
severe  measures  against  the  Reformers],  had  he  enjoyed 
his  life  for  any  considerable  time,  I  shall  not  pretend  to  judge : 
Only  this  seems  to  be  certahi,  that  by  his  death  the  reins  of 
the  government  were  much  loosned  ;  and  some  persons  came 
to  be  considerable  soon  after,  who  probably,  if  he  had  lived, 
had  never  got  the  opportunity  to  perpetrate  such  Villanies, 
under  the  cloak  of  religion,  as  'tis  certain  they  did  ;  he  being 
at  least  no  less  a  Statesman  than  a  Clergyman."  History, 
p.  45.  Tliis  language  needs  no  commentary;  and  the  cal- 
lousness to  the  interests  of  (I  say  not  the  Reformation,  for 
that  is  entirely  out  of  the  question,  but  of)  humanity,  implied 
in  the  prospect  that  Keith  takes  of  the  cruelties  which  the 
protestants  must  have  suffered  from  the  Cardinal,  if  his  life 
had  been  spared,  is  far  more  reprehensible  than  any  satisfac- 
tion which  Knox  expressed  at  his  death. 

"It  is  very  horrid  (says  Hume),  but  at  the  same  time 
somewhat  amusing  to  consider  the  joy,  alacrity,  and  pleasure 
which  that  historian  [Knox]  discovers  in  his  narrative  of  this 
assassination."  History  of  England,  vol.  vi.  chap.  iv.  Mr. 
Hume  makes  a  partial  apology  for  Knox  by  the  description 
which  he  gives  of  his  own  feelings;  while  he  allows  that 
what,  in  the  main,  excites  horror,  may  produce  some  amuse- 
ment It  is  well  known  that  there  are  writers  who  can  treat 
the  most  sacred  subjects  with  a  levity  bordering  upon  profane- 
ness.  Must  we  at  once  pronounce  them  profane!  and  is 
nothing  to  be  set  down  to  the  score  of  natural  temper  in- 
clinuig  them  to  wit  and  humour  1  The  Reformer  rejoiced  at 
the  death  of  Beatoun.  And  even  those  who  could  not  ap- 
prove of  the  act  of  the  conspirators  were  happy  tliat  he  was 
taken  away. 

As  for  the  Cardinal  we  grant, 

He  was  a  man  we  weell  might  want, 

And  we'll  forget  him  sone :  * 
And  yet  I  think  the  sooth  to  say, 
Although  the  lown  is  weell  away, 
The  deed  was  foully  done. 

The  pleasantry  which  Knox  has  mingled  with  the  narrative 
of  his  death  and  burial  is  unseasonable  and  unbecoming.  But 
it  is  to  be  imputed,  not  to  any  pleasure  which  he  took  in 
describing  a  bloody  scene,  but  to  the  stiong  propensity  which 
he  had  to  indulge  his  vein  of  humour.  Those  who  have  read 
his  historj'  with  attention  must  have  perceived  that  he  is  not 
able  to  check  this,  even  on  very  serious  occasions.  I  shall  at 
present  refer  to  one  instance  only.  None  will  doubt  that  his 
mind  was  deeply  aifected  in  relating  the  trial  and  execution 
of  his  esteemed  friend,  and  revered  instructor,  George  Wishart. 
Yet,  even  in  the  midst  of  his  narrative  of  this,  he  could  not 
abstain  from  inserting  the  truly  ludicrous  description  of  a  quar- 
rel which  arose  on  that  occasion  between  the  Archbishops  of 
St.  Andrews  and  Glasgow ;  for  which  he  apologizes  thus  : 
"  Gif  we  interlace  merrines  with  emest  matters,  pardone  us, 
gude  reidare  ;  for  the  fact  is  sa  notable,  that  it  deserves  lang 
memorie."     See  Historic,  p.  51.  ed.  1732. 

Note  Xm.  p.  34. 

I  shall  transcribe  Knox's  account  of  the  exercise  of  his 
mind,  during  his  confinement  in  the  galleys,  from  the  MS, 


copy  of  his  Treatise  on  Prayer  in  my  possession,  preserving 
the  original  orthography,  which  is  altered  in  the  printed 
edition.  Those  who  have  access  to  the  latter  can  compare 
the  two. 

"  I  mene  not  (says  he)  that  any  man,  in  extreamitie  of 
trubill,  can  be  vnthout  a  present  dolour,  and  without  a  greater 
feir  of  trubill  to  follow.  Trubill  and  feir  are  the  verie  spurris 
to  prayer.  For  when  man,  compassit  about  with  vehement 
calamities,  and  vexit  with  continewall  soUcitude,  having  by 
help  of  man  no  hope  of  deliverance,  with  soir  oppressit  and 
punisset  hart,  feinng  also  greater  punishment  to  follow,  from 
the  deip  pit  of  tribulation,  doith  call  to  God  for  comfort  and 
support,  such  prayer  ascendeth  into  Godis  presence,  and 
retumeth  not  in  vane."  Having  illustrated  this  from  the 
exercise  of  David,  as  described  in  the  viith  psalm,  he  proceeds. 
"  This  is  not  written  for  David  onlie,  but  for  all  such  as  sail 
suffer  tribulatioun  to  the  end  of  the  world.  For  I,  the  wrytei 
hereof,  (lat  this  be  said  to  the  laude  and  prais  of  God  allone) 
in  anguschc  of  mynd,  and  vehement  tribulatioun  and  afHic- 
tioun,  called  to  the  Lord,  when  not  only  the  ungodhe,  but  evin 
my  faithfuU  brether,  ye  and  my  awn  self  (that  is,  all  natural 
understanding)  judgeit  my  cause  to  be  irremeadable  ;  and  yit 
in  my  greatest  calamitie,  and  when  my  panis  wer  most  cruell, 
wold  his  etemall  wisdome  that  my  handis  suld  wrj't  far  con- 
trarie  to  the  judgement  of  camall  reasone,  whilk  his  mercie 
hath  pruved  trew.  Blessit  be  his  halie  name*  And  therefore 
dar  I  be  bold,  in  the  veritie  of  Godis  word,  to  promcis  that, 
notwithstanding  the  vehemencie  of  trubill,  the  long  contin- 
ewance  thairof,  the  desperatioun  of  all  men,  the  feirfulness, 
danger,  dolour,  and  angusche  of  oure  awn  hartis,  yit,  yf  we  call 
constantlie  to  God,  that,  beyound  expectatioun  of  all  men,  hie 
sail  delyver,''  p.  52 — 54.  After  shewing  that  prayers  for  tem- 
poral deUverance  ought  always  to  be  offered  up  with  submis- 
sion to  the  divine  will,  that  God  often  delays  the  deliverance 
of  the  body  while  he  mitigates  the  distress  of  the  spirit,  and 
sometimes  permitteth  his  saints  "  to  drink,  before  the  maturity 
of  age,  the  bitter  cupe  of  corporall  death,  that  thairby  they 
may  receive  medicine,  and  cure  from  all  infirmitie,"  he  adds : 
"  Albeit  we  sie  thairfoir  no  appeirand  help  to  our  selves,  nor 
yit  to  otheris  afflictit,  lat  ws  not  ceis  to  call  (thinking  our 
prayeris  to  be  vane),  for  whatsoever  cum  of  our  bodeis,  God 
sail  gif  unspeakabill  comfort  to  the  spreit,  and  sail  tume  all  to 
our  comodities  beyound  our  awn  expectatioun.  The  caus 
that  I  am  so  long  and  tedious  in  this  matter  is,  for  that  I  knaw 
how  hard  the  batell  is  between  the  spreit  and  the  fleschc,  under 
the  heavie  cros  of  afflictioun,  whair  no  warldlie  defence,  but 
present  death  dois  appeir.  I  knaw  the  grudging  and  murmur- 
ing complaints  of  the  fleshe ;  I  knaw  the  anger,  wrath,  and 
indignatioun,  whilk  it  consaveth  aganis  God,  calling  all  his 
promissis  in  dout,  and  being  readie  everie  hour  utterlic  to  fall 
from  God  :  aganis  whilk  restis  onlie  faith  provoking  us  to  call 
emistlie,  and  pray  for  assistance  of  Godis  spreit,  whairin  if  we 
continew,  our  maist  disperat  calamiteis  sail  hie  tume  to  gladnes, 
and  to  a  prosperous  end.-j"  To  the,  O  Lord,  allone  be  prais ; 
for  with  experience  I  wryt  this,  and  speak."  MS.  Letters, 
p.  65,  66. 

The  edition  was  printed  most  probably  in  England  {Rome 
is  on  the  title-page)  during  the  persecution,  from  a  MS.  sent 
by  Knox  from  Dieppe,  and  so  incorrectly  that  it  is  often  im- 
possible to  make  sense  of  it.  The  following  are  specimens. 
"  Diffysed,"  fol.  2.  "  diificil,"  MS,  "  A  pure  word  of  God,"  fol. 
2. "  a  puritie  allowit  of  God,"  MS. "  Consent,"  fol.  3. "  conceat,'' 
MS.  "  May  any  other  Jesus  Christ,  except  t,  in  these  wordes 
make  intercession  for  sinners'?''  fol.  11.  "May  any  other 
(Jesus  Christ  except)  in  these  wordis  mak  intercession  for 
sinnerisi"  MS.  The  transcriber  having  mistaken  the  conclu- 
ding mark  of  parenthesis  for  the  pronoun  /.  "  Carkese  slepe," 
fol.  16.  "  careleslie  slepeth,"  MS,  In  quoting  Isa.  Ixiv.  5, 
the  printed  edition  has  employed  a  word  which  I  have  not 
seen  in  any  old  version  of  the  Bible.  "  Thou  art  crabbid, 
O  Lord,  because  we  have  sinned,"  fol.  4.  and  again  verse  9, 
"Be  not  crabbid,  O  Lord,  remember  not  our  iniquities  for 
ever."  In  the  MS.  it  is  angrie,  in  both  instances.  In 
fol.  xvi.  is  a  greater  variation.  "  For  with  such  as  do 
aleage  that  God  may  not  chaunge  his  sentence,  and  our 
prayers  therefore  to  be  vayne,  can  I  no  wyse  agree."  Instead 
of  this  the  MS,  has,  "whilk  thing  if  we  do  unfeanedUe, 
he  will  revoke  his  wrath,  and  in  the  middis  of  his  furie 
think  upon  mercie," — There  are  similar  variations  between 


•  In  some  copies  this  line  reads,  Ood  will  forgive  it  sone. 


*  The  words  in  italics  are  not  in  the  printed  copies, 
t  The  P.  C.  instead  of  "  end"  have  "  fyne,"  a  word  lometiroei  UMd 
in  the  MS.  Letters. 


15© 


NOTES. 


the  MS.  and  the  printed  copies  of  most  of  his  other  tracts. 
They  show  that  the  MS.  which  I  possess  has  not  lieen 
transcribed  from  these  copies,  according  to  a  custom  pretty 
common  in  that  age. 

Note  XIV.  p.  35. 

Extracts  from  Balnare's  Treatise  on  Justijicaiion. — In 
reading  the  writings  of  the  first  reformers  there  are  two  things 
which  must  strike  our  minds.  The  first  is  the  exact  conform- 
ity between  the  doctrine  maintained  by  them  respecting  the 
justification  of  sinners,  and  that  of  the  apostles.  The  second 
is  the  surprising  harmony  wluch  subsisted  among  the  reform- 
ers as  to  this  doctrine.  On  some  questions  respecting  the 
sacraments,  and  the  external  govenmient  and  worship  of  the 
church,  they  diflfered ;  but  upon  tlie  article  of  free  justifica- 
tion, Luther  and  Zuinglius,  Melanchtlion  and  Calvin,  Cranmer 
and  Knox,  spoke  the  very  same  language.  This  was  not 
owing  to  their  having  read  each  others  writings,  but  because 
they  copied  from  the  same  divine  original.  The  cltiamess 
with  which  they  understood  and  explained  this  great  truth  is 
also  very  observable.  More  learned  and  able  defences  of  it  have 
since  appeared ;  but  I  question  if  it  has  ever  been  stated  in 
more  scriptural,  unequivocal,  decided  language,  them  it  was  in 
the  writings  of  the  early  reformers.  Some  of  their  successors, 
by  giving  way  to  speculations,  gradually  lost  sight  of  this 
distinguishing  badge  of  the  Refonnation,  and  landed  at  last  in 
Anniuianism,  which  is  nothing  else  but  the  popish  doctrine  in 
a  protestant  dress.  Knox  has  informed  us,  that  his  design,  in 
preparing  for  the  press  the  Treatise  written  by  Sir  Henry 
Balnaves,  was  to  give,  along  with  the  author,  his  "  confession 
of  the  article  of  justification  therein  contained."  I  cannot, 
therefore,  lay  before  tlie  reader  a  more  correct  view  of  our 
Reformer's  sentiments  upon  this  fundamental  article  of  faith, 
than  by  quoting  from  a  book  which  was  revised  and  approved 
by  him. 

Having  given  the  philosophical  definition  of  justice  or 
righteousness,  and  explained  what  is  meant  by  civil  and 
ceremonial  justice,  the  author  proceeds  as  follows.  "  The 
justice  of  the  law  morall  or  Moses's  law,  which  is  the  law  of 
God,  exceedeth  and  is  far  above  the  other  two  justices.  It  is 
the  perfite  obedience  required  of  man,  according  to  all  the 
works  and  deeds  of  the  same.  Not  only  in  extemall  and 
outward  deeds,  but  also  with  the  inward  affections  and  mo- 
tions of  the  hart,  conforme  to  the  commandment  of  the  same 
(saying),  thou  shalt  love  thy  Lord  God  with  all  thy  hart,  with 
aU  thy  mind,  with  all  thy  power,  and  strength,  and  thy  neigh- 
bour as  thyselfe.  This  is  no  other  thing  but  the  law  of 
nature,  prented  in  the  hart  of  man,  m  the  begimiing ;  nowe 
made  patent  by  the  mouth  of  God  to  man,  to  utter  his  sin,  and 
make  his  corrupted  nature  more  patent  to  himselfe.  And  so 
is  the  lawe  of  nature  and  the  law  of  Moyses  joyned  together 
in  a  knot ;  which  is  a  doctrine,  teaching  all  men  a  perfite  rule, 
to  know  what  he  should  do,  and  what  he  should  leave  undone, 
both  to  God  and  his  neighbour.  The  justice  of  the  lawe,  is 
to  fulfill  the  law  ;  that  is,  to  doo  the  perfite  workes  of  the  law 
as  they  arc  required,  from  the  bottome  of  the  hart,  and  »s  they 
are  declared  and  expounded  by  Christ ;  and  whosoever  trans- 
gpresseth  the  same,  shall  never  be  pronounced  just  of  the  law. 
But  there  was  never  man  that  fulfilled  this  lawe  to  the  utter- 
most perfection  thereof  (except  onely  Jesus  Christ).  Therefore, 
in  the  lawe  can  we  not  find  our  justice,  because  of  the  deedcs 
of  the  lawe  no  flesh  shall  be  made  just  before  God."  p. 
57,  58. 

"  For  transgression  of  the  commandment  of  God,  our  fore- 
father Adam  was  exiled  and  banished  forth  of  paradise,  and 
spoiled  of  the  integrity,  perfection,  and  all  the  excellent  qual- 
ities, dignities,  and  godlie  vertues,  with  which  he  was  indued 
by  his  creation,  made  rebell,  and  disobedient  to  God  in  his 
ovvne  default  And  therefore  he  might  not  fulfill  the  law  to 
the  perfection  as  tlie  same  required.  For  the  lawe  remaining 
in  the  owne  perfection,  just,  holye,  and  good,  requireth 
and  asketh  the  same  of  man,  to  be  indeed  fulfilled.  But 
all  men  proceeding  from  Adam,  by  natural  propagation, 
have  the  same  imperfection  that  hce  had  ;  the  which  corrup- 
tion of  nature  resistcth  the  will  and  goodnes  of  the  law,  which 
is  the  cause  that  wee  fulfill  not  the  same,  nor  may  not  of  our 
power  and  strength,  through  the  infirmitie  and  weaknes  of 
our  flesh,  which  is  enemie  to  the  spirit,  as  tlie  apostle  saith." 
p.  79,  80. 

"  Notwithstanding,  after  the  fall  of  man,  remained  with  our 
first  parents  some  rest  and  footsteppes  of  tliis  lawe,  knowledge, 
and  vertues,  in  tlie  which  he  was  created,  and  of  him  descended  j 


in  us ;  by  the  which,  of  our  free  will  and  power,  we  may  do  the 
outward  deeds  of  the  law,  as  is  before  written.  This  know- 
ledge deceaved  and  beguiled  the  philosophers  ;  for  they  looke 
but  to  the  reason  and  judgement  of  man,  and  could  not 
perceave  the  inward  corruption  of  nature,  but  ever  supponed 
man  to  bee  clean  and  pure  of  nature,  and  might  of  his  own 
free  wil  and  naturall  reason,  fulfill  all  perfection.  And  when 
they  perceaved  the  wickedness  of  man  from  his  birth,  they 
judged  that  to  be  by  reason  of  the  planete  under  whome  he 
was  borne,  or  through  evill  nourishing,  upbringing,  or  otlier 
accidents,  and  could  never  consider  the  corrupted  nature  of 
man,  which  is  the  cause  of  all  our  wickedness  ;  and  therefore 
the}'  erred,  and  were  deceaved  in  their  opinions  and  judge- 
ments :  but  the  perfite  Christian  man  should  looke  first  in  his 
corruption  of  nature,  and  consider  what  tlie  law  requireth  of 
him,  in  the  which  he  finding  his  imperfection  and  sinnes 
accused,  (for  that  is  the  office  of  the  law,  to  utter  sinne  to 
man,  and  giveth  him  no  remedy)  then  of  necessitie  is  he  com- 
pelled either  to  despaire,  or  seek  Christ,  by  whom  he  shall  get 
the  justice  that  is  of  value  before  God,  which  can  not  be 
gotten  by  any  law  or  works,  because  by  the  deedes  of  the  law 
no  fleshe  shall  be  justified  before  God."    p.  81 — 83. 

"  This  proposition  of  the  holy  spirite  is  so  perfite,  that  it  ex- 
cludeth  (if  ye  will  understande  the  same  right)  all  the  vaine 
foolish  arguments  of  sophistrie  made  by  die  justifiers  of  them 
sehes,  which  perverte  the  words  of  S,  Paule  (as  they  doo  the 
other  scriptures  of  God)  to  their  perversed  sence  and  mind ; 
(saying),  that  the  apostle  excludeth  by  these  wordes  the 
workes  of  the  law  ceremonial,  and  not  the  deeds  of  the  Jaw  of 
nature,  and  morall  law  of  Moyse-s.  The  which  shameless 
sayings  are  expressly  evacuat  by  the  wordes  of  the  apostie, 
insomuch  that  no  man  of  righteous  judgement  can  deny,  but 
shall  feel  the  same  as  it  were  in  their  hands,  by  this  probation. 
The  law  speaketh  to  all,  that  is,  accuseth  all  men  that  are  mider 
the  law.  All  men  are  under  the  law  of  nature,  or  the  law  of 
Moyses,  therefore  the  apostle  speaketh  of  the  law  of  nature  and 
Moyses,  and  of  all  men  which  he  comprehendeth  under  Jewe 
and  Gentill,  as  he  proveth  by  his  argumentes  in  the  tirst  and 
second  chap,  to  the  Romans,  and  concludeth  in  the  third  chap, 
all  men  are  simiers.  If  all  men  bee  simiers,  none  is  just ;  if 
none  bee  just,  none  fulfill  the  lawe ;  if  none  fulfill  the  lawe,  the 
lawe  can  pronounce  none  just ;  therefore  concludeth  he,  that 
of  the  deedes  of  the  lawe  no  fleshe  shall  be  fonde  just  before 
God.  The  same  is  proved  by  Da\id  in  the  13.  Psalme, 
Here  ye  see  by  the  words  of  the  apostle,  he  mtends  to  prove 
and  declare  all  men  sinners ;  that  is,  to  stoppe  all  mens 
mouths,  and  to  dryve  them  to  Christ  by  the  accusation  of  tiie 
law.  No  law  may  make  or  declare  all  men  sinners,  and  sub- 
due the  whole  world  to  God,  but  the  law  of  nature  and 
Moyses  ;  therefore,  under  that  word  (law)  tiie  apostle  compre- 
hended the  law  morall,  and  not  the  law  ceremonial  only," 
p.  84,  85. 

"  But  think  not  that  I  intende  through  these  assertions  to 
exclude  good  works  ;  no,  God  forbid,  for  good  workes  are  the 
gift  of  God,  and  his  good  creatures,  and  ought  and  should 
be  done  of  a  Christian,  as  shalbe  showen  hereafter  at  length 
in  their  place ;  but  in  this  article  of  justification,  yee  must 
either  exclude  all  workes,  or  els  exclude  Christ  from  you,  and 
make  your  selfes  just,  the  which  is  impossible  to  do.  Christ 
is  the  end  of  the  law  (unto  righteousnes)  to  all  that  beleeve, 
that  18,  Christ  is  the  consummation  and  fulfilling  of  the  lawe, 
and  that  justice  whiche  the  lawe  requirctli ;  and  all  they 
which  beleeve  in  him,  are  just  by  imputation  through  faith, 
and  for  his  sake  are  repute  and  accepted  as  just.  This  is  the 
justice  of  faith  of  the  which  the  apostle  spedteth,  Rom.  the  10. 
chapter :  therefore,  if  yee  wilbee  just,  seeke  Christ,  and  not 
the  law,  nor  your  invented  workes,  which  are  lessc  than  the 
law.  Christ  shall  have  no  mixtion  with  the  law,  nor 
works  thereof,  in  this  article  of  justification  ;  because  the  law 
is  as  contrarie  to  the  oftice  of  Christ,  as  darknes  to  light,  and 
is  as  farre  different  as  heaven  and  earth  ;  for  the  office  of  the 
law  is  to  accuse  the  wicketl,  feare  them,  and  condemne  them, 
as  transgressours  of  the  same  ;  the  office  of  Christ  is  to  preache 
mercy,  remission  of  sinnes,  freely  in  his  bloude  tiirough  faith, 
give  consolation,  and  to  save  sinners  ;  for  hee  came  not  in  to 
this  world  to  call  them  which  ar  just,  or  think  themselves  just, 
but  to  call  sinners  to  repentance."     p.  100,  126,  127,  128. 

"  This  faith  which  only  justifieth  and  giveth  life,  is  not  idle 
nor  remaineth  alone ;  nevertheless,  it  alone  justifieth,  and  then 
it  works  by  charitie ;  for  unfained  faith  may  no  more  abyde 
idle  from  working  in  love,  than  the  good  tree  may  from  bring- 
ing foOTth  her  ixmi  in  due  time ;  and  yet  the  fruite  is  not  tlie 


NOTES. 


151 


cause  of  the  tree,  nor  maketh  the  tree  good,  but  the  tree  is  the  1 
cause  of  the  fruit :  and  the  good  tree  bringeth  forth  good  1 
fruite,  by  the  which  it  is  knowen  goode ;  even  so  it  is  of  the 
faithfull  man,  the  workes  make  him  not  faithfull  nor  just,  nor 
yet  are  the  cause  thereof;  but  the  faithfull  and  just  man  bring- 
eth forth  and  maketh  good  works,  to  the  honour  and  glorie  of 
God,  and  profit  of  his  neighbour,  which  beare  witnesse  of  his 
inward  faith,  and  testify  him  to  be  just  before  man,"  p.  131, 
132.  In  the  following  part  of  the  treatise,  the  author  shews 
at  large,  that  the  doctrine  of  gratuitous  justification  docs  not 
release  Christians  from  obligation  to  perform  good  works,  and 
inculcates  the  duties  incumbent  upon  them  in  the  different 
spheres  of  life  in  which  they  may  be  placed.  Confession 
of  Faith ;  conteining  how  the  troiMed  man  should  seeke 
refuge  at  his  God,-  compiled  bi/  M.  Henry  Balnaves  of 
Huihill,  and  one  of  the  Lords  of  Session  of  Scotland,  being  a 

Prisoner  within  the  oldpallaice  of  Roane,  in  the  year  1548. 
:  Vautrollier,  Edin.  1548.    -See  above,  p.  72. 

Note  XV.  p.  37. 

Extracts  from  Knox's  Defence  before  the  Bishop  of  Dur- 
hatn. — Since  the  publication  of  the  first  edition  of  this  Life,  I 
have  seen  a  copy  of  this  Defence  in  print.  Its  title  will  be 
found  in  the  catalogue  of  Knox's  works,  to  be  inserted  in  the 
last  note  of  volume  second.  The  printed  edition  agrees  more 
exactly  with  the  MS.  in  my  possession  than  any  of  his  other 
works  which  I  have  had  the  opportunity  of  comparing.  The 
extracts  given  in  this  note  are  continued  in  their  original  form, 
to  preserve  the  orthography  of  the  MS.  which  constitutes 
almost  the  only  difference  between  it  and  the  printed  edition. 

"Thefourtof  Apryle  in  the  yeir  1550,  was  appoyntit  to 
Johne  Knox,  preacher  of  the  halie  evangel]  of  Jesus  Chryst, 
to  gif  his  confessioun  why  hie  affinned  the  mes  idolatrie, 
whilk  day,  in  presence  of  the  consale  and  congregatioun, 
amangis  whome  was  also  present  the  bischope  of  Durani  and 
his  doctors,  on  tliis  manner  hie  beginneth. 

"  This  day  I  do  appeir  in  your  presence,  honourahill  audi- 
ence, to  gif  a  reasone  why  so  conatantlie  I  do  alfinne  the  mes 
to  be,  and  at  all  tymes  to  haif  bene,  idolatrie  and  abominatioun 
before  God ;  and  becaus  men  of  great  eruditioun,  in  your 
audience,  affirmed  the  contrarie,  most  gladlie  wold  I  that  heir 
thay  wer  present,  either  in  proper  persone,  or  els  by  thair 
leamit  men,  to  ponder  and  wey  the  causis  moveing  me  thairto : 
for  unles  I  evidentUe  prufe  myne  intent  be  Goddis  halie  scrip- 
tures, I  will  recant  it  as  wickit  doctrine,  and  confes  my  self 
maist  worthie  of  grevous  punisment  How  difficill  it  is  to  pull 
furth  of  the  hartis  of  the  pepill  the  thing  whairin  opinioun  of 
holines  standeth,  declareth  the  great  tunudt  and  uprore  moveit 
aganis  Paule  by  Demetrius  and  his  fellowis,  who  by  idolatrie 
gat  great  vantage,  as  oure  priestis  have  done  be  the  mase  in 
tymes  past.  The  pepill,  I  say,  heiring  that  the  honor  of  thair 
great  goddes  Diana  stude  in  jeopardie,  with  furious  voces  cryit, 
'  great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians ;' — and  heirunto  wer  thay 
moveit  be  lang  custome  and  fals  opinioun.  I  knaw,  that  in 
the  mass  hath  not  onlie  bene  estcmit  great  holines  and  honor- 
ing of  God,  but  also  the  ground  and  fundatioun  of  oure 
religioun :  so  that,  in  opinioun  of  many,  the  mass  taken  away, 
thair  resteth  no  trew  wirschipping  nor  honouring  of  God  in 
the  erth.  The  deiper  hath  it  persit  the  hartis  of  men  yat  it 
occupyith  the  place  of  the  last  and  misticaO  supper  of  our 
Lord  Jesus.  But  yf  I  sal,  be  plane  and  evident  scriptures, 
prove  the  mess,  in  hir  maist  honest  garment,  to  haif  bene  idol- 
atrie befoir  God,  and  blasphemous  to  the  death  and  passioun 
of  Chryst,  and  contrarie  to  the  supper  of  Jesus  Chryst,  than 
gude  hope  have  I,  honorable  audience  and  belovit  brethrene, 
that  the  feir,  love,  and  obedience  of  God,  who  in  his  scriptures 
hath  spokin  all  veritie  necessarie  for  oure  salvatioun,  sail  move 
yow  to  gif  place  to  the  same,  O  Lord  eternal !  move  and 
governe  my  toung  to  speak  the  veritie,  and  the  hartis  of  thir 
pepill  to  understand  and  obey  the  same."     p.  1,2. 

In  proof  of  his  position,  he  laid  down  and  defended  two 
syllogisms.  The  first  is  thus  stated  :  "  Ail  wirschiping,  hon- 
oring, or  service  inventit  by  the  brane  of  man  in  the  religioun 
of  God,  without  his  awn  expres  commandement,  is  idolatrie. 
The  mase  is  inventit  by  the  brane  of  man  without  any  com- 
mandment of  God.  Thairfoir  it  is  idolatrie."  The  second 
syllogism  is  thus  framed  :  "  All  honoring  or  service  of  God, 
whairunto  is  addit  a  wickit  opinioun,  is  abominatioun.  Unto 
the  mes  is  addit  a  wickit  opinioun.  Thairfoir  it  is  abomina- 
tioun," p.  3,  21.  In  support  of  the  major  proposition  of  his 
first  syllogism,  he  argues  from  1  Sam.  xiii,  1 1 — 14.  xv.  22,  23. 


Deut.  iv.  2.  xii.  8,  32.  1  Cor.  xi.  23.  Take  the  following  as 
a  specimen.  "  We  may  not  think  ws  so  frie  nor  wyse  that 
we  may  do  unto  God,  and  unto  his  honour,  what  we  think 
expedient.  No  :  the  contrarie  is  commandit  by  God,  saying, 
U7ito  my  word  sail  ye  add  nothing,  nothing  sail  ye  demin- 
ische  thairfrome,  that  ye  might  observe  the  precepits  of  your 
Lord  God.  Whilk  wordis  ar  not  to  be  understand  of  the 
decalogue  and  law  moral  onlie,  but  of  statutis,  rytes,  and 
ccremonyis ;  for  equall  ol)edience  of  all  his  lawis  requyreth 
God.  And  in  witnes  thairof,  Nadib  and  Abihu  ofhring  strange 
fyre,  whairof  God  had  gevin  unto  thame  na  charge,  wer  in- 
stanthe,  as  they  ofhrit,  punisset  to  death  by  fyre. — In  the 
punisment  of  theis  two  afoirsaid  is  to  be  observit,  that  Nadab 
and  Abihu  wer  the  principal  priestis  nixt  to  Aron  thair  father, 
and  that  thay  wer  comprehendit  neither  in  adulterie,  covetous- 
nes,  nor  desyre  of  warldlie  honor,  but  of  a  gud  zeall  and  sim- 
pill  intent  wer  making  sacrifice,  desyreing  no  profit  of  the 
pepill  thairby,  but  to  honor  God,  and  to  metigat  his  wraith. 
And  yit  in  the  douig  of  this  self  same  act  and  sacrifice  wer 
thay  consumit  away  with  fyre  ;  whairof  it  is  plane,  that  nether 
the  preeminence  of  the  persone  or  man  that  maketh  or  setteth 
up  any  religioun  without  the  express  commandment  of  God, 
nor  yet  the  intent  whairof  hie  doith  the  same,  is  acccptit  befoir 
God  :  for  nothing  in  his  religioun  will  hie  admit  without  his 
awn  word,  but  all  that  is  addit  thairto  doith  hie  abhor,  and 
punisscth  the  inventoris  and  doeris  thairof,  as  ye  haif  hard  in 
Nadab  and  Aliihu."     MS.  Letters,  p.  6,  7. 

The  following  extracts  will  exemplify  the  irony  with  which 
he  treated  the  popish  tenets.  "  Jesus  Chrjst  sayeth,  I  will 
lay  upon  yow  none  other  burdene  than  I  haif  alredic ,-  and, 
thai  whilk  ye  haif  observe  diligentlie.  O  Goid  etemall !  hast 
thow  laid  none  uther  burdene  upon  our  backis  than  Jesus 
Chryst  laid  be  his  word  ]  Then  who  hath  burdenit  ws  with 
all  theis  ceremonyis  ]  presciybid  fasting,  compellit  chastitie,  un- 
lawful] vowis,  invocatioun  of  Sanctis,  and  with  the  idolatrie  of 
the  mese  1  The  divill,  the  divill,  brethrene,  inventit  all  theis 
burdenis  to  depres  imprudent  men  to  perditioun,"  p.  10. 
Speaking  of  the  canon  of  the  mass,  he  saith,  "  I  will  preve, 
that  thairin  is  indigest,  barbarous,  folische  congestioun  of 
wordis,  imperfectioun  of  sentences,  ungodlie  invocationis,  and 
diabolicall  conjurationis.  And  this  is  that  holie  canon  whois 
autoritie  preccUeth  all  scriptures.  O  !  it  was  so  holie  it  might 
not  be  spokin  planelie  as  the  rest,  but  secreitlie  it  behoved  to 
be  whisperet !  That  was  not  evil  devysit ;  for  yf  all  men 
had  hard  it,  sum  wold  have  espyit  the  vanitie  thairof. — Thay 
say,  hoc  est  enim  corpus  meum.  I  pray  thame  schew  whair 
find  thay  enim  ?  0  !  heir  mak  thay  a  great  matter  ;  and  heir 
lyeth  a  secreit  misterie,  and  hid  operatioun !  For  in  fyve.  wordis 
conceaved  the  virgin  Marie,  say  thay,  when  sche  conceavit 
the  Sone  of  God.  What  yf  sche  had  spoken  sevin,  ten,  or 
twentie  words  1  oi  what  yf  sche  had  spoken  thrie  1  Suld 
thairby  the  dcterminat  consalle  bene  impedit  1  O  papists !  is 
Godajuglar"?  Useth  he  certane  noumer  of  wordis  in  per- 
forming his  intent  1"  p.  18,  19. 

Quintin  Kennedy,  abbot  of  Crossraguel,  in  an  Oration, 
composed  by  him,  in  1561,  made  some  remarks  on  Knox's 
book  against  the  Mass.  "  Shortlie  (says  he)  will  we  call  to 
remembrance  ane  notable  syllogisme  (or  argument)  sett  furth 
be  ane  famouss  prechour,  callit  John  Knox,  in  his  sermon 
aganis  the  mess,  in  maner  as  efter  follows."  And  having 
quoted  the  first  syllogism  as  already  expressed  in  his  note,  he 
answers :  "  As  to  the  first  part  of  his  syllogisme,  quhar  he  dois 
aflirme  all  worschipping  of  God  inuentit  be  the  brayne  of 
manne  without  express  command  of  God  to  be  ydolatrie,  it  is 
als  falss  as  Goddis  wourd  is  trew  ;  for  quhy  did  not  Abel, 
Abraham,  Noe,  and  diuerse  vtheris  of  the  aulde  fatheris,  inuent 
meanis  and  ways  to  the  worschiping  of  God  without  expres 
commande  of  God,  and  wes  acceptable  to  the  Lord  God,  as  the 
Aulde  Testament  techis  vs  1  Did  not  Cornelius  ccnturio  in- 
likewise  invent  meanis  and  ways  to  the  worschipping  of  God, 
without  expres  commande  of  God,  quhilk  wes  acceptable  to 
God,  as  the  New  Testament  plainly  teachis  ws  1  Thus  ma 
we  cleirle  persaue  that  this  witkit  syllogisme  aboue  rehersit  is 
expres  aganis  the  scripture  of  Almychti  God,  bath  Aulde 
Testament  and  New.  Secondlie,  to  preve  his  fals  and  wi(  kit 
syllogisme,  inipropirlie  callis  he  to  remembrance  the  scripture 
of  Almychti  God,  quhar  mentione  is  maid  how  king  Saule 
made  sacrifice  unto  God  of  his  owne  brayne,  and  wes  nocht 
acceptable  to  the  Lorde  God.  Mark  this  place  of  the  scripture, 
and  it  salbe  easely  pcrsavit  that  it  is  all  wayis  impropirlie 
appUit ;  for  quhy,  his  syllogisme  makis  mentione  of  tne  wors- 
chipping of  Gode  inuentit  be  the  brayne  of  mannc,  without 


1S2 


NOTES. 


exj«es  commande  of  God;  and  this  place  of  scripture  testifeis 
plsiinly  of  the  worschipping  of  God  inuentit  be  the  brayne  of 
marme,  expres  contrar  to  the  commande  of  God.  And  sua 
may  we  cleirUe  vnderstand  that  tliis  first  part  of  his  syllogisme 
differis  far  fra  the  testimonie  of  scripture,  adducit  be  him  for 
confirmatione  of  the  samin ;  bicaus  thair  is  ane  gretc  diiference 
betuix  the  worschipping  of  God  inuentit  be  manne,  x\ithout 
expres  commande  of  God,  and  the  worschipping  of  God 
inuentit  be  manne,  expres  contrar  to  the  command  of  God  ; 
the  ane  may  neuer  stand  with  tlie  scripture ;  the  vthcr  aggreis 
with  the  scripture,  bayth  Aulde  Testament  and  New,  as  I 
haif  all  reddy  declarit"  In  fine,  the  abbot  insists  that  Saul 
"  coramittit  na  ydolatrie,"  for  "  albeit  tlie  scripture  dois  afilrme 
that  stubbomes  is  as  the  wicketnes  of  ydolatrie,  nochttheles 
stubbomes  is  nocht  ydolatrie."  Ane  Oratioune  set  furth  be 
Master  Quintine  Kennedy,  Commendatour  of  Corsraguell,  ye 
zeir  of  Gode  1561,  p.  5—^.    Edinburgh,  1812. 

Note  XVI.  p.  38. 

Changes  on  the  English  Liturgy. — In  the  communion- 
book,  as  set  forth  in  1548,  tlie  words  pronounced  by  the  min- 
ister at  delivering  the  bread  were,  "  The  body  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  which  was  given  for  thee,  presers'e  thy  body  and 
soul  into  everlasting  hfe."  And  at  the  delivery  of  tlie  cup, 
"  The  blood  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which  was  shed  for  tliee, 
preserve,"  &c.  As  altered  in  the  corrected  Prayer-book  of 
Edward  VI.  the  words  pronounced  were,  '•  Take  and  eat  this 
in  remembrance  that  Christ  died  for  thee,  and  feed  on  him  in 
thy  heart  by  fiiith. — Drink  tliis  in  remembrance  Christ's  blood 
was  shed  for  tliee,  and  be  thankful."  A  rubric  was  also  added, 
to  be  read  at  the  celebration  of  the  communion,  declaring,  that, 
aldiough  the  posture  of  kneeling  was  retained  to  signify  our 
humble  and  grateftd  acknowledgement  of  tlie  benefits  of 
Christ,  and  to  prevent  profanation  and  disorder ;  yet  "  no 
adoration  is  intended  or  ought  to  be  done,  either  to  the  sacr2imen- 
tal  bread  and  wine  there  bodily  received,  or  unto  any  corporal 
presence  of  Christ's  natural  flesh  and  blood  ;  for  the  bread  and 
wine  retained  their  natural  substances,  and  Christ's  natural 
body  was  in  heaven,  and  could  not  be  in  more  places  than  one 
at  the  same  time."     Collier,  ii.  310.     Records,  No.  70. 

In  the  settlement  of  religion,  at  the  commencement  of 
Elizabeth's  reign,  the  old  form  of  words  at  delivering  the 
elements  was  superuiduced  upon  the  new,  which,  like  the 
patching  of  old  suid  new  cloth  in  a  garment,  marred  the  whole, 
and  pleased  neither  protestants  nor  papists.  And  the  rubric, 
explanatory'  of  kneeling,  was  thrown  out.  At  the  restoration 
of  Charles  II.  "  the  church  thought  fit  (says  Collier)  to  conde- 
scend so  far  as  to  restore  the  rubric  of  King  Edward's  reign," 
to  please  "  some  people  either  of  weak  judgments  or  conten- 
tious humours."  A  piece  of  condescension  with  which  the 
historian  pretty  plainly  intimates  Ids  dissatis&ction.. — In  the 
liturgy  which  was  attempted  to  be  imposed  upon  the  Scottish 
church,  in  1637,  all  the  qualifications  and  explications  in  the 
last  prayer  book  of  Edward  VI.  were  completely  excluded,  and 
various  expressions,  postures,  and  gestures,  favourable  to  the 
popish  notions  and  superstition,  were  imblushingly  borrowed 
from  the  mass-book.  But  the  rulers  of  the  church  in  the  three 
kingdoms  were  then  posting  fast  to  Kome,  when  they  were 
overturned  in  their  mad  cai'cer. 

Note  XVU.  p.  42. 

Sentiments  of  English  Reformers  respecting  the  govem- 
ment  and  worship  of  tJie  church, — I  shall  endeavour  to 
compress  the  body  of  evidence  which  can  be  produced  for  the 
conformity  between  tlie  private  sentiments  of  the  English 
reformers  respecting  worship  and  church-government,  and 
those  of  Knox  along  with  the  reformers  of  Switzerland  and 
Geneva.  Hooper,  in  a  letter  dated  Feb.  8,  1550,  informs 
BulUnger  that  "  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  the  bishops  of 
Rochester,  Ely,  St.  David's,  Lincoln,  and  Bath,  were  sincerely 
bent  on  advancing  the  purity  of  doctrine,  agreeing  in  all 
THINGS  with  the  Helvetic  churches."  Burnet,  iiL  201.  Park- 
hurst,  bishop  of  Norwich,  in  a  letter  to  Gualter,  Feb.  4,  1573, 
fervently  exclaims,  "  O !  would  to  God,  would  to  God,  onc«  at 
last,  all  the  English  people  would  in  good  earnest  propound  to 
themselves  to  follow  the  church  of  Zurich  as  the  most  absolute 
pattern."     Strype's  Annals,  ii.  286,  342. 

Cranmer  expressed  his  opinion  formally  in  writing,  that 
"  the  bishops  and  priests  were  at  one  time,  and  were  no  two 
things,  but  both  one  orriC£  in  the  beginning  of  Christ's 


religioa." — "  The  bishop  of  St  David's,  my  lord  elect  ofWest- 
minster.  Dr.  Cox,  Dr.  Redman,  say  that  at  the  beginning  they 
were  all  onb."  CoUier.  ii.  Records,  No  49.  Burnet,  i.  Append, 
p.  223 — 225.  Thirteen  bishops,  with  a  great  number  of  other 
ecclesiastics,  subscribed  this  proposition,  "  that  in  the  New 
Testament  there  is  no  mention  made  of  any  degrees  or  distinc- 
tions in  orders,  but  only  deacons  or  ministers,  and  of  priests  or 
bishops."  Burnet,  ut  supra,  p.  324.  Cranmer  says,  "  In  the 
New  Testament  he  that  is  appointed  a  bishop  or  a  priest 
necdeth  not  consecration  by  the  scripture,  for  election  or 
appointment  thereto  is  sufficient."  And  of  the  same  judgment 
was  the  bishop  of  St  David's.  Ibid.  228,  230.  Latimer  and 
Hooper  maintained  the  identity  of  bishops  and  presbyters,  by 
divme  institution.  Voetii  Polit.  Eccles.  torn.  ii.  p.  837.  "This 
was  also  the  opinion  of  Pilkington,  bishop  of  Durham.  Trea- 
tise on  the  bummg  of  St  Paul's,  apud  Cald.  Altare  Damas.  p. 
204,  Bishop  Jewel  assents  to  it  in  his  Answer  to  Harduig,  j». 
121.  And  on  tlie  accession  of  Elizabeth,  he  expressed  his 
hope,  that  "  the  bishops  would  become  pastors,  labourers,  and 
watchmen,  and  that  the  great  riches  of  bishoprics  would  be 
diminished  and  reduced  to  mediocrity,  that,  being  delivered 
from  regal  and  courtly  pomp,  they  might  take  care  of  the  flock 
of  Christ"  Burnet,  iii.  288.  In  the  same  year,  Dr.  Aylmer 
addressed  the  right  reverend  bench  in  these  terms :  "  Come  of, 
you  bishops,  away  with  your  superfluities,  yield  up  your  thou- 
sands, be  content  with  hundreds,  as  they  be  in  other  reformed 
churches,  where  there  be  as  great  learned  men  as  you  are. 
Let  your  portion  be  priesiJike,  and  not  princelike.  Let  the 
Queen  have  the  rest  of  your  temporahties  and  other  lands  to 
maintain  these  warres  which  you  procvired,  and  your  mistressc 
left  her ;  and  with  the  reste  builde  and  found  scoales  thorow  outte 
the  realme  :  that  every  parishe  church  may  have  his  preacher, 
every  city  his  superintendent,  to  live  honesdy  and  not  pomf>- 
ously  ;  wliich  wHl  never  be  onles  your  landes  be  dispersed  and 
bestowed  upon  many  which  now  feedeth  and  fatteUi  but  one. 
— I  would  our  countryman  Wickliefe's  boke  which  he  wrote, 
De  Ecclesia,  were  in  print,  and  there  should  you  see  that 
your  wrinches  and  cavillations  be  nothing  worthie.  It  was 
my  chaunce  to  happen  of  it  in  ones  hand  that  brought  it 
out  of  Bohemia."  An  Harborowe  for  faithful  and  trew  sub- 
jects, O,  4.  Cranmer  expressed  himself  in  a  similar  strain 
respecting  the  "  glorious  titles,  styles  and  pomps"  which  were 
come  into  the  church  through  the  working  of  the  spirit  of 
Diotrephes,  and  professed  Ids  readiness  to  lay  them  aside. 
Strype's  Cranmer,  Append,  p.  20.  Buniet  iii.  105.  Append- 
p.  88.  In  fact,  the  title  of  bishop  was  very  generally  disused 
in  common  speech,  during  tlie  reign  of  Edward  VI.  and  that 
of  superintendent  substituted  in  its  place.  And  this  change 
of  language  was  vindicated  by  Ponet,  bishop  of  Winchester, 
in  an  answer  which  he  published  to  a  popish  writer.  Strype's 
Memorials  of  the  Reformation,  ii.  444,  445. 

It  was  proposed  by  Cranmer  to  erect  courts  similar  to  tlie 
kirk-sessions  and  provincial  synods  afterwards  introduced  into 
the  Scottish  church.  Burnet,  iii.  214.  Reformatio  Leg. 
Eccles.  cap.  8,  10.  He  ardently  wished  the  suppression  of 
prebendaries,  "  an  estate  (he  said)  which  St  Paule,  reckon- 
ing up  the  degrees  and  estates  allowed  in  his  tirae,  could  not 
find  in  the  church  of  Christ"  Burnet,  iii.  Append,  p.  157, 
158,  All  the  protestant  bishops  and  divines,  in  the  reign  of 
Edward  VI.  were  anxious  for  the  introduction  of  ecclesiastical 
discipline.  Dr.  Cox  (Oct  5,  1552.)  complains  bitterly  of 
the  opposition  of  the  courtiers  to  this  measure,  and  says,  that, 
if  it  was  not  adopted,  tlie  kingdom  of  God  would  be  taken 
away  from  them."  Latimer's  Sermons,  fol.  cix.  b.  Lond, 
1570.  Strype's  Memor.  of  the  Reform,  ii,  366.  Repository 
of  Orig.  p,'  150. 

Cranmer,  with  his  colleagues,  w^ere  far  from  being  satisfied 
with  the  purity  of  the  last  common-prayer  book  of  Edward, 
and  he  had  drawn  up  one  which  is  said  to  have  been  "  an 
hundred  times  more  perfect"  Troubles  at  Frankfort  p.  50. 
He  and  Ridley  intended  to  procure  an  act  for  aboUshuig  tlie 
sacerdotal  habits  ;  "  for  they  only  defended  their  lawfulness,  but 
not  their  fitness,"  Burnet's  Letters  respecting  Switzerland, 
&c,  p,  52.  Rotterdam,  1686.  When  Grindal  was  appouited 
to  tlie  bishoprick  of  London,  he  "  remained  under  some  scru- 
ples of  conscience  alx>ut  some  tilings,  especially  tlie  habits  and 
certain  ceremonies  required  to  be  used  of  such  as  were 
bishops.  For  the  reformed  in  these  times  (says  Stryf)e)  geii 
erally  went  upon  the  ground,  tliat  in  order  to  the  complete  free- 
ing of  the  church  of  Christ  from  the  errors  and  corruptions  of 
Rome,  every  usage  and  custom  practised  by  that  ai>ostate  and 
idolatrous  church  should  be  abolished, — aiid  that  the  service  of 


N  0  T  p:  s , 


163 


God  should  be  most  simple,  stript  of  all  that  show,  pomp, 
and  appearance  that  had  been  customarily  used  lieiore,  esteem- 
ing all  that  to  be  no  better  than  superstitious  and  antichristian." 
Life  of  Grindal,  p.  28.  Horn  and  others  had  the  same  views 
and  scruples.  "  By  the  letters  (says  bishop  Burnet)  of  which 
I  read  the  originals,  [in  the  archives  of  Zurich]  it  appears 
that  the  bishops  preserved  the  habits  rather  in  compliance 
with  the  Queen's  incUnations  than  out  of  any  liking  they 
had  to  them ;  so  far  were  they  from  liking,  that  they  plainly 
expressed  their  dislike  of  them."  Burnet's  I-etters,  ut  supra, 
p.  51.  Before  they  accepted  the  office  they  endeavoured  to 
obtiin  the  abrogation  of  the  ceremonies ,  and  when  the  act 
enjoining  them  passed,  they  were  induced  to  comply  chiefly 
by  their  fears  that  the  Papists  or  Lutherans  would  occupy 
their  places.  Strype's  Armals,  i.  175.  Burnet,  ii.  376.  and 
Ids  Sermon  on  Psal.  cxlv.  15.  preached  before  the  House  of 
Commons,  Jan.  1688.  Cox  writes  to  BuUinger,  5th  May 
1551,  "  I  think  all  things  in  the  church  ought  to  be  pure 
and  simple,  removed  at  the  greatest  distance  from  the  pomps 
and  elements  of  the  world.  But  in  this  our  church  what 
can  I  do  in  so  low  a  station."  Strype's  Memor.  of  the  Re- 
form, ii.  305.  Burnet,  iii.  202.  Jewel,  in  a  letter  to  Martyr, 
Nov.  5,  1559,  calls  the  clerical  habits  "  a  stage-dress"  (testis 
scenica),  to  which  those  alone  were  attached  who  "  had  no- 
thing else  to  recommend  them  to  tlie  people,  but  a  comical 
dress, — stipites  sine  ingenio,  suie  doctrina,  sine  moribus,  veste 
saltern  comica  volebant  populo  commendari,"  He  engages 
that  no  exertions  of  his  should  be  wanting  to  banish  utterly 
these  ludicrous  fooleries, '^  Indicris  ineptiis,  and  relics  of  the 
Amoriies,  as  his  correspondent  (he  says)  had  well  designed 
them.  And,  at  a  period  still  later,  (Feb.  8,  1566.)  he  writes 
to  Bullinger,  that  he  "  wished  that  the  very  slightest  foot- 
steps of  popery  might  be  removed  out  of  the  church  and 
minds  of  men ;  but  the  queen  would  at  that  time  suffer  no 
change  in  religion."  Burnet,  iii.  Append,  p.  291.  ii.  Append, 
p.  351.  Strype's  Annals,  i.  174.  Grindal  and  Horn  wrote 
to  Zurich,  that  they  did  not  approve  of,  but  merely  suffered, 
kneeling  in  the  eucharist,  and  signing  vnth  the  cross  in  bap- 
tism, with  some  other  ceremonies,  hoping  that  they  would 
speedily  obtain  their  abrogation.  Burnet,  ii.  310,  314.  As 
to  Parkhurst  bishop  of  Norwich,  Pilkington  of  Durham,  and 
Sands  of  Worcester,  the  non-confonnists  bear  testimony,  that 
these  prelates  discovered  the  greatest  zeal  in  endeavouring  to 
procure  their  abrogation.  Ibid.  iii.  316.  The  most  respectable 
of  the  clergy  in  Sie  lower  house  were  of  the  same  sentiments 
with  the  bishops  on  this  subject.  In  the  year  1562,  the 
abrogation  of  the  most  offensive  ceremonies  was,  after  long 
reasoning,  put  to  the  vote  in  the  convocation,  and  carried 
by  a  majority  of  those  present,  but,  when  the  proxies  were 
included,  there  was  found  a  majority  of  one  for  retaining 
them.  The  arguments  used  by  arshbishop  Parker's  chaplains, 
to  prevail  upon  the  house  to  agree  to  this,  derived  their  chief 
force  from  their  being  understood  to  be  the  sentiments  of 
the  queen.  Bumet,  ii.  Append,  p.  319,  320.  Strype's  An- 
nals, i.  298—300. 

From  these  facts,  (and  a  collection  much  more  ample 
could  easily  be  made)  the  reader  will  see  who  were  the 
first  puritans,  and  how  very  different  the  sentiments  of 
the  English  reformers  were  from  those  of  their  successors. 
Those  good  men  who  had  the  direction  of  ecclesiastical  affairs 
in  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.  thought  it  most  prudent  to  pro- 
ceed gradually  and  slowly,  in  removing  the  abuses,  and 
correcting  the  evils,  which  had  overspread  the  church:  and 
to  indulge  the  people  for  a  season  with  those  external  forms 
to  which  they  had  been  habituated,  that  they  might  draw 
them  more  easily  from  their  superstitious  notions  and  prac- 
tices, and  in  due  time  perfect  the  reformation  to  the  satisfaction 
of  all.  The  plan  was  plausible ;  but  its  issue  was  very  dif- 
ferent from  what  was  intended  by  those  who  proposed  it  This 
was  not  unforeseen  by  those  who  wished  well  to  the  church  of 
England.  After  the  bishops  had  resolved  to  I'est  satisfied  with 
the  establishment  which  they  had  obtained,  and  felt  themselves 
disturbed  by  the  complaints  of  the  puritans  (as  they  were  af- 
terwards csJled),  they  endeavoured  to  engage  the  foreign  di- 
vines on  their  side;  and  having,  by  partial  representations, 
and  through  the  respect  entertained  for  the  government  of  Eng- 
land, obtained  letters  from  them  somewhat  favourable  to  their 
views,  they  employed  these  to  bear  dowm  such  as  pleaded  for 
a  more  pure  reformation.  Whitgift  made  great  use  of  this 
weapon  in  his  controversy  with  Cartwright.  Bishop  Park- 
hurst  v?rote  to  Gualter,  a  celebrated  Swiss  divine,  cautioning 
him  on  this  head,  adding,  that  he  had  refused  to  communicate 
U 


some  of  Gualter's  letters  to  Whitgift ;  because,  "  if  any  thing 
made  for  the  ceremonies,  he  presently  clapped  it  into  his  book, 
and  printed  it."  Strj'pe's  Annals,  ii,  286,  287.  But  these 
di\'ines  had  fonnerly  delivered  their  unbiassed  judgment,  dis- 
approving of  such  temporizing  measures.  Cranmer  having 
signified  to  the  Genevan  Reformer,  that  he  "  could  do  nothing 
more  profitable  to  the  church  than  to  write  often  to  the  king," 
Calvin  wrote  a  letter  to  the  archbishop  in  1551,  in  which  he 
lamented  the  procrastination  used,  and  expressed  his  fears, 
that  "  a  long  winter  would  succeed  to  so  many  harvests  spent 
in  deliberation."  Epist.  p.  62.  Oper.  tom.  ix.  Strype's  Cran- 
mer, p.  413.  Peter  Martyr,  in  June  1550,  expressed  it  as  his 
opinion,  that "  the  innumerable  corruptions,  infinite  abuses,  and 
immense  superstition,  could  be  reformed  only  by  a  simple  re- 
currence to  the  pure  fountain,  and  unadulterated  original  prin- 
ciples." And  the  prudential  advice,  that  as  few  changes  as 
possible  should  be  made,  he  called  "  a  device  of  Satan  to  ren- 
der the  regress  to  popery  more  easy."  Bumet,  iii.  Append,  p. 
200.  Gualter,  in  a  letter  dated  Jan.  16,  1559,  sa3's,  that  such 
advices,  though  "  according  to  a  carnal  judgment  full  of  mo- 
desty, and  apparently  conducive  to  the  maintainance  of  con- 
cord," were  to  be  ascribed  to  "  the  pubUc  enemy  of  man's  sal- 
vation," and  prophetically  warns  those  who  suffered  abuses  to 
remain  and  strengthen  themselves  in  England,  that "  afterweu-ds 
they  would  scarcely  be  able  to  eradicate  them  by  all  their  ef- 
forts and  struggles."     Ibid.  iii.  273.  Append,  p.  265. 

Fuller  says,  that  the  English  Reformers  "perrriitted  igno- 
rant people  to  retain  some  fond  customs,  that  they  might  re- 
move the  most  dangerous  and  destructive  superstitions ;  as 
mothers,  to  get  children  to  part  with  knives,  are  content  to  let 
them  j)lay  with  rattles."  Very  good :  but  if  mothers  suffer 
their  children  to  play  too  long  with  rattles,  they  are  in  great 
danger  of  no*  parting  with  them  all  their  days. 


Note  XVm.  p.  42. 

Plan  of  Edward  VI.  for  advancing  the  Reformation  of 
the  church  of  England. — A  plan  of  improvements  in  the 
English  church,  which  Edward  VI.  drew  with  his  own  hand, 
may  be  seen  in  Strype's  Memorials  of  the  Reformation,  ii.  341 
— 343.  He  was  desirous  of  the  establishment  of  ecclesiastical 
discipline,  but  sensible  that  the  incumbent  bishops  were  in  ge- 
neral of  such  a  description  as  to  be  unfit  for  its  exercise,  "  Some 
for  papistry  (says  he),  some  for  ignorEmce,  some  for  their  ill- 
name,  some  for  all  these,  are  men  unable  to  execute  discipline." 
Accordingly,  he  adds,  "  as  for  discipline,  I  would  wish  no  au- 
thority given  generally  to  all  bishops  ;  but  that  commission  be 
given  to  those  of  the  best  sort  of  them  to  exercise  it  in  their 
dioceses."^  King  Edward's  Remains,  apud  Bumet,  ii.  Records, 
p,  69. 

Omitting  other  proofs  of  his  intentions,  I  shall  produce  the 
decisive  one  of  liis  conduct  towards  the  foreign  church  settled 
in  London  under  the  inspection  of  John  A  Lasco.  A  Lasco 
was  a  Polish  nobleman,  who  had  forsaken  his  native  country, 
from  love  to  the  refomied  religion.  In  his  youth,  he  enjoyed 
the  friendship  of  Erasmus,  who,  in  one  of  his  letters,  passes  a 
high  encomium  on  him.  "  Senex,  juvenis  convictn,  factassum 
melior,  ac  sobrietatem,  temperantiam,  verecundmm,  linguae 
moderationem,  modcstiam,  prudentiam,  integritatem,  quam  ju- 
venis a  sene  discere  debuerat,  a  juvene  senex  didici."  Erasmi 
Epist.  lib.  28.  ep.  3.  He  was  offered  two  bishoprics,  one  in 
his  native  country,  and  another  in  Hungary  ;  but  he  rejected 
both,  and  retiring  into  Friesland,  became  pastor  of  a  protes- 
tant  congregation  at  Embden.  Gerdes,  Hist.  Reform,  iii,  145— 
160,  The  protestant  churches  in  the  Low  Countries  being 
dissipated  in  consequence  of  the  troubles  produced  by  the  In- 
terim, he  came  to  England  at  the  pressing  invitation  of  Cran- 
mer, and  was  chosen  superintendent  of  the  German,  French, 
and  Italian  congregations  erected  in  London,  which  consbted 
of  between  3000  and  4000  persons.  Strype's  Cranmer,  p, 
234—241.     Gerdes.  ut.  sup.  p.  150,  235. 

A  Lasco  afterwards  published  an  accoimt  of  the  form  of 
government  and  worship  used  in  these  congregations,  which 
greatly  resembled  that  which  was  introduced  into  Scotland  at 
the  establishment  of  the  Reformation.  The  affairs  of  each 
congregation  were  managed  by  a  minister,  ruling  elders,  and 
deacons ;  and  each  of  these  offices  was  considered  as  of  divine 
institution.  Ut  infra,  fol.  i.  6,  b.  11.  A  superintendent  had 
the  inspection  of  the  different  congregations, "  who  was  greater 
only  in  respect  of  his  greater  trouble  and  care,  not  having  more 
authority  than  the  other  elders,  either  as  to  the  ministry  of  the 


154 


NOTES. 


word  and  sacraments,  or  as  to  the  exercise  of  ecclesiastical  dis- 
cipline, to  which  he  was  subject  equally  with  the  rest." — "  Ces- 
tuy  est  appelle  au  preuilege  du  Roy,  Superintendant,  lequelest 
plus  grand  que  les  autres,  seulement  en  ce  qu'il  a  plus  de  peine 
&  de  soing  que  tous  les  autres  :  non  seulement  au  gouueme- 
ment  de  toute  I'Eglise,  raais  aussy  a  la  defend  re  cotre  les  eflfortz 
de  tous  ses  aduersaircs,  &  a  retenir  vn  consentement  vnanime 
de  tous,  aux  differens  de  la  doctrine.  D'advantage  il  n'a  point 
plus  d'autorite  que  les  autres  Ancies,  au  Ministere  de  la  paroUe, 
&  des  sacremens,  &  en  I'usage  de  la  discipline  de  I'Eglise,  a  la 
quelle  il  est  subject  come  tous  les  autres.  Et  comme  il  a  seing 
des  autres  a  cause  de  son  Ministere,  pareillement  il  se  soubmet 
au  soing  des  autres,  en  I'obeissance  do  la  parolle  de  Dieu,  & 
obseruation  de  la  discipline."  Ut  infra,  fol.  i.  b.  It  is  proper, 
however,  to  mention  that  A  Lasco,  although  he  allows  no  su- 
periority of  office  or  authoritj'  to  superintendents,  considereil 
that  they  were  of  divine  appointment,  and  that  Peter  held  tliis 
rank  among  the  apostles.  "  Premierement  que  le  Ministere 
de  Superintendant,  ou  Inspecteur,  est  vne  ordomiance  diuine 
en  I'Eglise  de  Cluist,  instituee  du  Seigneur  lesus  Christ  etre 
les  Apostres  mesmes :  quad  il  commanda  a  Pierre  speciale- 
ment,  de  confirmer  ses  autres  frercs  en  la  foy.  Et  non  pas 
qu'il  luy  ait  donne  autorite  sus  les  autres  Apostres :  comme  le 
Pape  de  Rome  songe :  mais  qu'il  failloit  retenir  en  I'Eglise 
Tne  puissance  egalle  de  tous  les  Apostres,  auec  Pierre  par  vng 
certain  ordre  d'une  solicitude,  des  vns  pour  les  autres :  ainsy 
que  tres  bien  I'enseigne  sainct  Ciprian  martjr.  Et  aussy  nous 
voyons  manifestement,  qu'un  mesme  Ministere  est  egalcment 
attribue  a  tous  les  Anciens  de  I'Eglise,  qui  sont  nommez  In- 
specteurs,  et  en  Grec  Eucsques.  Nous  entendons  aussy  lean 
&  laques  auoir  tel  honneur  que  Pierre  en  I'Eglise  de  lenisa- 
lem.  Mais  a  fin  qu'il  y  ait  quelque  ordre,  en  vn  mesme  gou- 
uemement  Ecclesiastique,  entie  tous  les  Anciens,  &  que  tout 
«oit  faict  par  ordre  &  honncstement,  il  le  faut  commencer  a  vn. 
Or  pource  qu'il  ya  bien  a  faire  de  quelz  on  doit  comenecr  le 
gouuemement  en  toute  I'Eglise :  ores  que  tous  les  Anciens 
ayent  vne  mesme  puissance."  Toute  la  forme  &  maniere  du 
Ministere  Ecclesiastique  en  I'Eglise  des  estragers,  dressee  a 
Londres  en  Angleterre.  Par  M.  Jean  a  Lasco.  Baron  de 
Polorue.  Traduit  de  liatin  en  Francois,  &  imprime  par  Giles 
Ctematius.  1556.fol.  8,ib.  9,  a.  Imposition  of  hands  was  used  in 
the  ordination  of  sujicrintendents,  ministers,  ruling  elders,  and 
deacons.  Ibid.  fol.  27,  31,  35.  The  communicants  sat  at  the 
Lord's  table,  and  A  Lasco  spends,  a  number  of  pages  in  prov- 
ing that  tliis  posture  is  preferable  to  kneehng.  fol.  80 — 88. 
In  fine,  he  says,  "  Wc  have  laid  aside  all  the  relics  of  Popery, 
with  its  mummeries,,  and  we  have  studied  the  greatest  possible 
amplicity  in  cercnwnies."     Ibid,  fol,  79,  b. 

Notwithstanding  these  sentiments,  and  these  pieces  of  discon- 
formity  to  the  practice  of  the  church  of  England,  A  Lasco  was 
held  in  the  greatest  esteem,  and  warmly  patronized,  not  only 
by  Cramner,  but  also  by  the  young  king,  who  granted  him  IcU 
ters  patent,  erecting  him  and  the  other  ministers  of  the  foreign 
congregations  into  a  body  corporate.  The  patent  runs  in  these 
terms  :  "Edward,  &c. — We  being  specially  induced,  by  great 
and  weighty  considerations,  and  particularly  considering  how 
much  it  becomes  Christian  princes  to  be  animated  with  love 
and  care  of  the  sacred  gospel  of  God,  and  apostolical  religion, 
begim,  instituted,  and  delivered  by  Cluist  himself,  without 
which  policy  and  civil  government  can  neither  subsist  long, 
nor  maintain  their  reputation,  unless  princes  and  illustrious 
persons  whom  God  hath  appointed  for  die  government  of 
kingdoms  do  first  of  edl  take  care,  that  pure  and  uncorruptcd 
religion  be  diffused  through  tlie  whole  body  of  the  conuuon- 
wealth,  and  that  a  church  instituted  in  truly  Christian  and 
apostolical  doctrines  and  rites — he  preserved,  &c  with  this  in- 
tent Eind  purpose,  tliat  Uiere  may  be  an  uncorrupted  interpre- 
tation of  the  holy  gospel,  and  adininistration  of  the  sacraments, 
according  to  the  word  of  God,  and  apostolical  observance,  by 
the  ministers  of  the  church  of  the  Gennans,  &c.  we  couunand 
and  strictly  charge  the  mayor,  &c.  that  they  permit  Uie  said  su- 
perintendent and  ministers,  freely  and  quietly,  to  enjoy,  use, 
and  exercise  their  own  peculiar  ecclesiastical  discipline,  not- 
withstanding that  they  do  not  agree  with  Uie  rites  and  ceremo- 
nies used  in  our  kingdom,"  &c.  The  patent  may  be  seen  at 
large  in  Burnet,  ii.  Records,  p.  202. 

But  the  ulterior  design  wliich  the  King  intended  to  accom- 
pUsh  by  the  incorporation  of  this  church,  is  what  I  have  par- 
ticularly in  view.  This  is  exphcitly  stated  by  A  Lasco,  in  the 
book  which  he  published  in  1555.  In  his  dedication  of  it  to 
Sigismond,  king  of  Poland,  he  says:  "  When  I  wa«  called  by 
that  king,  [Edward  VI.]  and  when  certain  laws  of  the  countiy 


stood  in  the  way,  so  that  the  public  rites  of  divine  worship  used 
under  popery  could  not  immediately  be  purged  out  (which  the 
king  himself  desired)  ;  and  when  I  was  earnest  for  the  foreign 
churches,  it  was  at  length  his  pleasure,  that  the  public  rites  of 
the  English  churches  should  be  reformed  by  degrees,  as  far  as 
could  be  got  done  by  the  laws  of  the  country  ;  but  that  stran- 
gers, who  were  not  strictly  bound  to  these  laws  in  this  matter, 
should  have  churches  granted  unto  them,  in  which  they  should 
freely  regulate  all  things  wholly  according  to  apostolical 
doctrine  and  practice,  without  any  regard  to  the  rites  of  the 
country ;  thai  by  this  means  the  English  churches  also  might 
be  excited  to  embrace  apostolical  purify,  by  the  unanimous 
consent  of  all  the  estates  of  the  kingdom.  Of  this  project  the 
king  himself,  from  his  great  piety,  was  both  tlie  chief  author 
and  the  defetider.  For,  although  it  was  almost  universally  ac- 
ceptable to  the  king's  council,  and  the  archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury promoted  it  with  all  his  might,  there  were  not  wanting 
some  who  took  it  ill,  and  would  have  opposed  it,  had  not  his 
Majesty  checked  them  by  his  authority  and  the  reasons  which 
he  adduced  for  the  design."  Again,  in  the  Appendix  to  the 
same  book,  p.  649,  he  says;  "The  care  of  our  church  was 
committed  to  us  chiefly  with  this  view,  that  in  the  ministration 
thereof,  we  should  follow  the  rule  of  the  divine  word  and  apos- 
tolical observance,  rather  than  any  rites  of  other  churches.  In 
fine,  we  were  admonished  both  by  the  king  himself,  and  his 
chief  nobiUty,  to  vise  this  great  liberty  granted  to  us  in  our 
rainistrj',  rightly  and  faithfully,  not  to  please  men  but  for 
the  glory  of  God,  by  promoting  the  reformation  of  his  worship." 
The  following  are  the  original  words  of  the  author.  "  Cum 
ego  quoque  per  Regem  ilium  vocatus  essem ;  et  leges  qusedam 
patriffi  obstarent,  quominus  publici  potissimum  cultus  divini  ri- 
tus  sub  papismo  usurpati  (pro  eo  ac  rex  ipse  cupiebat)  repurgari 
protinus  possunt.  Ego  vero  peregrinorum  ecclcsiis  sedulo  in- 
starem,  ita  demum  placuit,  ut  rituspubUci  in  AngUcisEcclesiia 
per  gradus  quosdam  (quantum  per  leges  patrias  omnino  Uceret) 
repurgarentur:  Peregrinis  vero  hominibus  (qui  patriis  hac 
aUoqui  in  parte  legibus  non  usque  adeo  tenerentur)  ecclesise 
concederentur  in  quibus  omnia  libere,et  nulla  rituum  patriorum 
habita  ratione  ( juxta  doctrinam  duntaxit  atque  obscrvationem 
apostolicam)  instituerentiur,  ita  enim  fore,  ut  Anglicse  quoque 
ecclesise  ad  puritatem  af)Ostolicam  amplectcndam  unanimi  om- 
nium regni  ordinum  consensu  excitarentur.  Ejus  vero  consilii 
rex  ipscmet  (pro  sua  pietate)  praecipuus  non  autor  tantum,  sed 
etiam  propugnator  fuit.  Etsi  enim  id  in  senatu  rcgio  omnibus 
propemodum  placerit,  ipseque  Cantuariensis  archiepiscopus 
rem  omnibus  modis  promoveret ;  non  deerant  tamen  qui  id 
moleste  ferrent,  adeoque  et  reluctatiui  fuerint  huic  instituto  re- 
gio,  nisi  rex  ipse,  non  tantum  authoritate  sua  restitisset :  sed 
productus  etiam  instituti  hujus  rationibus  conatus  eorum  re- 
pressisset."  De  Ordinatione  Ecclesiarum  pcregrinarum  in 
AngUa.  Dedic.  et  p.  649.  Larger  extracts  from  this  work 
may  lie  seen  in  Voetii  Politic.  Eccles.  torn.  i.  420 — 422. 

Had  Mr.  Gilpin  been  acquainted  with  these  facts,  he  would 
have  spoken  with  a  little  more  moderation  and  respect  con- 
cemhig  this  accompUshed  Reformer,  than  he  has  done  in  the 
following  passage.  "  By  the  favour  of  Edward  VI.  he  was  al- 
lowed to  open  a  church  for  the  use  of  his  own  persuasion. 
But  he  made  only  a  bad  use  of  this  indulgence ;  interfering 
very  impertinently  in  the  controversies  then  on  foot"  Gilpm's 
Lives  of  Latimer  and  Gilpin,  p.  243.  Lond.  1 780.  Writers 
who,  like  Gilpin,  deal  in  abridgements  should  be  very  cautious 
and  sparing  in  Uie  reflections  which  they  make  on  characters,  as 
they  are  apt  to  mislead  their  readers,  without  furnishing  them 
with  tlie  facts  which  would  enable  lliem  to  correct  their  mistakes. 

Note  XIX.  p.  42. 

The  following  account  of  the  freedom  used  by  the  chaplains 
of  Edward  VI.  in  reproving  the  vices  of  the  courtiers,  is  given 
by  Knox,  in  his  "  Letter  to  the  Faitliful  in  London,"  &c.  I 
quote  from  the  MS. 

'•  How  boldlie  thair  synis  wer  rebukeit,  evin  in  thair  faces, 
suche  as  wer  present  can  witnes  with  me.  Almost  thair  wes 
none  that  occupyit  the  place  [pulpit]  but  he  did  prophesie,  and 
planelie  speake,  the  plaguis  that  ar  l>egun,  and  assuredlie  sail 
end  :  Mr.  Grindal  planelie  spak  the  detli  of  the  kingis  maicstc, 
complaynying  on  his  hoiishald  servandis  and  officeris  who 
netlier  eschameit  nor  feirit  to  raill  aganis  GodLs  trew  word,  and 
aganis  the  preacheris  of  the  same.  The  godlic  and  fervent 
man,  maister  Lever,  planelie  spak  the  desolatioun  of  the  com- 
moun  Weill,  and  the  plaguis  whilk  suld  follow  s^.Iionne.  Mai.s- 
ter  Bradfurde  (whome  God,  for  Chrystis  his  Sonis  sake,  com- 


NOTES. 


155^ 


fort  to  the  end}  spared  not  the  proudest ;  but  boldlie  declareit 
that  Godis  vengeance  suld  schortlie  stryke  thame  that  than 
wer  in  autoritie,  becaus  thay  abhorrit  and  lothed  the  trew  word 
of  the  everlasting  God.  And  amangis  many  uther  willct  thame 
to  tak  exempill  be  the  lait  duck  of  Somerset,  who  became  so 
cald  in  hering  Godis  word,  that  the  ycir  befoir  his  last  appre- 
hensioun,  hie  wald  ga  visit  his  masonis,  and  wald  not  dingyie* 
himself  to  ga  from  his  gallerie  to  his  hall  for  hering  of  a  ser- 
monc.  God  punnissit  him  (said  the  godlie  preacher)  and  that 
suddanlie ;  and  sail  hie  spair  yow  that  be  dowbill  mair  wickit  1 
No :  hie  sail  not.f  Will  ye,  or  will  ye  not,  ye  sail  drink  the 
cupe  of  the  Lordis  wraith.  Judicium  domini !  Judicium  do- 
mini !  the  judgement  of  the  Lord  !  thejudgementof  theLord! 
lamentabiUic  cryit  hie,  with  wciping  t^iris,  Maister  Iladden 
most  leamedlie  opinnit  the  caussis  of  the  bypast  plagis,  affirm- 
yng  that  the  wors  were  to  follow,  unles  repentance  suld  schort- 
lie be  found.  Thir  things,  and  mekill  mair  I  hard  planelic 
spokin,  cfter  that  the  haill  consale  had  said,  thay  wald  heir  no 
mo  of  thair  semaonis ;  thay  wcr  but  indiifcrent  fellowis ;  ye, 
and  sum  of  thame  eschameit  not  to  call  thame  pratting  knaves. 
But  now  will  I  not  speik  all  that  I  knaw,  for  yf  God  continew 
my  lyfe  in  tliis  trubill,  I  intend  to  prepair  ane  dische  for  suche 
as  than  led  the  ring  in  the  gospcll :  but  now  thay  half  bene  at 
the  scule  of  Placebo,  and  amangis  laddis  [ladies]  lies  leamit  to 
dance,  as  the  devill  list  to  pype!"  p.  120,  121. 

With  Knox's  representation  exactly  agrees  the  affecting 
"  Lamentation  for  the  change  of  religion  ui  England,"  compos- 
ed in  prison  by  bishop  Ridley,  in  which  he  names  our  country- 
man, along  with  Latimer,  Lever,  and  Bradford,  as  distinguish- 
ing themselves  by  the  faithfulness  and  boldness  with  which 
they  censured  the  vices  which  reigned  at  court.  I  v^'ould  will- 
ingly make  extracts  from  it,  but  must  refer  the  reader  to  the 
paper  itself,  which  ho  will  find  inserted  at  large  in  the  acx;ount 
of  the  bishop's  trial  and  martyrdom,  in  Fox,  p.  1614 — 1620. 
Edit.  Anno  1596. 

Grindal  was  an  exile  during  the  reign  of  Mary,  and,  under 
Elizabeth,  was  made  successively  bishop  of  London,  archbish- 
op of  York,  and  archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Thomas  Lever 
was  a  very  learned  man,  and  Master  of  St.  John's  college, 
Cambridge.  He  was  Knox's  colleague  at  Frankfort  Upon 
the  accession  of  Elizabeth,  he  was  admitted  to  a  prebend  in 
the  cathedral  of  Durham,  but  was  afterwards  deprived  of  it  on 
account  of  non-conformity.  He  seems  to  have  been  allowed 
to  preach  through  the  country,  and,  in  1677,  died  Master  of 
Sherburn  Hospital.  Some  ofhis  sermons  are  in  print.  Troubles 
of  Franckford,  p.  13.  28.  Strype's  Parker,  p.  212.  App.  77. 
Grindal,  170.  Annals,  iii.  512 — 514.  Hutchinson's  Durham, 
iL  594.  John  Bradford,  was  in  prison  when  Knox  wrote  the 
above  account  of  him,  and  was  soon  after  committed  to  the 
flames.  James  Haddon  had  been  chaplain  to  the  Duke  of 
Suffolk,  and  went  to  Strasburgh  at  the  death  of  Edward  VL 
He  was  chosen,  along  with  Knox,  to  be  one  of  the  ministers 
of  the  English  church  at  Frankfort,  but  declined  accepting  the 
office.  Troubles  of  Franckford,  13.  16.  23.  Strype's  Annals, 
ii.  App.  p.  46. 

Note  XX.  p.  43. 

The  Confession  or  Prayer,  composed  and  used  by  Knox, 
afler  the  death  of  Edward  VL  and  the  accession  of  Mary,  shews 
the  state  of  his  mind  at  that  crisis,  and  refutes  the  unfounded 
charges  of  the  popish,  and  of  some  episcopal  writers,  that  he 
was  guilty  of  stirring  up  rebellion  against  the  Queen.  I  ex- 
tract it  from  his  Treatise  on  Prayer,  printed  in  1554,  which  is 
now  exceedingly  Xdxc. 

"  Omnipotent  and  everlasting  God,  father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Chryste,  who,  be  thy  eternal  providence,  disposeth  kingdoms 
as  best  seameth  to  thy  wisdom,  we  acknowledge  and  confesse 
thy  judgmentis  to  be  righteous,  in  that  thou  hast  taken  from 
us,  for  our  ingratitude,  aiid  for  abusinge  of  thy  most  holy  word, 
our  native  king,  and  earthly  comforter.  Justly  may  thou  poure 
forth  upon  us  the  uttermoste  of  thy  plagues ;  for  that  we  have 
not  knowen  the  dayes  and  tymcs  of  our  merciful  visitacion. 
We  have  contempned  thy  worde,  and  despised  thy  mercies. 
We  have  transgressed  thy  lawes :  for  deceitfully  have  we 
wrought  everie  man  with  our  neighbours ;  oppression  and  vi- 
olence we  have  not  abhorred ;  charitie  hath  not  apeared  among 
us,  as  our  profession  requireth.  We  have  little  regarded  the 
voices  of  thy  prophetcs ;   thy  threatnings  we  have  esteemed 


*  deign  :  in  the  printed  copies  it  is  "  disease  himself.' 
t  The  printed  copica  are  unintelligible  here. 


vanitie  and  vfyn^ ;  so  that  in  us,  as  of  ourselfis,  restis  nothing 
worthy  of  thy  mercies.  For  all  are  found  frutless,  even  the 
princes  with  the  prophetcs  as  withered  trees  apt  and  mete  too 
be  burnt  m  the  fyre  of  thy  eternal  displeasure.  But,  O  Lord, 
behold  thy  own  mercy  and  goodness,  that  thou  may  purdge 
and  remove  the  most  filthy  burden  of  oure  most  horrible  offen- 
ces. Let  thy  love  overcome  the  severitie  of  thy  judgementis, 
even  as  it  did  in  geving  to  the  world  tliy  onely  Sonne  Jesus 
when  all  mankynde  was  lost,  and  no  obedience  was  lefte  in 
Adam  nor  in  his  sede.  Regenerate  our  hartes,  O  Lord,  by  the 
strength  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Convert  thou  us,  and  we  shall 
be  converted.  Work  thou  in  us  unfeigned  repentance,  and 
move  thou  our  hartes  too  obey  thy  holy  lawes.  Behold  our 
trebles  and  apparent  destruction ;  and  stay  the  sword  of  thy 
vengeance,  before  it  dcvourc  us.  Place  above  us,  O  Lord,  for 
thy  great  mercies'  sake,  such  a  head,  with  such  rulers  and  ma- 
gistrates, as  feareth  thy  name,  and  willeth  the  glory  of  Christ 
Jesus  to  spred.  Take  not  from  us  the  light  of  thy  evangely, 
suffer  thou  no  papistrie  to  prevail  in  this  realme.  lUumuiate 
the  harte  of  oure  soveraigne  lady,  queue  Marie,  with  prignant 
gifts  of  thy  Holy  Guoste.  And  inflame  the  hartes  of  her  coun- 
sayl  with  thy  trew  fear  and  love.  Represse  thou  the  pryde  of 
those  that  wolde  rebelle.  And  remove  from  all  hartes  the  con- 
tempte  of  the  worde.  Let  not  our  enemies  rejoyce  at  our  de- 
struction ;  but  lokc  thou  too  the  honor  of  thy  owne  name,  O 
Lordc,  and  h  t  tliy  gospcll  be  preached  with  boldcnes,  in  this 
realme.  If  thy  justice  must  punish,  then  punish  our  bodies 
with  the  rodde  of  thy  mercy.  But,  O  Lord,  let  us  never  rc- 
volle  nor  turiie  backe  to  idolatrie  agayne.  Mytigate  the  hartes 
of  those  tliat  persecute  us,  and  lot  us  not  faynte  under  the 
crosse  of  our  Sa\'iour ;  but  assist  us  with  the  Holy  Ghoste,  even 
to  the  end." 

Note  XXL  p.  48. 

Letter  of  Invitailon  to  Knox  from  the  English  Coiigrega- 
tion  at  Fr  .nhfort. — "Wc  haue  receiued  letters  from  oure 
brethren  off  Stiausbrough,  but  not  in  sUche  sorte  and  ample 
wise  as  we  looked  for,  wheruppon  we  assembled  together  in 
the  H.  Goaste  we  hope,  and  have  witli  one  voice  and  consent 
chosen  yow  so  particulerly  to  be  one  off  the  Ministers  off  our 
congregation  here,  to  proarhc  vnto  us  the  moste  liuely  worde  off 
God,  accordinge  to  the  gift  that  God  bathe  geuen  yow  for  as 
muche  as  we  haue  here  through  the  merciful  goodnes  off  God 
a  churche  to  l)c  congregated  together  in  the  name  off  Christe, 
and  be  all  of  one  body,  and  also  beinge  of  one  natio,  tonge  and 
countrie.  And  at  this  presente,  hauing  neede  off  such  a  one  as 
yow,  we  do  dcsicr  yow  and  also  require  yow  in  the  name  off 
God  not  to  deny  vs,  nor  to  refuse  theis  oure  requests,  but  that 
yow  will  aide,  helpc  and  assiste  vs  with  your  presence  in  this 
our  Good  and  godlie  enterprise,  whiche  we  haue  take  in  hand 
to  the  glorie  olVgod  and  the  profit  off  his  congregation  and  the 
poore  sheepe  ofi"  Christ  dispersed  abroad,  who  withe  your  and 
like  presences,  woulde  come  hither  and  be  of  one  folde  where 
as  nowe  they  wander  abroad  as  loste  sheepe  withowte  anie 
gide.  we  mistruste  not  but  that  yow  will  ioifully  accepte  this 
callinge.  Fare  ye  well  from  Franckford  this  24.  off  September. 

Your  louinge  brethren, 
lohn  Bale 
Edmond  Sutton 
lohn  Makebraie. 
William  VVhitingham  Thomas  wood  Mighell  GilL 

Thomas  Cole  lohn  Stanton  lohn  Samford 

VVilKam  Williams  William  Walton    lohn  Wood. 

George  Cliidley  lasper  swyft  Thomas  Sorby 

William  Hammon.  lohn  Geofrie.  Anthony  Cariar 

Thomas  Steward  lohn  Graie  Hugh  Alforde." 

A  Brieff  Discours  off  the  Troubles  bcgoime  at  Franckford 
in  Germany  Anno  Domini  1554.  Abowte  the  Booke  off 
Common  prayer  and  Ceremonies.  Pag.  xix,  xx.  Printed 
M:.T».r.xxv. 

Note  XXn.  p.  50. 

Quis  tulerit  Gracchos  de  seditinne  querentes'? 
Knox  was  accused  by  the  English  exiles  of  High  Treason, 
because  he  charged  queen  Mary  with  cruelty,  and  said  that 
the  emperor  was  as  great  an  enemy  to  Christ  as  Nero.  But 
his  accusers,  it  might  easily  be  shewn,  used  stronger  language 
on  this  subject  than  ever  he  did.  Mr.  Strype  informs  us  that 
the  protestants  who  felt  and  outlived  tlie  persecution  of  Mary- 
used  the  very  worst  epithets  in  speaking  of  her  character. 


156 


NOTES. 


Memorials  of  the  Reform,  iii.  472.  We  need  no  other  proof 
of  this  than  the  Oration  composed  by  John  Hales,  and  pro- 
nounced by  a  nobleman  before  queen  Elizabeth,  at  her  entrance 
upon  the  government.  Speaking  of  the  late  persecution  under 
Mary,  the  orator  exclaims,  "  O  cruelty  !  cruelty !  far  exceed- 
ing all  crueltys  committed  by  those  ancient  and  famous  tyrants, 
and  cruel  murderers,  Pharaoh,  Herod,  Caligida,  Nero,  Domi- 
tian,  Maximine,  Dioclesian,  Decius ;  whose  names,  for  their 
cruel  persecution  of  the  people  of  God,  and  their  own  t^Tanny 
practised  on  the  people,  have  been,  \x,  and  ever  shall  be  in 
perpt>tual  hatred,  and  their  souls  in  continual  torments  in  hell." 
The  late  queen  he  calls  "  Athalia,  malidous  Mary,  unnatural 
ivnman  ,•  no,  no  woman,  but  a  monster,  and  the  Devil  of  hell, 
covered  with  the  shape  of  a  woman.'^  Sec  Works  of  tlie  Rev. 
Samuel  Johnston,  p.  144. 

Nor  did  they  speak  in  more  civil  terms  of  foreign  princes. 
Take,  for  an  example,  the  invective  of  Aylmer  against  the 
French  king,  Henry  II.  "  Is  he  a  king  or  a  devil,  a  Christian 
or  a  lucifer,  that  bi  his  cursed  confcderacie  so  encouragcth  the 
Turke  7 — Oh !  wicked  catife  and  fierebrand  of  hell,  which  for 
th'  increasing  of  his  pompe  and  vayn  glory  (which  he  shall  not 
long  enjoy)  wil  betray  Christ  and  his  cross,  to  his  mortal  ene- 
my. Oh  foolish  Germains  !  which  see  not  their  ovm  undo- 
ing, which  conspire  not  together  with  the  rest  of  Christian 
princes  to  pull  such  a  traytour  to  God,  and  his  kingdom,  by 
the  eares  out  of  Fraunce,  and  hang  him  against  the  sonne  a 
drying.  The  devill  hath  none  other  of  his  sede  nowe  but  him, 
to  maintaine  both  the  spiritual  and  the  temporall  antichryste, 
the  Pope  and  the  Tiuke.  Wherefore  seeing  he  hath  forsaken 
God,  lyke  an  apostata,  and  sold  himself  to  the  Devill,  let  us  not 
doubte  but  God  will  be  with  us  against  him,  whensoever  he  shall 
seek  to  wrong  us  ;  and  I  trust  he  will  now  in  the  latter  age  of  the 
worlde  shew  his  myght  in  cuitynge  of  this  proude  Holofernes* 
head,  by  the  handes  of  our  Judith.  Oh  !  blessed  is  that  man 
that  loseth  his  lyfe  against  such  a  Tennagaunt !  yea  more 
blessed  shall  they  be  that  spend  their  lyves  against  him  than 
against  his  great  maister  the  Turke  :  for  the  Turke  never  un- 
derstode  the  crosse  of  Christ ;  but  this  turkish  apostata  is  nam- 
ed a  devellis  name,  Christianissimus,  and  is  in  the  very  heart 
of  Christendome,  and  lyke  a  traiterous  Saracene  is  Christ's 
enemy."  Harborowe  for  Faithfull  Subjects,  Q,  1.  Strasbor- 
owe,  1559. 

I  do  not  find  Collier,  nor  other  high-church  historians  quotr 
ing  or  commenting  upon  such  language.  On  the  contrary, 
Aylmer  is  praised  for  nis  handsome  pen,  while  every  opportu- 
nity is  taken  to  inveigh  against  the  virulence  of  our  Reformer. 
We  may  safely  challenge  them  to  prove  that  he  ever  indulged 
in  language  so  intemperate,  or  so  disrespectful  to  princes,  as 
that  which  I  have  just  quoted. 

Note  XXni.  p.  53. 

Canons  of  Provincial  Councils.-"  When  a  house  is  in  flames, 
(says  Lord  Hailes)  it  is  vain  to  draw  up  regulations  for  the 
bridling  of  joists  or  the  sweeping  of  chimnies,"  Such  was  the 
situation  of  the  popish  church  in  Scotland,  when  the  clergy  be- 
gan to  speak  of  reforming  abuses.  The  21st  canon  of  the 
council  which  met  in  1549,  ordains  that  there  should  be  a 
reader  of  theology  in  each  cathedral  church,  whose  lectures 
should  be  attended  by  the  bishop  and  canons,  "  si  voluntas  fu- 
erit ;"  and  also  a  lecturer  on  canon  law.  The  22d  canon  de- 
crees that  there  should  be  a  lecturer  on  theology  in  each  mo- 
nastery. Wilkins,  Concilia,  iv.  52.  The  26th  canon  enjoins 
the  rectors  of  universities  to  see  that  the  students  arc  well  in- 
structed in  latin  grammar  and  in  logic.  The  28th  appoints 
the  ordinaries  to  call  all  the  curates  within  their  bounds  before 
them,  to  examine  them  anew,  and  to  reject  those  who  are  found 
insufficient  for  their  office.  The  last  eight  canons  were  intend- 
ed to  regulate  the  consistorial  courts.  Ibid.  p.  53,  58,  59.  To 
the  14th  canon  of  the  council  which  sat  in  1551 — 2,  we  owe 
the  establishment  of  our  parochial  registers  of  proclamation  of 
banns  and  baptisms.  After  renewing  former  statutes  against 
clandestine  marriages,  and  in  favour  of  proclamation  of  banns 
of  marriage,  the  canon  goes  on  to  enact,  "  Ut  singuli  curati 
deinceps  habeant  registrum,  in  quo  nomina  infantum  baptiza- 
torum  inscribantur,  una  cum  nominibus  personarum,  qua;  tali- 
um  baptizatorum  parentes  com ;?/tm/7fr  hthentur  etrepuianttir, 
nee  non  compatrum  ct  commatrum,  cum  die,  anno,  mense,  ad- 
scriptis  etiam  duobus  testibus  notent ;  quod  etiam  iiwum  in 
bannorum  proclamationibus  servetur,  quas  pra^ens  conventio 
in  ccclesiis  parochialibus  tam  viri  quam  mulicris  respective,  si 
diversarum  fuerint  parochiarum,  fieri  mandat ;  qute  quidem  re- 


gistra  mtcr  pretiosissima  ecclesiie  jocalia  conservari  vult  et  pne- 
cipit,  quodque  decani  in  suis  ^'isitationibus,  desuper  diligentem 
indagincm  faciant,  ct  defficicntes  ad  commissarios  rcferant,  ut 
gra^iter  in  eosdem  animadvertatur."  Wilkins,  ut  supra,  p. 
71—2. 

The  6th  canon  enacts  regulations  respecting  testaments. 
On  this  subject,  the  following  quotation,  from  the  proceedings  of 
a  council  in  1420,  will  serve  to  explain  the  canon  which  mod- 
ified the  exaction  of  mortuaries,  mentioned  in  p.  351.  The 
clergy  of  each  diocese  reported  on  oath  to  the  council,  "  that 
the  practice  was,  first  to  pay  the  debts  of  the  deceased,  and 
then  to  divide  his  effects  into  three  equal  portions,  whereof  one 
was  given  to  his  widow,  and  one  to  his  children :  That  the  ex- 
ecutors bestowed  the  remaining  third  in  payment  of  legacies, 
and  for  the  soul  of  the  deceased  (pro  exequiis  et  anima  defunc- 
ti :)  That  of  this  tliird  or  dead's  part  (dcfuncti  pars)  the  ex- 
ecutors were  wont  to  pay,  or  to  compound  with  the  ordinary, 
at  the  rate  of  five  per  cent,  for  the  expense  of  confirmation." 
Chartulary  of  Moray,  apud  Lord  Hailes's  Prov.  Councils,  p. 
23.  Besides  the  five  per  cent,  claimed  by  the  bishop,  we  have 
already  seen  that  the  vicar  had  twenty  percent,  even  according 
to  the  mitigated  arrangement,  before  any  legacy  was  paid.  No 
mention  is  made  of  the  case  of  a  person  leaving  neither  wife 
nor  children  ;  and  "  there  it  was  (says  Lord  Hailes)  that  the 
clergy  reaped  their  harvest"  He  might  have  added  the  case 
of  persons  dying  intestate,  to  whom  the  bishops  liad  the  power 
of  naming  executors.  That  was  the  golden  age  of  the  clergy, 
when  they  were  under  no  necessity  of  instituting  processes  for 
augmentation  from  unexhausted  tiends,  or  of  count  and  reckon- 
ing to  recover  the  use  of  funds  destined  to  their  support ! 

Note  XXIV.  p.  53. 

Of  the  Catechism  commonly  called  Archbishop  HamiU 
tool's. — Very  different  and  discordant  accounts  have  been  given 
of  this  book.  My  account  is  taken  from  the  Catechism  itself, 
compared  with  the  canon  of  the  Council  which  authorised  its 
use.     The  title  is  as  follows  : 

The  Catechismf,  That  is  to  say,  ane  comone  and  catholik 
instruetioun  of  the  christin  people  in  materis  of  our  catholik 
faith  and  religioun,  quhilk  na  gud  christin  man  or  woman  suld 
misknaw :  setfurth  be  ye  maist  reuerend  father  in  God  Johne 
Archbischop  of  sanct  Androus  Legatnait  and  primat  of  ye  kirk 
of  Scotland,  in  his  prouincial  counsale  haldin  at  Edinburgh  the 
xx\i.  day  of  Januarie,  the  zeir  of  our  Lord  1551.  with  the 
aduise  and  counsale  of  the  bischoippis  and  other  prejatis  with 
doctours  of  Theologie  and  Canon  law  of  the  said  realme  of 
Scotland  present  for  the  tyme. — S.  Aug.  libro  4  de  trinitate. 
cap.  6. — Contra  rationem  nemo  sobrius,  contra  scripturam  ne- 
mo christianus,  contra  ecclesiam  nemo  pacificus  senserit. — 
Agane  reasone  na  sober  man,  agane  scripture  na  christin  man, 
agane  the  kirk  na  peaceabil  or  quiet  man  will  iudge,  or  halil 
opinioun."  On  back  of  title  are  two  copies  of  Latin  verses, 
"  Ad.  Pivm  Lectorem."  The  title,  preface  by  the  Archbish- 
op, and  "  table  of  materis,"  arc  on  13  leaves.  The  catechism 
begins  on  folio  i.  and  ends  on  folio  ccvi,  after  which  there  are 
three  pages  of  errata,  on  the  last  of  which  is  the  following  colo- 
plion.  (Xj*  "  Prentit  at  Sanct  Androus,  be  the  command  and 
expesis  of  the  maist  reuerend  father  in  God,  Johne  Archbischop 
of  sanct  Androus,  and  primat  of  ye  hail  kirk  of  Scotland,  the 
xxix.  day  of  August,  the  zeir  of  our  Lord  M.D.lii." 

The  archbishop's  epistle  addressed  to  "  Personis,  Vicars,  and 
Curattis,"  prefixed  to  the  catechism,  informs  us  of  its  design 
and  use.  "  First  to  your  awin  erudition. — Secundlj',  Accord- 
ing to  the  decreit  maid  in  our  prouincial  counsale,  our  will  is 
that  ye  reid  ye  samyn  catechisme  diligently,  distinctly,  and 
plainly  ilk  ane  of  yow  to  your  awin  parochianaris,  for  thair 
comon  instruetioun  and  spiritual  cdificatioun  in  the  word  of 
God,  necessarie  of  thame  to  be  knawin."  The  canon  of  the 
council  provides  that  it  he  read  "  omnibus  dominicis  et  festivis," 
which  is  thus  explained  in  the  close  of  the  archbishop's  epistle : 
"  Eucrilk  sonday  and  principal  halydaie,  quhen  yair  cummis 
na  precheour  to  thame  to  schaw  thame  the  word  of  God,  to  haue 
yis  catechisme  usit  and  reid  to  yomc  in  steid  of  prcching,  quhil 
[until]  God  of  his  gudnes  prouide  ane  sufficient  nowmer  of 
catholyk  and  abil  prechcouris,  quhilk  sal  be  within  few  yeiris 
as  we  traist  in  God." 

As  it  is  entitled  a  Catechism,  was  printed  in  the  vulgar  lan- 
guage, is  said  to  l)e  designed  for  the  instruction  of  the  people, 
and  no  prohibition  of  its  use  is  mentioned  in  the  book  itself, 
we  might  be  apt  to  conclude,  that  .t  was  intended  to  be  circu- 
lated among  the  people,  and  to  be  promiscuously  read ;  an4 


NOTES. 


157 


Accordingly  several  writers  have  represented  the  matter  in  this 
light  But  that  this  was  very  far  from  being  the  design  of 
those  who  approved  and  set  it  forth,  is  placed  beyond  all  doubt 
by  the  directions  which  the  Council  gave  respecting  it  both  to 
the  archbishop  and  to  the  clergy.  "  Cujus  quidem  libri  exem- 
plaria  omnia,  ubi  excussa  fuerint,  prsesentari  ipsi  reverendismo 
mandat  et  ordinat  praesens  concilium,  ut  ipse  singulas  tarn  suis 
ecclesiasticis,  quam  aliis  singulis  locorum  ordinariis,  quot  cui- 
que  diocesi  prorectorum,  vicariorum,  ac  curatorum  numero  et 
multitudine  sufficere  videntur,  eis  tribuat ;  reliqua  vero  apud 
ipsum  reverendissimum  remaneant,  et  firma  custodia  serventur, 
prout  tempus  et  necessitas  postulaverint,  dispertienda.  Caveant 
vero  ipsi  rectores,  vicarii,  et  curati,  ne  sua  exemplaria  seculari- 
bus  quibusque  indiscrete  communicent,  nisi  ex  judicio,  consilio, 
et  discretione  sui  ordinarii ;  quibus  ordinariis  licebit  nonnul- 
lis  probis,  gravibus,  bonse  fidei,  ac  discretis  viris  laicis,  ejusdem 
catechismi  exemplaria  communicari,  et  iis  potissimum,  qui 
videbuntur  potius  sua3  instructionis  causa,  quam  curiositatis 
cujuscunque  eadem  expetere."  Wilkins,  Concilia,  iv.  72. 
Lord  Hailes  had  therefore  reason  for  saying  (in  opposition  to 
Mackenzie's  tale  of  the  archbishop  allowing  "  the  pedlars  to 
take  two  pennies  for  their  pains  in  hawking  it  abroad")  that 
the  council  "  uses,  as  many  precautions  to  prevent  it  from  com- 
ing into  the  hands  of  the  laity,  as  if  it  had  been  a  book  replete 
with  the  most  pestilent  heresy."  Provincial  Councils,  p.  36. 
It  would  have  been  imprudent  to  insert  the  prohibition  in  the 
book  itself,  copies  of  which,  notwitlistanding  all  their  precau- 
tions, would  come  into  the  hands  of  improper  persons ;  but  the 
canon  of  the  council  remained  the  rule  for  regulating  the  cler- 
gy in  the  use  of  it.  Nor  is  there  any  thing  in  the  catechism 
which  is  inconsistent  with  the  canon,  or  which  impUes  that  it 
was  to  come  into  the  hands  of  the  people.  It  is  all  along  sup- 
posed that  they  were  to  be  instructed  by  hearing,  not  by  readr 
ing  it.  This  is  particularly  evident  from  the  concluding  ad- 
dress. "  O  christin  pepil  we  exhort  yow  with  all  diligence, 
heir,  understand,  and  keip  in  your  remembrance,  the  haly 
wordis  of  God,  quhilk  in  this  present  catechisme  ar  trewly  and 
catholykly  exponit  to  your  spiritual  edification."  And  again  : 
"  Gif  ye  persaif  be  frequent  heiring  heirof  your  self  spiritually 
instruckit  mair  than  ye  haue  bein  in  tymes  bygane,  geue  the 
thankis  thairof  only  to  God." 

If  any  of  the  hearers  presumed  to  move  any  controversy  re- 
specting the  passage  read  from  the  Catechism,  they  were  to 
be  delivered  over  to  the  Inquisitors,  and  no  clergyman  was  al- 
lowed to  answer  their  questions,  or  to  enter  into  any  dispute 
with  them  on  the  subject,  unless  he  had  a  written  license  for 
this  from  his  bishop.  "  Hoc  tamen  proviso,  ut  non  liceat  cui- 
quam  auditorum  super  lectis,  aut  modo  quo  supra  recitatis,  con- 
trovcrsiam  ipsi  rectori  seu  vicario  seu  curato  movere,  Et  si 
aliquis  id  attentare  prajsumpserit  deferatur  inquisitoribus  haere- 
ticae  pravitatis ;  nee  vicissim  licebit  uUi  rectori,  vicario,  seu  curato, 
nisi  ad  hoc  ipsum  (speciahter  habita  consideratione  ipsius  qual- 
ificationis)  fuerit  ab  ordinario  loci  ci  facultas  concessa  in  scrip- 
tis,  ullis  controversias  et  qusestiones  hujusmodi  movcntibus  de- 
super  rcspondere.  aut  disputationes  ingredi,  sed  mox  rcspondea- 
tur,  se  hujusmodi  disputalionis  resolutioncs  ad  ipsos  ordinaries 
remittere,  et  hoc  sub  poena  privationis  ab  hujusmodi  officio  seu 
beneficio."     Wilkins,  ut  supra,  p.  73. 

The  Catechism  consists  of  an  explication  of  the  ten  com- 
mandments, the  apostles  creed,  the  seven  sacraments,  the  Lord's 
prayer,  and  the  Ave  Maria.  Lord  Hailes  has  animadverted 
on  Keith  for  saying  that  the  author  shews  "  his  wisdom  and 
moderation  in  handsomely  eviting  to  enter  upon  the  contro- 
verted points ;"  and  he  has  given  extracts  from  it  asserting  the 
doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  the  propriety  of  withholding 
the  cup  from  the  laity,  and  of  prayers  to  the  saints.  Prov. 
Councils,  p.  35,  36.  I  may  add,  that  the  use  of  images  in 
worship,  purgatory,  prayers  for  the  dead,  the  removal  of  origi- 
nal sin  by  baptism,  the  sinlessness  of  concupiscence  after  bap- 
tism, the  mystical  signification  of  the  ceremonies  practised  in 
that  ordinance,— the  exorcism,  or  blowing  upon  the  child  at 
the  cliurch  door,  and  making  the  sign  of  the  cross  on  its  brow 
and  breast,  putting  salt  into  its  mouth,  anointing  its  nostrils 
and  ears  with  spittle,  and  its  breast  and  back  with  oil,  with  the 
application  of  chrism  to  the  forehead,  the  clothing  of  it  with 
the  cude  or  white  linen  cloth,  and  putting  a  lighted  torch  or 
candle  into  its  hand  ;  these,  with  other  doctrines  and  ceremo- 
nies of  the  popish  church,  are  all  taught  and  vindicated.  At 
the  same  time,  while  the  opinions  peculiar  to  popery  are  stated 
and  defended,  there  is  an  evident  design  of  turning  away  the 
attention  of  the  people  from  these  controversies,  by  reminding 
them  of  their  duty  to  "  beUef  as  the  haly  catholic  kirk  belicfis ;" 


and  a  great  part  of  the  book  is  occupied  in  declaring  duties 
and  general  doctrines  about  which  there  was  no  dispute  be- 
tween papists  and  protestants.  Considerable  art  is  also  used 
in  introducing  some  of  the  most  exceptionable  articles  of  po- 
pery under  the  cover  of  unquestionable  truths.  Thus  on  the 
question,  "  Qubat  thing  suld  move  us  to  belief  the  word  of 
God  1"  The  first  reason  which  is  given  is,  "  Ye  eternal  and 
infallible  veritie  of  God,  fra  quhom  na  lesing  may  precede,  na 
mair  than  myrknes  may  cum  fra  the  cleir  schenand  sonne." 
But  how  gradually  and  artfully  are  the  people  led  away  from 
the  scriptures  in  what  follows !  "  The  secund  thing  that  suld 
moue  us  to  belief  the  word  of  God,  and  to  knaw  quhilk  is  the 
worde  of  God,  quhilk  are  the  haly  bukis  quharin  the  word  of 
God  is  contenit,  and  quhat  is  the  trew  sense  of  the  same  bukis, 
is  ye  consent  and  authorite  of  our  mother  the  haly  kirk,  fra  the 
apostils  tymc  hitherto,  and  specially  quhen  it  is  lawfully  gad- 
derit  be  the  haly  spirit  in  ane  general  counsel,  quharof  sainct 
Augustine  sais  thus  : — '  I  wald  noct  gif  credence  to  the  euan- 
gel,  except  that  the  universal  kirk  warnis  me  sa  to  do."  And 
tharfor  lair  thir  twa  lessonis.  The  ane  is,  quhatsaeuir  the  haly 
spirit  reueUs  and  schawls  to  us,  other  in  the  bukis  of  haly 
scripture,  w  in  ye  dderminatiouns  and  diffinitiouns  of  gene- 
ral counsellis,  lawfully  gadderit  for  the  corroboracion  and 
maintenans  of  our  faith,  we  suld  beleif  ye  same  to  be  trew 
wm-dof  God;  and  thairto  gyf  ferme  credence  as  to  the  veritie 
that  is  infallible.  The  secund  lesson,  ye  that  ar  simple  and  un- 
leimit  men  and  wemen  suld  expresly  beleif  al  the  artickils  of 
your  Crede,  as  for  all  uthir  hie  misteries  and  matteris  of  the 
scripture  ye  aucht  to  beUef  generally  as  the  kirk  of  God  be- 
leiffis.  And  this  faith  is  suflTient  to  yow,  for  the  perfectioun  of 
that  faith  quhilk  ye  ar  bund  to  haif."  Fol.  xiiii,  b.  xv.  a.  A 
specimen  of  the  same  kind  occurs  on  the  question.  How  is  the 
true  sense  of  the  scriptiue  to  be  discerned  ?  where,  after  being 
gravely  taught  the  usefulness  of  collating  one  place  with  an- 
other, and  attending  to  the  connection  of  the  passage,  the  peo- 
ple are  told  that  this  belongs  to  such  as  have  the  gift  called  in- 
terpretatio  sermmum  and  are  then  devoutly  set  down  at  the 
feet  of  the  doctors  of  the  church,  and  taught  implicitly  to  re- 
ceive the  decisions  of  councils.  "  Quharfor,  he  that  will  nocht 
heir,  resaif,  and  obey  ye  diffinitionis  and  dctemiinationis  of 
lauchful  general  counsellis  concerning  materis  of  our  faith,  he 
is  not  to  be  accountit  a  trew  christin  man,  according  to  tiie 
wordis  of  our  salviour, — '  Gif  he  will  nocht  heir  tlie  kirk,  lat 
him  be  to  the  as  ane  infidele.  unchristinit,  and  ane  publican.' 
Thus  ye  haif  quha  is  ane  herityk,  and  how  he  brekis  the  first 
command."     Fol.  xviii,  b.  xix,  b. 

As  all  who  question  the  infallible  decisions  of  the  church 
are  pronounced  guilty  of  a  breach  of  the  first  commandment, 
the  Roman  Catholics  arc,  with  no  less  ease,  exculpated  from  a 
breach  of  the  second,  by  the  insertion  of  a  convenient  paren- 
thesis. The  reader  will  observe,  that,  according  to  a  division 
of  the  law  first  countenanced  by  Augustine,  and  of  which  the 
popish  church  is  extremely  fond,  the  first  and  second  com- 
mandments are  thrown  into  one,  and,  to  make  up  the  number, 
the  tenth  is  spht  into  two;  although  the  compilers  of  the  Cat- 
echism found  it  impracticable  to  keep  to  this  last  division  in 
their  explication.  The  following  is  their  enunciation  of  the 
first  commandment,  '•  I  am  ye  Lord  thi  God.  quhilk  hais  brocht 
ye  fra  the  land  of  Egypt,  fra  the  house  of  bondage.  Thow 
sail  haif  na  other  goddis  but  me,  thou  sal  nocht  mak  to  thee 
(ffl?  gnd,s)  ony  grauit  ymage,  nother  ony  similitude  of  ony  thing 
that  is  in  the  heuin  abone,  or  in  ye  erd  beneth,  nor  of  ony  thing 
yat  is  in  the  watter  under  the  erd.  Thow  sal  nocht  adorne 
yame,  nor  worschip  yame  {as  soddis)."  Fol.  xii,  a.  It  is  fair, 
however,  to  hear  the  explication  which  the  authors  of  the  Cat- 
echism give  respecting  images.  "  Ar  ymages  aganis  the  first 
command  1  Na,  sa  thai  be  well  usit.  Quhat  is  the  rycht  use 
of  ymagis  1  Imagis  to  be  made  na  haly  writ  forbiddis  (sais 
venerabil  Bede)  for  the  sycht  of  thame,  specially  of  the  cruci- 
fixe  giffis  greit  compunction  to  thame  quhilk  bchaldis  it  with 
faith  in  Christ,  and  to  thame  yat  are  unlettcrat,  it  geffis  a  quik 
remembrance  of  ye  passion  of  Christ.  Salomon  in  tyme  of 
his  wisdome,  nocht  without  tha  inspiration  of  God,  made  ym- 
agis in  ye  temple.  Moyses  the  excellent  prophet  and  trew  ser- 
uand  of  God,  made  and  ereckit  a  brassin  ymage  of  a  serpent 
(quhilk  figurit  the  lyfting  vp  of  our  Salwiour  Jesus  Christ  vp- 
on  the  crosse)  and  als,  be  the  comand  of  God,  causit  mak  the 
ymagis  of  twa  angellis  callit  cherubinis,  quhilk  thing  thir  twa 
sa  excellet  men  in  wisedome  wald  neuir  haif  done,  gif  the 
makin  of  ymagis  war  aganis  ye  comand  of  God. — Bot  utter- 
ly yis  command  forbiddis  to  mak  yniflgis  to  that  effeck,  that 
thai  suld  be  adomit  and  wirschippit  as  goddis,  or  with  ony 


158 


NOTES. 


godly  honour,  ye  qiihilk  sintence  is  expremit  be  thir  wordis : 
Nonadorabisea  neq;  coles.  Thow  sail  nocht  adome  yame  nor 
wirschip  thame  as  goddis.  Now  we  suld  nocht  gif  goddis 
honour,  or  Christis  honour  to  ony  ymage,  bot  to  God  allanerly, 
representit  be  ane  image."  Fol.  xxiii,  b. 

•In  the  explication  of  the  fifth  article  of  the  Creed,  is  a  parti- 
cular account  of  the  four  places  in  hell ;  infemus  damnatorum, 
puerorum,  purgandorum,  etpairum.  The  following  proof 
IS  given  of  our  Saviour's  descent  into  hell,  to  deliver  the  saints 
who  had  lieen  confined  in  the  last  mentioned  place  until  the 
time  of  his  death.  "  Also  ye  same  deliuerace  was  prophesit  be 
the  prophet  Osee:  Ero  mors  tua,  o  mors,  eromorsus  tuus  o 
inferne.  0  dede  (says  our  saluiour)  I  sal  be  tki  dede — O  hell 
1  sal  byte  the.  The  man  yat  bytes  ony  thing,  he  takis  part  to 
him,  and  lattis  part  remaine  behind.  Sa  our  saluiour  pas- 
sand  doune  to  hell,  he  fulfyllit  this  prophesie,  takand  part  of 
saulis  out  fra  hell  with  Mm,  and  leiifand  part  behind  him. 
Quhom  tuk  he  with  him  1  bot  thame  that  was  haly  and  gud, 
quhilk  was  haldin  thair  as  presonaris."     Fol.  cviii. 

Upon  the  whole,  tliis  Catechism  has  been  written  with  great 
care,  and  the  style  is  b/  no  means  bad.  It  is  singular  that  it 
should  have  been  so  little  noticed  by  the  writers  of  that  age, 
and  that  it  does  not  appear  who  was  its  compiler.  The  pro- 
vincial council  desc/ ibe  it  merely  as  "a  certain  book  written  in  the 
vulgar  and  Scottish  dialect, — librum  quendam  vulgari  et  Scot- 
ico  idiomate  conscriptum  ;"  and  having  examined  and  approv- 
ed of  it,  they  commit  to  the  archbishop,  as  primate,  the  care  of 
seeing  it  printed.  As  it  was  printed  at  his  expence,  and  as  his 
name  appears  on  the  title-page  and  colophon,  it  has  been  usu- 
ally called  Archbishop  Hamilton's  Catechism.  But  there  is 
not  the  least  reason  for  thinking  that  the  primate  would  have 
taken  the  trouble  to  compose  a  book  consisting  of  411  pages 
quarto,  even  although  he  had  been  in  other  respects  qualified 
for  the  task.  Bale,  in  his  account  of  Scottish  writers,  mentions 
"  Joannes  Wouram,  vel  Wi/rem"  whom  he  calls  " a  canon 
regular  in  St  Andrews;"  and  he  ascribes  to  him  "  a  Catechism 
in  his  vernacular  language, — scripsit  in  vulgari  sermone,  Cat- 
echismum  fidei."  Scriptores  M.  Brytaimise  Post.  Pars,  p.  224. 
I  have  little  doubt  that  John  Winram,  sub-prior  of  the  Abbey 
of  St.  Andrews,  and  afterwards  superintendent  of  Fife,  is  the 
person  to  whom  Bale  refers.  Could  he  be  the  author  of  the 
Catechism  under  consideration  1  Though  early  regarded  as  fa- 
vourable to  the  reformed  opinions,  Winram  did  not  leave  the 
popish  church  until  a  very  late  period ;  and  his  conduct,  dur- 
ing the  intermediate  struggle,  was  extremely  ambiguous,  and 
often  contradictory.  The  clergy  frequently  availed  themselves 
of  his  talents,  and  of  his  reputation  with  the  people,  to  dimin- 
ish the  odium  of  their  obnoxious  measures,  or  to  recommend 
their  partial  and  inefficient  plans  of  reform.  He  was  employ- 
ed to  preach  at  the  trial  of  Wishart,  and  was  present  at  the 
trials  of  Wallace  and  Mill.  Fox.  1 155, 11 58,  1161,  edit.  1596. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  provincial  council  which  met  in  1549, 
and  is  styled,  in  the  register,  "  ecclcsiaj  metrop.  primitialis  S. 
AndreoE  canonlcus  regularis,  supprior,  theologia;  doctor." 
Wilkins,  ut  supra,  p.  46.  That  council  employed  him  to  draw 
up  the  canon  intended  to  settle  the  ridiculous  dispute,  whicli 
had  been  warmly  agitated  among  the  clergy,  whether  the  Pa- 
ter Noster  should  be  said  to  the  saints,  or  to  God  alone.  Comp. 
Fox,  1161.  with  Wilkins,  57,  58.  And  in  the  council  which 
sat  in  1559,  he  was  nominated  one  of  the  six  persons  to  whose 
examination  and  admonition  the  archbishops  of  St  Andrews  and 
Glasgow  submitted  their  private  conduct.  Wilkins,  p.  209. 
The  learned  ro-xder  may  also  consult  the  Verses  on  Winram 
inserted  ia  the  Supplement 

/^pottiswood  seems  to  have  confounded  tins  Catechism  with 
a  smaller  treatise,  calletl  liy  the  people  The  twa-penny  Faith. 
History,  p.  92.  This  last  was  set  forth  by  the  council  which 
met  in  1.559.  Knox,  Historie,  p.  109,  110.  The  following 
extracts  from  the  proceedings  of  that  council  may  throw  some 
liglit  on  the  lustory  of  this  popish  publication.  The  Roman 
CathoUc  Remonstrants,  in  their  representation  to  the  council, 
required,  "  yat  yar  be  an  godlie  and  fruitfull  declaration  set 
forth  in  Inglis  toung,  to  l)e  first  shewin  to  the  pepil  at  all  times, 
quhon  the  sacrament  of  the  bUssit  body  and  blud  of  Jesus 
Christ  is  exliibit  and  dcstribut,  and  sicklyke,  when  baptism  and 
marriage  are  solemnizit,  in  face  of  halie  kirk ;  and  yat  it  be  dc- 
clarit  to  yaim,  yat  assist  at  the  sacraments,  quhat  is  the  effect 
yarof,  and  yat  it  be  spirit  at  yam  be  ye  prist  ministrant,  gif  jai 
l>e  reddy  to  resavc  tlic  samen  ;  with  sick  utheris  interogatorins, 
as  ar  necessar  for  instructing  of  the  poynts  of  mens  salvation, 
and  re<iuires  to  Iw  answerit  unto  Ijc  all  yai,  that  wald  be  parti- 
cipant, etc.  and  yir  things  to  be  don  before  ye  using  of  ye  cer- 


emony of  haly  kirk,  etc."  Wilkins,  ut  supra,  p,  207,  208. 
The  following  canon  of  the  council  seems  to  contain  the  an- 
swer to  tliis  petition,  "  Insuper  ut  populus  Christianus  sacra- 
mentorum  ecclesise  verum  cfTectum,  vim,  ac  usum  facilius  ac 
commodiusinteUigere  valeat,  sbituit  hoc  prajscns  concilium  quas- 
dam  catholicas  exhortaiiones,  easque  succindas  decluratimies  sa- 
cramentorum  baptismi,  sacrosanctse  cucharistife,  extremse  unc- 
tionis,  matrimonii,  auctoritate  hujus  concilii  edendas,  et  inferi- 
us  inserendas,  quas  singuli  parochi,  vel  alii  presbyteri  eorun- 
dem  sacramentorum  legitimi  ministri,  ipsa  sacramenta  minis- 
traturi,  singuhs  suam  propriam  et  debitun  exhortationem  prsB- 
mittant,  et  publico  et  distincte  recitent,  et  Icgant  singuli  curati 
et  vicarii,  dum  sacra;  missaB  sacrificium  diebus  dominicis  et  aliis 
majoribus  festis  sunt  celebraturi,  infra  scriptam  exhortationem ; 
et  ejusdem  sacrificii  declarationem  publice  in  ecclesia  simihter 
legant,  quo  populus  christianus  majori  pietatis  effectu  rebus  di- 
vinis  assistat,  et  intcrsit,"  &c.  Wilkins,  ut  supra,  p.  213. 
These  Exhortations  and  Declarations  were  not  mserted  in  the 
MS.  from  which  Wilkins  copied.  I  am  at  present  inclined  to 
tliink  that  they  were  pubUshed,  and  that  they  formed  what 
was  called  in  derision,  The  two-penny  faith.  Comp.  Buch- 
anani  Oper.  L  312. 


Note  XXV.  p,  58. 

Knox's  Letter  of  Instructions  to  the  protestants  of  Scotland 
during  his  absence. — In  the  first  edition,  I  printed  this  letter 
in  the  Appendix,  as  an  unpublished  paper.  I  have  since  had 
an  opportunity  of  seeing  a  printed  copy  ;  but  as  it  is  exceed- 
ingly rare,  and  as  the  letter  itself  is  extremely  valuable,  I  have 
inserted  it  in  this  place. 

"  To  his  brethren  in  Scotland  efter  hie  had  bene  quyet  amang 
thame.     The  comfort  of  the  hahe  Gaist  for  salutatioun. 

Not  sa  mekill  to  instruct  you  as  to  leave  with  you,  dearUe 
belovit  brethren,  sum  testimony  of  my  love,  I  have  tliought 
gud  to  communicate  with  you,  in  theis  few  lynis,  my  weak 
consall,  how  I  wald  ye  suld  behave  yourselves  in  the  middis  of 
this  wickit  generatioun,  tuiching  the  exercis  of  Godis  maist 
halie  and  sacred  word,  without  the  whilk,  nether  sail  knaw- 
ledge  incres,  godlines  apeir,  nor  fenencie  continew  amang 
yow.  For  as  the  word  of  God  is  the  begyning  of  lyfe  spiritu- 
al!, without  whilk  all  flesche  is  deid  in  Godis  presence,  and  the 
lanteme  to  our  feit,  vrithout  the  bryghtnes  whairof  all  the  pos- 
teritie  of  adame  doith  walk  in  darknes.  And  as  it  is  the  fun- 
dament of  faith  without  the  whilk  na  man  understandeth  the 
gud  wall  of  God,  sa  is  it  also  the  onhe  organe  and  instrument 
whilk  God  useth  to  strengthin  the  weak,  to  comfort  the  afllictit, 
to  reduce  to  mercie  be  rej)entance  sic  as  have  sliddin,  and  final- 
lie  to  preserve  and  keip  the  verie  lyfe  of  the  saule  in  all  assaltis 
and  temptationis,  and  thairfoir  yf  that  ye  desyryourknawledge 
to  be  incressit,  your  faith  to  be  confirmit  your  conscicncis  to 
be  quyetit  and  comfortit,  or  finallie  your  saule  to  he  prcservit 
in  lyfe,  lat  your  exercis  be  frequent  in  the  law  of  your  Lord 
God.  despys  not  that  precept  wliilk  moses,  (who,  be  his  awn 
experience  had  leamit  what  comfoit  lyeth  hid  within  the  word 
of  God)  gave  to  the  isralitis  in  theis  wordis :  "  Theis  wordis 
whilk  I  command  the  this  day  salbe  in  thi  hart,  and  thou  sal 
exercis  thi  children  in  thame,  thou  sal  talk  of  thame  when 
thou  art  at  home  in  thi  hous,  and  as  thou  walkest  Ix^  the  way, 
and  when  thou  lyis  doun,  and  when  thou  rysis  up,  and  thou 
sail  bind  thame  for  a  signe  upon  thi  hand,  and  thay  salbe  pa- 
peris  of  rememl)erance  lietwcne  thi  cis,  and  thou  sail  WTy t 
thame  upon  the  postis  of  thi  hous  and  upon  thi  gutis.'  And 
moses  in  another  place  commandis  thame  to  '  remember  the 
law  of  the  Lord  God,  to  do  it  that  it  may  be  wcill  unto  thame 
and  with  thair  children  in  the  land  whilk  the  liOrd  sail  gtf 
thame ;'  meanyng  that  lyke  as  frequent  memorie  and  repeti- 
tioun  of  Godis  preceptis  is  the  middis  whairby  the  fcir  of  (Jod, 
whilk  is  the  begynning  of  all  wisdome  and  filicitie,  is  keipit 
recent  in  mynd,  sa  is  negligence  and  oblivioun  of  Godis  licne- 
fitis  ressavit  the  first  grie  of  defcctioun  fra  God.  now  yf  tlie 
law,  whilk  be  reasone  of  our  weakncs  can  wirk  nathing  but 
wnuth  and  anger,  was  sa  elTectuall  that,  remcmberit  and  rcher- 
sit  of  purpois  to  do,  it  brought  to  the  popill  a  corporall  bcne- 
dictioun,  what  sail  we  say  that  the  glorious  gospell  of  Chryst 
Jesus  doith  wirk,  so  that  it  be  with  reverence  intreatit  St 
paule  calleth  [it]  the  sueit  odour  of  lyfe  unto  thois  that  suld 
rcsaif  lyfe,  borrowing  his  similitude  fra  odoriferous  herbis  or 
precious  ungucmentis,  whais  nature  is  the  msiir  thay  be  toucliit 
or  moveit  to  send  send  furth  thair  odour  mair  pleasing  and  do- 
lectabill :  even  sic,  deir  brethren,  ia  the  blissit  evangeU  of  oure 


NOTES. 


159 


Lorde  Jesus ;  for  the  mair  that  it  be  intreatit,  the  mair  com- 
fortable and  mair  plissant  is  it  to  sic  as  do  heir,  read,  and  excr- 
cis  the  sam.  I  am  not  ignorant  that,  as  the  israUtis  lothit 
manna  becaus  that  everie  day  thay  saw  and  eat  but  ane  thing, 
sa  sum  thair  be  now  a  dayis  (wha  will  not  be  haldin  of  the 
worst  sort)  that  eftcr  anis  reiding  sum  parcellis  of  the  scrip- 
tures do  convert  thamc  selves  altogether  to  prophane  autors 
and  humane  letteris  becaus  that  the  varietie  of  matteris  thair- 
in  conteaynit  doith  bring  with  it  a  daylie  delcctatioun,  whair 
contrairwys  within  the  simpill  scriptures  of  God  the  perpetuall 
repititioun  of  a  thing  is  fascheous  and  werisome.  This  temp- 
tatioun  I  confes  may  enter  in  Godis  verie  elect  for  a  tyme,  but 
impossibill  is  it  that  thairin  thay  continew  to  the  end :  for 
Godis  electioun,  besydis  othir  evident  signis,  hath  this  ever 
joynit  with  it  that  Godis  elect  ar  caUit  frome  ignorance  (I  speik 
of  thois  that  ar  cumin  to  the  yeiris  of  knawledge)  to  sum  taist 
and  feilling  of  Godis  mercie,  of  whilk  thay  ar  never  satisfeit  in 
this  lyfe,  but  fra  tyme  to  tyme  tivay  hunger  and  thay  thrist  to 
eat  the  breid  that  descendit  fra  the  heavin,  and  to  drink  the 
waiter  that  springeth  into  lyfe  everlasting,  whilk  thay  can  not 
do  but  be  the  meanis  of  faith,  and  faith  luketh  ever  to  the  will 
of  God  reveallit  be  his  word,  sa  that  faith  hath  baith  her  bc- 
gynning  and  continewance  be  the  word  of  God.  and  sa  I  say 
that  impossibill  it  is  that  Godis  chosin  children  can  despys  or 
reiect  the  word  of  thair  salvatioun  be  any  lang  continewance, 
nether  yit  loth  of  it  to  the  end.  Often  it  is  that  Godis  elect  ar 
haldin  in  sic  bondage  and  thraldome  that  they  can  not  have 
the  bread  of  lyfe  brokin  unto  thame,  neither  yit  libertie  to  ex- 
ercis  thame  selves  in  Godis  halieword,  but  then  doith  not  Godis 
deir  children  loth  hut  maist  gredilic  do  thay  covet  the  fudc  of 
thair  sauliis,  then  do  thay  accuse  thair  former  negligence,  then 
lament  and  bewaill  thay  the  miserable  afflictioun  of  thair  bre- 
thren, and  than  cry  and  call  thay  in  thair  hartis  (and  opinlie 
whair  thay  dar)  for  frie  passage  to  the  gospell.  This  hungir  and 
thrist  doith  argue  and  prufe  the  lyfe  of  thair  sauliis.  But  gif 
sic  men  as  havmg  libertie  to  reid  and  exercis  thame  selves  in 
Godis  halie  scripture,  and  yet  do  begin  to  wcarie  becaus  fra 
tyme  to  tyme  they  reid  but  a  thing,  I  ask  why  wearie  thay  not 
also  everie  day  to  drink  wyne,  to  eat  bread,  everie  day  to  be- 
hald  the  bryghtnes  of  the  sone,  and  sa  to  us  the  rest  of  Godis 
creatures  whilk  everie  day  do  keip  thair  awn  substance,  cours, 
and  nature  1  thay  sail  anser,  I  trust,  becaus  sic  creatures  have  a 
strenth  as  oft  as  thay  ar  usit  to  expell  hunger,  and  quenche 
thrist,  to  restoir  strenth,  and  to  preserve  the  lyfe.  O  miserabill 
WTeachis,  wha  dar  attribut  mair  power  and  strenth  to  the  cor- 
ruptible creatures  in  nurisching  and  preserving  the  mortall 
karcas,  than  to  the  eternall  word  of  God  in  nurissment  of  the 
saule  whilk  is  iramortall !  To  reasone  with  thair  abominable 
unthankfulnes  at  this  present  it  is  not  my  purpois.  But  to 
yow,  deir  brethrene,  I  wrj't  my  knawledge,  and  do  speik  my 
conscience,  that  sa  necessarie  as  meit  and  drink  is  to  the  prc- 
servatioun  of  lyfe  corporall,  and  so  necessarie  as  the  heit  and 
bryghtnes  of  the  sone  is  to  the  quicknyng  of  the  herbis  and  to 
expell  darknes,  sa  necessarie  is  also  to  lyfe  everlasting,  and  to 
the  illununatioun  and  lyght  of  the  saule,  the  perpetuall  medi- 
tatioun,  exercis,  and  use  of  Godis  halie  word. 

And  thairfoir,  deir  brethrene,  yf  that  ye  luke  for  a  lyfe  to 
come,  of  necessiticit  is  that  ye  exercise  yourselves  in  the  bulte 
of  the  Lord  your  God.  Lat  na  day  slip  over  without  sum 
comfort  ressavit  fra  the  mouth  of  God.  opin  your  earis,  and 
hie  will  speik  evin  pleasing  thingis  to  your  hart.  Clois  not 
your  eis,  but  diUgentlie  lat  thame  behald  what  portioun  of  sul> 
stance  is  left  to  yow  within  your  fatheris  testament.  I^et  your 
toungis  learne  to  prais  the  gracious  gudness  of  him  wha  of 
his  meir  mercie  hath  callit  you  fra  darknes  to  lyght  and  fra 
deth  to  lyfe.  nether  yit  may  ye  do  this  sa  quyethe  that  ye  will 
admit  na  witnessis  ;  nay,  brethren,  ye  are  ordcynit  of  God  to 
reule  and  goveme  your  awn  houssis  in  his  trew  feir,  and  ac- 
cording to  his  halie  word,  within  your  awTi  houssis,  I  say,  in 
sum  cassis  ye  ar  bishopis  and  kingis,  your  wyffis,  children  and 
familie  ar  your  bishoprik  and  charge ;  of  you  it  sal  be  requyrit 
how  cairfuUie  and  diligentlie  ye  have  instructit  thame  in  Godis 
trew  knawledge,  how  that  ye  have  studeit  in  thame  to  plant 
vertew  and  to  repress  vyce.  And  thairfoir,  I  say,  ye  must  mak 
diame  partakeris  in  reading,  exhortation,  and  in  making  com- 
moun  prayeris,  whilk  I  wald  in  everie  hous  wer  usit  anis  a  day 
at  leist.  But  above  all  thingis,  deir  brethren,  studie  to  practis 
in  lyfe  that  whilk  the  Lord  commandis,  and  than  be  ye  assurit 
that  ye  sail  never  heir  nor  reid  the  same  without  frute :  and 
tills  mekill  for  the  exercises  within  your  housis. 

Considdering  that  St  paul  callis  the  congregatioun  the  bodie 
of  Chiyst,  whairof  everie  ane  of  us  is  a  memlxsr,  teaching  ws 


tliairby  that  na  member  is  of  sufficience  to  susteane  and  feid 
the  self  without  the  help  and  support  of  any  uther,  I  think  it 
necessarie  that  for  the  conferrence  of  scriptures,  assemblies  of 
brether  be  had.  The  order  thairin  to  be  obser\'it,  is  expressit 
be  sanct  paule,  and  thairfoir  I  neid  not  to  use  many  wordis  in 
that  behalf:  onlie  willing  that  when  ye  convene,  (whilk  I  wald 
wer  anis  a  weik)  that  your  begyiming  suld  be  fra  confessing 
of  your  offences,  and  invocatioun  of  the  spreit  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  to  assist  yow  in  all  your  godlie  interprysis,  and  than  lat 
sum  place  of  scripture  be  plainelie  and  distinctlie  red,  samekiU 
as  sal  be  thocht  sufficient  for  a  day  or  tyme,  whilk  endit,  gif 
any  brother  have  exhortatioun,  intcrpretatioun,  or  dout,  lat  him 
not  feir  to  speili  and  move  the  same,  sa  that  he  do  it  with  mo- 
deratioun,  either  to  edifie  or  be  edifcit.  and  heirof  I  dout  not 
but  great  profit  sail  schortlie  ensew,  for  first  be  heiring,  reiding, 
and  conferring  the  scriptures  in  the  assemblie,  the  haill  lx)die 
of  the  scriptures  of  God  salbecum  familiar,  the  judgement  and 
spreitis  of  men  salba  tryit,  thair  pacence  and  modestie  saibe 
knawin,  and  finalhe  their  giftis  and  utterance  sail  appeir.  Mul- 
tipUcatioun  of  wordis,  perplext  intcrpretatioun,  and  wilfulnes 
in  reasonyng  is  to  be  avoydit  at  all  tymes  and  in  all  places,  but 
chieflie  in  the  congregatioun,  whair  nathing  aucht  to  be  respectit 
except  the  glorie  of  God,  and  comfort  or  edificatioxm  of  our 
brethrene.  Yf  any  thing  occur  within  the  text,  or  yit  arys  in 
reasonyng,  whilk  your  judgementis  can  not  resolve,  or  capaci- 
ties aprehend,  let  the  same  be  notit  and  put  in  wiyt  befoir  ye 
depart  the  congregatioun,  that  when  God  sal!  offir  unto  yow 
any  interpreter  your  doutis  being  notit  and  knawin  may  have 
the  mair  expedit  resolutioun,  or  els  that  when  ye  sail  have  oc- 
casioun  to  wryt  to  sic  as  with  wliome  ye  wald  communicat 
your  judgementis,  your  letteris  may  signifie  and  declair  your 
unfeaned  desyre  that  ye  haue  of  God  and  of  his  trew  knawl- 
edge, and  thay,  I  dout  not,  according  to  thair  talentis,  will  en- 
deuour  and  bestow  thair  faithfull  labors,  [to]  satisfie  your  godlie 
petitionis.  of  myself  I  will  speak  as  I  think,  I  will  moir  gladlie 
spend  XV  houris  in  communicatting  my  judgment  with  yow, 
in  explanyng  as  God  pleassis  to  oppin  to  me  any  place  of 
scripture,  then  half  ane  hour  in  any  other  matter  besyd. 

Farther,  in  reading  the  scripture  I  wald  ye  suld  joyne  sum 
bukis  of  the  aid,  and  sum  of  the  new  Testament  together,  as 
genesis  and  ane  of  the  evangeUstis,  exodus  with  another,  and 
sa  furth,  euer  ending  sic  bukis  as  ye  beg3rn,  (as  the  tyme  will 
suffer)  for  it  sail  greitly  comfort  yow  to  heir  that  harmony,  and 
weiltunit  sang  of  the  hahe  spreit  speiking  in  oure  fatheris 
frome  the  begyning.  It  sal  confirme  yow  in  theis  dangerous 
and  perrellous  dayis,  to  behald  the  face  of  Christ  Jesus  his 
loving  spous  and  kirk,  from  abell  to  him  self,  and  frome  him 
self  to  this  day,  in  all  ageis  to  be  ane.  Be  frequent  in  the  pro- 
phetis  and  in  the  epistillis  of  St  paule,  for  the  multitude  of 
matteris  maist  comfortable  thairin  conteanii  requyreth  exercis 
and  gud  memorie.  Lyke  as  your  assemblis  aucht  to  begyn 
with  confessioun  and  invocatioun  of  Godis  halie  spreit,  sa  wald 
I  that  thay  wer  never  finissit  without  thanksgiving  and  com- 
moun  prayeris  for  princes,  ruleris,  and  maiestratis,  for  the  Ub- 
ertie  and  frie  passage  of  Chrystis  evangell,  for  the  comfort  and 
delyverance  of  our  aftlictit  brethrene  in  all  places  now  perse- 
cutit,  but  maist  cruellie  now  within  the  realme  of  franco  and 
Ingland,  and  for  sic  uther  thingis  as  the  spreit  of  the  Lord  Je- 
sus sal  teache  unto  yow  to  be  profitable  ether  to  your  selues  or 
yit  to  your  brethren  whairsoever  thay  be.  If  this,  or  better, 
deir  brethrene,  I  sail  heir  that  ye  exercis  your  selues,  than  will 
I  prais  God  for  your  great  obedience,  as  for  thame  that  not 
oidie  haue  ressavit  the  word  of  grace  with  gladnes,  but  that 
also  with  cair  and  diligence  do  keip  the  same  as  a  treasure  and 
Jewell  maist  precious.  And  becaus  that  I  can  not  expect  that 
ye  will  do  the  contrarie,  at  this  present  I  will  vse  na  threaten- 
yngis,  for  my  gud  hoip  is,  that  ye  sail  walk  as  tlie  sonis  of 
lyght  in  the  middis  of  this  wickit  generatioun,  that  ye  salbe  as 
starris  in  the  nyght  ceassone,  wha  yit  ar  not  changeit  into  dark- 
nes, that  ye  salbe  as  wheit  amangis  the  kokill,  and  yit  diat  ye 
sail  not  change  your  nature  whilk  ye  haue  ressavit  be  grace, 
through  the  fellowschip  and  participatioun  whilk  we  haue  with 
the  Lord  Jesus  in  his  bodie  and  blud.  And  finalhe,  that  ye 
salbe  of  the  no'vinber  of  the  prvdent  virginis,  dailie  renewing 
your  lampis  with  oyle,  as  ye  that  pacientlie  abyd  the  glorious 
aparitioun  and  cuming  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  whais  omnipotent 
spreit  rule  and  instruct,  illuminat  and  comfort  your  hartis  and 
myndis  in  all  assaultis,  now  and  euer.  Amen.  The  grace  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  rest  with  yow.  Remember  my  weaknes  in 
your  daylie  prayeris,  the  7  of  July  1557. 

your  brother  vnfeaned  Johne  Knox." 

MS.  Letters,  p.  352—359. 


160 


NOTES. 


Note  XXVI.  p.  59. 

William  Whiitingham,  the  successor  of  Knox  at  Geneva, 
was  the  son  of  William  Wliittingham,  Esq.  of  Holmeside,  in 
the  county  of  Chester.  He  was  born  anno  1524,  and  educa- 
ted at  Oxford,  where  he  was  held  in  great  reputation  for  his 
learning.  On  the  accession  of  Queen  Mary,  he  went  first  to 
Frankfort,  and  afterwards  to  Geneva,  where  he  married  Cath- 
erine, the  sister  of  John  Calvin.  He  was  one  of  the  transla- 
tors of  tlie  Geneva  Bible,  and  composed  several  of  the  metri- 
cal psalms  pubUshed  at  the  same  time,  which  have  his  initials 
prefixed  to  tliem.  He  fell  under  the  displeasure  of  Queen 
Elizabeth,  on  account  of  a  commendatory  preface  which  he 
wrote  to  Christopher  Goodman's  book  on  Obedience  to  Supe- 
rior Powers,  in  wMch,  aruong  other  free  sentiments,  the  go- 
vernment of  women  was  condenuied.  But  he  enjoyed  the 
protection  of  some  of  her  principal  courtiers.  In  1560,  he 
accompanied  the  Earl  of  Bedford  on  an  embassy  to  Franc«, 
and,  iji  1562  and  1563,  acted  as  chaplain  to  the  Earl  of  War- 
wick, during  the  defence  of  Havre  de  Grace.  That  brave  no- 
bleman was  at  a  loss  for  words  to  express  his  high  esteem  for 
him.  In  a  letter  to  Cecil,  Nov.  20,  1562,  Warwick  writes: 
"  I  assure  yow,  we  may  all  here  thinck  our  selves  happy  in 
having  sotch  a  man  amongest  us  as  Mr.  Whjttingham  is,  not 
only  for  the  greate  vertues  is  in  him,  but  lykewise  for  the  care 
he  hath  to  ser\'e  our  mystris  bcsydcs  :  whcrfore,  in  my  opyn- 
ion,  he  dotli  well  deserve  grete  thankcs  at  her  majesties  handes." 
And  in  a  letter  written  by  him,  July  24,  1562,  when  he  was 
in  daily  expectation  of  the  city  being  assaulted  by  the  French, 
he  says  to  his  brother  Lord  Robert  Dudley,  afterwards  Earl  of 
Leicester :  "  My  deare  brother,  for  that  I  had,  in  my  letter  to 
the  Queue's  Majesty,  forgot  my  humblest  thancks  for  the  be- 
halff  of  my  deare  frinde  Mr.  Whittingam,  for  the  great  favour 
it  hath  pleased  her  to  shew  him  for  my  sake :  I  besetch  yow 
therfore  do  not  forget  to  render  them  unto  her  majesty.  Fare- 
well, my  deare  and  loving  brother,  a  thousand  tymes,  and  the 
Lord  send  yow  well  to  do."  Forbes,  State  Papers,  ii.  207, 
418,  487. 

In  1563,  Whittingham  was  made  Dean  of  Durham,  which 
seems  to  have  been  the  favour  for  which  Warwick  was  so 
grateful  to  Elizabeth.  I  have  already  mentioned  (p.  56.)  that 
an  unsuccessful  attempt  was  made  to  invaUdate  the  ordination 
which  he  had  received  at  Geneva.  On  that  occasion  Dr.  Hut- 
ton,  Dean  of  York,  told  Archbishop  Sandys,  that  Whitting- 
ham "  was  ordained  in  a  better  manner  than  even  the  archbish- 
op himself;"  and  the  Lord  President  said,  he  could  not  in  con- 
science agree  to  "  allow  of  the  popish  massing  priests  in  our 
ministry,  and  to  disallow  of  ministers  made  in  a  reformed 
church."  Whittingham  never  conformed  fully  to  the  English 
church,  and  died  in  1579.  Hutchinson's  History  and  Anti- 
quities of  the  County  Palatine  of  Durham,  ii.  143 — 152, 378. 

Note  XXVn.  p.  64. 

Aylmer's  sentiments  re.ipccting  the  English  Constitution. — 
The  view  which  Aylmer  has  given  of  the  English  constitution 
is  very  diiferent  from  that  which  Mr.  Hume  has  laboured  to 
establish,  by  dwelling  upon  some  arbitrary  measures  of  the 
house  of  Tudor.  As  his  work  is  seldom  consulted,  I  may  be 
excused  for  inserting  here  a  few  extracts  from  it  on  this  sub- 
ject It  wiU  be  seen  that  he  carefully  distinguishes  between 
tlie  principles  of  the  constitution,  and  tliose  proceedings  which 
were  at  variance  witli  them.  "  But  if  this  be  utterly  taken 
from  them  [women]  in  this  place,  what  maketli  it  agauist  their 
government  in  a  politike  wcale,  where  neither  the  woman  nor 
the  man  ruleth  (if  there  be  no  tyrants)  but  the  laws.  For,  as 
Plato  saith,  Illi  civitati paratuiu  est  ex'tium  uhi  magistrattis 
Icgibus  imperai,  et  non  leges  magistratui  .■  Tliat  city  is  at  the 
pit's  brinke,  wherein  the  magistrate  ruletli  the  lawcs,  and  not 
the  lawes  the  magistrate."  And  a  little  afterwards:  "Well; 
a  woman  may  not  reignc  in  Englande.  Better  in  Englande, 
than  any  where,  as  it  shall  wel  appere  to  him  that,  with  out 
affection,  will  consider  the  kind  of  regimen.  Whyle  I  confer 
ours  with  other  (as  it  is  in  itselfe,  and  not  maimed  by  usurpa-  ] 
cion)  I  can  find  none  either  so  good  or  so  indifferent.  Tlie  ! 
regemente  of  Englande  is  not  a  mere  monarchie,  as  some  for  , 
lacke  of  considcracion  thinkc,  nor  a  mere  Oligarchie  nor  Dc-  ' 
raocracie,  but  a  rule  mixetl  of  all  these,  wherein  e<;h  one  of  , 
these  have  or  should  have  like  authoritie.  The  image  where-  ! 
of,  and  not  the  image,  but  the  tliinge  in  detle  is  to  be  sene  in  ' 
the  parUament  hous,  wherein  you  shall  find  these  3  estats :  the  ' 
King  or  Quene  which  reprcscntcth  the  Monarche,  the  noble- 1 


men  which  be  the  Aristocratie,  and  the  Burgesses  and  Knights 
the  Democratcic. — If  the  parliament  use  their  pri^•ileges,  the 
king  can  ordain  notliing  without  them  :  If  he  do,  it  is  his  fault 
in  usurping  it,  and  their  fault  in  permitting  it  Wherefore,  in 
my  judgment,  those  that  in  king  Henry  the  VIII's  dales  would 
not  grant  him  that  his  proclamations  should  have  the  force  of 
a  statute,  were  good  fatliers  of  the  countrie,  and  worthy  com- 
mcndacion  in  defending  their  hberty.  Wold  God  that  that 
court  of  late  dales  had  feared  no  more  the  farceness  of  a  wo- 
man, than  they  did  the  displeasure  of  such  a  man.  Then 
should  tliey  not  have  stoupcd,  contrary  to  their  othcs  and  al- 
ledgeaunce  to  the  crowne,  against  the  privilege  of  that  house, 
upon  their  marye  bones  to  receive  the  Devil's  blessenge  brought 
unto  them  by  Satan's  apostle,  the  cardinal.  God  forgeve  him 
for  tlie  doing,  and  them  for  obejong !  But  to  what  purpose  is 
all  tills  1  To  declare  that  it  is  not  in  England  so  daungerous 
a  matter  to  have  a  woman  ruler,  as  men  take  it  to  be. — If  on 
thother  part,  the  regement  were  such  as  all  hanged  upon  the 
king's  or  quene's  wil,  and  not  upon  the  lawes  written ;  if  she 
might  decre  and  make  lawes  alone,  without  her  senate ;  if  she 
judged  offences  according  to  her  wisdom,  and  not  by  limitation 
of  statutes  and  laws ;  if  she  might  dispose  alone  of  war  and 
peace ;  if,  to  be  short,  she  wer  a  mer  monarch,  and  not  a  mix- 
ed ruler,  you  might  peradventure  make  me  to  fear  the  matter 
the  more,  and  the  less  to  defend  the  cause."  Harborowe  for 
Faitlifull  and  Trew  Subjects.     H.  2  &  3. 

Note  XXVni.  p.  64. 

Female  Supremacy. — "  Our  countryman,  John  Knox,  has 
been  much  censured  for  want  of  civility  and  pohteness  to  the 
fair  sex ;  and  particularly  for  sounding  a  first  and  second  "  blast 
of  the  trumpet  against  the  monstrous  regiment  of  women."  He 
was  indeed  no  milksop  courtier,  who  can  sacrifice  the  public 
weal  to  the  punctilios  of  pohteness,  or  consider  the  interests 
of  nations  as  a  point  of  gidlantry.  His  reasons  for  the  aboli- 
tion of  all  female  government,  if  they  are  not  entirely  con- 
vincing, may  be  allowed  at  leeist  to  be  specious;  and  might 
well  be  indulged  as  a  harmless  speculative  opinion  in  one  who 
was  disposetl  as  he  was  to  make  no  bad  use  of  it  in  practice, 
and  to  give  all  dutiful  respect  to  whomsoever  the  will  of  God 
and  the  commonwealth  had  assigned  the  sovereign  power. 
But  though  the  point  may  be  conceded  in  regard  to  secular  go- 
vernment, in  ordering  of  which  the  constitutions  and  customs 
and  mere  pleasure  of  communities  may  be  allowed  to  establish 
what  is  not  morally  evil :  it  will  not  follow  that  the  es.sential 
order  and  positive  law  of  the  spiritual  kingdom  may  also  be 
sported  with,  and  subverted. — Let  the  Enghsli,  if  they  please, 
admit  a  weak,  fickle,  freakish,  bigotted,  gallantish  or  imperious 
woman,  to  sway  the  sceptre  of  political  dominion  over  millions 
of  men,  and  even  over  her  own  husband  in  tlie  crowd,  to  whom 
at  the  altar  she  had  preAiously  vowed  obedience,  they  shall 
meet  witli  no  opposition  from  the  presbytcrians,  provided, 
they  do  "not  also  authorise  her  to  lord  it  or  lady  it,  over  their 
faith  and  consciences,  as  well  as  over  their  bodies,  goods  and 
chattels. 

"  By  the  laws  of  the  Romish  church,  no  female^can  be  ad- 
mitted to  a  participation  of  clerical  power.  Not  so  much  as 
the  ancient  order  of  deaconesses  now  remaui  in  her.  Her 
casuists  have  examined  and  debated  this  thesis.  Whether  a 
woman  may  have  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  conferred 
upon  her ;  and  have  detennined  it  in  the  negative.*  But  of 
the  philosopliical  dignity  tliey  are  not  quite  so  jealous.  Helen 
Lucrecia  Piscopia  Comaca,  of  famous  memory,  once  applied 
for  her  degree  in  divinity  in  an  Italian  university ;  but  Cardinal 
Barbarigo,  bishop  of  Padua,  was  far  from  being  disposed  to 
grant  it ;  so  that  this  learned  lady  was  obUged  to  content  her- 
self witli  a  doctorate  in  philosophy,  which,  with  universal  ap- 
plause, was  actually  conferred  upon  her,  June  25, 1678.f  But 
the  English  climate  savours  notliuig  of  this  Italian  jealousy 
nor  are  the  divines  in  it  so  niggardly  of  their  honours.  We 
do  not  hear  indeed  that  they  have  formally  matriculated  any 
ladies,  in  the  universities,  or  obliged  them  by  canon,  or  act  of 
parliament,  to  take  out  degrees,  either  in  law.  in  philosophy,  or 
divinity,  to  qualify  them  for  ecclesiastical  preferment  (even  tlic 
highest  pinnacle  of  it ;)  though  their  laws  hold  males  utterly 
unqualified  for  holding  any  lucrative  place  in  tlie  church,  or 
in  ecclesiastic  courts,  without  these :  Nor  can  a  man  be  ad- 
mitted to  the  lowest  curacy,  or  be  fellow  or  student  m  an  uni- 

*  Carol.  Rinuldinij.  Matth.  .^nalit.  art. pars  3tia, 
t  XouicU.  dcla  Republ.  de  Lett.  Iddi. 


NOTES. 


161 


vcrsity,  until  he  have  learned  and  digested  all  the  articles,  ho- 
milies, canons,  rubrics,  modes  and  fignres  of  the  church  of 
England,  as  he  cannot  even  be  serjeant  or  exciseman,  till  he 
understand  perfectly  the  superior  devotion  of  kneeling  above 
sitting.  But  it  is  very  possible,  though  they  do  not  bear  the 
learned  titles,  the  ladies  may  know  as  much  of  learning  and 
divinity,  as  those  who  do.  And  though  they  may  not  receive 
ordination  on  Ember-week  for  the  inferior  orders,  yet  it  is  en- 
acted and  provided,  that  one  of  their  number  may  be  raised  at 
once  per  saltum  not  only  above  all  the  peers  and  peeresses, 
but  over  all  the  graduates,  reverend  dignitaries,  and  mitred 
heads  in  the  kingdom.  The  solemn  inaugurating  unction 
once  applied,  then  Cedite"'Romani  Doctores,  ccdite  Graij. 
Hence  forward,  as  the  queen  of  Sheba  came  from  the  utter- 
most end  of  the  earth,  to  hear  the  wisdom  of  Solomon,  and 
to  have  every  enigma  and  hard  question  solved,  so  must  every 
master,  doctor,  heads  of  universities,  every  diocesan  and  me- 
tropoUtan,  however  wise,  have  recourse  to  their  queen,  by  re- 
ference or  appeal,  with  every  diillcult  question,  and  every  learn- 
ed and  deep  controversy,  and  be  responsible  to  her  for  their 
every  decision.  How  flattermg  a  constitution  this  to  woman- 
kind— if  they  be  indeed  so  very  fond  of  precedence  and  rule, 
as  is  commonly  said !  She  must  have  an  unreasonable  and 
unbounded  ambition  indeed  whom  this  will  not  content ; 
tliough  she  sliould  not  be  also  further  told  in  plain  terms,  that 
she  is  a  goddess,  and  in  her  office  superior  to  Christ ;  as  some 
court-clergymen  have  ventured  to  affirm  of  their  visable  head." 
A  Historico-Politico-Ecclesiastical  Dissertation  on  the  Supre- 
macy of  Civil  Powers  m  Matters  of  Religion,  particularly  the 
Ecclesiastical  Supremacy  annexed  to  the  English  Crown;  By 
Archibald  Bruce,  Minister  of  the  gospel,  p.  46,  47,  49,  50, 
Edinburgh,  1802. 

Note  XXIX.  p.  65. 

Of  the  form  of  Prayer  used  in  Scotland  at  the  beginning 
of  the  Rtforination. — It  is  natural  to  inquire  here  what  is 
meant  by  the  "  bulk  of  comon  prayeris  "  which  tlie  protestants 
in  1557  agreed  to  use,  or  which  was  afterwards  followed  in 
their  public  worship.  Was  it  the  common  prayer  book  of 
Edward  VI.  or  was  it  a  different  one*?  This  question  was 
keenly  canvassed,  after  the  Revolution,  by  the  Scots  Episco- 
pahans  and  Presbyterians.  Mr.  Sage,  the  most  al)le  champion 
of  the  Episcopalians,  insisted  that  it  was  the  English  liturgy, 
and  endeavoured  to  prove  that  this  was  during,  "  at  least,  seven 
years  in  continued  practice  in  Scotland,"  i.  e.  from  1557  to 
1564.  Fundamental  Charter  of  Presbytery  Examined,  p. 
95 — 101,349.  2d  edit.  Lond.  1697.  Mr.  Anderson,  minister 
of  Dumbarton,  who  was  the  most  acute  advocate  of  Presbytery, 
answered  this  part  of  the  Fundamental  Charter,  and  adduced 
a  number  of  arguments  to  prove  that  it  was  the  liturgy  not  of 
Edward  VI.  but  of  the  English  church  at  Geneva,  of  which 
Knox  was  minister,  which  was  used  in  Scotland  from  the  time 
that  protestant  congregations  were  formed  in  this  country. 
The  Countrey-man's  Letter  to  the  Curat,  p,  65 — 77.  printed 
in  1711.  I  shall  state  a  few  facts,  without  entering  into  rea- 
soning. Mr.  Anderson  says,  that  he  had  in  his  possession  a 
copv.  in  Latin,  of  the  liturgy  used  in  the  English  church  at 
Frankfort,  the  preface  of  which  bears  date  the  1st  of  Septem- 
ber, 1554.  He  adds  that  this  had  been  translated  from  Eng- 
lish into  Latin ;  and  that  the  prayers  in  it  are  exactly  the  same 
with  those  which  arc  found  in  the  Order  of  Geneva,  after- 
wards adopted  by  the  Scottish  church ;  only  there  are  some 
additional  prayers  in  the  latter  accommodated  to  the  circum- 
stances of  Scotland.  Ibid.  p.  64.  This  must  have  been  the 
form  of  worship  agreed  on  by  the  exiles  immediately  after  their 
arrival  at  Frankfort  Troubles  of  Franckford,  p.  7.  Before 
the  end  of  that  year,  the  form  of  worship  observed  by  the  Ge- 
nevan church  was  printed  in  English.  Ibid.  p.  27.  In  the 
begiiming  of  the  following  year,  the  form  afterwards  used  by 
the  English  church  at  Geneva  was  composed,  which  differed 
very  little  from  that  wliich  was  first  used  at  Frankfort.  Ibid, 
p.  37.  This  was  printed  in  the  lieginning  of  1556.  Dunlop's 
Confessions,  ii.  401.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  Knox,  in  his  visit 
to  Scotland  in  1555,  would  carry  with  him  copies  of  the  two 
former  liturgies,  and  that  he  would  send  copies  of  the  latter, 
on  his  return  to  Geneva.  After  all,  I  think  it  extremely  pro- 
bable, that  copies  of  the  liturgy  of  Edward  VI.  were  still  more 
numerous  in  Scotland  at  that  time,  and  that  they  were  used 
by  some  of  the  protestants  at  the  beginning  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. This  appears  from  a  letter  of  Cecil  to  Throkmorton.  9th 
July,  1559.     "  The  protestants  be  at  Edynborough.     They 


offer  no  violence,  but  dissolve  rehgiose  howsces ;  directyng  the 
lands  thereof  to  the  crowne,  and  to  ministcry  in  the  chirch. 
'I'he  parish  churchecs  they  delyver  of  altars  and  imagees,  and 
have  receved  the  service  of  the  church  of  England,  accordyng 
to  King  Edward's  booke."  Forbes's  State  Papers,  i,  155. 
Another  thing  which  inclines  me  to  think  that  the  Enghsh 
liturgy  was  in  the  eye  of  those  who  made  the  agreement  in 
Dec.  1557  is,  that  they  mention  the  reading  of  "the  lesLonis 
of  the  New  and  Auld  Testament,  confvrme  to  the  ordour  of 
the  Bulk  of  Commoun-Prayeris."  Anderson  gives  a  quota- 
tion from  the  preface  to  the  Frankfort  liturgy  in  which  the 
compilers  vindicate  themselves  against  the  objection,  that  they 
had  omitted  the  reading  of  the  Gospels  and  Epistles,  by  say- 
ing that  they  read  in  order  not  only  these,  but  all  the  books  of 
scripture.  And  he  insists  that  by  the  "  lessonis  of  the  New 
and  Auld  Testament,"  our  reformers  meant  no  more  than  the 
reading  of  the  scriptures  in  general.  This  reply  does  not  ap- 
pear to  me  satisfactory. 

But  though  the  Scottish  protestants,  at  this  time,  agreed  to 
make  use  of  the  prayers  and  scripture-lessons  contained  in  the 
English  liturgy,  it  cannot  be  inferred  from  this,  that  they  ap- 
proved of  it  without  limitations,  or  that  they  meant  to  bind 
themselves  to  all  its  forms  and  ceremonies.  The  contrary  is 
evident.  It  appoints  lessons  to  be  read  from  the  apocrypha ; 
but  they  expressly  confined  their  readuig  to  "  the  lessons  of 
the  New  and  Old  Testament."  A  great  part  of  the  English 
liturgy  can  be  read  by  a  priest  only  ;  but  all  that  they  propos- 
ed to  use  could  be  performed  by  "  the  most  qualifeit  in  the  pa- 
rochin,"  provided  the  cimite  refused  or  was  unqualified.  I 
need  scarcely  add,  that,  if"  they  had  adopted  that  liturgy,  the 
invitation  which  they  gave  to  Knox  must  have  come  with  a 
very  bad  grace.  It  must  have  been  to  this  purpose,  (to  use 
Mr.  Anderson's  words,)  "  Pray,  good  Mr.  Knox,  come  over  and 
help  us ;  and  for  your  encouragement  against  you  come,  you 
shall  find  the  English  liturgy,  against  which  you  preached  in 
Scotland,  against  which  you  declared  before  the  councel  of 
England,  for  opposing  which  j'ou  were  brought  in  danger  of 
your  neck  at  Francford ;  this  English  liturgy  you  shall  find 
the  authorized  form  of  worship,  and  that  by  an  ordinance  of 
our  making."     The  Countreyman's  Letter,  ut  supra,  p.  69, 

We  can  trace  back  the  use  of  the  Book  of  Common  Order 
(or,  Order  of  Geneva)  by  the  church  of  Scotland  from  the 
year  1564.  The  General  Assembly,  Dec.  26,  1564,  ordained 
"  that  cverie  Minister,  Exhorter  and  Reader  sail  have  one  of 
the  Psalme  Bookes  latelie  printed  in  Edinburgh,  and  use  the 
order  contamed  therein  in  prayers,  marriage,  and  ministration 
of  (he  sacraments."  Keith,  538.  This  refers  to  the  edition 
of  the  Geneva  Order  and  Psalms,  which  had  been  printed  du- 
ring that  year  by  Lepreuik.  "  In  the  generall  assemblie  con- 
vened at  Edinr.  in  Decer.  1562,  for  pruiting  of  the  psalmes, 
the  kirk  lent  Rob.  I-icprivick,  printer,  tva  hundreth  pounds,  to 
help  to  buy  Irons,  ink  and  papper,  and  to  fie  craftesmen  for 
printing."  Reasons  for  continuing  the  use  of  the  old  metrical 
Version  of  the  Psalms.  (Written  in  1632.)  p.  232.  of  a  MS, 
belonging  to  Robert  Grseme,  Esq;  Advocate.  But  although 
this  was  the  first  edition  of  the  book  printed  in  this  countiy, 
it  had  been  previously  printed  both  at  Geneva  and  in  England ; 
and  was  used  in  the  church  of  Scotland.  For  in  the  Assem- 
bly which  met  in  Dec.  1562,  "  it  was  concluded,  That  an  uni- 
forme  Order  sould  be  kecped  in  ministration  of  the  sacraments, 
solemnization  of  mamages,  and  burial  of  tlie  dead,  according 
to  the  Booke  of  Geneva."  Keith,  519.  Petrie,  part  ii.  p.  233. 
Nor  was  it  then  introduced  for  the  first  time ;  for  the  Abbot  of 
Crossraguel,  in  a  book  set  forth  by  him  in  1561,  mentions  it 
as  the  estabHshed  fonn  of  prayers  at  the  time  he  wrote.  "  I 
will  call  to  remembrance  (says  he)  the  sayings  of  quhilkis  ar 
viritten  to  the  redar,  in  thair  buke  CB&it  the  forme  of  prayeris 
as  eftir  foUowis,  viz, '  As  for  the  wourdis  of  the  Lordis  supper, 
we  rehcrs  thaim  nocht  bicaus  thai  sulde  change  the  substance 
of  the  breid  and  wine,  or  that  the  repititione  tharof,  with  the 
entcnt  of  the  sacrificear,  sulde  make  the  sacraments  (as  the 
papistis  falslie  belevis.")  Ane  Oratioune  be  Master  Quintine 
Kennedy,  p.  15.  Edin.  1812.  The  passage  queted  by  Ken- 
nedy is  in  the  Book  of  Common  Order.  Dunlop,  ii.  454. 
The  First  Book  of  Disciphne,  framed  in  1560,  expressly  ap- 
proves of  the  Order  of  Geneva,  which  it  calls  "  our  Book  of 
Common  Order,"  and  mentions  its  being  "  used  in  some  of 
our  churches,"  previous  to  that  period.  Danl«p's  Confessions, 
ii.  520,  548,  583.  From  these  facts  it  is  evident  that,  although 
the  scripture  lessons  and  the  prayers  in  the  English  hturgy 
were  at  first  used  by  some  of  the  Scottish  protestants,  yet  they 
never  received  that  book  as  a  whole  ;  that  the  Order  of  Geneva 
11 


162 


NOTES* 


was  introduced  among  them  before  the  establishment  of  the 
reformation ;  and  that  it  became  the  universal  form  of  worship 
as  soon  as  a  sufficient  number  of  copies  of  it  could  be  procur- 
ed. If  any  other  evidence  of  this  were  necessary,  I  might 
produce  tlie  testimony  of  Sir  Francis  KnoUys,  tlie  English 
ambassador.  When  queen  Mary  fled  into  England  in  1568, 
she  feigned  her  willingness  to  give  up  with  the  mass,  and  to 
adopt  the  English  common  prayer  book,  provided  Ehzabeth 
would  assist  her  in  regaining  her  crown.  Lord  Herries  hav- 
ing made  this  proposal  in  her  name.  Sir  Francis  replied  "  that 
yf  he  meant  thereby  to  conderapne  the  form  and  order  of 
coimnon  prayer  now  used  m  Skotland,  agreeable  with  divers 
well  reformed  churches,— or  that  he  meant  to  expell  all  the 
learned  preachers  of  Skotland,  yff  they  wold  not  return  back 
to  receave  and  wayr  cornered  capes  and  typpets,  with  svtrpless 
and  coopes,  which  they  have  left  by  order  contynually  since 
their  first  receav'ng  cif  the  gospel  into  that  realme ,-  thcrt  he 
myght  so  fyght  for  the  shadow  and  image  of  reUgion  that  he 
myght  bring  the  body  and  truth  in  danger."  Anderson's  Col- 
lections, vol.  iv.  part  i.  p.  210,  111. 

As  this  subject  has  been  introduced,  I  may  make  an  obser- 
vation or  two  respecting  the  form  of  prayers  used  in  the  church 
of  Scotland  at  tlie  beginning  of  the  Reformation.  What  has 
been  called  Knox's  Liturgi/,  was  the  Book  of  Common  Order, 
first  used  by  the  E)iglLsh  church  at  Geneva.  It  contains  forms 
of  prayers  for  the  different  parts  of  public  worship ;  and  this 
is  the  only  resemblance  which  it  bears  to  the  English  liturgy. 
But  there  is  tliis  important  difference  betvreen  the  two ;  in  the 
EngUsh,  the  minister  is  restricted  to  the  repetition  of  the  very 
words  of  the  prayers  ;  in  the  Scottish,  he  is  left  at  liberty  to 
vary  from  them,  and  to  substitute  prayers  of  his  own  in  their 
room.  The  following  quotations  will  exemplify  the  mode  of 
the  latter.  "  When  the  congregation  is  assembled  at  the  houre 
appointed,  the  minister  uscth  one  of  these  two  confessions,  or 
like  in  effect." — "The  minister  after  the  sermon  useth  tliis 
prayer  following,  or  such  like."  Similar  declarations  are  pre- 
fixed to  the  prayers  to  be  used  at  the  celebration  of  baptism 
and  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  And  at  the  end  of  the  account  of 
title  public  service  of  the  Sabbath  is  this  intimation ;  "  It  shall 
not  be  necessarie  for  the  minister  dayhe  to  repeat  all  these 
things  before  mentioned,  but  beginning  with  some  manner  of 
confession  to  proceed  to  the  sermon,  which  ended,  he  either 
uscth  the  prayer  for  all  estates  before  mentioned,  or  else  pray- 
eth  as  the  Spirit  of  God  shall  move  his  heart,  framing  the 
same  according  to  the  time  and  matter  which  he  hath  entreated 
of."  Knox's  Liturgy,  p.  74,  83,  86,  120.  Edin.  1611. 
Dunlop's  Confessions,  ii.  417,  421,426,443.450.  And  at 
the  end  of  the  Fwm  of  Excommunication,  it  is  signified, 
"  This  order  may  be  enlarged  or  contracted  as  the  wisdome  of 
the  discreet  minister  shall  think  expedient;  for  we  rather  shew 
the  way  to  the  ignorant,  then  prescribe  order  to  tiie  learned 
that  cannot  be  amended."  Dunlop,  ii.  746.  The  Scottish 
prayers,  therefore,  were  intended  as  a  help  to  the  ignorant,  not 
as  a  restraint  upon  those  who  could  pray  without  a  set  form. 
The  readers  and  exhorters  commonly  used  them ;  but  even 
they  were  encouraged  to  p>erform  the  service  in  a  different  man- 
ner.    Knox's  Liturgy,  ut  supra,  p.  189.     Dimlop,  ii.  694. 

Note  XXX.  p.  66. 

Of  tlie  Petitions  presented  by  the  Protestants  to  the  Qiieen 
Regent. — The  petition  which  Sir  James  Sandilands  presented, 
in  uie  name  of  his  brethren,  contained  five  requests.  1.  That, 
as  by  the  laws  of  the  land  they  had,  after  long  debate,  obtain- 
ed hberty  to  read  the  scriptures  in  their  native  language,  it 
should  aJso  be  lawful  for  them  to  use,  pubUcly  or  privately, 
"  comoun  prayaris  in  our  vulgar  tovmg."  2.  That  if,  in  the 
course  of  reading  the  scriptures  in  their  assemblies,  any  diffi- 
culty occurred,  it  should  Ije  lawful  for  any  "  qualifeit  persone 
in  knawledge  "  to  explain  it,  subject  to  the  judgement  of  "  the 
maist  godUe  and  maist  leamit  within  the  realme."  3.  "That 
the  holy  sacrament  of  baptisme  may  be  used  in  the  vulgar 
toung,"  accompanied  with  instruction  to  the  parties  and  to  the 
church.  4.  "  That  the  sacrament  of  the  Lordis  supper  or  of 
his  most  blessed  body  and  blude  may  likewise  be  ministrate  in 
the  vulgar  toung,  and  in  both  kindis."  And  lastly,  "  That 
the  wicket,  slanderous,  and  detestabill  lyif  of  Prelattes,  and  of 
the  stait  ecclesiastical,  may  be  so  reformed  that  the  pepill  by 
thame  have  not  occasioun,  as  of  mony  dayis  they  have  had,  to 
contempe  their  ministrie  and  the  preiching,  whairof  they  sould 
he  messengers ;"  and  to  remove  suspicion  of  interested  mo- 
tives m  making  this  request,  they  add, "  we  ar  content  that  not 


only  the  reulles  and  preceptis  of  the  New  Testament,  but  also 
the  wryttings  of  tlie  ancient  Fatheris,  and  the  godly  approved 
lawis  of  Justiniane,  decyde  tlie  controversie  that  is  betwix  us 
and  thame."  Knox,  Historic,  p.  120,121.  Spottiswood  (p. 
1 1 9.)  omits  the  article  respecting  baptism,  and  introduces  an- 
other :  "  that  the  election  of  ministers  should  be  according  to  ^jj 
the  manner  used  in  the  primitive  church."  See  also  Buchan-  jJH 
ani  Oper.  i.  311.                                                                                      ™ 

This  petition  discovers  great  moderation  on  the  part  of  tlie 
protestants.  Historians  differ  as  to  the  precise  time  at  which 
it  was  presented,  Spottiswood  (p.  108.)  places  his  account 
of  it  after  the  martyrdom  of  Mill.  And  the  writer  of  the  His- 
toric of  the  Estate  of  Scotland  from  1559  to  1566  (p.  1.) 
says  that  it  was  presented  in  July  1558.  On  the  contrary 
Knox  (p.  120,  122.)  places  it  before  the  death  of  Mill.  It  is 
highly  probable  that  tlie  protestants  petitioned  the  Regent  both 
before  and  after  that  event,  and  that  on  both  occasions  they 
employed  Sir  James  Sandilands  as  their  representative.  In 
this  light  I  have  represented  the  matter  in  the  text.  But  I  am 
inclined,  upon  the  whole,  to  consider  Knox's  statement  as  the 
most  correct.  He  had  the  best  opportunity  of  ascertaining  the 
fact  This  was  the  part  of  his  History  which  was  first  writ- 
ten by  him,  soon  after  his  arrival  in  Scotland,  when  the  trans- 
action must  have  been  fresh  in  the  recollection  of  all  his  asso- 
ciates. There  is  no  reference  in  the  petition  to  the  illegal  ex- 
ecution of  Mill,  which  could  scarcely  have  been  omitted  if  it 
had  previously  taken  place.  The  objection  urged  by  Keith, 
from  the  clause  in  the  petition  which  supposes  that  the  Queen 
was  married,  does  not  appear  to  have  great  strength.  The 
parliament,  in  December  1557,  had  agreed  to  the  solemniza- 
tion of  the  marriage,  their  commissioners  had  sailed  for  France 
in  February  to  be  present  at  the  ceremony,  which  was  appoint- 
ed to  take  place  on  the  24tli  of  April.  In  these  circumstances 
the  protestants  might,  without  any  impropriety,  request  that 
they  should  be  allowed  liberty  to  use  the  common  prayers  ui 
the  vulgar  tongue,  to  the  end  that  they  might  "  be  induced  in 
fervent  and  oft  prayers  to  comend  unto  God — the  queen  our 
soverane,  hir  honorabill  and  gracious  husband,"  &c.  Keith  is 
verong  when  he  says  that  Knox  has  fixed  the  execution  of  Mill 
"  to  the  8th  of  April,  which  was  above  two  weeks  before  the 
Queen's  marriage."  History,  p.  80,  note.  Knox  says  he  was 
put  to  death  "  the  twentie  aucht  day  of  Apiylle,"  which  was 
four  days  after  the  marriage.     Historic,  p.  122. 

After  the  martyrdom  of  Mill;  the  protestants  renewed  their 
application  to  the  Regent,  with  a  warm  remonstrance  against 
the  cruelty  of  the  clergy.  Knox,  Historic,  p.  122.  The  par- 
liament held  in  November  1558  approaching,  they  dehvered 
another  petition  to  her,  desiring  that  it  should  be  laid  before 
the  meeting  of  the  estates.  In  this  they  requested,  tliat  tlie 
laws  by  which  the  clergy  justified  their  severe  and  cruel  pro- 
ceedings against  them  should  be  abrogated,  or  suspended  until 
the  present  controversies  in  religion  were  regularly  determined; 
or,  if  this  could  not  be  granted,  that  the  clergy  should  not  act 
as  judges,  but  be  obliged  to  sustain  the  character  of  accusers 
before  a  temporal  judge,  and  that  the  same  mode  of  defence 
should  be  granted  to  persons  accused  of  heresy  as  in  other 
criminal  processes.  Bemg  persuaded,  by  the  promises  of  the 
Regent,  to  desist  from  laying  this  petition  before  that  meeting 
of  parliament,  they  substituted  a  protestation  ;  in  which  they 
declared  that,  having  waved  urging  their  petitions  from  regard 
to  the  state  of  public  affairs,  they  should  not  be  liable  to  any 
penalties  for  using  that  liberty  to  %vhich  they  had  a  just  title, 
and  for  which  they  had  frequently  petitioned,  and  that,  if  any 
tumult  was  excited  by  reUgious  differences,  or  by  violent  at- 
tempts to  reform  abuses  in  rehgion  which  were  become  intole- 
rable, this  should  not  be  imputed  to  them  who  had  always  re- 
quested an  orderly  reformation  of  these  abuses,  but  unto  the 
persons  who  had  resisted  every  attempt  of  this  land.  Ibid.  p. 
122—125.    Spottiswood,  119,  120. 

Note  XXXI.  p.  69. 

Dissimulation  of  the  Queen  Regent. — I  am  sensible  that 
my  account  of  the  conduct  of  the  queen  regent  to  the  protes- 
tants differs  from  that  which  has  been  given  by  Dr.  Rolx-rtson 
in  his  history  of  this  period.  He  imputes  her  change  of  mea- 
sures entirely  to  the  over-ruling  influence  of  her  brothers,  and 
seems  to  acquit  her  of  insincerity  in  the  countenance  which 
she  had  shewn,  and  the  promises  which  she  had  repeatedly 
made,  to  the  protestant  leaders.  In  any  remarks  which  I  shall 
make  upon  tliis  account,  I  wish  to  be  understood  as  not  de- 
tracting in  the  slightest  degree  from  the  merit  of  his  able,  afl- 


NOTES. 


163 


curate,  and  luminous  statement  of  the  plans  conceived  by  the 
princes  of  Lorrain.  Having  mentioned  the  first  symptoms  of 
the  Regent's  aUenation  from  the  reformers,  Dr.  Robertson  says: 
"  In  order  to  account  for  this,  our  historians  do  httle  more  than 
produce  the  trite  observations  concerning  the  influence  of  pros- 
perity to  alter  the  character  and  corrupt  the  heart."  I  do  not 
know  the  particular  liistorians  to  whom  he  may  refer,  but  those 
of  the  protestant  persuasion  whom  I  have  consulted,  impute 
her  change  of  conduct  not  to  the  above  cause,  but  to  the  cir- 
cumstance of  her  having  accomplished  the  gi'eat  objects  which 
she  had  in  view,  upon  which  she  no  longer  stood  in  need  of 
the  assistance  of  the  reformers.  Accordingly,  they  charge  her 
with  duplicity  in  her  former  proceedings  with  them.  Knox, 
96,  110,  122,  125.  Buchanan,  i.  312,  Spottiswood,  117, 
119,  120.  I  think  they  had  good  reasons  for  this  charge.  At 
a  very  early  period,  she  gave  a  striking  proof  of  hor  disposition 
and  talents  for  the  most  deep  dissimulation.  I  refer  to  her 
behaviour  in  the  intercourse  which  she  had  with  Sir  Ralph 
Sadler,  in  1543,  on  which  occasion  she  acted  a  part  not  less 
important  than  Cardinal  Beatoun  himself,  threw  the  ambassador 
into  the  greatest  perplexity,  and  completely  duped  the  Eng- 
hsh  monarch.  Sadler,  i.  84—88,  100,  111—113,  249—253. 
The  Governor  wanted  not  reason  to  say,  "  as  she  is  both  subtle 
and  wily,  so  she  hatli  a  vengeablc  engine  and  wit  to  work  her 
purpose."  It  is  impossible  to  read  the  account  of  her  smooth 
conduct  to  the  reformers,  without  perceiving  the  art  with  which 
she  acted.  There  is  also  reason  for  thinking  that  she  was 
privy  to  the  execution  of  Walter  Mill,  and  had  encouraged 
the  archbishop  of  St.  Andrews  to  take  that  step.  Indeed,  in 
his  letter  to  the  earl  of  Argyle,  written  a  few  weeks  before  that 
event,  the  archbishop  expressly  says,  that  she  murmured  heav- 
ily against  him,  because  he  did  not  use  severe  measures  to 
check  the  progress  of  heresy,  and  Argyle,  in  his  answer,  does 
not  call  this  in  question.     Knox,  103,  108. 

I  do  not  doubt  that  the  Regent  was  precipitated  into  the 
most  violent  measures  which  she  adopted  by  the  counsels  of  her 
brotliers ;  and  that  she  remonstrated  against  the  impolicy  of 
these,  is  attested  by  Castclnau,  to  whom  Dr.  Robertson  refers 
as  one  of  his  authorities.  But  I  think  that  she  had  altered  her 
conduct  to  the  protestants,  and  declared  her  resolution  to  abet 
the  measures  of  the  clergy  against  them,  previous  to  the  time 
that  she  is  said  to  have  received  these  strong  representations 
from  France.  Tliis  appears  even  from  the  narrative  of  Cas- 
telnau,  who  has  connected  the  advice  given  by  the  princes  of 
Lorrain  with  the  mission  of  La  Brosse  and  the  bishop  of 
Amiens,  who  did  not  arrive  in  Scotland  until  September  1559, 
after  the  civil  war  was  kindled.  Jebb.  ii.  246.  Keith,  102. 
Sadler,  i.  470.  But  it  will  be  still  more  apparent  from  an  ex- 
amination of  the  testimony  of  Sir  James  Melvil,  the  other  au- 
thority to  whom  Dr.  Robertson  appeals.  Melvil  says  that,  af- 
ter the  treaty  of  Chatcau-Cambresis  was  concluded,  Bettan- 
court  was  sent  into  Scotland  to  procure  the  ratification  of  it 
from  the  queen  regent ;  and  that  he  was  charged  by  the  Car- 
dinal of  Lorrain  to  inform  her,  that  the  popish  princes  had 
agreed  to  join  in  extirpating  heresy,  and  to  require  that  she 
should  immediately  take  steps  for  suppressing  the  protestants 
in  that  country.  Melvil  adds,  that  tliese  instructions,  mixed 
with  some  threatcnings,  having  been  received,  the  queen  regent 
"  determined  to  follow  them.  She  therefore  issued  out  a  proc- 
lamation a  little  beftre  Eaiter,  commanding  every  man  great 
and  small,  to  observe  the  Roman  Catholic  religion."  Melvil's 
Memoirs,  p.  23,  24.  Lond.  1683.  The  proclamation  to  ob- 
serve Easter  in  the  Catholic  manner  is  mentioned  by  all  our 
historians  as  the  decisive  declaration  of  the  Queen's  change 
of  measures.  Now  the  treaty  of  Chateau-Cambresis  was  not 
concluded  until  the  2d  of  April  1559.  Forbes,  i.  68.  81. 
But  Easter  fell  that  year  on  the  29th  of  March,  six  days  be- 
fore Bettancourt  could  undertake  his  journey  to  Scotland.  The 
proclamation  respecting  the  observance  of  that  festival  must 
have  been  issued  some  weeks  before  Bettancourt's  arrival. 
Nay,  we  know  from  other  evidence,  that  the  breach  between 
the  queen  regent  and  the  protestants  had  taken  place  on  the 
6th  of  March  ;  for  this  is  the  date  from  which  the  act  of  Ob- 
livion afterwards  granted  is  reckoned.  Keith,  141,  151. 
There  is,  therefore,  a  glaring  anachronism  in  Melvil's  narra- 
tive ;  and  whatever  influence  Bettancourt's  embassy  had  in  in- 
stigating the  Regent  to  more  violent  measures,  she  had  previ- 
ously taken  her  side,  and  declared  her  determuiation  to  oppose 
the  progress  of  the  Reformation. 

There  are  several  other  mistakes  which  Sir  James  Melvil 
has  committed  in  his  narrative  of  the  transactions  of  this  peri- 
od.   Even  in  his  account  of  the  important  embassy  into  Scot- 


land, committed  to  him  by  Henry  II,  and  of  the  speech  which 
the  constable  Montmorency  made  to  him  on  that  occasion,  he 
has  introduced  the  constable  as  mentioning,  among  his  reasons, 
the  shipv^Teck  of  the  Marquis  D'Elbeuf,  which  did  not  happen 
till  some  months  after,  when  the  French  king  was  dead.  Me- 
moirs, ut  supra,  p,  31.  Sadler,  i.  417.  In  my  humble  opin- 
ion, all  our  historians  have  given  too  easy  credit  to  Melvil,  both 
in  his  statement  of  facts,  and  in  his  representation  of  charac- 
ters. 

Note  XXXII.  p.  73. 

Lamentation  over  the  demolition  of  the  Religious  houses. — 
"  Truely,  among  all  their  deeds  and  devises,  the  casting  doune 
of  the  churches  was  the  most  foolish  and  furious  worke,  the  most 
shreud  and  execrable  turne  that  ever  iiZbr/ioAhimself  culdhave 
done  or  de\ised.  For  out  of  al  doubt  that  great  grandfather 
of  Calvine,  and  old  enemie  of  mankind,  not  only  inspired  ev- 
ery one  of  those  sacrelegious  hellhounds  with  his  flaming  sprit 
of  malice  and  blasphemie,  as  he  did  their  forefathers  LutJier 
and  Calvine :  hot  also  was  then  present  as  maibttr  of  ivorke, 
busily  beholding  his  servands  and  hirelings  worldng  his  wil 
and  bringing  to  pass  his  long  desired  contentment. — They 
changed  the  churches  (which  God  himself  called  his  house  of 
prayer^  into  filthie  and  abominable  houses  of  sensual  men, 
yea,  and  of  unreasonable  beasts:  when  as  they  made  stables 
in  Halyrud-hous,  sheep-houses  of  S.  Antone,  and  S.  Leonards 
chapels,  tolbooths  of  S.  Gillis,  &c,  which  this  day  may  be  scene, 
to  the  great  griefe  and  sorrow  of  al  good  Christians,  to  the 
shame  and  confusion  of  Edinburg,  and  to  the  everlasting  dam- 
nation of  the  doers  thereof,  the  sedicious  ministers,  Knox  and 
his  complices."  After  weeping  over  the  ruins  of  "  Abbirbroth," 
the  WTitcr  returns  to  St.  Giles,  and  represents  our  Saviour  as 
lamenting  its  profanation  by  the  setting  up  of  "  the  abomina- 
tion of  desolation,"  the  courts  of  justice,  within  that  holy 
ground.  "  How  wold  he  say,  if  he  were  now  entering  in  at 
S.  Giles,  and  looking  to  bare  wals,  and  pillars  al  cled  with  dust, 
sweepings  and  cobweljs,  insted  of  pamting  and  tapcstrie ;  and 
on  every  side  beholding  the  restlesse  resorting  of  people  treat- 
ing of  their  worldly  affaires,  some  writing  and  making  of  ob- 
ligations, contracts  and  discharges,  others  laying  countes  or 
telling  over  sowmes  of  money,  and  two  and  two  walking  and 
talking  to  and  fro,  some  about  merchandise  or  the  lawes,  and 
too  many,  alias !  about  drinking  and  courting  of  woemen,  yea 
and  perhaps  about  worse  nor  I  can  imagine,  as  is  wont  to  be 
done  al  the  day  long  in  the  common  Exchanges  of  London 
and  Amsterdam  and  other  great  cities.  And  turning  him  farther 
towards  the  west  end  of  the  church,  which  is  divided  in  a  high 
house  for  the  CoUedge  of  Justice,  called  the  Session  or  Senat- 
hm/.se,  and  a  lower  house  called  the  Irnv  Tolbooth,  where  the 
balives  of  the  town  use  to  sit  and  judge  common  actions  and 
pleas  in  the  one  end  thereof,  and  a  number  of  harlots  and 
scolds  for  flyting  and  whoredom,  inclosed  in  the  other :  And 
these,  I  mean,  if  our  Saviour  were  present  to  behold  such 
abominable  desolation,  that  where  altars  were  erected,  and  sa- 
crifices, with  continual  praises  and  praiers,  were  wont  to  be  of- 
fered up  to  the  lord,  in  remembrance  of  that  bloody  sacrifice  of 
Christ  on  the  crosse,  there  now  are  holes  for  whores,  and  cages 
for  scolds,  where  nothing  is  hard  hot  banning  and  swearing, 
and  every  one  upbraiding  another :  O  what  grieve  and  sorrow 
wold  our  Lord  tak  at  the  beholding  of  such  profanation  and 
sacrilege!"  Father  Alexander  Baillie's  True  Information 
of  the  unhallovxd  offspring,  progress  and  impoison'd fruits 
of  our  Scottish-Calvinian  Gospel  and  Gospellers,  p.  24,  25, 
27,28.     Wulsburg,  1628. 

Note  XXXHL  p,  74, 

Alleged  excesses  of  the  Reformers. — It  would  be  endless  to 
enter  into  an  examination  of'^  the  exaggerated  accounts  which 
have  been  given  of  the  "  pitiful  devastation  "  committed  by 
the  reformers,  I  shall  content  myself  with  stating  a  few  facts 
which  may  satisfy  the  candid  and  considerate  that  no  such 
great  blame  is  imputable  to  them.  The  demolition  of  the 
monasteries,  with  their  dependencies,  will  be  found  to  comprcf- 
hend  the  sum  of  what  they  can  be  justly  charged  with.  And 
yet  again  I  would  ask  those  who  are  most  disposed  to  blame 
them  for  this,  What  purpose  could  the  allovring  of  these  build- 
ings to  stand  have  served,  if  not  to  cherish  the  hopes  and  ex- 
cite the  desires  of  the  Catholics,  to  regain  possession  of  them  1 
To  what  use  could  the  reformers  possibly  have  converted 
theml     Is  it  to  be  supposed  that  they  could  form  the  idea  of 


16i 


NOTES. 


preserving  them  for  tlic  gratification  of  a  race  of  antiquaries, 
who  were  to  rise  up  in  the  eighteenth  and  nineteen  tli  centuries  1 
Have  these  gentlemen,  with  all  their  zeal,  ever  testified  tlieir  re- 
gard for  these  sacred  monuments,  by  associations  and  subscri}> 
tions  to  preserve  the  mouldering  remains  from  going  to  tlieir 
original  dust  ]  The  reformed  ministers  had  enough  to  do,  in 
exciting  the  nobility  and  gentry  to  keep  the  parish  churches 
in  decent  repair,  without  undertaking  the  additional  task  of 
supporting  huge  and  useless  fabrics.  But  enough  of  this. — 
Let  not  any  distress  themselves  by  supposing  that  the  costly 
furniture  of  the  monasteries  and  churches  was  all  consumed 
by  the  flames.  Fanatical  as  the  reformers  were,  they  "  reser- 
vit  the  best  part  thairof  mibumt,"  and  converted  it  into  money, 
some  of  which  went  into  the  public  purse,  but  the  greater  part 
into  the  private  pockets  of  the  nobles.  Winzet,  apud  Keith, 
Append.  245.  The  idols  and  images  were  mdeed  commit- 
ted to  the  flames  vnthout  mercy  ;  but  considering  the  example 
that  their  adversaries  had  set  them  of  consigning  the  living 
images  of  God  to  this  fate,  the  retaHation  was  certainly  mode- 
rate ;  and  that  these  were  tlie  only  sacrifices  which  they  ofier- 
ed  up,  we  have  the  testimony  of  a  popish  writer.  Lesteus, 
de  reb.  gest.  Scotorum,  lib.  x.  p.  537.  edit.  1675. 

The  act  of  privy  council  for  demolishing  idolatrous  houses 
did  not  extend  to  cathedrals  or  to  parish  churches.  Spottis- 
wood,  p.  174.  175.  In  the  first  Book  of  Discipline,  indeed, 
cathedral-churches,  if  not  used  as  parish-churches,  are  men- 
tioned among  the  places  to  be  suppresseil ;  but  so  far  was  this 
case  from  occurring,  that  it  was  found  necessary  to  employ 
many  of  the  chapels  attached  to  monasteries,  and  collegiate 
churches,  as  places  for  the  protestant  worship.  That,  in  the 
first  effervescence  of  popular  zeal,  some  of  the  cathedrals  and 
other  churches  should  have  suffered,  is  not  much  to  be  wonder- 
ed at.  "  What  you  speak  of  Mr.  Knox  preaching  for  the  pul- 
ling down  of  churches  (says  Mr.  Baillie  in  his  answer  to  bish- 
op Maxwell)  is  hke  the  rest  of  your  lies. — I  have  not  heard 
that  in  all  our  land  above  three  or  foure  churches  were  cast 
down."  Historical  Vindication  of  the  Government  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland,  p.  40.  Lond.  1646.  Mr.  Baillie  had 
the  historical  collections  of  Calderwood  in  his  possession  when 
he  composed  that  work.  This  statement  is  confirmed  by  the 
testimony  of  Cecil  in  the  letter  quoted  above,  (p.  424.)  The 
churches  were  merely  to  be  stripped  of  monuments  of  idola- 
try and  instruments  of  superstition ;  and  in  canying  this  into 
effect,  great  care  was  ordered  to  be  taken  that  the  buildings 
should  not  be  injured.  Lord  James  (afterwards  Earl  of  Mur- 
ray) was  the  person  to  whom  the  execution  of  the  act  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  kingdom  was  committed  ;  and  we  have 
an  authentic  document  of  the  manner  in  which  he  proceeded, 
in  an  order  issued  by  him,  and  written  with  his  own  hand,  for 
purging  the  cathedral  church  of  Dimkeld.  The  following  is 
an  exact  copy  of  that  order. 

"  To  our  Traist  friendis,  the  Lairds  of  Amtilly  and  Kinvaid. 

"  Traist  friendis,  after  raaist  harty  commendacion,  we  pray 
«  yow  faill  not  to  pass  incontinent  to  the  kyrk  of  Dunkeld,  and 
"  tak  doun  the  haill  images  thereof,  and  bring  furth  to  the  kyrk- 
"  zayrd,  and  bum  thaym  oppinly.     And  siclyk  cast  down  the 
"altaris,  and  purge  the  kyrk  of  allkynd  of  monuments  ofidola- 
'■  trye.     And  this  ze  faill  not  to  do,  as  ze  wiQ  do  us  singular 
"  empleseur ;  and  so  committis  you  to  the  protection  of  God. 
"From  Edinburgh,  the  xii.  of  August,  1560. 
"Faill   not,  hot  ze   tak   guid  heyd     (Signed) 
"that  neither  the  dasks,  windocks,         "Ar.  EacxLi. 
"nor  durris,  be  ony  ways  hurt 
«  or  broken eyther  "  Jaxks  Stewaht. 


«  glassin  wark  or  iron  wark. 


«  RcTHTIJr."* 


We  may  take  it  for  granted  that  the  same  caution  was  used 
in  the  rest  of  the  commissions.  If  it  be  asked,  how  it  hap- 
pened ihat  die  cathedrals,  and  many  other  churches,  fell  into 
such  a  ruined  state,  the  following  quotations  may  serve  for  an 
answer.  They  are  taken  from  a  scarce  work  written  by  Rob- 
ert Pont,  Commissioner  of  Murray,  and  one  of  the  I^ords  of 
Session.  "  Yet,  a  great  many,  not  onely  of  the  raskall  sorte, 
but  sundry  men  of  name  and  worldly  reputation,  joyncd  them- 
Belves  with  the  congregation  of  the  reformers,  not  so  much  for 
zeale  of  religion,  as  to  reape  some  earthly  commoditie,  and  to 
be  enriched  by  spoyle  of  the  kirkes  and  abbey  places.  And 
when  the  preachers  told  them  that  such  places  of  idolatrie 
should  be  pulled  downe,  they  accepted  gladly  the  enterprise ; 
and  rudely  passing  to  worke,  pulled  down  all,  both  idoles  and 

*  BtatUtical  Accenot  of  Scotland,  vol.  zx.  p.  423. 


places  where  they  were  found.  Not  making  difference  be- 
tweene  these  places  of  idolatrie,  and  many  parish  kirks,  where 
God's  word  shuld  have  bin  preached  in  many  parts  where  they 
resorted,  as  in  such  tumultcs  and  suddainties  useth  to  come  to 
passe ;  namelye,  among  such  a  nation  as  we  are. — 

"  Another  thing  fell  out  at  that  time,  which  may  be  excused 
by  reason  of  necessitie  ;  when  as  tlie  lordcs,  and  some  of  the 
nobilitie,  principall  enterprysers  of  the  reformation,  ha\Tng  to 
do  with  the  Frenchmen,  and  many  their  assisters  of  our  owne 
nation  enemies  to  these  proceedings,  were  forced,  not  onely  to 
ingage  their  owne  landes,  and  bestowe  whatsoever  they  were 
able  to  fumishe  of  their  owne  patrimonie,  for  maintenance  of 
men  of  warre,  and  other  charges,  but  also  to  take  the  lead  and 
belles,  with  other  jcwelles  and  ornaments  of  kirkes,  abbayc s, 
and  other  places  of  superstition,  to  employ  the  same,  and  the 
parises  thereof,  to  resist  the  enemies.  The  most  parte  of  the 
realme  beand  in  their  contrarie.  This  I  say,  cannot  be  alto- 
getlier  blamed."  Against  Sacrilege,  Three  sermons  jireached  3 
by  Maisier  Robert  Pont,  an  aged  Pustmr  in  the  Kirk  of  1 
God.     B.6,  7.  Edinburgh,  1599.     Comp.  Keith,  p.  468.  ^ 

But  what  shall  we  say  of  the  immense  loss  which  literature 
sustained  on  that  occasion  1  "  Bibliothecks  destroied,  the 
volumes  of  the  fathers,  councells,  and  other  books  of  humane 
learning,  with  the  registers  of  the  church,  cast  into  the  streets, 
afterwards  gathered  in  heapes,  and  consumed  with  fire." 
Spottiswood's  MS.  apud  Keith,  Historic,  p.  5C8.  Does  not 
such  conduct  equal  the  fanaticism  of  the  Mahometan  chieftain 
who  deprived  the  world  of  the  invaluable  Alexandrine  library  ■?- 
As  every  one  is  apt  to  deplore  the  loss  of  that  commodity  up- 
on which  he  sets  the  greatest  value,  I  might  feel  more  inclined 
to  join  in  this  lamentation,  were  I  not  fully  convinced  that  the 
real  loss  was  extremely  trifling,  and  that  it  has  been  compen- 
sated ten  thousand  fold.  Where,  and  of  what  kind  were  these 
bibliothecks?  Omn£  ignotttm  magnifctim.  The  public  was 
long  amused  with  the  tale  of  a  classic  hbrary  at  lona,  which 
promised  a  complete  copy  of  Li\-y's  works,  not  to  be  found  in 
all  the  world  beside;  a  miracle  which  Mr.  Gibbon,  in  the 
abundance  of  his  literary  faith,  seems  to  have  been  incUned 
to  admit.  Danes,  and  Reformers,  and  Republicans,  were  suc- 
cessively anathematized,  and  consigned  to  the  shades  of  bar- 
barism, for  the  destruction  of  what  (for  aught  that  appears) 
seems  to  have  existed  only  in  the  brains  of  antiquarians.  It 
has  been  common  to  say,  that  all  the  learning  of  the  times  was 
confined  to  monasteries.  This  was  true  at  a  certain  period  ; 
but  it  had  ceased  to  be  the  fact  in  the  age  in  which  the  Refor- 
mation took  place.  Low  as  literature  was  in  Scotland  at  the 
beginning  of  the  16th  century,  for  the  credit  of  my  country  I 
trust,  that  it  was  not  in  so  poor  a  state  in  the  universities  as  it 
was  in  the  monast«ries.  Take  the  account  of  one  who  has 
bestowed  much  attention  on  the  monastic  antiquities  of  Scot- 
land. "Monkish  ambition  terminated  in  acquiring  skill  in 
scholastic  disputation.  If  any  tiling  besides  simple  theology 
was  read "  [I  greatly  doubt  if  there  is  any  good  evidence  of 
this  being  a  practice  at  the  period  of  which  I  speak]  "  it  might 
consist  of  the  legends  of  saints,  who  were  pictured  converting 
infidels,  interceding  for  offenders,  and  over-reaching  fiends ;  or 
of  romances,  recording  the  valour  of  some  hardy  adventurer, 
continually  occupied  in  wars  with  Pagans,  or  in  vanquishing 
gfiants,  foiling  necromancers,  and  combating  dragons.  Some 
were  chroniclers  ;  and  books  of  the  laws  might  be  transcribed 
or  deposited  with  monks.  Some  might  be  conversant  in  me- 
dicine and  the  occult  sciences."  Dalyell's  Cursory  Remarks, 
prefixed  to  Scottish  Poems,  L  17, 18. 

But  we  are  not  left  to  conjecture,  or  to  general  inferences, 
concerning  the  state  of  the  monastic  libraries.  We  have  the 
catalogues  of  two  libraries,  the  one  of  a  monastery,  the  other 
of  a  collegiate  church ;  which  may  be  deemed  fair  specimens 
of  the  condition  of  the  remainder  in  tlie  respective  ages  to 
which  they  belonged.  Tlie  former  is  the  catalogue  of  the  li- 
brary of  the  Culdean  monastery  at  Lochlevin  in  the  12th  cen- 
tury. It  consisted  of  seventeai  books,  all  of  them  neceswuily 
in  manuscript  Among  these  were  a  pastorale,  graduale,  and 
missale,  books  common  to  all  monasteries,  and  without  which 
tlieir  religious  services  could  not  be  performed  ;  the  Text  of 
the  Gospels,  and  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles ;  an  Exposition  of 
Genesis ;  a  Collection  of  Sentences  ;  and  an  Interpretation  of 
Sayings.  The  rest  seem  to  have  consisted  of  some  of  the 
writings  of  Prosper,  and  perhaps  of  Origen  and  Jeroni.  Ja- 
mieson's  Historical  Account  of  the  ancient  Culdees,  p.  376 — 8. 
It  may  be  granted  that  this  collection  of  books  was  by  no 
means  despicable  in  that  age  ;  but  certainly  it  contained  noth- 
ing, the  loss  of  which  has  been  injurious  to  literature,     I  have 


NOTES. 


165 


no  doubt  that,  if  a  copy  of  the  Gospels,  with  the  Lochlevin 
seal  or  superscription,  (whether  authentic  or  fictitious)  were 
to  occur,  with  antiquarians  it  would  give  as  high  a  price  as  a 
Polyglot ;  but  there  can  be  as  Uttle  question  that  one  copy  of  the 
Greek  Testament  is  of  more  real  value.  From  the  1 2th  to  the  1 6th 
century,  the  monastic  libraries  did  not  unprove.  The  catalogue 
of  the  library  at  Stirling  exhibits  the  true  state  of  learning  at 
the  begirming  of  the  last  mentioned  period.  It  contained,  in- 
deed, a  copy  of  the  gospels  and  epistles  in  manuscript,  most 
probably  in  Latin ;  the  remainder  of  its  contents  was  purely 
monkish.  There  were  four  missals,  two  psalters,  four  anti- 
phonies,  three  breviaries,  two  legends,  four  graduak,  and  ten 
processionals.  Dalyell's  Fragments  of  Scottish  History,  p.  77. 
I  have  occasionally  met,  in  the  course  of  my  reading,  with 
notices  of  volumes  of  the  Fathers  being  in  the  possession  of 
the  Scottish  monasteries,  but  nothing  from  which  I  could  con- 
clude that  they  had  complete  copies  of  any  of  their  writings. 
The  Abbot  of  Crossraguell,  indeed,  speaks  of  his  being  in 
possession  of  a  large  stock  of  this  kind,  (Keith,  Append.  193.) 
which  some  writers  have  been  pleased  to  calculate  at "  a  cart- 
load." It  does  not  appear  however  that  they  belonged  to  the 
monastery  over  which  he  presided.  But  whatever  books  of 
this  kind  were  to  be  foxmd  in  them  the  reformers  would  be 
anxious  to  preserve,  not  to  destroy.  The  c/iartularies  were 
the  most  valuable  writings  deposited  in  monasteries ;  and  many 
of  these  have  been  transmitted  to  us.  The  reformers  were 
not  disposed  to  consume  these  records,  and  we  find  them  mak- 
ing use  of  them  in  their  writings.  Knox,  Historic,  p.  1,  2,  3. 
The  mass-books  were  the  most  likely  objects  of  their  ven- 
geance, and  I  have  httle  doubt  that  a  number  of  them  were 
committed  to  the  flames,  in  testimony  of  their  abhorrence  of 
the  popish  worship.  Yet  they  were  careful  to  preserve  copies 
of  them,  which  they  produced  in  their  disputes  with  the  Ro- 
man Catholics.     Ibid.  p.  261. 

But  whatever  literary  ravages  were  committed,  let  them  not 
be  imputed  exclusively  to  the  tumultuary  reformation  of  Scot- 
land, to  the  fanaticism  of  our  reformers,  or  the  barbarous  igno- 
rance of  our  nobles.  In  England,  the  same  proceedings  took 
place  to  a  far  greater  extent,  and  the  loss  must  have  been  far 
greater.  "  Another  misfortune  (says  Colher)  consequent  up- 
on the  suppression  of  the  abbeys  was  an  ignorant  destruction 
of  a  great  many  valuable  books. — The  books,  instead  of  being 
removed  to  royal  hbraries,to  those  of  cathedrals,  or  tlie  universi- 
ties, were  frequently  thrown  in  to  the  grantees,  as  things  of 
slender  consideration.  Their  avarice  was  sometimes  so  mean, 
and  their  ignorance  so  undistinguishing,  that  when  the  covers 
were  somewhat  rich,  and  would  yield  a  little,  they  pulled  them 
off,  threw  away  the  books,  or  turned  them  to  waste  paper." — 
"  A  number  of  them  which  purchased  these  superstitious  man- 
sions (says  bishop  Bale)  reserved  of  those  library  books,  some 
to  serve  their  jakes,  some  to  scour  their  candlesticks,  and  some 
to  rub  their  boots,  and  some  they  sold  to  the  grocers  and  soap- 
sellers,  and  some  they  sent  over  the  sea  to  bookbinders,  not  in 
small  numbers,  but  at  times  whole  ships  full.  Yea,  the  mii- 
versities  are  not  clear  in  this  detestable  fact ;  but  cursed  is  the 
belly  which  seekcth  to  be  fed  with  so  ungodly  gains,  and  so 
deeply  shameth  his  native  country.  I  know  a  merchant  man 
(which  shall  at  this  time  be  nameless)  that  bought  the  contents 
of  two  noble  libraries  for  forty  shillings  price ;  a  shame  it  is  to 
be  spoken.  This  stuff  hath  he  occupied  instead  of  gray  paper 
by  die  space  of  more  than  these  ten  years,  and  yet  hath  he 
store  enauglifor  as  many  years  to  come"  Bale's  Declaration, 
&c.  apud  CoUier's  Eccles.  Hist.  ii.  166. 

Note  XXXIV.  p.  77. 

Aversion  of  Queen  Elizabeth  to  the  Scottish  war.- — The 
personal  aversion  of  Elizabeth  to  engage  in  the  war  of  the 
Scottish  Reformation  has  not,  as  far  as  I  have  observed,  been 
noticed  by  any  of  our  historians.  It  is,  however,  a  fact  well 
authenticated  from  state  papers,  whether  it  arose  from  extreme 
caution  at  the  commencement  of  her  reign,  from  her  known 
parsimony,  or  from  her  high  notions  respecting  royal  preroga- 
tive. Cecil  mentions  it  repeatedly  in  his  correspondence  with 
Throkmorton.  "  God  trieth  us  (says  he)  with  many  difficul- 
ties. The  Queen's  majestic  never  liketh  this  matter  of  Scot- 
land ;  you  knowe  what  hangeth  thereuppon :  weak-hearted  men 
and  flatterers  will  follow  that  way. — I  have  had  such  a  tor- 
ment lierin  with  the  queen's  majestic,  as  an  ague  hath  not  in 
five  fitts  so  much  abated.  Forbes,  i.  454,  455.  In  smother 
letter  he  says ;  "  What  will  follow  of  my  going  towardes  Scot- 
lande,  I  know  not;  but  I  feare  tlie  success,  quia,  the  queen's 


majestic  is  so  evil  disposed  to  the  matter,  which  troubleth  us 


formal  petition  to  her,  that  she  gave  her  consent.  Ibid.  390. 
Even  after  she  had  agreed  to  hostilities,  she  began  to  waver, 
and  listened  to  the  artful  proposals  of  the  French  court,  who 
endeavoured  to  amuse  her  until  such  time  as  they  were  able 
to  convey  more  effectual  aid  to  the  queen  regent  of  Scotland. 
Killigrew,  in  a  letter  to  Throkmorton,  after  mentioning  the  re- 
pulse of  the  EngUsh  army  in  an  assault  on  the  fortifications  of 
Leith,  says :  "  This,  together  with  the  bischope's  [of  Valence] 
relation  unto  the  queen's  majestic,  caused  her  to  renew  the 
opinion  of  Cassandra."  Ibid.  456.  This  was  the  principal 
cause  of  the  suspension  of  hostilities,  and  tlie  premature  at- 
tempt to  negociate,  in  April  1560,  which  so  justly  alarmed  the 
lords  of  the  Congregation ;  an  occurrence  not  adverted  to  in 
our  coimnon  histories.  Sadler,  State  Papers,  i.  719,  721. 
The  Scotch  protestants  were  much  indebted  to  Cecil  and 
Throkmorton,  for  the  assistance  wliich  they  obtained  from 
England.  A  number  of  the  counsellors,  who  had  been  in  tlie 
cabinet  of  queen  Mary,  did  all  in  their  power  to  foster  the 
disinclination  of  Elizabeth.  Lord  Grey  in  one  of  his  des- 
patches, complains  of  tlie  influence  of  these  ministers,  whom 
he  calls  Phillipians,  from  their  attachment  to  the  interest  of 
the  king  of  Spain.     Haynes,  p.  295. 

Note  XXXV.  p.  78. 

Loyalty  of  the  Scottish  Protestants. — The  hostile  advance 
of  the  Regent  against  Perth  first  drove  the  lords  of  the  Con- 
gregation to  take  arms  in  their  own  defence.  Her  reiterated 
infraction  of  treaties,  and  the  gradual  developement  of  her 
designs,  by  the  introduction  of  French  troops  into  the  king- 
dom rendered  the  prospect  of  an  amicable  and  permanent  ad- 
justment of  differences  very  improbable,  and  dictated  the  pro- 
priety of  strengthening  their  confederation,  that  they  might  be 
prepared  for  a  sudden  and  more  formidable  attack.  These 
considerations  are  sufficient  to  justify  the  posture  of  defence 
in  which  they  kept  themselves  during  the  summer  of  1559, 
and  the  steps  which  they  took  to  secure  assistance  from  Eng- 
land. If  their  exact  situation  is  not  kept  in  view,  an  accurate 
judgment  of  their  conduct  cannot  be  formed,  and  their  partial 
and  temporary  resistance  to  the  measures  of  the  Regent  will 
be  represented  as  an  avowed  rebellion  against  her  authority. 
But  whatever  be  the  modem  ideas  on  this  subject,  they  did 
not  consider  the  former  as  necessarily  implying  the  latter,  and 
they  continued  to  profess  not  only  their  allegiance  to  their 
sovereign,  but  also  dieir  readiness  to  obey  the  queen  regent  in 
every  thing  not  inconsistent  with  their  security,  and  the  liber- 
ties of  the  naticn ;  nay,  they  actually  yielded  obedience  to 
her,  by  paying  taxes  to  the  officers  whom  she  appointed  to  re- 
cei'C  them.  Knox,  p.  176.  Private  and  confidential  letters 
are  justly  considered  as  the  most  satisfactory  evidence  as  to 
the  intentions  of  men.  Our  Reformer,  in  a  letter  written  to 
Mrs.  Locke,  on  the  25th  of  June  1559,  says ;  "  The  queen  is 
retired  unto  Dunbar.  The  fine  [end]  is  known  unto  God.  We 
mean  no  tumult,  no  alteration  of  authority,  but  only  the  re- 
formation of  reUgion,  and  suppressing  of  idolatry."  Cald. 
MS.  i.  429.  At  an  early  period,  indeed,  she  accused  them  of 
a  design  to  throw  ofi"  their  allegiance.  When  the  Prior  of 
St  Andrews  joined  their  party,  she  industriously  circulated 
the  report  that  he  ambitiously  aimed  at  the  sovereignty,  and 
that  they  intended  to  confer  it  upon  him.  Knox,  149.  Forbes, 
i.  180,  It  was  one  of  the  special  instructions  given  to  Sir 
Ralph  Sadler,  when  he  was  sent  down  to  Berwick,  that  he 
should  "  explore  the  very  trueth"  as  to  this  report.  Sadler,  i. 
731.  In  all  his  confidential  correspondence  with  his  court, 
there  is  not  the  slightest  insinuation  that  Sadler  had  discovered 
any  evidence  to  induce  him  to  credit  that  charge.  This  is  a 
strong  proof  of  the  Prior's  innocence,  if  it  be  taken  in  connec- 
tion with  what  I  shall  immediately  state  ;  not  to  mention  the 
testimony  of  Melvil.     Memoirs,  p.  27. 

When  the  Earl  of  Arran  joined  the  Congregation,  the 
Queen  Regent  circulated  the  same  report  respecting  him. 
Knox,  p.  1 74,  As  far  as  the  Congregation  were  concerned, 
this  accusation  was  equally  unfounded  as  the  former.  Ibid.  p. 
176.  But  there  are  some  circumstances  coimected  with  it 
which  deserve  attention,  as  they  set  the  loyalty  of  the  Scottish 
protestants  in  a  very  clear  light.  The  earl  of  Arran,  and  not 
the  prior  of  St.  Andrews,  was  the  favourite  of  the  English 
court.  Messengers  were  appointed  by  Uiem  to  bring  him  over 
from  the  continent,  and  he  was  conducted  through  England 
into  Scotland,  to  be  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Congregation. 


166 


NOTES. 


Forbes,  i.  164,  166, 171,  216.  Sadler,  i,  417,  421,  437,  439. 
There  is  also  good  evidence  that  the  ministers  of  Elizabeth 
wished  him  to  be  raised  to  the  throne  of  Scotland,  if  not  also 
that  they  had  projected  the  uniting  of  the  two  cro-wns  by  a 
marriage  between  him  and  Elizabeth.  "  The  way  to  perfeit 
this  assuredly  (says  Throkmorton  to  Cecil)  is,  that  the  erle  of 
Arrainc  do  as  Edward  the  IV.  did,  when  he  landed  at  Ravens- 
purg  :  (he  pretended  to  the  dutchy  of  York  ;  and  having  that, 
he  would  not  leaA'e  till  he  had  the  diademe)  for  then  of  ne- 
cessitie  th'  erle  of  Arran  must  depend  upon  the  devotion  of 
England,  to  maintein  and  defend  himself.  I  fcare  all  other 
devises  and  handeUngs  will  prove  like  an  apotecary  his  shop ; 
and  therefore  I  leave  to  your  discretion  to  provjde  by  all 
meanes  for  this  matter,  lioth  there  and  in  Scotland."  And 
again  :  "  Methinks,  the  lord  of  Grange,  Ledington,  Balnaves, 
and  the  chief  doers  of  tlie  Congregation  (which  I  wold  wish 
specially  to  be  done  and  procured  by  the  prior  of  St  An- 
drewes)  should  be  persuaded  to  set  forward  these  purposes 
before :  for  there  is  no  way  for  them  to  have  any  safety  or 
surety,  onelcs  thei  make  the  earl  of  Arran  king ;  and  as  it  is 
their  surety,  so  it  is  also  ours.  In  this  matter  there  must  be 
used  both  wisdome,  courage,  and  spede."  Forbes,  i.  435,  436. 
Throkmorton,  it  is  to  be  observed,  was  at  tliis  time  the  most 
confidential  friend  of  Cecil,  and,  in  his  despatches  from 
France,  pressed  the  adoption  of  those  measures  which  the 
secretary  had  recommended  to  the  Queen  and  council.  Had 
not  the  Congregation  been  decidedly  averse  to  any  change  of 
the  government  which  would  have  set  aside  their  queen,  it 
seems  highly  probable  that  this  plan  would  have  been  carried 
into  execution.  The  report  of  an  intended  marriage  between 
Elizabeth  and  Arran  was  general  at  that  time ;  and  whatever 
were  the  Queen's  own  intentions,  it  seems  to  have  been  seri- 
ously contemplated  by  her  ministers.  Ibid.  214,  215,  282, 
238.  Tliis  accounts  for  the  recommendation  of  this  measure 
by  the  Scottish  Estates,  after  the  conclusion  of  the  civil  war. 
Keith,  154. 

Note  XXXVI.  p.  80. 

Authorities  for  the  statement  of  Knooc's  political  princi- 
ples.— The  following  extracts  from  Knox's  writings  relate  to 
the  principal  points  touched  in  the  statement  of  his  political 
sentiments.  "  In  few  wordis  to  speik  my  conscience ;  the 
regiment  of  princes  is  this  day  cum  to  that  heap  of  iniquitie, 
that  no  godlie  man  can  bruke  office  or  autoritie  under  thame, 
but  in  so  doing  hie  salbe  compellit  not  onlie  aganis  equitie  and 
justice  to  oppress  the  pure,  but  also  expressedlie  to  fycht 
aganis  God  and  his  ordinance,  either  in  maintenance  of  idolatrie, 
or  elUs  in  persecuting  Godis  chosin  childrene.  And  what 
must  follow  heirof,  but  that  ether  princeis  be  reformit  and  be 
compellit  also  to  reform  their  wickit  laws,  or  els  all  gud  men 
depart  fra  thair  service  and  companie?"  Additions  to  the 
Apology  of  the  Parisian  Protestants,  apud  MS.  Letters,  p. 
477.  Dr.  Robertson  has  ascribed  to  Knox  and  Buchanan  an 
"  excessive  admiration  of  ancient  pohcy  ;"  and  he  says,  their 
"  principles,  authorities,  and  examples  were  all  drawn  from 
ancient  writers,"  and  their  political  system  founded  "  not  on 
the  maxims  of  feudal,  hut  of  ancient  repubhcan  government." 
History  of  Scotland,  vol.  i.  b.  ii.  p.  391.  Lond.  1809.  These 
assertions  need  some  qualification.  If  republican  govern- 
ment he  opp)osed  to  absolute  monarchy,  the  principles  of  Knox 
and  Buchanan  may  be  denominated  republican;  but  if  the 
term  (as  now  commonly  understood)  be  used  in  contradis- 
tinction to  monarchy  itself,  it  cannot  be  shewn  that  they  ad- 
mired or  recommended  republicanism.  They  were  tlie  friends 
of  limited  monarchy.  It  is  the  excellence  of  the  government 
of  Britain,  that  the  feudal  maxims  which  once  prtxlominated 
in  it  have  been  corrected,  or  their  influence  counteracted,  by 
others  borrowed  from  republican  constitutions.  And  it  is  not 
a  little  to  the  credit  of  the  moderation  and  good  sense  of  these 
writ.;rs,  that,  notvsdthstanding  all  their  admiration  of  ancient 
models  of  legislation,  in  comparison  with  the  existing 
feudal  monuments,  they  contented  themselves  with  recom- 
mending such  principles  as  were  requisite  for  restraining  the 
arbitrary  power  of  kings,  and  securing  the  rights  of  the  peo- 
ple. Nor  were  cdl  their  authorities  and  examples  drawn  from 
ancient  writers,  as  may  be  seen  in  Buchanan's  Dialogue,  De 
jure  regni  apud  Scoios. 

In  a  letter  written  by  him  to  the  Queen  Dowager,  a  few 
day!^  after  her  suspension  from  the  regency,  Knox  says  ;  "  My 
tiung  did  hothe  jXTswade  and  obtein,  that  your  authoritie  and 
regiment  suld  l>e  obeyed  of  us  in  all  things  lawful!,  till  ye  de- 


clair  yourself  opin  enemie  to  this  comoun  welthe ;  as  now, 
allace!  ye  have  done."  Historic,  p.  180.  This  declaration 
is  justified  by  the  letters  which  he  \vrote  to  his  brethren  before 
his  arrival  in  Scotland.  The  following  extract  from  a  letter 
addressed  to  the  protestant  nobility,  December  17,  1557,  is  a 
specimen.  "  But  now  no  farder  to  trubill  you  at  the  present, 
I  will  onlie  advertis  you  of  sic  brut  as  I  heir  in  thir  partis  un- 
certanlie  noysit,  whiUc  is  this,  that  contradictioun  and  rebel- 
Uoun  is  maid  to  the  autoritie  be  sum  in  that  realme.  In  whilk 
poynt  my  conscience  will  not  suffer  me  to  keip  back  from  you 
my  consall,  ye,  my  judgment  and  commandement,  whilk  I 
communicat  with  yow  in  Godis  feir,  and  by  the  assurance  of 
his  trueth,  whilk  is  this,  that  nane  of  you  that  seik  to  promot 
the  glorie  of  Chryst  do  suddanUe  disobey  or  displeas  the  estab- 
lissit  autoritie  in  things  lawful,  neither  yit  that  ye  assist  or  for- 
tifie  such  as,  for  thair  awn  particular  cans  and  warldlie  pro- 
motioun,  wald  trubill  the  same.  But,  in  the  bowalhs  of  Chryst 
Jesus,  I  exhort  yow,  that  with  all  simplicitie  and  lawfull  obe- 
dience, with  boldness  in  God,  and  with  opin  confessioun  of 
your  faith,  ye  seek  the  favour  of  the  autoritie,  that  by  it  (yf 
possible  be)  the  caus  in  whilk  ye  labour  may  be  promotit,  or, 
at  the  leist,  not  persecutit :  Whilk  thing,  efter  all  humill  re- 
quist,  yf  ye  can  not  atteane,  then  with  oppin  and  solemp  pro- 
testation of  your  obedience  to  be  given  to  the  autoritie  in 
all  thingis  not  plaineUe  repugnyng  to  God,  ye  lawfullie  may 
attemp  the  extreamitie,  wliilk  is,  to  provyd  (whidder  the  auto- 
ritie will  consent  or  no)  that  Chrystis  evangell  may  be  tiewlie 
preachit,  and  his  halie  saeramentis  rychtlie  ministerit  unto  yow 
and  to  your  brethren,  the  subjectis  of  that  realme.  And  farder 
ye  lawfully  may,  ye,  and  thairto  is  boimd,  to  defend  your 
brethrene  frome  persecutioun  and  tiranny,  be  it  aganis  princes 
or  emprioris,  to  the  uttermost  of  your  power ;  provyding  alwayis 
(as  I  have  said)  that  nether  your  self  deny  lawfull  obedience, 
nether  yit  that  ye  assist  nor  promot  tliois  that  seik  autoritie 
and  pre-eminence  of  warldlie  glorie."  MS.  Letters,  p.  434, 
435. 

In  a  conversation  with  queen  Mary  at  Lochlevin,  we  find 
him  inculcating  the  doctrine  of  a  mutual  compact  between 
rulers  and  subjects.  "  It  sail  be  profitabill  to  your  majesty  to 
consider  quhat  is  the  thing  your  grace's  subjects  luiks  to  rc- 
«eave  of  your  majesty,  and  quhat  it  is  that  ye  aucht  to  do  im- 
to  thame  by  mutual  contract.  They  ai-  bound  to  obey  you, 
and  that  not  bot  in  God ;  ye  are  bound  to  keip  lawes  unto 
thame.  Ye  crave  of  thame  service ;  they  crave  of  you  pro- 
tectioun  and  defence  against  wicked  doars.  Now,  madam,  if 
you  sail  deny  your  dewty  imto  thame  (qukilk  especialy  craves 
that  ye  punish  malefactors)  think  ye  to  receave  full  obedience 
of  thame  1"  Historic,  p.  327.  This  sentiment  was  adopted 
by  his  countrymen.  The  committee  appointed  by  the  regent 
Murray,  to  prepare  overtures  for  the  parUament  which  met  in 
December  1567,  (of  which  committee  our  Reformer  was  a 
member)  agreed  to  this  proposition ;  "  The  band  and  contract 
to  be  mutuale  and  reciprous  in  all  tymes  cuming  betwixt  the 
prince  and  God,  and  his  faithful  people,  according  to  the  word 
of  God."  Robertson's  Records  of  Parliament,  p.  796.  This 
was  also  one  of  the  articles  subscribed  at  the  General  Assem- 
bly in  July  preceding ;  and  the  language  of  this  is  still  more 
clear  and  express, — "  mutual  and  reciproque  in  all  tymes  com- 
ing betwixt  the  prince  and  God,  and  also  betwixt  the  prince 
and  faithful  people."  Bulk  of  the  Universall  Kirk,  p.  34. 
Advoc.  Lib.  Keith,  582.  See  also  the  proclamation  of  the 
king's  authority.  Anderson's  Collections,  vol.  ii.  p.  205. 
Keith,  441.  The  right  of  resistance  was  formally  recognised 
in  the  inscription  on  a  coin  stamped  soon  after  the  coronation 
of  James  VI.  On  one  of  the  sides  is  the  figure  of  a  sword 
witti  a  crown  upon  it,  and  the  words  of  Trajan  circumscribed, 
Pro  me ,-  si  mercor,  in  me  ,•  i.  e.  Use  this  sword  for  me  ;  if  1 
deserve  it,  against  me.  Cardonell's  Numismata  Scotiae,  }>late 
ix.  p.  101.  Our  Reformer's  Appellation  may  be  consulted  for 
the  proof  of  what  has  been  asserted,  (307,  308.)  as  to  his  en- 
deavours to  repress  aristocratical  tjrranny,  and  to  awaken  the 
mass  of  the  people  to  a  due  sense  of  their  rights.  See  also 
Historic,  p.  100.  The  effect  of  the  Reformation  in  extending 
popular  liberty  was  very  visible  in  the  parliament  which  met 
in  August  1560,  in  which  there  were  representatives  from  all 
the  boroughs,  and  a  hundred  lesser  barons,  "  with  mony 
otheris  baronis,  fre  halderis,  and  landit  men."  Keith  informs 
us  that,  during  a  space  of  no  less  than  seventy-seven  years 
preceding,  "  scarcely  had  one  of  the  inferior  gentry  appeared 
in  parliament.  And  therefore  (adds  he)  I  know  not  but  it 
may  be  deemed  somewhat  unusual,  for  a  hundred  of  them  to 
jump  all  at  once  into  the  parliament,  especially  in  such  a 


NOTES. 


167 


juncture  as  the  present  was.  History,  p.  147,  148.  The 
petition  presented  by  the  lesser  barons,  for  liberty  to  sit  and 
vote  in  the  parliament,  has  this  remarkable  clause  in  it ;  "  other- 
wise we  think  that  whatsomever  ordinances  and  statutes  be 
made  concerning  us  and  our  estate,  we  not  being  required  and 
suffered  to  reason  and  vote  at  the  making  thereof,  that  the 
same  should  not  obhge  us  to  stand  thereto."  Robertson's 
History  of  Scotland,  Append.  No.  4. 

Liberal  principles  respecting  civil  government  accompanied 
the  progress  of  the  Reformation.  Knox  had  the  concurrence 
of  English  bishops  in  his  doctrine  concerning  the  limited 
authority  of  kings,  and  the  lawfulness  of  resisting  them.  See 
above,  Note  BB.  and  vol.  ii.  Note  U.  He  had  the  express 
approbation  of  the  principal  divines  in  the  foreign  churches. 
Historic,  363,  3G6.  In  the  17th  century,  some  of  the  French 
reformed  divines,  in  tlu'ir  great  loyalty  to  the  Grand  Mon- 
arque,  disclauncd  our  Reformer's  political  sentiments,  and  re- 
presented them  as  proceeding  from  the  fervid  and  daring  spirit 
of  the  Scots  nation,  or  adapted  to  the  peculiar  constitution  of 
their  government.  Riveti  Castig.  m  Balzacum,  cap.  xiii.  §  14. 
apud  Opcr.  torn.  iii.  p.  539.  Rotterd.  1660.  See  also  quota- 
tions from  other  French  authors  in  Bayle,  Diet.  Art.  Knox, 
Note  E.  In  the  controversy  occasioned  by  the  execution  of 
Charles  I.  our  Reformer's  name  and  principles  were  introduc- 
ed. Milton  appealed  to  him,  and  quoted  his  writings,  in  de- 
fence of  that  deed.  One  of  Milton's  opponents  told  him  that 
he  could  protluce  in  his  support  only  a  single  Scot,  "  whom 
his  own  age  could  not  suffer,  and  whom  all  the  reformers, 
especially  the  French,  condemned  in  this  point."  Regii  San- 
guinis Clamor  ad  Coilum,  p.  129.  Hagae-Comit.  1652, 
written  by  Peter  du  Moulin,  the  son.  Milton,  in  his  Rejoinder, 
urges  with  truth,  that  Knox  had  asserted,  that  his  opinions 
were  approved  by  Calvin,  and  other  eminent  divines  of  the  re- 
formed churches.  Miltoni  Defensio  secunda  pro  Pop.  Anglic. 
p.  101.  Hagse-Comit.  1654.  See  also  Milton's  Prose  Works, 
by  Symmons,  vol.  ii.  p.  291—2,  307,  378.     Lond.  1806. 

But  long  before  the  controversy  respecting  the  execution  of 
Charles,  Milton  had  expressed  himself  in  terms  of  high  praise 
concerning  our  Reformer.  Arguing  against  the  abuses  com- 
mitted by  Licensers  of  the  press,  he  says :  "  Nay,  which  is 
more  lamentable,  if  the  work  of  any  deceased  author,  though 
never  so  famous  in  his  hfe-time  and  even  to  this  day,  come  to 
their  hands  for  license  to  be  printed  or  reprinted,  if  there  be 
found  in  his  book  one  sentence  of  a  venturous  edge,  uttered 
in  the  height  of  zeal,  (and  who  knows  whether  it  might  not 
be  the  dictate  of  a  divine  spirit  1)  Yet  not  suiting  with  every 
low  decrepit  humour  of  their  own,  though  it  were  Kxox  him- 
self, the  reformer  of  a  kingdom,  that  spake  it,  they  will  not 
pardon  him  their  dash  :  the  sense  of  that  great  man  shall  to 
all  posterity  be  lost  for  the  fearfulness,  or  the  presumptuous 
rashnesse  of  a  perfunctory  licenser.  And  to  what  an 
author  this  violence  hath  bin  lately  done,  and  in  what  book  of 
great  consequence  to  be  faithfully  publisht,  I  could  now  in- 
stance, but  shall  forbear  till  a  more  convenient  season."  Mil- 
ton's Prose  Works,  ut  supra,  vol.  i.  p.  311.  The  tract  from 
which  this  quotation  is  made  was  first  published  in  1644,  the 
year  in  which  David  Buchanan's  edition  of  Knox's  History 
appeared.  Milton  evidently  refers  to  that  work,  and  his  words 
seem  to  imply  that  an  attempt  had  recently  been  made  to  pre- 
vent its  pubUcation,  or  at  least  to  mutilate  and  deprave  it. 
But  from  the  incidental  and  cursory  manner  in  which  he 
touches  on  the  subject,  we  cannot  infer  with  any  certainty 
from  what  quarter  this  attempt  was  made. 

Note  XXXVII.  page  86. 

I  shall,  in  tlds  note,  add  some  particulars  respecting  the 
early  practice  of  the  reformed  church  of  Scotland,  under  the 
following  heads. 

Of  Doctors. — The  doctrine  of  the  church  of  Scotland,  and 
indeed  of  other  reformed  churches,  on  this  head,  has  not  been 
very  uniform  and  decided.  The  first  Book  of  Discipline 
does  not  mention  doctors,  but  it  seems  to  take  for  granted 
what  had  been  stated  respecting  the  officers  of  the  church  in 
the  Book  of  Common  order,  wliere  they  are  declared  to  be  "  a 
fourth  kind  of  ministers  left  to  the  church  of  Christ,"  although 
the  English  church  at  Geneva  could  not  attain  them.  Knox's 
Liturgy,  p.  14.  Dunlop's  Confessions,  ii.  409,  410.  In  the 
second  Book  of  Discipline  they  are  expressly  mentioned  as 
"  ane  of  the  twa  ordinar  and  perpetual  functions  that  travel 
in  the  word,"  and  "  different  from  the  pastor,  not  only  in 
name,  but  in  diversity  of  gifts."     The  doctor  is  to  "  assist  the 


pastor  in  the  government  of  the  kirk,  and  concur  with  the 
elders  his  brethren  in  all  assemblies,"  but  not  "  to  minister  the 
sacraments  or  celebrate  marriage."  Dunlop,  ii.  773,  774. 
The  Book  of  Common  Order  and  second  Book  of  Discipline 
agree  in  comprehending,  under  the  name  and  office  of  a  doc- 
tor, "  the  order  in  schooles,  colledges,  and  universities."  Ut 
supra.  The  fact  seems  to  be,  that  there  never  were  any  doc- 
tors in  the  church  of  Scotland,  except  the  teachers  of  divinity 
in  the  universities.  "  Quamvis  ecclesia  nostra  (says  Calder- 
wood)  post  primam  rcformationem  quatuor  agnoscat  minis- 
trorum  genera,  pastorum,  doctorum,  presbytorum,  et  diacon- 
OTum :  tamen  doctores  aUos  nondum  habuit  quam  schol- 
archas."  De  Regimine  Ecclesiae  Scoticanae  Brevis  Relutio, 
p.  1,  2.  Anno  1618.  Some  writers  have  asserted,  that  it 
was  as  doctors  tliat  both  Buchanan  and  Andrew  Melville  sat, 
and  sometimes  presided,  in  the  church  courts.  The  episco- 
palians having  objected,  that  the  church  of  Scotland  admitted 
persons  to  act  as  moderators  in  her  assembUes  who  were  in 
no  ecclesiastical  office,  and  having  instanced  in  the  two  per- 
sons  above  mentioned,  Mr.  Baillie  gives  this  answer :  "  Mr. 
Melvil  was  a  doctor  of  divinity,  and  so  long  as  episcopal  per- 
secution permitted,  did  sit  with  great  renowne  in  the  prime 
chair  we  had  of  that  faculty :  George  Buchanan  had  some- 
times, as  I  have  heard,  been  a  preacher  at  St.  Andrews ;  after 
his  long  travells  he  was  employed  by  our  church  and  state  to 
be  a  teacher  to  king  James  and  his  family :  of  his  faithfulnesse 
in  this  charge  he  left,  I  believe,  to  the  world  good  and  satis- 
factory tokens ;  the  eminency  of  tliis  person  was  so  great, 
that  no  society  of  men  need  be  ashamed  to  have  been  moder- 
ated by  his  wisdome."  Historical  Vindication,  p.  21,  22. 
The  report  that  Mr.  Baillie  had  heard  of  Buchanan  having 
been  a  preacher  probably  originated  from  the  divinity  lectures 
which  Calderwood  informs  us  he  read  with  great  applause  in 
the  university  of  St.  Andrews.  "  Buchanan,  and  Mr.  Mel- 
vin  were  doctors  in  divinity,"  says  Rutherfurd,  Lex  Rex,  pref. 
p.  5.  Lond.  1644. 

Of  Readers. — Those  employed  as  readers  appear  to  have 
often  transgressed  the  bounds  prescribed  to  them,  and  to  have 
both  solenmized  marriage,  and  administered  the  sacraments. 
Different  acts  of  Assembly  were  made  to  restrain  these  ex- 
cesses. The  General  Assembly,  October  1576,  prohibited  aU 
readers  from  ministering  "  the  holie  sacrament  of  the  Lord, 
except  such  as  hes  the  word  of  exhortation."  The  Assembly 
which  met  in  July  1579  inhibited  them  from  celebrating  mar- 
riage, unless  they  were  found  meet  by  "  the  commission,  or 
synodal  assembly."  At  length,  in  April  1581,  the  order  was 
suppressed.  "  Anent  readers :  Forsamekle  as  in  assemblies 
preceding,  the  office  thereof  was  concludit  to  be  no  ordinar 
office  in  the  kirk  of  God,  and  the  admission  of  them  suspendit 
to  the  present  assemblie ;  the  kirk  in  ane  voyce  hes  votit  and 
concludit  farder,  that  in  na  tymes  coming  any  reider  be  ad- 
mitted to  the  office  of  reider,  be  any  having  power  witliin  the 
kirk."     Buik  of  the  Universall  Kirk,  in  loc. 

Of  Superintendents. — The  church  of  Scotland  did  not  con- 
sider superintendents  as  ordinary  or  permanent  office-bearers 
in  the  chvu"ch.  They  are  not  mentioned  m  the  Book  of  Com- 
mon Order.  The  first  Book  of  Discipline  explicitly  declares, 
that  their  appointment  was  a  matter  of  tcmporarj'  expedience, 
for  the  plantation  of  the  church,  and  on  accmnt  of  the  pau- 
city of  ministers.  Its  words  are:  "  Because  ve  have  appointed 
a  larger  stipend  to  them  that  shall  be  superintendents  than  to 
the  rest  of  the  ministers,  we  have  thought  good  to  signifie  to 
your  honours  such  reasons  as  moved  us  to  make  difference  be- 
twixt teachers  at  this  time."  And  again :  "  We  consider 
that  if  the  ministers  whom  God  hath  endowed  with  his  sin- 
gular graces  amongst  us  should  be  appointed  to  several  places, 
there  to  make  their  continual  residence^  that  then  the  greatest 
part  of  the  realme  should  be  destitute  of  all  doctrine :  which 
should  not  oncly  be  the  occasion  of  great  murmur,  but  also  be 
dangerous  to  the  salvation  of  many.  And  therefore  we  have 
tliought  it  a  thing  most  expedient  at  this  time,  that  from  the 
whole  number  of  godly  and  learned  men,  now  presently  in  this 
realm,  be  selected  ten  or  twelve  (for  in  so  many  provmces  we 
have  divided  the  whole)  to  whom  charge  and  commandment 
should  be  given,  to  plant  and  erect  kirkcs,  to  set,  order,  and 
appoint  ministers,  as  the  former  order  prescribes,  to  the  coun- 
tries that  shall  be  appointed  to  their  care  where  none  are  now." 
First  and  Second  Books  of  Discipline,  p.  35.  printed  anno 
1621.  Dunlop's  Confessions,  ii.  538,  539.  Archbishop 
Spottiswood  has  not  acted  faithfully,  if  his  History  has  been 
printed,  in  tliis  place,  exactly  accorduig  to  his  manuscript.  He 
has  omitted  the  passages  above  quoted,  and  has  comprehended 


168 


NOTES. 


tlie  whole  of  the  two  paragraphs  from  which  they  are  extract- ! 
ed  m  a  short  sentence  of  his  own,  which  is  far  from  being  a  j 
full  expression  of  the  meaning  of  the  compilers.  History,  p. 
158.  Lond.  1677,  This  is  the  more  inexcusable  as  he  says,  that 
for  "  the  clearing  of  many  questions  which  were  afterwards  agi- 
tated in  the  church,"  he  "  thought  meet  word  hy  word  to  in- 
sert the  same  [the  First  Book  of  Discipline]  tliat  the  reader 
may  see  what  were  the  grounds  laid  down  at  first  for  the 
government  of  the  church."  Ibid.  p.  152,  He  could  not  be 
ignorant  that  the  grounds  of  the  appointment  of  superinten- 
dents formed  one  of  the  principal  questions  agitated  between 
him  and  his  anti-episcopal  opponents.  I  have  examined  the 
copy  of  the  First  Book  of  Discipline,  inserted  in  an  old  MS. 
copy  of  Knox's  Historic,  and  find  that  it  exactly  agrees  with 
tlie  quotations  wliich  I  have  made  from  tlie  editions  published 
in  1621,  and  by  Dunlop.  Dr.  Robertson  has  been  misled  by 
the  archbishop.  "  On  the  first  introduction  of  this  system, 
(says  he)  Knox  did  not  deem  it  expedient  to  depart 
altogether  from  the  ancient  form.  Instead  of  bishops,  he  pro- 
posed to  establish  ten  or  twelve  superintendents  in  different 
parts  of  the  kingdom."  As  his  authority  for  this  statement, 
he  refers  solely  to  the  mutilated  account  in  Spottiswood.  Hist, 
of  Scotland,  ii.  42,  43.  Limd,  1809.  Mr.  Laing,  from  an  ex- 
amination of  the  original  documents,  has  given  a  more  ac- 
curate account,  and  pronounced  the  appointment  of  superin- 
tendents a  "  temporary  expedient"  History  of  Scotland,  vol. 
iii,  p.  17,  18.    Lond.  1804. 

The  superintendents  were  elected  and  admitted  in  the  same 
manner  as  other  pastors.  Knox,  263.  They  were  equally 
subject  to  rebuke,  suspension,  and  deposition,  as  the  rest  of  the 
ministers  of  the  church.  In  the  exeimination  of  those  who 
were  admitted  by  them  to  the  ministry,  they  were  bound  to 
associate  with  them  the  ministers  of  the  neighbouring  parishes. 
They  could  not  exercise  any  spiritual  jurisdiction  without 
the  consent  of  the  provincial  synods,  over  which  they  had  no 
negative  voice.  I'hey  were  accountable  to  the  General  As- 
sembly for  the  whole  of  their  conduct  The  laborious  task 
imposed  upon  them  is  what  few  bishops  have  ever  submitted 
to.  "  They  must  be  preachers  themselves ;"  they  are  charged 
to  "  remain  in  no  place  above  twenty  dales  in  their  visitation, 
till  they  have  passed  through  their  whole  bounds."  They 
"  must  thrice  everie  week  preach  at  the  least"  When  they 
return  to  their  principal  town  of  residence,  "  they  must  like- 
wise be  exercised  in  preaching ;"  and  having  remained  in  it 
"  three  or  foure  monthes  at  most,  they  shall  be  compelled 
(unless  by  sicknesse  they  be  retained)  to  re-enter  in  visita- 
tion." Dunlop,  ii.  542.  De  Regimine  Eccles.  Scotican. 
Brevis  Relatio,  p.  5,  6.  Anno  1618,  Epistolae  Philadelphi 
Vindiciae  contra  calumnias  Spotswodi,  apud  Altare  Damascen- 
um,  p.  724—727.  edit  2  da.  Ludg.  Batav.  1708.  In  the  last 
mentioned  tract  (of  which  Calderwood  was  the  author)  the 
difference  between  the  Scottish  superintendents  and  Anglican 
bishops  is  drawn  out  under  thirteen  heads.  Spottiswood's 
treatise  is  entitled,  Refutatio  Libelli  de  Regimine  Ecclesiae 
ScoticanaB,  Lond.  1620. 

In  the  text  (p.  7.)  I  have  said  that  six  superintendents  were 
appointed.  The  names  of  five,  with  their  districts,  may  be 
seen  in  the  common  histories,  Knox,  236,  Spottis,  149. 
The  sixth  was  John  Row,  minister  of  Perth,  who  was  made 
superintendent  of  Galloway  by  appointment  of  the  General 
Assembly.  Row's  MS.  Historic  of  die  Kirk,  p.  358.  of  a 
copy  transcribed  in  1726.  The  visitors  or  commissioners  of 
provinces  exercised  the  same  power  as  the  superintendents ; 
the  only  difference  between  them  was  that  the  former  received 
their  commission  from  one  assembly  to  another,  Altare 
Damascenum,  ut  supra,  p,  727,  But  these  commissions  ap- 
pear sometimes  to  have  been  granted  for  a  longer  period  ;  for 
one  of  Robert  Font's  titles  was  Commissioner  of  Murray, 
Perhaps,  in  this  case,  a  commissioner  differed  from  a  superin- 
tendent, merely  in  not  being  obliged  to  have  his  stated  resi- 
dence within  the  bounds  of  the  province  committed  to  his 
inspection. 

Of  the  weekly  Exercise,  or  Prophesying. — Tins  was  an 
exercise  on  the  scriptures,  intended  for  the  improvement  of 
ministers,  the  trial  of  the  gifts  of  those  who  might  be  em- 
ployed in  the  service  of  the  church,  and  the  general  instruc- 
tion of  the  people.  It  was  to  be  held  in  every  town  "  where 
schools  and  repaire  of  learned  men  are."  For  conducting  the 
exercise,  there  was  an  association  of  the  ministers,  and  other 
learned  men,  in  the  town  and  vicinity,  called  "  the  company 
of  interpreters."  They  alternately  expounded  a  passage  of 
scripture ;  and  others  who  were  present  were  encouraged  to 


deliver  their  sentiments.  After  the  exercise  was  finished,  the 
constituent  members  of  the  association  retired,  and  delivered 
their  judgment  on  the  discourses  which  had  been  delivered. 
Books  of  Discipline,  ut  supra,  p.  60 — 62.  Dunlop,  ii,  587 — 
591,  After  the  erection  of  regular  presbyteries,  tliis  exercise 
formed  an  important  part  of  their  employment ;  and  at  every 
meeting,  two  of  the  members  by  turns  were  accustomed  to 
expound  the  scriptures.  De  Regimine  Eccl.  Scot.  Brevis 
Relatio,  p.  3.  Until  lately  some  traces  of  this  ancient  practice 
remained,  and  tliere  is  reason  to  regret  that  it  has  generally 
gone  into  desuetude  among  presbyterian  bodies. — Associations 
of  the  same  kind  were  formed  in  England.  From  1571  to 
1576,  they  spread  through  that  kingdom,  and  were  patronized 
by  the  bishops  of  London,  Winton,  Bath  and  Wells,  Litch- 
field, Gloucester,  Lincoln,  Chichester,  Exon,  St.  David's,  by 
Sandys  archbishop  of  York,  and  by  Grindall  archbishop  of 
Canterbury.  Several  of  the  courtiers,  as  Sir  Walter  Mild- 
may,  Sir  Francis  Knollys,  and  Sir  Thomas  Smith,  greatly 
approved  of  them ;  and  at  a  future  period,  they  were  recom- 
mended to  king  James  by  lord  Bacon.  But  they  were  sup- 
pressed by  an  imperious  mandate  from  Elizabeth.  Some  in- 
teresting particulars  respecting  their  number,  regulations,  and 
suppression,  may  be  seen  in  Strype's  Annals,  ii.  90 — 95,  219, 
220,  318—324,  486,  Li<e  of  Grindall.  p,  219—227,  230, 
299,  300.  Life  of  Parker,  460—462.  They  were  formed  oa 
the  model  of  the  Scottish  Exercises,  and,  in  their  regulations, 
the  very  words  of  the  First  Book  of  Discipline  are  sometimes 
used.  A  species  of  ecclesiastical  discipline  was  joined  with 
them  in  some  dioceses.  I  also  observe  a  striking  resemblance 
between  the  directions  given  by  bishop  Scambler  for  the  cele- 
bration of  the  Lord's  supper,  and  the  mode  which  was  then 
used  in  Scotland,  particularly  as  to  the  circumstances  of  two 
commmiions  or  ministrations  on  the  same  day,  and  the  early 
hour  of  the  service.  Strype's  Annals,  ii.  91.  compared  with 
Scott's  History  of  the  Scottish  Reformers,  p.  192. 

Keith  has  given  a  quotation  from  the  MS.  copy  of  Spottis- 
wood's History,  in  which  the  archbishop  signifies,  that  at  the 
time  of  the  compilation  of  the  First  Book  of  Disciphne,  several 
of  the  reformed  ministers  wished  to  retain  the  ancient  polity, 
after  removing  the  more  gross  corruptions  and  abuses,  but  that 
Knox  over-ruled  this  motion.  Keith,  492,  But  there  is  no  trace, 
in  the  authentic  documents  of  that  period,  of  any  diversity  of 
opinion  among  the  Scottish  reformers  on  this  head.  Indeed 
the  supposition  is  contradicted  by  Row,  (see  above,  p.  4,  5.) 
and  by  their  ovm  language,  Dunlop,  ii.  518.  Knox,  His- 
toric, 282.  It  is  probable  that  the  archbishop's  story  had  its 
origin  at  a  later  period,  when  the  design  of  conforming  the 
church  of  Scotland  to  the  English  model  began  to  be  enter- 
tained. I  confess,  I  am  not  inclined  to  give  much  more  credit 
to  another  of  the  archbishop's  tales  as  to  a  message  which 
archbishop  Hamilton  is  said  to  have  sent  to  Knox  by  John 
Brand,     History,  174,     Keith,  495, 

Note  XXXVIII,  p.  88. 

Sentiments  of  the  Reformed  Ministers  respecting  tithes, 
and  the  property  of  the  church. — ^These  are  laid  down  in  the 
First  Book  of  Discipline,  chap.  v.  and  viii.  Dunlop,  ii,  533 
— 538,  562 — 568.  Considerable  light  is  also  thrown  upon 
them  by  the  private  writings  of  that  period.  The  reformed 
ministers  did  not  regard  tithes  as  of  divine  right,  nor  think 
that  it  was  sacrilegious  in  every  case  to  apply  to  secular  pur- 
poses those  funds  which  had  been  originally  set  apart  to  a 
religious  use.  But  they  held  that,  by  the  Christian  as  well  as 
the  Jewish  law,  a  competent  subsistence  was  appointed  to 
be  made  for  the  ministers  of  religion ;  that  it  was  mcumbent 
on  a  nation  which  had  received  the  true  religion  to  make  pub- 
lic provision  for  the  outward  maintenance  of  its  ordinances ; 
that  the  appropriation  of  the  tenth  part  of  property  for  this 
purpose  was  at  least  recommended  by  primeval  usage,  by  the 
sanction  of  divine  v»Tsdom  in  the  Jewish  constitution,  and  by 
tlie  laws  and  practice  of  Christian  empires  and  kingtloms ; 
that  property  which  had  been  set  apart  and  given  for  religious 
ends  could  not  justly,  or  without  sacrilege,  be  alienated,  as 
long  as  it  was  needed  for  these  purposes ,-  and  that  though 
many  of  the  donors  might  have  had  the  support  of  supersti- 
tious observances  immediately  in  their  eye,  still  it  was  witli  a 
view  to  religion  that  they  made  such  gifts.  In  as  far  as  it 
should  appear  that  the  ecclesiastical  revenues  were  super- 
abundant and  unnecessary,  they  were  willing  that  this  should 
be  applied  to  the  common  service  of  the  state.  To  illustrate 
tlieir  sentiments  on  this  subject  and  the  manner  in  which 


NOTES 


169 


they  complained  of  the  alienation  of  church-property,  I  shall 
add  a  few  extracts  from  some  of  their  writings  which  are  not 
commonly  consulted. 

My  first  extracts  shall  be  from  Ferguson's  sermon,  to  which 
our  Keformer  set  his  hand  a  little  before  his  death.  Having 
given  an  account  of  the  law  of  Moses,  the  ordinance  of  the 
New  Testament,  and  tiie  practice  of  the  primitive  church,  he 
adds  :  "  Ye  se,  then,  that  the  ministers  of  the  primitive  kirk, 
(that  levit  befoir  princes  wer  Christianes  and  nurishers  of  the 
kirk,  as  it  was  propheseit)  wer  na  beggaris,  suppois  thay  wer 
no  lordis  that  aboundit  in  superfluous  welth,  as  the  papis 
bischoppis  did  ;  hot  had  sufficient  aswcill  for  the  neccssitie  of 
thair  owin  families,  as  for  the  help  of  uther  Christianes  that 
now  and  then,  as  occasiounes  servit,  repairit  to  thair  housis. 
— Quhen  the  tj-me  come  foirspokin  bi  David  (Psal.  Ixviii. 
and  cii.)  that  kingis  and  empereouris,  and  thair  kingdomes, 
suld  serve  the  Lord,  and  bring  giftes  unto  him,"  they,  "  fol- 
lowing his  exampil  that  only  is  wyse,  ordainit  be  thair  autlior- 
itie,  that  tlie  ticndis  suld  serve  the  same  use  in  the  tynie  of  the 
gospell." — "  Our  youth  also  aucht  to  be  nurischit  and  main- 
tenit  at  the  schuilis,  and  thairoutof  efterward  micht  spring 
preicheris,  counsellouris,  physiciounis,  and  all  other  kinds  of 
learnit  men  that  we  have  ncid  of.  For  the  schculis  are  the 
seid  of  the  kirk  and  commoun  welth,  and  our  childrcne  are 
the  hope  of  the  postcritic,  quhilk  being  neglcctit,  thair  can 
nathing  be  luikit  for  hot  that  barbarous  ignorance  sail  over- 
flow all.  For  suppois  God  has  wonderfuUie,  at  this  tyme, 
sterit  up  priecheris  amang  us,  even  quhen  darkncs  and  igno- 
rance had  the  upperhand,  he  will  not  do  sa  heirefter,  seeing 
we  have  the  ordinarie  meane  to  pro\'ide  them,  quhilk  gif  we 
contempne,  in  vane  sail  we  loke  for  extraordinary  proviscioun. 
Israel  was  miraculusslie  fed  in  the  wiklemes  with  manna,  hot 
how  soon  thay  did  eit  of  the  come  of  the  land  of  Canaan,  the 
manna  ceissit,  nouther  had  they  it  ony  moir,  hot  levit  efter- 
ward on  the  frute  of  the  grouud,  ordinarilie  labourit  with 
thair  handis.  I  speik  to  prudent  men  that  may  understand 
and  judge  quhat  I  say."  After  deploring  the  docayetl  state 
of  the  churches  and  schools,  and  the  poverty  of  the  ministers, 
he  adds :  "  I  am  compelHt  to  speik  this,  thocht  I  be  als  plane 
as  pleasant,  and  appeir  to  yow  as  the  greatest  fule  of  the  rest 
to  stand  up  heir  to  utter  that  quhilk  other  men  thinkis.  Weill ; 
let  me  be  countit  a  fule  for  speiking  the  tructh.  I  regard  not ; 
nouther  may  I  spair  to  speik  it,  thocht  I  suld  be  judgeit  in  our 
awin  cause  to  be  carryit  away  with  a  particular  affectioxm ; 
following  heirin  the  exampil  of  our  prophet  Malachie." — "  Ye 
marvel,  I  doubt  not,  quhy  ye  have  not  prevailit  aganis  yone 
throtcutteris  and  unnaturall  murtherers  within  the  tovvne  and 
castell  of  Edinburgh,  specially  ye  heving  a  maist  just  actioun, 
being  ma  in  number,  and  mair  vailyeant  men,  and  nathing 
inferiour  to  thame  in  wisdome,  circumspectioun,  or  ony  gude 
quaUteis,  outher  of  body  or  mynd.  Bot  ceis  to  marvel :  for 
the  caus  quhy  that  ye  have  not  prevailit  aganis  thame  long  or 
now,  amang  mony  uther  your  sinnis  quhairwith  ye  are  defj-lt, 
is  this,  that  the  spuilyie  of  the  pure  is  in  your  housis ;  ye  in- 
vaid  that  quhilk  our  forbearis  gave  of  gude  zeill  to  Goddis 
honour,  and  the  commoun  welth  of  the  kirk ;  j'e  spuilye 
to  your  awn  private  usis,  without  outher  ryme  or  rcsoun, 
nouther  will  ye  be  controllit.  This,  this,  I  say,  is  the  chief 
raus  that  nathing  prosperis  in  your  handis.  I  grant  that  our 
fatheris  of  immoderate  zeill  (besyde  the  teindis  and  necessarie 
rentis  of  the  kirk),  gave  thairunto  superfluously,  and  mair  nor 
aneuch.  Quhat  then  is  to  be  done,  but  tliat  the  preicheris  of 
God's  word  be  rcasonablic  sustenit,  scing  their  is  eneuch  and 
over  mekle  to  do  it,  the  schuilis  and  the  pure  be  weill  pro^ 
vydit,  as  thay  aucht,  and  the  tempillis  honestly  and  reverently 
repairit,  that  the  pepill  without  injurie  of  wynd  or  wedder, 
may  sit  and  heir  Goddis  word,  and  participat  of  his  haly  sac- 
ramentis.  And  gif  thair  rcstis  ony  thing  unspendit  quhen 
this  is  done  (as  na  doubt  thair  wil).  in  the  name  of  God,  let 
it  be  bestowit  on  the  nixt  necessarie  affairis  of  the  commoun 
welth,  and  not  to  any  mannis  private  commoditie."  Ane  se)-~ 
mon  preachit  befoir  tlie  regent  and  nobilitie — be  David  Fer- 
gussone.    B,  iv.  v.  C.  Leprenik,  1572. 

The  following  extracts  are  taken  from  Sermons  against 
Sacrilege  by  Robert  Pont,  a  son-in-law  of  our  Reformer. 
"From  the  yeare  of  our  Lorde  L560,  unto  this  present  time, 
the  greatest  study  of  all  men  of  power  of  this  land,  hes  bene 
by  all  kinde  of  inventions,  to  spoyle  the  kirk  of  Christ  of  her 
patrimonie,  by  chopping  and  changing,  diminishing  of  rentals, 
converting  of  victual  in  small  sumes  of  money  :  setting  of 
fewes  within  the  availe,  long  tackes  uppon  tackes,  with  two 
or  three  life-rentes,  with  many  twentie  yeares  in  an  tack,  an- 
W 


'  nexationes,  erectiones  of  kirk-rents  in  tcmporall  livings  and 
heritage,  pcnsiones,  simple  donationes,  erecting  of  new  pat- 
ronages, union  of  teindes,  making  of  new  abattes,  commenda- 
fcjries,  priors,  with  other  papistical  titles,  which  ought  to  have 
no  place  in  a  reformed  kirk  and  countric ;  with  an  infinite  of 
other  corrupt  and  fraudfuU  waies,  to  the  detriment  and  hurt 
of  the  kirke,  the  schoolcs,  and  the  poore,  without  any  stay  OT 
gaine-calling. 

"  Tructh  it  is,  parUamentes  have  been  conveened,  and  actiS 
have  bene  made,  for  providing  ministers  of  competent  livinges; 
for  reparaling  of  parish  kirkes,  for  trayning  up  the  youth  in 
schoolcs  of  theologie.  It  hath  bene  also  promised,  and  sub- 
scribed in  writte,  by  a  great  part  of  the  nobilitie,  that  the 
poore  labourers  of  the  grounde,  should  have  an  ease  and  re- 
hefe  of  the  rigorous  exacting  of  their  teindes :  and  many 
other  good  thinges  have  been  devised,  tending  to  the  advance- 
ment of  the  gloric  of  God,  and  establishing  of  Christ  his 
kingdome.  Amongst  us,  namely,  in  time  of  the  govememcnte 
of  that  good  regente  (whome  for  honoures  cause  I  name)  who 
although  he  could  not  doe  all  that  hee  would  have  done, 
(having  so  manie  hinderanccs  and  enemies) ;  yet  his  dooings 
might  have  bin  a  perfite  patterne  of  godlinesse  to  the  reste  of 
the  nobilitie,  to  make  theme  bene  content  to  live  uppon  their 
ovvne  rentes,  and  to  cease  from  robbing  and  spoyling  the  pat- 
rimonie of  the  kirke."  Having  proposed  the  objection,  that 
the  liCvitical  law  of  Moses  is  abrogated,  and  that  therefore 
his  authorities  from  the  Old  Testament  had  no  force  under 
the  gospel,  he  adds  :  "  I  aunswcre  concerning  those  landes  or 
annuall  rentes,  out  of  landes  delated  and  given  to  the  kirke, 
that  although  the  licviticall  lawe,  with  the  ceremonies  there- 
of, concerning  the  outwarde  observation  hath  taken  an  ende, 
and  is  fulfilled  in  Christ ,  yet  the  substance  of  the  policie,  con- 
cerning interteinment  of  the  service  of  God,  and  up-hold  of 
religion  still  rcmaincs.  And  it  is  no  lesse  necessarie,  that  the 
ministerie  of  God  amongst  us  be  mainteined  ;  and  that  suffi- 
cient provision  be  made  to  serve  other  godlie  uses,  whereunto 
the  kirk-rcntes  ought  to  be  applyed,  nor  it  was  that  the  priestes 
and  levitcs  shoulde  bene  upholden  in  the  time  of  the  olde  law. 
And  as  to  the  holinesse  or  unholines  of  thes  landes  and  re- 
venues :  albeit  in  their  owne  nature  (as  I  said  in  the  former 
sermon)  they  be  like  other  earthly  possessiones ;  yet  in  so  far 
as  they  were  applyed  to  an  holy  use,  they  may  wel  be  called 
holy  possessions  and  rents,  as  the  kirk  is  holy,  to  whose  use 
they  arc  appointed. — I  will  not  deny  but  the  teindes  might  be 
possibly  changed,  in  other  mcanes  of  sufficient  provision  for 
the  kirke,  if  such  godly  zeale  were  now  amongst  men,  as  was- 
of  olde  time.  But  in  so  farre  as  we  see  the  plane  contrarie, 
that  men  are  now  readier  to  take  away,  than  ever  our  prede- 
cessors were  to  give  ;  it  were  a  foolish  thing  to  loose  the  cer- 
tainc  for  the  imcertaine,  and  that  which  is  never  likely  to  come 
to  passe."  Font's  Sermons,  against  Sacrilege.  B,  8.  C,  2. 
C,  8.  E,  6.     Waldcgravc,  1599. 

It  appears  from  the  following  extract,  that  Pont  undertook 
this  work  at  the  desire  of  the  General  Assend^ly. — ■"  July  3. 
1591.  Mr.  Robert  Pont  is  ordained  to  writ  against  sacrilege, 
and  shew  his  travells  to  the  next  Assembly."  Matthew  Craw- 
furd's  MS.  History  of  the  church  of  Scotland,  vol.  j.  p.  161. 

Note  XXXIX.  p.  88. 

In  this  note  I  shall  give  some  view  of  the  progress  of  He- 
brew literature  in  Scotland,  after  adding  a  few  minute  par- 
ticulars respecting  John  Row  to  the  account  of  him  given  in 
the  text. 

Row  was  bom  at  a  place  which  bore  the  name  of  the  fami- 
ly, and  of  which  his  father  was  proprietor,  situated  between 
Stirling  and  Dunblane.  He  left  Rome  on  the  20th  of  May, 
and  arrived  in  Scotland  on  the  29th  of  September,  1 558.  The 
following  is  the  account  of  his  conversion  from  popeiy  given 
liy  his  son.  Being  in  the  house  of  Cleish,  the  gentleman  in 
Fife  who  had  detected  the  imposture  at  Musselburgh,  (see 
page  83.)  the  young  man  who  was  said  to  have  been  cured 
of  blindness  was  brought  into  his  presence,  where  he  "  played 
his  pavie,"  by  "  flyping  up  the  lid  of  his  eyes  and  casting  up 
the  white,"  While  Row  was  confounded  at  this  discovery, 
the  gentleman  addressed  him  very  seriously.  "  Weill,  Mr. 
John  Row,  ye  are  a  great  clergyman,  and  a  great  linguist  and 
lawyer,  but  I  charge  you,  as  you  must  answer  to  the  great 
God  at  the  last  day,  that  ye  do  not  now  hold  out  any  light  that 
God  offers  you,  but  that  ye  will,  as  soon  as  ye  come  to 
your  study,  close  the  door  upon  you,  and  take  your  Bible,  and 
seriously  pray  to  God  that  ye  may  understand  the  .scriptures. 


170 


NOTES. 


—Read  the  2d  ch.  of  the  2d  epistle  to  the  Thessalonians ; 
and  if  ye  do  not  see  your  master,  the  pope,  to  be  the  great 
antichrLst  who  comes  with  lying  wonders  to  deceive  the  people 
of  God  (as  now  he  and  his  deceiving  rabhle  of  clergy  in  Scot- 
land have  done  lately  at  Musselburgh),  ye  shall  say  Squire 
Meldrum  has  no  skill.  Row,  Historic  of  the  Kirk,  p.  356. 
copy  of  the  MS.  transcribed  in  1726.  By  conference  with 
several  of  the  reformed  ministers,  and  particularly  Knox,  he 
was  brought  to  an  abjuration  of  popery.  "  Ipse  Nuncius. 
(says  his  grandson)  nassa  evangelii  irretitus,  ejus  pura,  pia, 
pathetica  praedictione  inescatus,  pontiliciis  syrtibus,  famigerati 
Knoxi  opera,  extractus  est."  Hebrea;  linguae  Institutiones,  a 
M.  Joa.  Row,  epist.  dedic.  A  3,  b.  GlasgufB  1644.  In  the  be- 
ginning of  the  year  1560  he  was  admitted  minister  of  Kin- 
neuchar  in  Fife,  where  he  married  Margaret  Beatoun,  a 
daughter  of  the  laird  of  Balfour.  Row's  Historic,  ut  supra. 
Before  the  end  of  that  year  he  was  translated  to  Perth.  Knox, 
236.     Keith,  498. 

During  his  residence  in  Italy  he  had  made  great  proficiency 
in  the  knowledge  of  the  Greek  and  Hebrew  languages.  The 
latter  was  at  this  time  almost  entirely  unknown  in  Scotland, 
and  he  immediately  began,  at  the  recommendation  of  his 
brethren,  to  teach  it.  The  grammar-school  of  Perth  was  the 
most  celebrated  in  the  kingdom,  and  the  noblemen  and  gentle- 
men were  accustomed  to  send  their  children  thither  for  their 
education.  Many  of  these  were  now  boarded  with  Mr.  Row, 
who  instructed  them  in  Greek  and  Hebrew.  As  nothing  but 
Latin  was  spoken  by  the  boys  in  the  school  and  in  the  fields, 
so  nothing  was  spoken  in  Mr.  Row's  house  but  French. 
The  passages  of  scripture  read  in  the  family  before  and  after 
meals,  if  in  the  Old  Testament,  were  read  in  Hebrew,  Greek, 
Latin,  French,  and  English  ;  if  in  the  New  Testament,  they 
were  read  in  Greek,  &c.  His  son,  John,  when  he  was  be- 
tween four  and  five  years  old,  was  taught  the  Hebrew  charac- 
ters, before  he  knew  the  English  letters :  and  at  eight  years 
of  age  he  read  the  Hebrew  chapter  in  the  family.  When  he 
went  to  the  newly -er<;cted  university  of  Edinburgh,  his  un- 
common acquaintance  with  the  Hebrew  language  attracted  the 
TOirticular  notice  of  the  learned  and  amiable  principal  Rollock. 
Row's  Historic,  372 — 375.  Hebreae  Ling.  Institut.  ut  supra. 
Mr.  Row  instructed  the  master  of  the  grammar  school  in  the 
Greek  tongue,  by  which  means  it  came  to  be  taught  afterwards 
in  Perth.  And  in  1 637  his  own  grandson  (of  the  same  name) 
was  Rector  of  tliat  school,  in  which  he  taught  Latin,  Greek, 
and  Hebrew.  This  produced  the  following  encomiastic  verses 
by  principal  Adanison  of  Edinburgh. 

Perthana  quondam  Latialis  lingusc  schola 
Laude  cluebat,  fueratq ;  unius  labri, 
Nunc  est  trilinguis,  Latio  jungens  Grseciam, 
Et  huic  Palasstinam  :  omnium  linguis  loquens. 
O  ter  beatara  te  nunc  Perthanam  scholam  ! 
O  ter  beatum  RoUum  rectorem  tuum  ! 
Per  quem  juventus,  barbarise  procul  habitu, 
Rudis  et  tenella  primulis  labellulis 
Sotymas,  Athenas,  et  Romam  scite  sonat. 

About  the  year  1567,  James  La««,son,  (afterwards  Knox's 
successor  at  Edinburgh),  returned  from  the  continent,  where 
he  had  studied  Hebrew.  The  professors  of  St.  Andrews 
prevailed  on  him  to  give  lessons  on  that  language  in  their 
university.  Life  of  Lawson,  p.  2.  in  Wodrow's  MS.  Collec- 
tions, vol.  i.  Bibl.  Coll.  Glas.  As  he  was  made  sub-principal 
in  the  university  of  Aberdeen,  anno  1569,  it  is  to  be  presumed 
that  he  would  also  teach  the  language  there.  Lawson,  after 
his  settlement  in  Edinburgh,  patronized  the  interests  of  litera- 
ture in  this  city.  It  was  chiefly  by  his  exertions  that  the 
buildings  of  the  High-School  were  completed  in  1578.  His  in- 
tentions were  to  have  it  erected  into  an  university,  or  at  least 
to  make  it  ScJiolam  Illus/7-etn,  with  classes  of  logic  and  philo- 
sophy. The  books  destined  for  the  library  were  kept  in  his 
house,  previous  to  the  foundation  of  the  college.  Crawfurd's 
History  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  p.  19,20.  I  have 
already  (Note  I.)  noticed  the  arrival  of  Andrew  Melville  in 
1573,  and  the  situation  which  he  held  botli  at  Glasgow  and 
St  Andrews.  After  prosecuting  his  studies  at  Paris,  under 
the  celebrated  masters  Tuniebus,  Mercerus,  and  Ramus,  and 
professing  pliilosophy  at  Poitiers,  he  had,  during  the  five  years 
that  he  spent  at  Geneva,  learned  the  Hebrew,  Chaldaic,  and 
Sjriac  tongues,  from  Cornelius  Bertram.  The  regent  Morton 
offered  him  the  archbishoprick  of  St  Andrews,  but  he  refused 
it,  and  chose  an  academical  life.  Life  of  Andrew  Melville, 
apud  Wodrow's  MSS.  ut  ffupra.    Calderwoo<],  Epistola?  Phil- 


adelphi  Vindicise,  apud  Altare  Damascenum,  p.  731.  Spottis- 
wood,  to  whom  he  was  a  keen  antagonist,  allows  that  he  was 
a  great  proficient  in  the  three  learned  languages.  "  Andreas 
Melvinus  bonis  Uteris  excultus,  et  trium  linguarum,  quorum  eo 
seculo  ignorantia  ilU  famam  et  tantum  non  admirationem  apud 
omnes  peperit,  calentissimus."  Refutatio  Libelli  de  Regim. 
Eccles.  Scotic.  p.  31.  Thomas  Snieton,  who  succeeded  Mel- 
ville at  Glasgow,  was  also  a  good  Hebrician,  as  appears  from 
his  answer  to  Hamilton's  Dialogue.  Those  who  held  the 
situation  of  principal  in  the  universities  at  that  time  were  ac- 
customed to  teach  tliose  branches  which  were  most  neglected. 

Note  XL.  p.  89. 

Of  Buchanan^ s  imprisonment  in  Portugal. — Every  thing 
which  relates  to  this  scholar  must  be  interesting  to  the  learned. 
As  his  imprisonment  in  Portugal,  and  his  release  from  con- 
finement have  been  imperfectly  related,  I  shall  here  insert  two 
accounts  of  them,  which  have  escaped  the  notice  of  his  bio- 
graphers. Principal  Smeton's  account,  which  was  most  pro- 
bably derived  from  Buchanan  himself,  is  the  following.  "  Vivit 
adhuc,  (says  he  in  his  answer  to  Hamilton),  et  utinam  diu 
vivat,  orbis  terrarum,  non  Scotia;  tantum  decus  Gkohgics 
BucHAKANL  s  ;  quem  inepte  facerem,  si  a  rabidi  caiiis  latratu 
defcndere  conarer,  extra  omnem  ingenii  aleam  omnium  judicio 
constitutum.  Quod  de  abjurata  ab  co  haeresi  adscribis,  im- 
pudentissimum  est  mendaciimi,  Hamiltoni.  Duplici  quidem 
de  causa  in  veraj  religionis  suspicionem  in  Lusitania  venit ; 
tum  quod  Seraphici  ordinis  mysteria  in  Franciscano  suo  aper- 
tius  reuclasset :  tum  quod  in  pruato  colloquio  discipulis  qm- 
busdam  dixissct,  videri  sibi  Augustinum  transubstantiationis 
figmento  non  prorsus  fauere.  In  carcerem  coniectus  causam 
capitis  perorauit.  Franciscanum  se  regis  sui  iussu  scripsisse ; 
nee  quicquam  in  co  esse  quod  vllum  fidei  Christianse  dogma 
conuellat.  Versus  quosdam  memoriter  pronuntiare  iussus 
(nam  nemo  ibi  libellum  habebat)  memorise  iacturam  causatus 
est.  De  transubstantione  respondit;  non  alia  se  quam  Au- 
gustini  verba  recitasse,  ex  Cap.  16.  lib.  3.  de  doctrina  Chris- 
tiana. Quae  sic  habent.  '  Si  prseccptiua  locutio  est  a^t  fla- 
gitium  aut  facinus  vetans,  aut  vtilitatem  aut  beneficentiam 
iubens,  non  est  figurata ;  Si  autem  flagitium  aut  facinus  vide- 
tur  iuberc,  aut  vtilitatem  aut  beneficentiam  vetare,  figurata  est, 
Nisi  manducaueritis,  inquit,  carnem  filij  hominis  &  sanguincm 
biberitis,  non  habebitis  vitam  in  vobis:  fecinus  vel  flagitium 
videtur  iubere.  Figura  est  ergo,  pra3cipiens  passioni  Dosuni 
esse  communicandum,  &  suauiter  atque  vtiliter  recondendum 
in  memoria,  quod  pro  nobis  caro  eius  crucifixa  &  vulncrata  sit.' 
Haec,  inquit,  si  hsresim  sapiunt,  prius  Augustinum  diiumate ; 
quod  vt  feceritis,  baud  sequum  tamen  erit,  vt  ego  alicnffi  culpae 
poenas  luam.  Ergo  cum  nee  ratione,  nee  tcstimonio  cuius- 
quam  conuinci  posset,  iudicum  calculis  absolutus  in  Galliam 
redijt ;  tanto  bonarum  literarum  damno,  vt  ipsemet  postca  I^us- 
itanise  Rex  amantissimis  cum  scriptis  reuocarit.  Sed  frustra. 
Summo  enim  Dki  beneficio  ex  crudclissimis  inquisitorum 
manibus  liberatus,  in  discrinien  se  iterum  coijcere  nolluit :  cum 
in  Gallia  prsesertim,  omnium  quse  sub  sole  sunt  regionum 
humanitate,  optimanmi  artium  studijs  &  doctorum  numero 
prima,  opimae  illi,  &  admodum  honortficse  conditiones  defer- 
rentur.  Sed  Bichaxaxum  singularis  animi  candor,  et  in 
omni  genere  perspecta  virtus  satis  per  se  dcfcndet."  Smetoni 
Responsio  ad  Yirulentum  Arch.  Hamiltonii  Dialogum,  Edin- 
burgi  1579.  p.  89,  90. 

I  shall  add  the  account  which  Archibald  Hamilton  gives  of 
this  afl'air,  in  his  reply  to  Smeton,  although  the  judicious 
reader  will  be  of  opinion  that  little  credit  is  due  to  such  a 
writer,  especially  when  his  testimony  is  flatly  contradicted  by 
tliat  of  Smeton  and  of  Buchanan  himself.  "  Tarn  illud  qui- 
dem contra  regis  Scotorum  integritateni,  quam  hoc  contra 
Hyspanorum  nunquam  satis  laudaiam  in  exannnandis 
haercticis  severitatem,  malitiose  confictum,  et  utrumque  lonpo 
falsissimura  est  Nequc  enim  Jacobus  Quintus,  in  tenenda 
atque  asserenda  fide  Catholica  princcps  nulli  omnium  secun- 
dus,  tam  impuro  et  procaci  pasquillo,  auctorem  sc  unquum  de- 
dissct:  neq;  theologonim  gravissima  ccnsura,  t:im  impiam 
athei  pocta;  dicacitatcm  impune  abire  f>ermisis6et :  et  ut  prioris 
mendacii  falsitas  illustrium  doniinorum  Askcin  et  Levmgston 
publico  testimonio  evicta  tunc  fuit :  quando  legationc  apud 
Gallos  functi,  regis  nomine  horcseos  convictum  Buchananuni 
Hyspanonim  legato  detulerunt :  Ita  ducentorum  qiii  non  dis- 
putationem  sed  supplicem  lachrymantis  deprecationcm  audi- 
verunt,  sentcntiis,  altcrius  illius  figmcnti  vanitas  coargui  pot- 
est, sin  ilia;  non  satis  fortitcr  promunt,  quod  longe  a  nobis  al>- 


NOTES. 


171 


sint,  et  nostroram  hominum,  quod  rei  geste  non  interfuerunt 
narratio  digna  fide  minus  videatur :  Publice  tamen  urbis  com- 
mentarii,  in  quos  res  gestas  referri  solent,  auctoritate  vacare  non 
debent,  [Were  the  registers  of  Coimbra  nearer  or  more  ac- 
cessible to  Scotsmen  than  those  witnesses  formerly  referred 
to  1  or  had  Hamilton  inspected  those  registers  from  which  he 
pretends  to  quote  ?]  qui  aperte  adhuc  testabuntur  non  Augus- 
tini  testimonio.  cap.  17.  libri  tertii  de  doctrina  Christiana,  sed 
Psalmographi  versum,  psalmo  vigesimo  quarto,  subsidio  ei 
tunc  fuisse  :  dum  ad  Cardinalis  pedes  provolutus,  flebili  voce, 
verba  ista  proferebat  (delicta  juventutis  meiE  et  ignorantias  ne 
memineris  Domine)  earn  recantationis  formulam,  ab  eo  tunc 
temporis  usurpatum,  ad  eum  sane  finem  obiter  attigi,  ut  tan- 
dem Scotia  intelligeret,  quam  gravcm  et  constantem  nunc 
patriarcham  in  religione  sequitur :  dum  levis  poetaj  et  abjur- 
ati  haerctici  paradoxa  omnia  pro  certissimis  spiritus  sancti  ora- 
culis  habet."  Calvinianae  Confusionis  Demonstratio — per 
Archibaldum  Hamiltonium,  p.  252  b.  253  a.  Parisiis,  1581. 

NotcXLI.  p.  89. 

Of  David  Ferguson,  and  the  cultivation  of  tlie  Scottish 
language. — I  have  said  in  the  text,  that  the  reformers,  while 
they  exerted  themselves  to  revive  the  knowledge  of  the  learned 
languages,  did  not  neglect  the  improvement  of  their  native 
tongue.  Among  others,  David  Ferguson,  minister  of  Dun- 
fermline, distinguished  himself  in  this  department.  Though 
"  not  graduated  in  a  college,"  he  was  very  far  from  being  illit- 
erate, and  was  much  admired  for  the  quickness  of  his  wit  and 
his  good  taste,  as  well  as  for  his  piety ;  "  elegantis  ingenii  et 
magnae  pietatis  ^'irum,"  says  Smeton,  Responsio  ad  Hamilt. 
Dialog,  p.  92.  Row's  Coronis  to  his  Historic,  p.  314.  of  copy 
in  Divinity  liib.  Edin.  The  sermon  which  he  preached  at 
Leith  before  the  regent  and  nobility,  and  afterwards  published, 
(see  above,  p.  126.)  is  a  proof  of  this,  and  had  it  not  been  a 
sermon,  would  most  probably  have  been  republished  before 
this  time  as  a  specimen  of  good  Scottish  composition.  Ex- 
tracts from  it  may  be  seen  in  Note  38.  John  Davidson,  then 
one  of  the  regents  at  St.  Andrews,  celebrated  the  success  of  the 
author  in  refining  his  vernacular  language,  in  the  following 
Latin  lines  which  are  prefixed  to  the  sermon. 

Gnecia  melifluo  quantum  det  nestoris  ori, 

Aut  demostheneo  debeat  eloquio ; 

Ipsi  facundo  quantum  (mihi  crede)  parent! 

Attribuat  linguse  turba  togata  suse ; 

Nos  tibi,  Fergusi,  tantum  debere  fatemur, 

Scotanam  linguam  qui  reparare  studes. 

Sermonem  patriam  ditas ;  inculta  vetustas 

Horret  qua  longe  barbariemque  fugas ; 

Adde  etiam,  neque  abest  facundis  gratia  dictis, 

Respondet  verbis  materia  apta  tuis. 

Quod  satis  ostendit  nobis  tua  concio  praesens, 

Qua  nihil  in  lucem  doctus  ire  potest. 

Besides  this  sermon,  Ferguson  was  the  author  of  a  collec- 
tion of  Scottish  proverbs,  and  of  an  Answer  to  the  Rejoinder 
which  the  Jesuit  Tyrie  made  to  Knox.  That  abusive  writer, 
James  Laing,  calls  his  last  work  "  a  barbarous,  and  Scotican 
epistle,"  and  rails  against  its  author  as  an  ignorant  sutor  and 
glover,  who  knew  neither  Hebrew,  nor  Greek,  nor  Latin.  As 
for  himself  although  a  Scotsman,  Laing  tells  us,  that  he  thought 
it  beneath  him  to  wTJte  in  a  language  which  wns  fit  only  for 
barbarians  and  heretics.  "  Tres  sunt  lingua;  elegantes  et  in- 
g^nuse,  Hebraica,  Graeca,  et  Latina,  quae  nobilibus  principibus — 
sunt  dign«e :  cateras  linguas,  cum  sint  barbarae,  barharis  et 
haereticls  tanquam  propriis  relinquo."  De  vita  Haereticorum, 
Didic.  p.  ult.  et  p.  31.  Paris.  1581.  Notwithstanding  this 
writer's  boasts  concerning  his  literature,  and  the  opportunities 
which  he  takes  to  display  it,  he  did  not  know  the  top  from  the 
bottom  of  a  Hebrew  letter,  if  we  may  judge  from  his  book,  p. 
94,  b.  Laing's  objection  to  the  literature  of  Ferguson  may, 
however,  be  thouglit  as  solid  as  that  which  another  popish 
writer  has  brought  against  his  morals,  by  accusing  him  of  ms- 
ing  pepper  instead  of  salt  to  his  beef .  "At  hi  quibus  camera 
accendant  irritentq.  novas  artes  quotidie  excogitant."  And  on 
the  margin,  "  Exemplo  est  David  Ferguson  ad  maccrandas 
carnes  Bubulas  pipere  pro  sale  utens."  Hamilton,  De  Confus. 
Calvinianae  SectfE,  p.  76.  But  to  do  justice  to  Hamilton,  it  is 
proper  to  mention  that  pepper  was  at  that  time  so  high  priced 
as  to  be  a  morsel  only  for  a  Pope,  or  a  Cardinal,  and  very  un- 
fit for  the  mouths  of  barbers,  cobblers,  &c.  of  which  rank  he 
tells  us  the  reformed  preachers  generally  were.     Principal 


Smeton,  after  saying  that  Ferguson  had  reared  a  numerous  fa- 
mily on  a  very  moderate  stipend,  adds :  "  Undcnam  ergo  illi, 
amabo  te,  tantum  piperis  ad  carnes  quotannis  macerandas 
quantum  sexcentis  apud  nos  aureis  numniis  nemo  unquam 
compararitl"  Smetoni  Responsio  ad  Hamil.  p.  95.  The  truth 
is,  there  was  rather  too  much  salt  and  pepper  in  the  writings 
of  Ferguson  for  the  papists. 

A  number  of  Ferguson's  witty  sayings  are  recorded  by  his 
son-in-law,  John  Row.  James  VI.  who  resided  fretiuently  at 
Dunfermline,  used  to  take  great  delight  in  his  conversation. 
"  David,  (said  James  to  him  one  day)  why  may  not  I  have 
Bishops  in  Scotland  as  well  as  they  have  in  England  1"  "  Yea, 
Sir,"  replied  Ferguson,  "  ye  may  have  bishops  here ;  but  re- 
member ye  must  make  us  all  bishops,  else  will  ye  never  con- 
tent us.  For  if  ye  set  up  ten  or  twelve  lowns  over  honest 
men's  heads  (honest  men  will  not  have  your  antichristian  pre- 
lacies,) and  give  them  more  thousands  to  debauch  and  mispend 
than  honest  men  have  hundreds  or  scores,  we  will  never  al  be 
content.  We  ar  Paul's  bishopis.  Sir,  Christ's  bishopis ;  ha'd 
us  as  we  are." — "  The  d — 1  haid  aills  you,"  replied  James, 
"  but  that  ye  would  all  be  alike ;  ye  cannot  abide  ony  to  be 
abonc  you." — "  Sir !"  said  the  minister,  "  do  not  ban."  Row's 
Coronis  to  his  Historic  of  the  Kirk,  p.  314.  Ferguson  seems 
to  have  amused  himself  with  some  of  those  incidents  wluch 
were  generally  reckoned  ominous.  The  king  having  once 
asked  him  very  seriously,  what  he  thought  was  the  reason  that 
the  Master  of  Gray's  house  shook  during  the  night,  he  answer- 
ed, "  Why  should  not  the  devil  rock  his  awin  bairns  V — Hav- 
ing met  at  St.  Andrews  along  with  otiier  commissioners  of 
the  church,  to  protest  against  the  inauguration  of  Patrick  Ad- 
anison  as  archbishop  of  that  see,  one  came  in  and  told  them, 
that  there  was  a  crow  croiiping  on  the  church.  "  That's  a 
bad  omen,"  said  he,  shaking  his  head,"  for  inauguration  is  from 
avium  garritu,  the  raven  is  omnimodo  a  black  bird,  and  it 
cries  corrupt,  corrupt,  cmi-upt."     Rovv's  Historic,  p.  40. 

I  cannot  refrain  from  inserting  the  inscription  on  the  tomb 
of  John  Row,  the  historian  to  whom  I  have  so  often  been  in- 
debted, who  was  third  son  of  the  learned  minister  of  Perth, 
and  married  to  Grizz.el,  daughter  to  David  Ferguson  of  Dun- 
fermline. The  inscription  was  copied  from  his  monument  in 
the  church-yard  of  Carnock. 

"  Hie  Jacet  M.  Jo.  Row,  Pastor  hujus  Ecclcsiae  fidelcssimus. 
Vixit  acccrimus  veritatis  et  foederis  Scoticani  assertor,  Hier- 
archias  pseudo-episcopalis,  et  Romanorum  rituum,  cordicitus 
osor,  in  frequent!  Symmystarum  apostasia  cubi  instar  constan- 
tissimus.  Duxit  Gricellidam  Fergusonam,  cum  qua  annos  51 
conjunctissime  vixit.  Huic  ecclesise  annos  54  praefuit.  Obiit 
Junij.  26to  anno  Domini  1646.  .^tatis  78. — Obiit  et  ilia 
.Tanuarij  30mo,  1659." 

Note  XLH.  p.  89. 

Order  ofprocedure  at  the  first  meetings  of  the  General  As^ 
sembly. — ^The  first  appointment  of  a  moderator  was  in  Dec. 
1563.  "It  wasproponit  be  the  haill  assembhe  yat  anc  mode- 
rator sidd  be  appointit  for  avoyding  confusioun  in  reasoning." 
Bulk  of  the  Universal  Kirk,  p.  8.  Adv.  Libr.  The  assembly 
which  met  at  Perth,  August  1572,  "  ordained,  as  a  perpetual 
law,  tliat  no  person  of  whatever  estate  take  in  hand  to  speak 
without  license  asked  and  given  by  the  moderator,  that  mode- 
ration should  be  kept  in  reasoning,  and  silence  when  com- 
manded by  the  moderator,  under  pain  of  removal  from  the  as- 
sembly, and  not  to  re-enter  during  that  convention."  Ibid.  p. 
55.  In  July  1568,  to  correct  evils,  "be  reason  of  the  plurali- 
tie  and  confusion  of  voces,"  it  was  enacted  tliat  none  should 
have  power  to  vote  but  superintendents,  commissioners  ap- 
pointed to  visit  kirko,  ministers  "  brought  with  yame,  present- 
ed as  habile  to  reasone,  and  having  knowledge  to  judge,"  com- 
missioners of  burghs,  shires,  and  universities.  The  ministers 
were  to  be  chosen  at  the  synodal  convention  of  the  diocese  by 
consent  of  the  rest  of  the  ministry  and  gentlemen  that  shall 
convene  at  the  said  synodal  convention;  commissioners  of 
burghs  by  "  the  counsell  and  kirk  of  their  awn  townes." — 
"  None  to  be  admitted  without  sufficient  commission  or  wreit." 
And  to  prevent  a  monopoly  of  power,  they  were  to  be  changed 
from  assembly  to  asscuihl}'.  Ibid.  p.  38.  The  assembly, 
March,  1569 — 70,  settled  the  following  order  of  procedure. 
After  sermon  and  prayer  by  former  moderator,  1.  A  new  mo- 
derator to  be  chosen.  2.  Superintendents,  commissioners,  &c. 
to  be  tried.  This  trial  was  very  regular.  First  the  superin- 
tendents being  removed,  inquiry  was  made  of  the  ministers 
and  commissioners  of  their  bounds  if  they  had  any  charges  to 


172 


NOTE  S. 


lay  against  them  as  to  neglect  of  duty,  &c.  If  any  charge 
was  brought,  it  was  examined  and  sentence  passed.  The  same 
order  was  observed  with  tlie  other  members  of  assembly.  3. 
The  case  of  penitents  and  persons  under  censure  to  be  consid- 
ered. Lastly,  The  business  left  undecided  by  last  assembly, 
or  brought  before  the  present,  was  to  be  taken  up.  Ibid.  p.  47. 

Note  XLIII.  p.  89. 

Epistolary  correspondence,  helween  Knox  and  Calvin. — 
In  a  letter,  dated  28th  August  1559,  Knox  requests  Calvin's 
opinion  on  the  two  following  questions.  1.  Whether  bastards, 
the  cliildren  of  idolatei-s  and  excommunicated  persons,  should 
be  admitted  to  baptism,  before  their  parents  gave  satisfaction  to 
the  church,  or  they  themselves  were  able  to  require  it "?  2. 
Whether  monies  and  popish  priests,  who  neither  serve  the 
church,  nor  are  capable  of  serving  it,  although  they  have  re- 
nounced their  errors,  ought  to  have  the  annual  rents  of  the 
church  paid  to  themi  Knox  had  maintained  the  negative  on 
the  last  question.  The  letter  is  said  to  be  written  raptim. 
"  Plura  scril)cre  vetat  febris  qua  crucior,  laborum  moles  qua 
premor,  et  Gallorum  bombard®,  qui,  ut  nos  opprimant,  appule- 
runt."  (Comp.  Historic,  p.  161.)  Calvin,  in  a  letter,  dated 
Nov.  8,  1559,  answers,  that  it  was  his  opinion  and  that  of  his 
colleagues,  on  the  first  question.  That  the  sacrament  of  bap- 
tism was  not  to  be  administered  to  those  who  were  without  the 
church,  nor  to  any  without  proper  sponsors  ;  but  the  promise 
(upon  which  the  right  was  founded)  was  not  confined  to  the 
posterity  in  the  first  degree :  and  therefore  those  who  were  de- 
scended from  godly  parents  were  to  be  viewed  as  belonging  to 
the  church,  although  their  parents  or  even  grand-parents  had 
become  apostates,  and  such  children  were  not  to  be  refused 
baptism,  provided  persons  appeared  as  sponsors,  engaging  for 
their  religious  education.  "  Adde  quod  alia  est  nunc  renas- 
centis  ecclesiaj  ratio,  quamrite  fonnatajctcompositae."  (Comp. 
Dunlop,  ii.  573.)  On  the  second  question,  he  says  that  al- 
though those  who  performed  no  service  in  the  church  had  not 
a  just  claim  to  be  supported  by  its  funds,  still  as  the  popish 
clergy  had  brought  themselves  under  bonds  in  times  of  igno- 
rance, and  had  consumed  a  part  of  their  lives  in  idleness,  it 
seemed  harsh  to  deprive  them  of  all  support.  He  therefore 
advises  a  middle  course  to  be  adopted.  Calvini  Epistolae  ct 
Kesponsa,  p.  516—520.  Hanovi3%  1597.  Ibid.  p.  201,202. 
apud  Open  tom.  ix.  Amstajlod.  1667. 

From  another  letter  of  Calvin  to  Knox,  dated  April  23, 
1561,  it  appears  that  the  Genevan  reformer  had  been  consulted 
by  our  countrymen  on  some  other  points  on  which  they  were 
difficulted ;  most  probably  those  questions  on  which  the  nobil- 
ity and  the  ministers  differed.  He  wrote  them  accordingly, 
but  soon  after  was  applied  to  a  second  time  for  his  ojiinion  on 
the  same  subject,  as  his  first  letter  had  miscarried.  Knowing 
that  his  judgment  was  not  altogether  agreeable  to  some  of  them, 
he  suspected  that  they  wished  to  draw  from  him  an  ajisvver 
more  favourable  to  their  own  sentiments,  and  expressed  his  dis- 
satisfaction at  such  conduct.  Knox,  who  appears  to  have  been 
employed  in  the  correspondence,  was  grieved  at  this  suspicion, 
and  had  vindicated  himself  froin  the  imputation.  Calvin  ui 
this  letter  apologizes  for  his  severit.y,  and  assures  him  that  he 
never  entertained  any  suspicion  of  his  integrity.  "  Te  vcre 
dolose  quicquam  cgisse,  neque  dixi,  neque  suspicatus  sum. — 
Ac  mihi  dolet,  quod  exciderat  ex  ore  meo,  sic  in  animum  tuum 
penetrasse,  ut  putares  mate  fidei  axit  astutisB,  a  qua  te  remotum 
esse  judico,  fuisse  insimulatam.  Facessat  igitur  metus  ille  vel 
cura."  In  both  letters,  Cahan  signifies  his  high  satisfaction  at 
the  wonderful  success  of  the  reformation  in  Scotland.  The 
conclusion  of  the  last  is  expressive  of  the  unaffected  piety  of 
the  writer,  and  his  warm  regard  for  his  correspondent.  "  Hie 
vcrsamur  inter  multa  discrimina.  Una  tantum  welestis  praj- 
sidii  fiducia  nos  a  trepidatione  cximit:  quanvis  non  simus 
metu  vacui.  Vale,  exiniie  vir,  et  ex  animo  colendc  frater. 
Dominus  tibi  semper  adsit,  te  giiliernet,  tueatur,  ac  sustentet 
sua  virtute."  Ut  supra,  p.  564 — 566.  et  in  alter,  edit.  p.  150. 
These  are  the  only  parts  of  the  correspondence  Ijctween 
Calvin  and  the  Reformer  which  have  l)een  published;  but 
Mons.  Senebier,  the  librarian  of  Geneva,  has  informed  us  that 
there  are  a  number  of  Knox's  letters  to  Calvin  preserved  in 
the  public  library  of  that  city.  Historic  Litteraire  de  Gcoeve. 
Tom.  i.  p.  380. 

During  his  residence  at  Geneva,  Knox  became  acquainted 
with  Reza,  who  then  acted  as  professor  of  Greek  in  the  neigh- 
bouring city  of  Lau.sanne,  from  which  he  was  translated  to 
Geneva,  upon  the  erection  of  the  university  there,  tlic  same 


year  in  which  our  Reformer  returned  to  Scotland.  An  epis- 
tolar}'  correspondence  was  afterwards  maintained  between 
them.  Two  letters  of  Bcza  to  Knox,  the  one  dated  June  3, 
1569,  the  other  April  12,  1572,  are  inserted  in  Ephlul.  Theo- 
hg.  Bezse,  p.  333 — 336.  344 — 346.  of  the  first  edition ;  and 
p.  304 — 307.  314 — 316.  of  the  second  edition,  Genevse  1575. 
Both  of  them  evince  the  writer's  ardent  regard  for  our  re- 
former, and  his  high  opinion  of  our  reformation.  The  first 
letter  is  inscribed  "To  John  Knox,  the  Restorer  of  the  Gospel 
of  God  in  Scollmd,"  and  begins  with  these  words :  "  Gratiam 
et  pacem  tibi,  mi  frater,  omnibusque  vestris  Sanctis  ccclesiis 
opto  a  Deo  et  Patre  Domini  nostri  Jesu  Christi,  cui  ctiam 
gratias  ago  assidue,  turn  de  tanta  ipsius  in  nos  beneficentia, 
tum  dc  vestra  singulari  in  asserendo  ipsius  cultu  constantia 
et  animi  fortitudine. — Euge  mi  frater,  quam  recte  illud  quod 
disciplinam  simul  cum  doctrina  conjungitis?  obsecro  et  ob- 
testor  ut  ita  pergatis,  ne  vobis  idem  quod  tam  multis  evcniat,  ut 
quia  in  Umine  impegerint,  progredi  non  possint,  imo  etiam  in- 
terdum  ne  velint  quidcm,  quod  longe  misenimum  est"  The 
second  letter  which  behoved  to  be  received  I>y  Knox  only  a 
few  months  before  his  death,  could  not  fail  to  be  gratifying  to 
him,  even  although  he  had  taken  a  formal  farewell  of  the 
world.  It  is  addressed  "To  his  dearest  Brother  and  Col- 
league," and  begins  in  the  following  lofty  strain  of  affection  : 
"  Etsi  tanto  terrarum  et  maris  ipsius  intcrvallo  disjuncti  cor- 
poribus  sumus,  mi  Cnoxc,  tamen  minirne  dubito  quin  inter 
nos  semper  viguerit,  et  ad  extremum  vigcat,  summa  ilia  ani- 
morum  conjimctio,  unius  ejusdemq.  spiritns  fideique  vinculo 
sancita." 


Note  XLTV. 


90. 


Evidence  of  Queen  Mari/s  design  to  restore  the  Roman 
Catholic  religion  in  Scotland. — The  reader  who  doubts  that 
tills  was  her  imiform  object  from  the  time  that  she  left 
France,  may  consult  the  following  authorities.  Throk- 
morton's  Conference  with  Mary,  apud  Knox,  Historic,  275 — 
277.  Keith,  History,  164—167.  Life  of  bishop  Lesley, 
apud  Anderson's  Collections,  i.  4.  iii.  9.  The  letters  of  the 
Cardinal  de  St.  Croix  (ambassador  from  the  Pope  to  the  court 
of  France),  extracted  from  the  Vatican  Ubrary,  afford  a  striking 
demonstration  of  the  intentions  of  the  queen.  St.  Croix 
writes  to  Cardinal  Borromeo,  tliat  the  grand  Prior  of  Franco 
(one  of  Mar5''s  uncles)  and  Mons.  Danville  had  arrived  from 
Scotland  on  the  17th  November  (1561),  and  had  brought  in- 
formation, that  the  queen  was  going  on  successfully  in  sur- 
mounting all  opposition  to  her  in  that  kingdom.  Being  in- 
formed one  day  that  some  heretics  had  extinguished  the  can- 
dles on  her  altar,  she  repaired  to  the  chapel,  and  having  as- 
certained the  fact,  commanded  a  baron,  one  of  the  most  pow- 
erful and  most  addicted  to  Lutlicranism,  to  re-light  the  candles, 
and  place  tlicm  on  the  altar :  in  wliich  she  was  instantly 
obeyed.  After  relating  another  instance  of  her  spirited  con- 
duct against  the  magistrates  of  a  certain  borough,  who  had 
banished  the  popish  priests,  tlie  Cardinal  adds :  "  by  these 
means  she  has  acquired  greater  authority  and  power,  for  en- 
abling her  to  restore  the  ancient  rel.'gion,"  "con  che  ac- 
questa  tutta  via  maggior  autorita  et  forze,  per  posser  restituer 
en  quel  regno  I'antica  religione."  Aymon,  Synodes  Nation- 
aux  dcs  Egliscs  Reformees  de  France,  tom.  i.  p.  17,  18. 

Note  XLV.  p.  90. 

Sanguinary  spirit  and  principles  of  Roman  Catholics. 
—  Bayle,  Commentaire  Philosophique,  tome  i.  pref.  xiv. 
part  ii.  chap.  V.  p.  343,  347.  Anno  1686,  and  his  Critique 
Generale  de  I'histoire  du  Calvinisme,  p.  485,  501 — 519. 
Hume's  Hist,  of  England,  vol.  vii.  chap.  i.  p.  24.  Lond.  1793, 
12mo.  Robertson's  Histoiy  of  Scotland,  vol.  ii.  p.  62,  143, 
352.     Lond.  1809. 

"  Les  Papistes"  (says  Bayle,  in  a  treatise  in  which  he  pleads 
for  toleration  on  a  very  extensive  basis)  "  Les  Papistes  eux 
memes  sont  les  premiers  en  ce  pais-ci  a  crier  qu'il  n'y  a  rien 
de  plus  in  juste  que  de  vexer  la  conscience.  Pensee  ridicule 
en  leur  bouche  I  et  non  sculement  ridicule,  mais  traitresse, 
&c.  i.  e.  The  Papists  themselves  are  tlie  first  in  this  country 
[Britain],  to  exclaim  that  there  is  nothing  more  unjust  tlian  to 
distress  conscience.  A  sentiment  ridiculous  in  their  mouth  ! 
and  not  only  ridiculous,  but  treacherous,  and  marked  with 
that  dishonesty  which  they  have  unifomdy  discovcroxl  for  so 
many  ages.  For  they  would  not  fail,  in  tliree  years,  to  bum 
and  butcher  all  who  rofu.scd  to  go  to  mass,  if  tliey  acquired  tlie 


NOTES. 


173 


power,  and  could  avail  themselves  of  the  baseness  of  a  sufB- 
cient  number  of  court  parasites,  men  of  venal  souls  and  un- 
worthy of  the  protestant  name  which  they  bear,  to  overturn 
the  fundamental  barriers  which  so  salutarily  restrain  the  royal 
power."  Commentaire  Philosophique,  Pref.  p,  xiii.  xiv. 
Anno  1686. 

The  sentiments  contained  in  the  following  passage  are  now 
become  so  antiquated  and  unintelUgible,  that  I  shall  not  risk 
my  credit  by  venturing  to  translate  it.  "  Les  malheurs  qui 
sont  arrivez  a  nos  freres  de  France  tourneront,  comme  il  y  a 
apparence,  a  notre  profit.  II  nous  ont  remis  dans  la  neces- 
saiire  defiance  du  Papisme,  ils  nous  ont  fait  voir  que  cette 
fausse  religion  ne  s'amende  pas  par  le  long  age,  qu'elle  est 
toujours,  comme  au  tems  jadis,  animee  de  I'esprit  de  fourbe  et 
de  cruaute,  et  que  malgre  la  politesse,  I'honnetete,  la  civilite, 
qui  regno  dans  les  manieres  de  ce  siecle  plus  qu'en  aucun 
autre,  elle  est  toujours  brutale  et  farouche.  Chose  etrange ! 
tout  ce  qu'il  y  avoit  de  grossier  dans  les  moeurs  de  nos  ances- 
tres  s'est  evanouit ;  a  cet  air  rustique  et  sauvage  des  vieux  tems 
ft  succede  par  toute  I'Europe  Chreticnne  une  douceur  et  une 
civilite  extreme.  II  n'y  a  que  le  Papisme  qui  ne  se  sent  point 
du  changement,  et  qui  retient  toujours  son  anciene  et  habitu- 
elle  ferocite.  Nous  nous  imaginions  nous  autres  Anglois,  que 
c'etoit  une  bete  aprivoisse,  un  loup  et  un  tigre  qui  avoit  oublie 
son  naturel  sauvage ;  mads  Dieu  merci  aux  Convertisseurs  de 
France,  nous  nous  sommes  desabusez,  et  nous  savons  a  qui 
nous  aurions  a  faire  si  notre  sort  etoit  entre  leurs  mains.  Pe- 
sans  bien  cela  et  considerons  quel  malheur  nous  pendroit  sur 
la  tete,  si  nous  laissions  croitre  le  Papisme  dans  ce  bien  hciu- 
eux  climats.  Je  ne  veux  pas  que  cela  nous  porte  a  faire  au- 
cunes  represaillcs  svir  les  papistes ;  non,  je  deteste  ces  imita- 
tions ;  je  souhaite  seulement  qu'ils  n'aquierent  pas  la  force 
d'executer  sur  nous  ce  qu'ils  savent  faire."  Ut  supra,  xv. 
xviii.  xix. 

Note  XL VI.  p.  94. 

The  following  extracts  from  the  Records  of  the  Town 
Council  of  Edinburgh,  shew  the  attention  which  they  paid  to 
the  support  and  accommodation  of  their  minister. 

May  8,  1560.  The  provost,  baillies,  and  council  ordain  the 
treasurer  to  pay  the  sum  of  40/.  Scots  for  furnishing  of  the 
minister,  John  Knox,  in  his  household,  and  because  he  had 
been  furnished  on  David  Forrester's  expences  since  his  coming 
to  this  town,  for  the  space  of  15  days,  ordains  to  receive  Da- 
vid's accompts,  and  make  payment. — "  Penultimo  Octobris 
1560.  The  quhilk  day,  the  provost,  baillies,  and  counsaill 
ordainis  James  Barroun  to  pay  to  John  Knox  the  soulme  of 
sax  scoir  pounds  of  the  reddicst  money  of  the  solmcs  being  in 
his  hands,  and  sicklyk  the  soulme  of  20/."  This  last  sum 
seems  to  have  been  allotted  for  repairs  on  his  house. — "  12th 
Dec.  1560.  The  provost,  baillies,  and  counsill  ordanis  James 
Barroun  (Dean  of  Guild  of  last  year)  to  pay  and  deUver  to 
Johne  Knox,  minister,  the  soume  of  uftie  pound  for  suppor- 
ting of  his  charges,  and  that  incontinent  after  the  sight  heirof, 
and  gif  it  beis  funden  that  the  said  James  be  superexpendlt, 
after  the  making  of  his  accompt,  precepts  shall  be  given  in 
maist  strait  forme,  commanding  the  treasurer  to  mak  him 
gud  and  thankfull  payment  of  the  haill  of  his  superexpensis, 
within  aught  days  nixt  thairafter."  From  the  minutes  of  Dec. 
22,  1560,  April  5,  and  May  28,  1561,  it  appears  that  his  fixed 
stipend  was  200/.  a-year;  for  50/.  is  ordered,  each  time,  "for 
his  quarter  payment"  or  "dues."  On  Dec.  14.  1560,  it  was 
agreed  that  his  house  rent  should  afterwards  be  paid  "  at  the 
rate  of  1 5  merks  a-year." 

"  Penultimo  Octobris  (1561).  The  samine  day  the  provost, 
baillies,  and  counsad  ordanis  the  Dene  of  Gyld,  with  all  dili- 
gence, to  make  ane  warme  stuydye  of  dailies  to  the  minister, 
Johne  Knox,  within  his  hous,  abone  the  hall  of  the  same,  with 
lyht  and  wyndokis  thereunto,  and  all  uthcr  nccessaris :  and 
the  expcnciss  dls!)ursit  be  him  salbe  allowit  to  him  in  his  ac- 

comptis." "January  1561.  (i.  e.  1562.)  the  provost, baillies, 

and  counsalo,  understanding  that  the  minister,  Jhone  Knox,  is 
requyrit  be  the  hale  kirk  to  passe  in  the  partis  of  Anguss  and 
Meamys,  for  electing  of  ane  superintendent  thare,  to  the  quhilk 
they  themselfs  hes  grantit,  thairfoir  ordains  Alexander  Guthrie, 
Dene  of  Gild,  to  pass  in  companie  with  him,  for  furnishing  of 
the  said  niinistcris  charges,  and  to  debursc  and  pay  the  same 
of  the  readeast  of  the  townis  gudis  in  his  handis,  quhilk  salbe 
allowit  in  his  accomptis :  And  further  haist  the  said  minister 
hame,  that  tlie  kirk  hear  be  not  desolait." 

To  these  extracts  respecting  Knox,  I  may  add  one  from  the 


same  records  respefeting  Willock,  who  officiated  in  his  place 

as  minister  of  Edinburgh  during  the  civil  war.  "  29  August 
1560.  The  counsail  ordains  their  treasurer  to  deliver  to  John 
Willock  22  crownes  of  the  sone  for  recompense  of  the  great 
traveill  sustenit  be  him  this  haill  yiere  bygane,  in  preching  and 
administring  the  sacramentis  within  this  burgh,  and  ordanis 
ane  member  of  the  counsail  to  thank  him  for  his  greit  bene- 
volence, and  for  the  greit  Iravaill  forsaid."  Previous  to  this, 
they  had  remunerated  John  Cairns,  with  whom  Willock  had 
lodged. 

In  the  text  I  have  mentioned,  that,  after  the  arrangement 
made  by  the  privy  council  respecting  the  thirds  of  benefices, 
Knox  seems  to  have  received  part  of  his  stipend  from  the  com- 
mon fund.  The  extracts  which  Keith  has  given  from  the 
books  of  assignation  mention  only  two  allowances  made  to 
him.  "  To  John  Knox  minister.  Wheat  2  c[halders],  bear  6 
c.  meal  o.  oats  4  c."  Whether  this  was  for  the  year  1563,  or 
not,  Keith  does  not  say.  He  adds  in  a  note,  "  For  the  year 
1568, 1  see  333/.  6s.  8d.  given  to  Mr.  Knox."     History,  App. 

188.  His  stipend  at  the  time  of  his  death  has  been  mentioned 
above,  p.  268,  269.  Keith  has  inserted  from  the  same  books, 
the  price  of  the  principal  articles  of  living  at  that  time,  from 
which  an  idea  of  the  value  of  money  may  be  formed.    Ibid. 

189.  The  following  are  a  specimen.  In  Fyfe,  Lothian, 
Merse  and  Teviotdale,  for  1573,  wheat,  26/.  13s.  4c?.  the  chal- 
dcr;  bear,  21/.  6s.  8d.;  meal,  16/.  oats,  20  marks.  Or,  ac- 
cording to  another  account,  without  expressing  any  county, 
wheat,  1/.  the  boll;  bear,  1/.  13s.  4c?.;  meal  the  same;  oats 
10s. ;  malt,  2/.;  rye,  and  pease  and  beans,  the  same;  mairts 
of  Aberdeen  2/.  13s.  4c?.  the  piece ;  sheep,  9s. ;  poultry,  4s.  the 
dozen ;  geese.  Is.  the  piece ;  cheese  6s.  8c?.  the  stone. 

Note  XL VII.  p.  96. 

Minutes  of  (he  Town  Council  of  Edinburgh  respecting  a 
second  Minister. — "  10  April  1562^ — The  same  day  the  coun- 
sale  understanding  the  tedious  and  havie  labours  sufferit  be 
the  minister,  Jhone  Knox,  in  preiching  thrise  in  the  oulk, 
and  twise  on  the  Sounday,  ordains  with  ane  consent  to  solist 
and  persuade  Maister  Jhone  Craig,  prescntlie  minister  of  the 
Canongait,  to  accept  upoun  him  the  half  chargis  of  the  preach- 
ing of  the  said  kirk  of  Edinburgh  for  sic  gud  deid  as  thai  can 
aggre  on." — That  this  measure  was  not  carried  into  effect  for 
some  time  after,  appears  from  the  following  act  of  counciL 
"  18th  June  1563. — After  lang  reasoning  upon  the  necessities 
of  ministers,  finds  that  there  salbe  ane  uther  minister  elected 
be  the  provost,  bailhes,  and  counsale,  dekynes  and  elderis  of 
this  burgh,  and  addit  to  Johne  Knox,  minister."  From  the 
same  act  and  subsequent  measures,  it  is  evident  that  the  want 
of  necessary  funds  was  the  cause  of  the  delay.  For  the  coun- 
cil resolved,  that  "  for  susteaning  of  thame  baith,  togidder  with 
Johne  Cairns  reider,"  the  deacons  should  meet  with  the  trades 
and  the  merchants,  to  see  what  they  would  be  willing  to  give. 
The  reports  made  to  the  council  did  bear,  that  if  they  would 
fix  a  particular  stipend,  the  trades  were  wdlling  to  pay  a  Jifth 
of  it,  according  to  old  custom.  But  although  Craig  had  not 
been  translated  from  the  Canongate,  he  seems  to  have  per- 
formed a  part  of  the  duty  in  Edinburgh ;  for,  in  the  same 
month,  I  find  the  council  appointing  a  number  of  persons  "  to 
go  amang  the  faithfull  who  had  communicate,"  and  make  a 
collection  for  "  Johne  Craig  and  Johne  Cairns,  who  had  re- 
ceived nothing  for  a  lang  time."  This  expedient  they  were 
obliged  afterwards  to  repeat.  On  the  26  September  1561,  the 
council  had  agreed  to  give  "  to  John  Cairns,  lector  of  morning 
pray  oris,  100  merks  a  year  in  tyme  to  cum."  Records  of  Town 
Council. 

Note  XLVIIL  p.  96, 

It  is  well  known  that  literature  flourished  in  Italy  during 
the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  but  few  comparatively 
are  acquainted  with  the  facts  respecting  the  progress  of  the 
Reformation  in  that  country.  Soon  after  Luther  and  Zuing- 
lius  began  their  opposition  to  the  corruptions  of  the  church, 
the  doctrines  which  they  taught  spread  into  Italy.  They 
were  preached  under  the  very  walls  of  Rome,  and  embraced 
by  many  of  the  nobility  and  of  the  learned  among  the  Ital- 
ians. Protestant  churches  were  formed  in  Naples,  in  Ferrera, 
in  Modena,  in  Mantua,  in  Venica  And  when  they  were 
crushed  by  persecution,  numbers  suffered  death  for  the  cause, 
and  still  greater  numbers  forsook  their  native  land,  and  took 
refuge  in  protestant  countries. 


174 


NOTES. 


It  is  foreign  to  die  design  of  the  present  work  to  enter  on 
this  subject,  and  my  object  in  introducing  it  here  is  to  express 
a  regret  that  no  account  of  the  progress  and  suppression  of 
the  Reformation  in  Italy  has  been  given  in  our  language. 
Many  facts  relating  to  it  are  to  be  found  scattered  through  the 
letters  of  Luther,  Cahin,  and  Peter  Martyr;  in  the  Lives  of 
the  last  mentioned  dixine,  of  Bemardin  Ochin,  Jerom  Zan- 
chy,  Emanuel  Tremellius,  Galleazzo  Caraccioli,  Marquis  of 
Vico,  and  of  other  eminent  Italian  exiles,  either  published 
apart,  or  in  foreign  biographical  collections.  The  most  im- 
portant of  these  facts  were  collected  by  the  very  learned  and 
laborious  Gerdes,  and  published,  after  his  death,  under  the 
title  of  "  Specimen  Italise  Reformatae."  I  had  once  intended 
drawing  up  an  accoimt  from  these  authorities,  but  laid  aside 
tlie  design,  owing  to  other  engagements,  and  not  being  able 
to  procure  all  the  information  I  could  have  wished ;  and  it  will 
give  me  great  pleasure  if  these  hints  shall  excite  some  person 
to  undertake  the  task,  who  has  more  leisure,  and  better  access 
to  materials. 

Note  XLIX.  page  97. 

Writings  of  Quintin  Kennedy. — Keith  has  inserted  a  let- 
ter which  the  Abbot  wrote  to  the  Archbishop  of  Glasgow,  and 
the  correspondence  between  him  and  Willock  in  1559.  He 
has  also  given  large  extracts  from  his  Compendious  Tractive. 
History,  Append,  p.  193 — 203.  The  following  quotations 
may  be  added  for  verifying  the  statement  which  I  have  made 
in  the  text  Having  quoted  John  v.  39,  he  says,  "  Marke 
(gude  redare)  the  Scripture  to  occupy  the  place  of  ane  wytnes, 
and  not  the  place  of  ane  juge."  A,  iiij.  In  a  posterior  part 
of  the  work,  he  endeavours  to  quahfy  what  he  had  stated  re- 
specting the  church  being  judge  of  all  matters  in  religion, 
"  We  never  say  in  all  our  lytic  tractive,  that  the  kirk  is  juge  to 
the  Scripture,  hot  yat  the  kirk  is  juge  to  discern  quhilk  is  the 
trew  Scripture  of  God,  and  to  mak  manifest  to  the  congrega- 
tion the  trew  understandyng  of  the  samyn."  Ibid.  H,  v. 
This  explication  does  not  mend  the  matter :  for  certainly  he 
who  has  the  power  of  calling  what  witnesses  he  pleases,  and 
of  putting  what  sense  he  pleases  upon  their  testimony,  is  to  all 
intents  and  purposes  the  judge  of  the  witnesses,  and  of  their 
evidence.  Having  mentioned  that  there  were  persons  "  swa 
reUgious  and  clean  fyngerit,  that  thair  wil  na  thyng  perswade 
thaim  without  testimony  of  Scripture,"  he  adds :  "  All  Chris- 
tin  men  havand  ane  generale  understanding  of  the  articles  of 
our  faith  (conforme  to  the  understanding  that  the  kirk  hes 
teacheit  ws)  ;  the  ten  commandments,  the  prayer  of  the  Lord 
callit  the  Pater  noster.  It  suffices  to  thame  to  quhame  it  does 
not  appertene  of  thair  office  nor  vocatioun,  to  occupy  the 
place  of  the  prechairis  or  techearis  in  the  congregatioun.  As 
to  the  sacramentis,  and  all  uther  secretis  of  tiie  Scripture, 
stand  to  the  jugement  of  thy  pasture,  without  curious  resson- 
ing  or  cersing  of  the  secretis  of  Godis  word,  quha  beiris  thy 
burding  in  all  materis  doutsum  abone  thy  knawledge,  con- 
forme  to  the  saying  of  the  apostle, '  Obey  unto  your  superioris,' 
&c.  And  in  cais  they  be  negligent,  ressave  doctryne  of  the 
kuk,  as  the  tyme  teichcis  ws.  Be  this  way  (quhilk  is  con- 
forme  to  Godis  word  and  al  veritie)  it  sal  be  asie  to  all  men, 
quhat  place  or  estait  in  the  congregatioim  that  ever  he  occupy, 
to  beir  his  awin  burding."     Ibid.  D,  vii. 

In  his  dispute  with  Knox,  the  abbot  mentions  his  "  books," 
and  he  refers  particularly  to  a  book  which  he  had  published  in 
1561,  on  the  sacrament  of  the  mass.  There  is  in  the  library 
of  Alexander  Boswell,  Esq.  of  Auchinleck,  a  MS.  by  the  ab- 
bot, entitled, "  Ane  familiar  commune  and  rassoning  anent  the 
misterie  of  the  sacrifice  of  the  mess,  betwix  twa  brether, 
master  Quintin  Kennedy,  Coinendator  of  Corsraguell,  and 

James  Kenedy  of .  In  the  yeir  of  God  ane  thousand, 

five  hundred,  three  scoir  ane  yeir."  Whether  this  is  the 
same  with  the  printed  book  on  that  subject,  or  not,  I  cannot 
say,  as  I  have  never  seen  the  abbot's  book  on  the  mass,  which 
indeed  is  very  rare.  It  was  answered  by  George  Hay,  in  a 
work  intitled,  "  The  Confutation  of  the  Abbote  of  Crosraguels 
Masse,  set  furtli  by  Maister  George  Hay.  Imprinted  at  Edin- 
burgh by  Robert  lickpreuik,  1 563."  This  is  dedicated  "  To 
the  most  noble,  potent  and  godlie  Lord  James  Earle  of  Mur- 
ray." It  is  tiie  book  to  which  Winzct  alludes  on  the  margin 
of  his  Buke  of  Qucrtionis,  where  he  says,  "  Mr  George  Hay, 
fjr  haist  zow  to  recant"  Keith,  Append,  p.  236.  see  also  p.  246. 
Lepreuik,  in  an  advertisement  to  the  reader,  apologizes  for  his 
wajit  of  Greek  characters,  which  he  was  forced  to  have  sup- 
plied by  manuscript     Herbert's  edit  of  Ames,  p.  1487.    This 


last  fact  illustrates  what  I  have  mentioned  in  page  143.  Her- 
bert questions  Ames's  statement  that  they  had  no  Hebrew  or 
Greek  types  in  Scotland  in  1579,  and  he  appeals  to  a  book 
printed  '  at  Edinburgh, — be  Leighe  Mannenby,  Anno  Domini 
1578,'  in  which  Greek  characters  are  found."  Ut  Supra,  p. 
1499,  1500.  But  this  cannot  overthrow  Ames's  statement, 
which  is  correct ;  for  the  imprint  of  that  book  is  undoubtedly 
fictitious,  as  no  such  Scottish  printer  as  "  Leighe  Mannenby" 
seems  to  have  ever  existed. 

Another  work  of  Kennedy  has  lately  been  printed,  from  a 
MS.  in  the  Auchinleck  library,  under  the  following  titie: 
"  Ane  Oratioune  in  fauouris  of  all  thais  of  the  Congregatione, 
exhortand  thaim  to  aspy  how  wonderfuUie  thai  ar  abusit  be 
thair  dissaitfull  prechouris,  set  furth  be  master  Quintine  Ken- 
nedy, Commendatour  of  Corsraguell,  ye  zeir  of  Gode  1561." 
Pages  20.  Edinburgh  1812.  It  is  highly  probable  that  this 
was  printed  in  the  year  mentioned  in  the  titie,  although  no 
copy  is  now  to  be  found,  and  that  it  is  one  of "  his  books," 
referred  to  by  the  Abbot  in  his  dispute  with  Knox.  I  have  al- 
ready given  extracts  from  this  tract  See  pages  151,  161. 
It  concludes  in  the  following  manner :  "  Quharfor,  with  all  my 
hart  exhortis,  prays,  and  but  mercie  appellis  thar  pestilent 
prerheouris,  [On  the  margin:  Knox,  Willock,  Winrame, 
Gudmane,  Dowglase,  Heriot,  Spottiswoode,  and  all  ye  rest] 
puffit  vp  with  vane  glore,  quhilkis  rackinnis  thaimselfis  of 
gretar  knawlege  nor  Christis  haill  kirk,  cumand  but  authorite, 
subuertand,  subomande,  and  circumuenande  the  simple  peple, 
cersande  thair  pray  like  the  deuillis  rachis,  barkcand  bauldly 
like  bardis,  aganis  the  blissit  sacrament  of  tiie  altare,  the  sacri- 
fice of  the  mess,  and  all  vther  godlie  ordinance  of  Jhesus 
Christ  and  his  kirk,  to  preiss  thair  wittis  and  inginis,  and  to 
streik  all  thair  pennis  in  my  contrar,  makande  the  congrega- 
tioun and  all  vtiieris  to  vnderstande,  gif  I  do  propirly,  treuly, 
and  godly,  or  nocht,  invey  aganis  thair  deuillische  doctrine 
and  doyingis.  Failyeande  thairof,  recant  for  schame,  recant 
(ye  famouse  precheouris)  and  cum  in  obedience  to  the  kirk  of 
God,  quhilk  ye  have  stubbornlie  misknawin  this  lang  time  by- 
past  (and  that  nocht  without  grete  dangere  to  your  avne  sauUs 
and  mony  vtheris,)  thairfor  recant,  in  tyme  recant,  as  ye  lufe  your 
saluation,  and  crj'  God  mercie :  To  quham,  with  the  Sone  and 
Haly  Gaist,  be  prayse,  honour,  and  glore,  for  ever  ande  ever. 
Amen.  Progenies  viperarum  fugite  a  ventura  ira,  nam  securis 
ad  radicem  arboris  posita  est,  penitentiam  agite.     Matth.  iii." 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  Mr.  Boswell  will  give  to  the  public 
any  other  of  the  Abbot's  tracts  which  the  Auchinleck  Library 
may  contain ;  as  they  form  the  surest  criterion  of  the  talents 
of  the  author,  and  the  most  trivial  writings  often  contain 
incidental  notices  which  serve  to  illustrate  the  history  of  the 
period. 


Since  the  above  was  printed,  I  have  been  favoured  with  the 
sight  of  a  copy  of  this  rare  tract,  belonging  to  Richard  Heber, 
Esq.  From  an  inspection  of  it,  I  perceive  that  the  abbot's 
book,  to  which  it  is  an  answer,  is  the  same  with  the  MS.  in 
Mr.  Boswell's  possession,  entitled,  "  Ane  familiar  commmie 
and  ressoning,"  &c.  See  preceding  note.  It  would  also  seem 
that  the  Abbot's  treatise  had  not  been  printed,  but  that  copies 
of  it  had  been  transcribed,  and  industriously  circulated  through 
the  country  in  manuscript.  For  Hay  repeatedly  makes  the 
supposition  that  there  might  be  variations  in  the  different 
copies,  and  on  one  occasion  confesses  that  he  could  not  read  a 
passage  in  the  copy  wliich  he  used.  "  Followeth,  another  ob- 
jection made  by  James.  Alwayes  (sayes  he)  all  ze  wha  vses 
the  Masse,  dois  not  (this  {^iiot)  is  not  in  the  Text,  that  is 
come  to  my  handcs,  but  because  the  sentence  requireth  it,  I 
haue  added  it)  as  Christe  did  in  the  latter  Supper,'"  &c.  He 
gives  another  quotation  from  the  Abbot  in  the  following  man- 
ner, "Trewly,  brot/ier,  and  ze  be  sa  scrupulus  Scripturares, 
that  ze  wiU  do  nothing  but  {hut)  is  not  in  my  text)  as 
Christe  did,  towardes  the  vse  of  the  Sacramentes,  ze  will 
subuert  our  futile  Faith,  and  cmnmend  our  (twin  doinges* 
(so  I  ride  it)  (our  owen  doinges  or  commonly  I  can  not  tell 
which  should  be  red,  or  if  tiiere  be  any  oUier  tiling  yet,)  for 
quhair  finde  ze  thai  Chri.ste  euer  appointed  one  num  to  be 
Baptised,"  &c.     Fol.  36,  b.  37,  a,  b. 

The  following  account  of  the  Abbot's  talents  and  acquain- 
tance with  the  Fathers  may  serve  as  a  specimen  of  Hay's 
style.  "  Trew  it  is,  that  before  this  lx)ke  of  tiie  Abbote  of  Cro&- 


*  It  is  probable  that  the  words  which  puzzled  Hay  should  be  read, 
and  condemn  y<mr  avin  doinget. 


NOTE  S. 


175 


raguel's  wes  set  furth  and  published,  sindrie  and  diuers  were 
the  opinions  of  men  concerning  it.  For  the  sorte  of  them 
that  be  comonly  tearmed  Papistes,  aduersaries  to  all  trew 
Religion,  thoght  in  verie  deid  that  they  should  receaue  such  a 
confort,  yea,  such  a  Gun,  as  no  munition  myght  withstand, 
na  strengthe  resiste,  nether  yet  any  maner  of  force  repel. 
They  were  encuraged  by  the  brute  and  fame  of  the  man,  who 
onely  wolde  appeare  in  these  tymes  to  haue  dexteritie  of  in- 
gyne,  helped  and  auanced  by  long  progres  of  tyme  spent  in 
good  letters,  yea,  ad  besydes  the  Scriptures  of  God,  will  also 
appeare  to  haue  the  conference,  judgement,  and  authoritie  of 
the  ancient  Fathers  and  councils,  which  it  may  seme  to  the 
Reader  that  he  feadeth  (not  unlyke  the  nyne  Muses)  in  his 
bosome.  I  my  self  hauing  hade  some  tymes  credit  and  ac- 
quentence  of  the  man,  loked  for  some  what  that  might  haue 
troubleil  the  cosciences  of  waiklinges,  and  of  such  as  stayed 
them  selues  vpon  a  glistering  and  scmely  ymagination  of 
mans  heart,  rather  then  upon  the  written  and  reueiled  treuth, 
by  the  spirite  of  God.  For  it  wes  not  vnknawcn  to  me  how 
familiare  he  hath  bene  with  the  scolastike  Sophisters,  their 
thornie  questions,  and  scabrus  conclusions,  yea,  and  some  of 
the  ancient  Doctors,  whose  writinges,  what  by  ignorance  of 
tyme  seduced,  what  by  affection  caryed  away,  I  thoght  wel  he 
should  wreist  to  his  vngodly  opinion."  Fol.  3,  a.  Having 
pointed  out  a  false  quotation,  which  the  Abbot  had  made  from 
Chrysostom,  Hay  adds,  "  Hereby  it  is  easy  to  perccaue  how 
vainely  ye  ascribe  such  reading  of  the  Ancicntes  vnto  your 
self,  as  in  your  writinges  ye  take  vpon  you,  that  ye  will  seme 
in  the  eyes  of  the  people,  to  be  the  oncly  he  in  this  Realme 
versed  in  antiquitie.  And  now  to  say  my  judgment  freely,  I 
truste  ye  haue  no  workes  of  such  men  as  ye  draw  jour 
authorities  out  of,  but  onely  hath,  I  can  not  tell  what  lytle 
scabbed  treaties  of  Eccius,  Cochleus,  Hosius  Stanislaus  youre 
new  start  up  Campion,  and  of  such  others  of  your  factio,  and 
tiiketh  out  of  them,  such  thinges  as  ye  think  may  seruc  to 
your  wicked  and  blasphemus  purpose.  What  crcdite  now,  or 
what  authoritie  oght  to  be  giuen  to  such  places,  as  thou  draw- 
eth  out  of  the  Doctors,  who  belyke  neuer  hath  sene  there 
workes,  nether  yet  knoweth  to  what  purpose  they  speak,  if 
they  speak  of  their  owne  mynde,  or  of  their  aduersaries,  whither 
they  speak  by  an  interrogation  or  conclusiuely,  and  determin- 
atly,  whither  they  speak  vTrifj^oKumi-,*  that  is  excessiuely,  to 
extoll  the  dignitie  of  the  mater  they  haue  in  hand  (which  is 
not  Rare  in  this  Author)  or  simplie.  Thus  the  Text  it  self  is 
to  be  considered,  that  it  that  preceadeth,  being  conferred  with 
it  that  followeth,  the  mynde  and  sentence  of  the  Author,  may 
be  knowen  perfytlie.  Not  that  I  will  hereby  damne  yong 
men,  who  ether  excluded  by  tyme,  or  els  lacking  bookes,muste 
giue  credite  to  good  authorities,  but  in  this  man  who  will 
seme  to  be  an  other  Anacharses  inter  Sordidos  Scythas,  it  is 
intollerable,  who  is  sequestrate  frome  the  common  societie  of 
men,  and  trauell  in  the  common  wealth,  hauing  not  els  to  do, 
but  that  he  hath  inioyned  to  him  self,  that  is  to  ly  by  a  pleasing 
bray,  and  cast  in  stones  to  trouble  the  faire  and  cleare  rinnino- 
waiter."     Fol.  18,  b.  19,  a. 

Note  L.  p.  100. 

Ordination  of  reformed  Ministers.-  In  the  prologue  to  the 
Reasoning  betwixt  Jo.  Knox  and  the  abbot  of  Crossraguell, 
Knox  adverts  to  the  cavils  of  the  papists  against  the  validity 
of  the  call  of  the  reformed  ministers,  and  intimates  his  in- 
tention of  returning  an  answer  to  the  questions  on  this  head 
which  had  been  proposed  to  him  by  Ninian  Wingct,  the  Pro- 
cutour  for  the  Papists.  There  are  some  general  remarks  on 
this  subject  in  his  answer  to  Tyrie's  Letter,  but  I  do  not  think 
that  he  ever  pubhshed  any  thing  professedly  on  the  point. 
There  is  a  ridiculous  tale  told  by  a  popish  writer  concerning 
a  pretended  convention  among  the  reformed  ministers  in  Scot- 
land to  determine  in  what  manner  they  should  proceed  in 
the  admission  of  ministers.  Willock  proposed  as  a  weighty 
difficulty,  that  if  they  used  imposition  of  hands,  or  any  other 
ceremony  usually  practised  in  the  church,  they  would  be  asked 
to  shew,  that  they  themselves  had  been  admitted  by  the  same 
ceremonies,  and  thus  the  lawfulness  of  their  vocation  would 
be  called  in  question.  "  Johann  kmnox  ansuerit  maist  re- 
solutlie,  Buf,  huf  man,  we  or  anes  etitered,  let  se  quha  dar 
put  us  Old  agane ,-  meaning  that  thair  was  not  sa  monie 
gnnnis  and  pistolKs  in  the  countiie  to  put  him  out  as  was  to 
intrud  him  with  violence.     Sua  Johann  kmnox,  to  his  awin 


*  The  Greek  word  is  inserted  with  a  pen.    See  preceding  page. 


confusion,  entered  not  in  the  kirk  be  ordinar  vocatione  or  im- 
position of  handis,  but  be  imposition  of  bullatis  and  pouldir 
in  culringis  and  lang  gunnis  ,-  sua  ye  mister  not  to  trubiD 
you  farder  in  seiking  out  of  Johann  kmnox  vocatione." — This 
story  "  I  understude  (says  the  author)  of  ane  nobill  and  hon- 
ourabil  man,  quha  can  yit  beir  witnes  gif  I  lea  or  not."  He 
took  care,  however,  not  to  give  the  name  of  the  nobleman. 
Nicol  Bume's  Disputation,  p.  129.     Parise  1581. 

Note  LI.  p.  100. 

Strictness  and  impartiality  of  Discipline. — The  form  of 
satisfaction  enjoined  in  the  case  of  Methven,  was  appointed 
for  all  who  had  been  excommunicated  for  murder,  adultery, 
incest,  or  other  aggravated  crimes.  The  murderer  was  to 
bear  in  his  hand  "  the  same  or  lyke  weapoun  whairwith  the 
murther  was  committit."  Buik  of  the  Univ.  Kirk,  p.  38. 
Other  rules  observed  in  cases  of  discipUne  may  be  seen  in 
Knox's  Liturgy,  p.  55 — 67.  edition,  1611.  and  in  Dunlop's 
Confessions,  ii.  704 — 756.  Impartiality  as  well  as  severity, 
distinguished  the  discipline  of  those  times.  "  Gryt  men  of- 
fending in  sick  crymes  as  deserves  seckclaith,  they  suld  ro- 
ceave  the  same  als  weill  as  the  pure. — Na  superintendant  nor 
commissioner,  with  advyce  of  any  particular  kirk  of  yair  juris- 
diction, may  dispense  with  the  extreamitie  of  sackcloth,  pre- 
scrivit  be  tlie  actes  of  the  generall  discipline,  for  any  pecuniall 
sum  or  paine  ad  pios  usus."  Ibid,  ad  August.  1573.  Dun- 
lop,  ii.  753.  This  was  not  a  mere  theoretic  proposition.  For 
in  1563,  we  find  the  lord  Treasurer  making  public  satisfaction 
(Keith  245,529)  ;  in  1567,  the  countes»of  Argyle,  (Buik  of 
the  Univ.  Kirk,  p,  37.);  and  in  1568,  the  bishop  of  Orkney 
(Anderson's  Collections,  ii.  284.).  Let  not  our  modem 
fofhionables  and  great  ones  be  alarmed  at  hearing  of  such 
things.  These  days  are  gone,  and  will  not,  it  is  likely,  soon 
return. 

It  is  a  mistake,  however,  to  represent  the  ecclesiastical 
covuts  as  inflicting  corporal  punishments  upon  offenders.  The 
parliament,  or  the  magistracy  of  particular  burghs,  enacted 
punishments  of  this  kind  against  certam  crimes  which  were 
ordinarily  tried  in  the  church  courts.  Some  of  these  existed 
before  the  Reformation,  and  some  of  them  were  posterior  to 
it ;  but  the  infliction,  as  well  as  the  enacting  of  them,  pertain- 
ed to  the  civil  magistrate.  Knox,  p.  269.  The  following  ex- 
tract will  explain  the  occasion  of  the  mistake,  and  the  true 
state  of  the  case.  "  What  you  bring  (says  Mr.  Baillie  in  his 
answer  to  bishop  Maxwell)  of  pecuniary  mulcts,  imprison- 
ments, banishments,  jogges,  cutting  of  haire,  and  such  like, 
it  becomes  neither  you  to  charge,  nor  us  to  be  charged  with 
any  such  matters  :  No  church-assembly  in  Scotland  assumes 
the  least  degree  of  power,  to  inflict  the  smallest  civill  pun- 
ishment upon  any  person  ;  tlie  Generall  Assembly  it  selfe  hath 
no  power  to  fine  any  creature  so  much  as  in  one  groat :  It  is 
true,  the  lawes  of  the  land,  appoint  pecuniary  mulcts,  impris- 
onment, joggs,  pillories,  and  banishment  for  some  odious 
crimes,  and  the  power  of  putting  these  lawes  in  execution  is 
placed  by  tne  parliament  in  the  hands  of  the  inferior  magis- 
trates in  buiToughs  or  shires,  or  of  others  to  whom  the  coun- 
sel table  gives  a  speciall  commission  for  that  end ;  ordinarily 
some  of  these  civill  persons  are  ruling  elders,  and  sit  with  the 
eldership :  So  when  tlie  eldership  have  cognosced  upon  the 
scandal!  alone  of  crimiiiali  persons,  and  have  used  their  spirit- 
uall  censures  only  to  bring  the  party  to  repentance,  some  of 
the  ruling  elders,  by  virtue  of  their  civill  office  or  commission, 
will  impose  a  mulct,  or  send  to  prison  or  stocks,  or  banish  out 
of  the  bounds  of  some  Uttle  circuit,  according  as  the  act  of 
pariiament  or  counsell  do  appoint  it.  But  that  the  eldership 
should  employ  its  ecclesiastical  and  spirituall  power  for  any 
such  end,  none  of  us  doe  defend.  That  either  in  Scotland  or 
any  where  else  in  the  world  the  haire  of  any  person  is  com- 
manded to  be  cut  by  any  church  judicatory  for  disgrace  and 
punishment,  is  (as  I  take  it)  but  a  foolish  fable.  That  any 
person  truely  penitent  is  threatened  in  Scotland,  with  church 
censures,  for  non-payment  of  monies,  is  in  the  former  category 
of  calumnies."  Historical  Vindication  of  the  government  of 
the  Church  of  Scotland,  p.  17,  18.  Lond.  1646.  I  have  in 
my  possession  (extracted  from  the  records  of  a  kirk-session) 
a  commission,  granted  in  1701,  by  the  sheriff-depute  of  Ber- 
wickshire,  constituting  one  of  the  elders  session-baillie,  for 
executing  the  laws  against  prophaneness,  agreeably  to  an  act 
of  parliament  authorizing  the  appointment  of  such  an  oflScer 
in  parishes  within  which  no  ordinary  magistrate  resided. 

I  may  add  the  following  quotation  from  another  able  and 


176 


NOTES. 


strenuous  asscrtcr  of  tlie  prcsbyterian  discipline  and  govern- 
ment "  Ilbi  originalis  causa  excommuuicationis  est  delictum 
violans  jura  et  iibertates  ecclesice,  &c.  When  the  original  cause 
if  excommunication  is  an  otienee  violating  the  rights  and 
liberties  of  the  church,  either  in  the  way  of  loss  being  sustain- 
sd  or  injury  being  do7!e,  I  confess  that  the  assistance  of  tlie 
secular  arm  may  be  implore<l,  and  tlie  guilty  person  may  be 
forced  to  repair  the  loss  and  to  give  civil  satisfaction ;  or  even 
if  the  person  already  excommunicated  shall  testify  a  disposi- 
tion to  disturb  the  religious  service,  or  to  violate  the  rights  and 
liberties  of  the  church.  But  where  no  loss  or  injury  to  the 
rights  and  liberties  of  the  church  arises  from  the  offence  or 
from  the  contumacy,  but  scandal  alone  is  given,  I  know  not 
whether  any  person  is  to  be  forced  to  what  is  called  penitential 
satisfaction,  by  implorhig  the  assistance  of  tlie  secular  arm. 
For  as  the  church  has  no  coactive  power  in  herself,  so  neither 
:iught  she  to  use  it  indirectly  to  extort  confessions  which  are 
Mnstraineil,  and  consequently  counterfeit."  Caldcrwood,  Al- 
iare  Damascenum,  p.  312 — 3.  edit.  Lugd.  Bat.  1708, 

Note  52.  p.  103. 

Mr.  Hunters  misrepresentations  nf  the  conduct  of  the  Re- 
formers towards  Queen  Mary. — The  whole  account  which 
this  historian  has  given  of  the  conduct  of  the  protestant  clergy 
towards  Mar\',  from  her  arrival  in  Scotland  until  her  marriage 
with  Damly,  is  very  remote  from  sober  and  genuine  history. 
It  is  rather  a  satire  against  the  Reformation,  which  he  charges 
with  rebellion  ;  against  the  presby terian  church,  whose  genius 
he  describes  as  essentially  productive  of  fanaticism  and  vul- 
garity ;  and  against  his  native  country,  the  inhabitants  of 
which,  without  exception,  he  represents  as  over-run  with  rus- 
ticity, strangers  to  the  arts,  to  civility,  and  the  pleasures  of 
conversation.  History,  Reign  of  Eliz.  chap.  i.  near  the  close. 
"  II  n'est  rien.  de  plus  facile  quand  on  a  beaucoup  d'esprit,  et 
beaucoup  d'experience  dans  I'art  de  faire  des  livres,  que  de 
composer  une  Histoirc  satyrique,  des  nieme  fails  qui  ont  serd 
a  faire  une  Eloge.  Deux  lignes  supprimee,  ou  pour  ou  contre, 
dans  I'exposition  d'un  fait,  sont  capable  de  faire  paroistre  un 
homme  ou  fort  innocent,  ou  fort  coupable  :  et  comme  par  la 
eeule  transposition  de  quelques  mots  on  pent  faire  d'un  dis- 
cours  fort  saint  un  discours  impie ;  de  meme  par  la  seule  trans- 
position de  quelques  circonstances,  Ton  pent  faire  de  Taction 
la  plus  criminelle,  Taction  la  plus  vertueuse."  Bayle,  Critique 
Generale  de  THistoire  du  Calvinisme,  p.  13.  2de  edition,  1683. 
This  is  a  charge  to  which  the  historian  of  England  has  ex- 
posed himself  on  more  occasions  than  one. 

I  cannot  here  -expose  all  his  mis-statements  in  the  passage 
to  which  I  have  referred.  He  keeps  out  of  view  the  fixed  re- 
solution of  the  queen  to  re-establish  the  Romish  religion,  with 
all  the  perils  to  which  the  Protestants  were  exposed.  He  art- 
fully introduces  his  narrative,  by  placing  her  proclamation 
against  altering  the  Protestant  religion  before  the  symptoms 
of  popular  discontent  at  her  setting  up  mass ;  whereas  the 
proclamation  was  issued  after  these,  and  most  probably  would 
never  have  appeared,  had  it  not  been  found  necessary  to  allay 
the  apprehensions  of  the  people.  Knox,  285.  Keith,  504,  505. 
As  a  proof  that  the  preachers  "  took  a  pride  ui  vilifying,  even 
to  her  face,  this  amiable  princess,"  he  gives  extracts  from  an 
address  to  her  by  the  general  assembly,  without  ever  hinting 
that  this  was  merely  a  draught  or  overture  ;  that  every  offen- 
sive expression  was  erased  from  it  before  it  was  adopted  by  the 
assembly ;  and  that,  when  it  was  presented  by  the  superinten- 
dents of  JiOthian  and  Fife,  the  queen  said,  "  Here  are  many 
fair  words;  I  cannot  tell  what  the  hearts  are."  Knox,  315. 
Mr.  H.  goes  on  to  say :  "  The  ringleader  in  all  these  insults  on 
Majesty,  was  John  Knox. — His  usual  appellation  for  the  queen, 
was  Jezebel."  This  is  a  mistake.  Neither  in  his  sermons, 
nor  in  his  prayers,  nor  in  conversation,  did  he  give  this  appel- 
lation to  Mary,  as  long  as  she  was  queen  ;  but  always  honour- 
ed her  before  the  people,  as  well  as  in  her  own  presence,  even 
when  he  lamented  and  condemnetl  her  errors.  Afterwards, 
indeed,  when  for  her  crimes  (of  which  no  man  was  more  con- 
vinced than  Mr.  H.)  she  was  removed  from  the  government 
and  he  no  longer  acknowledged  her  as  his  sovereign,  he  did 
apply  this  name  to  her.  It  is  so  far  from  being  true,  that  "  the 
whole  life  of  Mary  was,  from  the  demeanour  of  these  men, 
fdled  with  bitterness  and  sorrow,"  or  that  she  "  was  curbed  in 
all  amusements  by  the  absurd  severity  of  these  reformers," 
that  she  retained  her  "  gaiety  and  ease,"  until,  by  her  impru- 
dent marriage  with  Darnly,  she  with  her  own  hand  planted 
thorns  under  her  pillow ;  while  the  preachers  were  most  free 


in  their  sermons,  she  enjoyed  all  manner  of  hlwrty ;  her  mass 
was  never  taken  from  her ;  she  was  allowed  to  indulge  her 
"  feasting,  finerj',  dancing,  balls,  and  whoredom,  their  necessa- 
ry attendant ;"  nor  was  she  ever  interrupted  in  these  amuse- 
ments, except  when  her  own  husband  deprived  her  of  her  fa- 
vourite Italian  fidler,  a  loss  for  wliich  she  afterwards  took  am- 
ple vengeance.  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  one  acquainted 
with  the  history  of  that  period,  and  the  character  of  the  queen, 
could  impute  the  "  errors  of  her  subsequent  conduct "  to  the 
"  harsh  and  preposterous  usage  which  she  met  with  "  from  the 
reformers.  Nor  can  can  there  be  a  greater  satire  upon  the  ge- 
neral character  of  Mary,  (previous  to  her  first  marriage)  than 
to  say,  that "  she  found  every  moment  reason  to  regret  her 
leaving  that  country,  from  whose  manners  she  had,  in  her  ear- 
ly youth,  received  the  first  impressions."  It  is  well  known 
that  the  court  at  which  she  received  her  education  was  most 
dissolute ;  and  the  supposition  that  she  carried  away  the  inno- 
cent polish  and  refinement  of  their  manners,  without  contract- 
ing their  criminal  contagion,  is  not  only  incredible,  but  contra- 
dicted by  the  confessions  of  her  friends.  Memoires  de  Cas- 
telnau,  augmentez  par  J.  le  Laboureur,  Prieur  de  Juvigne,  torn, 
i.  p.  528,  A  BruxcUes,  1731,  I  have  no  desire  however  to 
dip  into  this  subject,  or  to  draw  forth  to  light  facts  unfavourable 
to  that  princess :  although  the  unwarranted  and  persevering 
attacks  which  have  been  made  upon  worthy  men,  in  order  to 
reconcile  the  "  future  conduct "  of  Mary,  with  "  the  general 
tenor  of  her  character,"  would  justify  greater  freedoms  than 
have  been  lately  used  in  this  way, 

"  We  arc  too  apt  to  figure  to  ourselves  the  reformers  of  that 
age,  as  persons  of  impolitic  and  inflexible  austerity."  This  is 
the  remark  of  one  who  was  much  better  acquainted  with  their 
history  than  Mr.  Hume,  Lord  Hailes,  Historical  Mem,  of  the 
Provincial  Councils  of  the  Scottish  Clergy,  p.  41,  Comp. 
Knox,  Historic,  p.  310.  See  also,  in  addition  to  the  facts  al- 
ready produced  in  this  work,  what  is  contained  in  Note  xxiv. 

Mr,  Hume's  object,  in  the  passage  on  which  I  have  animad- 
verted, was  to  blacken  the  reformers,  rather  than  to  exalt  the 
queen,  of  whose  character  he  had  at  bottom  no  great  opinion, 
"Tell  Goodall  (says  he,  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Robertson)  that  if  he 
can  but  give  up  queen  Mary,  I  hope  to  satisfy  him  in  every 
thing  else ;  and  he  will  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  John  Knox, 
and  the  reformers,  made  very  ridiculous."  Indeed,  he  confes- 
sed to  his  confidential  friends,  that  he  had,  in  his  history,  drawn 
the  character  of  that  princess  in  too  favourable  colours,  "  I 
am  afredd,  (saj's  he  to  the  same  correspondent)  that  you,  as 
well  as  myself,  have  drawn  Mary's  character  with  too  great 
softenings.  She  was  undoubtedly  a  violent  woman  at  all  times." 
Stewart's  Life  of  Robertson,  p.  37,  38.  of  the  separate  edition ; 
or  as  reprinted  with  the  History  of  Scotland,  vol.  L  p.  25. 
Lond,  1809, 

Note  LIII,  p.  104, 

Proceedings  of  Town  Council  in  a  slander  agaitist  Knox.— 
"  ISmo  Junii,  1563, — The  samyn  day,  in  presence  of  the  bail- 
lies  and  counsale,  compcrit  Jhone  Gray,  scribe  to  the  kirk,  and 
presentit  the  supplicatione  following,  in  name  of  the  haill  kirk, 
bering  that  it  was  laitlie  cummen  to  thair  knavvledge  bi  the  re- 
port of  faythfuU  bretherins,  that  within  thir  few  dayis  Eufame 
Dundas,  in  the  presence  of  ane  multitude,  had  spokin  divers 
injurious  and  sclandarous  wordis  baith  of  the  doctrine  and  min- 
isteris.  And  in  especial  of  Jhonne  Knox,  minister,  sayand, 
that  within  few  dayis  past,  the  said  Jhonne  Knox  was  appre- 
hendit  and  tane  furth  of  ane  killogye  with  ane  commoun  hure; 
and  that  he  had  bene  ane  commone  harlot  all  his  dayis. 
Quhairfore  it  was  maist  humblie  desyrit  tliat  the  said  Eufame  myt 
lie  callit  and  examinat  upone  the  said  supplicatione,  and  ^ 
the  wordis  alione  writtin,  spokin  bi  hir,  myt  be  knawin  or  trj'it 
to  be  of  veritie,  that  the  said  Jhonne  Knox  myt  lie  punist  with 
all  rigour  without  favour :  otherwyse  to  tak  sic  ordour  with 
hir  as  myt  stand  with  the  glory  of  God,  and  that  sclander  myt 
be  takin  from  the  kirk.  As  at  mair  length  is  contenit  in  the 
said  supplication,  Quhilk  beand  red  to  the  said  Eufame,  per- 
sonallie  present  in  judgement,  scho  dent/it  the  samyn,  and  Fry- 
day  the  25  day  of  Junii  instant  assignit  to  hir  to  here  and  see 
witnes  producit  for  preving  of  the  allegiance  alwne  expremit, 
and  Rcho  is  wamyt  apud  acta,"  Records  of  Town  Council  of 
Edinburgh,  of  the  aljove  date. 

The  minute  of  the  2,'ith  contains  the  account  of  the  proof 
which  Knox's  procurator  led  to  shew  that  Eufame  Dundas  had 
uttered  the  scandal  which  she  now  denied,  and  tlie  appoint- 
ment that  the  parties  should  be  "  warnit  literaiorie  to  hear  sen- 


NOTE  S. 


177 


tence  given  in  the  said  action,"  I  have  not  observed  anything 
more  respecting  the  eause  in  the  minutes,  and  it  is  probable, 
that  the  Reformer,  having  obtained  the  vindication  of  his  cha- 
racter, prevailed  on  the  ji'.dges  not  to  inflict  punishment  on  the 
accuser. 

Note  LIV.  p.  104. 

Calumnies  of  the  Popish  writers  against  Knox  a^id  oilier 
Reformers. — "  C'est  rendre  sans  doute  (says  Bayle)  quclque 
service  a  la  memoire  de  Jean  Knox,  que  de  fair  voir  les  extra- 
vagances de  ceux  qui  ont  dechire  sa  reputation.''  And,  having 
referred  to  the  "  gross  and  extravagant  slanders  "  of  one  writer, 
he  adds,  "  tliis  alone  is  a  sufficient  prejudice  against  all  which 
the  Roman  Catholic  writers  have  published  concerning  the 
great  Refonner  of  Scotland."  Diet.  art.  Knox.  If  Mens. 
Bayle  could  speak  in  tliis  manner  upon  a  quotation  from  one 
author,  what  conclusion  shall  we  draw  from  the  following  quo- 
tations 1 

The  fu'st  writer  who  attacked  Knox's  character  after  his 
death,  was  Archibald  Hamilton,  whose  hostility  against  him 
■was  inflamed  by  a  personal  quarrel,  as  well  as  by  political  and 
religious  considerations;  (See  above,  p.  123.)  His  book 
shews  how  much  he  was  disposed  to  recommend  himself  to 
tlie  papists,  by  throwing  out  whatever  was  most  injurious  to 
his  former  connexions.  But  there  were  too  many  alive  at  that 
time  to  refute  any  charge  which  might  be  brought  against  the 
Reformer's  moral  character.  Accordingly,  when  he  aimed  the 
most  envenomed  thrust  at  his  reputation,  Hamilton  masked  it 
under  the  name  of  an  apprehension  or  surmise.  Having  said, 
that,  on  the  death  of  Edward  VI.  "  he  fled  to  Geneva  witli  a 
noble  and  rich  lady  "  (which  by  the  bye  is  also  a  falsehood) 
he  adds  in  a  parenthesis  "  qua  simul  et  filia  matris  pellicc  fa- 
miUariter  usus  fuisse piiiabaiur,"  De  Confusionc  Cahinianse 
SeetfB,  p.  65,  a,  Parisiis  1577. 

In  1579,  Principal  Smeton  published  his  answer  to  Hamil- 
ton's book,  in  \\hich  he  repelled  the  charges  which  he  had 
brought  against  ICnox,  and  pronounced  the  above  mentioned 
surmise  a  malicious  calumny,  for  which  the  accuser  could  not 
adduce  the  slightest  proof,  and  which  was  refuted  by  the  spot- 
less character  which  our  Reformer  had  maintained  before  the 
whole  world.  Smetoni  Responsio  ad  Virulentum  Dialogum 
•  Hamiltonii,  p.  95.  It  now  behoved  Hamilton  either  to  retract 
or  to  prove  his  injurious  insinuation.  But  how  did  he  act  in 
his  reply  to  Smeton  1  I'nder  the  pretence  of  repeating  what 
he  had  said  in  his  former  book,  he  introduces  a  number  of  oth- 
er slanders  against  Knox's  character,  of  which  he  had  not 
given  the  most  distant  hint  before;  and  (Lncredible  to  be  told  !) 
he  absolutely  avers,  that  be  had  formerly  asserted  and  specified 
all  these,  and  condescended  upon  the  places,  times,  and  other 
circumstances ; — although  in  his  former  publication  ho  had 
not  said  one  word  on  the  subject  except  the  general  surmise 
which  I  have  quoted  al:ove  ! ! !  "  I'ueritiam  prematura  venere 
et  pollute  insuper  patris  thoro  infamem  noiavi.  Inde  adolc- 
scentiam  pcrpetuis  assuetam  adulteriis  dei-ignavi.  Post  banc 
maturioris  a3tatis  apostasin,  &c.  descripsi :  res  ipsas  ut  gestse 
erunt  retuli :  lo;a,  tempora,  et  reliquas  omnes  circumstantias 
notavi."  CalviniauEE  C'onfusionis  Demonstrat io,  contra  male- 
dicjim  ministrorum  Scotiae  responsionem ;  per  Archibaldum 
Hamiltonium,  in  Sancta  Christi  Ecclesla  Presbjterum. p. 253. 
Parisiis,  1581.  Than  this  what  can  be  a  stronger  mark  of 
one  who  has  "  made  shipwreck  of  faith  and  a  good  conscience," 
who  "  is  subverted  and  sinnetli,  being  condemned  of  himself." 
After  this  we  cannot  wonder  at  his  casting  off  all  shame,  and 
asserting :  "  Itane  vero  m  maledictis  du<^itis,  quse  impurus  ho- 
mucio  non  vno,  aut  paucis,  sed  multis,  et  fere  dicam  ornnUnis  ai' 
testantibus,  designavit  1  patris  tliorum  infami  incestu  poUutum, 
et  tot  eommissa  adulteria,  quot  in  fcdibus,  intra  quas  admitte- 
hatur,  relicta  vestigia  etiamnu  reclfant  Lmidonierues  omnes 
nobilcSjjuxta  et  igmibllevy     Ut  supra,  p.  253,  b. 

We  are  not  left  to  impute  these  slanders  to  personal  malice, 
or  to  the  miserable  shifts  of  an  unprincipled  individual,  who, 
having  rashly  committed  himself  by  advancing  a  falsehood,  at- 
tempts to  maintain  his  credit  by  bold  assertions  and  fresh  ca- 
lumnies. For,  in  the  very  same  year  in  which  Hamilton's  last 
work  appeared,  we  find  another  popish  author  writing  in  the 
following  terms  :  "  Johne  Kmnox  your  first  apostel,  quha  caus- 
ed ane  young  woman  in  my  lord  Ochiltreis  place  fal  almaist 
dead,  because  sche  saw  his  maister  Satthan  in  anc  black  man- 
nis  likenese  with  him,  throuche  ane  bore  of  the  dure :  quha 
was  also  ane  manifest  adulterare  bringand  furtli  of  Ingland 
bailh  the  mother  and  the  dochter  whom  he  persuadit  that  it 
X 


was  lesum  to  Icve  her  housband,  [See  pages  57,  75,]  and 
adhere  unto  him,  making  ane  fleshe  of  hunself,  the  mother, 
and  the  dochter,  as  if  he  wald  conjoyne  in  ane  religione,  the 
auld  synagogue  of  the  Jeuis  witli  the  new  fundat  kiik  of  the 
Gentiles."  In  another  place  he  introduces  the  account  of  his 
second  marriage  with  these  words :  "  That  rcnegat  and  perjurit 
priest  schir  Johane  Kmnox,  quha  cftcr  the  death  of  his  first 
harlot,  quhilk  he  mareit  incurring  eternal  damnation  be  breking 
his  vou  and  promise  of  chastitie,  quhcn  his  age  requyrit  rather 
that  with  tearis  and  lamentations  he  sould  have  chastised  his 
flesh  and  bewailit  the  breaking  of  his  vou,  as  also  the  horril  il 
incest  with  his  gudmother  in  ane  killogie  of  Haddiiietoi.ii." 
Burne's  Disputation  concerning  the  Controversif  Heaiidis  of 
Religion,  p.  1G3,  143.  Parise,  1581.  But  Bume,  and  even 
Hamilton  were  outstripped  in  calunmy  by  that  most  im,puc'tnt 
of  all  hars,  James  Laing,  who  published  in  Latin  an  account 
of  the  lives  and  manners  of  the  heretics  of  his  time.  There 
are  few  pages  of  his  book  in  which  he  does  not  abuse  our  Re- 
former; but  in  (v\hat  he  calls)  his  Life,  he  has  exceeded  any 
thing  which  was  ever  dictated  either  by  personal  malice,  or  by 
religious  rancour.  "  Statim  (says  he)  ab  initio  sua3  pueritia 
omni  genere  turpissimi  facinoris  infectus  fuit.  Vix  exccsse- 
rat  jam  ex  ephebis,  cum  patris  sui  uxorem  violarat,  suam  no- 
vercam  vitiarat,  et  cum  ca,  cui  revcrentia  potissimum  adhibenda 
fuerat,  nrfarium  stuprum  fccerat."  His  bishop  having,  for- 
sooth, called  him  to  account  for  these  crimes,  he  straightway 
became  mflamcd  with  the  utmost  hatred  to  the  Catliolic  reli- 
gion. "  Delude  non  modo  cum  profanis,  sed  etiam  cum  qui- 
buscunque  sceleratissimis,  perditissimis,  et  potissimum  omnium 
hajrclicis  est  vcrsatus,  et  quo  quisque  erat  immanior,  scelevatior, 
crudelior,  co  ci  carior  et  gTatior  fuit. — Ne  unum  quidem  diem 
sccleratissimus  hcereticus  sine  una  et  item  altera  meretrice  tradu- 
ccrcjx>tuit. — Continuo  cum  tribus  meretricibus,  quae  videbantur 
posse  sufFicere  uni  sacerdoti,  in  Scotia  convolat. — Ceterum  liic 
lascivus  caper,  qucm  assidue  sequcbatur  lasciva  f apella,  partim 
perpetuis  crapulis,  partim  vino,  lustrisque  ita  confcctus  fuit,  ut 
quotiescunq.  consccndcre  suggestum  ad  malediccndum,  velim 
precandum  [vel  imprecandum]  suis,  opus  erat  ilh  duobus  aut 
ti'ibus  viris,  a  quibus  elevandus  atq.  sustendandus  erat."  De 
Vita  d  Moribus  atque  litlnis  Gestis  Hsej-eiicorum  nostri  tern- 
poris.  Auilwre  Jucubo  Laingxo  Scoto  Dociore  Sorbonico,  fbl. 
113,  b.  114,  a,  b.  115,  a.  Parisiis,  1581.  Cum  Privilegio. 
Nor  were  such  accounts  confined  to  that  age.  In  the  begin- 
ning of  the  follow  ing  century,  they  were  repeated  by  John 
Hamilton.  Facile  Traictise,  contenand  ane  infallible  reul  to 
discern  trew  from  fals  religion,  p.  60.  Louvain,  1600.  In 
1623,  an  English  writer  refers  to  James  Laing's  work  for  an: 
authentic  account  of  Knox's  private  life.  The  Image  of  bothe 
Churches,  JheruSalcm  and  Babell.hy  P.  D.  M.  p.  134.  Tor- 
nay,  1623.  And  as  late  as  1628,  wc  find  Father  Alcxa7ider 
i/a?7/?e  retailing,  in  the  English  language,  all  the  gross  tales 
of  "his  predecessors,  with  additions  of  his  own,  in  which  he 
shews  a  total  disregard  to  the  best  known  facts  in  the  Reformer's 
life.  "  Jhon  Knox  (says  he)  being  chaplane  to  the  luird  of 
Bulvurie,  and  accused  for  his  vices  and  leecherie,  was  found  so 
guiltie  and  culpable  that  to  eschevie  the  just  punishment  prepar- 
ed for  him  he  presently  fled  away  into  Ingland."  He  after- 
weirds  says,  that  Knox,  after  the  death  of  his  second  w'ife  [that 
is,  twenty  years  at  least  after  his  own  death,]  "  shamefully  fell 
in  the  abominable  vice  of  incestuous  adultery,  as  Archb.  Ham- 
ilton and  others  doe  witnesse ;"  and  as  a  proof  that  Knox 
reckoned  this  vice  no  blot.  Bailhe  puts  into  his  mouth  a  gross 
defence  of  it,  in  the  very  words  which  Sanders,  in  his  book 
against  the  Anglican  Schism,  had  represented  Sir  Francis 
Brian  as  using  in  a  conversation  vnth  Henry  VHI.  Baillie's 
True  Information  of  the  Unhallowed  Offspring,  Progress,  and 
Impoison'd  Fruits  of  our  Scottish-Calvinian  Gospel  and  Gos- 
pellers, p.  14,  41.     Wirtsburgh,  1628. 

It  is  evident  that  these  outrageous  and  contradictory  calum- 
nies have  been  all  grafted  upon  the  convicted  lie  mentioned  in 
the  preceding  note,  and  on  the  malignant  insinuation  of  Arch- 
ibald Hamilton.  The  characters  of  the  foreign  reformers  were 
traduced  in  the  very  same  manner  by  the  popish  writers.  Iliose 
who  have  seen  Bolsec's  Lives  of  Calvin  and  Beza,  or  others 
written  in  the  same  spirit,  must  be  sufficiently  convinced  of 
this.  Will  it  be  believed  that,  in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
centurj',  a  book  should  have  been  published  under  the  name  of 
the  Cardinal  de  Ricldieu,  in  which  it  is  asserted  that  "  Calvin 
being  condemned  for  acts  of  incontinency,  which  he  had  car- 
ried to  the  utmost  extremity  of  vice,  (scs  incontinences  qui  le 
porterent  jusqucs  aux  demieres  extremitcz  du  vice)  retired 
from  Noyon  (his  native  citv)  and  from  the  Roman  church,  at 
12 


178 


NOTES. 


the  same  time"!"  And  that  this  should  have  been  published 
after  the  cardinal  himself  had  examined  the  registers  of  Noyon, 
which  stated  facts  totally  inconsistent  with  the  supposition  of 
such  a  thing  having  ever  been  imputed  to  him  1  La  Defence 
de  Calvin,  par  Charles  Drehncourt,  p.  10,  11,33.  Geneve, 
1667.  Our  countrymen  of  the  popish  persuasion  were  careful 
to  retail  all  the  calumnies  against  the  foreign  reformers,  and 
they  do  so  in  a  manner  almost  peculiar  to  themselves.  Nicol 
Bume  most  seriously  asserts  tliat  Luther  was  begotten  of  the 
Devil,  as  to  his  carnal  as  well  as  his  spiritual  generation  ;  and 
in  order  to  prove  that  tliis  was  not  impossible,  he  advances  the 
most  profane  argument  that  ever  proceeded  from  the  mouth  or 
pen  of  a  Christian.  Disputation,  ut  supra,  p.  141.  The  same 
thing  is  asserted  by  James  Laing.  De  Vita  Heretic,  ut  supra, 
fol.  1,  b.  In  a  pretended  translation  into  Scots  of  a  poem 
written  by  Beza  in  his  youth  (which  the  Roman  Catholics, 
after  he  left  their  communion,  were  careful  to  preserve  from 
oblivion)  Bume  has  unblusliingly  inserted  some  scandalous 
and  disgraceful  line^,  for  which  he  had  not  the  slightest  war- 
rant from  the  original.  Disputation,  p.  103,  104.  John  Ham- 
ilton says,  that  "  Calvin  did  ane  miracle  to  mak  ane  quik  man 
ane  deid,  quhilk  miracle  was  done  m  Geneve  to  ane  Brulffius 
of  Ostune,  with  whomc  he  contractit  for  a  piece  of  money  to 
fenzie  himself  deid,  and  to  rysc  to  lyf  at  his  prayers  when  he 
sulde  chope  thryse  upon  his  biere :  bot  the  compagnion  forget 
to  ryse  again,  whilk  come  to  Calvin's  schame."  Facile 
Traictise,  ut  supra,  p.  412.  But  the  following  narrative  is  still 
more  marvellous,  and  lest  his  readers  should  doubt  its  truth, 
the  author  prays  them  to  "  suspend  thair  judgement,  quhill 
they  spcre  [until  they  enquire  at]  the  maist  affectionat  Protes- 
tantis  of  Scotland  quha  lias  bene  in  Geneve.  Surelic  I  ressavit 
the  treuth  of  this  be  honorable  gentilmen  of  our  countrie,  quha 
confessit  to  me  before  gud  vitnes,  that  the  devil  gangis  familiar- 
lie  up  and  down  the  town,  and  speciallie  cumis  to  pure  and  in- 
digent men  quha  sellis  thair  saullis  to  him  for  ten  sous,  sum 
for  mair  or  less.  The  money  is  very  pleasant  quhen  they  res- 
save  it ;  bot  putting  hand  to  thair  purse,  quhen  they  vald  by 
thair  denner,  thay  find  nathing  bot  uther  stane  or  stick." 
Hamilton's  Cathohk  and  facile  traictise,  fol.  50,  b.  Paris,  1581. 
Laing,  in  his  Life  of  Calvin  (of  which  Senebier  has  justly 
said  "  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  believe  that  such  a  libel  had 
been  written,  if  it  were  not  to  be  seen  in  print,")  has  raked  to- 
gether all  the  base  aspersions  which  had  been  cast  upon  that 
reformer,  and  has  spent  a  number  of  pages  in  endeavouring  to 
shew  that  he  was  guilty  of  stealing;  a  sum  of  money.  De 
Vita,  ut  supra,  fol.  76,  b. — 79,  b.  Of  Buchanan,  whom  he 
calls  "  homo  sacrarum  literarum  imperitissimus,  simulque  im- 
pudentissimus,"  he  relates  a  number  of  unpieties,  of  which 
this  is  the  last,  "  plurimi  etiam  narrant  ilium  miserrimum  ho- 
rainem  quandam  in  sacro  fonte,  quo  infantes  aqua  benedicta 
ablui  Solent,  adsit  reverentia  dictis,  oletum  fecisse."  Ibid.  fol. 
40,  a.  One  example  more,  and  I  have  done.  "  Te  admone- 
rem  de  quodam  impio  hieretico  sacerdote  Davidson,  quem  au- 
divi  his  jam  multis  annis  publice  cum  quadam  meretrice  scor- 
tatum  esse,  quam  fertur  pepcrisse  prima  nocte,  qua  cum  ilia 
dormivit,  quod  hie  doctores  medicipro  magno  miraculo  habent ; 
cum  vix  muliercs  ante  nonum  mensem,  vel  octavum  parere  sO' 
leant"     Ibid.  fol.  36,  b.  37,  a. 

Persons  must  have  had  their  foreheads,  as  well  as  their  con^ 
sciences,  "  seared  with  a  hot  iron,"  before  they  could  publish 
such  things  to  the  world  as  facts.  Yet  Laing's  book  was  ap- 
proved, and  declared  worthy  of  publication,  by  two  doctors  of 
the  University  of  Paris.  Its  grossest  slanders  against  the  Scot- 
tish reformers  were  literally  copied,  and  circulated  through  the 
continent  as  undoubted  truths,  by  Reginaldus,  Spondanus,  Ju- 
lius Breigerus,  and  many  other  foreign  popish  authors.  Each 
of  these  added  some  fabrication  of  his  own ;  and  one  of  them 
is  so  ridiculously  ignorant,  as  to  rail  against  our  reformer  by 
the  name  of  Noptz.  Bayle,  Dictionnaire,  art.  Knox,  Note  G. 
Archibald  Hamilton's  two  works  had  the  same  rcspectabk  re- 
commendations with  Laing's  book,  and  one  of  them  is  declar- 
ed to  be  "  very  orthodox,  and  worthy  of  being  ushered  into  the 
light  for  the  profit  of  the  church."  And  John  Hamilton  was 
chosen  tutor  to  two  cardinals,  appointed  Professor  of  Philoso- 
phy in  the  Royal  College  of  Navarre,  elected,  by  the  students 
of  the  German  nation  in  Paris,  to  the  cure  of  the  parish  of 
St.  Cosmus  and  Damian,  presented  to  it  by  the  University,  and 
confirmed  in  it  by  the  parliament ;  and,  in  fine,  was  chosen 
Rector  of  the  University  of  Paris  ! ! !  So  eager  were  foreign- 
ers to  load  T\  ith  honours  the  most  bigoted  and  fanatical  of 
our  popish  refugees.  Sketch  of  the  Life  of  John  Hamilton, 
p.  2,  3.  written  by  Lord  Hailes. 


I  know  that  it  was  common  in  that  age  for  controversial  wri- 
ters of  all  descriptions  to  indulge  themselves  in  a  coarseness 
of  invective  against  their  antagonists  which  would  not  be  tole- 
rated at  present :  but  this  is  a  quite  different  thing  from  what 
I  have  given  examples  of  in  this  note.  With  respect  to  the 
complaints  which  protestant  writers  made  of  the  profligacy  of 
the  popish  clergy,  the  truth  of  these  is  incontestably  establish- 
ed by  the  testimony  of  their  ovm  authors,  and  by  the  pubUc 
acts  and  documents  of  their  own  church.  Nor  do  I  wish  to 
insinuate  that  all  the  popish  writers  were  of  the  same  descrip- 
tion with  those  whom  I  have  quoted,  or  that  there  were  not 
many  Roman  Catholics,  even  at  that  time,  who  disapproved 
of  the  use  of  these  dishonourable  and  empoisoned  weapons; 
but  the  great  number  of  such  pubUcations,  the  circulation 
which  they  obtained,  emd  the  length  of  time  during  which 
they  continued  to  issue  from  the  popish  presses,  demonstrate 
the  extent  to  which  a  spirit  of  Ijung  and  defamation  was  car- 
ried in  the  Romish  church.  Petty  dabblers  in  antiquity,  and. 
flippant  orators,  who  have  read  a  General  History  of  those 
times,  and  a  modem  Roman  Cathohc  pamphlet,  must  he  al- 
lowed to  repeat  the  trite  maxim,  of  faults  on  both  sides,  and  to 
conceal  their  ignorance  under  the  veil  of  moderation,  by  re- 
presenting these  faults  as  equal ;  but  I  aver,  that  no  candid 
person,  who  is  duly  acquainted  with  the  writings  of  that  peri- 
od, will  pretend  to  account  for  the  above-mentioned  calumnies, 
by  imputing  them  to  a  spirit  of  asperity  and  prejudice  common 
to  both  parties. 

Note  LV.  p.  107. 

Popish  accounts  of  Knox's  second  marriage. — "  Heaving 
laid  aside  al  feir  of  the  panis  of  hel,  and  regarding  na  thing 
the  honestie  of  the  warld,  as  ane  bund  sklave  of  the  Devil,  be- 
ing kendillit  with  an  unquenshible  lust  and  ambition,  he  durst 
be  sua  bauld  to  enterpryse  tlie  sute  of  marriage  with  the  maist 
honorabil  ladie,  my  ladie  Fleming,  my  lord  Duke's  eldest 
dochtcr,  to  the  end  that  his  seid  being  of  the  blude  royal,  and 
gydit  be  thair  father's  spirit,  might  have  aspyrit  to  the  croun. 
And  because  he  reeeavit  ane  refusal,  it  is  notoriouslie  knawin 
how  deidlie  he  halted  the  hail  hous  of  the  Hamiltonis. — And 
this  maist  honest  refusal  would  nather  stench  his  lust  nor  am- 
bition ;  bot  a  lytel  efter  he  did  perscw  to  have  allyance  with 
the  honorabili  hous  of  Ochiltrie  of  the  Kyng's  M.  awin 
blude ;  Rydand  thair  with  ane  gret  court,  on  ane  trim  gelding, 
nocht  lyk  ane  prophet  or  ane  auld  decrepit  priest,  as  he  was, 
bot  lyk  as  he  had  bene  ane  of  the  blude  royal,  with  his  bendes 
of  talfetie  feschnit  with  golden  ringis,  and  precious  stanes: 
And  as  is  planelie  reportit  in  the  countrey,  be  sorccric  and 
witchcraft  did  sua  allure  that  puir  gentil  woman,  that  scho 
could  not  leve  without  him :  whilk  appeiris  to  be  of  gret  prob- 
abUitie  scho  being  ane  damssel  of  nobel  blud,  and  he  ane  auld 
decrepit  creatur  of  maist  hais  degrie  of  onie  that  could  be  found 
in  the  countrey :  Sua  that  sik  ane  nobil  hous  could  not  have 
degenerat  sua  far,  except  Johann  kmnox  had  interposed  the 
powar  of  his  maister  the  Devil,  quha  as  he  transfiguris  him 
self  sumtymes  in  an  angel  of  licht :  sua  he  causit  Johann 
kmnox  appeir  ane  of  the  maist  nobil  and  lustie  men  that  could 
be  found  in  the  warld."  Nicol  Bume's  Disputation,  ut  supra, 
p.  143,  144.  But  the  Devil  outwitted  himself  in  his  design  of 
raising  the  progeny  of  the  Reformer  to  the  throne  of  Scotland, 
if  we  may  believe  another  popish  writer.  "  For  as  the  common 
and  constant  brute  of  the  people  reported,  as  writeth  Regin- 
aldus [a  most  competent  witness  !]  and  others,  it  chanced  not 
long  after  the  marriage,  that  she  [Knox's  wife]  lying  in  her 
bed,  and  perceiving  a  blak,  uglie,  il  favoiu-ed  man  busily  talk- 
ing with  him  in  the  same  chamber,  was  sodainely  amazed, 
that  she  took  scikncss  and  dyed"  [nor  does  the  author  want 
honourable  witnesses  to  support  tliis  fact,  for  he  immediately 
adds] :  "  as  she  revealed  to  two  of  her  friends,  being  ladyes, 
come  thither  to  visite  her  a  little  before  her  decease."  Father 
A.  Baillie's  True  Information,  ut  supra,  p.  41.  It  is  unfor- 
tunate, however,  for  the  credit  of  this  "  True  Information,"  that 
the  Reformer's  wife  not  only  lived  to  bear  him  several  children, 
but  survived  him  many  years.  James  owed  the  safety  of  his 
crown  to  another  cause.     See  page  138. 

NoteLVI.  page  112. 

Of  Christopher  Goodman. — From  the  intimate  and  long 
friendship  which  subsisted  between  him  and  our  Reformer, 
this  divine  deserves  more  particular  notice  in  this  work.  He 
had  been  a  fellow  student  witli  Cranmer  at  Cambridge,  and 


NOTES. 


179 


was  one  of  those  learned  men  who,  about  1523,  were  chosen 
from  that  university  to  be  removed  to  the  new  college  erected 
by  Cardinal  Wolsey  at  Oxford.  He  was  soon  after  thrown 
into  prison  for  heresy.  During  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.  he 
read  lectures  on  Divinity  in  Oxford.  Strype's  Cranmer,  p.  3. 
Strype's  Annals,  i.  124.  At  the  accession  of  Queen  Mary, 
he  retired  first  to  Strasburgh,  and  afterwards  to  Frankfort. 
When  he  was  at  Strasburgh,  he  joined  in  a  common  letter, 
advising  the  exiles  of  Frankfort  to  alter  as  little  as  possible  in 
the  English  service ;  but  he  became  afterwards  so  convinced 
of  the  propriety  of  alterations,  and  was  so  much  offended  at 
the  conduct  of  the  Coxian  party,  that  he  removed  from  Frank- 
fort to  Geneva,  along  with  those  who  were  of  the  same  senti- 
ments with  him,  and  was  chosen  by  them  joint  minister  with 
Knox.     Troubles  at  Franckford,  p.  22,  23,  54,  55,  59. 

In  1558,  he  published  the  book  which  afterwards  created  him 
a  great  deal  of  trouble.  Its  title  is:  "  How  superior  powers  oght 
to  be  obeyd  :  of  their  subjects  and  wherin  they  may  lawfully 
by  God's  worde  be  disobeyed  and  resisted.  Wherin  also  is 
declared  the  cause  of  all  this  present  miserie  in  England,  and 
the  onely  way  to  remedy  the  same.  By  Christopher  Good- 
man. Printed  at  Geneva  by  John  Crispin,  MDLVIII."  In 
this  book  he  subscribed  to  the  opinion  respecting  female  gov- 
ernment, which  his  colleague  had  published  a  few  months  be- 
fore. He  maintained  that  the  power  of  kings  and  magistrates 
was  hmited,  and  that  they  might  lawfully  he  resisted,  deposed, 
and  punished  by  their  subjects,  if  they  became  tyrannical  and 
wicked.  These  principles  he  applied  particularly  to  the  govern- 
ment of  the  English  Mary.  A  copy  of  verses  by  William 
Kethe  (who  translated  some  of  the  Psalms  into  English' 
metre)  is  added  to  the  work,  of  which  the  following  is  a 
specimen. 

Whom  fury  long  fostered  by  suffrance  and  awe. 
Have  right  rule  subverted,  and  made  will  their  law. 
Whose  pride  how  to  temper,  this  truth  will  thee  tell : 
So  as  thou  resist  may'st,  and  yet  not  rebel. 

Goodman  came  to  England  in  1559,  but  he  found  queen 
Elizabeth  so  much  displeased  at  his  publication,  that  he  kept 
himself  private.  Burnet,  iii.  Append.  274.  On  this  account, 
and  in  compliance  with  the  urgent  request  of  our  Reformer, 
he  came  to  Scotland.  When  the  lords  of  the  congregation 
chose  him  one  of  the  council  for  matters  of  religion,  the  earl 
of  Arran  endeavoured  to  appease  the  resentment  which  the 
English  queen  still  entertained  against  him.  Sadler,  i.  510, 
611,  532.  In  1562,  tlie  Earl  of  Warwick  repeatedly  inter- 
ceded for  him,  and  for  his  being  recalled  from  Scotland  :  "  of 
whom  (says  he)  I  have  heard  suche  good  commendation  both 
of  the  lord  James  of  Scotland  and  others,  that  it  seemeth  great 
pitie,  that  our  countrye  suld  want  so  worthie  and  learned  an 
instrument"  Forbes's  State  Papers,  ii.  235.  Calvin  urged 
Goodman  not  to  leave  Scotland  until  the  Reformation  was 
completely  established.  Epistola,  p.  566.  Hannovim,  1597. 
When  he  did  return  to  liis  native  country  in  1565,  it  was 
with  some  difficulty  that  he  was  received  into  favour,  notwith- 
standing the  friends  he  had  at  court.  He  was  obliged  to  make 
a  recantation  of  the  offensive  doctrines  in  his  publication.  He 
protested  and  confessed  that  "  good  and  godly  women  may 
lawfully  govern  whole  realms  and  nations ;"  but  he  qualified 
and  explained,  rather  than  recanted,  what  he  had  taught  res- 
pecting the  punishment  of  tyrants.  Strype  has  inserted  the 
document,  in  his  Annals,  i.  126  ;  but  he  has  certainly  placed  it 
under  the  wrong  year.  Collier  calls  it  "  a  lame  recantation." 
Eccl.  Hist  ii.  440.  In  1571  Goodman  subscribed,  in  the 
presence  of  the  queen's  ecclesiastical  commissioners,  a  more 
ample  protestation  of  his  obedience  to  Elizabeth.  Strype's 
Annals,  ii.  95,  96.  He  was  also  harassed  on  account  of  his 
non-confonnity  to  the  English  ceremonies.  Life  of  Grindal, 
170.  Life  of  Parker,  325,  326.  Knox  corresponded  with 
him  after  he  left  Scotland,  and  Calderwood  has  preserved  a 
letter  which  he  wrote  to  him  in  1571,  iia  which  he  alludes  to 
the  troubles  which  he  understood  his  friend  was  exposed  to. 
MS.  ii.  270.  Goodman  accompanied  Sir  Henry  Sidney  to 
Ireland  when  he  was  sent  to  subdue  the  popish  rebels  in  that 
country.  Troubles  in  Franckford,  p.  196.  He  was  alive  in 
1580,  and  resided  in  Chester,  from  which  he  sent  his  saluta- 
tions to  Buchanan.  Buchanan!  Epistola;,  30,  31.  Open  edit. 
Rud.  And  he  died  at  Chester  in  1601.  See  verses  to  his 
memory  in  Supplement.  Goodman's  book  was  quoted,  but  for 
very  different  purposes,  by  Bancroft,  (Dangerous  Positions, 
B.  ii.  chap,  i.)  and  by  Milton,  (Tenure  of  Magistrates,  in  his 
Prose  Works  by  Symmoiis,  vol.  iii.  p.  196.) 


Goodman  was  not  the  only  person  belonging  to  the  English 
church  who  published  free  sentiments  respecting  civil  govern- 
ment. About  the  same  time  with  his  book,  there  appeared 
another  on  the  same  subject,  entitled,  "  A  Short  Treatise  of 
Politique  Pouuer,  and  of  the  true  Obedience  which  Subjectes 
owe  to  Kynges."  Its  author  was  Dr.  John  Ponet,  bishop, 
first  of  Rochester,  and  afterwards  of  Winchester,  under  Ed- 
ward VI.  Ames,  iii.  1594.  He  discusses  the  questions  res- 
pecting the  origin  of  political  authority,  its  absolute  or  limited 
nature,  the  limits  of  obedience,  and  the  deposition  and  punish- 
ment of  tyrants.  "  This  book  (says  Strype)  was  not  over 
favourable  to  princes.  Their  rigors  and  persecutions,  and  the 
arbitrary  proceedings  witli  their  peaceable  subjects  in  those 
times,  put  them  upon  examining  the  extent  of  their  power, 
which  some  were  willing  to  curtail  and  straiten  as  much  as 
they  could. — This  book  was  printed  again  in  the  year  1642, 
to  serve  the  turn  of  those  times."  Memorials  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, iii.  328,  329.  Collier  (who  was  a  keen  Tory)  calls  it 
"a  most  pestilent  discourse."  He  wished  to  believe  that 
bishop  Ponet  was  not  the  author,  but  it  is  evident  from  what 
he  says,  that  he  could  see  no  reason  for  departing  from  the 
common  opinion.  History,  ii.  363.  Ponet  was  a  superior 
scholar.  He  read  the  Greek  lecture  in  the  University  of  Cam- 
bridge about  1535,  and  was  among  tlie  first  who  adopted  the 
new  method  of  pronouncing  that  language  introduced  by  Sir 
Thomas  Smith.  He  wrote  several  books  on  mathematics  and 
other  subjects,  which  were  greatly  esteemed.  Strype's  Life  of 
Sir  Thomas  Smith,  p.  26,  27.  Ames,  Typ.  Antiq.  i.  599.  ii. 
753,  1146.  iii.  1587. 

NoteLVn.  p.  116. 

The  proceedings  of  the  committee  appointed  to  prepare 
overtures  to  the  parliament,  Dec.  1567,  are  to  be  found  in 
Robertson's  Records  of  the  Parliament  of  Scotland.  Almost 
the  only  ecclesiastical  propositions  of  the  committee  which 
were  not  adopted  by  the  parliament  were  such  as  respected  the 
patrimony  of  tlie  church.  I  shall  extract  one  or  two  respect- 
ing the  commonwealth  which  did  not  obtain  a  parliamentary 
sanction.  "  Als  it  is  thocht  expedient  that  in  na  tymes  cum- 
ing  ony  women  salbe  admittit  to  the  publict  autoritic  of  the 
realme,  or  function  in  publict  government  within  ye  same." 
On  the  margin,  opposite  to  this,  is  written,  "  Fund  gude  ;" 
which  is  expressive,  as  I  understand  it  of  the  committee's  ap- 
probation of  the  motion.  Ut  supra,  p.  795.  As  Knox,  at  a 
period  subsequent  to  tliis,  declared  from  the  pulpit  that  he  had 
never  "  entreated  that  argument  in  publict  or  in  prevat"  since 
his  last  arrival  in  Scotland,  (Bannatyne's  Journal,  p.  117.)  it 
appears  that  this  motion  had  been  made  by  some  other  mem- 
ber of  the  committee.  The  late  misconduct  of  queen  Mary 
must  have  had  a  great  effect  in  inclining  them  to  give  this  ad- 
vice. The  23d  article  does  great  honour  to  the  enlightened 
views  of  the  movers.  It  proposes  that  all  hereditary  jurisdic- 
tions throughout  the  kingdom  should  be  abolished.  On  the 
margin  is  written,  "  Apprevit,"  and  farther  down,  "  Super- 
cedis."  Ibid.  A  long  time  elapsed  before  this  measure,  so 
necessary  to  the  wise  administration  of  justice,  was  adopted 
in  Scotland.  The  following  was  a  proposed  sumptuary  law  ; 
"  Item,  that  it  be  lauchfull  to  na  wemen  to  weir  abone  yair 
estait  except  howris."  On  the  margin  of  this  is  written: 
"  This  act  is  verray  gude."     lit  supra,  p.  798. 

The  ministers  appointed  on  this  committee  were  "Mi.ister 
Johne  Spottiswood,  Maister  Johne  Craig,  Johne  Knox,  Mais- 
ter  Johne  Row,  and  Maister  David  Lindesay.''  It  will  be 
observed  that  our  Reformer  is  the  only  one  who  has  not 
"  Maister"  prefixed  to  his  name.  This  title  was  expressive  of 
some  academical  degree.  It  was  commonly  given  in  that  age 
to  Doctors  of  Law,  and  in  their  subscriptions  they  pu;  the 
letter  M.  or  the  word  "  Maister,"  before  their  names. 

Note  LVIIL  p.  119, 

Remarks  on  Dr.  Robertson^s  cliarader  of  the  Regent 
Murray. — I  am  not  moved  with  the  unfavourable  representa- 
tions which  the  partizans  of  Mary  have  given  of  Murray,  nor 
am  I  surprized  at  the  cold  manner  in  which  Mr.  Hume  has 
spoken  of  him ;  but  I  confess  that  it  pains  me  to  tliink  of  the 
manner  in  which  Dr.  Robertson  has  drawn  his  character.  The 
faint  praise  which  he  has  bestowed  on  him,  the  doubt  which 
he  has  thrown  over  his  moral  qualities,  and  the  unqualified 
censures  which  he  has  pronounced  upon  some  parts  of  his 
conduct,  have,  I  am  afraid,  done  more  injury  to  the  regent's 


180 


NOTES. 


memory,  than  the  exaggerated  accounts  of  his  adversaries. 
History  of  Scotland,  vol.  ii.  315,  316.  T,ond.  1809.  Having 
said  this  much,  it  will  be  expected  that  T  shall  be  more  parti- 
cular. In  addition  to  those  qualities  v^^hich  "  even  his  ene- 
mies allow  him  to  have  possessed  in  an  eminent  degree,"  Dr. 
R.  mentions  his  humanity,  his  distinguished  patronage  of 
learning,  and  impartial  administration  of  justice.  "  Zealous 
for  religion  (he  adds)  to  a  degree  which  distinguished  him 
even  at  a  time  when  professions  of  that  kind  were  not  un- 
common." This  is  what  every  writer  must  have  allowed,  but 
it  certainly  is  far  from  doing  justice  to  this  part  of  the  regent's 
character.  His  professions  of  religion  were  uniformly  sup- 
ported, in  all  the  different  situations  in  which  he  was  placed  ; 
his  strict  regard  to  divine  institutions  was  accompanied  with 
the  most  corrgct  and  exemplary  morals ;  his  religious  principle 
triumphed  over  a  temptation  which  proved  too  powerful  for 
almost  all  the  protestant  nobility.  (Sec  above,  p.  1G9.)  When 
there  exist  such  proofs  of  sincerity,  to  withhold  the  tribute  due 
to  it  is  injurious  not  only  to  the  individual,  but  to  the  general 
interests  of  religion.  After  bearing  a  decided  tcstimon}-  to  the 
"  disinterested  passion  for  the  liberty  of  his  country"  which 
prompted  Murray  to  oppose  the  pernicious  system  of  the 
princes  of  Lorrain,  and  the  "zeal  and  affection"  with  Tvhich 
he  served  ]\Iary  on  her  return  into  Scotland,  the  historian 
adds :  "  But,  on  the  other  hand,  his  ambition  was  immoderate ; 
and  events  hapjxjned  that  opened  to  him  vast  projects,  which 
allured  his  enterprizing  genius,  and  led  him  to  actions  incon- 
sistent with  the  duty  of  a  subject."  That  his  ambition  was 
"  immoderate"  does  not,  I  think,  appear  from  any  evidence 
which  has  been  produced.  Dr.  R.  has  defended  him  from  the 
charge  as  brought  against  him  at  an  earher  period  of  his  life, 
and  we  have  met  with  facts  that  serve  to  corroborate  the  de- 
fence. (See  page  165.)  The  "  vast  projects"  that  opened  to 
him  must  be  limited  to  the  attainment  of  the  regency ;  for  I 
do  not  think  that  Dr.  R.  ever  for  a  moment  gave  credit  to  the 
ridiculous  tale,  that  he  designed  to  set  aside  the  young  king,- 
and  seat  himself  upon  the  tlirone.  His  acceptance  of  the 
regency  cannot  be  pronounced  "  iuconsistent  with  the  duty  of 
a  subject,"  without  determining  the  question.  Whether  the 
nation  was  warranted,  by  the  misconduct  and  crimes  of  Mary, 
to  remove  her  from  the  government,  and  to  crown  her  son. 
"  Her  boldest  advocates  (says  Mr.  Laing)  will  not  venture  to 
assert,  that,  on  the  supposition  of  the  fact  being  fully  proved, 
that  she  was  notoriously  guilty  of  her  husband's  murder,  she 
was  entitled  to  be  restored."  History  of  Scotland,  i.  137. 
second  edition.  Murray  was  fully  satisfied  of  her  guilt  before 
he  accepted  the  regency.  Never  was  any  person  raised  to 
such  a  high  station  with  less  evidence  of  his  having  ambitious- 
ly courted  the  prefennent.  Instead  of  remaining  in  the 
country  to  turn  the  embroiled  state  of  affairs  to  his  personal 
advantage,  he,  within  two  months  after  the  murder  of  the 
king,  left  Scotland,  not  clandestinely,  but  after  having  asked 
and  obtained  leave.  And  whither  did  he  retire  ?  Not  into 
England,  to  concert  measures  with  that  court,  or  the  more 
easily  to  carry  on  a  correspondence  with  the  friends  whom 
he  had  left  behind  him ;  but  into  France,  where  his  motions 
could  be  watched  by  the  friends  of  Mary.  Ibid.  p.  59 — 61. 
The  association  for  revenging  the  king's  murder,  and  for  pre- 
serving the  young  prince,  the  surrender  of  Mary,  and  her  im- 
prisonment at  Lochleun,  followed  so  unexpectedly  and  rapid- 
ly, that  they  could  not  proceed  from  his  direction.  Nay,  there 
is  positive  evidence  that  tlie  Lords  who  had  imprisoned  Mary, 
so  far  from  having  acted  in  concert  with  Murray,  were  sus- 
picious that  he  would  counteract  their  designs  "  As  yet  theys 
Lordes  wyll  not  suffer  Mr.  Nycholas  Elveston,  sent  from  the 
L.  of  Murrey,  to  have  access  to  the  Quene,  nor  to  send  my  L. 
of  Murrey's  letter  unto  her."  Throkmorton's  Letters  to 
Cecil,  and  to  Elizabeth,  16th  July,  1567,  api;d  Laing's  His- 
tory of  Scotland,  ii.  Append.  No.  13.  p.  121,  126.  2nd  edition. 
When  he  returned  to  Scotland,  he  found  thai  the  queen  had 
executed  formal  deeds  resigning  the'  government,  and  appoint- 
ing him  regent  during  the  minority  of  her  son,  and  that  the 
young  prince  was  already  crowned.     Hume,  vol.  v.  Note  K. 

"  His  treatment  of  the  queen,  to  whose  bounty  he  was  so 
much  ind(!l)ted,  was  unbrotherly  and  ungrateful."  To  the 
charge  of  ingratitude,  I  can  only  reply,  by  repeating  what  I 
have  said  in  the  text,  that  all  the  honours  which  she  conferred 
on  him  were  not  too  great  a  reward  for  the  imiKjrtant  services 
which  he  had  rendered  to  her.  How  many  persons  have  been 
celebrat<>d  for  sacrificing  parental  as  well  as  brotherly  affection 
to  the  public  good !  The  probable  reasons  for  Murray's  inter- 
riew  with  the  queen  in  Lochlcvinhavc  been  stated  by  Mr.  Laing. 


I  History,  i.  119 — 121.  Were  I  to  speak  of  what  was  incumbent 
i  on  him  as  aChrisiian  brother  with  the  view  of  bringing  her  to  a 
j  just  sense  of  the  iniquity  of  her  conduct,  I  would  use  hmgiiage 
which,  I  am  afraid,  would  not  Ix;  understood  by  many  readers, 
and  which  many  professetl  Christians  seem  to  forget,  when 
!  they  talk  on  this  subject  Any  exertions  which  were  necessary 
j  to  save  his  sister's  life  were  not  wanting  on  the  part  of  Mur- 
j  ray.  To  restore  her  to  the  government,  or  even,  as  matters 
I  then  stood,  to  restore  her  to  liberty,  he  was  not  bound  by  any 
I  ties  either  of  a  public  or  private  kind.  Had  he  amused  her 
with  the  hopes  of  this,  he  might  have  escaped  the  charge  of 
harshness,  but  his  conduct  would  have  been  more  unbrotherly. 
"  But  he  deceived  and  betrayed  Norfolk  with  a  baseness 
unworthy  of  a  man  of  honour."  To  this  harsh  censure  I 
may  oppose  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Hume,  who  will  not  be  sus- 
pected of  partiality  to  the  regent.  "  Particularly  (says  he,  in 
a  letter  to  Dr.  Robertson,  written  after  the  pubhcation  of  his 
History  of  Scotland)  I  could  almost  undertake  to  convince 
you  that  the  Earl  of  Murray's  conduct  with  the  duke  of  Nor- 
follv  was  710  way  dishonourable."  Stewart's  Life  of  Rolx^rtson, 
apud  History,  ut  supra,  i.  158.  See  also  "Part  of  a  Letter 
from  the  Earl  of  Murray  to  L.  B."  inserted  in  vol.  ii.  Append. 
No.  xxxiii. 

"  His  elevation  to  such  unexpected  dignity  [the  reader  will 
observe  that  it  was  unexpected]  inspired  him  with  new  pas- 
sions, with  haughtiness  and  reserve ;  and  instead  of  his  natu- 
ral manner,  which  was  blunt  and  open,  he  aifected  the  arts  of 
dissimulation  and  refinement.  Fond,  towards  the  end  of  his 
life,  of  flattery,  and  impatient  of  advice,  his  creatures,  by 
soothing  his  vanity,  led  him  astray,  wliile  his  ancient  friends 
stood  at  a  distance,  and  predicted  his  approaching  fall."  Cer- 
tainly the  facts  stated  by  Dr.  R.  in  the  preceding  part  of  his 
narrative,  do  not  prepare  the  tnind  of  his  reader  for  these 
charges.  The  severity  of  the  regent's  virtues  had,  bideed, 
been  mentioned,  afffit  had  been  asserted  that  his  deportment 
had  become  distant  and  haughty.  The  authority  of  Sir  James 
Melvil  was  referred  to  in  su])port  of  this  statement ;  and  I  am 
satisfied  that  it  was  upon  Ids  testimony  chiefly  that  the  histo- 
rian proceeded,  when  he  gave  the  above  account  of  Murray's 
conduct  during  the  latter  part  of  his  life.  I  submit  to  the 
reader  the  following  remarks  on  the  degree  of  credit  which  is 
due  to  the  authority  of  Melvil. 

In  the  Jirst  place,  there  is  every  reason  to  think,  either  that 
Melvil's  Memoirs  have  been  unfaithfully  published  by  the 
editor,  or  that  the  author  acted  unfaithfully,  in  the  narrative 
which  he  has  given  of  affairs  from  the  queen's  marriage  with 
Bothwell  to  the  death  of  the  Earl  of  MuiTay.  I  shall  not 
take  upon  me  to  determine  which  of  these  is  the  most  probable 
supposition,  but  am  of  opinion  that  cither  the  one  or  the  other 
must  be  admitted.  The  charge  which  was  brought  against 
queen  Mary  of  participation  in  the  murder  of  her  husband, 
with  all  the  proofs  produced  in  support  of  it,  is  suppressed, 
and  studiously  kept  out  of  view,  in  the  Memoirs.  I'herc  is 
not  one  word  in  them  respecting  the  celebrated  letters  to  Both- 
well,  although  they  formed  the  grand  vindication  of  the  regent 
and  his  friends. — ^The  same  inference  must  be  drawn  from  the 
ridiculous  account  given  of  the  appearance  made  by  the  regent 
before  the  commissioners  at  York,  when  he  presented  the 
nameless  accusation  against  Mary  (Memoirs,  96,  97.  Lond. 
1683);  an  account  which  is  completely  discredited  by  the 
journals  of  both  parties,  and  which  neither  Hume  nor  Robert- 
son thought  wordiy  of  the  slightest  regard.  It  is  observable, 
that  Melvil  could  not  be  ignorant  of  tlie  real  transtxction,  as  he 
was  present  at  York ;  and  that  the  design  of  this,  as  well  as  of 
the  subsequent  part  of  his  narrative,  is  to  represent  the  Regent 
as  weakly  suffering  himself  to  be  duped  and  misled,  by  de- 
signing and  violent  counsellors.  Mr.  Laing  has  adverted  to 
both  of  these  things  as  discreditable  to  tlie  Memoirs.  History, 
ut  supra,  i.  1 18. — I  shall  produce  only  one  otlier  instance  of 
the  same  kind.  Speaking  of  the  Queen's  marriage  with 
Bothwell,  Melvil  says  :  "  I  cannot  tell  how  nor  by  w/tut  law 
he  parted  with  his  own  wife,  sister  to  the  earl  of  Huntly." 
Mem.  80.  Is  it  credible,  that  one  who  was  in  the  midst  of 
the  scene,  and  acquiiintcd  even  with  the  secrets  of  state  at  that 
time,  could  be  ignorant  of  that  which  was  proclaimed  to  all 
the  world  ?  If  it  should  be  alleged  that  Melvil,  wriring  in  his 
old  age,  might  have  forgotten  this  glaring  fact,  (the  excuse 
commonly  made  for  his  inaccuracies)  I  am  afraid  that  the 
apology  will  detract  as  much  from  the  crcxlibility  of  his  Me- 
moirs as  the  charge  which  it  is  brought  to  repel. 

2.  In  estimating  the  degree  of  regard  duo  to  the  censures 
which  Melvil  h:is  passed  on  the  Regent's  conduct,  we  must 


NOTES. 


181 


keep  in  view  the  political  course  which  he  himself  steered. 
Sir  James  appears  to  have  been  a  man  of  amiable  dispositions, 
whose  mind  was  cultivated  by  the  study  of  letters ;  but  tliose 
who  have  carefully  read  his  Memoirs  must,  I  think,  be  con- 
vinced that  his  penetration  was  not  great,  and  that  his  politics 
were  undecided,  temporizing,  and  inconsistent.  He  was  al- 
ways at  court,  and  always  tampering  with  those  who  were  out 
of  court.  We  find  him  exposing  liimself  to  danger  by  dis- 
suading his  mistress  from  marrying  BothwcU,  and  yet  coun- 
tenancing the  marriage  by  his  presence ;  acting  as  an  agent 
for  those  who  imprisoned  tlic  Queen,  and  yet  intriguing  with 
those  who  wished  to  set  her  at  liberty  ;  carrying  a  common 
message  from  the  king's  lords  to  the  Earl  of  Murray  upon  his 
return  out  of  France,  and  yet  secretly  conveying  another 
message  tending  to  counteract  the  design  of  the  former ;  sup- 
porting Murray  in  the  regency,  and  yet  trafficking  with  those 
who  wished  to  undermine  lus  authority.  I  do  not  call  in 
question  the  goodness  of  his  intentions  in  all  this ;  I  am  will- 
ing to  beUeve  that  a  desire  for  the  peace  of  the  country,  or 
attachment  to  the  Queen,  induced  him  to  go  between,  and 
labour  to  reconcile,  the  contending  parties ;  but  when  parties 
are  discordant,  when  their  interests,  or  the  objects  at  which 
they  shoot,  are  diametrically  opposite,  to  persevere  in  such  at- 
tempts is  preposterous,  and  cannot  fail  to  foster  and  increase 
confusions.  Who  believes  that  the  Hamiltons  were  disposed 
to  join  with  the  king's  party "?  or  that  the  latter,  when  un- 
assured of  the  assistance  of  England,  were  averse  to  a  junc- 
tion with  theml  Yet  Melvil  asserts  both  of  these  things. 
Mem.  85,  86,  90.  Who  thinks  that  there  was  the  smallest 
feasibility  in  what  he  proposed  to  the  Regent  as  "  a  present  re- 
medy for  his  preservation  ]"  or  believes  that  Maitland  would 
have  consented  to  go  into  France,  and  ICircaldy  to  deliver  up 
the  castle  of  Edinburgh  1  The  Regent  hoard  hun  patiently, 
he  respected  the  goodness  of  the  man ;  but  he  saw  that  he 
was  the  dupe  of  Maitland's  artifices,  and  he  followed  his  own 
superior  judgment.  For  rejecting  such  advices  as  this  (and 
not  the  religious  proverbs,  and  political  aphorisms,  wliich  he 
quoted  to  him  from  Solomon,  Augustine,  Isocrates,  Plutarch, 
and  Theopompus)  has  Melvil  charged  him  vsdth  refusing  the 
counsel  of  his  oldest  and  wisest  friends.     Mem.  102 — 104. 

3.  What  were  the  errors  committed  by  the  Regent  which 
precipitated  his  fall  1  There  are  two  referred  to  by  Melvil ; 
the  imprisonment  of  the  Duke  and  Lord  Herries,  and  the  ac- 
cusation of  Maitland  and  Balfour.  Mem.  100,  101.  In  vin- 
dication of  the  former  step,  I  have  only  to  appeal  to  the  nar- 
rative which  Dr.  Robertson  has  given  of  that  affair.  Vol.  ii. 
266 — 299.  With  respect  to  the  latter.  Sir  James  Balfour  was 
"  the  most  corrupt  man  of  that  age,"  (Ibid.  p.  367.)  and  Mait- 
land was  at  that  time  deeply  engaged  in  intrigues  against  the 
Regent.  Ibid.  p.  307.  There  is  not  a  doubt  that  both  of  them 
were  accfessory  to  the  murder  of  Damly,  (Laing,  i.  28,  135. 
ii.  22.)  ;  drey  were  arrested  and  accused  at  this  time  at  the  in- 
stance of  Lennox,  and  in  consequence  of  the  recent  confession 
of  one  of  Bothwell's  servants ;  and  Maitland  was  preserved 
by  the  Queen's  friends  assembling  in  arms  for  his  rescue, 
which  compelled  the  Regent  to  adjourn  his  trial.  Ibid.  ii.  37. 
Appendk,  No.  28.  p.  298—9. 

4.  Who  were  the  unworthy  favourites  by  whose  flattery, 
and  evil  counsel,  the  Regent  was  led  astray  1  Dr.  Robertson 
mentions  "  Captain  Crawford,  one  of  his  creatures.^^  This  is 
the  same  person  whom  he  afterwards  calls  "  Captain  Crawford 
of  JorJanhill,  a  gallant  and  enterprising  officer,"  who  distin- 
guished himself  so  much  by  the  surprize  of  the  castle  of  Dun- 
barton.  History,  ii.  307,  331.  comp.  Lamg,  ii.  297,  298.  and 
Douglas's  Baronage  of  Scotland,  429.  Morton,  Lindsay, 
Wiahart  of  Pittarow,  Macgill  of  Rankeiller,  Pitcaim  abbot  of 
Dunfermline,  Balnaves  of  Hallhill,  and  Wood  of  Tilliedavy, 
were  among  the  Regent's  counsellors. 

5.  Who  were  his  old  friends  who  lost  his  favour  1  The)-^ 
could  be  no  other  than  Balfour,  Maitland,  Kircaldy,  and  Mel- 
vil himself.  Of  the  two  former  I  need  not  say  a  word.  Kir- 
caldy of  Grange  was  a  brave  man,  and  had  long  been  the  inti- 
mate friend  of  the  Regent ;  but  he  was  already  corrupted  by 
Maitland,  and  had  secretly  entered  into  his  schemes  for  restor- 
ing the  Queen.  Robertson,  ii.  307.  Of  Melvil  I  have  already 
spoken ;  nay,  he  himself  testifies  that  the  Regent  continued  to 
the  last  to  Usten  to  his  good  advices.  "  The  most  part  of  these 
sentences  (says  he)  drawm  out  of  the  Bible,  I  used  to  rehearse 
to  him  at  several  occasions,  and  he  t(X)k  better  with  these  at  my 
hands,  who  he  knew  luid  iw  by-end,  than  if  they  had  pro- 
ceeded from  the  most  learned  philosopher.  Therefore  at  his 
desire  I  promised  tt  pu\  them  m  writing,  to  give  him  them  to  1 


keep  in  his  pocket ;  but  he  was  slain  before  I  could  meet  with 
him."  Mem.  104.  How  this  is  to  be  reconciled  with  other 
assertions  in  the  Memoirs  I  leave  others  to  determine.  It  re- 
quired no  great  sagacity  in  the  ancient  friends  of  the  Regent 
to  "  predict  his  approaching  fall,"  when  repeated  attempts  had 
already  been  made  to  assassinate  him,  and  when  some  of  them 
were  privy  to  the  conspiracy  tlren  formed  against  his  life  ;  and 
it  says  little  for  their  ancient  friendship,  that  they  "  stood  at  a 
distance,"  and  allowed  it  to  be  carried  into  execution. 

There  are  three  honourable  testimonies  to  the  excellence  of 
the  Regent's  character  which  must  have  weight  with  all  can- 
did persons.  The  first  is  that  of  the  great  historian  Thuanus. 
He  not  only  examined  the  histories  which  both  parties  had 
published  of  the  transactions  in  Scotland  wliich  made  so  much 
noise  through  Europe,  but  he  carefully  conversed  with  the 
most  intelligent  and  candid  Scotsmen,  papists  and  protestants, 
whom  he  had  the  opportunity  of  seeing  in  France.  When 
iliis  part  of  his  history  was  in  the  press,  he  applied  to  his  friend 
Cambden  for  advice,  acquainting  him  that  he  was  greatly  em- 
barrassed, and  apprehensive  of  displeasing  king  James,  who, 
he  understood,  was  incensed  against  Buchanan's  History.  "  I 
do  not  wish  (says  he)  to  incur  the  charge  of  imprudence  or 
malignity  from  a  certain  personage  who  has  honoured  me  with 
his  letters,  and  encouraged  me  to  publish  the  rest  of  my  histo- 
ry with  the  same  candour,  and  regard  for  truth."  Cambden, 
in  reply,  exhorted  him  to  study  m.oderation,  and  told  him  the 
story  which  he  had  received  from  his  master,  imputing  tlie 
disturbance  in  Scotland  chiefly  to  the  amlition  of  Murray. 
Durand,  Historic  du  XVI.  Siecle,  torn.  vii.  contenant  la  Vie 
de  Monsieur  De  Thou,  p.  226 — 231.  But  notwithstanding 
the  respect  which  he  entertained  for  Cambden,  and  the  desire 
which  he  felt  to  please  James,  Thuanus  found  himself  obliged, 
by  a  sacred  regard  to  truth,  to  reject  the  above  imputation,  and 
to  adopt  in  the  main  the  narrative  of  Buchanan.  I  shall  mere- 
ly quote,  from  his  answer  to  Cambden,  the  character  which 
he  draws  of  Murray.  Having  mentioned  the  accusation  brought 
against  him,  of  ambitiously  and  wickedly  aiming  at  the  crown, 
he  says :  "  This  is  constantly  denied  by  all  the  credible  Scots- 
men with  whom  I  have  had  opportunity  to  converse,  not  even 
excepting  tlwse  who  otherwise  were  greid  eiumies  to  Murray 
on  a  religious  account ;  for  they  afiirm,  that,  religion  apart, 

HE  WAS  A  MAX  WITHOUT  AMBITIOX,  WITHOUT  AVARICE,  IN- 
CAPABLE OF  DOIXO  AN  INJURY  TO  ANT  ONE,  DISTINGUISHED 
BT    HIS  VIRTUE,  AFFABII.1TT,  BENEFICENCE,  AND  INNOCENCE 

OF  LIFE  ;  and  that,  had  it  not  been  for  him,  those  who  tear  his 
memory  since  his  death  would  never  have  attained  that  au- 
thority which  they  now  enjoy." — "  Res  ipsa  loquitur :  neim 
demus,  quod  ab  diversa  tradentibus  jactatur,  Mora\ium  ambi- 
tione  ardentem  scelerate  regnum  appetiissc,  quod  tamen  con- 
stanter  ncgant  omnes  fide  digni  Scoti,  quoscunque  mihi  allo- 
qui  contigit,  etiam  ii  quibus  alioqui  Moravius  ob  religionia 
causam  summe  invisus  erat ;  nam  virum  fuisse  diebant,  extra 
religionis  causam,  ab  omni  ambitione,  avaritia,  et  in  quenquam 
injuria  alienum,  virtute,  comitate,  beneficentia,  vitae  innocentia, 
prsestantem ;  et  qui  nisi  fuisset,  eos,  qui  tantopere  mortuum 
exagitant,  hodie  minime  rerum  potiturus  fuisse."  Epistolse  de 
Nova  Thuani  Histor.  Editione  paranda,  p.  40.  in  Tom.  i. 
Thuani  Histor.  et  Tom.  vii.  cap.  v.  p.  5.  Buckley,  1733. 

A  second  testimony  of  a  very  strong  kind  in  favour  of  the 
Regent  is  that  of  archbishop  Spottiswood.  He  must  have 
conversed  with  many  who  were  personally  acquainted  with 
Murray ;  he  knew  the  unfavourable  sentiments  which  James 
entertained  respecting  him,  which  had  been  pubUshed  in 
Cambden's  Annals,  and  he  had  long  enjoyed  the  favour  of 
that  monarch  ;  yet,  in  his  history,  he  has  drawn  the  character 
of  the  Regent  in  as  flattering  colours  as  Buchanan  himself 
has  done.  The  last  testimony  to  which  I  shall  appeal  is  the 
Vox  Populi,  strongly  expressed  by  the  title  of  The  Good  Re- 
gent, which  it  imposed  on  him,  £ind  by  which  his  memory  was 
handed  down  to  posterity.  Had  he,  elated  by  prosperity,  be- 
come haughty  and  reserved,  or,  intoxicated  with  flattery,  yield- 
ed himself  up  to  unprincipled  and  avaricious  favourites,  the 
people  must  soon  have  felt  the  effects  of  the  change,  and  would 
never  have  cherished  his  name  with  such  enthusiastic  grati- 
tude and  unmingled  admiration. 

Note  LIX.  p.  120. 

Inscription  to  the  Regenfs  memory. — The  Regent's  monu- 
ment is  yet  entire  and  m  good  order.  It  stands  in  that  part 
of  St.  Giles  now  called  the  Old  Church,  (the  former  aisle 
having  been  taken  into  the  body  of  the  church  when  it  was 


182 


NOTES. 


lately  fitted  up,)  at  the  back  of  the  pulpit,  on  the  east  side. 
At  the  top  is  the  figure  of  an  eagle,  and  below  it  "  1570,"  the 
date  of  the  erection  of  the  monument  In  the  middle  is  a 
brass  plate,  on  which  the  following  ornaments  and  inscriptions 
are  engraved :  The  family  arms,  with  the  motto  "  Salus  per 
Christum"  (Salvation  through  Christ)  :  On  one  side  of  the 
arms,  a  female  figure  with  a  cross  and  Bible,  the  word  "  Eeligio" 
above,  and  below  "  Pietas  sine  vindice  luget"  (Piety  mourns 
without  a  defender)  ;  on  the  other  side,  another  female  figure, 
in  a  mourning  posture,  with  the  head  reclining  on  the  hand, 
the  word  "  Justitia  "  above,  and  below  "  Jus  exarmatum  est " 
(Justice  is  disarmed.)  Underneath  is  the  following  inscrip- 
tion or  epitaph : 

23  Januarh  1569. 

jacobo  .  stovarto  .  moravle  .  cgmtti  .  scotts;  . 
proregi  .  vmo  .  ^tatis  .  sv^  .  longe  .  oftimo  . 

AB  .  INIMICIS  .  OMNIS  .  MEMORLffi  .  DETERRIMIS  . 
EX.INSIDIIS.EXTINCTO.CEV.PATRI. 
COMMVNI.PATRIA  .MOERENS.POSVIT. 

To  James  Stuart,  Earl  of  Murray,  Resent  of  Scotland, 
by  far  the  best  man  of  his  age,  treacherously  cut  off  by  ene- 
mies of  most  detestable  memory,  his  grieving  country  hath 
erected  this  monumait,  as  to  a  common  father. 

The  verses  in  which  Buchanan  celebrated  the  Regent  are 
accessible  to  every  scholar.  The  following  lines  are  less  known. 

Jacobus  Stuabtus. 

Moraviae  Comes,  Prorex  pro  Jacobo  vi.  rem  Scoticam  felici- 
ter  gessit,  purse  Religionis  assertor  acerrimus.  Ab  aemulis 
Limnuchi  ex  insidiis  glande  trajectus,  magno  omnium  deside- 
lio  moretur  ad  d.  xxiii.  Januarii,  Anno  Christi  1570. 

Ter  tua  dicturus  cum  dicere  singula  conor, 

Ter  numeri,  et  numeros  destituere  soni. 
Nobilitas,  animus,  probitas,  sapientia,  virtus. 

Consilium,  imperium,  pectora  sancta,  fides, 
Cuncta  mihi  simul  htec  instant  certamine  magno : 

Ut  sibi,  sic  certant  viribus  ista  meis, 
Ipsi  adeo  Aonides  cum  vellent  dicere,  cedunt 

Sponte  sua  numeris,  haec,  Buchanane,  tuis. 

Johannis  Jonstoni  Heroes,  p.  31,  32. 
Lugdimi  Batavorum,  1603. 

Knox,  among  others,  warned  the  Regent  of  the  designs 
which  his  enemies  had  formed  against  his  life.  "  When  the 
Mr.  of  Grahame  (says  Bannatyne)  come  and  drew  him  to 
Dumbartane,  he  [Knox]  plainlie  said  to  the  Regent  then,  that 
it  was  onlie  done  for  a  trane  be  that  meanis  to  cut  him  off,  as 
it  came  to  pas ;  also  when  he  was  in  Stirveling,  being  return- 
ed from  Dumbartane,  he  sent  me  to  my  ladie  the  regentis  wyfe, 
tuo  sundrie  tymes,  and  desyrit  her  to  signifie  my  lord  her  hus- 
band, that  he  suld  not  come  to  Lynlythgow.  So  that  gif  his 
counsall  had  bene  followed,  he  had  not  died  at  that  tyme.  And 
my  ladie  the  last  tyme  sent  Mr.  Jhone  Wood,  to  desyre  him  to 
avoid  Lynlythgow.  But  God  thought  vs  not  worthy  of  sic  a 
rewlare  above  vs,  and  also  he  wald  thereby  have  the  wdckitnes 
of  vtheris  knawin,  whilk  then  was  hid  ;  and  therefore  did  God 
then  tak  him  fra  us.  But  lat  the  Hamiltonis,  the  lard  of 
Grange,  with  the  rest  of  that  factione,  lay  thair  compt  and 
recken  thair  advantage  and  wining  since,"  Bannatyne's  Jour- 
nal, p.  428,  429.  The  intrepidity  of  Murray  prompted  him 
to  despise  these  prudential  admonitions,  and  defeated  the  pre- 
caution of  his  friends. 

Mr.  Scot  has,  by  a  poetical  license,  introduced  the  Reformer 
as  present  at  Linlithgow,  to  grace  the  Regent's  fall. 

From  the  wild  border's  humbled  side, 
In  haughty  triumph  marched  he, 
While  Knox  relaxed  his  bigot  pride, 
And  smil'd  the  traitorous  pomp  to  see. 
Ballads  and  Lyrical  Pieces,  p.  52. 

Note  LX.  p.  125. 

Particulars  respecting  Ktiox's  residence  at  St.  Andrews. — 
The  following  particulars  are  extracted  from  the  MS.  Diary  of 
Mr.  James  Melville.  "  Ther  wer  twa  in  St.  Androis  wha  war 
his  aydant  heirars,  and  wrait  his  sermons,  an  my  condiscipule, 
Mr.  Andro  V  oung,  minister  of  Dumblane,  who  translated  sum 


Edin.  1810. 


of  them  into  Latin,  and  read  thame  in  the  hall  of  the  collage 
insteid  of  his  orations."  The  other  was  a  servant  of  Mr. 
Robert  Hamilton,  but  with  what  view  he  took  notes  Melville 
could  not  say.  Diary,  p.  28. — "  Mr.  Knox  wald  sum  tymes 
cum  in,  and  repast  him  in  our  collage  yeard,  and  call  ws  schol- 
lars  unto  him  and  blis  ws,  and  exhort  ws  to  knaw  God,  and 
his  wark  in  our  countrey,  and  stand  be  the  guid  cans,  to  use 
our  tyme  weill,  and  learn  the  guid  instructiones  and  follow  the 
guid  example  of  our  maisters.  Our  haill  coUag  [St.  Leonard's] 
maisters  and  schollars  war  sound  and  zelus  for  the  guid  cans, 
the  uther  twa  collages  not  sa."  p.  23.  "  This  yeir  in  the 
moneth  of  July,  Mr.  Jhone  Davidsone,  an  of  our  regents,  maid 
a  pley  at  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Jhone  Colvin,  quhilk  I  sawplayit 
in  Mr.  Knox  presence,  wharin,  according  to  Mr,  Knox  doc- 
trine, the  castle  of  Edinburgh  was  besieged,  takin,  and  the 
captin,  with  ane  or  twa  with  him,  hangit  in  effigie,"  p.  24. 
This  seems  to  have  been  an  exercise  among  the  students  at  the 
university.  The  following  extract  shews  that  the  fine  arts 
were  not  then  imcultivated,  and  that  the  professors  and  stu- 
dents attended  to  them  in  their  recreations.  "  I  lemit  singing 
and  pleying  on  instrumentis  passing  weill,  and  wald  gladlie 
spend  tyme,  whar  the  exercise  thairof  was  within  the  collag ; 
for  twa  or  thrie  of  our  condisciples  pleyed  fellin  weill  on  the 
virginals,  and  another  on  the  lut  and  githom.  Our  regent  had 
also  the  pinalds  in  his  chalmer,  and  lernit  sum  thing,  and  I  ef- 
ter  him."  Melville  adds,  that  his  fondness  for  music  was,  at 
one  period,  in  danger  of  drawing  away  his  attention  from 
more  important  studies,  but  that  he  overcame  the  temptation, 
p.  25. 

I  may  add  an  extract  from  the  same  Diary,  relating  an  inci- 
dent in  the  life  of  one  who  entertained  a  high  respect  for  Knox, 
and  afterwards  became  a  distinguished  minister  in  the  church. 
"  The  ordor  of  four  kirks  to  a  minister,  then  maid  be  the  erle 
of  Morton,  now  maid  regent,  against  the  quilk  Mr.  Jhone  Da- 
vidsone, an  of  the  regents  of  our  collag,  maid  a  bulk  called 
The  Confere7ice  betwix  the  Clark  and  the  Courtier ,-  for  the 
quhilk  he  was  summoned  befor  the  Justice  Air  at  Haddington 
this  winter  [1573]  the  lest  of  our  course,  and  banished  the 
countrey,"  p.  24.  The  General  Assembly,  in  October  1577, 
presented  a  supplication  to  the  regent  Morton,  requesting  him 
to  allow  Mr.  Davidson  to  return  home  from  England.  Bulk 
of  the  Universall  Kirk,  p.  70. 

Note  LXI.  p.  131. 

Verses  to  the  memory  of  Knox. — Beza  has  inserted  no  ver- 
ses to  the  memory  of  our  Reformer,  in  his  Icones,  id  est,  Verse 
Imagines  Vinrrum  Doctrina  simul  et  Pictate  Illustrium, 
published  by  hifc  »;:  Latin,  Anno  1580.  E  e,  iij.  But  "  of 
this  work,  a  French  \>?«ion  was  published  under  the  title  of 
Les  Vrais  Pourtraits  de^  *  t???i;»'«  Illustres  en  Piete  et  Doc- 
trine. Geneve,  1581,  Ato.  \n  this  translation  arc  inserted 
original  verses  on  Knox,"  &c.  Irving's  Memoirs  of  Buchan- 
an, p.  234.  Having  never  seen  this  translation,  I  cannot  say 
whether  the  verses  which  it  contains  coincide  with  those  which 
I  am  about  to  quote,  or  not. 

Jacobus  Verheiden  published  "  Prsestantium  aliquot  Theolo- 
gorum,  qui  Romse  Antichristum  oppugnarant  Efiigies,  quibus 
addita  eorum  Elogia,  librorumque  Catalogi.  Hag.  Comit.  1602. 
A  new  edition  of  this  was  published  by  Fredericus  Roth- 
Scholtz,  under  the  title  Of  "  Jacobi  Verheidenii  Haga-Comitis 
Imagines  et  Elogia,  &c.  Hagse-Comitum,  A".  1725."  In 
this  work  the  following  hues  are  placed  under  the  portrait  of 
Knox. 

Scottorum  primum  te  Ecclesia,  Cnoxe,  docentem, 
Audiit,  auspiciis  estque  redacta  tuis. 
Nam  te  cselestis  pietas  super  omnia  traxit, 
Atque  Reformatae  Religionis  amor. 

To  thee,  Knox,  the  Scottish  church  listened  a-s  her  first  in- 
structor, and  under  thy  auspices  was  she  restored.  For  celes- 
tial piety,  and  love  of  the  reformed  religion,  attracted  thee 
above  all  things. 

To  the  account  of  his  life  and  writings,  in  the  same  work,  is 
added  an  epigram  in  Greek  and  in  Latin,  which,  according  to 
a  common  custom  in  such  compositions,  consists  of  a  play  up- 
on the  sound  of  his  name,  and  that  of  his  country,  in  the  way 
of  contrast;  representing  Cnox  as  driving  the  noc/Mrna/' crows, 
or  scotican  sophists  from  Scotiand.  As  the  autiior  informs  us 
that  the  Batavian  youth  amused  themselves  in  making  these 
epigrams,  and  thinks  that  some  of  them  will  amuse  the  reader, 
I  shall  not  witlihold  this  specimen  in  botli  languages. 


N  OTE  S. 


183 


I 


0"uTa)(  /uiv  KN0H02  iTKortKvi  Svcifi^ou;  ti  (Tocfio'Tac 
Ev  [Ex]  SxaT/y  srargi)  tx-Q^Kt  K-xfjimfAtiai. 

Noctumos  corvos,  noctem  obscuramque,  volantes 

Mures  Aurora  ut  cetera  (lira  fugat : 
Sic  CjfoxA's  Scoticos  simul  obscurosque  Sophistas 
Ex  Scotica  lucens  ejicit  hie  patria. 

Verheidenii  Imagines  et  Elogia,  p.  69,  70. 
Hagse-Comitum,  1725. 

Davidson's  Poem,  and  Johnston's  Verses,  to  the  memoiy  of 
Knox,  will  be  found  in  the  Supplement. 

Note  LXII.  p.  131. 

Popish  account  of  Knox's  death. — The  slanders  propagated 
by  the  popish  writers  against  our  Reformer's  character  have 
been  stated  in  Note  XVIII.  After  the  specimen  there  given,  it 
will  not  be  expected  that  I  shall  dwell  upon  the  equally  extra- 
vagant and  incredible  narratives  which  they  circulated  concern- 
ing the  manner  of  his  death.  I  shall,  however,  translate  the 
substance  of  Archibald  Hamilton's  account,  the  original  pic- 
ture from  which  so  many  copies  were  afterwards  taken.  '  The 
opening  of  his  mouth  (he  says)  was  drawn  out  to  such  a 
length  of  deformity,  that  his  face  resembled  that  of  a  dog,  as 
nis  voice  also  did  the  barking  of  that  animal.  The  voice  fail- 
ed from  that  tongue,  which  had  been  the  cause  of  so  much 
mischief,  and  his  death,  most  grateful  to  his  country,  soon  fol- 
lowed. In  his  last  sickness,  he  was  occcupied  not  so  much  in 
meditating  upon  death,  as  in  thinking  upon  civil  and  worldly 
affairs.  When  a  immber  of  his  friends,  who  held  him  in  the 
greatest  veneration,  were  assembled  in  his  chamber,  and  anx- 
ious to  hear  from  him  something  tending  to  the  confirmation 
of  his  former  doctrine,  and  to  their  comfort,  he,  perceiving  that 
his  death  approached,  and  that  he  could  gain  no  more  advan- 
tage by  the  pretext  of  religion,  disclosed  to  them  the  mysteries 
of  that  Savoy  an  art  (Sabaudicae  discipUnse,  magic,)  which  he 
had  hitherto  kept  secret ;  confessed  the  injustice  of  that  au- 
thority which  was  then  defended  by  arms  against  the  exiled 
Queen ;  and  declared  many  things  concerning  her  return,  and 
the  restoration  of  religion  after  his  death.  One  of  the  compa- 
ny who  had  taken  the  pen  to  record  his  dying  sayings,  think- 
ing that  he  was  in  a  deUrium,  desisted  from  writing,  upon 
which  Knox,  with  a  stem  countenance,  and  great  asperity  of 
language,  began  to  upbraid  him.  Thou  good-for-nothhig 
man  !  why  dost  thou  leave  off  writing  what  my  presaging 
mind  foresees  as  about  to  happen  in  this  kingdom  ?  Dost 
thou,  distrust  me  ?  Dost  thou  not  believe  thai  all  which  I  say 
shall  most  certainly  happen  ?  But  that  I  may  attest  to  thee 
and  others  how  undoubted  these  things  which  I  have  just  spo- 
ken are.  Go  out  all  of  you  from  me,  and  I  will  in  a  moment 
confirm  them  all  by  a  new  and  unheard  of  proof .  They 
withdrew  at  length,  though  reluctantly,  leaving  only  the  light- 
ed candles  in  the  chamber,  and  soon  returned,  expecting  to 
witness  some  prodigy:  When  they  found  the  lights  extin- 
guished, and  his  dead  body  lying  prostrate  on  the  ground.' 
Hamilton  adds,  that  the  spectators,  after  recovering  from  their 
astonishment,  replaced  the  dead  body  in  the  bed,  and  entered 
into  an  agreement  to  conceal  what  they  had  witnessed ;  but 
God,  unwilling  that  such  a  document  should  be  unknown,  dis- 
closed it,  "  both  by  the  amanuensis  himself  [Robertus  Kambel 
a  Pinkincleugh,]  soon  after  taken  off  by  a  similar  death,  and 
by  others  who,  although  unwillingly,  made  clear  confessions." 
De  Confusione  Calvin.  Sectse  apud  Scotos,  fol.  66,  67.  Those 
who  have  not  access  to  the  work  itself,  will  find  the  original 
words  extracted,  although  vsdth  some  slight  inaccuracies,  by 
Mackenzie.  Lives  of  Scottish  writers,  iii.  131,  132.  "All 
the  rest  of  the  Romish  writers  (says  Mackenzie)  insist  upon 
such  like  ridiculous  stories  that  are  altogether  improbable." 
Hamilton's  fabrications  gave  occasion,  however,  to  the  publica- 
tion of  that  minute  and  satisfactory  narrative  of  the  last  illness 
and  death  of  Knox,  dravm  up  by  one  who  waited  on  him  all 
the  time,  and  added  by  Principal  Smeton  to  the  answer  which 
he  made  to  that  virulent  writer.  See  above  p.  128.  Yet  the 
popish  waiters  continued  to  retail  Hamilton's  story  until  a  late 
period.  It  was  published  by  Knot  in  his  Protestancy  Con- 
demned, Doway  1654;  and  in  The  Politician's  Catechism, 
printed  at  Antwerp,  1658.  Permissu  superiorum.  Those 
<yho  wish  to  see  the  variations  which  it  had  undergone  by  that 
time,  and  who  have  not  met  with  these  writings,  may  be  satis- 
fied by  looking  into  Strype's  Life  of  Archbishop  Parker,  p.  367. 


"  The  miserable,  horrible,  detestable,  and  execrable  deaths  " 
of  Luther,  Calvin,  and  other  heretics  of  that  time,  are  particu- 
larly recorded  by  James  Laing,  in  the  work  to  which  I  have 
repeatedly  refeiTed. 

Note  LXm.  p.  137. 

Of  Robert  Pont,  and  the  sentiments  of  the  Reformers  con- 
cerning the  distinction  of  civil  and  ecckmisiical  authority. — 
Mr.  Matthew  Crawfurd,  in  his  Life  of  Knox,  prefixed  to  the 
edition  of  his  Historie  printed  in  1732,  thinks  it  improbable 
that  Mrs.  Pont  was  a  daughter  of  Knox  by  his  second  mar- 
riage ;  "  for  no  doubt  (says  he)  Mr.  Pont  was  an  old  man,  be- 
fore any  of  that  marriage  could  be  of  age."  p.  xlii.  But  if 
ever  Knox  had  any  daughters  by  his  first  wife,  they  were  not 
alive  when  he  composed  the  Prayer  which  he  published  along 
with  his  Answer  to  Tyrie.  The  following  is  the  clause  in  it 
respecting  his  family  ;  "  Let  thy  mercyfull  providence  luke  up- 
on my  desolate  bed  fellow,  the  frute  of  hir  bosome,  and  my 
two  deir  children,  Nathanael  and  Eleezer."  From  this  it  ap- 
pears, that  the  two  sons  mentioned  were  the  only  children 
which  he  had,  besides  those  who  were  bom  to  him  by  his  se- 
cond -wife.  At  the  end  of  the  volume  of  MS.  Letters,  in  my 
possession,  this  prayer  is  inserted  (but  evidently  by  a  different 
hand)  under  the  title  of  "  The  last  will  and  Words  of  John 
Knox,  at  St.  Androis  May  13,  1572."  But  in  the  preface  to 
the  publication  above  mentioned,  he  himself  says:  "I  have 
added  unto  this  preface  a  meditatioun  or  prayer  thrawin  furth 
of  my  sorrowful  heart,  and  pronounced  be  my  half  dead  toung, 
befoir  I  was  compelled  to  leave  my  flocke  of  Edinburgh,  who 
now  ar  dispersed  suffering  lytill  les  calamitie  tlien  did  the  faith- 
full  efter  the  persecution  of  Stephen."  After  the  prayer  is  this 
date,  "At  Edinburgh  the  12  of  March  1565,"  i.  e.  1566,  ac- 
cording to  the  modem  reckoning ;  from  which  it  appears  tliat 
this  prayer  was  composed  by  him  when  he  left  Echnburgh  as 
related  in  p.  114. 

To  return  to  Mr.  Pont :  although  he  was  not  a  young  man 
when  Knox's  oldest  daughter  by  the  second  marriage  came  of 
age,  there  have  been  often  instances  of  greater  disparity  of 
years  in  matrimonial  connections.  The  name  of  Pont  often 
occurs  in  the  account  of  ecclesiastical  transactions  during  the 
remainder  of  the  sixteenth  century.  The  writer  of  Additional 
Notes  to  Lord  Hailes's  Catalogue  of  the  Lords  of  Sessio)i, 
calls  him  by  mistake,  "  the  first  prcsbyterian  minister  of  the 
West  Kirk,"  p.  8.  Edinburgh,  1798.  William  Hariaw  pre 
ceded  him  in  that  situation,  (Keith  498.)  and  continued  to 
hold  it  in  August  1571.  See  Letter  to  him  from  the  Duke 
and  Huntly,  in  Bannatyne's  Journal,  217.  Pont  was  also 
Commissioner  of  Munay,  and  Provost  of  Trinity  College, 
Edinburgh.  Upon  the  death  of  the  Earl  of  March,  James  VI 
offered  him  the  bishoprick  of  Caithness,  but  he  dechned  accept- 
ing it.  Keith's  Scottish  Bishops,  129.  He  was  the  author 
of  several  publications,  besides  the  Sermon  "  against  Sacrilege," 
repeatedly  mentioned. 

The  time  of  his  death,  and  his  age,  appear  from  the  follow- 
ing inscription  on  his  tomb-stone,  in  St.  Cuthbert's  Church- 
yard. Part  of  the  inscription  is  now  illegible,  which  I  have 
supplied  from  Maitland's  History  of  Edinburgh,  p.  178,  179 
John  Johnston,  who  was  alive  at  the  time,  places  his  death,  not 
in  1608,  but  in  1600,  in  the  Verses  which  he  wrote  to  his 
memory.     MS.  in  Advocates'  Library. 

Xlle  ego  Robertus  Pontanus,  in  hoc  prope  sacro 
Christi  qui  fueram  pastor  gregis,  auspice  Christo, 
^ternse  hie  recubans  expecto  resurgere  vitae. 

Obiit  octavo  die  mensis  Maii,  Anno  D.  1608.  uEtatis  81. 
At  the  request  of  the  Regent  Mar,  the  assembly,  or  conven- 
tion, which  met  at  Leith  in  January  1571-2  allowed  Mr.  Ro- 
bert Pont,  on  account  of  his  great  knowledge  of  the  laws,  to 
act  as  a  Lord  of  Session.  Bulk  of  the  Universall  Kirk,  p.  54. 
But  in  March  1572-3,  the  Regent  Morton  having  laid  before 
them  a  proposal  for  appointmg  some  ministers  Lords  of  Ses- 
sion, the  Assembly  "  votit  throughout  tliat  naine  was  able  nor 
apt  to  bear  the  saides  twa  charges."  They  therefore  prohibi- 
ted any  rninister  from  accepting  tlie  place  of  a  Senator ;  from 
this  inhibition  they,  however,  excepted  Mr.  Pont.  Ibid.  p.  5fi. 
Pont  resigned  his  place  as  a  Lord  of  Session  in  1584,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  act  of  parliament  passed  that  year,  declaring 
that  none  of  the  ministers  of  God''s  word  and  sacraments — 
"  in  time  cuming  sail  in  ony  waies  accept  use  or  administrat 
ony  place  of  judicature,  in  quhatsumever  civil  or  criminal 
causes,  nocht  to  be  of  the  Colledge  of  justice,  Comissioners, 


184 


NOTES, 


Advocates,  court  Clerkes  or  Notaris  in  cm'  matcris  (the  mak- 
ing of  Testamentcs  onely  excepted)."  Skene's  Acts,  fol.  59.  b. 
Edinburgh,  1597.  Lord  Hailes's  Catalogue  of  the  Lords  of 
Session,  p.  5.  and  Note  34.  It  has  ahvays  been  a  principle 
of  ths  presbyterian  church  of  Scotland  that  the  ministers  of  re- 
ligion ought  not  to  be  distracted  from  the  duties  of  their  office 
by  holding  01%!!  places.  The  first  General  Assembly,  (Dec. 
1560)  resolved  to  petition  the  Estates,  to  "  remove  ministers 
from  ci\il  offices  according  to  the  canon  law."  Buik  of  the 
Universall  Kirk,  p.  2. 

I  may  subjoin  a  few  facts  which  establish  the  opinion  of  our 
Reformers  on  the  subject  of  the  difference  between  civil  and 
ecclesiastical  jurisdiction.  In  common  with  other  reformed 
churches,  they  allowed  that  civil  nilers  had  a  right  to  employ 
their  authoritj-  for  the  reformation  of  religion  within  their  do- 
minions, espiecialiy  when,  as  was  universally  the  case  under  the 
papacy,  abuses  and  corruptions  immediately  affected  the  state 
as  well  as  the  church,  and  were  interwoven  with  the  civil  con- 
stitution and  administration  ;  they  allowed  them  a  power  of 
making  laws  for  the  support  and  advancement  of  religion ;  and 
they  held  that,  where  a  reformed  church  existed,  there  might 
be  a  co-operation  between  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  authori- 
ties about  certain  objects  which  came  under  the  cognizance  of 
both,  each  of  them  acting  within  its  own  line,  and  with  a  view 
to  the  ends  of  its  institution.  But  on  the  other  hand,  they 
held  that  civil  and  ecclesiastical  authority  were  essentially  dis- 
tinct, and  they  refused  that  civil  rulers  had  a  supremacy  over 
the  church  as  such,  or  a  right  to  model  her  government  and 
worship,  and  to  assume  to  themselves  the  internal  management 
of  her  affairs. 

The  Scottish  reformers  never  ascribed  or  allowed  to  civil 
rulers  the  same  authority  in  esslesiastical  matters  which  the 
English  did.  In  particular,  they  resisted  from  the  beginning 
the  claim  of  ecclesiastical  supremacy  granted  to  the  English 
monarchs.  On  the  7th  July  1568,  "It  was  delatit  and  fund 
that  Thomas  Bassinden,  printer  in  Edinburgh,  imprintit  an 
buik,  intitulat  The  Fall  of  the  Roman  Kirk,  naming  our 
King  and  Soverane  Supreme  Head  of  the  primitive  Kirk. — 
The  haill  assemblie  ordaint  the  said  Thomas  to  call  in  agane 
all  the  foirsaidis  bulks  yat  he  hes  sauld,  and  keip  the  rest  un- 
sauld,  until  he  alter  the  forsaid  title.  Attour,  the  assemblie 
appoynit  Mr.  Alex.  Arbuthnot  to  revise  the  rest  of  the  forsaid 
tractat  and  report  to  the  kirk  quhat  doctrine  he  findis  thairin." 
Buik  of  the  Universall  Kirk,  p.  38,  39.  The  General  Assem- 
bly were  frequently  occupied  in  settling  the  bounds  between 
civil  and  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  and  in  March  1570  arrang- 
ed the  objects  wliich  pertained  to  the  latter  imder  six  heads ;  in- 
cluding, among  other  things,  the  judgment  of  doctrine,  admin- 
istration of  divine  ordinances,  the  election,  examination,  ad- 
mission, suspension,  &x;.  of  ministers,  and  all  cases  of  disci- 
pline. The  following  is  the  concluding  article :  "  And  because 
the  conjunctioun  of  marriages  pertaineth  to  the  ministrie,  the 
causis  of  adherents  and  divorcements  audit  also  to  perteine  to 
thame,  as  naturallie  annexit  thairto."  Buik  of  the  Universall 
Kirk,  p.  51.  Actes  of  the  General  Assemblies,  prefixed  to  the 
First  and  Second  Booke  of  Discipline,  printed  in  1621,  p. 
3,4. 

On  occasion  of  some  encroachments  made  on  the  liberties 
of  the  church  in  1571,  John  Erskine  of  Dim,  superintendent 
of  Angus  and  Meams,  addressed  two  letters  to  the  regent  Mar. 
They  are  written  in  a  clear,  spirited,  and  forcible  style,  contain 
an  accurate  stiUcment  of  the  essential  distinction  between  civil 
and  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  and  should  be  road  by  all  who 
wish  to  know  the  early  sentiments  of  the  church  of  Scotland 
on  this  subject     See  Bannatyne's  Journal,  p.  279 — 290. 

Note  LXIV.  p.  137. 

Of  Knox's  Descendants. — I  have  been  lately  favoured  witli 
a  communication  from  Alexander  Thomson,  Esq.  of  Ban^ 
chory,  in  Aberdeenshire,  contauiing  the  following  statement  of 
his  descent  from  our  Reformer  which  I  insert  with  pleasure. 
"  John  Knox,  the  celebrated  Reformer,  left  three  daughters, 
one  of  whom  was  married  to  a  Mr.  Baillie  of  the  Jerviswood 
family,  and  by  him  had  a  daughter  who  was  married  to  a  Mr. 
Kirkton  of  Edinburgh.  By  this  marriage  Mr.  Kirkton  had  a 
daughter,  Margaret,  who  was  married  to  Dr.  Andrew  Skene 
in  Abcrdeeru  Dr.  A.  Skene  left  several  children,  the  eldest  of 
whom.  Dr.  Andrew  Skene,  had  by  his  wife.  Miss  Lurns- 
dcn  of  Cushnie,  several  sons  and  daughters.  One  of  these, 
Mary,  was  married  to  Andrew  Thomson  of  Banchory,  who 


had  issue  by  her  Margaret,  Andrew,  and  Alexander.  Andrew 
married  Miss  Hamilton,  daughter  of  Dr.  Hamilton,  of  Maris- 
L^hall  College,  Aberdeen,  and  by  her  had  issue  Alexander,  bom 
June  21.  1798,  and  present  proprietor  of  Banchory." 

I  see  no  reason  to  doubt  the  genuineness  and  accuracy  of 
this  pedigree.  It  is  not  uncommon,  indeed,  for  persons  who 
happen  to  be  of  the  same  name  with  an  individual  who  had 
attained  celebrity,  to  claim  a  family  relation  to  him  upon  veiy 
slender  grounds.  But  in  the  present  mstance,  not  to  mention 
the  particularity  of  detail  in  the  genealogical  table,  there  is  no 
reason  to  suspect  that  the  tradition  could  have  such  an  origin ; 
as  the  name  of  Knox  does  not  occur  in  the  family  after  its 
connection  by  marriage  -with  the  Reformers  daughter.  Any 
appearance  of  inconsistency  between  this  pedigree  and  what  I 
have  stated  in  p.  137,  is  completely  removed  by  a  supposition, 
not  at  all  improbable,  that  one  of  the  Reformer's  daughters 
was  twice  married,  and  that  on  one  of  these  occasions  she 
married  a  Mr.  BailUe  of  Jerviswood.  I  have  not  had  an  op- 
portunity of  examining  the  pedigree  of  Baillie  of  Jerviswood, 
now  of  Mellerstain,  but  I  have  little  doubt  that  the  result  of 
such  an  examination  would  be  a  confirmation  of  Mr.  Thom- 
son's statement.  For  among  the  family  pictures  at  Meller- 
stean  is  a  portrait  of  Captain  Kirkton,  an  Oificer  of  the  Royal 
Navy,  which  affords  a  strong  presumption  that  there  must 
have  been  an  alliance  between  the  Kirktons  and  the  family 
of  Jerviswood. 

Mr.  Thomson  of  Banchorj'  possesses  from  his  ancestors  an 
antique  watch ;  and  the  tradition  in  the  family  is  that  this 
watch  belonged  to  the  Reformer,  and  was  presented  to  him  by 
Queen  Mary  at  the  time  when  she  was  anxious  to  cajole  him 
into  an  approbation  of  her  measures.  Of  the  structure  of  this 
family  relic,  my  ingenious  friend,  Mr.  William  Knight  in 
Aberdeen,  has  transmitted  to  me  a  minute  description,  from 
which  the  fonowing  particulars  are  extracted.  "  It  is  of  an 
octagonal  oblong  shape,  an  inch  an  a  half  in  length,  and  one 
and  two-tenths  in  breadth.  It  has  two  cases  or  hds,  which 
are  concave  silver  plates,  each  opening  by  itself  on  a  brass 
hinge.  Under  the  upper  lid  is  tlie  brass  front  of  the  watch, 
with  a  small  silver  dial  plate  in  the  middle.  The  dial  plate  is 
only  nine-tenths  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  circular.  The 
hours  are  in  Roman  numerals  around  its  edge,  and  there  is  a 
great  deal  of  minute  car\"ing,  both  within  and  without  the 
dial  plate.  Under  the  other  case,  or  back  of  the  watch,  are 
carved  on  the  brass  plate  these  words,  NForfaict  a  Paris. 
The  interior  appears  to  be  disposed  nearly  in  the  same  mode 
as  in  modem  watches.  It  has  a  crown  escapement.  Instead 
of  the  chain  of  the  fusee,  there  is  a  fine  therm  band.  The 
balance  wheel  has  no  spring." 

Instead  of  interposing  my  own  opinion  on  the  claim  which 
this  watch  has  to  be  considered  as  the  workmanship  of  the 
middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  I  beg  leave  to  refer  to  the 
following  letter  fiom  Mr.  Professor  Leslie,  whose  extensive 
acquaintance  with  the  progress  of  the  arts,  and  the  history  of 
inventions,  is  well  known. 

EDiifBunGii,  15th  Dec.  1S13. 
Dear  Sir, 

From  the  minute  and  accurate  account  which 
your  correspondent  has  sent  you  of  tlie  watch  said  to  have 
once  belonged  to  our  celebrated  reformer,  tliere  can  be  little 
doubt  that  it  had  been  constructed  at  least  before  the  year 
1657,  or  the  time  when  the  celebrated  Huyghens  first  appHed 
his  capital  discovery  of  the  pendulum,  or  balance  spring,  to  re- 
gulate the  action  of  those  machines.  I  believe  too  (diough  I 
cannot  now  speak  positively  on  the  subject)  that  the  fine  steel 
chain  coiled  about  the  fusee  had  been  introduced  anterior  to 
that  period.  The  clumsy  expedient  of  attaching  catgut  instead 
of  the  chain,  occurs  only  in  watches  of  the  very  oldest  fonn. 
The  elaborate  carving  bestowed  on  this  piece  of  mechanism 
seems  likewise  to  ijidicate  a  considerable  antiquity.  That  the 
watch  in  question  might  have  been  the  property  of  John  Knox 
is  tlierefore  possible,  and  the  tradition  is  in  tliis  case  not  un- 
worthy of  credit.  At  the  same  time  it  must  be  admitted,  that 
pocket  watches  were  extremely  rare  at  that  period,  and  pro- 
bably confined  for  the  most  part  to  pruices  and  the  more  opu- 
lent nobility.  The  Fellows  of  colleges  and  other  learned  men 
in  the  age  of  Elizabeth,  contented  dicmsclves  with  carrying 
sand-glasses  in  their  hand.  This  appears  from  Aubrey's 
amusing  Memoirs ;  ajid  a  singular,  though  rather  tragical, 
misadventure,  in  which  a  portable  sand-glass  makes  a  very 
prominent  figure,  is  related  in  the  manuscript  hfc  of  the  Rev. 


NOTES. 


185 


James  Melvil,  to  have  happened  at  St  Andrews  several  years 
after  the  death  of  ICnox.     I  am, 

Dear  Sir, 
With  true  regard  ever  yours, 

John  Leslie. 
To  the  Rev.  Dr.  M'Crie. 

P.  S.  Since  writhig  the  above,  I  have  had  the  opportunity 
of  inspecting  an  antique  watch,  through  the  politeness  of  Mr. 
J.  Scott,  late  Chemist  in  Edinburgh,  the  lineal  descendant  of 
a  Frenchman  of  the  name  of  Massie,  who,  having  attended 
Queen  Mary  into  Scotland,  had  received  the  relic  from  his 
mistress.  It  is  a  small  round  gold  watch,  scarcely  exceeding 
an  inch  in  diameter,  and  made  by  Hubert  in  Eoucn.  It  is 
precisely  of  the  same  structure,  but  without  carving  or  other 
ornament,  as  the  one  with  which  that  artful  princess  is  said 
to  have  endeavoured  to  bribe  our  stern  reformer.     J.  L. 

The  occurrence  at  St.  Andrews  to  which  Mr.  Leslie  refers 
was  an  assault  made,  by  one  of  the  partizans  of  archbishop 
Adamson,  on  Mr.  William  Wallv.ood,  professor  of  Laws, 
who,  "  going  from  his  house  in  the  Town  to  the  Colledge,  his 
gown  on,  his  book  in  the  one  hand,  and  smid-glass  in  the 
other,  meditating  on  his  lesson,  Jlcnerj-  Hamilton  issues  out 
of  a  house  where  he  lay  in  wait  for  blood,  and  onbesetting 
Mr.  William,  with  the  first  stroke  wounds  him  in  the  hand 
and  mutilats  him."  This  occasioned  a  riot,  in  which  one  per- 
son lost  his  life.  It  happened  in  1589.  Melville's  Diary, 
p.  194. 

Note  LXV.  p.  139. 

Of  Knox's  History  of  the  Reform aticn. — When  they  first 
formed  themselves  into  an  association  to  advance  the  reforma- 
tion of  religion,  the  protestants  of  Scotland,  av.are  that  their 
conduct  would  be  misrepresented,  appointed  some  of  their 
number  to  commit  their  proceedings  to  writing.  This  laud- 
able practice  was  continued  by  them,  and  the  most  important 
events  connected  with  the  progress  of  the  Reformation  were 
registered  along  with  the  resolutions  adopted  at  their  meetings. 
After  they  came  to  an  open  breach  with  the  queen  regent, 
and  she  had  accused  them  of  rebellious  intentions  both  to  their 
countrymen  and  to  foreign  nations,  they  resolved  that  a  nar- 
rative of  their  proceedings  should  be  drawn  up  from  these 
records,  and  that  it  should  be  published  to  the  world  for  their 
vindication.  Preface  "to  the  Gentill  Reidare,"  prefixed  to 
Knox's  Historic  ;  and  "  Prsefatio"  to  "  the  Secunde  Booke  of 
the  Historic,"  p.  115.  edit,  1733.  The  confusions  produced 
by  the  civil  war  prevented  them  from  executing  this  resolu- 
tion at  the  time  intended,  and  the  object  originally  in  view 
was  in  part  answered  by  occasional  proclamations  which  they 
had  been  obliged  to  make,  and  by  answers  which  they  had 
published  to  jiroclamations  issued  by  the  regent.  The  design 
was  not,  however,  laid  aside,  and  the  person  to  whom  the 
compilation  was  committed  continued  the  narrative.  The 
Book  which  is  placed  second  in  the  printed  History  was  first 
composed.  The  third  Book  was  next  composed,  and  contains 
a  circumstantial  account  of  the  steps  taken  by  the  Congrega- 
tion to  obtain  assistance  from  England,  which  it  was  judged 
imprudent  to  disclose  when  the  former  book  wasdrawji  up.  It 
brings  down  the  history  to  Queen  Mary's  arrival  in  Scoiland. 
The  book  which  occupies  the  first  place  in  the  printed  history 
was  composed  after  these,  and  intended  as  an  introduction  to 
them,  bringing  down  the  history  from  the  first  dawn  of  the 
Reformation  in  Scotland  to  1558.  See  Preface  to  the  Gentill 
Reidare,  ut  supra.  The  publication  being  still  delayed,  the 
fourth  Book  was  added,  which  contains  the  history  of  ecclesi- 
astical transactions  from  the  arrival  of  Mary  to  the  end  of 
1564.  The  first  and  fourth  Books  were  composed  during  the 
years  1566,  1567,  and  1568.  Historic,  p.  86,  108,  282. 
Some  additions  were  made  to  the  fourth  Book  as  late  as  1571. 
Ibid.  p.  338.  The  fifth  Book  in  the  printed  History  is  not 
tbund  in  any  of  the  ancient  MSS.  It  was  added  by  David 
Buchanan,  but  whether  he  published  it  from  an  old  MS.  or 
compiled  it  himself,  cannot  now  be  ascertained. 

The  History  was  composed  by  one  person,  (Preface,  ut 
supra.)  and  there  is  no  reason  for  doubting  that  Knox  was  the 
author.  In  a  letter  which  he  wrote  on  the  23d  of  October 
1559,  he  mentions  the  design  of  publishing  it.  Keith,  A{>- 
pend.  p.  30.  The  English  Ambassador,  Randolph,  says,  in 
a  letter  to  Cecil,  dated  Edinburgh  23d  September,  1560,  "  I 
have  tawlked  at  large  with  Mr.  Knox  concernynge  hys  Hys- 


tore.  As  mykle  as  ys  wrytten  thereof  shall  be  sent  to  your 
Honour,  at  the  comynge  of  the  Lords  Embassadors  by  Mr. 
John  Woode:  He  hath  wrytten  only  one  Booke.  If  you  lyke 
that,  he  shall  contynue  the  same,  or  adde  onie  more.  He 
sayethe.  That  he  must  have  farther  Hel})o,  then  is  to  be  had 
in  thys  Countrie  for  more  assured  Knouledge  of  Thyngs 
passed,  than  he  hath  hymself,  or  can  com  by  here :  yt  is  a 
Worke  not  to  be  neglected,  and  gs-eatly  to  be  wyshed  tliat  yt 
sholde  be  well  handled."  Life  of  the  Author,  p.  xliii.  prefixed 
to  Knox's  Historic,  edit.  1732.  From  a  letter  written  by 
Knox  to  Mr.  John  Wood,  and  dated  Feb.  14,  1568,  it  ap- 
pears that  he  had  come  to  the  resolution  of  withholding  the 
History  from  the  public  during  his  life.  See  Appendix,  The 
important  light  in  which  he  considered  the  work  apptars  from 
the  way  in  which  he  expressed  himself  in  April  1571,  when 
he  found  that  the  state  of  his  health  would  not  permit  him  to 
finish  it,  "  liOrd  provyde  for  thy  flocks  trew  pastouris ;  rease 
thou  up  the  spreitis  of  some  to  observe  thy  notable  workis, 
faythfullie  to  comit  the  same  to  writ,  that  the  prosperities 
[posterities]  to  come  may  praise  thy  holie  name,  for  the  great 
graces  plentyfullie  powrd  foorth  upon  this  vnthankfull  genera- 
tione,  Jhone  Knox  trusting  end  of  trawell,"  Bannatyne's 
Journal,  p.  129,  He  did  not  however  desist  altogether  from 
the  prosecution  of  the  work.  It  appears  from  two  letters  of 
Alexander  Hay,  Clerk  to  the  Privy  Council,  written  in  De- 
cember 1571,  that  the  Reformer  had  applied  to  him  for  papers 
to  assist  him  in  the  continuation  of  his  History,  The  papers 
which  Hay  proposed  to  send  him  relate  to  the  years  1567 — 
1571,  a  period  which  the  printed  History  does  not  reach. 
Bannatyne,  p,  294—302. 

The  following  petition  presented  by  Bannatyne  to  the  first 
General  Assembly  which  met  after  our  Reformer's  death,  with 
the  Act  of  Assembly  relating  to  it,  gives  the  most  satisfactory 
information  respectuig  the  History.  "  Unto  your  Wisdoms 
humbly  means  and  shows,  I  your  Servitor  Richard  Banna- 
tjTie,  Servant  to  your  Unquhill  most  dearest  Brother  John 
Knox  of  worthy  Memory  ;  That  where  it  is  not  unknown  to 
your  Wisdoms,  tliat  he  left  to  the  Kirk  and  Town  of  Edin- 
burgh his  History,  containing  in  effect  the  Beginning  and 
Progress  of  Christ's  true  Religion,  now  of  God's  great  Mercy 
established  in  this  Realm  ;  wherein  he  hath  continued  and 
perfectly  ended  at  the  Year  of  God  1564.  So  that  of  Things 
done  sinsyne,  nothing  be  him  is  put  in  that  Form  and  Or- 
dour,  that  he  has  put  the  former.  Yet  not  the  less  there  are 
certain  Scrolls  and  Papers,  and  Minuts  of  Things  left  to  me 
by  him,  to  use  at  my  Pleasure,  whereof  a  Part  were  written 
and  subscribed  by  his  own  Hand,  and  another  be  mine  at  his 
Command,  which,  if  they  were  collected  and  gathered  together, 
would  make  a  sufficient  Declaration  of  the  principal  Things, 
that  have  occurred  since  the  ending  of  his  former  History,  at 
the  Year  foresaid  ;  and  so  should  serve  for  stuff  and  Matter,  to 
any  of  Understanding  and  Ability  in  that  Kmde  of  Exercise,  that 
would  apply  themselves  to  make  a  History  even  unto  the  Day 
of  his  Death.  But  for  so  meikle  as  the  said  Scrolls  are  so  in- 
tacked  and  mixed  together,  that  if  they  should  come  in  any 
Hands  not  used  nor  accustomed  with  the  same,  as  I  have  been, 
they  should  altogether  lose  and  perish  :  And  seeing  also  I  am 
not  able  on  my  own  Costs  and  Expences,  to  apply  myself 
and  spend  my  Time,  to  put  them  in  Order,  which  would  con- 
sume a  very  long  Time ;  much  less  am  I  able  to  write  them, 
and  put  them  in  Register,  as  they  require  to  be,  without  your 
Wisdoms  make  some  Provision  for  the  same :  Wherefore  I 
most  humbly  request  your  Wisdoms,  That  I  may  have  some 
reasonable  Pension,  appointed  to  me  by  yoiir  Wisdoms  Dis- 
cretion, that  thereby  I  may  be  more  able  to  await  and  attend 
upon  the  samine  ;  lest  these  Things,  done  by  that  Servant  of 
God  dear  to  you  all,  should  perish  and  decay,  which  they 
shall  do  indeed,  if  they  be  not  put  in  Register,  which  I  will 
do  willinglie,  if  your  Wisdoms  would  provide  as  said  is. 
And  your  Wisdoms  Answer  &c"  To  this  Supplica- 
tion, the  Assembly  gave  the  following  Answer.  "  The  As- 
sembly accepted  the  said  Richard's  Ofler,  and  request  the 
Kirk  of  Edinburgh,  to  provide  and  appomt  some  learned  Men, 
to  support  Richard  Bannatyne,  to  put  the  said  History,  that 
is  now  in  Scrolls  and  Papers  in  good  Form,  with  Aid  of  the 
said  Richard.  And  because  he  is  not  able  to  await  thereon, 
upon  his  own  Expences,  appoints  to  him  the  Sum  of  Fourty 
Pounds,  to  be  payed  of  the  1572  Years  Crope,  be  the  Collec- 
tors under-written,  viz.  the  Collector  of  Lothian,  Fife,  Angus, 
and  tlie  West,  Galloway,  and  Murray,  every  one  of  them  to 
pay  six  Pounds  thirteen  Shillings  four  Pennies  of  the  said 
Crope;    and  it  shall  be   allowed  to  them   in  Count,  they 


188 


NOTES. 


bringing  the  said  Richard's  Acquittance  thereupon."  Life  of 
the  Author,  p.  xliv.  xlv.  prefixed  to  Historie,  edit.  1732. 

It  is  probable  that  the  deficiency  of  the  funds  of  the  church 
prevented  the  publication  of  the  History  during  Morton's  re- 
gency :  and  the  change  of  politics  after  James  assumed  the 
reins  of  government  into  his  own  hands,  precluded  all  hope 
of  its  being  allowed  to  be  printed  in  Scotland.  An  attempt 
was  made  to  have  it  printed  in  England  ;  but  after  the  work 
had  proceeded  so  far,  the  press  was  stopped.  This  appears 
from  the  following  extract  from  Calderwood's  MS.  "  February 
1586,  Vaultrollier  the  printer  took  with  him  a  copy  of  Mr. 
Knox's  History  to  England,  and  printed  twelve  hundred  of 
them ;  the  stationers,  at  the  archbishop's  command,  seized 
them,  the  18  of  February  ;  it  was  thought  that  he  would  get 
leave  to  proceed  again,  because  the  council  perceived  that  it 
would  bring  the  Queen  of  Scots  in  detestation."  Calder- 
wood's  MS.  apud  Life  of  Knox,  p.  45,  prefixed  to  edition  of 
Hist.  Edin.  1732.  Bishop  Bancroft  also  mentions  it,  in  the 
following  terms,  "  If  you  ever  meet  with  the  History  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland  penned  by  Mr.  Knox,  and  printed  by 
VautroUier,  read  the  pages  quoted  here  in  the  margent."  Ban- 
croft's Survey,  (originally  printed  in  1593),  republished  in 
1663,  p.  37.  Copies  of  this  imperfect  edition  were  allowed 
to  go  abroad,  and  are  still  to  be  met  with.  In  1644,  David 
Buchanan  published  his  edition  of  Knox's  History  at  London 
in  Folio,  which  was  reprinted  the  same  year  at  Edinburg  in 
Quarto.  The  editor  prefixed  a  Preface  concerning  the  anti- 
quity of  the  Scots,  and  a  Life  of  Knox,  both  of  which  were 
written  by  himself.  He  modernized  the  language  of  the  His- 
tory ;  but  not  satisfied  with  this,  he  also  altered  the  narrative 
by  excluding  some  parts  of  it,  and  by  making  numerous  in- 
terpolations. It  appears  from  the  passage  formerly  quoted 
from  Milton  (seepage  167.)  that  attempts  were  made  to  sup- 
press, or  at  least  to  mutilate  this  edition ;  but  the  passage  is  so 
obscure  that  we  cannot  learn  from  what  quarter  these  attempts 
were  made.  At  last,  a  genuine  and  complete  edition  of  the 
History  was  printed  in  1732,  from  a  Manuscript  belonging  to 
the  University  of  Glasgow,  compared  with  several  other 
manuscripts  of  undoubted  antiquity.  Those  who  wish  to 
know  the  great  difference  between  this  edition  and  that  of 
David  Buchanan  may  consult  Mr.  Wodrow's  letter,  inserted 
at  large  in  the  Life  of  the  Author,  p.  xlvi — li.  prefixed  to  the 
Historie,  edit  1732,  and  partially  inserted  in  Nicolson's  Scot- 
tish Historical  Library,  p.  132—141.  Lond.  1736.  All  the 
editions  of  the  History  lately  published  are  mere  copies  of 
Buchanan's  spurious  and  interpolated  one. 

This  deduction  of  facts  may  serve  to  clear  the  subject  of  the 
History  from  the  difficulties  in  which  it  has  been  involved. 
That  Knox  was  the  author  of  the  first  four  Books,  as  they  are 
printed  in  the  edition  1732,  is  beyond  all  reasonable  doubt. 
After  the  publication  of  that  edition,  it  is  mere  pervcrseness  to 
endeavour  to  discredit  the  authenticity  or  genuineness  of  the 
History,  by  harping  on  the  alterations  and  interpolations  of 
David  Buchanan.  To  infer  that  he  was  not  the  author  of 
tiie  History  from  the  difference  between  its  style  and  that  of 
his  undoubted  works,  is  quite  conjectural.  The  historical 
and  the  didactic  styles  are  different  in  themselves  ;  and  when  we 
consider  the  inter\'als  at  which  the  history  was  composed,  the 
numerous  avocations  which  distracted  the  author's  attention, 
and  the  multiplicity  of  facts  which  it  was  requisite  for  him  to 
collect  and  investigate,  we  will  not  be  surprised  to  find  this 
work  inferior,  in  point  of  language  and  arrangement,  to  those 
tracts  which  he  composed  on  single  topics,  and  which,  having 
the  sentiments  at  liis  command,  he  was  left  at  liberty  to  ar- 
range and  to  adorn.  The  facts  which  I  have  produced  tend 
also  to  corroborate  the  credibility  of  the  History,  as  they  evince 
that,  however  negligent  as.  to  points  of  inferior  consideration, 
the  author  was  most  active  and  laborious  in  searching  for 
materials,  and  in  procuring,  when  it  was  at  all  possible,  ori- 
ginal and  authentic  documents.  And  such  was  his  character 
for  integrity,  that  I  am  persuaded  there  are  very  few  who  be- 
lieve that  he  would  insert  as  a  fact  any  thing  of  whose  truth 
he  was  not  fully  convinced. 

NotB  LXVI.  p.  139, 

Catalogue  of  Knox's  writings. — The  following  Catalogue 
of  the  Reformer's  Works  will,  1  trust,  be  found  more  correct 
and  complete  than  any  one  which  has  hitherto  appeared.  The 
titles  have  been  accurately  copied  from  the  books  themselves, 
when  I  could  possibly  procure  them,  and  at  the  end  of  each  I 
have  mentioned  where  a  copy  may  be  seen.    For  the  titles  of 


such  as  I  have  not  seen,  I  have  had  recourse  to  the  best 
authorities,  as  marked  after  each  article.  I  have  also  noticed 
those  of  which  there  are  copies  in  the  MS.  volume  in  my 
possession. 

1.  "  An  admonition,  or  warning,  that  the  faithful  Christians 
in  London,  Newcastel,  Berwycke  any  others,  may  avoide 
God's  vengeance  both  in  thys  fife  and  in  the  life  to  come. 
Compyled  by  the  servaunt  of  God,  John  Knokes."  A  cut  of 
truth,  poor  woman,  handcuffed  and  fastened  in  the  stocks  with 
a  halter  about  her  neck,  held  by  Tyrannye,  on  the  one  hand ; 
while  Crueltye,  with  a  cornered  cap,  is  threatening  her  with  a 
rod  on  the  other.  Beneath  the  cut,  "  The  persecuted  speaketh, 

I  fear  not  death,  nor  passe  not  for  bands  : 

Only  in  God  put  I  my  whole  trust, 

For  God  will  requyre  my  blod  at  your  hands, 

And  this  J  know  that  once  dye  I  must, 

Only  for  Chryst,  my  lyfe  if  I  give ; 

Death  is  no  death,  but  a  meane  for  to  leyve." 

Under  these  verses  in  ancient  writing  "  John  Fry  the  boke  Red 
and  send  yt  agayne."  E.  in  eights.  "  From  Wittonburge 
by  Nicholas  Dorcastor.  Anno  m.i).t.itii.  the  viii  of  May. 
Cum  privilegio  ad  imprimendum  solum."  W.  H.  (Ames  by 
Herbert,  p.  1576.)  sixteens.  Comp.  Tanneri  Bibliotheca 
Britannico-Hibernica,  p.  460.     See  above,  page  47,  note. 

2.  "  A  faythfuU  admonition  made  by  John  Knox,  unto  the 
profrssours  of  God's  trulhe  in  England,  whereby  thou  mayest 
learne  howe  God  wyll  have  his  churche  exercised  with 
troubles,  and  how  he  defendeth  it  in  the  same.  Esaie  ix. 
"  After  all  this  shall  not  the  Lordcs  wrath  ceasse,  but  yet 
shall  hys  hande  be  stretched  out  styll.  Ibidem.  Take  hedc 
that  the  Lorde  roote  thee  not  out  both  heade  and  tayle  in 
one  daye." 

On  the  back  of  title :  "  The  epistle  of  a  banyshed  manne 
out  of  Leycestershire  sometime  one  of  the  preachers  of  Goddes 
worde  there,  to  the  Christen  reader  wysheth  health,  deliver- 
aunce,  and  felicitie." 

"  Imprynted  at  Kalykow  the  20  daye  of  Julii  1 554.  Cum 
gratia  et  privilegio  ad  Imprimendum  solum."  French  black 
letter,  extends  to  I.  and  makes  63  leaves.  Advocates  Library. 
A  copy  of  this  in  MS.  Vol. 

3.  "  A  godly  letter  sent  too  the  faythefull  in  London,  Ncw- 
castell,  Barwyke,  and  to  all  other  within  the  realme  of  Eng- 
lande,  that  love  the  coming  of  our  Lorde  Jesus  by  Jhon  knox. 
Matth.  X.  He  that  continueth  unto  the  ende  shall  be  saved. 
Imprinted  in  Rome,  before  the  Castel  of  S.  Aungel,  at  the 
signe  of  Sainct  Peter.  In  the  moneth  of  July,  in  the  yeare 
of  our  Lord  1554."  D.  28  leaves,  Fr.  black  letter.  Advocates 
Library.     A  copy  in  MS.  Vol. 

4.  "  A  confession  and  declaratio  of  praiers  added  thereunto, 
by  Jhon  Knox,  minister  of  christes  most  sacred  Evangely,  up- 
on the  death  of  that  moste  famous  king  Edwanl  the  VI.  kynge 
of  Englande,  Fraunce,  and  Ireland,  in  which  confession,  the 
sayde  Jhon  doth  accuse  no  lesse  hys  owne  offences,  than  the 
offences  of  others,  to  be  the  cause  of  the  awaye  takinge,  of 
that  most  godlie  prince,  now  raininge  with  Christ  whyle  we 
abyde  plagues  for  our  authafulncsse.  Imprinted  in  Rome,  be- 
fore the  Castel  of  S.  Aungel,  at  the  signe  of  Sainct  Peter, 
In  the  moneth  of  July,  in  the  yeare  of  our  Lorde,  1554."  C. 
19  leaves.     Fr.  black  letter.     Advocates  Librar)'. 

The  "  Confession"  is  inserted  in  Note  XX.  The  "  Decla- 
ration of  Praiers"  is  in  MS.  Vol.  See  Note  XIII,  Another 
edition  was  licensed  1580,  see  Ames,  p.  1146. 

5.  "  The  copie  of  a  letter  sent  to  the  ladye  Mary  dowagire, 
Regent  of  Scotland,  by  John  Knox  in  the  yeare  1556.  Here 
is  also  a  notable  sermon,  made  by  the  sayde  John  Knox, 
wherin  is  evydentlye  proved  that  the  masse  is  and  alwaycs 
hath  ben  abhominable  before  God,  and  Idolatryc.  Scrufaniiiii 
Scripturas."  H.  extends  to  64  leaves,  16mo.  Black  letter. 
A  copy  of  this  rare  book,  which  Iwlonged  to  the  late  Duke  of 
Roxburg,  is  now  in  the  Advocates  Library. 

Ames  (p.  1587.)  introduces  tiiis  book  as  printed  in  1556, 
but  without  alleging  any  authority  ;  and  (p.  1834.)  he  speaks 
of  the  Sermon  against  the  Mass  as  printed  in  1550,  for  which 
he  quotes  T.  Baker's  Maunsell,  p.  101.  Both  the  tracts  con- 
tained in  this  book  are  in  MS.  Vol. 

6.  "  Ane  Exposition  upon  the  syxt  Psalme  of  Dauid,  where- 
in is  declared  hys  crosse,  complayntes  and  prayers,  moste  ne- 
cessarie  too  be  red  of  all  them,  for  their  singular  comforte,  that 
vnder  the  banner  of  Christe  are  by  Satan  assaulted,  and  feele 
the  heauyc  burthen  of  synne,  with  which  they  are  oppressed. 
Q^The  paciente  abydinge  of  the  sore  afflicted  was  neuer  yet 


NOTES. 


187 


confounded."  Ends  on  the  reverse  of  the  last  leaf  of  F.  On 
G,  1.  begins,  "A  comfortable  Epistell  sen  tc  to  the  afflicted 
church  of  Chryst,  exhortynge  th6  to  beare  hys  crosse  with 
paciece,  lokyng  euery  houre  for  hys  commyngc  agayne  to  the 
greate  comfort  and  consolacion  of  hys  chosen,  with  a  prophecy 
of  ye  destruction  of  the  wycked.  Whereunto  is  joyned  a  most 
wholesome  counsel!,  howe  to  behaue  oureselues  in  the  myddes 
of  thys  wycked  gcneracion  touching  the  daily  exercise  of  Gods 
most  holy  and  sacred  worde.  Wrytten  by  the  man  of  God. 
J.  K." 

A  copy  of  this  very  rare  collection,  which  also  belonged  to 
the  late  Duke  of  Roxburgh,  is  now  in  the  Advocates  Library. 
It  wants  two  or  tliree  leaves  at  the  close, — ending  with  I,  5. 
Black  leticr,  16mo.  (All  of  these  are  in  MS.  Volume.  The 
"  wholesome  counsell "  is  inserted  in  Note  XXV.)  In  the 
same  volume,  and  printed  with  the  same  type,  are  two  tracts 
by  "  Gracious  Menewe,"  the  first  on  "  Auricular  Confession," 
and  the  second,  "  Of  the  Communion  in  both  kyndes."  It 
has  been  conjectured  that  Knox  wrote  these  under  a  ficti- 
tious name. 

7.  "  The  copie  of  a  lettre  delivered  to  the  ladie  Marie,  Re- 
gent of  Scotland,  from  Johne  Knox  minister  of  Goddes  worde, 
in  the  yeare  of  our  Lord  1556,  and  nowe  augmented  and  ex- 
planed  by  the  author  in  the  yeare  of  our  Lord  1558."  De- 
vice :  two  arches,  one  narrow,  the  other  broad ;  over  the  nar- 
row one  is  a  crown  of  laurel,  over  the  broad  one  flames  of  fire, 
with  this  motto  about  them,  "  Enter  in  at  the  streit  gate  :  for 
wide  is  the  gate,  and  brode  is  the  waye,  that  leadeth  to  destruc- 
tion, Matth.  vii."  Printed  at  Geneva,  by  James  Poullain,  and 
Antonie  Rebul.  m.p.lviii.  D,  extends  to  28  leaves.  Rom.  Let- 
ter, 16mo.  Advocates  I^ibrary. 

8.  "  The  First  Blast  of  the  Trumpet  against  the  Monstru- 
ous  Regement  of  Wemen.  Veritas  tcmporis  filia.  nr.D.LViii." 
56  leaves,  Rom.  Letter.     Advocates  Library. 

9.  "  The  Appellation  of  John  Knoxc  from  the  cruell  and 
most  unjust  sentence  pronounced  against  him  by  the  false  bish- 
oppes  and  clergie  of  Scotland,  with  his  supplication  and  exhor- 
tation to  the  nobilitie,  estates,  and  comunalitie  of  the  same 
realme.  Printed  at  Geneva  m.d.lviii."  The  appellation  is 
addressed  "  To  the  nobilitie  and  estates  of  Scotlad"  only  ;  the 
epistle,  "  To  his  beloued  brethren  the  comunalitie  of  Scotlad," 
annexed,  begins  at  folio  47,  and  concludes  at  foUo  59,  "  Be 
witnesse  to  my  appellation. — From  Geneva,  the  14  of  July, 
1558.  Your  brother  to  commaunde  in  godlines  John  Knoxe." 
On  the  back  of  which  leaf  begins :  "  An  admonition  to  Eng- 
land and  Scotland  to  call  them  to  repentance,  written  by  An- 
toni  Gilby."  On  the  back  of  leaf  78, "  Psalme  of  David 
xciiii  turned  into  metre  by  W.  Kethe,"  ends  on  first  page  of 
folio  80 — Rom.  Letter,  l6mo.     Advocates  Library. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  "  Antoni  Gilby"  was  a  ficti- 
tious name  assumed  by  Knox.  Gilby  was  a  member  of  the 
English  church  at  Geneva.  (See  page  57.)  Ames  men- 
tions several  publications  by  him.  See  also  Tanneri  Biblio- 
Iheca,  p.  318. 

10.  ''The  copie  of  his  (John  Knooc's)  epistle,  sent  unto 
Newcastle,  and  Barwick.  (This  was,  perhaps,  another  edition 
of  No.  3.)  Also  a  brief  exhortation  to  Englandc  for  the 
speedy  embraring  of  Christes  gospel),  heretofore  by  the  tyran- 
ny of  Mary  suppressed.  Prin.  at  Geneva,  1559."  MaunsoU, 
p.  65.  With  a  catalogue  of  Martyrs,  16mo.  Ames,  p.  1600. 
Comp.  T;inner,  p.  460. 

11.  "  An  Anser  to  a  great  nomber  of  blasphemous  cauilla- 
tions  written  by  an  Anaba])list,  and  Adversarie  to  Gods  eternal 
Prednstin  ition ;  and  confuted  by  lohn  Knox,  minister  of  Gods 
worde  in  Scotlmd :  Wherein  the  Author  so  discouereth  the 
craft  and  f  dshocle  of  that  sect,  that  the  godly  knowing  that  er- 
ror, may  be  confirm'^d  in  tlie  treuth  by  the  euident  worde  of 
God.  Prov.  XXX.  There  is  a  generatio  that  are  pure  in  their 
owne  c6?.cit,  and  yet  are  not  washed  from  their  filthines. 
Printed  by  lohn  Crespin,  m.d.lx."  Rom.  Letter,  454  pages. 
Advocates  Library. 

Another  edition  was  licensed  1580 ;  and  it  was  again  print- 
ed in  1591.     See  Ames,  p.  1196,  1254,  1263. 

12.  "  Heir  foUoweth  the  coppie  of  the  ressoning  which  was 
betuix  the  Abbote  of  Crosraguell  and  John  Knox  in  Mayboill 
concerning  the  Masse,  in  the  yeare  of  God,  a  thousand  five 
hundreth  thre  scoir  and  two  yeares.  Apocalips  xxii.  For  I 
protest,  &c.  Imprinted  at  Edinburgh  by  Robert  Lekpreuik, 
and  are  to  be  solde  at  his  hous,  at  the  nether  bow.  Cum 
privilegio,  1563."  The  running  title  is  "The  ressoning  be- 
twixt Jo,  Knox  and  the  abbote  of  Crossraguell."     In  the 


library  of   Alexander  Boswell,  Esq.  of  Auchinleck.      See 
above,  p.  99. 

13.  "A  sermon  preached  by  John  Knox,  minister  of  Christ 
Jesus,  in  the  publique  audience  of  the  church  of  Edenbrough, 
within  the  realme  of  Scotland,  upon  Sonday  the  19  of  August, 
1565.  For  the  which  the  said  John  Knoxe  was  in hibite  preach- 
ing for  a  season,  1  Tim.  iv.  The  tyme  is  come  that  men  can- 
not abyde  the  sermon  of  veritie  nor  holsome  doctrine.  To 
this  is  adjoyned  an  exortation  unto  all  the  faithfull  within  the 
sayde  realme,  for  the  reliefe  of  such  as  faythfully  trauayle  in 
the  preaching  of  Gods  word.  Written  by  the  same  John 
Knoxe,  at  the  commandment  of  the  ministrie  aforesaid."  49 
leaves ;  and  1 1  more, "  Of  the  superintendents  to  the  faith- 
full."  No  name  of  place,  nor  printer.  Sixteens,  Ames,  p. 
1488—9.     Tanner,  p.  460. 

14.  "  To  his  loving  brethren  whome  God  ones  gloriously 
gathered  in  the  church  of  Edinburgh,  and  now  are  dispersed 
for  tryall  of  our  faith,  &c.  Johne  Knox.  Imprentcd  at 
Striviling  be  Robert  Lekpreuik.  AnnoDo.  m.d.lxxi."  Rom. 
Letter,  4  leaves,  18mo.  Advocates  Library. 

15.  "An  Answer  to  a  Letter  of  a  Jesuit  named  Tyrie,  be 
Johne  Knox.  Proverbs  xxvi.  Answer  not  a  foole  according 
to  his  foolishnes,  least  thou  be  lyke  him :  answer  a  foole  ac- 
cording to  his  foolishness  least  he  be  wise  in  his  owe  coseat. 

"  The  contrarietie  appearing  at  the  first  sight  betwix  thir 
twa  sentecis,  stayit  for  a  tyme,  bjiith  heart  to  meditate  and 
hand  to  wryte  any  thing,  cotrair  that  blasphemous  letter.  But 
when  with  better  mynd,  God  gave  me  to  considder,  that  who- 
soever opponis  not  him  self  bouldly  to  blasphemy  and  manifest 
leis,  differis  lytill  fra  tratouris:  dokingand  fostering,  so  far  as  in 
them  ly,  the  treasoun  of  tratouris,  and  dampnable  impietie  of 
those,  against  whome  Gods  just  vengeance  mon  burne  without 
end,  unless  spedie  repentace  follow :  To  quyet  therefore  my  owne 
conscience,  I  put  hande  to  the  pen  as  foUoweth : — Imprcnt- 
it  at  Sanctandrois  be  Robert  Lekpruik  Anno  Do.  1572." 

"  Johne  Knox  the  servand  of  Jesus  Christ,  now  wearie  of 
the  world,  and  daylie  luiking  for  the  resolution  of  this  my 
earthly  tabemakle,  to  the  faithful"  <fec.  3  pages.  Then  a  Prayer 
on  3  pages,  which  concludes,  "  Now  Lord  put  an  end  to  my 
miserie.  At  Edinburgh  the  12  day  of  Marche  1565." — On 
next  page  begins  "  An  Answer"  &c.  At  the  end  "  Of  Edin- 
burgh the  10  day  of  August,  Anno  Do.  1568."  Next  "To 
the  Faithfull  Reader" — ends  "For  the  worlde  is  wearie  of  me: 
so  am  I  of  it.  Of  Sanctandrois  the  12  of  Julii  1572.  Johne 
Knox.  FoUoweth  the  letter  as  it  past  from  my  hand  at  Deip 
the  20  Julii  1554.  To  his  loving  Mother  &c."  (This  letter 
is  in  MS.  Vol.)  In  all  45  leaves.  Rom.  letter.  Advocates 
Library. 

16.  "A  Fort  for  the  Afflicted.  Wherein  are  ministred 
many  notable  and  excellent  remedies  against  the  stormes  of 
tribulation  :  Written  chiefly  for  the  comforte  of  Christes  little 
flocke,  which  is  the  smal  number  of  the  faithfull,  by  John 
Knoxe.  John  xvi.  23."  This  is  an  exposition  upon  the  6th 
Psalme.  It  has  prefixed,  an  epistle  "  To  the  Religious  Read- 
er hi/  Abr.  Flcmming." — "To  his  beloved  niother  J.K.scndeth 
greeting  in  the  I^orde."  At  the  end  is  a  conifortalile  epistle 
sent  to  the  afflicted  churche  of  Christ,  exhorting  them  to  bear 
his  crosse  with  patience,  &c.  Written  at  Deepe  31  May 
1554."  F  4  in  eights.  W.  H.  (Ames,  p.  1 1 18.)  Tanner 
(p.  460.)  says  it  was  printed  "  Lond.  1680."  This  is  another 
edition  of  the  two  first  tracts  described  in  No.  6, 

17.  Sermon  on  Ezekiid  ix.  4.  printed  Anno  1680.  See  a 
Catalogue  of  Writers  on  O.  and  N.  Test.  p.  107.  Lond.  1663. 

18.  '■  A  Notable  and  Comfortable  exposition  of  M.  John 
Knoxes  upon  the  fourtli  of  Mattliew,  concerning  the  tentations 
of  Christ.  First  had  in  the  public  church,  and  afterwards 
written  for  the  comfort  of  certaine  private  friends  and  now 
published  in  print  for  the  benefit  of  all  t'lat  fear  God.  At 
London  printed  by  Robert  Vvaldegrave  for  Thomas  Man, 
dwelling  in   Paternoster  Row,  at  the  signe  of  the  Talbot." 

'Advocates  Library.     In  MS.  Vol. 

The  words  in  Italics  are  supplied,  the  copy  being  torn  in 
these  places.  The  book  is  dedicated  by  "  Johne  Fieldte,"  ftie 
publisher,  to  "  the  vertuous  and  my  very  godly  friend  Mres 
Anne  Provze  of  Exeter,"  who  was  the  wi(!ow  of"M.  E<1- 
ward  Dering,"  a  celebrated  non-conformist.  Field  was  also  a 
noted  puritan.  See  Bancroft's  Dangerous  Positions,  B.  iii,  , 
chap.  1 — 5.  Field  had  received  the  MS.  from  Mrs.  Frouze. 
At  the  end  of  the  dedication  is  "  London  the  first  day  of  the 
first  moneth  in  the  year  1583."  The  book  consists  of  24 
leaves. 


188 


NOTES. 


19.  «  The  Historie  of  the  Church  of  Scotland."  Imperfect, 
beginning  with  p.  17.  "Bx  these  articles  which  God  of 
his  merciful  providence  causeth  the  enemies  of  his  truth  to 
keep  in  their  registers  &c."  and  ending  with  M  m  p.  560. 
"  For  we  judge  it  a  thing  most  contrarious  to  reason,  godlynes, 
and  equitie,  that  the  widow  and  the  children  of  him  who  in ;" 
being  part  of  "  the  fift  head"  of  the  First  Book  of  Discipline. 
8vo.  Advocates  Library.  This  edition  is  very  rare,  and  none 
of  the  copies  which  have  been  seen  are  more  complete  than 
that  which  has  been  just  described.     See  above,  p.  186. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  give  tlie  title  of  David  Buchanan's 
edition,  printed  in  1 644,  at  London,  in  Folio,  and  reprinted 
the  same  year  at  Edinburgh  in  Quarto. —  The  genuine  and 
complete  edition  of  the  History,  was  pubUshed  in  folio,  under 
the  following  title  : 

"  The  Historie  of  the  Reformatioun  of  Religioun  within 
the  Realm  of  Scotland,  conteining  the  Manner  and  be  quhat 
Persons  the  Lycht  of  Chrystis  Evangell  has  bein  manifested 
unto  this  Realme,  after  that  horribill  and  universal  Defectioun 
from  the  Treuth,  whiche  has  come  by  the  Means  of  that  Ro- 
mane  Antichryst.  Together  with  the  liife  of  Johne  Knoxe 
the  author,  and  several  curious  pieces  wrote  by  him  ;  particu- 
larly that  most  rare  and  scarce  one  entitled.  The  First  Bla&t 
of  the  Trumpet  against  the  Monstruous  Regiment  of  Wo- 
men, and  a  large  Index  and  Glossary.  Taken  from  the  Origin- 
al Manuscript  in  the  University  Library  of  Glasgow,  and 
compared  with  other  ancient  Copies.  Edinburgh :  Printed  bv 
Robert  Fleming  and  Company,  1732."  The  Life  was  writ- 
ten by  Mr.  Matthew  Crawfurd.     See  above  Note  XXVIII. 

Besides  the  above  publications,  which  were  all  undoubtedly 
composed  by  our  Reformer,  there  are  others  ascribed  to  him 
upon  more  dubious  grounds.  Bale,  in  his  Scrip.  Maj.  Brit, 
post.  pars.  art.  Knoxus,  and  Verheiden  and  Melchior  Adam, 
upon  his  authority,  appear,  in  several  instances,  to  have  given 
different  names  to  the  same  tract  They  mention  among  his 
printed  works  "  In  Genesin  Conciones."  We  know  that  he 
preached  sermons  on  Genesis  at  Franckfort,  (See  page  49.) 
and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  he  continued  to  do  so  at  Geneva. 
Perhaps  Bale,  hearing  of  these,  might  think  that  they  were 
pubUshed.  Bishop  Tanner  has  enumerated  among  his  works, 
"  Exposition  on  Daniel,  Malburg.  m.b.xxtx.  8vo."  Biblio- 
theca,  p.  460.  As  he  mentions  the  place  and  year  of  printing, 
more  credit  is  due  to  his  account ;  but  there  is  evidently  a 
mistake  in  the  year,  for  Knox  had  not  at  that  time  begun  to 
write.  It  may  however  be  an  error  of  the  press  for  a  later 
year.  We  have  seen  (page  122.)  that  he  preached  on  Daniel, 
at  Sl  Andrews. 

During  the  reign  of  Queen  Mary  of  England,  a  book  was 
published  entitled,  "  The  Huntyng  of  the  Romysh  Vuolfe" 
&c.  Of  this  tract  a  new  edition  was  published  in  the  begin- 
ning of  EUzabeth's  reign,  under  the  title  of"  The  Hunting  of 
the  Fox  and  the  Wolfe,  because  they  make  hauocke  of  the 
sheepe  of  Christ  Jesus."  This  edition  is  introduced  with  a 
preface  by  an  anonymous  author,  "  To  al  my  faithful  Brethren 
in  Christ  Jesu,  and  to  all  other  that  labour  to  weede  out  the 
weedes  of  poperie,"  &c.  The  writer  of  the  preface  is  very 
severe  against  the  reUcs  of  popery  retained  in  the  worship  of 
the  Church  of  England  by  the  Act  of  Unifonnity.  "  My  good 
fathers  and  deare  Brethren  who  are  first  called  to  ye  battel  to 
strive  for  Gods  glory  and  the  edificatio  of  his  people,  againste 
the  Romish  reliques  and  rags  of  Antichriste,  J  doubt  not  but 
that  you  will  courageouslye  and  constiltly  in  Christ,  rap  at 
these  rages  of  Gods  enemies,  and  that  you  will  by  this  oc- 
casio  race  vp  many  as  great  enormities,  that  we  al  know  and 
labour  to  race  out  al  the  dregs  and  remnats  of  transformed 
poperie,  that  are  crept  into  England,  by  too  much  lenitie  of 
the  that  wilbe  named  the  Lords  of  the  clergie,"  &c.  This  pre- 
face has  been  ascribed  to  our  Reformer.  "  So  far  (says  Her- 
bert) as  one  may  be  allowed  to  guess  at  the  author  by  the 
etyle,  &c.  i  am  inclined  to  believe  this  address  was  written  by 
John  Knox,  who  for  magnanimity,  courage  and  zeal  for  God's 


glorj'  was  at  least  equal  to  any  of  our  reformers.  This  sin 
mise  is  in  some  measure  supported  by  the  cut  of  Truth,  &c. 
at  the  end  of  this  tract;  the  same  as  prefixed  to  that  author's 
"  Admonition  or  warning"  &c.  as  p.  1 57  G,  except  only  the 
name  of  Sulleli  being  here  given  to  the  figure  there  inscrilied 
Criteliye"     Herbert's  edition  of  Ames,  p.  1605,  1606. 

I  have  not  introduced  into  this  catalogue  the  Form  of  Ex- 
communication which  was  wholly,  nor  the  Treatise  of  Fast- 
ing, which  was  chiefly  composed  by  Knox,  nor  any  other  of 
the  public  papers  in  which  he  had  a  hand,  but  which  were 
published  in  the  name  of  the  General  Assembly. 

In  an  epistle  to  the  Reader  contained  in  his  answer  to  Tyrie, 
Knox  mentions  that  he  had  beside  him  a  collection  of  letters 
which  he  had  written  to  Mrs.  Bowes,  and  which  tlie  state  of 
his  health  alone  prevented  him  from  publishing.  It  also  ap- 
pears from  Field's  Dedication  prefixed  to  Knox's  Exposition 
of  the  fourth  of  Matthew,  (see  p.  13"2.)  that  a  number  of  our 
Reformer's  manuscripts  were  in  circulation  both  in  England 
and  Scotland.  I  have  in  my  possession  a  manuscript  volume, 
containing  tracts  and  letters  written  by  him  between  1550  and 
1558.  "This  is  unquestionably  the  identical  volume  which 
formerly  belonged  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wodrow,  (Author  of  the 
History  of  the  Sufferings  of  the  Church  of  Scotland)  and  de- 
scribee! under  the  name  of  the  Quarto  volume  of  MSS.  in 
Crawfurd's  Life  of  Knox,  p.  53,  54.  prefixed  to  the  edition  of 
his  Historie  published  in  1732.  It  consists  of  518  pages,  in- 
cluding the  contents.  On  the  leaf  at  the  beginning  of  the 
volume  is  this  title :  '•  The  Epistles  of  Mr.  John  Knox,  worthy 
to  be  read  because  of  the  authority  of  the  wryter,  the  soUdity 
of  the  matter,  and  the  comfortable  Christian  experience  to  he 
found  therein.  Edr.  22.  feb.  1683.  H.  T.  m.  p."  Below,  in 
a  hand  considerably  older,  are  these  words :  "  This  booke  be- 
long'd  somtyme  to  Margaret  Stewart,  widow  to  Mr.  Knox, 
afterwards  married  to  the  knight  of  fawdonesyde.  Sister  shee 
was  to  James  Earl  of  Arran."  Then  follow  the  six  tracts  de- 
scribed by  Mr.  Crawfurd,  in  the  place  above  referred  to.  At 
the  beginning  of  the  Letters,  in  a  hand  older  than  the  former, 
and  the  same  with  that  in  which  the  Letters  themselves  are 
written,  is  this  title  :  "  Certane  epistillis  and  letters  of  ye  ser- 
vand  of  God,  Johne  Knox,  send  from  dyvers  places  to  his 
friendis  and  familiaris  in  Jesus  Chrjst"  On  the  margin  of 
the  tracts  are  several  short  notes  by  the  transcriber,  referring 
to  his  own  times,  such  as  this,  "  our  case  at  tliis  day  in  Scot- 
land 1603."  This  ascertains  the  date  of  their  transcription; 
and  I  think  it  highly  probable  that  they  were  copied  by  Mr. 
John  Welsh,  a  son-in-law  of  the  Reformer,  one  of  whose  let- 
ters is  inserted  on  some  blank  leaves  in  the  middle  of  the 
volume.  The  letters  have  evidently  been  written  by  the  same 
person  (although  the  hand  appears  older) ;  and  on  the  mar- 
gin of  a  treatise  at  the  end  of  them,  "  1 603"  occurs.  Margaret 
Stewart,  the  Reformer's  relict,  was  alive  alx)Ut  the  end  of  the 
16th  century ;  but  whctlier  tlie  manuscript  in  my  possession 
belonged  to  her,  or  be  considered  as  a  transcript  from  hers, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  of  its  antiquity  and  genuineness.  I  have 
found,  upon  examination,  diat  all  the  six  tracts  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  volume  have  been  published ;  but  as  the  manu- 
script is  more  correct  than  any  of  the  printed  editions  which  I 
have  seen,  I  have  generally  followed  it  in  the  extracts  which  I 
have  given  from  these  tracts.  The  letters  are  forty-three  in 
number,  besides  the  letter  to  the  queen  regent,  the  Discourse 
on  the  Temptation  of  Christ,  and  the  Additions  to  the  Apol- 
ogy of  the  Parisian  Protestants,  which  are  inserted  among 
them.  Three  of  the  letters  also  have  been  published,  and  are 
noticed  in  Nos.  6  and  1 5  of  this  Catalogue  :  the  remainder  as 
far  as  I  can  learn,  never  appeared  in  print.  They  consist  chiefly 
of  reUgious  advices  to  the  friends  with  whom  he  corresponded, 
but  a  number  of  facts,  and  allusions  to  his  external  circum- 
stances are  interspersed.  Mr.  Wodrow  possessed  another 
volume  of  Knox's  MSS.  in  folio,  which  is  described  by 
Crawfurd,  Life  p.  53,  ut  supra.  It  contains  nothing  additional 
to  what  I  have  mentioned  in  this  Note. 


APPENDIX, 


CONSISTING  OF  LETTERS  WRITTEN  BY  KNOX,  AND  OTHER  PAPERS,  HITHERTO 

UNPUBLISHED. 


»  No.  I.     [From  MS.  Letters,  p.  243.] 
1         The  firste  letter  to  his  mothir  in  law,  mestres  Bowis. 

Rtcht  deirlibelovit  mother  in  oure  saviour  Jesus  Chryst, 
when  I  call  to  mynd  and  revolve  with  myself  the  trubillis  and 
afflictionis  of  Godis  elect  frome  the  begyning  (in  whiche  I  do 
not  forget  yow)  thair  is  within  my  hart  tuo  extreme  contra- 
reis ;  a  dolour  almaist  unspeakabill,  and  a  joy  and  comfort 
whilk,  be  mannis  senccs,  can  not  be  comprehendit  nor  under- 
stand. The  chcif  causis  of  dolour  be  two  ;  the  ane  is  the  re- 
mcmberance  of  syn,  whilk  I  daylie  feill  remanyng  in  this  cor- 
rupt nature,  whilk  was  and  is  sa  odius  and  detestabill  in  the 
presence  of  oure  hevinlie  father  that  by  na  uther  sacrifice  culd 
or  myght  the  same  be  purgeit,  except  by  the  blude  and  deth  of 
the  onlie  innocent  sone  of  God.  When  I  deiplie  do  considder  the 
cans  of  Chrystis  deth  to  haif  bene  syn,  and  syn  yit  to  dwell  in  all 
flcsche,  with  paule  I  am  compellit  to  sob  and  grone  as  ane 
man  under  ane  heavie  burdene,  ye,  and  sumtymes  to  cry,  O 
wreachit  and  miserabill  man  that  I  am,  wha  sail  delyver  me  fra 
this  bodie  of  syn !  The  uther  cans  of  my  dolour  is  that  sic 
as  maist  gladlie  wald  remane  togiddcr  for  mutual  comfort  ane 
of  another  can  not  be  suffcrit  sa  to  do.  Since  the  first  day 
that  it  pleasit  the  providence  of  God  to  bring  yow  and  me  in 
familiaritie,  I  have  alwayis  delytit  in  your  company,  and  when 
labours  wald  permit,  ye  knaw  I  have  not  spairit  houris  to  tilk 
and  commoun  with  yow,  the  frute  whairof  I  did  not  than  fullie 
understand  nor  perceave.  But  now  absent,  and  so  absent  that 
by  corporal  presence  nather  of  ws  can  rcsave  comfort  of  uther, 
I  call  to  mynd  how  that  oftymes  when  with  dolorous  hartis  we 
haif  begun  our  talking,  God  hath  send  greit  comfort  unto 
baithe,  whilk  now  for  my  awn  part  I  commounlie  want.  The 
exposicioun  of  your  trubillis  and  acknawlcdging  of  your  in- 
firmitie  war  first  unto  me  a  verie  mirrour  and  glass  whairin  I 
beheld  myself  sa  rychtlie  payntit  furth  that  nathing  culd  be 
mair  evident  to  my  awn  eis. '  And  than,  the  searching  of  the 
scriptures  for  Godis  sueit  promissis,  and  for  his  mercies  frelie 
givin  unto  miserable  offenderis  (for  his  nature  delyteth  to 
schcw  mercie  whair  maist  miscrie  ringeth),  the  coilertioun 
and  applying  of  Godis  mercies,  I  say,  wer  unto  me  as  the 
breaking  and  handilling  with  my  awn  haiulis  of  the  maist 
sweit  and  delectabill  ungumentis,  whairof  I  ruld  not  but  re- 
c^ave  sum  comfort  be  thair  naturall  sweit  odouris.  But  now, 
albeit  I  never  lack  the  presence  and  plane  image  of  my  awn 
wreachit  infirmitie,  yit  seing  syn  sa  manifestly  abound  in  al 
estaitis,  I  am  compellit  to  thounder  out  the  threattnyngis  of 
God  aganis  the  obstinat  rebellaris,  in  doing  whairof  (albeit  as 
God  kuaweth  I  am  no  malicious  nor  obstinat  synner)  I  sum- 
tymes am  woundit,  knawing  my  self  criminall  and  giltie  in 
many,  ye  in  all  (malicious  obstinacie  laid  asyd)  thingis  that 
inutheris  I  reprehend.  Judge  not  mother  that  I  wrait  theis 
thingis  debassing  my  self  uthcris  wayis  than  I  am  :  na ;  I  am 
wors  than  my  pen  can  cxpres.  In  bodie  ye  think  I  am  no 
adulterer ;  lat  sa  be,  but  the  hart  is  infectit  with  foull  lustis, 
and  will  lust  albeit  I  lament  never  samekill.  Externallie  I 
commit  na  idolatrie ;  but  my  wickit  hart  luffeth  the  self  and 
cannot  be  refranit  fra  vane  imaginationis,  ye,  not  fra  sic  as 
wer  the  f^untane  of  all  idolatrie.  I  am  na  mankillcr  with  my 
handis ;  but  I  help  not  my  ncdie  brother  sa  libcrallie  as  I  may 
and  aucht.  I  steill  not  hors,  money,  nor  claithis  fra  my 
nychbour  ;  but  that  small  portioun  of  warldlie  substance  I  be- 
stow not  sa  rychtlie  as  his  halie  law  requyreth.  I  bear  na  fals 
witnes  aganis  my  nychbor  in  judgment  or  utherwayis  befor 


*  The  first  five  Nos.  are  religious  letters  ;  the  rest  contam  histori- 
cal matter. 


men ;  but  I  speik  not  the  treuth  of  God  sa  boldlie  as  it  becum- 
eth  his  trew  messinger  to  do.  And  thus  in  conclusioun  thair 
is  na  vyce  repugnyng  to  Godis  halie  will  expressit  in  his  law 
whairwith  my  hart  is  not  infectit. 

This  mekill  writtin  and  dytit  befoir  the  resait  of  yourletteris, 
whilk  I  resavit  the  2 1  st  of  June.  Thay  war  unto  my  heart  sura 
comfort  for  dyvers  causis  not  necessar  to  be  rehersit,  but  maist 
(as  knaweth  God)  for  that  I  find  ane  congruence  betwix  ws 
in  spreit  being  sa  fer  distant  in  bodie.  flfor  when  that  digeslie 
I  did  avys  with  your  letter,  I  did  considder  that  I  my  self  was 
complenyng  evin  the  self  sam  thingis  at  that  verie  instant 
moment  that  I  rcssavit  your  letter.  Be  my  pen  ffrome  a 
sorrowfull  hart  I  culd  not  brust  furth  and  say,  '  O  Lord,  how 
wonderfull  ar  thi  workis !  how  dois  thou  try  and  prufe  tlii 
chosin  children  as  gold  by  the  fire !  how  canest  thou  in  maner 
hyd  thi  face  fra  thy  awn  spous,  that  thi  presence  efter  may  be 
mair  delectabill !  how  canest  thou  bring  thi  sainctis  lowe, 
that  thou  may  carie  thame  to  glorie  everlasting !  how  canest 
thou  suffer  thi  Strang  faithful  messingeris  in  many  thingis  yit 
to  wressill  with  wreachit  infirmitie  and  febill  weaknes,  ye  and 
sumtymes  permittis  thou  thame  horribillie  to  fall,  partlie  that 
na  flesche  sail  have  whairof  it  may  glorie  befoir  the,  and  part- 
lie  that  utheris  of  smaller  estait  and  meaner  giftis  in  thi  kyrk 
myght  resave  sum  consolatioun,  albeit  thay  find  in  xhame 
selves  wickit  motions  whilk  they  are  not  abill  to  expell !'  My 
purpois  was,  befoir  I  ressavit  your  letter,  to  have  exhortit  you 
to  patience  and  to  fast  adhering  to  Godis  promisis,  albeit  that 
your  flesche,  the  devill,  and  utlier  your  enemyis,  wald  persuad 
you  to  the  contrare,  for,  by  the  artis  and  subteliteis  that  the  ad- 
versarie  useth  aganis  me,  I  not  onlie  do  conjecture,  but  also 
planelie  dois  sie  your  assaltis  and  trubill.  And  sa  lykwys  in 
the  bowellis  of  Chrystis  mercie  maist  emistlie  I  beseik  you  by 
that  infirmitie  that  ye  knaw  remaneth  in  me,  (wars  I  am  than 
I  can  wryt)  pacientlie  to  heir,  albeit  that  ye  haif  not  sic  per- 
fectioun  as  ye  wald,  and  albeit  also  your  motionis  be  sic  as  be 
maist  vyle  and  abominabill,  yet  not  to  sorrow  abuf  measure. 
Gif  I  to  whom  God  hes  gevin  greatter  giftis  (I  wryt  to  his 
prais)  be  yit  so  wrappit  into  miserie,  that  what  I  wald  I  can 
not  do,  and  what  I  wald  not  that  with  sainct  paule,  I  say, 
daylie  ye  everie  hour  and  moment  I  devys  to  do,  and  in  my 
hart,  ficht  I  never  sa  fast  in  the  contrarie,  I  perform  and  do  : 
gif  sic  wreachit  wickitnes  remane  in  Godis  cheif  ministeris, 
what  wonder  albeit  the  same  remane  in  yow  1  Gif  Godis 
strangest  men  of  war,  be  beattin  bak  in  thair  face,  that  what 
thay  wald  thay  can  not  destroy  nor  kill,  is  it  any  sic  offence  to 
yow  to  be  tossit  as  ye  compleane,  that  thairfoir  ye  suld  distrust 
Goddis  frie  promissis  1  God  forbid,  deir  mother !  the  power 
of  God  is  knawin  be  oure  weaknes,  and  theis  doloris  and 
infirmiteis  be  maist  profitabill  to  ws,  for  by  the  same  is  our 
pryde  beattin  doun,  whilk  is  not  easie  utherwayis  to  be  done. 
By  thame  ar  oure  misereis  knawin,  sa  tiiat  we  acknawledging 
oure  selves  misterfull  seikis  the  phesitioun.  By  thame  cum 
we,  be  the  operatioun  of  the  halie  spreit,  to  the  hatred  of 
syn,  and  be  thame  cum  we  to  the  hunger  and  thrist  of 
justice,  and  to  desyre  to  be  desolved  and  sa  to  ring  with  oure 
Chryst  Jesus,  whilk  without  this  battell  and  sorrow  tliis  flesche 
culd  never  do.     And  as  fra  the  doloris  I  proceit  to  the  comfort. 

As  the  caussis  of  dolour  be  tuo,  whilk  ar  present  syn,  and 
the  lack  of  sic  company  as  in  whome  we  maist  culd  delyt,  sa 
is  the  caussis  of  my  comfort  not  ymaginit  of  my  brane,  but 
pronuncit  first  be  God,  and  efter  graftit  in  the  hartis  of  Godis 
children  by  his  halie  spreit.  Thay  ar  lykwys  tuo  ;  whilk  is  a 
justice  inviolable  offerit  be  our  flesche  befoir  the  trone  of  our 
heavinlie  father,  and  ane  assureit  hoip  of  that  generall  assem- 
blie  and  gathering  togither  of  Godis  dispersit  flok  in  that  day 

189 


190 


APPENDIX. 


irhen  all  teairs  salbe  wipit  fra  oure  eis,  when  deth  salbe  vin- 
cuisit,  and  may  na  mair  dissever  sic  as  feiring  God  this  day  in 
the  flesche  mumis  under  the  burdene  of  syn.  Off  oure 
present  justice,  notwithstanding  syn  remane  in  oure  mortall 
bodeis,  ar  we  assureit  by  the  faithfull  witnes  of  Jesus  Christ, 
Johne  the  apostill,  saying,  "  gif  we  confes  oure  synnis,  faith- 
full  and  just  is  God  to  remit  and  forgive  oure  synnis."  Mark 
the  wordis  of  the  apostill,  gif  we  confess  oure  synnis  God  man 
forgive  thame,  becaus  hie  is  faithfull  and  just  To  con- 
fessioun  of  synnis  ar  theis  thingis  requisit,  ffirst  we  man 
acknawledge  the  syn,  and  it  is  to  be  notit  that  sumtymes  Godis 
verie  elect,  albeit  they  have  synnit  niaist  haynouslie,  dois  not 
acknawledge  syn  and  thairfoir  can  not  at  all  tymes  confes  the 
same,  for  syn  is  not  knawin  unto  sictyme  as  the  vale  be  takin 
fra  the  conscience  of  the  offender,  that  he  may  sie  and  behald 
the  filthines  of  syn,  what  punisment  be  Godis  just  jugenentis 
is  dew  for  the  sam.  And  then  (whilk  is  the  2  thing  requisit 
to  confessioun)  begynnis  the  haitred  of  syn  and  of  oure  selves  for 
contempnying  of  God  and  of  his  halie  law;  whairof  last 
springis  tiiat  whilk  we  call  hoip  of  mercie,  whilk  is  nathing 
els  but  a  sob  fra  a  trubil'it  hart  confoundit  and  aschamit  for 
syn,  thristing  remissioun  and  Gods  frie  mercie,  whairupon  of 
necessitie  man  follow  this  conclusioun,  God  hes  remittit  and 
frelie  forgevin  the  syn  ;  and  why  1  for  "  hie  is  faithfull  and 
just"  sayeth  the  apostill.  Comfortabill  and  mervelous  caussis  ! 
first,  God  is  faithfull,  ergo  :  hie  man  forgive  syn,  A  comfort- 
able consequent  upon  a  maist  sure  ground  !  for  Godis  fideUtie, 
can  na  mair  faill  nor  can  him  self.  Then  lat  this  argument 
be  gatherit  for  oure  comfort,  the  office  of  the  faithfull  is  to 
keip  promeis;  but  God  is  faithfull,  ergo:  he  man  keip 
promeis.  That  God  hes  promissit  remissioun  of  synis  to  sic  as 
be  repentant  I  neid  not  now  to  recit  the  places.  But  let  this 
coUectioun  of  the  promissis  be  maid,  God  promissis  remissioun 
of  synis  to  all  that  confessis  the  same ;  but  I  confes  my  synnis, 
for  I  sie  the  filthines  thairof,  and  how  justlie  God  may  con- 
demp  me  for  my  iniquities.  I  sob  and  I  lament  for  that  I  can 
not  be  quyt  and  red  of  syn,  I  desyre  to  leif  a  mair  perfyt  lyfe. 
Thir  ar  infallilile  signis,  seillis.  and  takinis  that  God  hes  re- 
mittit the  syn,  for  God  is  faithfull  that  sa  hes  promissit,  and 
can  na  mair  deccave  nor  hie  can  ceis  to  be  God.  But  what 
reasone  is  this,  God  is  just,  thairfoir  hie  man  forgive  syn  1 
A  wonderous  cans  and  reasone  in  deid  !  ffor  the  flesche  and 
naturall  man  can  understand  nathing  but  the  contrar,  for 
this  man  it  reasone :  th"^  justic*  of  God  is  offendit  be  my 
synnis,  as  God  man  neidis  have  a  satisfactioun,  and  requyre 
ane  punissment  Gif  we  understand  of  whome  God  requyris 
satisfactioun,  whether  of  ws,  or  of  the  handis  of  his  onlie  sone, 
and  whais  punisment  is  abill  to  recompens  oure  synnis,  than 
sail  we  haif  greit  cans  to  rejose,  remembering  that  God  is  a 
just  God.  For  the  office  of  the  just  man  is  to  stand  content 
when  hie  hes  ressavit  his  dewtic.  But  God  hes  ressavit  al- 
redie  at  the  handis  of  his  onlie  sone  all  that  is  dew  for  our 
synnis,  and  sa  can  not  his  justice  requyre  nor  craif  any  mair 
of  ws  ather  satisfactioun  or  recompensatioun  for  our  synnis. 
Advert  mother,  the  sure  pilleris  and  fundation  of  oure  salva- 
tian  to  he  Gotlis  faithfulncs  and  justice.  Hie  that  is  faithful 
has  proiuiisit  frie  reniissinun  to  all  penitent  sjmneris,  and  hie 
that  is  just,  hes  ressavit  alretlic  a  full  satisfactioun  for  the 
synis  of  all  thais  that  imbrac^  Chryst  Jesus  to  be  the  onlie 
saviour  of  the  warld.  ^V'hat  restis  than  to  us  to  be  done  ? 
nathing  but  to  acknawledge  our  miserie  and  wrechednes, 
whilk  na  flesche  can  do  sa  nnfenidlie  as  they  that  daylie 
feillis  the  wecht  of  syn.  And  uther,  mother,  caus  haif  we 
nane  of  desperatioun,  albeit  the  divill  rage  never  sa  cruellie, 
and  al!)eit  the  flesche  be  never  sa  fraill,  daylie  and  hourlie 
lusting  aganis  GodLs  halie  commandementis,  ye,  stryving 
aganls  the  same.  This  is  not  the  tyme  of  justice  l)efoir 
our  awn  ets,  we  luke  for  that  whilk  is  promissit  the  king- 
dome  everlasting,  preparit  to  ws  fra  the  begynning,  whairof  we 
ar  maid  airis  be  Godis  apoyntment  reabilUt  [L  c.  legitimated 
or  reatored]  thairto  be  Christis  death,  to  whome  we  sail  be 
gatherit,  when  efter  we  sail  never  depart  whilk  to  rememlier  is 
my  singular  comfort,  but  thairof  now  I  can  not  wryte.  My 
commendationis  to  all  whome  ctfeiris.  I  commit  you  to  the 
protectioun  of  the  Omnipotent 

At  Londoun  the  23d  of  June,  1553,  your  sone  unfcaned, 

Johne  Knox. 

No.  II.     [MS,  Letters,  p.  333.] 
To  mariorie  bowis  wha  was  his  first  wife. 
Deirlibelovit  sister  in  the  commoun  faith  of  Jesus  our  saviour. 
The  place  of  Johne  forbidding  ws  to  salut  sic  as  biingeth  not 


the  hailsome  doctrine,  admonisseth  ws  what  danger  cumeth  be 
fals  teacheris,  evin  the  destructioun  of  bodie  and  saule ;  whair- 
foir  the  spreit  of  God  willcth  ws  to  be  sa  cairfuU  to  avoyd 
the  company  of  all  that  teachis  doctrine  contrarie  to  the  treuth 
of  Chryst,  that  we  communicat  with  thame  in  nathing  that 
may  appeir  to  manteane  or  defend  thame  in  thair  corrupt 
opinioun,  for  hie  that  biddis  thame  Godspeid,  communicatis 
with  thair  syn,  that  is,  hie  that  apeiris,  be  keiping  thame  com- 
pany, or  assisting  unto  thame  in  thair  proceidingis,  to  favour 
thair  doctrine,  is  giltie  befoir  God  of  thair  iniquitie,  baith  be- 
caus hie  doith  confirme  thame  in  thair  error  be  his  silence,  and 
also  confirmes  utheris  to  credit  thair  doctrine,  becaus  hie  op- 
ponis  not  himself  thairto  :  and  sa  to  bid  thame  Godspeid  is 
not  to  speik  unto  thame  commounlie  as  we  for  civill  honestie 
to  men  unknawn,  but  it  is  efter  we  have  hard  of  their  fals 
doctrine  to  be  conversant  with  thame,  and  sa  intreat  thame  as 
thay  had  not  offendit  in  thair  doctrine.  The  place  of  Jamis 
teachis  ws,  belovit  sister,  that  in  Jesus  Chryst  all  that  unfean- 
edlie  profes  him  ar  equal  befoir  him,  and  that  ryches  nor  warld- 
lie  honouris  ar  nathing  regairdit  in  his  syght  and  thairfoir 
wald  the  spreit  of  God  speiking  in  the  apostill  that  sic  as  ar 
trew  christianis  suld  have  mair  respect  to  the  spirituall  giftis 
whairwith  God  had  doteth  his  messingeris  nor  to  extemall 
ryches  whilk  oftymes  the  wicket  possessis,  the  having  whairof 
makis  man  nether  nobill  nor  godlie,  albeit  sa  judge  the  blind 
affectionis  of  men.  The  apostill  dampneth  sic  as  preferis  a 
man  with  a  goldin  chayne  to  the  pure,  but  heirof  will  I  speik 
no  more.  The  spreit  of  God  sail  instruct  your  hart  what  in 
maist  comfortable  to  the  trubillit  conscience  of  your  mother, 
and  pray  ernistlie  that  sa  may  be.  Whair  the  adversarie 
objectis,  'sche  aucht  not  think  v^-icket  thoughts,' answer  thairto 
that  is  trew,  but  seing  this  oure  nature  corruptit  with  syn 
whilk  entirrit  be  his  suggestioun,  it  must  think  and  wirk 
wickitlie  be  his  assaltis,  but  hie  sal  beir  the  condigne  punis- 
ment thairof,  becaus  be  him  syn  first  entirit  and  also  be  him 
it  doith  continew  whillis  this  karkais  be  resolved.  And  whair 
hie  inquyris  whit  Chryst  is,  answer  hie  is  the  seid  of  the 
woman  promissit  be  God  to  break  down  the  serpentis  held, 
whilk  hie  hath  done  alreadie  in  him  self  appeiring  in  this  oure 
flesche,  subject  to  all  passionis  that  may  fall  in  this  oure  nature 
onlie  syn  exceptit  and  efter  the  death  sufferit  hie  heth,  be 
power  of  his  godheid,  rissin  agane  triumphant  victour  over 
deth,  hell  and  syn,  not  to  him  self,  for  thairto  was  hie  na  det- 
tour,  but  for  sic  as  thristis  salvatioun  be  him  onlie,  whom  he 
may  na  mair  los,  nor  he  may  ceas  to  be  the  sone  of  God  and 
the  savoiour  of  the  warld.  And  whair  hie  wald  perswade 
that  sche  is  contrarie  the  word  thairinto,  hie  leis  according  to 
his  nature,  whairin  thairin  is  na  treuth,  for  gif  sche  were  con- 
trarie the  word,  or  denyit  it  to  what  effect  sa  ernistlie  suld 
sche  desyre  the  company  of  sic  as  teacheth  and  professeth  it 
Thair  is  na  dout  hut  hie.  as  hie  is  the  accusatour  of  all  Godis 
elect,  studieth  to  trubill  her  conscience,  that  according  to  hir 
desyre,  sche  may  not  rest  in  Jesus  our  Lord.  Be  vigilant 
in  prayer.  I  think  this  be  the  first  letter  that  ever  I  wrait 
to  yon. 

In  great  haist  your  brother, 

Johne  Knox. 

No.  in.    [MS.  Letters,  p.  283.] 

To  his  Mother  in  law,  and  his  Wife. 

ffrome  the  eis  of  his  Sanctis  sal  the  Lord  wype  away  all  teiris 
and  mumying.     (See  page  44.) 

Deir  mother  and  spous  unfeadnedUe  belovit  in  the  bowells 
of  our  Saviour  Chryst  Jesus,  with  my  verie  hartlic  commenda- 
tionis. I  peruisit  baith  your  Ictteris,  not  only  directit  to  me, 
but  also  it  that  sorrowfullie  compleanis  upon  the  unthankful- 
nes  of  your  brother  as  also  of  myne,  tliat  ye  suld  not  have 
bene  equalUe  maid  privie  to  my  coming  in  the  countrie  with 
utheris,  whairof  the  enemy  wald  persuad  yow  (ane  argument 
maist  fals  and  unfrew)  that  we  judge  you  not  to  be  of  our 
noumber.  Deir  mother,  be  not  sa  suddanUe  moveit  hie  is 
your  enemy  that  sa  wald  persuad  you.  God  I  tak  to  recorde 
in  my  conscience  that  nane  is  this  day  within  the  realme  of 
Ingland,  with  whome  I  wald  mair  gladlie  speik  (onlie  sche 
whome  God  hath  offirit  unto  me,  and  commandit  me  to  lufe 
as  my  awn  flesche,  excrptit)  than  with  you.  For  your  causis 
principallie  enterprysit  I  this  jumey,  for  hering  my  ser^and 
to  be  stayit  and  his  letteris  to  be  taken,  I  culd  na  vsys  be  paci- 
feit  (for  the  maist  part  of  my  letteris  was  for  your  instructioun 
and  comfort)  till  farther  knawledge  of  your  estait,  and  that  ye 


APPENDIX. 


191 


wet  na  soner  advertisit  onlie  want  of  a  faithfull  messinger 
was  the  caus ;  for  my  coming  to  the  countrey,  was  sa  sone 
noysit  abrod  that  with  greit  difficultie  culd  I  be  convoyit  fra  a 
place  to  another.  I  knew  na  sic  danger  as  was  suspectit  be 
my  brethrene  ;  ffor  as  for  my  lettcris  in  them  is  nathing  con- 
teaned,  except  exhortation  to  constancie  in  that  treuth  whilk 
God  hes  opinlie  laid  bcfoir  our  cis,  whilk  I  am  not  myndit  to 
deny  whenever  sic  questioun  sal  be  demandit  of  me.  But 
the  caus  moveing  me  that  ffor  a  tyme  I  wald  have  bene  clos, 
was,  that  I  purposit  (gif  sa  had  bene  possible)  to  have  spokin 
with  my  wyfe,  whilk  now  I  persave  is  nathing  apeirand,  whill 
God  offer  sum  better  occasioun.  My  brethren  partlie  be  ad- 
rnonitioun,  and  partlie  by  teiris,  compellis  me  to  obey  sumvvhat 
contrair  to  my  awn  mynd.  for  never  can  I  die  in  amair  honest 
quarrell,  nor  to  suffer  as  a  witnes  of  that  treuth  whairof  God 
hes  maid  me  a  messinger,  whilk  with  hart  I  believe  maist  as- 
surcdlie,  (the  halie  Gaist  beiring  witnes  to  my  conscience) 
and  with  mouth  I  trust  to  God  to  confes,  in  presence  of  the 
warld,  the  onlie  doctrine  of  lyfe.  Notwithstanding  this  my 
mynd,  gif  God  sail  prepair  the  way,  I  will  obey  the  voces  of 
my  brethrene,  and  will  gif  place  to  the  furie  and  rage  of  Sathan 
for  a  tyme.  And  sa  can  I  not  espy  how  that  ether  of  yow 
baith  I  can  speik  at  this  tyme.  But  gif  God  pleis  preserve 
nie  at  this  tyme,  whairof  I  am  not  yet  resolved,  then  sal  thair 
lak  in  me  na  gud  will,  that  ye  may  knaw  the  place  of  my  re- 
sidence, and  farthir  of  my  mynd.  But  now  deir  mother  haif 
we  caus  to  rejos,  for  oure  heavinlie  Father,  wha  callit  us  be 
grace  to  wryt  in  our  hartis  the  signis  and  seallis  of  our 
electioun  in  Christ  Jesus  his  sone,  begynnis  now  to  correct 
our  crukedness,  and  to  mak  us  lyke  in  suffering  afHictionis, 
scheme  and  rebuke  of  the  warld,  to  the  greit  bischope  of  our 
saullis,  wha  by  mekill  tribulatioun  did  enter  in  his  glorie,  as 
of  necessitie  man  everie  ane  to  whome  that  kingidome  is 
apoyntit.  And  thairfor,  mother,  be  nathing  abasched  of 
theis  maist  dolorous  dayis,  whilk  schortlie  sal  have  end  to 
oure  everlasting  comfort.  Thay  ar  not  cropin  upon  ws  with- 
out knawledgp  and  foirsight,  how  oft  have  ye  hard  theis  dayis 
foirspokin,  thairfoir,  now  grudge  not,  but  pacientlie  abyd  the 
Lords  delyverance.  Hie  that  foirspak  the  trubill,  promissis 
everlasting  pleasure  by  the  same  word,  all)eit  the  flesche  com- 
plene,  dispair  nathing,  for  it  must  follow  the  awn  nature,  and 
it  is  not  dampnabill  in  the  syght  of  oure  Father,  albeit  the 
corrupt  fraill  flesche  draw  bak  and  refuse  the  croce,  ffor  that  is 
as  naturall  to  the  flesche,  as  in  hunger  and  thirst  to  covet  rea- 
sonable sustenance.  Onlie  follow  not  the  affectionis  of  the 
flesche  to  comit  iniquytie,  nether  for  feir  of  deth,  nor  for  love 
of  lyf,  comit  ye  idolatrie,  nether  yit  gif  your  presence  whair 
the  same  is  committit,  but  hait  it,  avoid  it,  and  flie  frome  it. 
But  your  leter  maks  mention  that  ye  haif  pleasure  and  dely  t 
in  it :  na  mather  I  espy  the  contrarie,  for  ye  compleane  and 
lament  that  sic  motionis  ar  within  you ;  this  is  na  sing  that  ye 
delyt  in  thame,  for  na  man  compleanis  of  that  whairin  hie 
delytis.  Ye  ar  in  na  wors  cas,  tuiching  that  poynt,  nor  yet 
tuiching  any  uther  whairof  ye  dosyre  to  be  red  than  was  the 
apostill,  when  with  gronying  and  angusche  of  hart  he  did 
cry,  'O  unhappie  man  that  I  am,  wha  sal  delyver  me  fra  this 
bodie  of  syn :' reid  the  hail!  chapter,  and  gif  glorie  to  God 
that  lattis  you  knaw  your  awn  infirmitie,  that  from  Chryst 
allone  ye  may  be  content  to  ressave  that  whilk  never  remanit 
in  corruptibill  flesche,  that  is,  the  justice  whilk  is  acceptabill  be- 
foirGod,  the  justice  by  faith  and  not  by  workis,  that  ye  may 
glorie  in  him  wha  frelie  gives  that  whilk  we  deserve  not.  And 
thus  nether  feir  that,  nor  uther  assaltis  of  the  divill,  sa  lang  as 
in  bodie  ye  obey  not  his  pcrsuationis.  Schortnes  of  tyme, 
and  multitude  of  cairis  will  not  lat  me  wryt  at  this  present 
sa  plentifullie  as  I  wald  :  ye  will  me  to  charge  you  in  suche 
thingis  as  I  mister,  God  grant  that  ye  may  be  abill  to  relief 
the  nedie.  Ye  may  be  sure  that  I  wald  be  bold  upon  you, 
for  of  your  gude  hart  I  am  persuadit,  but  of  your  power 
and  abilitie  I  greitlie  dout.  I  will  not  mak  you  privie  how 
ryche  I  am,  but  off  Loundoun  I  departit  with  les  money  then 
ten  grottis,  but  God  hes  sence  provydit,  and  will  provyd  I 
dout  not  heirefter  aboundantlie  for  this  lyfe.  Ather  the 
quonis  majestic,  or  sum  thesaurer  will  be  XL  pounds  rycher 
by  me  for  samekill  lack  I  of  dewtie  of  my  patentis.  But  that 
litill  trubillis  me.     Rest  in  Chryst  Jesus,    your  sone, 

1553.  Johne  Knox. 

No.  IV.    [MS.  Letters,  p.  303.] 
To  his  mother  in  law,  Mrs.  Bowis. 
Blissit  be  thais  that  mourne  for  ryghteousnes  sake,  &c. 
Belovit   mother  with  my  hartlie  commendatioun  in  the 


Lord.  Let  not  your  present  dulnes  discorage  yow  above 
measure :  the  wisdome  of  our  God  knawis  what  is  maist  ex- 
pedient for  our  fraill  nature,  gif  the  bodie  suld  alwayis  be  in 
travell  it  suld  faynt  and  be  unabill  to  continew  in  labour,  the 
spreit  hes  his  travell  whilk  is  a  sobbing  and  murnyng  for  syn, 
fra  whilk  unles  it  sumtymes  suld  rest,  it  suddanlie  suld  be  con- 
sumit.  It  doith  na  mair  offend  Godis  maiestie  that  the  spreit 
sumtyme  lye  as  it  were  asleip,  nether  having  sence  of  greit  do- 
lour nor  greit  comfort,  mair  than  it  doith  offend  him  that  the 
bodie  us  the  naturall  rest  ceassing  fra  all  extemall  exercis. 
Ye  sail  consider,  mother,  that  the  eis  of  God  dois  pers  mair 
deiplie  than  we  be  war  of,  we  according  to  the  blind  ignorance 
whilk  lurketh  within  ws,  do  judge  but  as  we  do  feil  for  the 
present,  but  hie  according  to  his  etemall  wisdome  dois  judge 
thingis  lang  befoir  thay  cum  to  pas.  We  judge  that  caldnes 
and  angusche  of  spreit  ar  hurtfull  becaus  we  sie  not  the  end 
whairfoir  God  dois  suffer  ws  to  be  trubillit  with  sic  tempta- 
tionis,  but  his  maiestie  wha  onlie  knawis  the  mass  whairof 
man  is  maid,  and  causeth  all  thingis  to  work  to  the  profit  of 
his  elect,  knawis  also  how  necessarie  sic  trubillis  ar  to  dan- 
toun  the  pryd  of  oure  corrupt  nature,  Thair  is  a  spirituall 
pryd  whilk  is  not  haistelie  suppressit  in  Godis  verie  elect  child- 
ren, as  witnesses  sanct  paule.  God  hath  wroth  great  thingis 
be  yow  in  the  syght  of  uthir  men.  With  whilk  (unles  the  mell 
of  inward  angusche  did  beat  them  doun)  ye  myght  be  steirit 
up  to  sum  vane  glorie  whilk  is  a  vennoume  mair  subtill  than 
ony  man  do  espy.  I  can  wryt  to  yow  be  my  awn  experience. 
I  have  sumtymes  bene  in  that  securitie  that  I  felt  not  dolour 
for  syn,  nether  yit  displeasure  aganis  myself  for  anj'  iniquitie 
in  whilk  I  did  offend,  but  rather  my  vane  hart  did  this  flatter 
myself,  (I  wryt  the  treuth  to  my  awn  confusioun  and  to  the 
glorie  of  my  heavenlie  father  through  Jesus  Christ)  "  Thon 
hes  sufferit  great  trubill  for  professing  of  Chrystis  treuth,  God 
hes  done  great  thingis  for  ihe,  delyvering  the  fra  that  maist 
cruell  bondage,  [' galleis'  on  the  margin'],  hie  has  placeit  the 
in  a  maist  honourabill  vocatioun  and  thy  labours  ar  not  with- 
out frute,  thairfoir  thow  aucht  rejos  and  gif  prais  unto  God." 
O  mother  this  was  a  suptill  serpent  wha  this  culd  pour  in 
vennoume,  I  not  perceaving  it;  but  blissit  be  my  God  wha 
permitteth  me  not  to  sleip  lang  in  that  estait.  I  drank  schort- 
lie efter  this  flatterie  of  myself  a  cup  of  contra  poysone,  the 
bittemes  whairof  doith  yit  sa  remane  in  my  breist,  that  what- 
ever I  have  sufferit  or  presentlie  dois,  I  reput  as  doung,  yea 
and  my  self  worthie  of  dampnation  for  my  ingratitude  towardis 
my  God.  The  lyke,  mother,  may  have  cumin  to  yow,  gif  the 
secret  brydall  of  afflictioun  did  not  refrane  vane  cogitationis, 
but  of  this  I  have  written  to  yow  mair  planelie  in  my  other 
letteris.  And  this  I  commit  you  to  the  protectioun  of  the 
Omnipotent  for  ever. 

Yours  at  his  power, 

Johne  Knox. 


No.  V. 


[M8.  Letters,  p.  335-6.] 
To  his  Sister. 


The  spreit  of  God  the  father,  be  Jesus  Chryst,  comfort  and 
assist  yow  to  the  end.     Amen. 

Touching  the  sonis  of  Jacob,  who  cruellie  contrar  to  thair 
solempned  promeis  and  othe.did  murther  and  slay  the  citisens 
of  Sicheni ;  whasa  ryghtlie  marketh  the  scriptures  of  God,  sal 
easelie  espy  thame  maist  grevouslie  to  have  offendit.  Ffor 
albeit  the  transgression  of  the  young  man  was  haynous  befoir 
God,  yit  wer  thay  na  civill  magistratis,  and  thairfoir  had  na 
autoritie  to  punis.  And  farther  thay  committit  treasone,  and 
in  sa  fer  as  ui  thame  was  blasphemit  Gotl  and  his  halie  name, 
making  it  odius  to  the  nationis  about,  seing  thay  under  the 
pretence  of  religioun,  and  of  ressaving  them  in  leage  with 
God  and  with  the  pepill,  did  disceatfullie  as  also  cruellie  de- 
stroy the  haill  citie  suspecting  na  danger.  Albeit  sum  labour- 
eth  to  excus  thair  syn  be  the  zeall  thay  had  that  thay  myght 
not  suffer  thair  sister  to  be  abusit  lyke  ane  harlot,  yit  the  spreit 
of  God  speiking  in  thair  awn  father  efter  lang  advysement  in 
the  extreamitie  of  his  deth,  utterlie  dampneth  thair  wickit  act, 
saying,  "  Semioun  and  Levi,  brethren,  «&c.  lat  not  my  saule 
entir  in  thair  consall,  nor  yit  my  glorie  into  thair  company, 
for  in  thair  fur'e  thay  killit  a  man,  and  for  thair  lust  destroyit 
the  citie,  cursit  is  thair  heit  or  rage  for  it  is  vehement,  and 
thair  indignatioun  for  it  is  intractable,  I  sail  dispers  thame  in 
Jacob  and  scatter  thame  abrod  in  Israeli."  Heir  may  ye  espy, 
sistf  r,  that  God  dampneth  tliair  het  displeasure  and  cruell  act 
as  maist  wickit  and  worthie  of  punisment.  But  perchance  it 
may  be   inquj-rit^  why  did  God  suffer  the  men  that  had  pro 


192 


APPENDIX. 


fessit  his  name  be  ressaving  the  sing  of  circumsitioun  sa  un- 
mercifullie  to  be  entreatit,  I  niyght  answer,  God  siiffcris  his 
awn  in  all  ageis  be  the  ungodlie  to  be  cruellie  tormentit.  But 
sic  was  not  the  cas  of  thir  men  whom  na  doubt  the  justice  of 
God  faund  cryminal  and  worthic  the  deth.  Ffor  thay  did 
abus  his  sacramental!  signe,  receaving  it  nether  ai  Gods  com- 
mandement  nor  having  any  respect  to  his  honour  nor  to  the 
advancement  of  his  name,  nor  yit  trusting  in  his  promissis  nor 
desyreing  the  incres  or  multiplicatioun  of  Grodis  pepill,  but 
onlie  for  a  warldlie  purpois,  thinking  thairby  to  have  attaynit 
ryches  and  ease,  be  joynyng  thameselves  to  Godis  pepill. 
And  sa  the  justice  of  God  faund  thame  worthie  of  punisnient, 
and  sa  permittit  thame  justlie  on  his  part  to  be  ajfflictit  and 
destroyit  be  the  ungodlie,  whilk  is  a  terribill  exampill  to  sic  as 
in  caus  of  religioun  mair  seikis  the  profit  of  the  warld  nor 
etemall  salvatioun.  But  heirofna  mair.  Thus  brieflie  and 
rudlie  have  I  writtin  unto  yow  becaus  I  remember  myself  anis 
to  have  maid  yow  a  promeis  sa  to  do,  and  everie  word  of 
the  mouth  of  the  faithfull  (yf  so  impeid  not  God)  aught  to 
be  keipit  And  now  rest  in  Christ.  After  this  I  think  ye 
Ball  rasave  na  mair  of  my  handis.  In  haist  with  sair  trubillit 
nart. 

Yours  as  ever  in  godlines, 
[Anno  1553.]  Johne  Knox, 

No.  VI.    [Cald.  MS.  Vol.  I.  p.  427.]* 

Extract  of  a  Letter  from  John  Knox  to  Mrs.  Anne  Locke. 
(See  page  73.) 

The  Queen  and  her  counsell  made  promise  that  no 

person  within  Sanct  Johnston,  neither  yet  of  these  that  assist- 
ed them,  should  be  troubled  for  any  thing  done  cither  in  re- 
Kgion,  either  yet  in  down  casting  of  places,  till  the  sentence 
of  the  estates  in  Parliament  had  decided  the  controversie, 
and  that  no  bands  of  French  souldiers  should  be  left  behind 
the  Queen  and  counsell  in  the  town,  and  that  no  idolatrie 
should  be  erected  nor  alteration  made  within  the  town.  But 
after  she  had  obtained  her  desire,  all  godlie  promises  were 
forgotten,  for  the  Sunday  next  after  her  entering,  mess  were 
said  upon  a  dyeing  table  (for  ye  shall  understand  all  the  alters 
were  prophaned)  ;  the  jwor  professors  were  oppressed  ;  when 
children  were  slain,  she  did  but  smile,  excusing  the  fact  be 
the  chance  of  fortune;  and  at  her  deperture  she  left  400 soul- 
diers, Scottismen,  but  paid  by  France,  to  dantoun  the  town. 
She  changed  the  provist  and  exiled  all  godlie  men.  This 
crueltie  and  deceit  displeased  many  that  before  assisted  her 
with  their  presence  and  counsell,  and  among  others  the  earl 
of  Argyle  and  the  prior  of  Sanct  Andrews  left  [her],  and 
joyned  themselves  to  the  congregation  openly,  whilk  as  it 
was  displeasing  to  her  and  to  the  shavellings,  so  it  was  most 
comfortable  and  joyfull  to  us,  for  by  their  presence  were  the 
hearts  of  many  erected  from  desperation.  At  their  com- 
mandment I  repaired  to  them  at  St.  Andrewis,  wher  con- 
sultation being  had,  it  was  concluded  that  Christ  Jesus  should 
there  be  openhe  preached,  that  the  places  and  monuments  of 
idolatrie-  should  be  removed,  and  superstitious  habits  changed. 
This  reformation  was  begun  the  14th  of  June.  In  the 
meantime  came  the  bishop  of  St.  Andrewis  to  the  towne 
accompanied  with  a  great  band  of  warriours,  and  gave  a 
strate  commandment  that  no  preaching  should  be  made  by 
me  who  was  both  brunt  in  figure  and  homed,  assuring  the 
lords  that  if  they  suffered  me  to  preach  that  twelve  haque- 
buts  should  lyght  upon  my  nose  at  once.  O  burning  charitie 
of  a  bloodie  bishop  !  But  as  that  boast  did  litle  affray  me 
so  did  it  more  incense  and  inflamme  with  courage  the  harts 
of  the  godlie,  who  with  one  voyce  proclaimed  that  Christ 
Jesus  should  be  preached  in  despite  of  Sathan,  and  so  that 
Sabbath  and  three  dayes  after  I  did  occupy  the  publike  place 
in  the  midst  of  the  doctors  who  this  day  are  even  as  dumbe 
as  their  idols  which  wer  brunt  in  their  presence.  The  bishop 
departed  to  the  Quecne,  frustrat  of  his  intent,  for  he  had 
promised  to  bring  me  to  her  either  alyvc  or  dead  :  and  in- 
continent was  a  new  army  assembled,  and  forward  they 
marched  against  St  Andrews.  It  was  not  thought  expedient 
that  we  should  abide  them  lurking  in  a  town,  and  so  we 
past  to  the  fields  and  met  them  at  Coupcr,  where  lodging 
was  appointed  for  the  camp,  but  we  prevented  them :  where 
we  remained  upon  their  coming  till  the  nixt  day,  when  l)oth 
armies  were  in  sight  of  other  within   shot  of  cannon,  and 

•  The   following   lettera  from  Calderwuod  have  been  Ciirrected  by 
•omp&rin^  diflerent  copiei.    Tbe  ityle  it  evidently  modernized. 


we  looked  for  nothing  but  the  extremitie  of  batle :  not  thai 
we  intended  to  pursue,  but  ordy  to  stand  in  camp  where 
oure  field  was  pitched  for  defence  of  ourselves.  There  came 
from  our  adversaries  ane  amhassadour  desiring  speech  and 
communing  of  the  lords,  which  gladlie  of  us  being  granted, 
after  long  reasoning  the  queene  offered  a  free  remission  of 
all  crimes  bypast,  sua  thot  they  would  no  finder  proceed 
against  friars  and  abbayes,  and  that  no  more  preaching  should 
be  used  pubUcklie.  But  the  lords  and  the  brethren  refused 
such  appointment,  declaring  that  the  fear  of  no  mortal  crea- 
ture should  cause  them  betray  the  veritie  known  and  pro- 
fessed, neither  yet  to  suffer  idolatrie  to  be  maintained  in  the 
bounds  committed  to  their  charge.  The  adversaries  perceiving 
that  neither  threatening,  flatterie,  nor  deceit,  could  break  the 
bold  constancie  and  godlie  purpose  of  the  lords,  barons,  gentle- 
men, and  commons,  who  were  there  assembled  to  the  number 
of  3000  in  on  days  warning,  they  were  content  to  tak  assurance 
for  8  days,  permitting  unto  us  freedom  of  religion  in  the 
mean  time.  In  the  whilk  the  abbay  of  Lindores,  a  place 
of  black  monkcs,  distant  from  St  Andrewis  twelve  myles  we 
refomied,  their  altars  overtlirew  we,  their  idols,  vestments  of 
idolatrie,  and  mass  books  we  burnt  in  their  presence,  and 
commanded  them  to  cast  away  their  monkish  habits.  Divers 
chanons  of  St  Andrewis  have  given  notable  confessions  and 
have  declared  themselves  manifest  enemies  to  the  pope,  to 
the  mass,  and  to  all  superstition.  [Then  fi.llows  what  is  in- 
serted in  page  75.]  We  fear  that  the  tyrannic  of  France 
shall,  under  the  cloak  of  religion,  seek  a  plain  conquest  of 
us ;  but  potent  is  God  to  confound  their  counsell  and  to 
break  their  force.  God  move  the  hearts  of  such  as  profess 
Christ  Jesus  with  us,  to  have  respect  to  our  infancie,  and 
open  their  eyes  to  see  that  our  ruin  shall  be  their  destruc- 
tion. Communicat  the  contents  herof  (which  I  write  to  you, 
least  by  divers  rumours  ye  should  be  troubled  and  wee  slan- 
dered) with  all  faithfull,  but  especiallie  with  the  afflicted  of 
that  little  flock,  now  dispersed  and  destitute  of  these  pleasant 
pastures,  in  which  some  tyme  they  fed  aburuianthe.  If  any 
remain  at  Geneva  let  either  this  same  or  the  double  of  it  be 
sent  unto  them,  and  likeways  unto  my  dear  brother  Mr  Good- 
man, whose  presence  I  more  thirst  for  than  she  that  is  my  own 
flesh.  Will  him  therefor  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  (all 
delay  and  excuse  set  apart)  to  visit  me ;  for  the  necessity 
is  great  here.  If  he  come  be  sea,  let  him  be  addressed  unto 
Dundie,  and  let  him  ask  for  George  Levell,  for  George  Rollock, 
or  for  Wm.  Carmichael.  If  he  come  to  Leith,  let  him  repair 
to  Edinburgh,  and  enquire  for  James  Baron,  Edvsard  Hope, 
Adam  FuUertoun,  or  for  John  Johnston  writer,  be  whom  he 
will  get  knowledge  of  me.  If  my  mother  and  my  wife  come 
be  you,  will  them  to  make  the  expedition  that  goodly  they 
can  to  visit  me,  or  at  least  to  come  to  the  north  parts,  where 
they  shall  know  my  mind,  which  now  I  can  not  write,  teing 
oppressed  with  hourly  cares.  This  bearer  is  a  poor  man  un- 
known in  the  country,  to  whom  I  beseech  you  shew  reason- 
able favour  and  tenderness,  touching  his  merchandise  and  the 
just  selling  thereof.  Thus,  with  hearty  commendatiouns  to 
all  faithfull  I  heartily  commit  you  to  the  protection  of  the 
Omnipotent.     From  Sanct  Andrewes  the  23d  of  June  1559. 

No.  Vn.     [Cald.  I.  522.] 

To  Mrs  Anne  Locke.     (See  page  82.) 

Lest  that  the  rumors  of  our  troubles  trooble  you  above  mea- 
sure, dear  sister,  I  thought  good  in  these  few  words  to  signifie 
unto  you  that  our  espcrance  isyct  good  in  our  God,  that  he 
for  his  great  names  sake  will  give  such  success  to  this  enter- 
prise as  nether  shall  these  whom  he  hath  appointed  to  sigh  in 
this  be  utteriie  confounded,  neither  yet  that  our  enemies  shall 
have  occasion  to  blaspheme  the  verity,  nor  yet  triumph  over 
us  in  the  end.  We  trusted  too  much,  dear  sister,  in  our  owne 
strenth,  and  speciallie  since  the  erle  of  Arran  and  his  friends 
wi^re  joyned  to  our  numlier.  Amongst  us  also  were  such  as 
more  sought  the  purse  than  Christ's  glory.  Wee  by  this 
overthrow  are  brought  to  acknowledce.  what  is  a  multitude 
without  the  present  help  of  God !  and  the  hollov/  hearts  of 
many  are  now  revealled.  God  make  us  humble  in  his  eyes, 
and  then  I  fear  not  the  furie  of  the  adversaries,  who,  be  ye 
assured,  doe  sore  rage,  so  as  yet  their  crueltie  must  neids  crave 
vengeance  from  him  whose  members  they  persecute.  Our 
dear  brethren  and  sisters  in  Edinburgh  and  Lothian  who  lay 
nearest  these  blootle  thirsty  tyrants,  are  so  troubled  and  vexed 
that  it  is  a  pity  to  remember  their  estate.  Our  God  comfort 
them.     We  stand  universally  in  great  fear,  and  yet  we  hop? 


APPENDIX. 


193 


deliverance.  I  wrote  to  you  before  to  be  suitor  to  some  faith- 
full,  that  they  would  move  such  as  have  abundance  to  consider 
our  estate,  and  to  make  for  us  some  provision  of  money  to 
keep  soldiers  and  our  company  together.  And  herein  yet  again 
I  cannot  cease  to  move  you.  I  can  not  well  write  to  any  other, 
because  the  action  may  seem  to  appertaine  to  my  own  country 
onlie.  But  because  I  trust  ye  suspect  me  not  of  avarice,  I 
am  bold  to  say  to  you  that  if  we  perish  in  this  our  enterprise, 
the  limits  of  London  will  be  straiter  than  they  are  now  within 
few  years.  Many  things  I  have  which  I  would  have  required 
for  myself,  namely  Calvin  on  Isaiah,  and  his  Institutions  re- 
vised. But  common  troubles  cause  me  to  neglect  all  private 
business.  If  ye  can  find  the  means  to  send  me  the  books  be- 
fore written,  or  any  other  that  be  new  and  profitable,  I  will 
provide  that  ye  shall  receive  the  prices  upon  your  advertise- 
ment. My  wife  saluteth  you.  Salute  all  faithfull  heartilie  in 
my  name,  especially  those  of  familiar  acquaintance,  of  whom 
I  crave  pardon  that  I  write  not,  being  not  so  quiet  as  ye  would 
wish.  My  onlie  comfort  is  that  our  troubles  shall  pass  sooner, 
peradventure  than  our  enemies  look.  Grace  be  with  you. 
From  St  Andrews  in  haste  the  18th  November  1559.  Yours 
known. 

John  Knox. 

Mr  Gudeman  is  in  the  west  country  in  Ayr  who  willed  me 
to  salute  you  in  his  name  as  oft  as  I  wrote  you. 

No.  VIII.  [Cald.  I.  524.] 
To  the  same.  (See  page  82.) 
We  shall  meet  when  death  shall  not  dissever. 
Two  letters  I  have  received  from  you,  dear  sister,  both  al- 
most at  one  time,  the  one  is  dated  at  London  the  28th  of 
November,  the  other  of  the  same  place  the  2nd  of  December. 
The  letter  of  the  last  date  I  first  read,  which  made  mention  of 
your  trouble  be  reason  of  a  suddan  fire  in  a  lodging  near  to 
you ;  that  you  had  sought  all  means  for  our  support  as  well 
of  those  of  high  as  of  low  degree ;  but  that  it  was  not  needful 
that  any  thing  should  be  sent  unto  us  because  it  was  supposed 
that  the  highest  would  support  us  ;  and  last  that  ye  had  not 
received  the  answer  of  your  doubts.  In  your  other  letters, 
after  your  most  comfortable  discourse  of  God's  providence  for 
his  people  in  their  greatest  necessitie,  ye  godlie  and  trulie  con- 
clude that  neither  could  their  unworthiness,  neither  yet  their 
want  of  things  judged  nccessarie  for  their  preservation,  stop 
his  majestie's  mercie  from  them.  Thereafter  ye  will  me  to 
avoid  danger  and  rather  to  fight  by  prayer  in  some  place  re- 
moved from  danger  than  expose  my  self  to  the  hazard  of 
battell,  and  so  ye  conclude  liy  praising  God's  mercie  as  did 
Jeremy  in  his  greatest  anguish,  &c. 

What  support  should  come  to  us  be  consent  of  counscll 
and  authoritie  I  am  uncertain.  But  suppose  it  shall  he  greater 
than  yet  is  bruted,  that  ought  not  to  stay  the  liberall  hands  of 
the  godlie  to  support  us  privatelie.  For  the  publick  support 
of  an  army  shall  not  make  such  as  now  be  superexpended 
able  to  serve  without  private  support.  I  will  make  the  matter 
more  plain  be  one  example.  I  know  one  man  that  since  the 
flth  of  May  hath  spent  in  this  action  thirteen  thousand 
crowns  of  the  summe  [sonne],  besydes  his  victuals  and  other 
fruits  of  the  ground.  His  treasure  being  now  consumed  he 
cannot  without  support  susteane  the  number  which  before  he 
brought  to  the  field.  If  he  and  such  others  that  are  in  lyke 
condition  with  him  shall  be  absent,  or  yet  if  numbers  shall 
decay,  our  enemies  shall  seem  to  prevaill  in  the  field,  and  there- 
for desired  I  some  collection  to  be  made,  to  the  end  that  the 
present  nei^essitie  of  some  might  have  been  relieved.  If  the 
matter  pertained  not  to  my  native  countrie  I  would  be  more 
vehement  in  persuasion,  but  God  shall  support  even  how, 
when,  and  by  whom  it  shall  please  his  blessed  majestic. 
Sorry  I  am  that  ye  have  not  received  my  answer  unto  your 
doubts,  not  so  much  that  I  think  that  ye  greatlie  need  them, 
as  that  I  would  not  put  you  in  suspicion  that  I  contemned 
your  requests.  The  rest  of  my  wife  hath  been  so  unrestful 
since  her  arrival  here,  that  scarceUe  could  she  tell  upon  the 
morrow  what  she  wrote  at  night.  She  cannot  find  my  first 
extract.  And  therfor  if  any  scruple  remainc  in  your  con- 
science, put  pen  again  to  paper,  and  look  for  ane  answer  as 
God  shall  give  opportunitie.  God  make  yourself  participant 
of  the  same  comfort  which  you  wrote  unto  me :  and  in  very 
deed,  dear  sister,  I  have  no  less  need  of  comfort,  notwithstand- 
ing that  I  am  not  altogether  ignorant,  than  hath  the  bound 
man  to  be  fed,  albeit  in  store  he  hath  great  substance.        I 


have  read  the  cares  and  tentations  of  Moses,  and  sometymes 
I  have  supposed  myself  to  be  well  practised  in  such  dangerous 
battells.  But,  alace  !  I  now  perceive  that  all  my  practice  be- 
fore was  but  mere  speculation,  for  one  day  of  troubles  since 
my  last  arrival  in  Scotland  hath  more  pierced  my  heart  than 
all  the  torments  of  the  galleys  did  the  space  of  19  months. 
For  that  torment  for  the  most  part  did  touch  the  bodie,  but 
this  pierceth  the  soul  and  inward  affections.  Then  was  I 
assuredUe  persuaded  that  I  should  not  die  untill  I  had  preach- 
ed Christ  Jesus  even  where  I  now  am,  and  yet  having  now 
my  heart's  desyre,  I  am  nothing  satisfied,  nether  yet  rejoice. 
My  God  remove  my  unthankfulness.  From  Sanct  Andrews 
the  last  of  December  1559. 

Yours  known  in  Christ 

John  Knox. 

No.IX.  [Cald.I.p.533,] 

To  the  same.     (See  page  000.) 

The  eternal  our  God  shall  shortly  put  an  end  to  all  our 
troubles. 

Lest  that  sinister  rumours  should  trouble  you  above  mea- 
sure, dear  sister,  I  can  not  but  certify  you  of  our  estate  as 
often  as  convenient  messengers  occur.  The  French,  as  before 
I  wrote  unto  you,  have  pursued  us  with  great  furie,  but  God 
hath  so  bridled  them,  that  since  the  5th  day  when  they  put  to 
flight  the  men  of  Kinghom,  Kircaldy,  and  Dysart,  they  have 
had  of  us  (all  praise  be  to  our  God)  no  advantage.  They  lost 
in  a  morning  a  Ueutenant,  the  boldest  of  their  company,  and 
fourty  of  their  bravest  soldiers,  diverse  of  them  having  been 
taken  and  diverse  slain  in  skirmishing.  They  have  done 
greatest  harm  to  such  as  did  best  entertain  them ;  for  from 
them  they  have  taken  sheep,  horse,  and  plenishing.  Our 
friends,  and  foes  to  them,  did  continually  remove  from  their 
way  all  moveables  that  to  them  appertained.  They  have 
castcn  down  to  the  ground  the  laird  of  Grange's  principal 
house,  called  the  Grange,  and  have  spoiled  his  other  places, 
God  will  recompense  him,  I  doubt  not,  for  in  this  cause,  and 
since  the  beginning  of  this  last  trouble  especially,  he  hath  be- 
haved himself  so  boldly  as  never  man  of  our  realm  hath  de- 
served more  praise.  He  hath  been  in  many  dangers,  and  yet 
God  hath  delivered  him  above  mens  expectation.  He  was 
shot  at  liundie  right  under  the  left  pape,  thorrow  the  jacket, 
doublet,  and  shirt,  and  the  bullet  did  stick  in  one  of  his  ribs. 
Mr  Whitelaw  hath  gotten  a  fall,  by  which  he  is  unable  to  bear 
arms.  But  God  be  praised  both  their  lives  be  saved'.  I  re-- 
mained  all  this  time  in  St  Andrews  with  sorrowful  heart,  and  yet 
as  God  did  minister  his  spirit  comforting  the  afflicted,  who,  albeit 
they  quaked  for  a  thne,  yet  do  now  praise  God' who  suddenly 
averted  from  them  that  terrible  plague  devised  for  them  by  the 
ungodly.  The  French  men  approached  within  6  miles,  yet  at 
the  sight  of  certain  of  your  ships,  they  retired  more  in  one  day 
than  they  advanced  in  ten.  We  have  had  wonderful  experience 
of  God's  merciful  providence,  and  for  my  own  part  I  were  more 
than  unthankful  if  I  should  rot  confess  that  God  hath  heard  the 
sobs  of  my  wretched  heart,  and  hath  not  deceived  me  of  that 
little  spark  of  hope  which  his  holy  spirit  did  kindle  and  foster  in 
my  heart.  God  give  me  grace  to  acknowledge  his  benefit  re- 
ceived, and  to  make  such  fruit  of  it  as  becometh  his  sei-vant. 
If  ye  can  find  a  messenger,  I  heartily  pray  you  to  send  me  the 
books  for  which  I  wrote  before.  I  must  be  bold  over  your 
liberality  not  only  in  that,  but  in  greater  things  as  I  shall  need. 
Please  you  cause  this  other  letter  inclosed  be  surely  conveyed 
to  Miles  Coverdale.  Salute  all  faithful  acouahitance,  Mr  Hick- 
man and  his  bedfellow,  your  husband,  Mr  Michael  and  his 
spouse  as  unacquainted,  especially  remembered.  I  know  not 
what  of  our  brethren  at  Geneva  be  with  you.  But  to  such  as 
be  there  I  beseech  you  to  say,  that  I  think  that  I  myself  do  how 
find  the  truth  of  that  which  oft  I  have  said  in  their  audience, 
to  wit  that  after  our  departure  from  Geneva  should  our  dolour 
beginne.  But  my  good  hope  is  in  God  that  it  shall  end  to  his 
glory  and  our  comfort.  Rest  in  Christ  Jesus.  From  Sanct 
Andrews  the  4th  of  February  1559. 

Your  brother. 

John  Knox, 

No.  X.  [Cald.  n.  p.  89.] 

John  Knox  to  Mr.  John  Wood,  Secretary  to  the  Regent. 
14th  Feb.  1568. 

My  purpose,  beloved  in  the  Lord,  concerning  that  which  oft, 
and  now  last  ye  crave,  I  wrote  to  you  before,  from  which  1 
13 


104 


APPENDIX. 


can  not  be  moved,  and  therefore,  of  my  friends  I  will  ask  par- 
don, howbeit  on  that  one  head  I  play  the  churle,  retaining  to 
myself  that  which  will  rather  hurt  me  than  profit  them,  during 
my  days,  which  I  hope  in  God  shall  not  be  long,  and  then  it 
shall  be  in  the  opinion  of  others  whether  it  shall  be  suppres- 
sed, or  come  to  light*  God  for  his  great  mercies  sake  put  such 
end  to  the  troubles  of  France,  as  the  purity  of  his  evangell 
may  have  free  passage  within  that  realme ;  and  idolatry  with 
the  maintainers  of  the  same  may  once  be  overthrown  be  order 
of  justice,  or  otherways  as  his  godly  wisdom  hath  appointed. 
In  my  opinion  England  and  Scotland  have  both  no  less  cause 
to  fear  than  the  faithful  in  France,  for  what  they  suffer  in 
present  action  is  laid  up  in  store,  let  us  be  assured,  for  botli 
countries.  The  ground  of  my  assurance  is  not  the  determina- 
tion of  the  council  of  Trent,  for  that  decree  is  but  the  utterance 
of  their  own  malice ;  but  the  justice  of  God  is  my  assurance, 
for  it  cannot  spare  to  punish  all  realmes  and  nations  that  is  or 
shall  be  like  to  Jerusalem,  against  whose  iniquity  God  long 
cried  be  his  servants  the  prophets,  but  found  no  repentance. 
The  truth  of  God  hath  been  now  of  some  years  manifested  to 
both,  but  what  obedience,  the  words,  works  and  behaviour  of 
men  give  sufficient  testimony.  God  grant  Mr  Gudman  a 
prosperous  and  happy  success  in  the  acceptation  of  his  charge, 
and  in  all  his  other  enter|)rises  to  God's  glory  and  the  com- 
fort of  his  kirk  ;  and  so  will  I  tlie  more  patiently  bear  his  ab- 
sence, weaning  myself  from  all  comfort  that  I  looked  to  have 
received  be  his  presence  and  familiarity.  Because  I  have  the 
testimony  of  a  good  conscience,  that  in  writing  of  that 
treatise  against  which  so  many  worldly  men  have  stormed, 
and  yet  storm,  I  neither  sought  myself  nor  worldly  promotion, 
and  because  as  yet  I  have  neither  heard  nor  seen  law  nor 
scripture  to  overthrow  my  ground,  f  I  may  appeal  to  a  more 
indifferent  judge  than  Dr.  Jewell.  I  would  most  gladly  pass 
through  the  course  that  God  hath  appointed  to  my  labours,  in 
meditation  with  my  God  arui  giving  thanks  to  his  holy  name, 
for  that  it  hath  pleased  his  mercy  to  make  me  not  a  lord 
bishop,  but  a  painful  preacher  of  his  blessed  evangell,  in  the 
function  whereof  it  hath  pleased  his  majesty  for  Christ  his 
son's  sake  to  deUver  me  from  the  contradiction  of  moe  enemies 
than  one  or  two,  which  maketh  me  the  more  slow  and  less 
careful  to  revenge  he  word  or  writ  whatever  injury  hath  been 
done  against  me  in  my  own  particular.  But  if  that  men  will 
not  cease  to  impugne  the  truth,  the  faithfuU  will  pardon  me  if 
I  offend  such  as  for  pleasure  of  flesh  fear  not  to  offend  God. 
The  defence  and  maintenance  of  superstitious  trifles  produced 
never  better  fruit  in  the  end  than  I  perceive  is  budding  amongst 
you,  schisme,  which  no  doubt  is  a  forerunner  of  greater  deso- 
lation unless  there  be  speedy  repentance.  [  The  reader  will 
find  what  fulkivos  already  (juoled  in  page  117.]  The  faith- 
full  of  your  acquaintance  here  salute  you.  The  grace  of 
the  Lord  rest  with  you. 

No.  XI.     [Cald.  n.  107.] 

The  same  to  the  same.     (See  page  117.) 

I  thank  you  heartily,  dearly  beloved  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  ttiat 
ye  had  such  rememberance  of  me  as  to  certify  of  that  part 
which  not  a  little  troubled  and  yet  troubleth  me.  What  I 
have  done  or  am  able  to  do  in  that  behalf  I  will  not  trouble 
you  at  this  present,  this  only  excepted,  that  it  will  please  you 
to  travel  as  in  the  end  of  your  letter  ye  write  ye  would  do,  to 
wit,  that  my  sons  might  be  Denezans  there.  I  am  informed 
both  be  letter  and  be  tongue,  besides  conjectures  that  probably 
may  be  gathered,  that  the  Duke  and  his  friends  are  inflamed 
against  me.  Ofter  than  once  I  have  called  to  mind  your 
words  to  me  that  day  that  I  had  been  more  than  vehement,  as 

some  men  thought,  in  the  end  of  the chapter  of  John's 

Evangell  concerning  the  treasonable  departure  of  Judas  from 
Christ,  and  of  the  causes  thereof.  Before  that  I  came  forth 
of  the  preaching  place  ye  said,  Before  my  God  I  think  your 
eyes  shall  see  performed  that  which  your  mouth  hath  pro- 
nounced. My  words  were  these,  I  fear  that  such  as  have  en- 
tered with  us  in  profeasing  of  the  Evangell,  as  Judas  did  with 
Christ,  shall  depart  and  follow  Judas,  how  soon  the  expectation 
of  gain  and  worldly  promotion  feileth  them.  Time  will  try 
farther,  and  we  shall  see  overmuch.  We  look  daily  for  the 
arrival  of  the  duke  and  his  Frenchmen,  sent  to  restore  Satan 
to  his  kingdome,  in  the  person  of  his  dearest  lieutenant,  sent, 


*  He  leemi  to  refer  here  to  hi*  History  of  the  Reforination. 
t  Referring,  most  probably,  to  hit  Treatiw  against  Female  Govern- 
roeot. 


j  I  say,  to  repress  religion,  not  from  the  king  of  France,  but 

I  from  the  Cardinall   of  Lorrane  in  favour  of  his  dearest  nice. 

i  Lett  England  take  heed,  for  surely  their  neighbours  houses  are 
on  fire.  I  would,  dear  brother,  that  ye  should  travell  with 
zealous  men,  that  they  may  consider  our  estate.  What  I 
would  say,  ye  may  easily  conjecture.      Without  support  we 

j  are  not  able  to  resist  the  force  of  the  domesticall  enemies  (un- 
less God  work  miraculously)  much  less  are  we  able  to  stand 
against  the  puissance  of  France,  the  substance  of  the  Pope, 
and  the  malice  of  the  house  of  Guise,  unless  we  be  comforted 
be  others  than  by  ourselves.  Ye  know  our  estate,  and  there- 
fore I  will  not  insist  to  deplore  our  poverty.  The  whole  com- 
fort of  the  enemies  is  this,  that  be  treason  or  other  means 
they  may  cutt  off  the  Regent,  and  then  cutt  the  throat  of  the 
innocent  king.  How  narrowly  hath  the  regent  escaped  once, 
I  suppose  ye  have  heard.  As  their  malice  is  not  quenched,  so 
ceaseth  not  the  practice  of  the  wicked,  to  put  in  execution  the 
cruelty  devised.  I  live  as  a  man  already  dead  from  all  aifairs 
civil,  and  therefore  I  praise  my  God ;  for  so  I  have  some  quiet- 
ness HI  spirit,  and  time  to  meditate  on  death,  and  upon  the 
troubles  I  have  long  feared  and  foreseeth.  'Phe  Lord  assist 
you  with  his  holy  spirit,  and  put  an  end  to  my  travells,  to  his 
own  glory,  and  to  the  comfort  of  his  kirk;  for  assuredly, 
brother,  this  miserable  life  is  bitter  unto  me.  Salute  your  bed- 
fellow in  my  name,  and  the  rest  in  Christ  Jesus.  The  faith- 
full  here  salute  you.  The  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  rest 
with  you  for  ever. 

Of  Edinbvngh  the  10  of  September  1568. 

No.  XIL    [Cald.  MS.  I.  380.] 

Extract  of  a  Letter  from  John  Knox  to  Mrs.  Anne  Locke, 
dated  6th  of  April  1559.     (See  page  134.) 

Your  letters,  dear  sister,  dated  at  Geneva  the  17th  of 

February,  received  I  in  Deepe  the  17th  of  March.  Touching 
my  negligence  in  writing  to  you,  at  other  times  I  fear  it  shall 
be  httle  amended,  except  that  better  occasions  than  yet  I  know 
be  oflered.  For  oft  to  write  when  few  messingers  can  be 
found  is  but  foolishness.  My  rememberance  of  you  is  not  yet 
so  dead,  but  I  trust  it  shall  be  fresh  enough,  albeit  it  be  re- 
newed be  no  outward  tokin  for  one  year.  Of  nature  I  am 
churlish,  and  in  conditions  different  from  many.  Yet  one 
thing  I  ashame  not  to  alfirme  that  familiarity  once  thoroughly 
contracted  was  never  yet  broken  be  my  default.  The  cause 
may  be  that  I  have  rather  need  of  all  than  that  any  have  need 
of  me. — 

Extract  of  a  Letter  from  John  Knox  "  To  a  friend  in  England." 
[Cald.  n.  p.  144.] 
Of  Edinburgh,  19th  August,  1569. 

If  from  day  to  day  thir  seven  years  bypast,  I  had  not 

looked  for  ane  end  of  my  travells,  I  could  have  no  excuse  of 
my  obstinate  fault  toward  you,  beloved  in  the  Lord,  be  whom 
I  have  received,  beside  commendations  and  letters,  divers  tokens 
of  your  unfained  friendship,  yet  have  I  negligently  pretermit- 
ted all  office  of  humanity  toward  you,  whereinto  I  acknowledge 
my  offence,  for  albeit  I  have  been  tossed  with  many  storms  all 
the  time  before  expressed,  yet  might  I  have  gratified  you  and 
others  faithful!,  with  some  rememberance  of  my  estate,  if  that 
this  my  churlish  nature,  for  the  most  part  oppressed  with 
melancholy,  had  not  stayed  tongue  and  pen  from  doing  of  their 
duty.  Yea,  even  now,  when  that  I  could  somewhat  satisfy 
your  desire,  I  find  within  myself  no  small  repugnance,  for 
this  I  find  objected  to  my  wretched  heart,  "Foolish  man! 
what  seeks  thou  in  writing  of  missives  in  this  corruptible  age? 
Hath  thou  not  a  full  satiety  of  all  the  vanities  under  the  sun  1 
Hath  not  thy  eldest  and  stoutest  acquaintance  buried  thee  in 
obUvion,  and  are  not  thou  in  that  estate  be  age,  that  nature 
itself  calleth  thee  from  the  pleasures  of  things  temporall  T  la 
it  not  then  more  than  foolishness  unto  thee  to  hunt  for  ac- 
quaintance on  the  earth,  of  what  estate  or  condition  whatsomever 
the  person  be?  To  these  objections  I  could  answer  nothing, 
(much  more  I  think  than  is  written)  but  that  I  would  write 
with  what  imperfections  I  little  regard. — 

NcXin.    [Cald.  n.  p.  269.] 

John  Knox  to  the  Laird  of  Pittarrow. 

The  end  of  all  worldly  trouble  and  pleasure  both  approachrtb. 
Blessed  are  they  that  patiently  abide  in  the  truth,  not  jouiing 
hands  nor  heart  with  impiety,  how  that  ever  it  triumph. 


APPENDIX. 


105 


Right  worshipful!,  after  heartly  commendations,  your  letter, 
dated  atPittarrow  the  14th  of  July,  received  I  in  Sanct  Andrews, 
the  15th  of  the  same.  The  brute  and  rumour  of  Adam  Gordon 
and  his  doings,  and  preparations  made  to  resist  him  was  diverse, 
but  nothing  that  I  heard  moved  me,  for  I  perceive  the  cup  of 
iniquity  is  not  yet  full.  Of  one  thing  I  am  assured,  that  God 
of  his  mercy  will  not  suffer  his  own  to  be  tempted  above  mea- 
sure, neither  will  he  suffer  iniquity  to  be  ever  unpunished. 
From  me  can  come  no  other  counsel  theui  ye  have  heard  ft«m 
the  beginning  of  our  acquaintance,  to  wit,  that  not  only  action 
defileth  and  maketh  guilty  before  God,  but  also  consent  of 
heart,  and  all  paction  with  the  wicked.  Out  of  bed,  and  from 
my  book,  I  come  not  but  once  in  the  week,  and  so  few  tidings 
come  to  me.  What  order  God  shall  put  into  tlie  mind  of  the 
authority  to  take  for  staying  of  thir  present  troubles,  I  know 
not,  but  ever  still  my  dull  heart  feareth  the  worst,  and  that 
because  no  appearance  of  right  conversion  unto  God,  but  both 
the  parties  stands  as  it  were  fighting  against  God  himself  in 
justification  of  their  wickedness.  The  murderers  assembled 
in  the  castle  of  Edinburgh,  and  their  assisters,  justify  all 
that  they  have  done  to  be  well  and  rightly  done ;  and 
the  contrar  party  as  little  repenteth  the  troubling  and  op- 
pressing of  tlie  poor  kirk  of  God  as  ever  they  did ;  for  if  tliey 
can  have  the  kirk-lands  to  be  annexed  to  tlieir  houses,  they 
appear  to  take  no  more  care  of  the  instruction  of  the  ignorant, 
and  of  the  feedijig  of  the  flock  of  Jesus  Christ,  than  even  did 
the  Papists  whom  we  have  condemned,  and  yet  are  worse 
ourselves  in  that  behalf:  for  they  according  to  their  blind  zeal 
spared  nothing  that  either  might  have  maintained  or  holden 
up  that  which  they  took  for  God's  service ;  but  we,  alace !  in 
the  midds  of  the  light  forgctt  the  heaven  and  draw  to  the 
earth.  Dayly  looking  for  an  end  of  my  battel,  I  have  set 
forth  ane  answer  to  a  Jesuit  who  long  hath  railed  against  our 
religion,  as  the  reading  of  this  tractat  will  more  plainly  let  you 
understand.  The  letter  in  the  end  of  it,  if  it  serve  not  for  the 
estate  of  Scotland,  yet  it  will  serve  a  troubled  conscience,  so 
long  as  the  kirk  of  God  remaineth  in  either  realm.  With  my 
hearty  commendations  to  your  bedfellow,  and  to  my  Lord 
Marshall,  the  Mixster,  and  to  the  faithful  in  your  company. 
Deliver  to  them  the  book  according  to  their  directions,  and 
pray  the  faithful  in  my  name  to  recommend  me  to  God  in 
their  prayers,  for  my  battel  is  strong,  and  yet  without  great 
corporal  pain.  The  Lord  Jesus  who  hath  once  redeemed  us, 
who  hath  also  of  his  mercy  given  unto  us  the  light  of  his 
blessed  countenance,  continue  us  in  that  light  that  once  we 
have  received  externally,  and  at  his  good  pleasure  putt  an  end 
to  all  the  troubles  of  his  own  spouse,  the  kirk,  which  now 
sobbeth  and  crieth,  Come  Lord  Jesus,  come  Lord  Jesus; 
whose  omnipotent  Spirit  conduct  you  to  the  end.  Amen. 
At  Sanct  Andrews,  1 9th  of  July,  [1572.] 

No.  XIV.  [Cald.  n.  270.] 

John  Knox  to  Mr.  Goodman. 

Written  about  the  same  time  with  the  preceding. 

Beloved  brother,  I  am  not  praise  God  of  your  trouble; 
but  that  of  his  mercie  he  hath  made  you  one  against  whom 
Satan  bendeth  all  his  engines,  therof  unfainedlie  I  praise  my 
God,  l)eseeching  liim  to  strengthen  you  to  fight  your  battell 
lawfully  to  the  end.  That  we  shall  meet  in  this  life  there  is 
no  hope ;  for  to  my  bodie  it  is  impossible  to  be  carried  from 
countrie  to  countrie,  and  of  your  comfortable  presence  where 
I  am  I  have  small,  yea  no  esperancc.  The  name  of  God  be 
praised,  who  of  his  mercie  hath  left  me  so  great  comfort  of 
you  in  tliis  life.  That  ye  may  understand  that  my  heart  is 
pierced  with  the  present  troubles :  from  the  castle  of  Edin- 
burgh hath  sprung  all  the  murthers  first  and  last  committed  in 
this  realme,  yea,  and  all  the  troubles  and  treasons  conspired  in 
England.  God  confound  the  wicked  devisers  with  their  wicked 
devises.  So  long  as  it  pleased  God  to  continue  unto  me  any 
strength,  I  ceased  not  to  forewarn  these  dayes  publickly,  as 
Edinburgh  can  witness,  and  secretlie,  as  Mr  Randolph  and 
others  of  that  nation  with  whom  I  secretlie  conferred  can 
testifie.  Remedy  now  on  earth  resteth  none,  but  onlie  that 
both  England  and  Scotland  humbly  submit  themselves  to 
the  correcting  hand  of  God,  vrith  humble  confession  of  their 
former  inobedience,  that  blood  was  not  punished,  when  he 
be  his  servants  publickly  craved  justice  according  to  his  law ; 
in  which  head  yoiu  ralme  is  no  less  guilty  than  we,  who 
now  drink  the  bitter  part  of  the  cup,  which  God  of  his 
mercie  avert  from  you.    And  thus  weary  of  the  world,  witli 


my  hearty  commendations  to  all  faithful!  acquaintance,  Mr 
Bodlih  and  his  bedfellow  especially  remembered,  I  commit 
you  to  the  protection  of  the  ommpotent.     Ofl'  Sanct  Andrews. 

No.  XV.     [Calderwood's  MS.  ad  an.  1570.  Advocates 

liibrarj'.] 

Prayer  used  by  Jolui  Knox,  after  the  Regent's  death. 

0  Lord,  what  shall  we  add  to  the  former  petitions  we  know 
not ;  yea,  alace,  O  Lord,  our  owne  consciences  tear  us  record 
that  we  are  imworthie  that  thou  should  either  encreass  or  vet 
continue  thy  graces  with  us,  be  reason  of  our  horrible  "in- 
gratitude. In  our  extreame  miseries  we  called,  and  thou  in 
the  multitude  of  thy  mercies  heard  us ;  and  first  thou  deliver- 
ed us  from  the  tyrannic  of  merciless  strangers,  next  from  the 
bondage  of  idolatry,  and  last  from  the  yoak  of  that  wretched 
woman,  the  mother  of  all  mischife,  and  in  her  place  thou  didst 
erect  her  sonne,  and  to  supply  his  infancie  thou  didst  appoynt 
a  Regent  endued  with  such  graces  as  the  divell  himself  cannot 
accuse  or  justly  convict  him,  this  only  excepted  that  foolish 
pity  did  so  farre  prevail  in  him,  concerning  execution  and 
punishment  which  thou  commanded  to  have  been  execute 
upon  her,  and  upon  her  complices,  the  murtherers  of  her 
husband.  O  Lord,  in  what  miserie  and  confusion  found  he 
this  realme  !  To  what  rest  and  quietnesse  now  be  his  labours 
suddanlie  he  brought  the  same,  all  estates,  but  speciallie 
the  poor  commons,  can  witness.  Thy  image,  Lord,  did  so 
clearlie  shyne  in  that  personage,  that  the  divell,  and  the  wicked 
to  whom  he  is  prince,  could  not  abyde  it.  And  so  to  punish 
our  sinnes  and  ingratitude,  who  did  not  ryghtlie  esteem  so 
pretious  a  gift,  thou  hes  permitted  him  to  fall,  to  our  great 
griefe,  in  the  hands  of  cruel!  and  traterous  murtherers.  He  is 
at  rest,  0  Lord,  and  we  are  left  in  extreame  miserie !  Be 
merciful!  to  us,  and  suffer  not  Satan  to  prevail  against  thy  little 
flocke  within  this  Realme,  neither  yet,  O  Lord,  let  bloode 
thirsty  men  come  to  the  end  of  their  wicked  enterprises. 
Preserve,  O  Lord,  our  young  king,  although  he  be  ane  infant; 
give  unto  him  the  spirit  of  sanctification,  with  encrease  of  the 
same  as  he  groweth  in  yeares.  Let  his  raigne,  O  Lord,  be 
such  as  thou  may  be  glorified,  and  thy  little  flock  comforted  by 
it.  Seeing  that  we  are  now  left  as  a  flock  without  a  pastor,  in 
civil!  policie,  and  as  a  shippe  without  a  rudder  in  the  midst  of 
the  storm,  let  thy  providence  watch.  Lord,  and  defend  us  in 
these  dangerous  dayes,  that  the  wicked  of  the  world  may  see 
that  as  Weill  without  the  help  of  man,  as  with  it,  thou  art  able 
to  rule,  maintain  and  defend  the  little  flock  that  dependeth 
upon  thee.  And  because,  0  Lord,  the  shedding  of  innocent 
bloode  hes  ever  been,  and  yet  is  odious  in  thy  presence,  yea, 
that  it  defyleth  the  whole  land  where  it  is  shed  and  not 
punished,  we  crave  of  thee,  for  Christ  thy  sonnes  sake,  that 
thou  wilt  so  try  and  punish  the  two  treasonable  and  cruell 
murthers  latelic  committed,  that  the  inventars,  devy sers,  authors, 
and  maintainers  of  treasonable  crueltie,  may  be  either  thorough- 
lie  converted  or  confounded.  O  Lord,  if  thy  mercy  prevent 
us  not,  we  cannot  escape  just  condemnation,  for  that  Scotland 
hath  spared,  and  England  hath  maintained  the  lyfe  of  that 
most  wicked  woman.  Oppose  thy  power,  O  Lord,  to  the 
pryde  of  that  cruell  murtherer  of  her  owne  husband ;  con- 
found her  faction  and  their  subtile  enterprises  of  what  estate  and 
condition  soever  they  be ;  and  let  them  and  the  world  know, 
that  thou  art  a  Go<1  that  can  deprehend  the  wise  in  their  own 
wisdome,  and  the  proude  in  the  imagination  of  their  wicked 
hearts,  to  their  everlasting  confusioun.  Lord,  retain  us  that 
call  upon  the  in  thy  true  fear.  Let  us  grow  in  the  same. 
Give  thou  strength  to  us  to  fight  our  battell,  yea,  I^ord,  to 
fight  it  lawfullie,  and  to  end  our  lifes  in  the  sanctificatiQn 
of  thy  holie  name, 

No.XVL    [Cald.  MS.  ad  an.  1572.    Advocates  Library.] 

The  last  will  and  words  of  John  Knox,  minister  of  the  Evangell 
of  Jesus  Christ,  put  in  order  at  St  Andrews,  the  13th  May, 

1572. 

Lord  Jesus,  I  commend  my  troubled  spirit  in  thy  protection 
and  defence,  and  thy  troubled  kirk  to  thy  mercie. 

Because  I  have  had  to  doe  with  diverse  personages  of  the 
ministrie  whereunto  God  of  his  mercie  directit  me  within  this 
Realme,  my  duty  craveth  that  I  shall  leave  imto  them  now 
a  testimonie  of  my  mynd. 

And  first  to  the  Papists,  and  to  the  unthanldul  world :  I  say, 
that  although  my  lyfe  liath  beene  unto  them  odious,  and  that 


J9ft 


APPENDIX. 


often  they  have  sought  my  destruction,  and  the  destruction  of 
the  kjrk  which  God  of  his  great  mercie  planted  within  this 
Realme,  and  hath  alwise  preserved  and  keeped  the  same  from 
their  cruell  interpiyses,  yet  to  them  I  am  compelled  to  say. 
that  unless  they  sjjeedilic  repent,  my  departing  of  tliis  Ufe  shall 
be  to  them  the  greatest  calamitie  that  ever  yet  hatli  apprehend- 
ed them.  Some  small  appearance  they  may  have  yet  in  my 
life,  if  they  had  grace  to  see.  A  dead  man  I  have  beene  now 
almost  these  two  years  bypast,  and  yet  I  would  that  they 
should  rypelie  consider  in  what  better  estate  they  and  their 
maters  stand  than  they  have  done  before,  and  they  have  he^rd 
of  long  tyme  before  threatned.  But,  because  they  will  not 
admit  me  for  admonisher,  I  give  them  over  to  the  judgment 
of  him  who  knoweth  the  hearts  of  all,  and  will  discJose  the 
secrects  thereof  in  due  time.     And  this  farre  to  the  papists. 

To  the  faithful!.  Before  God,  before  his  sone  Jesus  Christ, 
and  before  his  holie  angels,  I  protest  that  God  be  my  mouth  (be 
I  ever  so  abject)  hath  shewed  to  you  his  truth  in  all  simplicitic. 
None  I  have  corrupted,  none  I  have  defrauded,  merchandise  I 
have  not  made  (to  God's  glorie  I  write)  of  the  glorious  evangell 
of  Jesus  Christ,  but  according  to  the  measure  of  grace  granted 
unto  me,  I  have  devyded  the  sermon  of  truth  in  just  parts, 
beating  down  the  rebellion  of  the  proud  in  all  who  did  declare 
their  rebellion  against  God,  according  as  God  in  his  law  giveth 
to  me  yet  testimonie,  and  raising  up  the  consciences  troubled 
with  the  knowledge  of  their  sinne,  be  declaring  of  Jesus 
Christ,  the  strenth  of  his  death,  and  mighty  operation  of  his 
resurrection,  in  the  hearts  of  the  faithfull.  Of  this,  I  say,  I 
have  a  testimonie  tliis  day  in  my  conscience  before  God,  how- 
ever the  world  rage.  Be  constant  therefor  in  the  doctrine 
which  once  publicklie  you  have  professed.  Let  not  thir 
scandalous  dayes  draw  you  away  from  Jesus  Christ,  neither 
let  the  prosperitie  of  the  wicked  move  you  to  follow  it  or  them. 
For  however  that  God  appeareth  to  neglect  his  owne  for  a 
season,  yet  his  majestic  remaineth  a  just  God  who  neither  can 
nor  will  justifie  the  vricked.  I  am  not  ignorant  that  manv 
would  that  I  should  enter  in  particular  determination  of  thir 
present  troubles,  to  whom  I  planelje  and  simplie  answer,  that, 
as  I  never  exceeded  the  bounds  of  God's  scriptures,  so  will  I 
not  doe  in  this  part  be  God's  grace.  But  hereof  I  am  assured, 
by  him  who  neither  can  deceave  nor  be  deceaved,  that  the  cas- 
tell  of  Edinburgh,  in  which  all  the  murther,  all  the  trouble,  and 
the  whole  destruction  of  tliis  poore  commonwealth  was  invent- 
ed, and,  as  our  owne  eyes  may  witnesse,  be  them  and  their 
maintainers  were  put  in  execution,  shall  come  to  destruction, 
maintain  it  whosoever,  the  destruction  I  say  of  bodie  and 
soule,  except  they  repent  I  looke  not  to  the  momentarie 
prosperitie  of  the  wicked,  yea,  although  they  should  remaine 
conquerours  to  the  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  but  I  look  to 
this  sentence,  that  whosoever  sheddeth  innocent  bloode  de- 
fyleth  the  land,  and  provoketh  Gk)ds  WTaith  against  liimself 
and  the  land,  till  his  bloode  be  shedd  againe  be  order  of  law 
to  satisfie  God's  anger.  This  is  not  the  first  tyme  that  ye  have 
heard  this  sentence ;  although  many  at  all  tymes  have  sturred 
at  such  severitie,  I  yet  affirme  the  same,  being  readie  to  enter 
to  give  an  account  before  his  majestic  of  the  stewardship  that 
he  committed  to  me.  I  know  in  my  death,  the  rumours  shall 
be  strange.  But,  beloved  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  be  yee  not 
troubled  above  measure,  but  remaine  constant  in  the  truth, 
and  he  who  of  his  mercie  sent  me,  conducted  me,  and  prosper- 
ed the  worke  in  my  hand  against  Satan,  will  provyde  for  you 
abundantlie,  when  either  my  bloode  shall  water  the  doctrine 
taught  by  me,  or  he  of  his  mercie  otherwise  provide  to  put  an 
end  to  this  my  battell. 

No.  XVIL   [Buik  of  the  Universal]  KiA,  p.  58.      Advocates 
Library.] 

My  Lord  Regent's  Letter  to  the  Assembly. 

After  our  maist  hearty  commendationis,  seing  we  are  not 
able  to  [be]  present  [at]  the  Assembly  now  approachand,  as 
our  intention  was,  we  thocht  it  convenient,  brieflie  to  give 
you  significationLs  of  our  meining  in  wreit,  of  the  whilk  we 
pray  you  to  take  good  consideration,  and  accordingly  to  give 
your  advertisement.  Ye  are  not  ignorant,  as  we  suppose, 
what  hes  bene  the  estate  of  the  kirk  of  God  within  this  realme, 
baith  before  we  accepted  the  burding  of  Regment,  and  sensyne. 
How  first  the  thrids  of  benefices  war  grantit  to  the  ministrie, 
hereby  partly  relievit  and  sustainit  in  sic  sort,  that  nothing  in- 
laikit  that  our  travells  could  procure.  The  first  order  indeed 
was  diverse  ways  interruptit  and  broken  in,  but  chiefly  in  that 
year  when  we  were  exylcd  in  England,  quherthrough  that 


year  the  haill  ministers  war  frustrat  in  their  li^nngs ;  short- 
lie  the  estate  of  government  altering  at  Gods  pleasure,  and 
the  King  our  soveraisne  being  inaugurate  with  the  crown 
of  this  kingdom,  tlie  first  thing  we  war  careful  of  was,  that 
the  trew  religion  might  be  established,  and  the  ministers  of 
the  evangell  made  certain  of  their  living  and  sustentation  in 
tyme  comeing.  Ye  knaw,  at  the  Parliumcnt  we  war  maist 
willing  that  the  kirk  should  have  been  put  in  full  possession 
of  the  proper  patrimonie.  And  toward  the  thrids,  we  cxpedit 
in  our  travells,  and  inlaikit  only  a  consent  of  the  dissolution 
of  the  prelacies,  whereunto  although  we  were  earnestly  bent, 
yet  the  estates  delayit  and  wald  not  agree  thereunto.  And 
sen  that  tyme  to  this  houre,  we  trust  ye  will  aflirme,  that 
we  have  pretermittit  nothing  that  may  advance  the  religior.e, 
and  put  the  professors  thereof  hi  surtie.  whercanent  the  haill 
and  only  inlaik  hes  been  in  the  civil]  troubles  that  God  hes 
suffered  the  cuntrie  to  be  plagued  with :  now  the  matter 
being  after  so  gi-eat  rage  brought  to  some  stay  and  quietness, 
it  was  convenient  that  we  return  where  matters  left,  and 
prease  to  reduce  them  to  the  estate  tliey  stand  in.  Ane  thing 
we  must  call  to  remembrance,  tliat  at  sic  time  as  we  travellit  in 
the  Parliament  to  cause  the  estates  to  giio  that  the  thrids 
should  be  disccrnit  to  appertaine  to  the  ministrie,  they  plainly 
opponit  them  to  us  in  respect  of  the  first  act,  alleadgeand  that 
with  the  sustentation  of  the  niinisterie,  there  was  also  regard 
to  be  had  to  the  support  of  the  prince,  in  sustaining  of  die 
publick  chairges,  quhilies  if  they  had  not  some  reliefe  be  that 
meine,  the  revenue  of  tlie  crown  being  so  diminished,  and  the 
ordinarie  chairges  cume  to  sic  grytnes,  on  force  they  wold  be 
burdenit  with  exaction,  and  so  this  dangerous  argument  com- 
pellit  us  to  promitt  to  the  estates,  That  we  wald  take  upon  us, 
the  act  being  grantit  to  the  kirk,  they  should  satisfy  and  agrie 
to  any  thing  suld  be  thocht  reasonable  for  supporting  the 
publick  chairges  of  the  prince,  and  according  to  this  the  Comis- 
sion  deput  for  the  affaires  of  the  kirk  agreit  to  certain  assigna- 
tions of  the  thrids  for  supporting  of  the  king  and  us  bearing 
authoritie.  Quhilk  order  had  been  sufficient  for  the  haill, 
give  the  civill  trouble  had  not  occurit,  yet  the  disobedience 
growand  so  universallie,  we  ar  content  to  sustain  ane  part  of 
the  inlaik  and  loss  for  the  tyme  past,  but  because  there  hes 
lieen  murmure  and  grudge  for  that  thing  assignit  to  the  kings 
houss  and  ours,  and  some  other  needful  things  in  the  state,  as 
that  thereby  the  ministers  were  frustrate  of  their  appointit 
stipendis,  some  communication  was  had  at  St  Androis,  and 
nothing  yet  concludit,  quliill  the  general  assembly  of  the  kirk ; 
quilk  now  moves  us  [to]  wreit  to  you  in  this  forme,  prayand 
you  rychtly  to  consider  the  necessity  of  the  cause,  and  hov7 
the  same  hes  proceeded  frae  the  beginning,  haveing  respect 
that  the  kirk  will  not  be  very  well  obeyit  without  the  kings 
authoriticand  power,and  thatnosvthepropertieof  thecrowneis 
not  able  to  sustaine  the  ordinarie  chairges.  How  in  the  be- 
ginning the  thrids  had  not  been  grantit,  give  the  neccssitie  of 
the  prince  had  not  been  ane  of  the  chief  caussis,  and  at  tlie 
parhament  the  estates,  as  we  have  before  written,  stak  to  con- 
sent that  the  haill  thrids  sould  be  dcclareit  to  pertaine  to  the 
ministrie,  whill  first  we  tike  in  hand,  that  they  being  made 
without  conditione  in  favours  of  the  kirk,  the  same  w  aid  againe 
couvlescend  to  so  meikle  as  wold  be  sufficient  to  the  support 
of  the  publick  aflfaires,  in  supporting  of  the  kings  authoritie, 
and  that  therefore  ye  will  now  agrie,  and  condeeend  to  ane 
certaine  and  speciall  assignatione  of  it  that  sail  be  employit  in 
this  use.  The  quantity  whereof  diverse  of  yourselves,  and 
the  bearer  hereof  Mr  John  Wood  our  servant,  can  informc 
you,  that  after  ye  may  distribute  to  every  ane  having  chairge 
in  the  kirk  of  God,  his  stipend  according  to  the  conditione 
of  the  place  he  senes  in,  according  to  your  wise  dis- 
cretione.  Hereby  all  confusione  that  lang  has  troullit  the 
estate  of  the  kirk  toward  the  stipend  shall  lie  avoydit,  and 
some  special  pro%-isione  being  made  for  sustaining  of  their 
publick  chairges,  we  may  the  better  hald  hand  to  sie  the  kirk 
obeyit  of  that  whereon  the  ministers  shculd  live,  as  they  shall 
report,  that  dureing  our  travells  in  the  north  countrey,  they  have 
found  our  effectuous  good  will,  and  travellis  in  their  further- 
ance. Ifarder,  we  man  put  you  in  mind  lirieflie,  of  ane  matter 
that  occnrrit  at  our  late  being  ui  Elgine.  Ane  Nicoll  Sudder- 
land  in  fibres,  was  put  to  the  knawledge  of  ane  assyze  for  in- 
cest, and  with  him  the  woman ;  the  assyze  hes  convict  him 
of  the  fault,  but  the  question  is,  whetlier  the  same  be  incest 
or  not,  so  that  we  behovit  to  delay  the  executione  wliill  we 
micht  have  your  resolutions  at  this  assembhe.  The  case  is, 
that  the  woman  was  harlot  of  before  to  the  said  NicoU'a 
mother  brother,  herein  Mr  Robert  Pont  can  infonnc  you  mak 


APPENDIX. 


197 


"miplie,  to  whais  sufficiencie  we  remitt  the  rest.  Mairover,  at 
ur  coming  at  Aberdeen,  there  came  ane  named  Portcrfield, 
jiinister  provydit  of  before  to  the  viccarage  of  Ardrossane, 
and  required  also  of  us,  that  he  micht  have  the  viccarage  of 
Steinsone,  sieing  both  was  ane  matter  meine  aneuch  to  sus- 
tain him,  and  because  the  kirks  war  neir,  he  micht  discharge 
the  cure  of  Iwth.  We  haveing  him  commendit  be  diverse 
great  men  to  the  same,  but  thocht  guid  to  advertise  you,  that 
♦his  preparatione  induce  not  cvill  example  and  corruption  ;  al- 
ways in  caise  sic  things  occur  hereafter,  let  us  understand 
what  ye  would  have  us  to  doe,  as  in  like  manner  towards  the 
chaiplanries  shall  happen  to  vaike,  whereanent  because  there 
is  no  certain  order,  and  some  confusion  stands,  some  desyrand 
them  for  lyfetyme,  some  for  infl'ants  that  are  not  of  the  schools, 
and  some  for  seven  years,  we  are  sometymes  preasit  to  receave 
or  confirme  assignations  or  demissions  of  benefices,  the  pre- 
parature  whereof  appears  to  bring  with  it  corruptione,  and  so 
we  would  be  resolvit  how  to  proceed,  before  our  coming  from 
fFyfe,  and  sensyne  we  have  been  very  willing  to  doe  justice  on 
all  suspect  persons  of  witchcraft,  as  also  upon  adulterers,  in- 
cestuous persons,  abusers  of  sacraments,  quherein  wc  could 
not  have  sic  expeditione  as  we  could  have  wisched,  because 
we  have  no  uther  probabilitie  whereby  to  try  and  convict 
them,  but  ane  general  delatione  of  names,  the  persons  sus- 
pect not  being  for  the  maist  part  tryit  and  convict  be  order 
of  the  kirk  of  before.  This  henderit  many  things  that  uther- 
wayes  micht  have  been  done,  and  therefore  we  pray  you 
appoint  and  prescryve  how  the  judgement  of  the  kirk  may 
proceed  and  be  execute  against  all  sic  trespassers,  before  com- 
plaint be  made  to  us,  that  when  we  come  to  the  cuntrie,  we 
may  cause  execute  the  law,  and  be  relievit  of  the  triall  of  in- 
quisitione  heiranent.  We  thocht  expedient  to  give  you  this 
for  advertisement,  and  so  remitts  the  haill  to  your  care  and 
diligence,  committis  you  in  the  protectione  of  Eternall  God, 
Your  assurit  friend, 


Aberdeene,  Junii  Ultimo,  1.569. 


James  Regent. 


No.  XVIII. 

Extracts  from  "  A  Historie  of  the  Estate  of  Scotland  from  the 
year  1559  to  the  year  1566." — MS.  belonging  to  Thomas 
Thomson,  Esq ;  Advocate. 

[This  is  the  MS.  to  which  I  have  frequently  referred  in  the 
account  which  I  have  given  of  the  differences  between  the 
Queen  Regent  and  the  Protestants,  in  the  years  1 558  and  1 559. 
At  the  beginning  of  it  is  the  date  "7th  January,  1663,"  most 
probably  the  day  on  which  the  writing  was  begun.  It  is  un- 
doubtedly a  transcript  from  a  more  ancient  MS.  and  the 
transcriber  has  not  been  well  acquainted  witli  the  old  hand. 
Accordingly  he  has  sometimes  left  blanks,  and  at  other  times 
has  evidently  given  a  false  reading.  Only  a  small  part  of  the 
original  MS,  seems  to  have  been  transcribed  by  him.  In 
making  the  following  extracts  from  it  I  have  endeavoured  to 
select  such  passages  as  contain  facts  or  circumstances  not 
mentioned  in  other  histories;  and  I  am  not  without  hopes  that 
the  publication  of  these  may  contribute  to  the  discovery  of 
the  original  MS.  which  may  be  hid  in  some  public  library  or 
private  repository.] 

In  the  moneth  of  Julij  anno  1558.  conveened  in  Edenburgh 
a  certen  number  of  the  professours  of  Christ's  Evangell.  The 
cause  of  their  meeting  wes  partly  to  assist  certen  brethren  of 
Dundie  who  wcr  summoned  to  vnderly  the  law  by  instigation 
of  the  Bishops.  And  after  consultation  ad  advice  taken,  the 
presented  a  Suplication  in  the  palace  of  Halyrud  house  to  the 
Queene  Regent,  conteining  in  effect  thes  articles  ffoUowing. 
In  the  first  desyring  that  it  might  be  lawfuU  to  all  such  as 
pleased  to  meete  publiquely  that  in  any  part  within  this  Realme 
of  Scotland  to  read  Comon  prayers  in  the  mother  tongue. 
Secondly,  that  it  should  be  lawfull  to  all  persons  haveing 
knowledge  to  preach  the  word  of  God  without  the  leaven 
of  mens  Traditions.  Thirdly,  that  it  should  be  lawfull  for 
the  sayd  persons,  ministers  of  God's  word,  to  minister  the 
Sacraments,  to  witt,  of  baptisme  and  the  lords  supper,  accord- 
ing to  the  true  institution  commanded  by  Christ  and  his 
Apostels,  and  to  the  faithfull  to  receave  the  same.  The  which 
Supplication  the  said  Queene  Regent  receaved  with  a  joyfuU 
countenance  forth  of  the  hands  of  the  Laird  of  Cadder  in  the 
presence  of  a  great  part  of  the  nobilitie,  the  Papist  Bishops 
also  being  present.    And  at  that  tyme  shee  gave  ane  indifferent 


Answere,  saying  alwayes  shoe  would  advise  in  the  matter. 
But  soone  after  shoe  delivered  the  sayd  supplication  to  the  Bpp 
of  St  Andrewcs  to  be  advised  with  him  that  wes  to  be  done, 
as  the  yssue  of  the  said  matter  did  declare.  Alwayes  the 
faithfull  reioiced  and  gave  condigne  thanks  to  the  eternall  our 
God,  f^r  that  it  had  pleased  him  to  give  them  the  boldness  to 
vtter  themselves  to  be  such  as  desyred  the  advancement  of  his 
glory  notwithstanding  the  multitude  of  their  enemies.  At  the 
same  meeting  ther  wer  certen  brethren  of  Dundie,  who  were 
summoned  to  vnderly  the  law  for  the  cause  of  religion.  They 
were  releived  vpon  securitie  to  enter  vpon  eight  days  warning. 
Finally  departing  from  Edenbrugh,  everie  man  in  their  owne 
shyrs  and  Townes  they  beganne  to  proceed  according  to  the 
effect  of  the  said  articles  privatly  and  publickly  where  they 
might  without  occasion  of  sedition  or  greate  trouble :  the 
greatest  fervencie  apeared  in  the  Meams  and  Angus,  and 
Kyle  and  Fyfe  or  Lothian  ;  but  cheifly  the  faithfull  in  Dundie 
exceeded  all  the  rest  in  zeall  and  boldnes,  preferring  the  true 
religion  to  all  things  temporall.  But  in  Edenburgh  their  meet- 
ing wes  but  in  private  houses. 

In  October  the  Tninister  of  Gods  word  John  Willok  came 
into  this  countrie,  by  whose  godly  sermons  the  brethren  were 
strengthened  in  all  places  where  the  faithfull  came,  and  the 
numljer  increased  dayly ;  hot  Sathan  never  ceases  to  suppress 
by  all  meanes  the  truth  where  he  perceaves  the  same  truely  to 
increase.  In  the  end  of  September  following  the  Bpp  of  St 
Andrewes  caused  summone  the  preachers,  viz.  John  Willok, 
John  Douglas,  William  Harlaw,  Paul  Meffan,  and  John 
to  appeare  before  him  at  St  Andrews  the  second  of  February 
following;  wherof  the  brethren  being  advertised  advised  what 
wes  to  be  done,  and  after  consultation  taken  in  the  matter 
caused  informe  the  Queene  Regent  that  the  said  preachers 
would  appear  with  such  multitude  of  men  professing  their 
doctrine  as  wes  never  seen  befor  in  such  like  cases  in  this 
countrie.  Then  the  Queene  fearing  some  vproare  or  sedition 
desyred  the  Bishopp  to  continue  the  matter,  and  declared  that 
shee  would  send  for  the  nobilitie  and  Estates  of  the  Realme 
to  advise  for  some  reformation  in  rehgion,  and  for  the  same 
purpose  assigned  the  seventh  of  March  following  for  a  conven- 
tion to  be  holden  at  Edenburgh.  hot  the  Bpp  of  St  Andrewes 
caused  wame  all  the  sects  of  the  Papists  to  the  said  day  to 
hold  a  Provincial  Counsell  at  Edenburgh,  wher  they  being 
mett  after  some  commoneing  by  the  principall  Bpps  with  the 
nobles,  whereof  nothing  in  effect  followed  ;  then  the  sayd  Bpps 
after  their  old  manner  offered  themselves  to  the  Queene,  to 
doe  all  that  shee  would  command  them  proveiding  that  they 
might  be  maintined  in  their  dignitie  for  the  suppressing  of  the 
truth,  and  after  they  wer  aggreed  with  her  vpon  the  summe 
which  wes  within  15000/.  they  sate  them  downe  in  the 
Blackfryers  of  Edenburgh  in  their  vsuall  councell.  Where 
the  7th  day  wes  devised,  and  the  next  Sunday  the  15th  of 
March  the  said  Bpp  sang  a  Magnifick  mass  of  the  holy  Spirit, 
as  they  tearmed  it,  for  a  beginning  of  the  deformation.  On 
the  other  part  the  Comissioners  of  the  faithfull  mett  by  them- 
selves at  the  same  tyme  in  Edenburgh,  and  everie  day  con- 
sulted for  the  furtherance  of  the  gospell ;  and  finally  perceav- 
ing  that  the  Queene  Regent  and  the  Papists  were  agreed  by 
reasone  of  the  said  summe  promised  by  them  to  her,  they  de- 
pmrted  leaving  the  Papists  stUl  at  their  provincial  Councell ; 
Where,  amongst  others  of  the  statutes,  the  •23th  of  March  the 
Queene  Regent  caused  proclame  this  at  the  Markett  crosses  at 
Edr.  and  other  places,  conteining  in  effect,  that  no  manner  of 
persone  should  take  vpon  hands  to  preach  or  minister  the 
Sacraments,  except  they  were  therto  admitted  by  the  ordinarie 
or  Bishopp  vnder  no  lesse  paine  then  death.  And  because 
they  vnderstood  perfectly  of  the  afore  said  Proclamation  that 
it  wes  disobeyed  and  contemned  by  the  Preachers,  in  Aprill 
following,*  for  contravening  of  the  said  acts  and  proclamations 
vnder  the  paine  of  Rebellion  and  putting  to  the  home,  which 
thing  was  done  express  agt.  the  lawes  and  practise  of  the 
Countrie.  In  the  end  of  this  moneth  of  Aprill  the  minister 
of  Gods  word  John  Knox  arrived  at  Leith,f  and  on  the 
next  day  after  his  commeing  which  was  called  PhilUpp  and 
Jacobs  day,  the  Papists  meeting  at  the  Councell  being  well 
sett  downe  in  the  Blackfryers  of  Edenbrugh,  one  came  in  and 
assurred  them  that  John  Knox  wes  now  come  out  of  ffrance, 
[and]  had  beine  all  that  night  in  the  Towne:  at  the  wch 


*  "They  were  summoned,"  or  some  such  words  must  be  supplied 
here. 

t  There  is  a  mistake  hero  as  to  the  date.  Knox  arrived  on  the 
2d  of  May.     See  page  68,  70. 


198 


APPENDIX. 


newes  they  being  all  astonished  leaving  the  councell  rose  sud- 
denly from  the  board  where  they  satt,  and  passing  forth  to  the 
yeard  altogether  abashed  fearing  the  tiling  which  came  sud- 
denly to  pass.  In  the  mean  tyme  that  court  wes  cast  so  that 
they  never  mett  there  again  to  this  day.  Nevertheless  they 
sent  incontinent  a  post  to  Glasgow  to  the  Queene,  acquainting 
her  of  the  matter,  who  caused  him  to  be  blowne  loud  to  the 
home  the  third  day  after,  Bot  in  the  mean  tyme  the  faithfull 
being  informed  of  his  commeing  and  therwith  encouraged 
ceased  not  to  give  praise  to  God,  and  finally  he  being  convoyed 
to  Dundie  incontinent  preached  the  word  publicquely. 

Alwayes  when  they  [the  Lords  of  the  Congregation]  had 
purged  the  kirks  in  Sterling,  and  ordered  the  Friers  as  they 
had  done  with  them  in  St  Johnstone  and  St  Andrewes,  des- 
troying the  Altars  and  Idolis,  caused  the  Evangell  to  be  pub- 
licquely preached  in  the  Parish  Kirk,  then  they  came  to  Eden- 
brugh  the  penult  day  of  June  not  above  1000  horse  in  com- 
panie,  at  the  first  commeing,  with  some  men  of  warr  about  300 
men.  But  before  their  commeing  to  Edenbrugh,  the  Friers 
takeing  the  fray,  for  their  master  the  Lord  Seyton  then  Provost 
who  hes  appointed  them,  wes  wearie  of  his  office,  the  ffriers 
then  begane  to  dispos'e  amongst  their  acquaintance  the  best  of 
their  goods  which  were  left  at  that  tyme,  which  thing  the 
Rascall  people  perceaving  went  in,  finding  the  yates  open,  and 
suddenly  fell  to  work  and  saked  all.  So  that  before  the  arriv- 
ing of  the  Congregation  neither  Altars,  nor  Idolis,  nor  any 
thing  pertaining  to  Idolatrie  in  the  friers,  wes  left  standing :  soe 
that  the  whole  Churches  about  Edenburgli,  as  well  as  within 
the  Towne  being  purged,  the  faithfull  reioiced  giving  condigne 
thanks  to  the  Etemall  God  who  of  his  mercie  had  wrought  so 
great  things  without  the  expectation  of  all  men.  The  minister 
of  Gods  word  John  Knox  the  same  day  that  the  Congregation 
came  to  Edenbrugh,  made  a  Sermone  in  St  Giles  Church,  and 
the  next  day  in  the  Abbay,  soe  that  the  dumbe  Idolis  and  all 
darknes  being  taken  away,  the  clear  Ligh-shineing  of  Gods 
word  was  truely  preached.  The  third  day  after  the  arriveing 
of  the  Congregation  at  Edenburgh,  My  Lord  of  Glenkame 
with  the  Gent  of  the  west  covmtrie  came  1o  her  [there  1]  after 
that  they  had  purchased  [purged]  the  churches  in  Glasgow  of 
Idolatrie.  The  names  of  the  Lords  of  the  Congregation  wes 
the  Earle  of  Argyle,  the  Lord  James,  the  Earle  of  Glencame, 
the  Earle  of  Mentecth,  the  Earle  Rothes.  The  same  day  after 
their  comeing  to  Edr.  the  Lords  and  Principalis  of  the  Congre- 
gation send  to  the  Queene  Regent,  being  at  Dumbarr,  my 
Lord  of  Glencame,  the  lairds  of  Cunninghamhead  and  Pittaro, 
declaring  to  her  that  the  whole  praetence  wes  for  the  suppress- 
ing of  Idolatrie  and  advancement  of  the  glory  of  God,  desyring 
her  to  release  the  Preachers  from  the  home,  so  that  they  might 
pubUcquely  preach  the  word  of  God.  The  Lords  in  that  cause 
offered  to  doe  obedience  and  service,  protesting  that  they  meant 
nothing  but  the  setting  furth  of  trae  religion,  and  suppressing 
Idolatrie  and  superstition,  and  advanceing  the  glory  of  God  by 
preaching  of  the  word.  Att  that  tyme  thev  obtined  of  the 
Queene  that  the  Preachers  should  be  released  from  the  home 
so  that  they  might  preach  freely  to  all  such  as  pleased  to 
hcare  them,  which  wes  put  in  execution  the  nixt  day  after 
when  they  were  released.*  After  this  there  were  divers  com- 
meing [cummunings]  for  appointment  in  Haddington  and 
other  places,  the  Earle  of  Huntley  being  present  for  the  Queene 
and  others  such  as  shee  pleased  to  appoint  The  things  that 
the  Lords  demanded  consisted  only  of  these  two  heads,  that 
the  word  of  Go<l  might  be  publiquely  preached,  and  the  french- 
men sent  forth  of  the  countrie ;  bot  her  mind  wes  to  drive 
tyme  with  them  as  well  appeared.  For  shee  had  sent  allreadie 
to  franco  for  more  men  of  warr.  During  this  tyme  the  Con- 
gregation of  Edenbmgh  elected  and  chose  John  Knox  pubUque- 
ly  in  the  Tolbooth  of  Edr.  for  their  minister  the  7th  of 
July. 

At  lenght  shee  [the  Queen  Regent]  took  purpose  at  Dum- 
barr, by  conclusion  of  the  Councell,  the  22th  of  Julij,  being 
assuredly  informed  that  the  number  of  the  Congregation  wes 
verie  small,  should  come  to  Edr.  and  compell  the  Congrega- 
tion to  dislodge.  And  for  this  purpose  they  made  all  readie 
that  night  to  depart  in  the  morning  following.  The  Lords  of 
the  Congregation  being  advertised  hereof  (not  withstanding 
theire  small  number)  resolved  constantly  to  resist  their  [the] 
violence  of  their  adversaries  putting  their  tmst  in  God  whose 


*  Are  WB  to  infer  from  thin  that  the  protaatant  minintfirs  had  dcsiglud 
from  preaching  while  they  were  outlawed  ?  I  do  not,  indeed,  recoller.t 
of  an  instaiKM-  of  any  of  them,  except  Knox,  preaching  during  that 
time. 


cause  they  meantyned,  preferring  the  equitie  of  theu  cause  bo- 
fore  the  power  and  strenght  of  men.  In  the  mean  tyme  there 
wes  greate  feare  in  the  Towne  everie  man  wundring  what  end 
and  successe  the  matter  should  take.  Shortly  so  shoone  as  the 
Lords  were  advertised  that  the  men  of  warr  commeing  from 
Dumbarr  drew  neere  the  Towne,  the  25th  of  June  airly  in  the 
morning  at  the  sound  of  the  Commoon  Bell  where 
forth  of  Edr,  with  soe  money  as  God  had  moved  their  herts  to 
assist  them.  The  whole  number  of  the  Congregation  exceed- 
ed not  1500  men.  Which  small  number  being  putt  in  order 
in  the  East  side  of  Graigingate,  incontinent  the  horse  men  be- 
ing with  my  Lord  Duke  and  Monsieur  D'ossell  appeared  to 
them  vpon  the  sands  of  Leith  north  west  from  Lestellrigg 
moveing  towards  Leith.  And  as  soone  as  they  come  neere 
the  East  part  of  Goubumes  house  that  wes,  they  shott  from 
the  said  place  a  peece  of  ordinance  which  dispersed  the  said 
horsemen,  but  soone  after  they  yielded  [i.  e.  the  Lords  of  the 
Congregation  retired]  themselves,  perceaving  the  whole  num- 
ber approaching,  which  were  about  5000  men,  horse  and  foote. 
The  Congregation  stood  still  in  order  on  the  East  side  of  the 
Craig,  and  perceaving  the  adversaries  within  halfe  a  mile  they 
prepared  themselvis  to  battell,  not  mynding  [i.  e.  meaning]  to 
remove  out  of  that  place.  And  albeit  the  Lords  had  desyrcd 
the  Captaine  of  the  Castell,  the  Lord  Erskin,  to  be  on  their 
side,  nevertheless  they  could  not  persuade  him  to  shew  them 
any  favour,  yet  after  the  Principall  Lords  had  spoken  with 
him,  they  sent  from  the  Craigs  desyring  him  that  in  respect  in 
his  conscience  he  favored  die  Evangell,  and  that  the  matter 
depended  fully  here  vpon,  that  he  would  assist  them  with  such 
help  as  he  might,  which  thing  he  refused  vtterly,  assuring 
them  that,  if  they  would  now  [not?]  take  such  appointment 
as  they  might  have,  he  would  declare  himselve  their  enemie, 
as  he  had  promised  to  the  Queene  in  Dumbarr,  In  the  meau 
tyme  rideing  on  either  side,  they  began  to  sjjeake  to  appoint 

the  matter  which  wes  agreed  vpon. 

[Anno  1560.]  It  wes  printed  that  the  English  men  would 
be  In  Scottland  the  25th  of  March  by  land.  After  my  liOrd 
James  had  finally  agreed  with  the  Duke  of  Norfolke  vpon  all 
things,  he  arrived  againe  at  Pettenweeme  the  9th  day  after  his 
departing.  In  tlie  meane  tyme  the  Princippalls  of  the  ffrench- 
men  being  informed  that  the  Queenes  Annie  wes  not  in  readi- 
ness to  come  in  before  the  said  day,  they  tooke  a  high  enter- 
price.  For  the  7th  of  March,  they  departed  forth  of  Leith  and 
other  places  where  they  had  beh»e  in  garrisone  to  the  greate 
destruction  and  loss  of  the  Coimtrie,  the  number  of  2000 
soiddiers  of  the  most  able  and  best  equipeit,  beside  300  Horse- 
men, and  marched  towards  Lithgow,  where  they  remained  the 
first  night  All  the  Countrie  wes  in  a  fray,  not  knowing  their  pur- 
pose vniill  the  nixt  day  at  night  they  came  to  Monebeth,  and  some 
of  them  lodged  in  Kirk  in  Tillock.  The  Didce  being  surely  ad- 
vertised that  their  purpose  wes  to  come  to  Glasgow,  he  depart- 
ed with  small  company  the  night  before  their  arriving.  There 
wes  in  my  Lord  Dukes  Company,  the  Earles  of  Arrane,  Argyle 
and  Glencame,  with  their  howsholds  only,  ffor  they  suspected 
not  nor  would  not  have  thought  that  the  ffrenchmen  durst  at 
that  tyme  have  taken  such  an  enterprice.  Imediately  there  wes 
proclamation  made  through  Cliddesdale  and  other  shires,  and 
likewise  privie  writings  sent  by  my  liord  Duke  and  tlie  other 
Lords  to  their  friends  and  servants.  That  they  should  inconti- 
nently come  to  him  in  Hamilton  for  their  defence,  and  resis- 
tance of  the  ffrenchmen,  and  because  warr  [beacons  of  war?] 
brunt  vpon  the  highest  hills  for  the  same  effect.  But  indeed 
they  gathered  slowly,  so  that  it  appeared  planly,  if  God  would 
have  suffered  it,  the  ffrenchmen  might  easily  and  without  any 
resistance  have  come  vp  Clyde,  and  had  done  whatever  it  had 
pleased  them  throughout  all  that  Countrie.  Not  with  standing 
after  that  they  had  taken  by  force  the  Bpps  Castle,  and  had 
cruelly  hanged  a  part  of  the  souldiers,  (Scotts  men)  that  were 
therein,  and  had  chased  the  rest  that  made  resistance  in  the 
Towne,  the  second  day  after  ther  comeing  to  Glasgow  there 
came  a  writing  to  him  [them]  from  tlie  Queene,  containing 
in  effect  that  shee  wes  surely  informed  that  the  EngHsh  armie 
was  alreadie  come  from  Barwick  and  within  Scotland ;  wherefore 
shee  willed  them  with  all  possible  expedition  to  retume  againe, 
which  they  did  imediately.  The  damage  which  they  did  wes 
not  so  greate  as  men  supposed,  for  they  had  no  tyme  sufficient 
When  the  Lords  that  were  at  Hamilton  wore  advertised  of 
their  departing,  my  Lord  of  An-ane  with  soe  many  horsemen 
as  were  readie,  past  fordward  to  follow  the  ffrenchmen,  pre- 
tending that  if  they  had  seen  sufficient  occasione  to  have  inidled 
with  them.  The  next  day  they  shewed  themselves  as  the 
ffiienchmen  past  by  the  Callender,  but  there  wes  no  appear- 


SUPPLEMENT. 


199 


ance,  ffor  their  wes  no  partie.  Alwayes  they  kept  them  closs 
together,  for  they  exceeded  not  800  men.  Soe  the  ffrench- 
men  came  to  Lithgow,  where  they  lay  the  space  of  8  dayes, 
and  made  continuall  spoile  in  all  the  Countrie  about  within 
the  space  of  viii  miles.  The  damage  which  they  did  of  all 
especially  of  cattle,  sheepe  and  horse  wes  exceeding 
great,  and  likewise  killed  and  tooke  diverse  men  prisoners. 


Dureing  this  fyme  the  Congregation  prepared  themselves  to 
meet  the  English  armie,  and  for  the  same  purpose  there  wes 
proclamation  made  in  Cliddesdall,  ffyfe,  Angus,  Memes,  and 
Stratheame.  The  ffrenchmen  being  surely  advertised  tliat  the 
English  armie  wes  in  readinesse  they  came  to  Leith  the  29  of 
March,  where  all  things  were  prepared  that  were  necessare  for 
their  defence,  and  every  day  they  made  spoil  in  the  Countrie. 


SUPPLEMENT. 


The  first  Poem  mserted  in  the  Supplement  is  so- exceeding- 
ly rare,  that  the  copy  from  which  I  have  printed  is  supposed 
to  be  unique.  It  is  valuable,  as  the  principal  events  in  our  Re- 
former's life  are  commemorated  in  it,  and  the  leading  features 
of  his  character  delineated,  by  the  pen  of  one  who  wets  person- 
ally acquainted  with  him.  As  a  curious  specimen  of  the 
Scottish  language  and  versification  at  the  period  in  which  it 
was  composed,  the  old  orthography  has  been  carefully  retain- 
ed. The  serious  reader  will  be  pleased  in  tracing  the  vein  of 
piety  which  runs  through  rhymes  which  must  appear  to  him 
rude,  and  sometimes  almost  unintelligible. — Its  author,  John 
Davidson,  was  a  regent  in  the  University  of  St  Andrews,  and 
afterwards  minister,  first  of  Libberton,  and  then  of  Salt-Preston, 
now  called  Prcstonpans.  I  have  already  referred  to  several  of 
his  other  writings.  (Page  144,  182.)  In  1602  he  pub- 
lished a  Catechism,  entitled  "  Some  Helpes  for  Young  Schol- 
lers  in  Christianity,"  printed  at  Edinburgh  by  Robert  Walde- 
grave  in  1602.  And  he  died  about  1608.  Note  subjoined 
to  Jameson's  edition  of  his  Catechism,  1708.  Life  of  David- 
son, in  Wodrow's  MSS.  vol.  i.  Bibl.  Coll.  Glas. 

The  Latin  Poems  which  follow  are  taken  from  a  MS.  in  the 
Advocates  Library.  They  exhibit  traits  in  the  characters  of  the 
principal  Scottish  Martyrs  and  Reformers,  and  contain  allu- 
sions to  several  events  in  their  lives  which  I  have  not  met  with 
elsewhere.  On  this  account,  and  also  as  a  specimen  of  Scot- 
tish literature,  I  have  published  a  selection  from  the  MS.  which 
appears  to  have  been  written  about  the  beginning  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  From  the  corrections  with  which  it  abounds 
there  is  reason  to  think  that  the  copy  in  the  Library  had  be- 
longed to  the  author.  It  likewise  contains  Latin  Poems,  en- 
titled "  Icones  Regum  Judae  et  Israehs." — The  author,  John 
Johnston,  was  a  professor  of  the  New  College  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  St  Andrews,  at  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  and  com- 
mencement of  the  seventeenth  century.  He  was  the  intimate 
friend  and  associate  of  Andrew  Melville,  the  learned  principal 
of  that  College.  He  published,  "  Heroes  ex  omni  Historia 
Scotica  lectissimi.  Lugduni  Batavorum,  1603."  4to.  And 
also  "  Inscriptiones  Heroicae  Regum  Scotorum,"  which  were 
reprinted  in  "  Deliciae  Poetarum  Scotorum."  His  Verses  on 
Buchanan  are  inserted  in  "  Poetarum  Scotorum  Musse  Sacrse," 
Tom.  ii.  p.  500.  It  is  said  that  he  also  published  a  book  on 
the  government  of  the  church  by  Bishops ;  but  this  I  have  not 
seen.  There  is  a  I>ife  of  Johnston,  in  Wodrow's  MSS.  vol. 
ii.  Bibl.  Coll.  Glas, 


ANE    BREIF    COM- 

MENDATIOVN    OFVPRICHT 

lies,  in  respect  of  the  surenes  of  the  same,  to  all  that 
walk  in  it,  amplifyit  chiefly  be  that  notabill  docu- 
ment of  Goddis  michtie  protectioun,  in  preser- 
uing  his  maist  vpricht  seruand,  and  feruent 
Messinger  of  Christis  Enangell,  lohne 
Knox.     Set  furth  in  Inglis  meter  be 
M.  lohne  Dauidsone,  Regent 
in  S.  Leonards  College. 

^  Quhairunto  is  addit  in  the  end  ane  schort  discnrs  of  the 
Estaitis  quha  hes  caus  to  deploir  the  deith  of  this  Excellent 
seruand  of  God. 

1  PSALME.  XXXVn. 
1   Mark  the  vpricht  man,  and  behauld  the  lust,  for  the  end 
of  that  man  is  peace. 

IIMPRENTIT     AT    SANCTAN- 
drois  be  Robert  Lekpreuik.     Aimo.  1573. 


TO  THE  MAIST   GODLIE,  ANCIENT,  AND  WOR- 
thie  Schir  lohne  Wischart  of  Pittarrow  Knicht,  M.  Johne 
Dauidsone  wissis  the   continuall  assistance  of  the 
Spreit  of  God,  to  the  end,  and  in  the  end. 
CoNsiDDERiNG  with  my  self  (maist  worthie  Knicht)  the  greit 
frailtie  and  vnsureness  of  all  strenthis  eirthly  quhatsueuer, 
quhar  in  ma  lefing  god,  vsis  to  put  his  traist  on  the  ane  part,  and 
the  sure  fortres  and  saifgaird  of  vprichtnes,  howbeit  destitute 
of  all  aide  warklly  on  the  vther  part :  I  culd  not  withhald  my 
pen  fro  vttering  of  that  praise  and  commendatioun  of  vprichtnes, 
quhilk  in  my  mynde  I  had  consauit  of  the  same.     Being  chief- 
ly mouit  heirunto  be  the  Miraculous  (as  I  may  weill  call  it) 
and  maist  wonderfuU  preseruatioun  of  that  maist  notabill  ser- 
uand of  God,  and  sinceir  Preicheour   of  Christis  Euangell, 
lohne  Knox.     Quha  being  hot  of  small  estimatioun  befoir  the 
eyis  of  the  warld  (zit  greit  befoir  God)  was  hatit  vnto  the  deith. 


2100 


SUPPLEMENT. 


And  that  euin  be  Kingis,  Queenis,  Princes,  and  greit  men  of 
the  warld,  and  finalty  be  all  the  rabill  of  Sathanis  suddartis  (a), 
in  Scotland,  Ingland  and  France.  Zea,  not  only  was  he  hatit, 
and  raillit  on,  bot  also  persecutit  maist  scharply,  and  huntit 
from  place  to  place  as  ane  vnworthie  of  ony  societie  with 
man.  And  althocht  thay  wer  michtie  and  potent  zea,  and 
wantet  na  euill  will,  and  he  on  the  vther  syde  ane  pure  man, 
alane,  and  oft  tymes  without  help,  or  assistance  of  ye  warld, 
zit  was  he  michtely  prescruit,  and  as  in  a  maist  sure  saifgard 
(all  the  wickits  attentis  quha  thristit  nathing  mair  nor  liis  blude 
being  frustrat)  conducted  to  ane  maist  quyet,  peaciabill  and 
happy  end,  to  the  greit  aduancement  of  Goddis  glorie,  aud 
singulare  comfort  of  his  Kirk,  and  to  the  confusioun  of  Sathan 
and  discofort  of  all  his  wickit  instrumetis.  Thairfoir  that  this 
sa  notabil  and  euidet  ane  documet  of  the  louing  cair  of  our  god 
towardis  his  seruads  suld  not  with  him  be  burj'it  bot  abyde 
recent  in  memorie  till  all  the  inhabitantis  of  this  Realme  in  all 
ages  to  cum.  I  haue  preissit  (b)  schortly  in  this  lytill  paper 
to  mak,  as  it  wer,  ane  memoriall  of  the  same,  and  yat  in  that 
laguage  quhilk  is  maist  comoun  to  this  hail  Realme,  to  the  in- 
tent that  asweill  vnleimit  as  leirnit  may  be  partakeirs  of  the 
same.  Not  that  I  think  my  self  abill  to  handill  sa  worthie  ane 
mater  vorthelie  in  ony  toung,  bot  that  partly  I  may  schaw  my 
gude  will  in  this  mater,  and  partly  to  gif  occasioun  to  vthens, 
that  baith  hes  mair  dexteritie  in  sic  thingis,  and  greiter  oppor- 
tunitie  of  tyme,  to  intreit  the  same  at  greiter  lenth.  That  be 
calling  to  mynd  this  notabill  exepill  of  Godis  louing  cair  to- 
wardis vs,  we  in  all  thir  feirfull  dayis  (quhairin  he  that  seis  not 
tryall  approching  neir  is  destitute  of  ludgement)  may  be 
strenthnit  and  encourageit  to  ga  fordwart  vprichtly,  euerie  ane 
in  our  awin  vocatioun,  without  declyning  outher  to  the  richt 
hand  or  to  the  left  And  principally  that  our  watche  men  faint 
not  nor  begin  to  iouk  (c),  or  flatter  with  the  world  for  feir  of 
Tyranis,  bot  that  thay  may  haue  brasin  faces,  and  foirheidis  of 
Iron  aganis  the  threitnings  of  the  wickit  codempning  impietie 
of  all  persounis  in  plane  termis,  following  the  ensapill  of  this 
maist  zelous  seruad  of  God,  of  quhoe  heirtofoir  we  haue  maid 
mentioun,  and  that  being  assurit  gif  sa  thay  walk  vprichtly  in 
dischargeing  of  thair  office,  that  thay  ar  in  ye  protectioun  of 
tlie  Almichtie. 

T  And  this  small  frute  of  my  sober  trauellis,  I  haue  thocht 
gude  to  oiler  and  present  to  zow  (maist  worthie  Knicht)  not  sa 
mekill  for  that  that  I  thocht  it  worthie  to  be  presentit  til  ony  ; 
as  that  I  wald  let  my  gude  will  and  grate  (d)  mynd,  be  the 
same  appeir  towardis  zow,  throw  quhais  procurement  I  obtenit 
the  benefite  of  that  godly  and  faithfull  (thocht  mockit  and 
falsely  traducit  of  the  warld)  societie,  quhairof  presently  I  am 
participant  For  the  quliilk  I  acknawledge  me,  and  my  hum- 
bill  seruice  alwayis  addettit  to  zour  honour.  And  howbeit  (as 
I  mon  confes)  nathing  can  proceid  of  me  that  may  in  ony 
wayis  correspond  to  zour  meritis  towardis  me :  zit  sal  the 
thankfulnes  of  mynd  at  na  tyme  (God  willing)  be  deficient. 
Quhilk  is  to  be  acceptit  quhair  uther  thingis  are  lacking,  in 
place  of  greit  rewaird.  And  the  rather  haue  I  takin  bauldness 
to  dedicat  this  lytill  Treateis  vnto  zour  honour,  baith  becaus 
I  vnderstude,  zow  euer  to  haue  bene  sen  zour  Chyldheid,  ane 
vnfenzeit  fauourar,  and  mantenar  to  zour  power  of  vprichtnes, 
quhais  praise  in  this  lytill  Volume  is  uitreatit  And  also,  that 
this  notabill  seruand  of  God  (quhais  michtie  preseruation,  not- 
withstanding the  wickitis  rage,  to  ane  quyet  end,  chiefly  mufit 
me  to  this  busines)  was  maist  belufit  of  zow  quhile  he  leuit 
and  yat  for  yat  greit  vprichtnes  quhilk  ze  saw  from  tyme  to 
tyme  maist  viuely  expres  the  self  in  him.  And  finally,  tliat 
your  honour  may  be  mufit  heirby,  as  ze  haue  l)egunne  and 
cjntinewit  to  tliis  day  ane  zelous  professour  of  Goddis  word, 
mantenar  of  the  samin,  and  Infer  of  his  seruandis  :  sa  ze  may 
perseueir  to  the  end  of  zour  lyfe,  without  sclander  to  zour  pro- 
fessioun,  euer  approuing  the  treuth,  and  haitting  impietie  in  all 
persounis,  not  leaning  to  warldly  wisdome,  nor  louking  for  the 
pleasure  of  greit  men  in  the  warld  :  Sen  nane  of  thir  thingis, 
but  only  vprichtnes  can  outher  mak  ane  pkasand  ta  God,  or 
zit  sure  in  this  warld.  And  sa  traisting  that  zour  honour  will 
accept  this  my  sober  offer  (till  God  graut  better  occasioun  of 

greter)  intil  gude  part      I  commit  zow  to  the  protectioun 

of  the  Almichtie,  that  quhen  it  sail  pleis  God  to  tak 

zow  furth  of  this  miserie,  ze  may  end  zour  life 

in  the  sanctificatioun  of  his  haly  name. 

To  quhom  be  praise  and  Gloria,  for 

euer.  Amen.  From  Sanctandrois 

the  XVIII.  of  February. 

(a)  loldiert.      (fr)  preised,  endeavoured,     (c)  shift,      (il)  gratei\i). 


ANE  BREIF  COMMENDATIOVN  OF  VPRICHTNES 

SEN  that  we  se  men  till  haue  studyit  ay. 

Into  this  eirth  sic  strenthis  to  prepair 

As  micht  be  saifgairJ  to  thame  nicht  and  day, 

Quhen  ony  danger  dang  thame   in  dispair. 

Wald  thow  gude  Reider  huue  ane  strenth  preclair  (e),  Prouer.  10. 

Maist  Strang  and  stark  to  rin  to  in  distres  12,  13,  18. 

This  lytill  schedull  schortly  sail  declair  EcclesL  9. 

How  that  the  surest  Towre  is  vprichtnes.  Ps.  25,  27,  91. 


Quhilk  vprichtnes  we  may  descriue  to  be : 
Ane  traid  of  lyfe  conforme  to  Godds  command, 
Without  all  poysoun  of  Hypocrisie 
Or  turning  to  or  fra,  from  hand  to  hand. 
Bot  stoutly  at  the  word  of  God  to  stand, 
Eschewing  alwayis  it  for  to  transgres 
Not  bowing  back  for  thame  that  contramand. 
This  wayis  we  may  descriue  this  vprichtnes. 


lob.  31. 


Prouer.  5. 
Psalm  18. 


For  first  thare  is  na  Castell,  Towre,  nor  Toun, 
Nor  naturall  strenth,  as  Alexander  sayis,  Q.  Curt  li.  7. 

Bot  manis  Ingyne  may  vincous  and  dmg  doun, 
As  that  he  had  experience  in  his  dayis, 
Na  strenth  was  sure  to  thame  that  was  his  fais  : 
The  Craig  in  Asia  did  beir  witnes,  Q.  Curt.  K.  5. 

Howbeit  in  hicht  vnto  the  sky  it  rais, 
It  was  ouercum  for  laik  of  vprichtnes. 

Euin  sa  that  bailfull  Bour  of  Babilone,  Q.  Curt  li.  5. 

Na  saifgaird  was  to  Darius  we  reid,  leremi.  51. 

Suppois  it  was  ane  maist  Strang  Dongeone, 
And  mony  ma  I  micht  declair  in  deid, 
Bot  sic  exempelhs  Foraine  nane  we  neid, 
Quhat  surenes  fand  the  Bischopis  halynes, 
Into  Dumbartane  quhair  he  pat  his  Creid. 
It  was  not  half  sa  sure  as  vprichtnes. 

The  force  of  men  gif  ony  will  obtend,  Ps.  33.  40.  60. 

Kinred,  or  friends  to  be  ane  gaird  maist  Strang,    Esai.  31. 
All  is  bot  vane,  thay  can  not  man  defend,  Jeremi.  17. 

For  quha  mair  surely  into  Royat  (/)  rang. 
Nor  the  greit  Conquerour  his  friendis  amang,    Q.  Curt.  Ub.  10. 
Zit  was  he  poysonit  as  sura  dois  express, 
Intill  his  Camp  quhilk  he  had  led  sa  lang, 
Than  quhat  is  force  of  man  till  vprichtnes. 

Riches  and  rent  we  ken  dois  not  abyde,  Prouer.  1 1 

Bot  flitts  and  fochis  (g)  euer  to  and  fra,  Eccles.  5. 

Than  vane  it  is  in  thame  for  to  confyde,  Job.  1 1. 

Sen  that  we  se  thame  as  weill  cum  as  ga,  Psalm.  49. 

Thairfoir  my  friendis  sen  that  the  cace  is  sa,  -  1,  Timot.  6. 
That  warldly  strenth  can  haue  na  sickemes,  Zephan.  1. 

Sum  vther  saiigaird  surely  we  mon  ha,  Ecclesi.  2. 
Quhilk  is  nocht  ellia  bot  only  vprichtnes.  Nahinn.  3. 

Bot  sum  perchance  that  winks  mair  wylelie. 
Will  say  thay  wait  ane  wyle  (A)  that  I  na  wist 
Withiouking  thay  will  langil  (t)  craftelie,  ^i.^wr  f/-. 

And  on  thair  feit  will  ay  licht  quhen  thay  list :  IISiiiiKt 

Thinking  all  surenes  thairin  to  consist :  ."Tt^ji 

Hypocrisie  is  quent  (k)  with  quyetnes, 
Bot  all  begylit  thay  ar  into  tlie  mist 
For  nathuig  can  be  sure  but  vprichtnes. 

For  quhat  become  of  fals  Achitophell, 
For  als  far  as  he  saw  befoir  his  ncis.  2.  Sam.  IV. 

The  Scripture  schawis  I  neid  not  heir  to  tell. 
The  lyke  of  this  in  mony  Historeis, 
I  micht  bring  furth  that  to  my  purpois  grcis,       Psalm.  7. 
How  Hypocrites  into  tliair  craftynes.  Ester.  7. 

Thame  selfis  hes  trappit  witli  greit  misereis, 
Becaus  thay  did  eschew  all  vprichtnes. 

Bot  quha  sa  euer  on  the  vther  syde, 
Hes  preissit  peirtly  to  leif  v-prightlie, 
And  be  the  treuth  bound  bauldly  till  abyde: 
Hes  eueriiad  the  maist  securitie. 


Ester  6. 
Banl  6. 


(a)  excellent. 
(A)  know  a  trick. 


(0  roydty.  Of)r.hanpei  situation, 

(i)  juggle,      (t)  acquainted,  or  (perhaps)  crafty. 


SUPPLEMENT. 


201 


For  thay  had  God  thair  buckler  for  to  be, 
Quhome  we  mon  grant  to  be  anc  Strang  fortres,     Psalm.  76. 
Of  quhome  the  Deuill  can  not  get  victorie  Psalm.  89. 

Nor  all  the  enemies  of  vprichtnes. 

Think  weill  my  friendis  this  is  na  fenzeit  fair  (Z) ,  I  Sam.  1 7. 1 8. 

For  quha sa  list  of  Dauid  for  to  reid,  19.20.21.22. 

May  se  quhat  enemies  he  had  ahjuhair,  29.  33. 

And  zit  how  surely  he  did  ay  proceid.  2  Sam.  2. 3. 5. 

Becaus  he  walkit  vprichtly  in  deid.  8.  1.5. 16.  18. 

He  was  mair  sure  from  Saulis  cruelnes,  20. 

Nor  gif  ten  thousand  men  intill  his  neid,  1  Sam.  23. 
Had  with  him  bene  syne  lackit  vprichtnes. 

Of  sic  exempills  we  micht  bring  anew, 
Bot  ane  thair  is  that  preifis  our  purpois  plane 
Of  Daniell  that  Propheit  wyse  and  trew,  Dani.  6. 

How  oft  was  he  in  danger  to  be  slane. 
Into  the  Lyonis  Den  he  fand  na  pane. 
The  three  Children  the  fyre  did  not  oppres.  Dani.  3. 

I  think  this  only  Historic  micht  gane. 
To  preif  how  sure  ane  Towre  is  vprichtnes. 

Bot  zit  becaus  exempills  fetchit  far, 
Mulis  not  so  muche  as  thay  thingis  quhilk  we  se, 
I  purpois  schortly  now  for  to  cum  nar, 
Vnto  the  but  (m)  quhair  chiefly  I  wald  be : 
That  is  to  schaw  the  prufe  befoir  zour  Ee. 
Of  thir  premissis,  as  all  mon  confes 
That  hes  sene  God  wirking  in  this  countrie, 
How  ane  hes  bene  preseruit  in  vprichtnes. 

It  is  lohne  Knox  in  deid  quhome  of  I  mene, 
That  feruent  faithfull  seruand  of  the  Lord, 
Quhome  I  dar  bauldly  byde  at  till  haue  bene, 
Ane  maist  trew  Preicheour  of  the  Lordis  word. 
I  rak  nathing  quhat  Rebalds  (n)  heir  record, 
Quhaneuer  culd  speik  gude  of  godly nes. 
This  man  I  say  eschaipit  fyre  and  sword, 
And  deit  in  peace,  in  praise  of  vprichtnes. 

Bot  that  this  may  be  maid  mair  manifest : 
I  will  discurs  sum  thing  in  speciall, 
Tuiching  tliis  Lamp,  on  lyfe  quhill  he  did  lest, 
First  he  descendit  bot  of  linage  smaH. 

As  commounly  God  vsis  for  to  call,  Amos.  L  7. 

The  sempill  sort  his  summoundis  til  cxpres.  Mark  1. 

Sa  calling  him,  he  gaue  him  giftis  with  all  1.  Cor.  1. 

Maist  excellent  besyde  his  vprichtnes.  laco.  3. 

For  Weill  I  wait  that  Scotland  neuer  bure. 
In  Scottis  leid  (o)  ane  man  mair  Eloquent. 
Into  perswading  also  I  am  sure, 
Was  nane  in  Europe  that  was  mair  potent. 
In  Greik  and  Hebrew  he  was  excellent, 
And  als  in  Latine  toung  his  propemes. 
Was  tryit  trym  quhen  scollers  wer  present. 
Bot  thir  wer  nathing  till  his  vprichtnes. 

For  fra  the  tyme  that  God  anis  did  him  call. 
To  bring  thay  joyfull  newis  vnto  this  land, 
Quhilk  hes  illuminat  baith  greit  and  small. 
He  maid  na  stop  but  passit  to  fra  hand, 
Idolatrie  maist  stoutly  to  ganestand : 
And  chiefly  that  great  Idoll  of  the  Mes. 
Howbeit  maist  michtie  enemies  he  fand, 
Zit  schrinkit  he  na  quhit  from  vprichtnes. 

The  greuous  Galayis  maid  him  not  agast, 
Althocht  the  Prelats  gold  in  greit  did  geif, 
Ouir  schipburd  in  the  sey  him  for  to  cast. 
He  fand  sic  grace  they  sulfcrit  him  to  leif. 
Zea  mairatour  thay  did  him  not  mischeif. 
As  thay  did  his  Companzeounis  mair  and  les, 
With  pynefull  panis  quhen  thay  thair  pythis  did  preif, 
God  sa  prouydit  for  his  vprichtnes. 

In  Ingland  syne  he  did  eschaip  the  Ire, 
Of  lesabell,  that  Monstour  of  Mahoun,  (^) 


(I)  feigned  affair, 
worthless  fellows,  Sec, 


(m)  butt,  or  mark, 
(o)  language. 
2  A 


(n)  I  regard  nothing  what 
(p)  the  devil. 


In  Scotland  nixt  with  terrour  him  to  tyre, 
Thay  brint  his  picture  in  Edinburgh  Toun. 
Bot  sen  to  Scotland  last  he  maid  him  boun,  (q) 
Quhat  battell  he  hes  bidden  ze  may  ges. 
Sen  Dagon  and  thay  Deuillis  he  gart  ding  doun, 
In  spy te  of  thame  that  hatit  vprichtnes. 

Thay  that  hes  bene  cheif  in  Authoritie, 
For  the  maist  part  had  him  at  deidly  feid, 
Zit  he  eschaipit  all  their  crueltie, 
Howbeit  oftymes  thay  did  deuyse  hes  deid, 
Zea,  sum  wer  knawin  perfitely  be  the  held, 
Quha  vndertuke  his  Dirige  for  to  dres, 
Zit  bauldly  be  his  baner  he  abaid. 
And  did  not  iouk  ane  ioit  from  vprichtnes. 

Bot  cheifly  anis  he  was  put  to  ane  preace,  (r) 
Quhen  that  the  Quene  of  tressoun  did  accuse  mm 
Befoir  hir  Lords  in  haly  Rudehous  place. 
Quhair  clawbacks  of  the  Court  thocht  till  abuse  him 
Sa  prudetly  this  Propheit  yair  did  vse  him, 
Into  refuting  of  thair  fulischenes. 
That  all  the  haill  NobiUtie  did  ruse  (s)  him 
And  praisit  God  for  his  greit  vprichtnes. 

Quhen  Quene  and  Court  could  not  get  him  couict, 
Bot  sa  wer  disappointit  of  thair  pray, 
Thay  fryit  in  furie  that  he  schaipit  quick, 
Zit  at  the  leist  to  get  thair  wills  sum  way, 
Thay  wald  haue  had  him  wardit  for  ane  day, 
In  Dauois  Towre,  zea,  for  ane  hour  or  les, 
It  was  denyit  for  ocht  the  Quene  culd  say. 
Thair  micht  be  sene  how  sure  was  vprichtnes. 

Bot  in  quhat  perrell  trow  ze  he  was  last, 
Quhen  Edinburgh  he  loft  with  hart  full  sair, 
Doubtles  na  les  nor  ony  that  hes  past. 
In  spyte  thay  spak  that  him  thay  suld  not  spair 
Thay  suld  him  schuit  into  the  Pulpet  thair 
Becaus  he  did  rebuke  thair  fyltlienes. 
And  mischant  (/)  murther  that  infects  the  air, 
Zit  God  preseruit  him  in  vprichtnes. 

Mony  may  dangers  nor  I  can  declair. 
Be  sey  and  land  this  Propheit  did  sustene, 
In  France  and  Ingland,  Scotland,  heir  and  thair, 
Quhilk  I  refer  to  thame  that  mair  hes  bene, 
Intill  his  company  and  sic  things  sene. 
Bot  this  far  schortly  I  haue  maid  progress, 
To  preif  how  God  maist  surely  dois  mantene, 
Sic  as  continew  intil  vprichtnes. 

For  this  Excellent  seruand  of  the  Lord, 
Vnto  the  deith  was  hatit  as  we  knaw. 
For  sinceir  preiching  of  the  Lordis  word 
With  Kingis,  Princes,  hie  estait  and  law, 
Zit  in  thair  Ire  him  micht  thay  not  ouirthraw. 
He  did  depart  in  peace  and  plesandnes : 
For  all  the  troublis  that  ze  hard  vs  schaw 
That  he  sustenit  for  lufe  of  vprichtnes. 

And  this  is  merwell  gif  we  will  considder, 
Ane  sempill  man  but  (m)  warldly  force  or  aide, 
Againis  quhome  Kingis  and  Princes  did  confidder  (v), 
How  he  suld  fend  (w)  from  furie  and  thair  fead  (x), 
Syne  leaue  this  lyfe  with  Usl  for  all  thair  plaid  (y). 
He  had  ane  surer  gaird  we  mon  confes, 
Nor  ony  warldly  strenth  that  can  be  maid. 
Quhilk  was  nathing  but  only  vprichtnes. 

Bot  sum  may  say  quhairto  suld  thow  prefer 
This  vprichtnes  quhilk  thow  extolls  sa  hie 
Vntill  all  warldly  strenthis  that  euer  werT 
Sen  that  the  contrair  daylie  we  may  se. 
How  upricht  men  ar  murtherit  mischantlie,  Gene.  4. 

As  first  was  Abell  with  greit  cruelnes,  Matth.  1 4. 

Gude  lohne  the  Baptist,  and  als  Zacharie,  2.  Chro.  24. 

Zea,  Christ  him  self  for  all  his  vprichtnes.  Matth.  27. 


(j)  ready.  (r)  pregg,  difficulty.  (s)  extol.  (t)  wicked. 

(«1  without.  (c)  confederate.  (to)  defend.  (x)  enmity. 

(y)  plea,  controversy. 


202 


SUPPLEMENT. 


Peter  and  Paul!  with  mony  ma  sensyne.  Euseb.  To.  4. 

Andof  lat  zeiris  in  Ingland  as  we  knaw,  fol.  7. 

How  mony  piteously  was  put  to  pyne.  Vide  Slei- 

And  now  in  France  that  schame  is  for  to  schaw.  danum. 
lames  our  gude  Regent  rakkin  in  that  raw  (z), 
Quha  had  rung  zit  wer  not  his  richteousnes. 
Sa,  I  can  se  nathing  sa  sone  ovurthraw, 
Man  in  this  eirth  as  dois  this  vprichtaes. 

To  this  I  answer  into  termis  schort, 
Quhen  warldly  strenthis  vincust  and  maid  waist,    Prouer.  11. 
With  it  man  tynis  baith  courage  and  comfort, 
Quhen  it  is  tynt  quhairin  he  pat  his  traist : 
Bot  quha  that  deith  in  vprichtnes  dois  taist,  Prouer.  11. 

Sail  haue  the  lyfe  that  lests  with  joyfulnes,  Matth.  16. 

Sa  thay  are  sure,  becaus  thay  ar  imbraist 
Be  the  Etemall  for  thair  vprichtnes. 

But  this  sa  lichtly  we  may  not  pass  by  : 
I  grant  indeed  quha  preissis  vprichtlie 

To  serue  the  Lord  mon  first  them  selfis  deny,         Matth.  16. 
And  na  wayis  dres  to  daut  («)  thame  daintelie 
Bot  thame  prepair  for  troublis  Identlie  (b),  2.  Timo.  3. 

For  troublis  ar  the  bage  thay  mon  posses.  Psalm.  34. 

Sen  Sathan  ceisis  not  continuallie.  1.  Pet  5. 

To  troubill  thame  that  followis  vprichtnes.  lob.  1. 

Quhy lis  harling  (c)  thame  befoir  Princes  and  Kings,  Luc.  2 1 . 
As  rauing  Rebalds  rudelie  to  be  rent,  1.  Reg.  10. 

Accusing  thame  of  troubling  of  all  things,  1.  Reg.  17. 

As  caiikerit  CarUs  that  can  not  be  content, 
Except  all  things  be  done  be  thair  consent : 
Now  scomit,  nowscurgeit,now  bad  with  bittemes,  Matth.  27. 
Imprissonit,  and  sindrie  fassiounis  schent  (d),         leremi.  38. 
And  sum  tymes  dreuin  to  deith  for  vprichtnes.         Acfc,  12. 

This  is  thair  lote  oftymes  T  will  not  lane  (e) 
Into  this  eirth  that  vse  to  be  vpricht, 
Bot  quhat  of  this  1  my  piupois  zit  is  plane  : 
That  is,  that  thay  ar  surer  day,  and  nicht,  Psalm.  91. 

For  all  this  wo,  not  only  warldly  wicht  Psalm.  118. 

For  in  thair  conscience  is  mair  quyetnes 
In  greitest  troublis,  nor  the  men  of  micht 
Hes  in  thair  Castells,  without  vprichtnes. 

For  quhen  Belshazzer  greit  King  of  the  Eist,     Dani.  5. 
Ane  thousand  of  his  Princes  had  gart  call, 
Drinkand  the  wyne  befoir  thame  at  the  Feist, 
Intill  his  piydefull  Pomp  Imperiall : 
Euin  in  the  middis  of  this  his  mirrie  hall 
He  saw  ane  sicht  that  sank  him  in  sadnes, 
Quhen  he  persauit  the  finger  on  the  wall, 
Wryting  his  wrak  for  his  vnvprichtii«s> 

Quhat  sail  I  say  I  neid  not  till  iiisist, 
To  schaw  how  thay  to  God  that  dois  Rebell. 
In  thair  maist  micht  can  not  be  haldin  blist, 
For  in  this  warld  thay  do  begin  thair  hell. 
As  Cain  did  that  slew  the  iust  Abell, 
Within  thair  breist  thay  beir  sic  bailfulnes, 
That  toimg  of  men  can  not  the  teynd  part  tell, 
Of  inward  torments  for  vnvprichtnes. 

Bot  thay  that  walks  vprichtly  with  the  Lord, 

In  greitest  troublis  wantis  not  inwart  rest. 

As  the  Apostiliis  doung  (/)  for  Goddis  word.      Acts.  5. 

Reioysit  that  for  Christ  sa  thay  wer  drest 

Peter  in  prisone  sleipil  but  molest  Act  12. 

Paull  in  the  stocks  and  Sylas  with  glaidnes.  Act  16. 

Did  sing  ane  Psalme  at  midnicht  sa  the  b^ 

Surenes  that  man  can  haue,  is  vprichtnes. 

Sa  be  this  surenes  now  I  do  not  mene. 
That  Godds  seruands  ar  neuer  take  away-, 
Be  cruell  men,  for  the  contrair  is  senc, 
For  God  oftymes  of  his  ludgements  I  say, 
Letts  thame  so  fall,  as  thocht  befoir  the  day : 
To  plague  the  warld  for  thair  vnthankfuhies. 


Gene.  4. 
Esai.  66. 
Prouer.  15. 


Prouer.  14. 


(z)  reckon  in  that  rank.  (a)  cheriih.  (J)  diligently. 

(e)  dragging.  (it)  maimtd,  or  disgraced.  (•)  conceal. 

(/)  beat,  or  scourged. 


Quhilk  is  not  worthie  of  sic  men  as  thay.  Esai.  3. 

Bot  I  mene  this  be  strenth  of  v-prichtnes,  Heb.  11. 

Tliat  quhen  it  plesis  God  to  let  thame  fall, 
Thay  haue  sic  inwart  comfort  without  cair,  Acts  7. 

That  thay  depart  with  ioy  Angelicall,  2  Timot  4. 

Of  lyfe  assurit  that  lestis  for  euer  mair. 
And  zit  sum  tyme  he  dois  his  seruands  spair,         Esai.  41. 
To  let  the  Tyrannis  se  his  raichtines,  lerem.  1. 4. 5. 

In  spyte  of  thame,  that  he  can  his  alquhair, 
Preserue  maist  surely  intill  vprichtnes. 

Quhilk  we  haue  sene  as  we  can  not  deny, 
Into  lohne  Knoxis  michtie  preseruatibn, 
Quhilk  till  our  comfort  we  suld  all  apply, 
I  mene  that  ar  the  FaitlifuU  Congregatioun. 
Sen  he  departit  with  sic  consolatiorm 
Euen  as  he  leuit,  he  deit  in  Faithfulnes, 
Being  assurit  in  Christ  of  his  Saluatioiui, 
As  in  the  end  he  schew  with  vprichtnes. 

Sa  is  he  past  from  pane  to  plesure  ay. 
And  till  greit  eis  doutles  \-ntill  him  sell, 
Bot  for  ane  plague  till  vs  I  dair  weill  say. 
As  sair  I  feir  we  sail  heir  schortly  tell, 
Schir  wink  at  vice  (g)  beginnis  to  tune  his  bell. 
Bot  on  this  heid  na  mair  I  will  digres, 
That  gude  men  hes  mair  rest  in  all  perrell 
Nor  wickit  in  thair  welth  but  vprichtnes. 

Then  sen  alwayis  we  se  that  men  ar  sure 
Throw  vprichtnes  quhidder  tliay  line  or  die.  Psalm.  37. 

Let  all  gude  Cristianes  Imploy  thair  cure. 
In  thair  vocatioun  to  leif  vprichtlie  ; 
And  cheifly  let  all  preicheouris  wamit  be, 
That  this  day  God  and  the  gude  caus  profes, 
Na  wayis  to  wink  at  sic  Impietie  Tit  1. 

And  cheifly  dois  withstand  all  ^'prichtnes. 

Taking  exempill  of  this  Propheit  plane, 
Quhome  heir  befoir  we  breuit  in  this  bill  (A), 
Quha  Godds  reuelit  will  wald  neuer  lane, 
Quhen  men  begouth  for  to  delyte  in  ill. 
He  wald  not  wane  ane  wy  (i)  for  na  manis  will 
For  to  rebuke  Erie,  Barrone,  or  Burges, 
Quhen  in  thair  wickit  wayis  thay  walkit  still. 
Follow  this  Lamp  I  say  of  vprichtnes. 

Let  notifher  hife  of  friend,  nor  feir  of  fais, 
Mufe  zow  to  mank  (k)  zour  Message,  or  hald  bak 
Ane  iot  of  zour  Commissioun  ony  wayis  Psalm.  40, 

Call  ay  quhite,  quhite,  and  blak,  that  quhilk  is  blak,      Esai.  5. 
Ane  Gallimafray  (/)  neuer  of  thame  mak  : 
Bot  ane  gude  caus  distingue  from  wickitnes,  2.  Timoth.  2. 

This  kynd  of  phrais  sumtymes  this  Propheit  spak 
Quhen  he  saw  simi  not  vsing  vprichtnes. 

In  generall  do  not  all  things  inuolue, 
Thinking  zour  selfis  dischargeit  than  to  be,  2  Timot  2. 

Thocht  na  manis  mynd  in  maters  ze  rcsolue : 
For  (zit  till  vse  this  same  manis  Elogie) 
To  speik  the  treuth,  and  speik  the  treuth  trewlie,  Num.  23. 24. 
Is  not  a  thing  (m)  (said  he)  brethren  doutles. 
Thairfoir  speik  trewly  but  Hypocrisie, 
Gif  ze  wald  haue  the  praise  of  vprichtnes. 

Let  vice  ay  in  the  awin  cullouris  be  kend.  2  Timot  4 

But  beiring  with,  ox  zit  extenuatioim 
Schawing  how  heichly  God  it  dois  offend,  Act  17. 

Spairing  na  stait  that  maks  preuaricatioun,  Esai.  58. 

Let  it  be  sene  till  all  the  Congregatioxm,  1  Timot  5. 

That  ze  sic  haitrent  haue  at  wicketnes 
That  ze  mon  dampne  their  greit  abhominatioun, 
Quha  planely  fechtis  aganis  all  vprichtnes. 

Quhilk  tred  of  doctrine  gif  ze  anis  begin  Psalm.  38. 

I  grant  the  Deuill  and  warld  will  be  agane  zow      Psalm.  41. 


(^)  Sir  Winkat-Tice,  an  allegorical  character.     (A)  dcacribcd  in  this 
work.       (i)  probably  teafnd  ane  vsee,  i.  o.  iwerre  a  little.      (Jt)  curtail. 
(Q  ahotcfi  potch.    (m)  one  thing. 


SUPPLEMENT. 


30t 


The  feid  of  fremmlt,  and  craibing  of  zour  kin  (n) 

First  ze  sail  find,  syne  tcrrour  to  constraine  zow 

To  syle  the  siiith  (o),  and  sunze  (p),  I  will  plane  (y)  zow. 

The  Zock  is  not  sa  licht  as  sum  dois  gea.  Nahum.  1. 

Bot  zit  haue  ze  na  dreid  quha  do  disdane  zow,        Psalm.  31. 

Sen  that  zour  forties  sure  is  vprichtnes.  Psalm.  34. 

For  pleis  it  God  zour  lyfe  to  lenthen  heir, 
Thocht  all  the  warld  aganis  zow  wald  conspyre, 
Thay  sail  not  haue  the  power  zow  to  deir,  (r) 
Albeit  thay  rage  and  rin  wod  (s)  in  thair  Ire, 
And  gif  that  God  thinks  gude  be  sword  or  fyre, 
To  let  zow  fall  be  ay  in  reddynes : 

Being  assurit  that  heuin  salbe  zour  hyre  2  Tunot.  4. 

Because  ze  endit  sa  in  vprichtnes. 

Let  not  the  lufe  of  this  lyfe  temporall, 
Quhilk  ze  mon  lose,  but  let  quhen  ze  leist  wene  (^) 
Stay  zow  to  cois  (m)  with  lyfe  Celestiall, 
Quhen  euer  thar  the  chols  cumis  thame  betwene. 
Christis  sentence  in  zour  garden  kelp  ay  grene, 
Quha  sauis  his  lyfe  shall  lois  it  not  the  les.  Math,  16. 

Quhilk  euin  into  this  warld  hes  oft  bene  senc, 
Quhat  gaine  is  than  to  deny  vprichtnes  1 

Than  to  conclude,  sen  in  tliir  dangerous  dayis 
Sa  mony  terrours  Tyranis  casts  befoir  zow 
Call  vpon  God  to  strenthen  zow  alwayis 
That  with  his  haly  Spreit  he  will  decoir  zow 
As  he  hes  done  his  seruands  ay  befoir  zow 
That  ze  may  neuer  wink  at  wickitnes  Esai.  51, 

With  Gun  &  Gainze  (v)  thocht  thay  boist  to  gor  zow 
Sen  that  zour  Towre  sa  sure  is  vprichtnes. 

f  FINIS.  M.  L  D. 


ANE      SCHORT 

DISCVRS    OF    THE    ESTAITIS 

quha  hes  cans  to  deploir  the  deith  of  this 

Excellent  seruand  of  God. 

THOW  pure  contempnit  Kirk  of  God, 
In  Scotland  scatterit  far  abrod, 
Quhat  leid  (a)  may  let  the  to  lament : 
Sen  baith  the  Tyger  and  the  Tod, 
Maist  cruellie  cummis  the  to  rent. 
Thow  wants  ane  watcheman  that  tuke  tent, 
Baith  nicht  and  day  that  nocht  suld  noy  the, 
Allace  thow  wants  the  Instrument, 
That  was  thy  Lanterne  to  conuoy  the. 

Thy  lemand  (6)  Lamp  that  schew  sic  Ucht, 
Was  gude  lohne  Knox,  ane  man  vpricht, 
Quhais  deith  thow  daylie  may  deploir, 
His  presence  maid  thy  bewtie  bricht, 
And  all  thy  doings  did  decoir. 
He  did  him  haillie  indeuoir. 
Thy  richteous  actioun  to  mantene. 
And  libertie  to  the  restoir, 
Pleading  thy  caus  with  King  and  Quenc. 

He  neuer  huntit  benefice, 
Nor  catchit  was  with  Couatice, 
Thocht  he  had  offers  mony  one  : 
And  was  als  meit  for  sic  Office 
As  outlier  gellie  (c)  lok  or  lohne. 
His  mynd  was  ay  sa  the  vpon. 
Thy  only  weilfair  was  his  welth, 
Thairfoir  lament  sen  he  is  gone, 
Thathuikit  nathing  (d)  for  thy  helth: 

Lament  Assemblie  Generall. 
At  thy  Conuentiounis  ane,  and  all. 


(»)  the  hostility  of  strangers,  and  an£rer  of  relations, 
(o)  conpeal  the  truth.  (p)  anxiety.  (q)  plainly  tell, 

(r)  injure.        (s)  mad.        (t)  without  hindrance,  when  yo  least  think. 
(m)  barter.  (v)  gaime  seems  to  signify  sometimes  •'  an  engine 

for  throwing  weapons,"  and  sometimes  "the  weapon  thrown." 
(o^  lay  or  song.      (6)  shining.  Mazing.      (c)  good  fellow,  Jon  vivant, 
{a)  thought  nothing  too  much. 


For  thow  will  mis  ane  Moderatour, 
Quhais  presence  mufit  greit,  and  small, 
And  terrifeit  baith  theif  and  traitour. 
With  all  vnrewlie  Rubiatour  (e), 
Thair  ionkers  durst  not  kyith  thair  cinre. 
For  feir  of  fasting  in  the  Fratour  (/), 
And  tynsall  of  the  charge  thay  bare. 

But  now  I  feir  that  thow  sail  se, 
Greit  missing  of  that  man  to  be, 
Quhen  craftie  heidis  sail  na  mair  hyde, 
The  hurde  {g)  of  thair  Hypocrisie, 
Bot  all  sinceimes  set  asyde, 
With  policie  will  all  things  gyde, 
Thir  Balamis  birds  sair  may  Uiow  feir : 
Thairfor  be  Godds  buke  abyde, 
And  to  sic  Bablers  giue  na  eir. 

Giue  strange  opinioimis  enteris  in, 
Tak  tent  quha  sic  thingis  dois  begin. 
And  with  sic  matteris  mynts  to  mell,  (Ji) 
For  Sathan  ceisis  not  fra  sin. 
The  Kirk  of  Christ  seiking  to  quell. 
Sic  foly  faill  not  to  refell : 
For  quhen  the  reik  (t)  beginnis  to  ryse, 
The  fyre  will  follow  as  thay  tell, 
Be  it  not  quencheit  be  the  wyse. 

Bot  cheifly  mume  and  mak  thy  mane, 
Thow  Kirk  of  Edenburgh  allane. 
For  thow  may  rew  by  (k)  all  the  rest, 
That  this  day  thow  wants  sickin  ane, 
Thy  Special!  Pastour :  and  the  best 
That  ony  Kirk  had  Eist,  or  west. 
He  did  comfort  the  in  all  cair. 
And  the  foirwaimd  oi  thy  molest, 
Quhairby  thow  micht  thyself  prepair. 

There  was  na  troubill  come  to  the, 
Bot  he  foirspak  it  oppinUe, 
Thocht  sum  the  mater  than  did  mock, 
Gif  he  spak  suith  now  thow  may  se, 
This  day  thy  held  is  in  the  zock, 
God  send  the  blyitnes  of  this  block, 
And  freith  the  from  thy  fais  aboue  the. 
For  thow  art  the  maist  feruent  flock 
That  Scotland  beiris,  as  deid  dois  proue  the. 

And  giue  God  sa  handills  the  best, 
Allace  quhat  sail  cum  of  the  rest. 
Except  repentance  rin  and  red : 
It  is  ane  Mirrour  manifest. 
Of  dule  and  dolour  to  be  dred. 
To  fall  on  thame  this  barret  (Z)  bred, 
Bot  tiU  our  purpois  to  returne, 
Thocht  of  this  feir  thow  salbe  fred, 
Zit  hes  thow  mater  for  to  murne. 

Becaus  that  watcheman  thow  dois  want, 
That  the  in  puritie  did  plant. 
And  comfortit  thy  Congregatioun : 
Bot  zit  thocht  he  be  gane  I  grant 
The  Lord  can  send  the  consolatioim, 
Gif  thow  giue  him  dew  adoratioun. 
He  will  not  leaue  the  comfortles. 
As  alreddy  thow  hes  probatioun, 
God  grant  thy  Preicheours  vprichtnes. 

t  Ze  Lords  also  that  dois  frequent, 
The  Loft  in  Sanct  Geills  Kirk  lament. 
That  Bogill  (m)  thair  that  ze  hardblaw, 
With  quhome  quhyles  ze  wer  small  content, 
For  the  schairp  threitnings  he  did  schaw : 
Zit  thay  maid  zow  sumquhat  stand  aw, 
Thocht  not  so  muche  as  neid  requyrit : 
This  day  in  graue  he  lyis  full  law, 
Quhilk  langtyme  was  of  him  desyrit. 


(e)  ragamuffin,  vagabond.  (/)  fraternity,  alluding  to  tho 

fastings  of  the  friars.  {g)  treasure.  (A)  attempts  to  meddle. 

(t)  smoke.  (i)  above.  (I)  trouble,  contention, 

(m)  bugle-horn. 


304 


SUPPLEMENT. 


For  seing  all  things  not  go  weill, 
He  said  thair  suld  not  mis  ane  reill. 
That  suld  the  cheifest  walkin  vp. 
Gif  he  said  suith  this  day  ze  feill, 
Luke  gif  God  hes  begun  to  quhup, 
Bot  thair  byds  zit  ane  sowrer  Cup, 
Except  zour  maners  ze  amend, 
The  dreggs  but  dout  als  ze  sail  sup, 
From  whilk  danger  God  zow  defend. 

SanctandroLs  als  not  to  leif  out. 
His  deith  thou  may  deploir  but  dout, 
Thow  knawis  he  lude  the  by  the  laue  (n) 
For  5rst  in  the  he  gaue  the  rout, 
Till  Antechrist  that  Romische  slaue, 
Preicheing  that  Christ  did  only  saue. 
Bot  last,  of  Edinburgh  exprest, 
Quhen  he  was  not  far  fra  his  graue, 
He  come  to  the  by  all  the  rest. 

God  grant  that  thow  may  thankfull  be, 
For  his  greit  graces  schawin  to  the, 
In  sending  the  his  seruands  trew. 
Amen.    Thow  heiris  na  mair  of  me. 
Bot  Kyle,  and  Cuninghame  may  rew, 
Als  sair  as  ony  that  I  schew. 
To  quhome  this  darUng  was  maist  deir 
And  vther  gentill  men  anew, 
Quhome  I  haue  not  reheirsit  heir. 

Than  last  of  air  to  tume  to  zow. 
That  wer  our  brethren,  but  not  now : 
God  grant  agane  ze  may  cum  hame, 
For  we  suld  wis  zour  weill  I  vow, 
As  also  did  this  man  be  Name, 
Thocht  sum  said  he  did  zow  defame. 
He  prayit  to  God  that  ze  micht  tume. 
That  ze  micht  schaip  Etemall  schame, 
Thairfoir  zour  part  is  als  to  mume. 

For  doutles  he  was  mair  zour  friend, 
Nor  thay  that  winkit,  or  manteind 
Zour  fulische  factioun  and  vnfair 
In  deid  that  ze  suld  not  susteind, 
He  thunderit  threitnings  to  the  air, 
To  terrifie  zow  mair  and  mair, 
And  rug  (o)  zow  back  that  ze  micht  rew,  (p) 
For  he  knew  perseueird  ze  thair, 
Ze  wer  bot  schipwrak  but  reskew.(9) 

Than  all  this  land  thow  may  lament. 
That  thow  lacks  sic  ane  Instrument, 
Till  sum  not  ploasand,  zit,  sa  plane, 
That  all  the  godly  was  content 
Allace  his  lyke  he  left  not  ane. 
Nor  I  feir  sail  not  se  agane : 
Bot  zit  let  vs  nawayis  dispair. 
For  quhy  our  God  dois  zit  remane, 
Quha  can  and  will  for  his  prepair. 

For  thocht  his  deith  we  do  deploir, 
Zit  is  he  not  our  God  thairfoir : 
As  wickit  warldlings  wald  obtend. 
Gone  is  zour  God  quhairin  ze  gloir. 
The  leuing  God  we  mak  it  kend, 
Is  he,  on  quhome  we  do  depend, 
Quha  will  not  leaue  ts  in  distrcs, 
Bot  will  his  seruands  till  us  send. 
Till  gyde  vs  throw  this  wildemes. 

Thairfoir  letting  thir  Bablers  be, 
Qtihais  cheif  Religioun  is  to  lie. 
And  all  Godds  seruands  to  backbyte, 
Traducing  this  man  principallie : 
Let  thame  spew  out  in  thair  dispyte, 
All  that  thay  will  be  word  or  wryte. 
Lyke  as  him  self  is  into  gloir, 
Sa  sail  all  ages  ay  recyte, 
Johne  KnoxLs  Name,  with  greit  decoir. 

1  FINIS. 

(«/  Thoa  knowMt  he  loved  thno  above  the  reit.  (»)  pall. 

ip)  rapaot.  (q)  bnt  ibipMrrecked  witboat  rMCM 


QVAM  TVTYM 

SIT  PROPVGNACVLVM,  DEO 
sine  fuco  inseruire,  ex  mirifica  eximii  Dei  serui 
lOANjris  Kxoxii,  in  tranquillum  vitse  exi- 
timi,  iUusis  omnibus  impiorum  conatibus,  con- 
seruatione,  &  eius  exemplum  sequi,  monemur. 

QVEM  petiere  diu  crudeles  igne  tyranni, 
Ssepius  &  ferro  quem  petiere  duces. 
Occubuit  (mirum)  nullo  violatus  ah  hoste, 

Eximius  Christi  KNOXIVS  ille  sator. 
Nam  pater  ^thereus  Regimi  moderatur  habenas, 

Electosque  potens  protegit  vsque  suos. 
Muniat  hinc  igitur  nostras  fiduria  nientes, 

Ne  mors  nos  tetricis  terreat  vlla  minis. 
Qnoq ;  minus  trepidi  sistamus  tramite  recto,  y, 

Huius  ne  pigeat  viuere  more  viri. 

1  FINIS.    Quod  M.  I.  D. 


EXCERPTA    E    POEMATIS 

JOHANNIS  JONSTONI : 

Qmsirs   TITTTLI 

nE  PI     S  TE* ANn  N , 
SIVE 

CORONIS  MARTYRUM  IN  SCOTIA; 

NECNON 
PECVT.IVM  ECCLESIJE  SCOTICAN^. 

MS.  IN  BIBL.  FACULT.  JtlRID.  EDIN.  A.  6.  42. 


Patritius   Hamiltonvs,* 
Martyr  Andreapoli  xxviii  Febr.  An.  Christi  1527 
E  Ca;lo  alluxit  primam  Germania  lucem, 

Qua  Lanus,  et  vitreis  qua  fluit  Albis  aquis. 
Intulit  hinc  lucem  nostrse  Dux  pnevius  one. 

O  felix  terra !  hoc  si  foret  usa  dure  • 
Dira  superstitio  grassata  tyrannidc  in  omnes, 

Omniaque  involvens  Cimmeriis  tenebris, 
nie  ncquit  lucem  banc  sufferre.  Ergo  omnis  in  unam, 

Fraude,  odiis,  funis,  turba  cruenta  coit. 
Igne  cremant     Vivus  lucis  qui  fulscrat  igne. 

Par  erat,  ut  moriens  limiina  ab  igne  daret. 


Joannes  Machabjevs.-j- 

AI{Hnus,  Christianismi  in  Dania  Instanrator,  Hafniis  TheoL 
Professor;  floruit  1550,  test  Balaeo. 

L 

Qvte  tulit  in  lucem  me  Scotia,  luce  frui  me 

Non  tulit     Hand  mirum :  sprevit  ct  ipsa  Deum. 
Anglia  vix  ccpit     Subetmtem  Teutonis  ora 

Suscipiens  fovit  Ij  . . .  onis  in  gremio. 
Lvtheri  hie  tetigisse  datum  dextramque  Philippi : 

Cemere  et  hie  Christ\Tn  lucidiore  die. 
Me  doctore  dchinc  amplexa  est  Dania  Christvm. 

Hafnia  dat  patriam,  datque  eadem  tumulum. 
Hue  vitsB  cursus:  suprcmi  hie  mcta  laboris. 

Hinc  vehor  cxilii  lil>er  in  astra  metu. 
Havd  jactura  gravis,  patria  tellure  carere : 

In  patria  gravior  posse  carere  Deo. 


*  0M  !«(•  36. 


t  See  pag«  146. 


SUPPLEMENT. 


205 


n. 

De  Joh.  Machabffio  Patre,  et  Christiano, 
Filio  Patris  simillimo. 

Excedens  terns  Machabaevs  liquerat  vno 

Unius  in  Natio  pectoris  effigiem, 
Filius  banc  solam  potuit  tibi  promere :  at  illvm 

Mors  babet.    Ecquis  earn  reddere  nunc  valeat  1 


Alex.  Alesivs,* 

(Obiit  Lipsiae  xx  Junij  1565.) 

Lipsiffi  Theo.  Professor,  de  se  et  Joh.  Machabso. 

Sors  eadem  exilii  nobis,  vitffique  laborumque 

Ex  quo  nos  Christi  conciliavit  amor. 
Una  salus  amborum,  unum  et  commune  periclum. 

Pertulimus  pariter  prsestite  cuncta  Deo. 
Dania  te  coluit.     Me  liipsia  culta  docentem 

Audiit,  et  sacros  hausit  ab  ore  sonvs. 
Qui  mea  scripta  legit,  Machabsevm  cemat  in  illis. 

Alterutrum  noscis,  noscis  utrumque  simuL 


Johannes  RocHivsf  et  Thomas  Guliklmivs,:}: 

Uterque  a  sacris  Jac.  Hamiltono  Scotie  Gubematori,  uterqne 
Christi  nomine  Exul ;  et  illc  postea  Martyr  in  Anglia,  22 
deoemb.  1557.  Londinj. 

Postquam  iterum  premitur  redivivi  gloria  Christi, 

Et  crudelis  adhuc  omnia  Presul  agit. 
Cessimus  inviti  Invidise,  et  crudeiibus  iris. 

Ah  !  facilis  nocuit  Principis  ingenium. 
Doctores  nuper  quae  nos  adscripserat  Aula 

Deficit :  et  nostrae  spes  cecidere  simul. 
Redditur  exUium  Christi  pro  munere.    Christvs 

Exul  erat :  nobis  sitne  probro  exilium  1 
Quid  si  mors  adeunda  sit  1     O  mors  ilia  beata ! 

Qua  vitae  melior  parta  corona  foret 


n. 

De  Johanne,  Jacobo,  et  Roberto  Wedderbvrno,  Fra- 

TRIBUS. 

Divisvm  imperium,  per  tres,  tria  Numina,  Fratres, 

Infera  quaeque  vides,  quseque  supema,  canunt. 
Vos  miror  potius  tres  vero  nomine  fratres, 

Vosque  supra  veneror,  Niunina  vana,  Deos ; 
Concordes  arumas,  clarissima  lumina  gentis, 

Tres  paribus  studiis,  tres  pietate  pares. 
Felices  qui  vos  tales  genuere  parentes, 

Quaeque  orbi  tellus  pignora  rara  dedit. 
Progenitos  Caelo  Alectum  dedit  incly  ta  terns : 

Inde  Dei-Donum  nomen  habere  putem. 


ia>*ri-.!«0l 


-.^i. 


Johannes  Knoxvs, 


■«ac&»>««A; 


Georgiys  SophocardivSjII 
Sive  Wys-hartus,  Martyr  Andreapoli  Kal.  Martiian.  1546. 
Quam  bene  conveniunt  divinia  nomina  rebus  ! 

Divinse  hie  Sophiae  corque  oculusque  viget. 
Qui  Patris  arcanam  Sophiam,  cselique  recessus 

Corde  fovens,  terris  iS'^umine  tanta  aperit 
Vnvs  amor  Christvs.     Pro  Christo  concitus  ardor 

Altius  humanis  Enthea  corda  rapit. 
Pra3teritis  aptans  prsesentia,  judicat  omnia : 

Et  Ventura  dehinc  ordine  quaeque  docet 
Ipse  suam  mortem,  tempusque  modumque  profatur, 

Fataque  Camifici  tristia  Sacrilego. 
Terrificam  ad  flammam  stetit  imperterritus.     Ipsa 

Quin  stupet  invictos  sic  pavefacta  animos : 
Vt  vix  ausa  dehinc  sit  paucos  carpere.    Tota 

Ilicet  innocui  victa  cruore  viri  est. 


Johannes  Wedderbvrnvs,§ 

Pulsus  in  exilium,  an.  1546.    Exid  in  Anglia  moritur  1556. 

I. 

Non  meriti  est  nostri,  meritas  tibi  dicere  grates, 

Aut  paria,  aut  aliqua  parte  referre  vicem. 
Quae  meruisse  alii  vellent,  nee  posse  mereri  est : 

^  Haec  velle,  haec  posse,  haec  te  meruisse  tuum  est. 
Sic  facis  atque  canis  sacra  :  sic  agis  omnia,  nil  ut 

Sanctius,  et  nusquam  purior  ulla  fides. 
Hinc  nullum  magis  invisum  caput  hostibus :  hinc  et 

Nemo  umquam  meruit  charior  esse  l)onis. 
Grandius  hoc  meritum,  nil  te  meruisse  fateris, 

Humanis  meritis  nee  superesse  locum. 


*  Sje  page  145. 
1  Soe  page  29. 


t  See  page  31,  34. 
§  See  page  147. 


X  See  page  20. 


Primus  Evangelii  Instaurator  in  Scotia,  post  superiors  omenta 
ilia  tempora.  obiit  placide  Edinburgi  xiiy.  ixbris.  Hora 
noctis  undecima.  1572. 


Hie  ille  est  Scotorum  Knoxus  Apostolus  olim, 

Cui  prior  hos  ingens  Beza  dedit  titulos  : 
Interpres  caeli,  vero  qui  Numine  plenus, 

Plurima  venturi  prsescia  signa  dedit. 
Faecundum  pectus.     Libortas  maxima  fandi. 

Totus  inexhausto  flagrat  amore  Dei. 
Quam  pia  cura  Poli,  tarn  humani  meta  furoris : 

Tanto  plus  victor,  quo  furit  iste  magis. 
Post  varios  hostes  aggressa  Calumnia  tandem, 

Hoc  didicit,  nuUi  nee  sibi  habere  fidem. 
Herovra  Pietas  odio  est  mortalibus.     Uniun  hoc 

Arguat  Heroem  hunc  caelitus  esse  datum. 

n. 

Cvra  Dei :  Romae  pestis :  Mun  di  horror :  et  Orci 
Pemicies :  caeli  fulmen  ab  arce  tonans. 

Limite  in  hoc  modico  tanti  jacet  hospitis  imibra. 
Vmbra  sdlet :  tamen  est  hoe  tibus  horror  adhuc. 

^/iVi-Wf^M  <:f-^/,  I.- 


Johannes WlLLOCVS.* 
Obiit  in  Anglia. 

Cum  Patriae  implessem  donis  caelestibus  urbes, 

Mille  olim  obiiciens  raortibus  banc  animam. 
Ipsa  adeo  exultat  caeli  sic  luce  sereni, 

Pene  sibi  ut  caelum,  et  lux  queat  esse  aliis  : 
Excessi  patria  laetus  tellure,  libensque  : 

Vt  vicina  istis  cresceret  aucta  opibus. 
Hie  etiam  sevi  caelestia  semina  verbi ; 

Gensque  pia  hie  nostram  plurima  sensit  opem. 
Haec  et  opes  mihi,  cumqne  opibus  cumulavit  honorea. 

Nee  secus  ac  Patria  me  Anglia  civem  hahuit. 
Bis  civis  gemina  in  patria :  mihi  tertia  rcstat. 

Possidet  haeredem  tertia  sola  suum. 


ChrISTOPHORTS  GvDMANNVS,f 

Anglus,  Ecclesiastes  Andreapolitanus :  moritur  in  Cestroisi 
provincia  Angliae  an.  1601. 

Non  Ego,  ceu  credis,  Scotis  peregrinus  in  oris  : 

Publica  nee  rerum  curaaliena  mihi. 
Hie  geniti  Christo,  hie  geritur  Respublica  Christi: 

Christi  Ego  sum.  In  Christo  his  sumque  ego  congenitus ; 
Quin  genui  his  partem  Christo.     Patremque  Ducemque 

Et  licet,  et  gaudent  me  vocitare  suum. 
Queis  patriam  peperi :  non  banc :  sed  quse  altera  calo  est, 

Hac  prior ;  his  dicar  qui  peregrinus  ego : 
Alterutra  jactent  se  alii  regione  profectos. 

Nomine  se  jactat  utraque  terra  meo. 


*  See  page  54, 120. 


T  See  page  178. 


SUPPLEMENT. 


Johannes  Areskinvs,* 
Dunius,  Equestri  familia  ortus,  Religionis  gravis  et  constans 
assertor,  concionator  nobilis,  natufi  annos  Ixxx,  moritur  xii 
Martij  1590. 

Post  tot  avos  veteres,  et  tot  decora  inclyta  rerum, 

Surgit  Areskino  gloria  major  adhuc : 
Scilicet  ilia  Crucis  Christi,  qute  sola  perennis : 

Qnse  regit  una  homines,  quae  facit  ima  deos. 
Robora  consUiis,  pietatem  miscet  utrisque ; 

Et  faciendo  docet,  atque  docendo  facit 
Heroem  nullum  huic  sequarint  secula.     Nullus 

Inter  avos  veteres  fama  et  honore  prior. 


Johannes  BRABNERTs,t 

Abredonensis,  Ecclesiastes  Celurcanus^:  et  Duneneds,  moritur 
an.  1564.  postr.  Kal.  Novembris. 

Nascendi  primam  dedit  Aberdonialuoem: 

Hie  renascendi  munera  retribuit. 
Vtrum  ergo  debet  Patrise  plus,  an  Patria  illi  1 

Mutua  sic  rerum  gratia  rite  coit 


Johannes  Vin-ramvs,|| 

Cenobii  Augustinianorum  olim  Prafectus  apud  Andreanos, 
postea  inter  Christi  Ministros :  obiit  senex  xxiii.  Sept  1 582. 

Quo  te  censu  hominum,  uno  te,  Vin-Rame,  reponam 

In  nuniero  1  hie  niultum  est  anxia  mens  animi. 
Se  prodit  Pietas,  neque  turbida  lucis  imago  est  *. 

Spargit  enim  de  se  lumina  clara  sui. 
Quin  te  aperi  tandem  manifesto  in  lumine.    Pelle 

Turbidulos  sensus,  cumque  pudore  metus. 
Cum  pietate  etenim  postquam  se  nubila  miscet 

Mens  hominxim,  lucis  deperit  ille  vigor. 
Gaudet  agens  Pietas  manifesta  in  luce.    Nee  ilia 

Sit  Pietas,  quae  baud  scit  pro  Pietate  mori 


Johannes  Rowiys,^ 

Ecclesiastes  Perthensis,  obiit  xvi.  yiiibris  an.  1580. 
Consilio  pnestans,  rebus  gravis  auctor  agendis, 

Prsecipuos  inter,  Lmnina  prima,  Patres. 
Cognitio  varia :  immensa  experientia  rerum, 
Omnigenam  linguam  mens  pneit  ingenii : 

•  See  page  54.  t  I  have  not  met  elsewhere  witli  any  notice  of 

Brtbntr  or  Bremner.  J  Montrose.  ||  See  page  87,  158. 

§  See  jMge  83. 


Exactor  disciplina,  vindexque  severus, 

Ipse  sibi  censor,  seque  ad  amussim  hab\iit : 
Sancta  domus,  casdquc  lares,  frons  Iteta,  severa : 

Larga  manus  miseris,  mcnsa  benig^a  bonis. 
Vrbis  deUcium :  sancti  pia  copula  amoris : 

Una  fides,  fidei  publica  cura  simul. 
Clara  viris,  cultuque  decens,  pulcherrima  Pertha : 

Rowivs  at  Perths  haud  ultima  &ma  fuit 


Jacobvs  Lacsonivs,* 
Ecclesiastes  Edimburgensis,  obiit  xii.  Octobris  an.  1584. 

Ingenio  felix  Lausonivs,  ore  diserto, 

Acer  judicio,  consiliisque  gravis. 
Corpore  non  magno,  mens  ingens :  Spiritus  ardens, 

Invictumque  decus  pectoris  atque  animi. 
Non  tulit  Impietas.     Patria  migrare  necesse  est 

Mitior  in  profugum  terra  aliena  fuit 
Hospitii  cui  jura  volens  vivo  ista  dedisset, 

Muka  gemens  tristi  in  funere  dat  tumulunu 


David  FERGVsivs,t 
Pastor  ad  Fermilo-dunum,  obiit  xxiij  Augosti  an.  1598. 

Qvem  non  erudiit  solers  Academia,  quem  non 

Finxit  Stagira  nobilis : 
Nesciit  ille  tamen  nescire  ilia  omnia  solers, 

QusB  et  ista  et  ilia  prodidit 
Quin  Doctore  Deo  scivit  meliora  sequutus, 

Quae  et  ista  et  ilia  nesciit 
Disce  hinc  quae  melius  doceas  Academia.    Tuqoe 

Disce  hinc  Stagira  nobilis. 


Georgivs  Haivs. 

Postqvam  animum  primis  patriae  effinxere  Camenae 

Artibus,  excepit  culta  Lvteta  sinu. 
Cecropiis  opibus,  spolusque  orientis  onustus, 

Intulit  in  patriam  munera  opima  suam. 
Ingeniima  vegetum  comitatur  gratia  Linguae  : 

Lactea  Nectareo  verba  lepore  fluunt 
Dum  parat  excedens  locupletes  linqucre  natos, 

PubUca  privatis  posthabuisse  ferunt 
Optima  sed  Pietais  patrimoni  portio.    Privia 

Si  nimium  indulges,  pubUca  rapta  munt 


•  See  page  127. 


t  See  page  I 


/ 


LIFE 


ANDREW    MELVILLE: 


CONTAINING 


ILLUSTRATIONS   OF   THE   ECCLESIASTICAL  AND   LITERARY 


HISTORY   OF    SCOTLAND, 


DURTNO  THE 


LATTER  PART  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  AND  BEGINNING  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 


WITH  AN  APPENDIX,  CONSISTING  OP  ORIGINAL  PAPERS. 


2B  H 


t      ^J     «    .S 


>e"  %o 


^Q 


f  y-  »»> 


ii 


■j  i•,t,■'?■»■i»■vl^?l•: 

PREFACE 

TO    THE    FIRST    EDITION.  *^ 


The  following  work  may  be  viewed  as  a  continuation  of  the  account  of  ecclesiastical  transactions 
in  Scotland,  which  I  some  years  ago  laid  before  the  public  in  the  Life  of  John  Knox. 

The  period  which  it  embraces,  though  not  distinguished  by  any  event  so  splendid  as  the  Reforma- 
tion, is  by  no  means  destitute  of  interest.  It  produced  men  who,  in  point  of  natural  abilities,  were 
scarcely  inferior,  and  in  respect  of  acquired  talents  were  decidedly  superior,  to  those  who  had  been 
instrumental  in  bringing  about  the  great  religious  revolution.  The  dangers  to  which  the  reformed 
religion  and  the  liberties  of  the  nation  were  exposed  during  the  early  administration  of  a  youthful 
prince — the  contests  which  the  church  maintained  with  the  court  in  behalf  of  her  rights — the  estab- 
lishment of  the  presbyterian  polity — and  its  overthrow  after  a  long  and  eager  struggle — are  events 
important  in  themselves,  and  in  the  influences  which  they  had  on  the  future  affairs  of  Scotland  and 
of  Britain. 

In  one  respect  the  present  work  will  be  found  to  differ  considerably  from  that  which  I  formerly 
published.  As  Andrew  Melville,  besides  the  active  part  which  he  took  in  the  ecclesiastical  transac- 
tions of  his  time,  was  successively  at  the  head  of  two  of  our  principal  colleges,  I  have  entered  much 
more  fully  into  the  state  of  education,  and  the  progress  of  literature,  than  I  felt  myself  warranted  to 
do  in  writing  the  Life  of  the  Reformer. 

James  Melville,  a  nephew  of  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  left  behind  him  a  Diary,  or  history  of 
his  own  life  and  times,  extending  from  1555  to  1600,  in  which  he  has  embodied  much  interesting 
information  concerning  his  uncle.  Several  copies  of  this  work  are  extant  in  manuscript.  I  quote 
the  original  copy,  which  is  preserved  in  the  Advocate's  Library,  fairly  written  with  the  author's  own 
hand.  In  the  same  library  is  another  manuscript,  entitled,  History  of  the  Declining  Age  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland,  which  I  am  satisfied  was  also  composed  by  James  Melville,  and  brings  down 
the  history  of  his  times  from  1600  to  1610.  This,  with  the  Apologetical  Narration,  written  by 
William  Scot,  minister  of  Cupar,  furnishes  ample  information  respecting  the  conduct  of  Melville 
when  called  up  to  London,  along  with  some  of  his  brethren,  before  the  introduction  of  episcopacy 
into  Scotland. 

The  greater  part  of  James  Melville's  Diary  has  been  engrossed  by  Calderwood  in  his  MS.  History, 
and  by  Woodrow  in  his  Lives.  I  have  seldom,  if  ever,  referred  to  the  two  last  of  these  writers  as 
authorities  when  it  appeared  to  me  that  they  merely  quoted  from  the  first.  It  may  be  proper  to 
mention,  that,  in  the  first  part  of  this  Life,  the  references  are  to  the  copy  of  Calderwood's  MS. 
belonging  to  the  church  of  Scotland  ;  but  from  page  seventy-sixth  of  the  second  volume  I  refer  to  the 
copy  in  the  Advocates  Library,  which  it  was  more  convenient  for  me  to  consult  at  the  time. 

The  epistolary  correspondence  which  passed  between  Melville  and  his  nephew  from  1608  to  1613, 
has  been  preserved  in  the  Library  of  the  College  of  Edinburgh.  And  in  the  Advocates  Library  is  a 
series  of  letters  written  by  Melville,  to  a  friend  at  Leyden,  from  1612  to  1616.  Both  these  collec- 
tions are  of  great  value,  as  throwing  light  on  his  character,  and  on  some  of  the  most  interesting 
events  of  his  life. 

In  giving  an  account  of  ecclesiastical  transactions,  I  have,  in  addition  to  other  sources  of  intelli- 
gence, availed  myself  of  various  registers  of  provincial  synods,  presbyteries,  and  kirk-sessions, 
which  contain  many  facts  curious  in  themselves,  and  illustrative  of  the  internal  history  of  the  church. 
Several  of  these  ancient  records  have  been  deposited  in  our  public  libraries ;  and  I  was  allowed  the 
readiest  access  to  such  of  them  as  are  in  the  possession  of  the  courts  to  which  they  originally 
belonged. 


212  PREFACE. 

My  best  ackowledgments  are  due  to  Thomas  Thomson,  Esq.  for  the  facilities  which  he  politely- 
afforded  me  in  consulting  the  public  records ;  and  to  Sir  William  Hamilton,  Bart,  for  pointing  out  to 
me  various  documents  of  great  utility. 

My  inquiries  relative  to  the  state  of  education  have,  in  every  instance,  been  met  with  the  utmost 
liberality  by  the  Learned  Bodies  to  which  I  applied.  The  account  which  I  have  given  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  St.  Andrews  is  chiefly  taken  from  copies  of  papers  and  notes  kindly  furnished  me  by  Dr.  Lee, 
Professor  of  Church  History  and  Divinity  in  the  College  of  which  Melville  was  formerly  Principal. 
In  acknowledging  the  great  obligations  I  am  under  to  Dr.  Lee,  I  cannot  refrain  from  expressing  my 
earnest  wish  that  he  would  favour  the  public  with  a  history  of  the  literature  of  Scotland,  or  at  least  of 
the  university  to  which  he  belongs,  for  either  of  which  tasks  he  is  eminently  qualified  by  his  exten- 
sive acquaintance  with  the  subject,  and  his  habits  of  patient  and  discriminating  research.  Could  I 
have  obtained  assurance  of  his  engaging  in  such  a  work,  I  would  have  felt  little  difficulty  in  resisting 
a  temptation  which  has  proved  too  powerful  for  me,  and  has  led  me  into  literary  details,  particularly 
in  the  first  volume,  which  may  appear  but  remotely  connected  with  the  immediate  object  of  my 
undertaking. 

To  make  room  for  more  important  matter,  I  have  been  obliged  to  omit  one  or  two  papers  referred 
to  in  the  course  of  the  work  as  to  be  inserted  in  the  Appendix.  For  the  same  reason,  several  letters 
and  unpublished  poems  of  Melville,  which  I  intended  to  add,  have  been  kept  back. 

Edinbttroh, 
November  2,  1819. 


PREFACE  TO  THE  SECOND  EDITION. 


In  preparing  this  work  for  a  second  edition,  I  have  corrected  such  inaccuracies  in  the  language 
and  in  the  statement  of  facts  as  occurred  to  me.  But  the  chief  alteration  which  has  been  made  is  on 
the  arrangement.  The  accounts  of  the  state  of  literature  in  Scotland,  which  were  formerly  inter- 
spersed through  the  work,  are  now  collected  and  placed  in  two  chapters  at  the  close,  with  the 
exception  of  those  facts  which  could  not  well  be  separated  from  the  narrative  of  Melville's  studies 
and  academical  employments.  This,  it  is  hoped,  will  be  found  an  improvement,  by  enabling  the 
reader  to  peruse  the  Life  without  interruption. 

Edinburgh, 
December  29,  1823. 


THE 


LIFE    OF    ANDREW    MELVILLE. 


CHAP.  I.  1545—1574. 

Origin  of  the  Family  of  Melville — Parentage  and  Birth  of 
A-ndrew  Melville — Death  of  his  Parents — Dutiful  conduct  of 
his  Eldest  Brother — His  Education  at  Montrose — Mode  of 
Instruction  in  Grammar  Schools — Remarks  on  the  Progress 
of  the  Reformation — Early  attachment  of  the  Melvilles  to  it 
—Andrew  Melville  acquires  the  Greek  language — His  acad- 
emical Education  at  St.  Andrew's — His  connection  with 
Buchanan — Compliment  paid  him  by  an  Italian  Poet — He 
goes  to  the  University  of  Paris — State  of  that  University — 
Royal  Trilingual  College — Mercerus — Ramus — Jesuits'  Col- 
lege— Edmund  Hay — Melville  distinguishes  himself  in  the 
Public  Exhibitions — His  Employment  in  the  University  of 
Poictiers — Incidents  there — He  goes  to  Geneva — Teaches  in 
the  Academy  there — Prosecutes  Oriental  Studies  under  Ber- 
tramus — Learned  Men  with  whom  he  became  acquainted  at 
Geneva;  Franciscus  Portus,  Beza,  Henry  Scrimger,  Joseph 
Scaliger-,  Hottoman — Connection  between  the  Studies  of 
Law  and  Theology— Writings  in  favour  of  Civil  Liberty — 
Influence  which  Melville's  residence  at  Geneva  had  upon  his 
Political  Sentiments — He  resolves  to  return  to  his  Native 
Country — His  Testimonials  from  the  Academy  of  Geneva — 
His  Poetical  Encomium  upon  that  City — Occurrences  in  his 
Journey  to  Scotland. 

Melville  or  Maleville  was  the  name  of  a  family, 
which  is  said  to  have  come  ori^nally  from  Normandy, 
and  had  settled  in  Scotland  as  early  as  the  twelfth 
century.  It  spread  into  numerous  branches,  which,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  flourished  in 
the  shires  of  Kincardine,  Angus,  Fife,  and  the  Lo- 
thians.  The  principal  of  these  were  the  Melvilles  of 
Melville,  in  Mid-Lothian  ;  the  Melvilles  of  Carnbee  ; 
and  the  Melvilles  of  Glenbervie,  hereditary  sheriffs  of 
Kincardine.*  Though  none  of  them  were  raised  to 
the  peerage  until  a  late  period,  they  had  long  held  a 
distinguished  place  among  the  gentlemen  or  lesser 
barons  ;  they  were  allied  by  intermarriages  to  the 
principal  families  in  the  kingdom,  and  accustomed  to 
claim  affinity  to  the  royal  house. 

Richard  Melville,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
memoir,  was  brother-german  to  John  Melville  of 
Dysart,  a  cadet  of  the  house  of  Glenbervie.f  He  was 
proprietor  of  Baldovy,  an  estate  pleasantly  situated  on 
the  banks  of  the  South  Eske,  about  a  mile  to  the 
south-west  of  the  town  of  Montrose,  and  which  con- 
tinued in  the  possession  of  his  descendants  until  the 
beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century.:}:  By  his  wife, 
Giles  Abercrombie,  daughter  of  Thomas  Abercrombie, 
a  burgess  of  Montrose,  and  descendant  of  the  house  of 
Murthlie,  he  had  nine  sons.  Richard,  the  eldest,  suc- 
ceeded to  the  family  estate,  and,  after  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Reformation,  officiated  as  minister  of  the 


»  See  Note  A. 
t  See  Note  B. 


t  James  Melville's  Diary,  MS.  p.  26. 


neighbouring  parish  of  Maritoun:*  Thomas,  an  ac- 
complished scholar,  and  improved  by  travelling,  rose 
to  be  Secretary-depute  of  Scotland  :  Walter  settled  in 
Montrose,  and  frequently  discharged  the  office  of  a 
magistrate  in  that  town  :  Roger,  a  man  of  great  natu- 
ral talents,  became  a  burgess  of  Dundee,  where  he 
was  held  in  great  respect  by  his  fellow-citizens :  f 
James  and  John  devoted  themselves  to  the  ministry 
in  the  reformed  church  ;  the  former  in  Arbroath,:}:  and 
the  latter  at  Crail  :|1  Robert  and  David,  after  being 
kept  for  some  time  at  school,  chose  mechanical  pro- 
fessions.§ 

Andrew,  the  youngest  of  the  family,  was  born  at 
Baldovy  on  the  1st  of  August,  1545.  When  only  two 
years  old  he  was  bereaved  of  his  father,  who  fell  in 
the  battle  of  Pinkie,  along  with  the  principal  gentle- 
men of  Angus  and  Mearns,  fighting  in  the  van-guard 
of  the  Scottish  army,  under  their  chief  the  Earl  of 
Angus.  The  death  of  his  mother,  which  followed 
soon  after,  left  him  an  orphan.^ 

The  disaster  at  Pinkie,  with  the  events  that  follow- 
ed upon  it,  proved  ruinous  to  many  families  of  rank 
and  opulence.  And  as  the  estate  of  Baldovy  was 
small,  as  the  family  was  numerous,  and  several  of  the 
sons  were  yet  unprovided  for,  the  sudden  and  prema- 
ture death  of  his  parents  threatened  to  be  an  irrepar- 
able loss  to  young  Melville.  It  was,  however,  great- 
ly alleviated  by  the  dutiful  conduct  of  his  oldest  bro- 


*  "  Richard  Melvill"  was  declared  "  apt  and  able  to  niinys- 
ter  by  the  first  General  Assembly,  1560.  Keith,  498 — 9. 
"  Richard  Melvill,  Minister  of  Inchbraock  and  Maritoun,"  wag 
a  Member  of  the  General  Assembly  which  met  in  June,  1562. 
Bulk  of  Universall  Kirk,  p.  4. 

t  William  Christison.  minister  of  Dundee,  and  Robert  Bruce 
of  Edinburgh,  were  among  his  intimate  acquaintances;  and  the 
latter  used  to  say,  that  if  Roger  Melville  had  enjoyed  the  edu- 
cation of  his  brother  Andrew,  "  he  would  have  been  the  most 
singular  man  in  Europe."     Melville's  Diarj%  p.  27. 

t  He  was  made  Bachelor  of  Arts  at  St.  Andrew's  in  the  year 
1555.  (Records  of  the  University.) — April  27,  1591,  Thomas 
Ramsay  in  Kirkton  bound  himself  "  to  pay  to  the  richt  wor- 
chipfufl  Mr.  James  Melvill,  minister  of  Aberbrothock,  4  bolU 
beir  w'.  ane  peck  to  the  boll  and  twa  bolls  ait  maill  w'.  the 
cheritie,  guid  and  sufficient  stuff" — the  maill  to  be  for  the  s"i  Mr. 
James  awm  aeting,  all  guid  and  lyne  as  ony  gentill  man  sail  eat 
in  the  countrie  adjacent  about  nim — or  failzeing  deliverie  to 
pay  for  every  boll  4  lib.  of  money."  (Register  of  Contracts  of 
the  Commissariot  of  St.  Andrew's.)  He  was  alive  in  March, 
1596,  when  he  obtained  decreet  against  John  Richardson  "  for 
the  few  farme  of  the  kirk  lands  of  Aberbrothock,  assigned  to 
him  by  the  Lords  of  Counsel ;  viz.  2  bolls  wheat,  28  bolls  bear, 
and  twenty  bolls  ait  meal." 

II  "  Johanne  Malwyll,  minister  of  Crystis  kirk  in  Crayll  "  is 
mentioned  in  the  Register  of  the  Kirk  Session  of  St.  Andrew's, 
October  8.  1561.     Comp.  Keith,  Hist.  p.  553. 

§  Melville's  Diary,  p.  27.  IT  Ibid.  p.  26,  27. 

21S 


214 


LfFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


ther,  who  kept  him  in  his  house,  and  acted  in  every 
respect  the  part  of  a  father  to  him.  The  kind  inten- 
tions of  Richard  Melville  might  have  been  of  little 
benefit,  had  they  not  been  zealously  seconded  by  the 
exertions  of  the  excellent  woman  whom  he  had  mar- 
ried, and  who  took  as  great  an  interest  in  her  you'ng 
relation  as  in  her  own  children.  This  kindness  was 
not  thrown  away  ;  for  Andrew  continued  always  to 
cherish  the  memory  of  his  sister-in-law  with  the 
warmest  gratitude,  and  after  he  came  to  manhood, 
took  pleasure  in  mentioning  the  endearing  marks  of 
affection  which  he  recollected  to  have  received  from 
her  when  he  was  a  boy.* 

There  is  something  peculiarly  interesting,  though 
it  does  not  always  meet  with  the  attention  which  it 
merits,  in  the  reciprocations  of  duty  and  affection  be- 
tween persons  placed  in  the  relation  and  circum- 
stances now  described.  By  means  of  instinct,  and  by 
identifying  the  interests  of  parent  and  child,  Provi- 
dence has  wisely  secured  the  performance  of  duties 
which  are  equally  necessary  to  the  happiness  of  the 
individual  and  of  the  species.  But,  without  wishing 
to  detract  from  the  amiable  virtue  of  parental  attach- 
ment, we  may  say,  that  the  kind  offices  which  it  dic- 
tates, vifhen  performed  by  those  who  stand  in  a  remo- 
ter degree  of  relationship,  may  be  presumed  to  partake 
less  of  the  character  of  selfishness.  And  they  are 
calculated  to  excite  in  the  generous  breast  of  the 
cherished  orphan,  a  feeling  which  may  be  viewed  as 
purer,  and  more  enthusiastic,  than  that  which  is  merely 
filial — a  feeling  of  a  mixed  kind,  in  which  the  affec- 
tion borne  to  a  parent  is  combined  with  the  adiniration 
and  the  gratitude  due  to  a  disinterested  benefactor. 

Perceiving  that  his  youngest  brother  was  of  a  weak- 
ly habit  of  body,  and  that  he  evinced  at  an  early  age 
a  capacity  and  a  taste  for  learning,  Richard  Melville 
resolved  to  gratify  his  inclinations,  by  giving  him  the 
best  education  that  the  country  afforded.  He  accord- 
ingly placed  him  at  the  grammar  school  of  Montrose, 
then  taught  by  Thomas  Anderson,  who,  at  a  subse- 
quent period,  became  minister  of  that  parish.  Though 
his  learning  was  slender,  Anderson  was  esteemed  one 
of  the  best  teachers  of  his  time  ;  and  under  his  tuition 
young  Melville  acquired  the  principles  of  the  Latin 
language,  in  which  he  afterwards  became  so  great  a 
proficient.")"  It  was  the  custom  in  the  schools  of  that 
period  to  combine  bodily  exercises  with  the  improve- 
ment of  the  mind.  By  means  of  these,  joined  to  the 
attention  paid  to  him  at  home,  Andrew  recovered  from 
his  early  debility,  and  gradually  attained  that  sound 
health  which  he  enjoyed  with  little  interruptiou  to  an 
advanced  age. 

The  slightest  hints  respecting  the  state  of  education 
in  Scotland,  during  the  infancy  of  learning,  are  inter- 
esting. In  this  view  the  curious  reader  may  wish  to 
peruse  the  particulars  inserted  in  the  notes.:}:  They 
relate  to  the  plan  of  instruction  pursued  in  the  schools 
of  Logie  and  Montrose,  when  James  Melville,  a  ne- 
phew of  Andrew,  attended  them.  This  was  ten  years 
posterior  to  the  time  of  which  we  are  now  writing. 
But,  with  the  exception  of  what  regarded  religion,  it 
is  probable  that  very  little  change  took  place  in  the 
management  of  schools  during  that  interval ;  and  we 
will  not  materially  err  in  supposing,  that  the  educa- 
tion of  the  uncle  and  the  nephew  was  conducted  in  the 


*  I  have  often  heard  Mr.  Andrew  say,  that  he,  being  a 
bairn  very  sickly,  was  most  lovingly  and  tenderly  treated  and 
cared  for  by  her;  embracing  hiin,  and  kissing  him  oftcntinies, 
with  these  words,  'God  give  nie  another  lad  like  thee,  and 
syne  take  me  to  his  rest.'  Now  she  had  two  lads  before  me, 
whereof  the  eldest  was  dead,  and  between  him  and  the  second 
she  bare  three  lasses;  so  in  the  end,  (Jod  pave  her  one,  wlio, 
would  to  God  he  were  as  like  Mr.  Andrew  in  gifts  of  mind,  as 
he  is  thought  to  be  in  proportion  of  body  and  lineaments  of 
face;  for  there  is  none  that  is  not  otherwise  particularly  in- 
formed but  takes  rae  for  Mr.  Andrew's  brother.  James  JVIel- 
rille'g  Diary,  p.  4, 

+  Melville's  Diary,  p.  27.    Comp.  p.  10.        J  See  Note  C. 


same  manner,  at  least  as  to  the  elementary  books 
which  they  used,  and  the  exercises  to  which  they  were 
trained  in  the  house  and  in  the  fields. 

Some  of  the  most  distinguished  masters  of  schools 
were  at  this  time  secretly  attached  to  the  doctrines 
of  the  Reformation,  and  upon  its  establishment  became 
ministers  of  the  church.  As  Anderson  was  one  of 
these,  it  may  be  presumed  that  Melville  was  indebted 
to  him  for  instruction  in  the  principles  of  religion,  as 
well  as  of  secular  learning.  But  he  had  a  more  able 
instructor  in  his  pious  and  intelligent  brother,  who  for 
many  years  had  been  a  convert  to  the  protestant 
faith. 

We  have  been  accustomed  to  suppose  that  Patrick 
Hamilton  was  the  first  who  introduced  the  reformed 
opinions  into  Scotland,  that  he  acquired  them  abroad, 
and  that  they  were  embraced  by  very  few  of  his  coun- 
trymen previously  to  his  martyrdom.  This  opinion 
requires  to  be  corrected.  Before  that  youthful  and 
zealous  reformer  made  his  appearance,  the  errors  and 
corruptions  of  Popery  had  been  detected  by  others, 
who  were  ready  toco-operate  with  him  in  his  measures 
of  reform.  The  more  the  subject  is  investigated,  the 
more  clearly,  I  am  persuaded,  it  will  appear  that  the 
opinions  of  Wlckliffe  had  a  powerful  and  extensive  in- 
fluence upon  the  Reformation.  Even  in  Scotland  they 
contributed  greatly  to  predispose  the  minds  of  men  to 
the  Protestant  doctrine.  We  can  trace  the  existence 
of  the  Lollards  in  Ayrshire  from  the  time  of  Wickliffe 
to  the  days  of  George  Wishart ;  and  in  Fife  they  were 
so  numerous  as  to  have  formed  the  design  of  rescuing 
Patrick  Hamilton  by  force  on  the  day  of  his  execu- 
tion.* 

It  has  been  observed  by  a  celebrated  historian,  and 
the  observation  is  commonly  received  as  correct,  that 
the  reformed  preachers  in  Scotland  "  gained  credit, 
as  happens  generally  on  the  promulgation  of  every 
new  religion,  chiefly  among  persons  in  the  lower  and 
middle  ranks  of  life.""|"  This  sentiment  does  not  ap- 
pear to  be  well-founded.  It  rests  not  upon  proper 
evidence,  but  on  inferences  from  what  happened  at 
the  first  promulgation  of  Christianity,  and  from  the 
manner  in  which  certain  sects  have  arisen  in  modern 
times.  The  fact  of  the  first  preachers  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  and  the  early  converts  to  their  doctrine, 
being  found  chiefly  among  the  lower  and  middle  ranks 
of  society,  is  connected  with  its  miraculous  propa- 
gation. And  we  are  not  entitled  to  infer  from  this, 
either  that  it  would  have  spread  in  this  way  if  it  had 
been  left  to  the  operation  of  natural  causes,  or  that 
providence  would  always  follow  the  same  plan  in  its 
subsequent  extension.  The  divine  authority  and 
truth  of  Christianity  having  been  once  completely  es- 
tablished, it  was  fit  that  external  means  of  a  more  or- 
dinary kind  should  be  employed  to  facilitate  its  future 
diffusion,  and  that  these  should  be  varied  according 
to  the  circumstances  of  the  people  among  whom  it  was 
to  be  introduced  or  restored.  Accordingly,  the  refor- 
mation of  religion  was  preceded  by  the  revival  of  let- 
ters throughout  Europe  :  the  principal  reformers  were 
men  of  superior  talents  and  education  :  and  their  cause 
was  espoused  and  essentially  promoted  by  persons 
who  possessed  secular  authority  and  influence.  We 
are  extremely  apt,  if  not  on  our  guard  against  the  bias 
of  our  thoughts,  to  form  an  opinion  of  a  former  period 
according  to  ideas  borrowed  from  our  own,  without 
adverting  duly  to  the  points  of  difference  between 
them.  If  we  attend  to  the  state  of  society  in  Scotland 
at  that  time — to  the  almost  unbounded  power  of  the 
barons, — the  vassalage  of  the  people, — the  ignorance 
which  reigned  among  the  lower,  and  the  rarity  of 
education  among  the  middle  ranks,  with  other  pecu- 
liar hindrances  to  the  communication  of  knowledge, 
we  shall  be  convinced  that  the  Reformation,  humanly 
speaking,  and  without  a  miracle,  could  not  have  spread 


•  See  Note  D. 


f  Robertson's  History  of  Scotland. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


215 


t  Ibid.  p.  3. 

jl  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  6. 

f  Ibid.  p.  5. 


*  Melville's  Diary,   p.  2,  3. 

}  Life  of  Knox,  vol.  i.p.  177— 180. 

}  Melville's  Diary,  p.  27. 

**  See  Note  E. 

++  '•  Our  Regent  (says  James  Melville)  told  me  of  my  uncle 
Mr.  Andrew  Melville,  whom  he  knew  in  the  time  of  his  course 
in  the  New  College  to  use  the  Greek  logicks  of  Aristotle, 
which  was  a  wonder  to  them,  that  he  was  so  fine  a  scholar,  and 
of  such  expectation." — "  All  that  was  taught  of  Aristotle  he 
learned  and  studyed  it  out  of  the  Greek  text,  which  his  was- 
ters understood  not. "     Melville's  Diary,  p.  18.  28. 

William  Colless,  or  Collace,  was  James  Melville's  Regent. 


as  it  did — the  truth  could  not  have  obtained  a  fair 
hearing,  nor  have  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  com- 
mon people,  if  it  had  not  been  embraced  and  patron- 
ized by  persons  of  superior  rank  and  means  of  infor- 
mation. The  fact  exactly  corresponds  to  this  view. 
The  opinions  of  Wickliffe  were  preserved  in  some  of 
the  most  respectable  families  both  in  the  western  and 
eastern  corners  of  the  kingdom  ;  Hamilton  and  Wis- 
hart  were  of  honourable  descent ;  and  the  sermons  of 
the  latter  were  attended  by  the  principal  persons  in 
Ayrshire,  the  Lothians,  Fife,  and  Angus. 

The  Melvilles  of  Fife  were  among  the  early  adher- 
ents of  the  Protestant  doctrine ;  and  the  family  of 
Baldovy  had  embraced  it  before  the  birth  of  Andrew 
Melville.  His  eldest  brother,  Richard,  having  re- 
ceived a  learned  education,  and  being  trained  by  his 
father  to  the  knowledge  of  country  affairs,  was  chosen 
to  accompany  John  Erskine  of  Dun,  on  his  travels  to 
the  Continent.  It  is  probable  that  the  young  baron 
and  his  tutor  had  been  initiated  into  the  Protestant 
doctrine  before  leaving  home.  For  they  repaired  to 
Wittemberg,  and  prosecuted  their  studies  during  two 
years  under  that  distinguished  reformer  and  scholar, 
Philip  Melanchthon.  They  also  visited  Denmark,  and 
attended  the  lectures  of  their  countryman  John  Mac- 
cabeus, who  had  been  recently  admitted  Professor  of 
Divinity  in  the  university  of  Copenhagen.*  On  their 
return  to  Scotland,  they  exerted  themseives  in  diffus- 
ing the  knowledge  which  they  had  acquired.  With 
George  Wishart  they  cultivated  the  most  intimate  ac- 
quaintance ;  and  the  houses  of  Dun  and  Baldovy  be- 
came the  resort  of  the  friends  of  religion  and  letters. f 
Andrew  Melville  was  eleven  years  old  in  1556,  when 
Knox  paid  a  visit  to  Dun,  and  when  the  sermons 
which  he  preached  there  were  attended  by  most  of 
the  gentlemen  in  the  neighbourhood.:^: 

I  have  elsewhere  mentioned  the  important  service 
which  John  Erskine  of  Dun  rendered  to  the  literature 
of  Scotland  by  establishing  a  Greek  school  in  Mon- 
trose.||  Pierre  de  Marsilliers,  a  native  of  France, 
taught  in  it,  when  Melville  had  finished  his  course  of 
Latin  at  the  grammar  school.  This  was  an  opportun- 
ity not  to  be  neglected  by  one  who  was  passionately 
fond  of  knowledge.  Instead  of  going  to  the  university, 
as  was  usual  for  young  men  of  his  age  and  progress, 
he  put  himself  under  the  care  of  this  learned  French- 
man ;  and  prosecuted  the  study  of  Greek  during  two 
years  with  great  avidity. §  From  Marsilliers  he  had 
also  the  opportunity  of  acquiring  a  more  perfect  ac- 
quaintance with  the  French  language,  the  first  prin- 
ciples of  which  were  at  that  time  commonly  taught 
to  young  men  along  with  Latin  grammar.^f 

In  the  year  1559  he  went  to  the  university  of  St. 
Andrew's,  and  entered  the  college  of  St.  Mary,  or,  as 
it  was  sometimes  called,  the  New  College.**  The 
writings  of  Aristotle  were  then  the  only  text  book,  in 
all  the  sciences  taught  in  our  colleges ;  and  the  lec- 
tures given  w:ere  properly  comments  on  his  several 
treatises  of  logic,  rhetoric,  ethics,  and  physics.  But 
the  professors  were  unacquainted  with  the  original 
language  of  their  oracle,  and  read  and  commented  up- 
on his  works  in  a  Latin  translation.  Melville,  how- 
ever, made  use  of  the  Greek  text  in  his  studies  ;  a  cir- 
cumstance which  excited  astonishment  in  the  univer- 
sity.ff     But  it  should  be  recorded  to  the  praise  of  his 


[  teachers,  that,  though  they  could  not  fail  to  be  morti- 
fied under  a  sense  of  their  own  inferiority  to  their  pu- 
pil, they  indulged  no  mean  jealousy  of  his  superior 
acquirements,  testified  no  desire  to  eclipse  his  repu- 
tation; threw  no  obstacles  in  the  way  of  his  advance- 
ment; but,  on  the  contrary,  loaded  him  with  commen- 
dations, and  did  every  thing  in  their  power  to  encour- 
age a  youth,  who,  they  fondly  hoped,  would  prove  a 
credit  and  an  ornament  to  his  country.  When  he  first 
came  to  St.  Andrew's,  the  admiration  at  his  proficiency 
in  learning  was  increased  by  his  small  stature  and 
slender  frame  of  body,  which  gave  him  a  very  boyish 
appearance.  John  Douglas,  who  was  provost  of  St. 
Mary's  college  and  rector  of  the  university,  distin- 
guished him  by  marks  of  the  kindest  and  most  condes- 
cending approbation.  He  used  to  invite  him  to  his 
chamber,  take  him  between  his  knees,  propose  ques- 
tions to  him  on  the  subject  of  his  studies,  and,  delight- 
ed with  his  replies,  to  exclaim,  "  My  silly,  fatherless, 
and  motherless  boy,  its  ill  to  witt  what  God  may 
make  of  thee  yet  !"* 

In  the  College  of  St.  Mary,  Melville  had  for  his 
class-fellows,  two  persons  of  excellent  talents; 
Thomas  Maitland,  the  brother  of  the  celebrated  secre- 
tary of  Queen  Mary,  and  James  Lawson,  the  colleague 
and  successor  of  Knox,  with  whom  he  continued 
afterwards  to  maintain  an  intimate  friendship.  It  does 
not  appear  who  was  the  tutor,  or  regent,  as  he  was 
called,  that  carried  them  through  their  course  of  phi- 
losophy.f  A  view  of  the  state  of  education  at  St. 
Andrew's  will  be  given  in  a  subsequent  part  of  this 
work.  .It  may  be  sufficient  at  present  to  notice,  that 
the  means  of  instruction  in  St.  Mary's  were  more 
ample  than  in  either  of  the  two  other  colleges.  It  had 
separate  classes  for  grammar  and  rhetoric ;  and,  be- 
sides, a  teacher  of  law,  to  whose  lectures  the  students 
of  philosophy  had  access  before  they  commenced  mas- 
ters of  arts.:t: 

Having  finished  the  usual  course  of  study,  Melville 
left  the  University  of  St.  Andrew's  with  the  character 
of  "  the  best  philosopher,  poet,  and  Grecian  of  any 
young  master  in  the  land."|| 

While  Melville  was  engaged  in  his  academical 
education,  Buchanan  returned  to  his  native  country. 
It  is  much  to  be  regretted,  that  we  have  such  scanty 
information  respecting  the  manner  in  which  that  great 
scholar  was  employed  from  1561  to  1567,  when  he  be- 
came principal  of  St.  Leonard's  college.  As  it  is,  we 
are  left  to  suppose  that  he  spent  the  time  in  teaching 
the  queen  Latin,  and  in  preparing  his  poems  for  the 
press.  In  a  copy  of  verses  addressed  to  him  on  his 
recovery  from  a  dangerous  illness,  Melville  calls  him 
his  Master.^     In  the  absence  of  all  other  information, 


He  was  of  St.  Leonard's  College,  and  was  incorporated  inta 
the  university  at  the  same  time  with  Andrew  Melville. 

*  Melville's  Diary,  p.  28. 

t  Dempster  mentions  Alexander  Ramsay  as  the  preceptor 
of  Melville.  "  Alexander  Ramsayus  vir  doctissimus  m  patria 
Sanctandreano  Gymnasio  praeclarani  famam  ab  eruditione  ac- 
cepit,  Andrew  Melvini  praceptor.  Scripsit  Panegyricos  La- 
tinos: Castigationem  Veterum  Dionysii  Halicarnassaei  Inter- 
pretum  Latmorum:  Notas  in  D.  Paulini  Opera,"  (Hist. 
Eccles.  Scot.  lib.  16.  p.  563.)  I  have  not  met  with  the  name 
of  Alexander  Ramsay  as  a  teacher  at  St.  Andrew's;  perhaps 
he  taught  at  Paris  while  Melville  was  there. 

t  Fundatio  et  Erectio  NoviiCollegii,  Anno  1553.  Melville's- 
Diary,  p.  16. 

I)  Melville's  Diary,  p.  28.     See  also  Note  E. 

5  "Andreas  Melvinus  Geo.  Buchanano  Praeceptori  suo  et 
Musarum  parenti."  (Testimonia  prefix.  Oper.  Buchanani, 
p.  21.  Edit.  Ruddim.)  It  may  be  remarked,  that  Sir  Thomas 
Randolph,  thewell  known  ambassador  from  Elizabeth  to  Scot- 
land, when  he  mentions  Buchanan,  uses  the  expression  "my 
Master,"  both  in  letters  to  him  and  to  others.  (Buchanani 
Epistolae,  p.  18,  19.)  Ruddiman,  in  his  Notes  on  Buchanan's 
Life,  says,  that  Randolph  was  taught  humanity  by  Buchanan, — 
"  a  Buchanano  humanioribus  Uteris  eruditus."  The  writer  of 
Randolph's  Life  in  the  Biographia  Britannica  (vol.  v.  p.  3490.) 
understands  this  as  meaning  that  he  had  Buchanan  for  "  his 
schoolmaster,"  before  he   entered  the  university  of  Oxford. 


216 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


we  are  not  perhaps  warranted  to  take  this  expression 
literally  as  implying  that  he  had  been  under  his  tuition. 
But  considering  the  zeal  with  which  Buchanan  patron- 
ized literature,  and  the  affability  with  which  he  re- 
ceived young  men  of  promising  talents,  it  is  highly 
probable  that  Melville  was  at  this  early  period  ad- 
mitted to  his  society,  and  profited  at  least  by  his  pri- 
vate instructions,  during  the  visits  which  he  appears 
to  have  paid  to  St.  Andrew's.*  The  fame  which  his 
illustrious  countryman  had  acquired,  and  the  perusal 
of  his  poems,  must  have  roused  the  youthful  fancy  of 
Melville,  and  led  him  to  devote  himself  to  a  species 
of  composition  in  which  he  afterwards  attained  to 
great  excellence.  To  this,  however,  his  mind  had 
been  attracted  at  a  still  earlier  period.  His  brother 
was  an  admirer  of  the  Latin  poetry  of  the  Italians, 
who  had  recently  cultivated  the  ancient  language  of 
their  country  with  uncommon  ardour  and  the  most 
wonderful  success.  Palingenius,  in  particular,  was  a 
favourite  with  Richard  Melville  on  account  of  the  pu- 
rity of  his  moral  sentiments,  as  well  as  the  elegant 
dress  in  which  they  were  clothed  ;  and  he  was  wont 
to  repeat  passages  from  his  Zodtacus  Vitae  to  the 
youth  of  his  family,  and  to  make  them  commit  the 
poem  to  memory. t 

While  Melville  was  yet  at  the  university  of  St. 
Andrew's,  his  talents  had  attracted  the  notice  of  learn- 
ed foreigners  who  visited  Scotland.  Among  these  was 
Petrus  Bizzarus,  a  poet  of  Italy,  who  had  left  his  na- 
tive country  from  attachment  to  the  reformed  religion. 
After  spending  some  time  at  the  court  of  London,  he 
came  to  Scotland,  where  he  was  honourably  received 
by  Queen  Mary,  and  by  the  Earl  of  Murray,  who  had 
then  the  chief  direction  of  the  government.:^  Melville 
was  introduced  to  Bizzari,  who  expressed  his  warm 
regard  for  him  in  a  copy  of  verses  inserted  in  a  work 
which  was  soon  after  published. ||  This  was  a  flatter- 
ing compliment  to  so  young  a  man,  especially  as  he 
was  the  only  scholar  in  his  native  country  who  shared 
this  honour  with  Buchanan. 

Having  acquired  all  the  branches  of  learning  which 


This  is  a  mistake;  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  Randolph  studied 
under  Buchanan  in  the  University  of  Paris,  when  he  fled  from 
England  into  France  to  escape  the  persecution  of  Queen  Mary. 
This  was  in  1553.  (Biogr.  Brit,  ut  supra.  Wood's  Athenae 
Oxoniensis,  by  Bliss,  vol.  i.  p.  567.)  In  the  course  of  that  year 
Buchanan  taught  at  Paris,  as  a  regent  in  the  College  of  Bon- 
court.     Irving's  Memoirs  of  Buchanan,  p.  90.  2d  Edit. 

*  Epist.  Dedic.  in  Franciscanos.  t  Melville's  Diary,  p.  8. 
t  Bizzarus  informs  us  that  Mary  presented  him  with  a  cnain 
of  gold,  and  he  has  addressed  one  of  his  treatises  to  that  prin- 
cess. (Varia  Opuscula,  f.  28,  a.)  lu  a  poem  inscribed  "  Ad 
Jacobum  Stuardum  Scotura,"  he  celebrates  the  victory  which 
that  nobleman  gained  over  the  Earl  of  Huntty,  in  sucn  terms 
as  to  warrant  the  conclusion,  that  he  was  then  in  Scotland. 
(Ibid.  f.  93,  a.)  The  battle  of  Corrichie,  in  which  Huntly  fell, 
was  fought  in  October,  1562. 

II  The  following  are  the  lines  referred  to: — 
Ad  Andream  Melvinum  Scotum. 
NvUa  apis  Hyblajis  legit  de  floribus  unquam, 

Deq;  vllis  herbis  dulcia  mella  magis; 
Dulcia  vina  magis  nunquani  de  dulcibug  vuig 

Vila  dedit  vitis  qnohbet  axe  poli: 
Qu^m  mihi  dulcis  ades,  duici  sermone,  tuisq; 

Mellitis  verbis,  moribus,  ingenio. 
Sincerum  pectus,  fidei  constantia  vere, 

Verajq ;  sincera  cum  pietate,  fides ; 
Me  tibi  sic  vinclo  dudum  obstrinxere  tenaci, 

Meluine,  vt  possit  soluere  nulla  dies. 
Nulla  dies  soluet,  distaatia  nulla  locorum. 
Imminuet,  firmum  sed  mihi  semper  erit. 
Petri  Bizzari  Varia  Opvscvla^  f.  109,  b.  Venetiis,  1565,  12mo. 
For  pointing  out  to  rae  this  rare  book,  and  for  other  valuable 
notices,  I  am  indebted  to  Dr.  Irving,  the  learned  biographer  of 
Buchanan.— Some  of  Bizzari's  poems  were  afterwards  reprint- 
ed in  DeliticB  Poetarum   Italorum.    The  one  just  quoted  is 
there   inscribed  "  Ad   Andream  Miluinura,"  (torn.  i.  p.  437.) 
Bizzari  is  also  the  author  of  a  history  of  the  war  in  Hungary, 
from  1564  to  1568,  written  in  Italian,  and  a  history  of  Persia, 
in  Latin.     A  letter  from  him  to  Lord  Burleigh,  written  from 
the  Turkish  dominions,  Aug.  18,  1575,  is  inserted  in  Murden's 
State  Papers,  p.  287. 


his  native  country  afforded,  Andrew  Melville  resolved 
to  complete  his  education  on  the  Continent.  In 
autumn,  1564,  being  nineteen  years  of  age,  he  set  out 
for  France,  having  previously  obtained  the  consent  of 
his  brothers  to  the  journey.  His  voyage  was  both 
tedious  and  dangerous.  Through  stress  of  weather 
he  was  obliged  to  land  in  England,  and  afterwards  to 
go  to  Bourdeaux,  from  which  he  returned  by  sea  to 
Dieppe.  Having  reached  Paris,  he  immediately  com- 
menced his  studies  in  the  renowned  university  of  that 
city._ 

We  may  in  general  form  a  correct  estimate  of  the 
progress  which  a  young  man  of  talents  and  thirst  for 
knowledge  will  make,  from  the  state  of  education,  and 
the  character  of  the  teachers,  in  the  seminary  which 
he  attends.  The  university  of  Paris  had  long  enjoyed 
a  pre-eminent  reputation  among  the  great  schools  of 
Europe,  founded  on  its  antiquity,  the  number  of  its 
colleges,  the  extent  of  its  revenues,  and  the  venerated 
names  which  stood  enrolled  in  its  registers  as  profes- 
sors and  graduates.  Attracted  by  these  considerations, 
a  multitude  of  young  men  from  all  the  surrounding 
countries  flocked  to  it  annually,  and  were  admitted 
citizens  of  one  or  other  of  the  four  nations  into  which 
that  learned  corporation  was  divided.* 

But  whatever  was  its  popular  celebrity,  the  univei- 
sity  of  Paris  was  indebted  for  its  real  eminence  to  the 
Royal  Trilijigual  College,  founded  in  1529  by  Francis 
I.  at  the  recommendation  of  Budaeus.  That  great 
scholarf  had  long  lamented  the  inefficiency  of  the 
university  for  promoting  the  interests  of  literature,  and 
despaired  of  introducing  a  tolerable  reform  into  col- 
leges founded  in  unenlightened  times,  and  governed 
by  laws  and  usages  which  were  as  deeply  rooted  in 
inveterate  prejudice  as  they  were  irreconcileable  to  the 
principles  of  liberal  science.  The  new  institution 
was  formed  on  the  model  of  the  Busilidian  College  at 
Louvain,  which  had  been  so  zealously  patronized  by 
Erasmus.:}:  It  was  the  intention  of  Budaeus  to  have  had 
that  distinguished  scholar  placed  at  its  head  ;  but  he 
declined  an  honour  which  he  foresaw  would  involve 
him  in  those  troublesome  and  unsafe  disputes  from 
which  it  was  his  uniform  object  to  escape.  The  Royal 
Trilingual  College  was  originally  intended,  as  its 
name  imports,  for  teaching  the  three  learned  languages, 
Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew  ;  although  it  was  for  some 
time  before  a  teacher  of  Latin  was  appointed,  owing 
to  the  opposition  made  by  the  members  of  the  univer- 
sity which  led  Erasmus,  in  one  of  his  letters,  to  call 
them  bilingual  pedants.  The  friends  of  learning  ob- 
tained from  Francis  I.  and  his  successors,  the  endow- 
ment of  additional  classes  in  the  new  establishment; 
and  when  Melville  came  to  Paris,  there  were  royal 
professors  in  all  the  branches  of  science,  except  Civil 
Law  and  Divinity.  Previous  to  the  erection  of  the 
Royal  College,  there  was  no  provision  in  the  university 
for  instructing  young  men  in  the  learned  languages  ; 
the  professors,  in  the  different  faculties,  fsccupied  them- 
selves in   commenting    on    barbarous  and   monkish 


*  The  four  nations  were  those  of  France,  Picardy,  Nor- 
mandy, and  Germany  or  England,  in  which  last  Scotland  and 
Ireland  were  included.  In  1513,  there  were  90  Regents  be- 
longing to  the  nation  of  France  alone.  (Bulsei  Hist.  Univer- 
sitatis  Parisiensis,  toni.  vi.  p.  59.)  In  the  12th  century,  the 
number  of  members  of  the  university  neai-Iy  equalled  that  of 
the  citizens  of  Paris,  and  included  students  from  every  part  of 
Christendom.  (Epist.  Dioeiilensis  ad  Abaelardum,  apud  Bu- 
laei  Hist.  torn.  ii.  p.  663.)  Aoout  the  beginning  of  the  16th  cen- 
tury, there  were  10,000  persons  in  it  engaged  in  different 
branches  of  study.  (Pontanus  de  Ot>edientia,  lib.  5.  can.  6.  apud 
Gratiarum  Act.  pro  Instaurata  Parisiensi  Aradtmia.  p.  14. 
Paris.  1601.)  Joseph  Scaliger  says,  that  when  he  attended  the 
university,  (which  was  only  a  few  years  before  Melville  enter- 
ed it,)  there  were  thirty  thousand  students.  Des  Maizeaux, 
Scaligerana,  &c.  tom.  ii.  p.  490. 

f  "  Nunquam  erit  in  Gallia  alter  Budseus."  Scaligerana 
Secunda. 

I  J.  Frid.  Barscher,  Spicilcgia  Antogr.  Epist.  ad  Erasmum, 
Spicileg.  IT.  p.  6,  7.    Lips.  1802. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


217 


authors,  and  in  the  discussion  of  frivolous  and  intri- 
cate questions;  the  exercises  of  the  students  consisted 
of  noisy  and  captious  disputations;  and  degrees  were 
conferred  in  a  manner  which  would  be  reckoned  dis- 
graceful by  those  universities  which  are  at  present 
most  lavish  in  the  distribution  of  their  nominal  hon- 
ours.* But  a  change  to  the  bettor  might  now  be  ob- 
served in  every  branch  of  education.  The  court  had 
the  right  of  presentation  to  the  chairs  in  the  new  col- 
lege, and  as  it  was  become  fashionable  for  the  kings 
of  France  to  act  as  the  patrons  of  learning,  men  of 
talents  and  erudition  were  usually  appointed  to  fill 
them.  In  addition  to  the  direct  influence  of  their  in- 
structions, they  contributed  indirectly  but  powerfully 
to  reform  the  university.  They  excited  strong  hos- 
tility indeed,  but  they  at  the  same  time  produced  emu- 
lation. They  occasioned  fierce  disputes  by  provok- 
ing the  resentment  of  illiterate  sophists  and  bigoted 
theologues,  but  they  also  broke  the  slumber  which 
these  literary  drones  had  hitherto  indulged  in  their 
cells,  and  roused  them  to  exertions  which  ollierwise 
they  never  would  have  made.  The  professors  in  the 
old  colleges  perceived  that  they  were  in  danger  of  be- 
ingeclipsed  by  their  more  learned  and  active  rivals,  and 
■were  reduced  to  the  alternative  of  exerting  themselves, 
and  adopting  the  new  improvements,  if  they  did  not 
wish  to  see  their  lessons  contemned,  their  classes  de- 
serted, and  tlieir  emoluments  alarmingly  reduced. 

When  Melville  entered  the  nuiversity  of  Paris,  it 
was  in  its  most  prosperous  state.  'I'he  late  improve- 
ments had  produced  their  salutary  fruit,  and  they  had 
not  yet  felt  the  blasting  influence  of  the  spirit  of  faction 
and  fanaticism  engendered  by  the  infamous  League, 
which,  within  a  short  time,  destroyed  the  labours 
of  many  years,  and  reduced  that  flourishing  seminary  to 
its  original  barbarism. f  The  nation  was  enjoying  a 
respite  during  the  interval  between  the  first  civil  war 
which  ended  in  1563,  and  the  second  which  broke  out 
in  1567;  and  several  of  the  professors,  who  as  well 
as  the  students,  had  been  involved  in  the  public  con- 
fusions, had  returned  to  Paris,  and  were  restored  to 
the  charges  which  they  had  left,  or  from  which  they 
had  been  driven  b}'  the  violence  of  the  times.:}: 

Among  the  professors  whose  lectures  were  attended 
by  Melville,  we  find  the  names  of  those  who  held  a 
distinguished  rank  in  their  several  professions,  and  to 
whom  letters  and  philosophy  are  under  the  greatest 
obligations.  The  Greek  chair  in  the  Royal  College 
was  still  filled  by  Turnebus,  who  had  formerly  been 
the  colleague  of  Buchanan  in  that  university,  and  who 
united  an  elegant  taste  with  the  highest  critical  attain- 
ments. Melville  had  the  happiness  to  attend  the  last 
course  of  lectures  delivered  by  that  learned  man  in  the 
year  in  which  he  died.||  Mercerus  and  Quinquarbo- 
reus  were  conjunct  royal  Professors  of  Hebrew  and 
Chaldee.  By  his  oral  instructions,  the  elementary 
treatises  which  he  published,  and  his  translations 
from  Hebrew  and  Chaldee,  the  former  contributed 
more  than  any  individual  of  that  age  to  the  advance- 
ment of  eastern  learning.  His  commentaries  on  the 
Old  Testament  still  deserve  the  attention  of  the  bibli- 
cal student;  and  Father  Simon,  whose  judgment  was 
sufficiently  fastidious,   has    pronounced    the    highest 


*  Bulaei  Hist.  torn.  vi.  p.  ii.  915.  Gratiarum  Actio,  ut  supra, 
p.  14. 

f  1-ibelIus  Supplex  ad  August.  Senatvm  pro  Academia  Par- 
isicnsi,  p.  14.  Paris  1601.  Gfatiarvm  Actio  pro  Instaurata  Par- 
isiensi  Academia,  p.  14,  26-  -20.     Paris,  1601. 

t  Bulaei  Hist.  Univ.  Paris,  t.  vi.  p.  650,  551.  Bayle,  Diet.  art. 
Ramie. 

II  He  died  prematurely  in  June  1565.  (Hist.  Typographo- 
rum  Paris,  p.  47 — 78.  BuIkus,  vi.  918.)  It  has  been  supposed 
that  he  was  of  Scots  extraction,  and  that  his  proper  name  was 
Tournebeuf  or  Turnbull.  Dempster  says  that  he  was  of  the 
same  family  as  William  Turnbull,  bishop  of  Glasg-ow.  (Hist. 
Eccl.  Scot.  p.  623.)  Another  writer  says,  "  Ex  familia  Turn- 
bnUorum  in  Lisdalia  Scotiae  provincia  oriundus."  (D.  Buch- 
ananus  de  Script.  Scot.  MS.  in  Bibl.  Coll.  Edin.)  And  again, 
in  the  Appendix,  "Hadrianus  Turnebus  Scoto  avo  natus." 
2C 


eulogium  on  him,  when  he  says,  that  Merrier  posses- 
sed all  the  qnalifications  of  an  interpreter  of  Scripture, 
and  that  the  only  thing  to  be  regretted  in  him  is,  that 
he  suffered  himself  to  be  carried  away  by  the  novel 
opinions  of  the  reformers.*  Cinq  Arbres,  though  des- 
titute of  the  critical  acumen  and  extensive  knowledge 
of  his  colleague,  has  shown  that  he  was  well  acquainted 
with  the  Hebrew  grammar.f  Under  such  able  mas- 
ters, Melville  applied  himself  with  great  assiduity  to 
the  study  of  oriental  languages,  which  he  could  not 
acquire  in  his  native  country. 

We  must  not  omit  to  mention  here  the  celebrated 
Petrus  Ramus,  who  excited  so  much  notice  by  his 
bold  and  persevering  attacks  on  the  Aristotelian  Phi- 
losophy, and  became  the  founder  of  a  new  sect  which 
made  no  inconsiderable  progress  in  the  schools  of 
Europe.  Whatever  opinion  may  be  entertained  on  the 
merits  of  his  system  of  logic,  or  its  tendency  to  ad- 
vance real  science,  it  does  not  admit  of  a  doubt  that  a 
young  man  of  talents  must  have  derived  the  greatest 
benefit  from  a  teacher  of  such  ardour  and  indepen- 
dence, if  not  originality  of  mind,  and  of  so  much 
eloquence,  as  Ramus  possessed.  The  greatest  men 
of  that  age  were  trained  up  under  him  ;^  and  several 
of  those  who,  like  Scaliger,  have  spoken  disrespect- 
fully of  his  merits,  were  indebted  to  him  for  that 
acuteness  and  classical  taste  which  enabled  them  to 
detect  the  blunders  which  he  committed,  and  into 
which  he  was  betrayed  by  precipitation  and  a  fond- 
ness for  distinguishing  himself  in  every  department  of 
knowledge.  He  was  at  this  time  Royal  Professor  of 
Roman  Eloquence,  as  well  as  Principal  of  the  Col- 
lege de  Presle.  Melville  attended  his  lectures,  and 
we  shall  afterwards  have  occasion  to  shew  that  he 
introduced  the  plan  of  teaching,  and  the  mode  of  phi- 
losophizing, followed  by  his  master,  into  the  univer- 
sities of  Scotland. 1^ 


*  Simon,  Histoire  Critique  de  V.  Testament,  liv.  iii.  chap. 
14.  Beza;  Icones,  Y.  j.  et  Prefat.  ejus  in  Merceri  Comment,  m 
Ecclesiasten.  The  first  separate  and  formal  treatise  on  Chal- 
daic  grammar  was  "  Tabulas  in  Grammaticen  linguae  Chaldaese, 
quas  et  Syriaca  dicitur — Johanne  Mercero  Hebraicarum  Liter- 
arum  Professore  Regio.  Paris.  1560."  4to.  Beautifully 
printed  at  the  royal  press  by  William  Morell. 

f  "De  Re  Grammatica  Hebrajorum  Opus,  in  gratia  Studio- 
soruni  lingufe  Sancta»,  methodo  facillinis  conscriptum,  Authore 
Johanne  Quinquarboreo  Aurilacensi,  linguarum  Hebraicas  et 
Caldaicae  Regio  Professore.  Tertia  ct  Postrenia  editio.  Par- 
isiis  apud  Martinum  Juvenem.  1556."  Wolfius  says  that  this 
work  was  printed  at  Paris  in  1549.  1556.  and  1582.  Bibl.  Hebr. 
torn.  ii.  p.  615.  But  it  appears  from  the  above  title  thatthei-e 
were  two  editions  of  it  before  1556. 

J  Nicolaus  Nancelius,  referring  to  his  having  taught  in  1553 
under  Ramus  in  the  College  de  Presle,  says,  in  a  letter  to 
Buchanan,  "  ubi  Regii  tum  juvenes  Stuarti  vestrates  disce- 
bant."  (Buchanani  Epistola?,  p.  35.)  One  of  these  was  the 
Prior  of  St.  Andrew's,  afterwards  the  Regent  Murray.  It  ap- 
pears, from  a  Visitation  of  St.  Leonard's  college,  that  he  was 
on  the  Continent  in  1551 ;  for  a  cause  is  delayed  •' usque  ad 
redditum  [redituni]  Dni  Coramendatarii  Prioratus  S.  Andres 
— ex  partibus  transniarinis."  (Papers  of  St.  Leonard's  Col- 
lege.) And  a  Conmiission  by  William,  bishop  of  Aberdeen, 
is  signed  by  the  Prior,  as  a  witness,  at  Paris,  September  13,. 
1552.     (Keith's  Scottish  Bishops,  p.  74.) 

|]  Melville's  Diary,  p.  33.  Besides  the  lectures  of  these  pro- 
fessors, he  attended  also  those  of  Duretus,  Paschasius,  Forca- 
tellus,  Carpentarius,  and  Salignacus.  Louis  Durat  was  the  fa- 
vourite physician  of  Charles  IX.  and  Henry  Ilf.  (Teissier, 
Eloges,  t.  ii.  p.  320,  2d.  Edit.) — Paschasius  Hanielius  succeed- 
ed Orontius  Fiucgus,  the  first  royal  Professor  of  Mathematics, 
and  died  in  1565.  Bulaeus,  vi.  651.  915.  966. — Forcatellus  was 
the  author  of  two  works  on  the  science  which  he  taught:  "  Le 
Troisieme  Livre  de  Arithmetique,  par  Pierre  de  Forcadel." 
Paris,  1557,  4to;  and  "  Les  Six  Premieres  Livres  des  Ele- 
ments d'Evclide  trad,  et  commentez  par  Pierre  Forcadel  de 
Bezies."  Paris,  1564.  4to. — Jacobus  Carpentarius  (Charpen- 
tier)  the  great  opponent  of  Ramus,  was  chosen  royal  Professor 
of  Mathematics  in  1565.  Ramus  opposed  his  admission  on  the 
ground  of  his  ignorance  of  that  science,  and  urged  that,  as  he 
had  taken  the  title  of  Professor  of  Philosophy  and  Mathema- 
tics, there  was  reason  to  fear  he  intended  to  confine  himself  to 
the  former  branch,  and  to  neglect  the  latter.  (Bulaeus,  tom.  vi. 
p.  550 — 652)  James  Melville  mentions  Salinacus  among  the 
professors  of  Mathematics.     But  this  is  a  mistake.    Joannes 


218 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


While  he  listened  to  the  instructions  of  the  Roj^al 
Professors,  Melville  took  his  share  in  the  usual  aca- 
demical exercises.  And,  during  the  second  j'ear  of 
bis  abode  in  the  university,  he  excited  preat  admira- 
tion by  the  ease  and  fluency  with  which  he  declaimed 
in  Greek.* 

Two  circumstances  rehitinor  to  the  university  of 
Paris,  during  the  time  that  Melville  attended  it,  are 
deserving  of  notice.  The  first  relates  to  the  religious 
liberty  that  was  enjoyed,  and  the  rapid  progress  which 
the  protestant  opinions  were  consequently  making  in 
it.  A  number  of  the  professors,  including  several 
heads  of  colleges,  avowed  their  attachment  to  these, 
and  others  were  strongly  suspected  of  the  same  reli- 
gious bias.f  But  a  few  years  after  Melville  left  Paris, 
all  those  who  refused  to  subscribe  the  Roman  Catholic 
faith,  including  the  students,  were  driven  from  the 
tmiversitj'.:}:  The  other  circumstance  alluded  to  is  the 
opening  of  the  College  of  Clermont  at  Paris  by  the 
Jesuits,  wi4h  the  exertions  made  by  that  intriguing 
order  to  gain  admission  into  the  university,  and  to  in- 
sinuate themselves  into  the  chief  management  of  the 
education  of  youth.  At  the  head  of  this  new  establish- 
ment was  a  countryman  of  Melville's,  Edmund  Hay, 
who  had  been  a  regent  in  the  university  of  St.  An- 
drew's, and  left  Scotland  at  the  establishment  of  the 
Reformation,  to  which  he  was  hostile.!)  The  greater 
part  of  the  Scots  who  retired  to  the  Continent  from 
attachment  to  the  old  religion,  entered  into  the  society 
of  the  Jesuits,  in  which  they  were  sure  to  obtain  pro- 
motion ;  owing  to  the  ardour  of  their  zeal,  and  a  de- 
sire to  allure  converts  from  a  kingdom  that  had  made 
so  sudden  and  general  a  defection  from  the  Catholic 
Church.  Hay  was  entitled  to  these  honours  by  the 
respectability  of  his  character  no  less  than  the  sacri- 
fices which  he  had  made  for  the  ancient  faith..  He 
afterwards  became  rector  of  the  Academy  which  the 
Jesuits  erected  at  Port-a-Mousson,  Provincial  of  the 
Brethren  in  France,  and  Assistant  to  Claudius  Aqua- 
viva,  the  General  of  the  whole  order.§ 


SaliCTiacus  was  the  favourite  scholar  of  Vatablus,  and  distin- 
guished for  his  acquaintance  with  Jewish  and  Rabinical  learn- 
ing. He  appears  to  have  been  one  of  the  royal  Professors 
of  Hebrew  when  Melville  was  at  Paris.  (Coloniesii  Gallia 
Orientalis,  p.  33—35.  Calvini  EpisL  ef  Resp.  p.  163.  Oper. 
toni.  in.) 

*  Melville's  Diary,  p.  33. 

+  Nicholas  Charton,  Principal  of  the  College  of  Beauvais, 
Jean  Dahin,  Principal  of  Chenai,  and  Pierre  Ramee,  Principal 
of  Presle,  with  others  of  inferior  note,  were,  in  1568,  ejected 
from  their  situations,  as  Hugonots.  (Bulteus,  torn.  vi.  p.  657 
— 660.)  The  other  universities  of  France  were,  in  proportion 
to  their  extent,  still  more  generally  infected  with  heresy.  In 
Bourges  eight  professors  were  suspected  of  Lutheranism. 
(Bayle,  Diet.  art.  Dauren.)  The  magistrates  of  Paris,  in  1568, 
enforced  their  petition  for  the  opening  of  a  class  of  Civil  I^aw 
in  the  capital,  by  urging  the  danger  to  which  their  sons  were 
exposed  of  being  infected  with  heresy  at  other  universities. 
(Balaeus,  vi.  668.) 

t  Bulaeus,  vi.  562.  583. 

II  Records  of  University  of  St.  Andrew's.  Crawfurd  sars  he 
was  the  son  of  Peter  Hay  of  Meggins,.  ancestor  of  the  i^arls 
of  Kinnoul.  (Officers  of  State,  p.  157.)  But  he  seems  to  have 
confounded  the  Jesuit  with  a  person  of  the  same  name,  who 
was  an  Advocate.  There  is  no  evidence  that  the  former  ever 
followed  the  profession  of  Law;  as  Crawfurd  asserts.  He  had 
left  Scotland  in  1560,  or  at  any  rate  was  in  France  in  1564,  and 
continued,  till  his  death,  to  hold  a  distinguished  place  among 
the  Jesuits  in  that  country.  Mr.  Edmund  Hay,  advocate,  was 
one  of  the  Counsel  for  the  Earl  of  Bothwell,  on  his  trial  for  the 
murder  of  Darnley,  and  in  the  process  of  his  divorce.  (Buch- 
anan's Detection,  sig.  k,  2.  GoodalTs  Examination,  i.  368.)  And 
he  signs  a  Contract  as  a  procurator,  Jaff.  2. 1572.  (Register- 
Book  of  Contracts  of  the  Comniissariot  of  St.  Andrew's.) — 
Dempster  has  stated  with  more  probability,  that  father  Edmund 
Hay  was  descended  from  the  family  of'^Dalgaty,  in  Buchan. 
(Hist.  Eccles.  Scot.  lib.  8.  p.  301.) 

}  Ribadeneira,  Ulustr.  Script.  Societ.  Jas.  Catal.  p.  49.  Lugd. 
1609.  Dempst.  ut  supra.  A  letter  from  Edmuna  Hay,  ("  ex 
Paris,  idib.  Feb.  ir)64,")  in  which  he  gives  an  account  of  the 
snccestful  commencement  of  the  college  of  Clermont,  and  the 
opposition  it  had  met  with,  is  Initerted  by  Bulaeus.  Histor. 
Uuivers.  Paris,  torn.  vi.  p.  588. 


The  knowledge  which  Melville  at  this  time  obtain- 
ed of  liie  designs  of  the  Jesuits,  prompted  him  to  ex- 
ert himself  afterwards  in  putting  the  universities  of 
Scotland  on  such  a  footing  as  to  render  it  unnecessary 
for  young  men  to  seek  education  abroad,  where  they 
were  in  the  utmost  danger  of  being  seduced  by  these 
active  and  artful  zealots  of  Rome.* 

Melville  also  heard  Francis  Baldwin,  the  lawyer, 
who  was  allowed  to  read  occasional  or  extraordinary 
lectures  on  Civil  Law  at  Paris. |  There  was  not  then, 
nor  for  a  considerable  time  after,  a  regular  class  for 
this  science  in  the  university  of  Paris,  and  it  was  not 
without  strenuous  opposition  from  the  other  learned 
corporations  in  France  that  its  erection  was  obtained.:}: 
Melville  had  no  intention  of  practising  law,  but  he  was 
anxious  to  avail  himself  of  the  opportunity  which  he 
enjoyed  of  going  through  a  complete  course  of  educa- 
tion. With  this  view  he  left  Paris  in  1566,  and  went 
to  the  imiversity  of  Poictiers. 

Such  was  the  reputation  which  he  had  gained,  that, 
though  a  stranger,  and  only  twenty-one  years  of  age, 
he  was,  on  his  arrival  at  Poictiers,  made  a  regent  in 
the  college  of  St.  Marceon.  There  was  great  rival- 
ship  between  it  and  the  college  of  St.  Pivareau,  the 
students  of  each  endeavouring  to  excel  those  of  the  other 
in  the  composition  of  verses,  and  in  the  delivery  of 
orations.  In  these  literary  contests  the  college  of  St 
Marceon  carried  away  the  palm  while  Melville  was 
connected  with  it.  In  this  situation  he  remained  for 
three  years,  prosecuting  at  the  same  time  the  study  of 
jurisprudence.jj  Meanwhile,  the  civil  war  between 
the  Catholics  and  Protestants,  which  was  renewed  in 
1567,  spread  through  the  kingdom,  and  extended  its 
baleful  influence  to  the  seats  of  learning.  In  1568, 
Admiral  Coligni,  at  the  head  of  the  Protestant  army, 
laid  siege  to  the  city  of  Poictiers,  which  was  vigor- 
ously defended  by  the  young  Duke  of  Guise.  The 
classes  in  the  university  being  broken  up,  Melville 
entered  into  the  family  of  a  Counsellor  of  Parliament 
as  tutor  to  his  only  son.  When  he  was  making  rapid 
improvement  in  his  education,  this  promising  hoy  was 
prematurely  cut  off.  Coming  into  his  room  one  day, 
Melville  found  his  little  pupil  bathed  in  blood,  and 
mortally  wounded  by  a  cannon  ball  from  the  camp  of 
the  besiegers  which  had  pierced  the  house.  He  lin- 
gered for  a  short  time,  during  which  he  employed  the 
religious  instructions  which  he  had  received  in  com- 
forting his  afllicted  parent  ;  and  expired  in  his  tutor's 
arms,  pronouncing  these  words  in  Greek,  Ai<fairjcaA.i,  «» 
cTjpe/^ov  jun  Ttrojix* — Master,  I  have  finished  my  course. 
Melville  continued  to  retain  a  lively  recollection  of 
this  affecting  scene,  to  which  he  never  could  allude 
without  tears.§ 

During  the  siege  Melville  found  himself  exposed  to 
danger  from  another  cause.  He  had  taken  no  part  in 
the  political  dissensions  of  the  countfy,  and  prudent- 
ly avoided  giving  offence  to  the  Roman  Catholics  with 
whom  he  was  obliged  to  associate.  But  his  inclina- 
tions as  to  religion  were  not  altogether  unknown,ir 
and  any  mercenary  or  officious  informer  might  have 
deprived  him  of  his  liberty,  or  even  his  life,  in  a  place 
which  was  under  martial  law.  There  was  a  small 
company  of  soldiers  stationed  as  a  guard  to  the  Coun- 
sellor's house,  and  Melville  had  raised  the  suspicions 


*  In  1594,  the  Jesuit's  Seminary  bad  nearly  depopulated  the 
colleges  in  the  university  of  Paris. ,  (Bulaeus,  ut  supra,  p.  847.) 

f  Melville's  Diary,  p.  33.  Bayle  states  that  Baldwin,  about 
the  period  here  referre^yi^,  read  lectures  upon  parts  of  the 
Pandects,  at  Paris,  to  a  lai^e  audience,  and  with  great  applause. 
(Diet.  art.  Bavdouin.)  And  it  would  appear  that,  as  early  ai 
1546,  he  and  Hottoman  prelected  on  Civil  Law  in  the  Ecolet 
du  Decret.     Ibid.  art.  Hoiman,  (Francois)  note  M. 

i  See  Note  F.  I|  Melville's  Diary,  ut  suprai 

b  Melville's  Diary,  p.  33,  34. 

f  There  had  been  a  reformed  church  in  Poictiers  for  several 
years,  and  its  minister  sat  in  the  first  National  Synod  of  the 
Protestants  of  France.  In  1560  the  second  National  Synod  wa< 
held  in  that  city.    (Quick,  Synodicon,  i.  2, 12.) 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


319 


of  the  subaltern  oflicer  who  commanded  them,  by 
reading  the  Bible,  and  similar  acts  of  devotion,  which 
were  usually  regarded  by  the  French  soldiery  as  the 
discriminating  marks  of  the  Hugonots  or  Christaud- 
ins.*  An  alarm  being  one  day  given  that  the  enemy 
intended  an  assault,  the  officer,  with  a  stern  voice, 
challenged  him  as  a  Hugonot,  who  would  betray  the 
city  to  the  enemy,  and  whom  he  durst  not  trust  at  lib- 
erty. Melville  repelled  this  charge  with  warmth, 
armed  himself  with  the  utmost  expedition,  and  taking 
a  horse  from  the  stable,  prepared  to  mount  it,  and  re- 
pair to  the  breach.  His  stout  averments,  and  the  al- 
acrity which  he  displayed,  staggered  the  suspicions 
of  the  soldier,  who  now  requested  him  to  desist  from 
his  preparations.  "No,  no;  (answered  Melville)  I 
will  shew  myself  this  day  to  be  as  honest  and  as  brave 
a  man  as  you."  Upon  this  the  poor  fellow  had  re- 
course to  entreaties,  begging  him  not  to  inform  the 
master  of  the  house  of  what  he  had  done  ;  for  if  the 
matter  came  to  the  ears  of  his  superior  officer  he  would 
lose  his  place  for  molesting  so  loyal  and  good  a  sub- 
ject. And  he  ever  after  treated  Melville  with  the 
most  profound  respect. 

The  siege  being  raised,  Melville  resolved  to  quit 
France,  and  repair  to  Geneva  for  the  prosecution  of 
theological  studies.  Great  caution  was  necessary  in 
carrying  this  purpose  into  execution  ;  for  it  was  re- 
ported that  foreign  troops  were  coming  to  the  assis- 
tance of  the  Admiral,  and  the  governors  of  the  pro- 
vinces bordering  on  Switzerland  and  Germany  had 
received  strict  orders  from  the  court  to  suffer  none  to 
leave  the  kingdom  without  passports.  Having  con- 
certed his  journey  with  a  young  Frenchman  who 
wished  to  accompany  him,  he  left  his  books  and  other 
effects  behind  him,  and  set  out  on  foot  with  a  small 
Hebrew  Bible  slung  from  his  belt.  This  was  a  mode 
of  travelling  to  which  he  was  partial,  and  the  usual 
way  in  which  he  equipped  himself  for  it.  Being  light 
in  body,  and  full  of  spirits,  he  performed  the  journey 
with  great  ease ;  and  when  his  fellow-traveller,  ex- 
hausted with  fatigue,  had  thrown  himself  on  bed,  he 
sallied  forth,  and  examined  whatever  was  worthy  of 
being  seen  in  the  places  at  which  he  stopped.  By 
avoiding  the  public  roads  and  fortified  towns,  they 
passed  the  frontiers  of  France  without  meeting  with 
any  interruption.  Night  had  set  in  when  they  reached 
Geneva,  and  the  city  was  strictly  guarded  on  account 
ot  the  confusions  of  France,  and  the  multitude  of 
strangers  who  came  from  it.  When  questioned  by  the 
guard,  the  Frenchman  replied  that  they  were  poor 
scholars  from  France.  The  countenance  of  the  soldier 
expressed  his  thoughts  as  significantly  as  if  he  had 
said  aloud,  "  We  have  got  too  many  persons  of  your 
description  here  already."  Melville,  perceiving  this, 
assured  him  that  they  had  enough  of  money  to  pay 
for  all  they  required,  and  shewing  him  the  letters 
which  they  had  for  Monsieur  Beza,  begged  to  know 
where  they  would  find  that  minister  :  upon  which  the 
gates  were  opened  to  them. 

At  their  first  interview  Bpza  was  highly  pleased 
with  Melville,  of  whom  he  talked  to  his  colleagues  as 
a  person  who  appeared  well  qualified  to  fill  the  chair 
of  Humanity  which  happened  to  be  then  vacant  in  their 
Academy.  Accordingly  he  was  put  on  trials  within  a 
few  days  after  his  arrival,  and,  being  examined  on  Vir- 
gil and  Homer,  acquitted  himself  so  much  to  the  satis- 
faction of  his  judges,  that  he  was  immediately  admit- 
ted. A  quarter  of  a  year's  salary  was  paid  him  at  his 
admission,  which  proved  a  very  seasonable  relief;  for, 
notwithstanding  his  courageous  larignaje  to  the  guard, 
the  joint  funds  of  the  two  travellers  did  not  exceed  a 
crown  when  they  entered  Geneva.  He  was  now  able  to 
support  himself  creditably,  and  also  to  maintain  his 


*  The  Catholics  of  France  were  accustomed  at  this  time 
to  apply  hoih  these  names  to  the  Protestants.  (Bulaeus,  vi. 
483.^ 


desponding  companion  until  such  time  as  he  obtained 
a  situation. 

During  the  ten  years  which  had  elapsed  since  its 
erection,  the  University,  or  as  it  is  commonly  called, 
the  Academy  of  Geneva,*  had  flourished  under  the 
fostering  care  of  the  magistrates  and  ministers  of  that 
energetic  republic.  It  was  at  this  time  furnished  with 
teachers  who  were  inferior  to  those  of  no  titled  uni- 
versity in  Europe,  and  had  attracted  students  from 
every  protestant  country.  The  professorship  which 
Melville  had  obtained  was  chiefly  valued  by  him  as  it 
put  it  in  his  power  to  avail  himself  of  the  talents  of  these 
excellent  men  in  the  prosecution  of  his  studies.  With 
true  literary  ardour  he  waited  on  their  public  instruc- 
tions as  a  scholar,  at  the  same  time  that  he  was  hon- 
oured with  their  friendship  and  admitted  to  their  pri- 
vate society  as  a  colleague. 

It  was  at  this  period  that  he  made  that  progress  in 
oriental  literature  for  which  he  was  afterwards  distin- 
guished. Rodolph  Chevalier,!  ^^^  ^^^^  professor  of 
Hebrew  in  the  academy,  had  lately  left  Geneva,  and 
was  succeeded  by  Cornelius  Bertramus.  The  talents 
and  erudition  of  Bertram  were  superior  to  those  of  his 
predecessor.  His  work  on  the  Jewish  Polity  is  still 
a  standard  work;  and  his  Comparison  of  the  Hebrew 
and  Aramean  languages  discovers  an  acquaintance  with 
grammatical  analogy  very  uncommon  at  that  period.:}: 
Melville  acquired  from  him  the  knowledge  of  Syriac, 
which  had  but  recently  become  a  subject  of  study 
among  Europeans,  and  which  is  so  useful  to  a  divine 
from  its  near  affinity  to  the  original  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, and  from  the  ancient  and  valuable  version  of  the 
New  Testament  which  exists  in  it. 

The  Greek  chair  in  the  academy  was  then  filled  by 
Franciscus  Portus,  a  native  of  the  island  of  Candia.|| 
Portus  is  well  known  to  the  learned  by  his  commen- 
taries on  ancient  authors.  He  had  resided  at  the  court 
of  Renee,  the  accomplished  Dutchess  of  Ferrara,  and 
retired  to  Geneva  for  the  sake  of  enjoying  the  free 
exercise  of  the  reformed  religion.  Enthusiastically 
attached  to  Grecian  literature  from  patriotism  as  well 
as  profession,  Portus  was  charmed  with  the  progress 
which  Melville  had  made  in  it,  and  took  great  plea- 
sure in  pointing  out  to  him  the  beauties  of  his  native 
tongue,  and  in  discussing  with  him  those  nicer  ques- 
tions in  its  philology  about  which  critics  were  then 
divided.  On  these  occasions  Melville  sometimes  ven- 
tured to  oppose  the  favourite  opinions  of  his  master, 
either  from  conviction,  or  with  the  view  of  eliciting 
fuller  information  on  the  subject.  In  a  dispute  as  to 
the  proper  pronunciation  of  the  language,  and  the 
power  of  the  accents,  he  happened  one  day  to  push 
his  objections  rather  too  freely,  upon  which  the  jealous 


*  The  magistrates  of  Geneva  having  applied  to  the  King  of 
France  to  obtain  the  privilep^es  of  a  university  to  their  acade- 
my, his  majesty,  after  consultation,  refused  the  request,  upon 
this  grouncf,  that  "  Universities  were  found  to  be  the  nurseries 
of  heresy."     (Senebier,  Histoire  Litteraire  de  Geneve,  i.  35.) 

T  Antoine-Rodolphe  Chevalier  (Cevalerius)  vpas  Queen 
Elizabeth's  tutor  in  the  French  language;  and  at  a  late  period 
of  his  life  he  appears  to  have  taught  Hebrew  in  England. 
Among  the  Baker  MSS.  vol.  xiii.  36.  is  "  Account  of  Cevaler- 
ius, Hebrew  reader,  and  his  issue."  (Biogr.  Britan,  vol.  i.  p, 
524.  2d  edit.     Teissier,  Eloges,  torn,  ii,  p.  438.) 

\  Four  recommendatory  poems  by  Melville  are  prefixed  to 
this  work.  Its  title  is:  "  Coniparatio  Granimaticae  Hebraicae 
et  Aramicse.  Auctore  Bonaventura  Cornelio  Bertramo.  vtrius- 
que  linguas  Professore.  Apud  Evstathivm  Vignon.  1574."  4to, 
Bertram  was  the  editor  of  the  Polyglot  Bible,  published  by 
Commelin  in  3  vols.  fol.  1586.  (Le  t.ong.  Bibliotheca  Sacra, 
tom.  i.  part  i.  p.  384 — 5.  edit.  Masch.)  For  his  other  works, 
Bayle,  Teissier,  and  Colomesius  (Gallia  Orientalis,  p.  68.) 
may  be  consulted. 

|[  Isaac  Casaubon.the  first  Greek  scholar  of  the  age  in  which 
he  lived,  was  a  pupil  of  Portus.  nn''  has  pronounced  t!ie  iiigh- 
est  culogium  on  his  master.  "  Sincera  pit  tas,  viptu?  exccUens, 
et  singularis  doctrina,  bonis  omnibus  veneiabilem  reddebant." 
(Exercitationes  ad  Apparat.  Annal.  Baronii,  p.  37.  edit.  1663. 
See  also  Vita  Casauboni,  p.  4,  5.  edit.  AInieloveen/)  Several' 
Greek  poems  by  Portus  are  in  the  edition  Beza  Poematnnu 
printed  anno  1569. 


220 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


Candian  grew  warm,  and  testily  exclaimed,  Vos  Scoti, 
vos  harbari,  docebitis  nos  Grxcos  pronuncialionem  nostras 
linguse,  scilicet ! — You  Scots,  you  barbarians,  will  teach 
us  Greeks  how  to  pronounce  our  own  language,  for- 
sooth .'* 

But  the  person  to  whom  Melville  felt  the  strongest 
attraction  at  Geneva,  was  the  celebrated  Theodore 
Beza,  who  performed  the  duty  of  professor  of  divinity 
in  the  academy,  along  with  that  of  a  minister  of  the 
city.  At'ter  the  death  of  Calvin,  Beza  was  unques- 
tionably the  brightest  ornament,  and  the  most  power- 
ful champion,  of  the  Reformation.  Equally  distin- 
guished as  a  divine,  a  poet,  an  orator,  and  a  critic,  no 
individual  contributed  more  to  enlighten  and  adorn  the 
age  in  which  he  lived.f  His  editions  of  the  Greek 
New  Testament,  accompanied  with  a  Latin  translation 
and  notes,  whatever  defects  may  now  be  discovered 
in  them,  were  by  far  the  most  valuable  works  which 
had  then  appeared  in  that  department  of  literature ; 
and  no  person  who  is  well  acquainted  with  the  his- 
tory of  sacred  criticism  and  interpretation,  will  allow 
himself  to  speak  of  them  with  disparagement.:}:  Of 
his  poetical  productions  it  is  sufficient  to  say,  that  they 
were  admired  by  the  best  judges  among  his  contem- 
poraries, and  met  with  the  applause  of  two  eminent 
individuals,  who,  like  himself,  had  courted  the  muse 
by  "  Siloa's  brook,  and  Jordan's  hallow'd  tide."  On 
reading  his  poems,  Flaminio  exclaimed,  "  I  see  that  the 
Muses  have  at  length  crossed  the  Alps,"||  and  Buchan- 
an hesitated  not  to  pronounce  him  "  one  of  the  most  sin- 
gular poets  that  have  been  of  a  long  time."§  When  we 
consider  these  unequivocal  testimonies  of  approbation, 
we  will  not  feel  disposed  to  pay  implicit  regard  to  the 
caustic  remark  of  the  critic,  that  Beza  by  printing  his 
version  of  the  Psalms  along  with  Buchanan's,  "  led 
to  a  comparison  which  he  ought  not  rashly  to  have 
hazarded."^  The  magnanimity  which  prompts  a 
man  of  genius  to  enter  into  competition  with  his  illus- 
trious contemporaries,  prevents  him  from  being  mean- 
ly mortified  when  he  is  excelled  by  them  ;  and  he 
ma}',  at  the  same  time,  be  conscious,  and  gratified 
with  the  consciousness,  that  his  productions  are  not 
unworthy  of  being  associated  with  those  to  which  he 
willingly  yields  the  palm  of  superiority.  The  history 
of  letters,  during  the  period  of  which  we  speak,  af- 
fords many  pleasing  examples  of  this  species  of  noble 
strife  and  amicable  rivalship,  to  which  honourable 
fame  incites  her  votaries. 

Her  Temple's  everlasting  doors  unbarr'd. 
Desert  is  various,  various  the  reward. 
No  little  jealousy,  no  ilUtiuied  sneer, 
No  envy  there  is  found,  or  rival  fear. 

To  these  talents  and  acquirements,  and  to  the  most 
unquestionable  piety,  Beza  added  great  politeness  and 
affability  of  manners.  He  was  well  born  and  well 
educated  ;  and  having  enjoyed  the  society  of  the  great, 
as  well  as  the  learned,  his  conversation  was  both 
pleasing  and  instructive.  By  the  inhabitants  of  the 
city  to  which  he  had  devoted  his  services  he  was  held 

»  Melville's  Diary,  p.  35. 

f  Casaubon,  in  one  of  his  letters,  calls  Beza,  Scaliger,  and 
De  Thou,"  the  three  suns  of  the  learned  world."  (Epist.  p.  68. 
edit.  Almeloveen.) 

t  "  Quod  vero  ante  eum  (Bezam)  nemo  instituit,  ut  codices 
consuleret  et  crisin  Novi  Testamenti  tractaret,  id  et  ipsum 
praestitit  ille,  nactus  quosdam  codices.  Sic  parva  quidem  et 
tenuia,  taiuen  initia  sunt  facta  Critices  N.  T.  caque  valde  laud- 
abilia."  (  Sam.  Frid.  N.  Mori  Hcrnieneutica  Novi  Test,  cura 
H.  C.  A.  Eichstadt,  torn.  ii.  p.  392,  Lijw.  1802.) 

y  Theodori  Bezae  Foeniata:  Item  ex  Georgio  Buchanano 
alhsque  poetis  Excerpta.  Epist.  Dedic.  p.  7.  Henr.  Stcph.1569. 

^  See  the  letter  of  Buchanan  to  Sir  Thomas  Randolph; 
printed  in  the  Appendix. 

IT  Le  Clerc,  Hibliotheque  Choisie,  torn.  v\\\.  p.  128.  He 
should  have  said  that  Beza  permitted  this;  for  it  was  Henry 
Stephens  who  first  published  them  in  the  same  volume.  "  Vides, 
lector,  Henr.  Stepnanum  non  sine  causa  Beue  Poematibus 
Buchaiiani  et  Flaminii  ejus  familiariuni  poemata  sociavisse." 
(Maittalre,  Stephanorum  Historia,  p.  315.) 


"in  veneration ;  and  the  manner  in  which  he  uniformly 
received  the  public  and  flattering  expressions  of  this 
feeling,  contributed  to  set  the  purity  of  his  character, 
and  the  generosity  of  his  dispositions,  in  the  most 
striking  light.* 

Besides  attending  the  sermons  and  the  academical 
prelections  of  this  eminent  individual,  Melville  had 
the  happiness  of  being  admitted  at  all  times  to  his 
private  society.  The  learning,  wit,  vivacity,  and  can- 
dour, which  Melville  possessed,  would  of  themselves 
have  recommended  him  to  the  notice  of  one  who  was 
so  susceptible  of  impressions  from  these  qualities; 
but  there  were  other  circumstances  which  contributed 
to  facilitate  his  access  to  the  good  graces  of  Beza. 
That  reformer  was  uniformly  partial  to  Scotsmen.  He 
admired  the  ecclesiastical  constitution  of  Scotland. 
He  had  long  maintained  an  intimate  friendship  with 
two  of  the  most  illustrious  individuals  in  that  nation, 
Knox  and  Buchanan.  And  there  was  at  that  time  in 
Geneva  another  Scotsman,  a  relation  of  Melville,  with 
whom  he  had  lived  for  many  years  as  a  colleague,  and 
whom  he  revered  for  his  talents  and  virtues. 

This  was  Henry  Scrimger,  whose  exertions  for  the 
revival  of  letters  reflected  great  honour  on  Scotland, 
although  his  name  is  now  known  to  few  of  his  coun- 
trymen. He  was  the  son  of  Walter  Scrimger  of 
Glasswell,  a  branch  of  the  honourable  family  of  Did- 
dup,  in  which  the  offices  of  royal  standard-bearer  and 
of  constable  of  Dundee  had  long  been  hereditary. 
Having  finished  his  course  of  education  with  applause 
at  St.  Andrew's, I  he  went  to  the  university  of  Paris, 
from  which  he  removed  to  Bourges,  to  prosecute  the 
study  of  Civil  Law  under  Baro  and  Duaren.  By  the 
recommendation  of  the  celebrated  Amiot,  then  profes- 
sor of  Greek  at  Bourges  and  afterwards  raised  to  the 
highest  offices,  he  became  tutor  to  the  children  of 
Secretary  Boucherel.  In  this  situation  he  gave  such 
satisfaction  that  he  was  chosen  private  secretary  to  the 
bishop  of  Rennes,  upon  his  appointment  as  ambassa- 
dor from  the  court  of  France  to  diflerent  states  of  Italy. 
During  a  visit  to  Padua,  he  saw  the  noted  Francis 
Spira,  who  died  under  great  horror  of  mind  in  conse- 
quence of  his  recantation  of  the  Protestant  religion. 
This  scene  produced  the  same  effect  upon  Scrimger's 
mind  which  it  did  on  Vergerio,  bishop  of  Capo  d'ls- 
tria,  and  Gribaldi,  a  lawyer  of  Padua ;  and  he  deter- 
mined to  sacrifice  the  prospects  which  his  present 
situation  held  out  to  him,  and  to  return  to  Switzer- 
land where  he  might  profess  the  reformed  sentiments 
with  safety.  Being  invited  to  Augsbourg  by  the 
Fuggers,  a  family  who  had  raised  from  the  mines  of 
Tyrol  a  princely  fortune,  which  they  expended  in  the 
advancement  of  literature,:):  Scrimger  furnished  the 
library  of  Ulrich  Fugger  with  the  rarest  books  and 
manuscripts.  During  his  travels  in  Italy,  he  had  col- 
lected ample  materials  for  correcting  the  works  of  the 
ancients,  and  particularly  those  of  Greece.||  He  pub- 
lished an  edition  of  the  Novelise  Constitutiones  of  Justin- 
ian in  Greek,  which  was  prized  by  the  first  lawyers 


*  Anton.  Fayus,  Vita  Theod.  Beza:.  Bayle,  Diet.  art.  Beze. 
Teissier,  Eloges,  iv.  484 — 506.  In  1570  the  plague  raged  at 
Geneva,  and  one  was  chosen  by  lot  from  tlie  company  of  min- 
isters to  visit  those  who  were  infected  with  that  dreadful  mal- 
ady. The  Council  issued  an  order  that  Beza  should  be  ex- 
empted from  the  lot,  upon  which  he  appeared  before  them, 
and  begged  that  they  would  recal  their  order,  as  he  looked  up- 
on the  service  as  a  part  of  his  ministerial  function.  According- 
ly his  name  was  included  among  those  of  his  brethren.  In 
1572,  the  Churches  of  France  requested  his  assistance  at  the 
National  Synod  of  Nismes.  The  magistrates  of  Geneva  did 
not  think  it  safe  for  him  to  undertake  the  journey,  and  proposed 
that  be  should  send  them  his  advice  iii  writing.  Beza  con- 
vinced them  that  this  would  not  answer  the  purpose,  and  after 
a  long  debate  they  consented  that  he  should  go.  (Recueil  de 
diverses  particulnritez  concernant  Geneve:  20  Feb.  1570;  and 
21  Apr.  1572.  MS.)  f  See  Note  G. 

}  Shelhorn,  Amoenitates  Hist.  Ecclesiasticae,  i.  719.  Th« 
tame  author  has  collected  various  facts  respecting  this  family 
in  his  Amamitatct  Literaria.  \\  See  under  Note  G. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


221 


of  the  time ;  and  the  editions  of  several  of  the  classics 
published  by  Henry  Stephens  were  enriched  with  the 
various  readings  and  remarks  which  he  liberally  com- 
municated to  that  learned  printer.  In  1563,  Calvin 
persuaded  him  to  come  to  Geneva,  The  magistrates 
conferred  on  him  the  freedom  of  the  city;  and,  after 
he  had  taught  for  two  years  as  professor  of  philo- 
sophy, they  appointed  him  to  the  newly  erected  chair 
of  Civil  Law,  which  he  filled  to  his  death.* 

As  Melville's  elder  brother  had  been  married  to  a 
sister  of  Scrimger,  he  had  the  readiest  access  to  the 
conversation  of  his  venerable  countryman,  which  was 
highly  valuable  from  the  knowledge  which  he  had 
acquired  during  his  travels,  and  to  his  library,  which 
was  stored  with  the  best  and  rarest  books,  both  print- 
ed and  in  manuscript.  He  was  a  frequent  visitor  at 
his  lodgings  in  town,  and  also  at  the  Violet,  a  neat 
villa  which  Scrimger  had  built  within  a  league  of 
Geneva,  and  where  he  chiefly  resided  during  the  last 
years  of  his  life,  with  his  wife  and  an  only  daughter.f 

At  Geneva  Melville  had  the  happiness  to  become 
personally  acquainted  with  several  other  individuals 
well  known  in  the  learned  world,  some  of  whom  after- 
wards corresponded  with  him.  Among  these  was 
Lambert  Danasus,  who  was  at  that  time  associated 
with  Beza  in  teaching  theology,  and  afterwards  dis- 
charged the  same  office  in  the  university  of  Leyden.:J: 
The  learned  printer,  Henry  Stephens,  took  particular 
notice  of  our  young  countryman,  and  spoke  of  him  in 
the  most  flattering  terms.||  He  also  obtained  the 
friendship  of  Paulus  Melissus,  celebrated  for  his  La- 
tin odes,  and  translation  of  the  Psalms  into  German 
verse. §  James  Lectius,  equally  distinguished  as  a 
politician  and  a  scholar,  whose  name  is  associated 
with  those  of  Bonnivard,  Roset,  and  other  patriots,  in 
the  history  of  his  country,  and  who  was  permitted,  by 
way  of  singular  honour,  to  occupy  at  the  same  time  a 
chair  in  the  academy  and  the  highest  office  in  the  re- 
public, was  the  pupil  of  Melville,  for  whom  he  con- 
tinued ever  after  to  cherish  the  highest  esteem.^ 

The  massacre  of  the  Protestants,  which  commen- 
ced at  Paris  on  St.  Bartholomew's  day,  1572,  and 
whicli  wrought  such  woe  to  France,  was  the  occasion 
of  extending  Melville's  acquaintance  with  the  learned 
men  of  the  age.  Those  who  escaped  the  dagger  of 
the  murderer,  took  refuge  in  Geneva,  whose  gates 
were  thrown  open  to  receive  them.  One  hundred  and 
twenty  French  ministers  were  at  one  time  in  the  city. 
The  academy  overflowed  with  students,  and  the  mag- 
istrates were  unable  to  provide  salaries  for  the  learn- 


*  Maittaire,  Hist.  Stepban.  passim.  Senebier,  Catalogue 
Raisonne  ties  Manuscrits  de  Geneve,  p.  285.  From  Calvin's 
letter,  dated  27th  October,  1562,  it  appears  that  Scrimger  was 
not  then  at  Geneva.  But  in  another  work  Senebier  states  (ap- 
parently from  the  public  records)  that  he  was  admitted  pro- 
fessor of  philosophy  at  Geneva,  in  1561,  and  that  the  freedom 
of  the  city  was  conferred  on  him  in  the  course  of  the  same  year. 
(Histoire  Litteraire  i.  497.)  Among- the  witnesses  to  Calvin's 
Testament,  made  26th  April,  1564,  we  find  "spectatum  virum 
Henricum  Scrimgerum  professorem  artium,"  and  he  is  included 
among  those  called  "  cives  Gencvenses."  (Beza,  VitaCalvini.) 
"  Henri  Scrin^er,  professeur  de  droit,"  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  Council  of  LX.  "  3  Janvier,  1570.  a  I'age  de  64."  (Frag- 
mens  Biograph.  et  Hist,  extraitsde  Registres  de  Geneve,  p.  16. 
Gen.  1315.) 

t  Melville's  Diary,  p.  35.  James  Melville  mentions  only  his 
daughter;  but  it  appears  from  a  letter  of  Scrimger  to  Buchanan, 
that  his  wife  was  alive  in  April,  1572,  (Bucnan.  Epist.  p.  9.) 
From  Buchanan's  letter  to  him,  it  would  seem  that  he  had  late- 
ly been  bereaved  of  some  of  his  children.     (Ibid.  p.  8.) 

I  Recueil  de  diverses  particularitezconcernant  Geneve.  MS. 
p.  118.     Senebier,  Hist,  l.itt.  i.  312. 

II  Casauboni  Epist.  p.  129.  edit.  Almeloveen. 

§  Adami  Vitie  Germanorum  Philosophorum,  p.  448.  Among 
the  poems  of  Melissus  is  one  inscribea  "  Ad  Andr.  Melvinum 
Celurcanum."  (Melissi  Schediasmatvm  Poeticorvra  Pars  Ter- 
tia,  p.  226.  Lvtetiaa  Parisiorum,  1586.) 

IT  Epistola  J.  Lectii,  MS.  in  Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.  M.  6. 9.  Num. 
31.  Casauboni  Epistols,  p.  129.  Senebier,  Hist.  Litt.  ii.  54 — 
61.  A  great  manj'  letters  which  passed  between  him  and  Cas- 
aubon  are  in  the  collection  of  Almeloveen. 


ed  men  whom  they  were  desirous  to  employ,  or  to 
find  situations  for  such  as  were  willing  to  teach  with- 
out receiving  any  remuneration.*  Among  those  who 
obtained  public  appointments  was  Joseph  Scaliger, 
the  first  scholar  of  the  age,  and  a  man  of  real  genius, 
although  he  devoted  his  talents  chiefly  to  the  dry  study 
of  criticism  and  illustration  of  ancient  authors.^  Mel- 
ville's acquaintance  with  Scaliger  had  commenced  two 
years  before  this  period,  during  a  visit  which  that 
learned  man  paid  to  Geneva.:^:  All  the  recommendatory 
verses  prefixed  to  a  collection  of  his  father's  poems, 
which  he  published  during  his  exile,  proceeded  from 
Melville's  pen.||  Among  the  refugees  there  were  also 
two  civilians,  distinguished  for  their  talents  and  eru- 
dition :  Francis  Hottoman,  who  had  taught  with  high 
reputaio  n  at  Bourges  and  Valence ;  and  Edmond 
Bonnefoy,  the  colleague  of  the  great  Cujacius.  The 
latter  had  run  the  highest  risk  in  the  massacres,  and 
was  protected  from  the  fanatical  fury  of  the  people  by 
Cujacius,  who  esteemed  him  so  highly  as  to  declare, 
that  if  he  were  dying,  and  desired,  like  Aristotle,  to 
choose  his  successor,  he  would  name  Bonnefoy. §  A 
compliment  not  less  flattering  is  paid  him  by  the  en- 
lightened De  Thou,  who  has  recorded,  in  his  history, 
that  he  was  the  scholar  of  Bonnefoy,  and  owed  more 
to  him  than  to  any  other  man.^f  So  zealous  were  the 
magistrates  of  Geneva  to  encourage  science,  that,  in 
the  midst  of  their  poverty,  they  allotted  handsome 
salaries  to  these  two  civilians,  only  requiring  that  the 
citizens  should  be  admitted  gratis  to  their  lectures. 
Hottoman  lectured  twice  a-week  on  Roman  Law,  and 
Bonnefoy  thrice  a-week  on  Oriental  Jurisprudence,  a 
science  of  which  he  may  be  regarded  as  the  founder, 
and  for  which  he  was  eminently  qualified  by  hia 
knowledge  of  the  languages   of  the  East.** 

We  are  expressly  informed  that  Melville  heard  the 
lectures  of  Hottoman  ;  \\  and  there  can  be  little  doubt 
that  he  also  availed  himself  of  the  opportunity  of  at- 
tending those  of  Bonnefoy,  which  were  still  more  in- 


*  See  two  letters  of  Beza  to  Thomas  Von  Til,  in  Illustr.  et 
Clar.  Viror.  Epistolae  Selectiores,  p.  615 — 620.  Scaligerana, 
Thuana,  &c.  torn.  ii.  p.  344.  Scaliger  has  preserved  the  curi- 
ous fact,  that  the  Dutchess  of  Savoy  sent  4000  florins  annually 
for  the  relief  of  the  French  refugees  at  Geneva.  Beza  was  the 
only  minister  acquainted  with  this  charitable  deed  during  the 
life  of  the  Dutchess.  In  one  of  Beza's  letters  above  referred 
to  we  find  another  singular  fact.  The  city  of  Geneva  had  been 
grievously  afflicted  with  the  plague  during  the  greater  part  of 
two  years,  but  this  dreadful  meuady  disappeared  upon  the  ar- 
rival of  the  persecuted  fugitives. 

t  He  was  admitted  Professor  of  Philosophy,  in  October, 
1572,  and  continued  to  read  lectures  in  the  academy  during 
two  years.  (Senebier,  Hist.  Litter,  ii.  10.  and  Scaligerana 
Secunda,  art.  Geneve.)  Chauffepie  and  Burman,  who  have  re- 
ferred his  residence  at  Geneva  to  another  period,  have  suffered 
themselves  to  be  misled  by  trusting  to  inferences  from  letters 
without  dates. 

X  Scaliger  has  mentioned  his  being  at  Geneva  in  1570. 
(Scaligerana,  Thuana,  &c.  toiu   ii.  p.  344. 

11  Jvlii  Caesaris  Scaligeri  Poemata — Genevae,  1575,  8vo.  Th*! 
epigrams  are  inscribed  "Andr.  Melvinvs  Celurcanus."  In  the 
College  Library  of  Edinburgh  there  is  a  copy  of  that  work 
vvhich  had  belonged  to  Melville,  and  has  his  autograph  on  the 
title  page.  He  has  transcribed  some  poems  on  the  blank  leaves 
at  the  beginning  of  the  book,  and  written  notes  on  the  margin, 
consisting  partly  of  emendations  of  the  text,  and  partly  of 
references  to  ancient  authors  whom  Scaliger  had  imitated.  To 
the  subscription  of  the  epigrams  he  has  added  with  his  pen  "  ad 
Lemannum,  to  intimate  that  he  was  then  resident  at  Geneva. 
"  Celurcanus"  means  a  native  of  Montrose. 

Nobilis  urbs  rosei  jam  gaudet  nomine  montis. 

Quae  prius  a  coelo  dicta  Celurca  fuit. 
Ar.  Jonstoni  Poemata  Omnia,  p.  439.  Middelb.  1642. 

Two  of  these  epigrams  by  Melville  are  republished  in  De- 
litice  Poetarum  Scotorum,  tom.  ii.  p.  344. 

{  Cujacii  Observationes,  cap.  vi.  Bonnefoy  died  at  Geneva 
in  the  year  1574.     Hotomanorum  Epistolas,  p.  45. 

TT  Thuani  Hist,  ad  ann.  1574.     Teissier,  iii.  33—4. 

**  Hottoman's  salary  was  800  florins,  and  Bonnefoy's  700 
a-year.  Recueil  de  diverses  particularitez  cone.  Geneve,  p.  118. 
Hottomanorum  Epistolae,  p.  45.     Senebier,  i.  327.  ii.  7,  8. 

tt  Me Iville's  Diary,  p.  35.  Colomesii  Gallia  Orientalis.  p.  58. 


222 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


timately  connected  with  those  studies  to  which  he  had 
now  devoted  his  chief  attention. 

I  have  gone  into  these  details,  not  merely  as  illus- 
trative of  the  literary  history  of  the  period,  but  also 
as  serving  to  throw  light  on  the  future  conduct  of  Mel- 
•ville.  We  shall  find  him  taking  a  deep  interest  in  the 
political  transactions  of  his  native  country ;  and  the 
facts  which  we  have  produced  tend  to  show  that  he 
was  not  unqualified  by  his  education  for  judging  on 
this  subject.  The  studies  of  the  learned  in  that  age 
were  more  universal,  and  the  common  ground  on 
which  men  of  different  professions  met,  was  more  ex- 
tended than  at  present.  Every  person  versant  in  its 
literary  history  must  have  been  particularly  struck 
with  the  union  of  the  study  of  theology  and  law. 
Law,  when  properly  viewed,  is  a  noble,  and  in  some 
sense  a  divine  science.  When,  instead  of  being  made 
to  rest  on  the  arbitrary  dictates  of  mere  will,  whether 
exerted  by  individuals  or  communities,  on  the  pre- 
scriptions of  custom,  or  on  the  uncertain  deductions 
of  indeterminable  expediency,  the  Law  of  Nations  is 
founded,  as  it  always  ought  to  be,  on  the  Law  of  Na- 
ture, and  the  eternal  principles  of  equity  and  justice 
sanctioned  by  the  supreme  Legislator,  the  study  of 
it  is  closely  allied  to  that  of  theology.  And  to  repre- 
sent them  as  discordant,  or  as  incapable  of  affording 
aid  to  each  other,  is  to  injure  both,  and  is  as  absurd 
as  it  would  be  to  divorce  and  dissever  the  great  ends 
which  they  respectively  aim  at, — the  promoting  of  the 
temporal  and  spiritual  welfare  of  mankind.  We  meet 
with  few  of  the  writers  of  this  period  who  excelled  in 
one  of  these  branches  without  being  also  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  other.  As  religion  is  the  common 
concern  of  all  men,  and  as  the  public  mind  was  then 
deeply  interested  in  the  controversies  relating  to  it, 
we  are  not  greatly  surprised  at  the  accounts  which  are 
given  of  the  extensive  acquaintance  with  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  with  Ecclesiastical  History,  which  was 
possessed  by  many  distinguished  civilians  and  states- 
men— by  such  men  as  Hottoman,  and  Godefroy,  and 
Grotius,  Languet,  and  Mornay,  and  St.  Aldegonde. 
But  we  are  not  equally  prepared  to  admit  the  state- 
ment, although  well  authenticated,  that  the  chief 
divines  of  the  reformed  church  were  intimately  ac- 
quainted with  the  principles  of  jurisprudence,  and 
qualified,  by  the  course  of  study  which  they  had  pur- 
sued, to  give  their  advice  on  questions  relating  to 
government  and  the  administration  of  laws.  Not  to 
mention  Calvin,  Beza,  and  other  foreign  theologians, 
it  would  be  easy  to  establish  the  fact  by  referring  to 
not  a  few  in  our  own  country,  as  Row,  Craig,  Pont, 
Arbuthnot,  and  Adamson.  This  may  be  ascribed 
partly  to  the  passion  which  those  who  addicted  them- 
selves to  learning  at  that  period  felt  to  "  intermeddle 
with  all  knowledge;"  and  partly  to  the  superior  grati- 
fication which  this  manly  study  yielded,  in  comparison 
with  the  dry  and  disgusting  logic  which  had  so  long 
been  exclusively  cultivated  in  the  schools.  But  it  is 
chiefly  to  be  traced  to  a  new  feeling,  which  recent 
events  had  produced,  and  which  had  for  its  object  the 
promotion  of  the  public  good.  This  was  the  efiect  of 
the  late  reformation  of  religion  ;  and  at  the  same  time 
one  of  the  moral  forces  by  which  that  mighty  revolu- 
tion exerted  its  influence  upon  the  sentiments  of  man- 
kind in  favour  of  civil  liberty  and  the  amelioration  of 
government.  It  is  a  favourite  maxim  with  many  in 
the  present  day,  that  the  benefits  which  we  owe  to  the 
Reformation,  are  to  be  regarded  as  the  ulterior  and  re- 
mote results  of  tliat  event,  rather  than  effects  contem- 
plated and  intended  by  the  Reformers.  It  would  be 
absurd  to  give  an  absolute  negative  to  this  proposi- 
tion ;  hut  there  is  much  less  truth  in  it  than  those  who 
announce  it  with  such  oracular  importance  imagine. 
Many  of  those  actions  which  we  are  apt  to  impute  to 
turbulence,  or  to  clerical  ambition  and  officiousness, 
and  which  we  are  prone  to  stigmatize  as  the  offspring 
of  bigotry  and  intolerance,  we  vrould,  if  better  ac- 


quainted with  the  principles  of  the  actors,  and  more 
attentive  to  the  circumstances  in  which  they  were 
placed,  see  reason  to  ascribe  to  more  enlightened  and 
patriotic  views. 

It  was  at  Geneva  that  Knox  first  felt  the  hallowed 
flame  of  liberty  kindle  in  his  breast;  and  while  he 
breathed  the  free  air  of  that  republic,  he  conceived 
the  enterprise  of  breaking  the  fetters  of  religious  and 
political  bondage  by  which  his  native  country  was  en- 
thralled. Since  his  leaving  it,  the  spirit  of  freedom 
had  expanded  itself,  and  during  the  two  last  years 
that  Melville  resided  there,  an  event  occurred  which 
enables  us  to  ascertain  its  force.  To  assert,  as  some 
have  done,  that  the  violent  and  sanguinary  measures 
to  which  tyrants  have  recourse  always  defeat  them- 
selves, would  be  only  to  foster  delusion  ;  for  history 
demonstrates  that  they  have,  on  the  contrary,  very 
often  proved  but  too  successful.  At  the  same  time,  it 
is  true,  that,  under  the  direction  of  a  merciful  Provi- 
dence, they  have  sometimes  led  to  happier  results. 
This  was  particularly  the  case  as  to  the  horrid  scenes 
which  disgraced  France  in  the  year  1572.  The  sen- 
sation produced  by  them  was  simultaneously  felt  at 
the  most  distant  extremities  of  Europe.  In  Poland  it 
excited  alarm  and  disgust  at  the  idea  of  receiving  a 
king  from  a  court  polluted  with  blood  and  perfidy.* 
In  Scotland  it  crushed  the  hopes  of  a  party  which 
laboured  to  restore  popery  and  arbitrary  power.  In 
the  Low  countries  it  confirmed  the  inhabitants  in  their 
resolution  to  release  themselves  from  the  tyrannical 
yoke  of  Spain.  And  it  disposed  the  court  of  England 
to  afford  the  assistance  necessary  for  enabling  these 
patriots  to  achieve  their  emancipation. 

But  it  was  at  Geneva  that  this  feeling  operated  with 
full  force.  In  a  city  composed  of  freemerv  and  Pro- 
testants, the  conduct  of  the  French  court  excited  the 
strongest  indignation,  and  was  universally  execrated. 
Smarting  under  the  injuries  which  they  had  suffered, 
the  refugees  denounced  the  tyranny  of  the  rulers  who 
had  inflicted  them,  and  pointed  to  the  only  remedy  by 
which  the  evil  could  be  effectually  corrected.  Those 
who  had  afforded  them  an  asylum  were  prepared  to 
sympathize  with  their  feelings  and  sentiments.  The 
most  important  and  delicate  questions  respecting  gov- 
ernment— the  origin  of  power,  the  best  mode  of  con- 
veying it,  its  just  limits,  and  the  right  of  subjects  to 
resist  its  abuse — became  the  topics  of  common  dis- 
course, and  were  discussed  with  a  freedom  and  bold- 
ness which  could  have  been  tolerated  only  in  a  repub- 
lican state,  and  exemplified  only  at  a  period  when  the 
public  mind  was  in  a  state  of  high  excitement.  It 
was  at  this  time  that  Hottoman  composed  his  Franco- 
Gallia,  a  work  which  resembles  the  political  treatises 
of  Buchanan  f  and  of  Languet,  X  in  the  questions 
which  it  agitates,  and  the  principles  of  freedom  which 
it  lays  down  and  defends.  At  the  same  time,  and  in 
the  same  strain,  did  Beza  compose  a  tract,  which  the 
magistrates  of  Geneva  suppressed  from  prudential 
considerations,  while  they  prontunced  an  approbation 
of  the  principles  which  it  contained.  ||  Peter  Char- 
pentier,  a  mercenary  renegado,  insulted  the  city  which 


•  I  allude  particularly  to  a  fact  which  apptars  to  have  been 
hitherto  concealed  in  the  registers  of  Gf  neva.  The  Duke  of 
Anjou,  brother  of  Charles  IX.  and  afterwards  Henry  III.  of 
France,  having  offered  himself  as  a  candidate  for  the  vacant 
throne  of  Poland,  the  Polish  Protestants  wrote,  in  April.  1573, 
to  the  ministers  of  Geneva,  requesting  to  be  fully  informed 
respecting  the  massacres  in  France,  and  the  real  authors  of 
them,  that  they  might  take  their  measures  accordingly  in  the 
approaching  election  of  a  new  king.  The  ministers  laid  the 
letters  before  the  council,  who  did  not  judge  it  prudent 
to  return  an  answer  in  writing,  but  sent  a  person  qualified 
for  giving  them  the  information  which  they  required.  (Re- 
cueil  de  diverseg  particularitei  concernant  Geneve,  p.  119. 
MS.) 

+  De  Jure  regni  apud  Scotos. 

f  Findicia  contra  T\/ranno3  ;  published  by  Hubert  Lan- 
guet under  the  name  of  Junius  Brutus. 

11  See  N—  " 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


223 


had  formeTly  ho.toured  him  with  an  academical  chair,* 
by  addressing  to  Portus,  the  professor  of  Greek  at 
Geneva,  an  apology  for  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholo- 
mew, in  which  he  insidiously  attempted  to  shew,  that 
there  were  two  classes  of  Protestants  in  France,  a  re- 
ligious and  a  political,  and  that  the  late  ebullition  of 
public  vengeance  was  directed  solely  against  those 
who  had  made  religion  a  cloak  to  their  treasonable 
designs.  Though  foreign  to  his  profession  and  studies, 
Portus  took  up  the  pen,  and  in  a  reply,  breathing  keen 
but  virtuous  indignation,  defended  the  innocence  of 
the  sufferers,  and  exposed  the  malignant  falsehoods 
and  stale  sophistry  of  their  base  and  unprincipled 
calumniator.t 

How  deeply  Melville's  mind  was  imbued  with  these 
sentiments,  appears  from  the  uniform  zeal  which  he 
afterwards  shewed  for  the  liberties  of  his  country,  and 
the  firm  resistance  which  he  opposed  to  popery  and 
arbitrary  power.  It  was  also  displayed  in  the  poems 
which  he  composed  at  this  time ;  in  which  he  em- 
balmed the  memory  of  the  late  martyrs,  and  bitterly 
execrated  the  cruelty  of  their  persecutors.:!^ 

In  the  year  1572,  Alexander  Young  came  to  Geneva 
with  letters,  from  the  Regent  Mar  and  Buchanan,  to 
his  uncle,  Henry  Scrimger,||  requesting  his  return  to 
Scotland,  and  promising  him  the  most  honourable  and 
liberal  encouragement.  Buchanan  had  before  repeat- 
edly written  him  to  the  same  purpose,  and  the  manner 
in  which  he  urged  his  request  evinced,  at  the  same 
time,  his  own  patriotism  and  his  high  esteem  for 
Scrimger.  But  that  venerable  scholar  continued  to 
excuse  himself,  by  pleading  the  confusions  of  his 
native  country  and  his  own  advanced  age.§  For  sev- 
eral years  Melville  had  almost  forgotten  Scotland,  in 
the  ardour  with  which  he  applied  to  his  studies  and 
the  discharge  of  his  academical  duty.  The  memo- 
ry of  it,  and  of  the  friends  whom  he  had  not  seen 
for  many  years,  was  revived  by  the  conversation  of 
Young;  and  when  the  latter  returned  to  Scotland,  he 
sent  letters  by  him  to  his  brothers,  acquainting  them 
with  his  situation.  As  they  had  not  heard  of  him  for 
a  long  time,  and  feared  he  had  lost  his  life  in  the 
troubles  of  France,  they  were  overjoyed  to  learn  that 
he  was  alive,  and  in  great  estimation  at  Geneva.  Up- 
on Young's  paying  a  second  visit  to  that  city,  Mel- 
ville received  a  most  affectionate  letter  from  them,  and 
pressing  invitations  to  return  home.  Among  the  rest 
was  a  letter  from  one  of  his  nephews,  then  a  student 
at  St.  Andrew's  ;  and  the  ingenuous  manner  in  which 
the  young  man  described  the  low  state  of  education  in 
Scotland,  and  spoke  of  the  benefit  which  it  would  de- 
rive from  a  person  of  such  learning  as  he  was  told  his 
uncle  possessed,  had  no  small  influence  in  disposing 
him  to  think  seriously  of  returning  to  Scotland. 

About  the  same  time,  Alexander  Campbell,  a  cadet 


*  Charpentier  was  for  some  time  the  colleague  of  Henry 
Scrimger,  in  the  profession  of  Civil  Law,  at  Geneva.  (Sene- 
bier,  Hist.  Litter,  i.  51,  326.)  He  was  the  son  of  James  Char- 
pentier, who  is  charged  with  having  revenged  his  literarv 
quarrels  with  Ramus,  by  instigating  his  scholars  to  murder  that 
philosopher  during  the  cannibal-scenes  exhibited  in  Paris. 
(Bayle,  art.  Ramie  and  Charpentier.) 

+  Franc.  Porti.  Cretensis,  Responsio  ad  Epistolam  Petri  Car- 
pentarii.     Genev.  1572. 

I  The  two  following  epigrams  may  serve  as  a  specimen  of 
his  cordial  detestation  of  tyranny  : 

Classicum. 
Ad  libertatem  quid  obest  tibi,  Gallia  ?     Vis,  fraus, 

Et  lupus,  et  lupa,  cum  sanguineis  catulis. 
Ad  libertatem  quid  adest  tibi,  Gallia  ?    Jus,  fas, 

Mensque  manusque  vinim.   Nunc  quid  abest?  Animug. 
Tyrannis. 
Tarqumii  de  stirpe  truces  cum  terra  tyrannos 
Tot  ferat  ;  acn  unus  pectore  Brutus  ubi  est '.' 

II  Alexander  Youn^,  was  the  brother  of  Peter  Young,  Bu- 
chanan's colleague  in  the  education  of  James  VI.  Their 
mother  was  Margaret  Scrimger,  sister  ti  Henry  Scricager. 
(Smith,  Vita  Petri  Junii,  pp.  3,  4.) 

}  Buchanani  Epist.  p.  7—10. 


of  the  house  of  Argyle,  who,  though  a  youth,  had 
been  presented  to  the  bishopric  of  Brechen,*  visited 
Geneva  in  his  travels,  accompanied  by  his  tutor,  An- 
drew Polwart.  The  solicitations  of  Polwart,  with 
whom  Melville  had  been  acquainted  at  the  University 
of  St.  Andrews,  joined  to  the  urgent  request  of  his 
own  friends,  determined  him  to  return  to  Scotland,  and 
to  devote  the  knowledge  which  he  had  acquired  abroad 
to  the  service  of  his  country.  This  resolution  he 
respectfully  intimated  to  liis  colleagues,  and  to  the 
magistrates,  as  patrons  of  the  academy  ;  requesting 
their  permission  to  demit  the  office  with  which  they 
had  honoured  him.  His  request  was  reluctantly  grant- 
ed, with  expressions  of  their  sorrow  at  losing  him, 
and  ample  testimonials  of  their  approbation  and  es- 
teem. In  a  letter  addressed  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly in  their  name,  Beza,  among  other  expressions  of 
the  same  tenor,  testified,  that  Andrew  Melville  was 
"equally  distinguished  by  his  piety  and  his  erudition  ; 
and  that  the  church  of  Geneva  could  not  give  a  stronger 
proof  of  her  affection  to  her  sister  church  of  Scotland, 
than  by  suffering  herself  to  be  bereaved  of  him,  that 
his  native  country  might  be  enriched  with  his  gifts. "-j- 

It  was  not  without  feelings  of  regret  that  Melville 
parted  from  Geneva,  and  the  friends  whom  he  had 
gained  during  his  residence  in  that  city.  In  the  sub- 
sequent period  of  his  life,  he  frequently  retraced  the 
scene  in  his  imagination,  and  relieved  his  mind,  amidst 
his  labours  and  anxieties,  by  recollecting  the  happy 
years  which  he  had  spent  there,  in  the  peaceful  pur- 
suits of  literature,  and  in  the  society  of  some  of  the 
greatest  and  best  men  of  the  age.  The  subject  is 
more  than  once  introduced  in  his  poetical  pieces,  and 
always  with  tenderness  and  enthusiasm.  In  a  poem 
to  the  memory  of  John  Lyndsay,  one  of  his  country- 
men who  died  at  Geneva,  he  pays  an  affectionate 
tribute  to  the  most  distinguished  individuals  whom 
he  had  known  in  that  city.  This  is  introduced  by  a 
deploration  of  the  massacres  so  disgraceful  to  the 
neighbouring  kingdom  of  France,  which  were  pain- 
fully associated  with  the  delightful  recollections  which 
the  thoughts  of  Geneva  excited  in  his  breast.  In  the 
same  poem  he  commemorates  several  of  his  country- 
men, who,  like  Lyndsay,  had  finished  their  days  at 
Geneva. f 

Melville  left  Geneva  in  spring,  1574,  along  with 
Polwart,  and  his  pupil  the  Bishop  of  Brechin.  They 
took  the  way  of  Lyons ;  and,  traversing  Franche- 
compte,  descended  the  Loire  to  Orleans.  During  a 
part  of  their  journey  they  were  accompanied  by  three 
Frenchmen — a  priest,  a  physician,  and  an  officer  of 
the  army,  all  zealous  Roman  Catholics.  Before  they 
parted,  Melville  had  made  the  military  gentleman  al- 
most a  Protestant;  and,  partly  by  argument,  and  part- 
ly by  good  humoured  raillery,  he  prevailed  so  far  over 
the  prejudices  of  the  others,  as  that  they  had  no  ob- 
jection to  eat  flesh  on  Friday,  a  practice  which  they 
at  first  regarded  with  much  horror. 

As  the  civil  war  was  still  raging  in  many  parts  of 
France,  a  vigilant  eye  was  kept  on  such  strangers  as 
came  to  Orleans.  When  our  travellers  approached 
that  city,  the  soldier  on  guard  allowed  the  Bishop  and 
Polwart,  who  were  on  foot,  to  pass  without  interrup- 
tion, but  stopped  Melville,  who,  having  sprained  his 
foot,  was  on  horseback.  To  the  question  "Whence 
are  you  ?"  Melville  replied,  "  From  Scotland." — "  O  ! 
you  Scots  are  all  Hugonots." — "  Hugonots  !  What's 
that?  We  do  not  know  such  people  in  Scotland." — 
"  You  have  no  mass,"  said  the  soldier — "  Vous  vous 
ri^avez  pas  la  Messe.^^ — "  No  mess,  man  !"  replied  Mel- 
ville merrily  ;  "  why,  our  children  in  Scotland  go  to 


* "  Alexander  Campbell  of  Carco,  sumetirae  biscbop  of 
Brichen — deceisit  in  his  place  of  carco  w'  in  the  parish  of 
Kincl'evin  in  the  moneth  of  Febr,  1608."  (Testament  Testa- 
mentar,  in  Records  of  Commissary  Court  of  Edinburgh,  23 
Junii.  1608.) 

t  Melville's  Diary,  p.  35.  J  See  Note  1. 


224 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE, 


mess  every  day." — "  Bon  compagnon,  allez  vous ,-" 
said  the  soldier,  smiling  and  beckoning  him  to  pro- 
ceed. When  he  reached  the  house  at  which  they  had 
previously  agreed  to  lodge,  he  found  his  two  country- 
men in  great  trepidation  lest  their  papers  should  have 
been  examined,  and  disposed  to  laugh  heartily  at  the 
equivoque  by  which  they  had  escaped  detection. — 
They  had  reason  to  congratulate  themselves,  if  the 
report  of  their  landlord  was  to  be  credited  ;  for  he 
assured  them  that  several  persons  had  of  late  lost 
their  lives  for  as  small  an  offence  as  that  of  having 
come  from  Geneva.  On  leaving  Orleans  next  day, 
they  were  thrown  anew  into  consternation,  by  unex- 
pectedly falling  in  with  a  procession  of  the  host,  when 
they  were  again  relieved  from  their  embarrassment  by 
the  promptitude  and  address  of  Melville.* 

At  Paris  they  met  with  a  great  many  of  their  coun- 
trymen, and  resolved  to  spend  some  time  in  the  French 
capital.  At  the  desire  of  Lord  Ogilvy,  Melville  went 
to  the  Jesuit's  College,  and,  meeting  with  Father 
Tyrie,  was  involved  in  a  public  dispute  with  that 
eager  polemic.  The  dispute  was  continued  during 
several  days,  but  the  Archbishop  of  Glasgow,  being 
informed  of  it,  let  fall  some  threatening  expressions, 
which  coming  to  the  ears  of  Melville's  friends,  they 
persuaded  him  to  leave  the  place  as  quickly  as  possible. 
Accordingly,  he  left  Paris  on  the  30th  of  May,  and 
proceeding  with  his  former  companions  to  Dieppe, 
sailed  to  Ry,  and  arrived  safely  in  London.  On  the 
day  that  they  quitted  Paris,  the  French  king,  Charles 
IX.,  who  had  rendered  himself  so  odious  by  his  tyran- 
ny and  cruelty,  died  of  an  issue  of  blood  which  burst 
from  all  the  apertures  of  his  body. 

After  remaining  a  short  time  in  London,  our  travel- 
lers purchased  horses,  and  took  their  journey  by  Ber- 
wick to  Edinburgh  ;  where  Melville  arrived  in  the  be- 
ginning of  July,  1574,  after  an  absence  of  ten  years 
from  his  native  country.f 


•  •       '  CHAP.  IL  1574—1580. 

Melville  declines  an  offer  from  the  Regent  Morton— Retires  to 
Baldovy — Superintends  the  Studies  of  his  Nephew — James 
Melville — Applications  to  the  General  Assembly  for  Mel- 
ville's services — He  visits  Glasgow — Is  introduced  to  the 
young  King — is  admitted  Principal  of  the  University  of 
Glasgow— Ruinous  State  of  that  University— His  Plan  for 
recovering  it — New  Mode  of  Instruction  introduced  by  him 
— Eflfects  of  it — Individuals  educated  under  him  at  Glasgow 
— Nova  Erectio— Literary  Conversation — Peter  Blackburn 
— John  Colville— College  discipline — Mark  Alexander  Boyd 
— Instance  of  Melville's  intrepidity  in  maintaining  the  author- 
ity of  the  University — Charged  with  advising  the  demolition 
of  the  Cathedral  of  Glasgow— Receives  his  Library  from 
Geneva — His  first  Poetical  Work. 

Melville  had  scarcely  arrived  at  Edinburgh,  when 
he  was  waited  on  by  George  Buchanan,  Alexander 
Hay,  clerk  to  the  Privy  Council,  and  Colonel  James 
Halyburton,  a  favourite  of  the  Regent  Morton.  They 
proposed  that  he  should  act  as  domestic  instructor  to 
the  Regent,  promising  that  he  should  be  advanced  to 
a  situation  more  suited  to  his  merits,  on  the  first  va- 
cancy which  occurred.  Morton  had  himself  no  taste 
for  letters,  and  was  not  disposed,  as  his  predecessors 
were,  to  be  liberal  to  learned  men.  But  his  sagacity 
convinced  him  of  the  influence  which  they  exerted 
over  the  minds  of  others,  and  of  the  importance  of  at- 
taching them  to  his  interests.  When  individuals  dis- 
tinguished for  their  literary  acquirements  came  into 
the  kingdom,  it  was  therefore  his  policy  to  draw  them 
to  court,  to  ascertain  their  dispositions,  and  on  finding 
them  pliable  to  his  wishes,  to  advance  them  to  bene- 
fices in  the  church.  Melville  was  at  that  time  a  stran- 
ger to  the  Regent's  plans,  but  he  was  decidedly 
averse  to  a  residence  at  court.     He  preferred  an  aca- 


»  MelTille'f  Diary,  p.  35,  36. 


t  Ibid.  p.  36. 


demical  life;  one  principal  object  which  he  had  in 
view  in  returning  to  his  native  conntry,  was  to  assist 
in  the  revival  of  its  literature  ;  and  his  highest  ambi- 
tion was  to  obtain,  in  one  of  the  universities,  a  situa- 
tion similar  to  that  of  Royal  Professor  at  Paris.  He 
therefore  respectfully  declined  the  proposal  made  to 
him  in  the  name  of  the  Regent,  and  requested  permis- 
sion to  spend  some  time  with  his  relations,  from  whom 
he  had  been  so  long  absent,  'before  he  accepted  of  any 
public  employment. 

He  went  accordingly  to  Angus,  and  took  up  his  re- 
sidence with  his  elder  brother  at  Baldovy,  where  he 
had  spent  his  early  years.  During  the  following 
three  months  he  amused  himself  with  superintending 
the  studies  of  one  of  his  nephews,  whom  Richard 
Melville  resigned  to  him  as  a  pledge  of  fraternal  love, 
and  charged  to  "  wait  upon  him  as  a  son  and  ser- 
vant." This  was  the  young  man  whose  letter  had 
such  influence  in  inducing  his  uncle  to  quit  Geneva, 
who  afterwards  became  his  academical  assistant,  and 
his  faithful  adherent  in  all  the  hardships  which  he  suf- 
fered, and  to  whose  zealous  and  grateful  affection  we 
are  indebted  for  the  knowledge  of  the  most  important 
incidents  in  his  life,  and  the  most  interesting  traits  of 
his  character.  As  we  shall  frequently  have  occasion 
to  speak  of  this  amiable  individual,  it  is  proper  to  in- 
troduce him  to  the  acquaintance  of  the  reader. 

James  Melville  was  the  son  of  Richard  Melville 
and  Isabel  Scrimger,  and  was  born  at  Baldovy  on  the 
25th  of  July,  1556.  His  early  education*  was  marred 
by  the  change  of  his  teachers,  and  on  entering  the 
College  of  St.  Leonard's  in  1571,  he  was  so  much 
mortified  at  finding  that  he  was  incapable  of  under- 
standing the  lectnres  which  were  delivered  in  Lat- 
in, that  he  burst  into  tears  before  the  whole  class. 
This  attracted  the  notice  of  his  regent,  William  Col- 
lace,  who,  pleased  with  this  trait  of  youthful  sensi- 
bility, kindly  condescended  to  give  him  instructions, 
and  to  provide  him  with  a  private  assistant,  until  he 
had  surmounted  the  difficulties  under  which  he  la- 
boured.f  His  mind  was  early  impressed  with  a  deep 
sense  of  religion,  and  a  trong  desire  to  devote  him- 
self to  the  preaching  of  the  gospel.  This  desire  was 
in  a  great  measure  the  effect  of  the  sermons  which  he 
heard  from  John  Knox  at  St.  Andrew's;  and  it  re- 
mained unabated  notwithstanding  all  that  he  witnessed 
of  the  poverty  and  hardships  of  the  Protestant  minis- 
ters. His  father,  however,  intended  him  for  the  more 
lucrative  profession  of  law,  and  had  fixed  on  a  man 
of  business  in  Edinburgh  with  whom  he  should  serve 
as  an  apprentice.  Richard  Melville  was  an  excellent 
man,  and  an  affectionate  father,  but  he  had  higher 
notions  of  parental  authority,  and  kept  his  children  in 
greater  subjection,  than  are  altogether  consistent  with 
the  liberal  notions  of  the  age  we  live  in.  Being  re- 
strained by  bashfulness,  and  the  deference  he  had  al- 
ways been  accustomed  to  pay  to  his  father's  will, 
James  had  recourse  to  an  innocent  stratagem  to  in- 
timate his  predilection  for  a  different  line  of  employ- 
ment. He  composed  a  sermon  on  a  passage  of  Scrip- 
ture, in  the  best  manner  of  which  he  was  capable,  and 
put  it  carefully  into  one  of  the  Commentaries  which 
he  knew  his  father  was  in  the  habit  of  consulting  in 
his  weekly  preparations  for  the  pulpit.  The  expedient 
succeeded  according  to  his  wish.  For  Richard  Melville, 
having  once  ascertained  the  decided  inclinations  of 
his  son,  and  being  pleased  with  the  juvenile  specimen 
of  his  gifts,  was  too  wise  and  good  to  persist  in  car- 
rying his  own  plans  into  execution.  The  apprentice- 
ship was  no  more  talked  of;  but  still  a  due  regard  was 
paid  to  parental  dignity  and  the  good  of  the  young  man, 
by  keeping  him  for  sometime  in  suspense  as  to  his  fa- 
ther's intentions.  The  arrival  of  Andrew  Melville  put 
an  end  to  this  reserve.  James  was  now  told,  that  he  was 
at  full  liberty  to  follow  his  own  inclinations  ;  and,  to 


•  Se«  above  p.  7. 


t  Melville's  Diary,  p.  22. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


225 


his  great  joy,  was  delivered  over  to  his  uncle,  in  the 
manner  we  have  already  stated,  instead  of  being 
bound  to  the  barrister.* 

Notwithstanding  the  striking  resemblance  between 
the  uncle  and  nephew  in  stature  and  physiognomy, 
they  differed  in  mental  temperament,  perhaps  as 
widely  as  ever  two  individuals  did  who  were  united 
by  the  closest  and  most  inviolable  friendship.  The 
talents  of  James  Melville  were  respectable,  without 
being  of  the  same  superior  order  as  those  of  his  uncle. 
Though  not  endowed  with  great  liveliness  or  force  of 
imagination,  he  possessed  a  sound  judgment,  and  a 
heart  tenderly  susceptible  of  all  the  benevolent  and 
social  affections.  Mild  in  his  temper,  and  courteous 
in  his  manners,  he  was  capable  of  exerting  great 
authority  over  others,  because  he  had  the  complete 
command  of  himself.  To  these  amiable  qualities  were 
united  a  guileless  uprightness,  and  an  unshaken  con- 
stancy in  maintaining  the  friendships  which  he  con- 
tracted, and  adhering  to  the  cause  which  his  convic- 
tions led  him  to  espouse.  He  was  accordingly  fitted 
for  becoming  a  most  useful  companion  to  his  uncle, 
who  did  not  uniformly  study  the  molliter  in  verbis,  and 
was  apt  to  be  involved  in  difhculties  by  an  impetuos- 
ity of  temper  which  he  was  not  always  able  to  com- 
mand, and  was  sometimes  unwilling  to  restrain. 

James  Melville  had  lately  finished  his  course  of 
philosophy  at  the  university  of  St.  Andrew's,  and, 
though  a  modest  youth,  flattered  himself  that  he  was 
capable  of  professing  those  liberal  arts  of  which  he 
had  been  declared  a  master  by  the  first  literary  author- 
ity in  the  land.  But  a  few  hours'  conversation  with 
his  new  instructor  dispelled  this  pleasing  dream,  and 
convinced  him  that  he  needed  yet  to  begin  his  studies. 
There  is  something  interesting  in  the  artless  manner 
in  which  he  relates  what  he  felt  on  making  this  dis- 
covery, and  describes,  from  his  first  impressions,  the 
eminent  qualifications  which  his  uncle  possessed  for 
a  task  in  which  he  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life.f 

Melville  was  not  permitted  long  to  enjoy  his  retire- 
ment at  Baldovy.  Beza's  letter  to  the  General  As- 
sembly, and  the  report  of  his  countrymen  who  had 
come  from  Geneva,  spread  the  fame  of  his  erudition 
through  Scotland.  At  the  Assembly  which  met  in 
August  he  was  much  talked  of,  and  applications  for 
his  services  were  made  from  different  quarters.  The 
commissioners  of  the  Synod  of  Fife  were  instructed 
to  request  that  he  might  be  granted  to  them,  with  the 
view  of  his  being  appointed  Provost  of  St.  Mary's 
College,  St.  Andrew's,  in  the  room  of  Archbishop 
Douglas,  who  had  just  died.:j:  A  similar  application 
was  made  in  behalf  of  the  University  of  Glasgow ; 
and  Archbishop  Boyd,  and  Andrew  Hay,  commis- 
sioner of  the  west,  urged  so  strongly  the  ruined  state 
into  which  that  seminary  had  fallen,  that  it  was  pre- 
ferred to  St.  Andrew's,  and  the  Assembly  recommend- 
ed it  to  Melville  to  yield  to  its  claims.  To  secure 
their  object,  they  prevailed  upon  such  of  his  relations 
as  were  present  to  use  their  influence,  on  their  return, 
to  induce  him  to  comply  with  this  recommendation. || 
Though  he  had  not  yet  been  introduced  to  them,  the 
Assembly  conferred  a  mark  of  their  approbation  on 
him,  by  inserting  his  name  in  a  committee  appointed 
to  examine  a  poetical  work  previous  to  its  publica- 
tion.§     It  deserves  notice,  that  this  Assembly  recog- 

*   Melville's  Diary,  p.  21—31.  +  See  Note  K. 

\  Doug-las  died  on  the  last  day  of  July,  1574,  (Act  Buik  of 
the  Comniissariot  of  St.  Andrew's,  19th  feb.  1574.)  When  ad- 
mitted to  the  bishopbric,  Doug:las  promised  to  resign  the  offices 
of  rector  of  the  university,  and  provost  of  St.  Mary's  College; 
and  complaints  were  at  different  times  made  against  him  at  the 
General  Assembly  for  continuing  to  retain  them.  Calderwood, 
MS.  Hist,  vol.ii.'p.  344—428. 

II  Melville's  Diary,  p.  29.  30. 

\  "  For  revewing  and  sighting  of  the  history  of  Job,  com- 
piled be  Mr.  Patrick  Adamsone  in  Latine  verse,  the  present  As- 
sembly hath  willed  their  loved  brethren  and  the  right  honour- 
able Mr.  George  Buchanan,  keeper  of  the  privy  seal,  Mr.  Peter 
3  D 


nized  the  doctor,  or  interpreter  of  Scripture,  as  a  dis- 
tinct functionary  of  the  church,  and  petitioned  the 
Regent  to  appoint  competent  salaries  for  such  learned 
men  as  -were  willing  to  discharge  this  office  in  the 
universities.* 

In  consequence  of  a  pressing  invitation  from  the 
patrons  of  the  university,  Melville  paid  a  visit  to 
Glasgow  ;  and,  after  making  the  necessary  inquiries 
and  arranging  certain  alterations,  he  agreed  to  return, 
and  undertake  the  office  of  Principal.  Accordingly, 
in  the  end  of  October,  he  took  leave  of  his  affectionate 
brother  (who  died  soon  after)f  and  set  out  for  Glas- 
gow attended  by  James  Melville.  By  the  way  he 
stopped  two  days  at  Stirling,  where  he  was  introduced 
to  the  young  king,  who  had  entered  the  ninth  year  of 
his  age, — "theswitest  sight  in  Europe  that  day  for 
strange  and  extraordinar  gifts  of  ingyne,  judgment, 
memorie,  and  language  !"  says  James  Melville,  who 
was  admitted  to  see  him  along  with  his  uncle  :  "  I 
hard  him  discourse,  (continues  he)  walking  up  and 
down  in  the  auld  Lady  Marr's  hand,  of  knawledge 
and  ignorance,  to  my  graitmarvell  and  astonishment." 
No  doubt  this  astonishment  was  heightened  by  the 
reflection  that  the  young  philosopher  was  a  king  ;  but 
the  truth  is,  that  James  did  at  this  time  exhibit  symp- 
toms of  more  than  ordinary  talents,  and  his  teachers 
were  highly  gratified  at  the  proficiency  which  he 
made  under  their  tuition.  At  Stirling,  Melville  found 
Buchanan  engaged,  at  leisure  liours,  in  writing  his 
History  of  Scotland  ;  and,  having  taken  his  advice 
on  the  plan  of  education  which  he  intended  to  follow, 
proceeded  to  Glasgow.  Thomas  Buchanan,  the  nephew 
of  the  pnet,  went  along  with  him,  to  be  present  at  his 
installation.:}: 

The  literary  history  of  the  University  of  Glasgow 
properly  commences  with  Melville,  though  the  semi- 
nary had  subsisted  for  upwards  of  a  century  before  he 
was  connected  with  it.  From  its  first  erection  it  was 
provided  with  professors  in  all  the  liberal  arts  and 
sciences  then  taught:  but  those  of  the  higher  faculties 
— theology,  and  law,  civil  and  canon,  lectured  merely 
pro  forma,  or  occasionally  as  it  suited  their  own  con- 
veniency  and  the  caprice  of  their  beneficed  auditors. |[ 
The  num.ber  of  regular  students  who  attended  it  ap- 
pears never  to  have  been  great,  and  among  these  are 
to  be  found  few  names  of  eminence.^  Its  funds,  ori- 
ginally small,  were  wasted  and  reduced  by  alienations 
during  the  confusions  which  attended  the  great  change 
of  religion.  Through  the  zealous  exertions  of  in- 
dividuals friendly  to  the  interests  of  literature,  gifts  in 
its  favour  were  procured  from  the  crown  and  from  the 
magistrates  of  the  city.^f  But  with  the  help  of  these 
only  two  regents  could  be  maintained.  The  conse- 
quence was,  that  it  languished  for  a  few  years,  until, 
on  the  death  of  John  Davidson,  who  held  the  situation 
of  Principal,  the  students  dispersed,  and  the  college 
was  literally  shut  up.** 

The  prospect  was  sufficiently  discouraging,  and  an 
ordinary  person  would  have  despaired  of  being  able 
to  restore  the  suspended  animation  of  the  university. 
But  such  was  Melville's  zeal  for  the  advancement  of 
letters,  and  the  confidence  which  he  felt  in  his  own 
resources,  that  he  entered  on  the  task  he  had  un- 
dertaken without  hesitation,  and  with  the  confident 
hope  of  raising  the  seminary  over  which  he  presided 


Young,  Pedagogue  to  our  Soveraign  Lord,  Mr.  Andrew  Mel- 
vill,  Mr.  James  Lawson,  minister  of  Edinburgh,  to  take  travell 
in  perusing  of  the  said  book,  and  if  the  same  he  found  be  thame 
agreeable  to  the  truth  of  Gods  word  to  authorize  the  samine 
with  testimony  of  their  hand  writ  and  subscription."  Cald. 
MS.  vol.  i).  p.  465. 

*  Buik  of  the  Universal  Kirk,  p.  60,  b. 

+  Richard  Melville  died  in  June,  1575.      Diary,  p.  14.  41. 

\  Melville's  Diary,  p.  39.  J  See  Note  L. 

}  See  Note  M.  If  See  Note  N. 

**  Records  of  the  University  of  Glasgow;  Memorial  for  Dr. 
Trail  and  Answers  for  Dr.  Leechnian,  in  1771;  and  Statist. 
Ace.  of  Scotland,  vol.xxi. 

15 


226 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


to  a  rank  which  no  university  in  his  native  coiuitry 
had  yet  attained.  His  reputation  secured  the  atten- 
dance of  as  many  young  men  as  were  necessary  for 
the  opening  of  the  classes.  It  would  have  been  easy 
for  him  to  have  discharged  the  duties  which  were  con- 
sidered as  belonging  to  the  office  of  Principal,  and  to 
have  left  the  education  of  the  students  to  be  conducted 
in  the  ordinary  way,  by  such  regents  as  should  be 
placed  under  him.  The  patrons  of  the  university  had 
already  procured  a  person  of  this  description  from  St. 
Andrew's.  Allowing  him  to  proceed  in  the  manner 
to  which  he  had  been  trained,  and  devolving  on  him 
the  management  of  the  slender  revenues  of  the  college, 
Melville  set  himself,  with  incredible  labour,  to  the  ex- 
ecution of  a  plan,  in  the  formation  of  which  he  had 
availed  himself  of  the  most  approved  practices  which 
he  had  witnessed  in  foreign  academies.  One  great 
object  which  he  had  in  view,  was  to  train  up  a  num- 
ber of  individuals  who  should  be  qualified  for  acting 
as  assistants  to  him,  and  for  following  out  his  mode 
of  instruction.  For  this  purpose  he  comnienced  with 
a  select  class  of  young  men  well  grounded  in  the  La- 
tin language,  and  determined  to  conduct  them  himself 
through  a  regular  and  complete  course  of  study. 

He  began  by  initiatiug  them  into  the  principles  of 
Greek  grammar.  He  then  introduced  them  to  the 
study  of  Logic  and  Rhetoric  ;  using,  as  his  text-books, 
the  Dialectics  of  his  Parisian  master.  Ramus,  and  the 
Rhetoric  of  Talaeus.*  While  they  were  engaged  in 
these  studies,  he  read  with  them  the  best  classical 
authors,  as  Virgil  and  Horace  among  the  Latins,  and 
Homer,  Hesiod,  Theocritus,  Pindar,  and  Isocrates, 
among  the  Greeks;  pointing  out,  as  he  went  along, 
their  beauties,  and  illustrating  by  them  the  principles 
of  logic  and  rhetoric.  Proceeding  to  Mathematics 
and  Geography,  he  taught  the  elements  of  Euclid, 
with  the  Arithmetic  and  Geometry  of  Ramus,  and  the 
Geography  of  Dionysius.  And  agreeably  to  his  plan 
of  uniting  elegant  literature  with  philosophy,  he  made 
the  students  use  tlie  Phaenomena  of  Aratus,  and  the 
Cosmographia  of  Honter.f  Moral  Philosophy  form- 
ed the  next  branch  of  study;  and  on  this  he  read 
Cicero's  Offices,  Paradoxes,  and  Tusculan  Questions, 
the  Ethics  and  Politics  of  Aristotle,  and  certain  Dia- 
logues of  Plato.  In  Natural  Philosophy,  he  made 
use  of  Fernelius,  and  commented  on  parts  of  the  writ- 
ings of  Aristotle  and  Plato.  To  these  he  added  a 
view  of  Universal  History,  with  Chronology,  and  the 
progress  of  the  Art  of  Writing.  Entering  upon  the 
duties  of  his  own  immediate  profession,  he  taught  the 
Hebrew  language,  first  more  cursorily,  by  going  over 
the  elementary  work  of  Martinius,  and  afterwards  by 
a  more  accurate  examination  of  its  principles,  accom- 


*  Audoniaru*  Talseus,  or  Talon,  was  the  scholar,  and  after- 
wards the  colleague  and  warm  defender  of  Ramus.  (Bulaeus, 
Hist.  Univ.  Paris,  vi.  389.)  His  Rhetorica  was  approved  of  and 
used  by  many  who  were  strongly  prejudiced  against  the  Ra- 
mean  school  of  philosophy. 

t  Aj«Tov  Zoxiw;  4>aivo/KivK  ;  first  printed  in  the  collection  of 
Ancient  Geographers  bjr  Aldus,  at  Venice,  in  1499,  and  fre- 
quently republished.  This  pioeui  was  greatly  esteemed  by  the 
ancients,  it  is  said  to  have  been  translated  into  Latin  verse  by 
Cicero,  and  is  quoted  by  the  apostle  Paul  (who  was  a  country- 
man of  the  author)  in  Acts  xvii.  28.  Aratus,  who  was  both  a 
poet  and  an  astronomer,  flourished  about  the  year  270  A.  C. 

The  Cosmographia  of  John  Honter  was  written  in  Latin 
verse,  and  accompanied  with  maps.  He  was  a  celebrated 
teacher  in  Transylvania,  his  native  countir^.  David  Chytrseus 
visited  his  academy  during  his  travels  in  1569,  and  speaks  in 
terms  of  high  commendation  of  his  talents,  and  the  utility  of 
his  writings.     (Chytroei  Orationes,  p.  411.    Hanov.  1614.) 

The  attempts  to  facilitate  the  study  of  the  sciences  by  the  aid 
of  poetry  have  been  numerous.  There  is  a  curious  specimen 
of  this  kind  in  a  Greek  poem  on  Law,  written  in  the  middle 
ages:  r«»o)J/<f  tc.  >oit.i>;  seu  Micliaelis  Pselli  Compendium  Le- 
gum,  versibus  lambis  et  Politicis;  published  by  Francis  Bos- 
quet, in  1632,  with  a  Latin  translation.— With  the  same  view, 
Francesco  Berlinghieri  composed  his  Gtografia,  published 
with  maps  at  Florence,  in  1480.  (Roscoe's  Lorenzo  de  Medici, 
vol.  ii.  p.  112.) 


panied  wi^h  a  praxis  upon  the  Psalter  and  books  of 
Solomon.  He  then  initiated  the  students  into  Chal- 
dee  and  Syriac ;  reading  those  parts  of  the  books  of 
Ezra  and  Daniel  that  are  written  in  Chaldee,  and  the 
epistle  to  the  Galatians  in  the  Syriac  version.  He  al- 
so went  through  all  the  common  heads  of  Divini- 
ty according  to  the  order  of  Calvin's  Institutions, 
and  gave  lectures  on  the  different  books  of  Scrip- 
ture.* 

This  course  of  study  was  completed  in  six  years. 
From  the  variety  of  subjects  which  it  embraced, 
and  the  number  of  books  read  and  commented  on, 
some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  extent  of  his  erudi- 
tion, and  the  greatness  of  his  labours.  On  the  second 
year,  his  nephew,  James  Melville,  began  a  class, 
which  he  instructed  in  Greek,  logic,  and  rhetoric; 
and  on  the  following  year  taught  them  mathematics 
and  moral  philosophy.  He  was  the  first  regent  in 
Scotland  who  read  the  Greek  authors  with  his  class 
in  the  original  language.  A  sufficient  number  of  re- 
gents being  obtained,  Melville  introduced  a  new  regu- 
lation as  to  their  mode  of  teaching.  It  was  the  estab- 
lished and  invariable  practice,  in  all  the  universities 
at  that  time,  for  the  regent  who  began  a  class  to  con- 
tinue with  it,  and  to  conduct  his  students  through  the 
whole  course  of  studies,  until  he  had  prepared  them 
for  laureation  at  the  end  of  four  years.  Melville  was 
under  the  necessity  of  adhering  to  this  practice  at  his 
first  coming  to  Glasgow,  but  he  was  fully  convinced 
of  its  tendency  to  obstruct  the  advancement  of  learn- 
ing, and  embraced  the  first  opportunity  of  abolishing 
it.  Accordingly,  in  the  year  1577,  Blaise  Laurie  was 
established  permanent  teacher  of  Greek  and  of  Ro- 
man Eloquence :  James  Melville  of  Mathematics, 
Logic,  and  Moral  Philosophy;  and  Peter  Blackburn 
of  Physics  and  Astronomy  ;  w  bile  the  Principal  con- 
fined himself  to  Divinity  and  the  Oriental  Languages. 
About  tiie  time  that  MekiUe  left  Glasgow,  the  Princi- 
pal was  relieved  from  a  part  of  his  extensive  duty  by 
the  appointment  of  a  separate  teacher  of  Hebrew. f 
The  advantages  arising  from  tlie  introduction  of  the 
division  of  laboui  into  the  teaching  of  the  sciences 
are  so  apparent,  and  are  now  so  generally  recognized, 
that  it  is  quite  unnecessary  to  state  them. 

Enthusiastically  attached  to  the  profession  which  he 
had  chosen,  and  eager  to  raise  the  literary  character  of 
his  native  country  to  the  same  rank  with  that  of  other 
nations,  Melville  soon  infused  a  portion  of  his  ardour 
into  the  breasts  of  his  scholars.  By  the  time  that  he  fin- 
ished his  second  session,  bis  fame  had  spread  through 
the  kingdom,  students  came  from  all  quarters  to  hear 
his  lectures,  and  numbers  who  had  taken  their  degrees 
at  St.  Andrews  matriculated  at  Glasgow  ;  so  that  the 
class-rooms,  wliich  had  so  lately  been  empty,  could  not 
contain  those  who  sought  for  admission.  "  I  dare  say 
there  was  no  place  in  Europe  (says  James  Melville) 
comparable  to  Glasgow  for  good  letters,  during  these 
years — for  a  plentiful  and  good  cheap  market  of  all 
kinds  of  languages,  arts,  and  sciences."  X 

A   number  of  individuals  who   afterwards   distin- 

fuished  themselves,  were  educated  under  Melville 
uring  the  short  period  of  his  residence  at  Glasgow. 
Among  these  were  Patrick  Melville,  one  of  his  ne- 
phews, who  became  professor  of  Hebrew,  first  at  Glas- 
gow, and  afterwards  at  St.  Andrews ;  Andrew  Knox, 
who  was  successively  Bishop  of  the  Isles,  and  of 
Raphoe  in  Ireland  ;  Duncan  Nairn,  who  was  selected 
as  the  best  qualified  for  being  the  first  professor  in  the 
College  of  Edinburgh  under  Principal  Rollock  ;  Arch- 
bishop Spotswood ;  Sir  Edward  Druramond,  Sir  Gid- 
eon Murray,  and  Sir  James  Fullerton,  who  became 
courtiers  to  James  VI. ;  and  Sir  Adam  Newton,  who, 
after  teaching  in  his  native  country  and  abroad,  was 


*  Melville's  Diary,  p.  39,  40. 

\  Annalcs  Fac.  Art.  Glas.     Melville's  Diary,  p.  44. 

i  Melville's  Diary,  p.  39. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


227 


appointed  tutor  and  afterwards  secretary  to  Henry, 
Prince  of  Wales.* 

In  the  year  1577,  Melville  obtained  from  the  Re- 
gent a  valuable  benefaction  to  the  university.  This 
was  the  living  of  Govan,  in  the  vicinity  of  Glasgow, 
valued  at  twenty-four  chalders  of  victual  annually, 
although  only  a  small  portion  of  this  could  be  realized 
for  a  number  of  years.  Along  with  this  donation,  a 
new  foundation,  commonly  called  the  Nova  Ereciio, 
was  given  to  the  college  by  royal  charter.  It  is  un- 
necessary to  specify  its  enactments,  as  it  sanctioned 
all  the  arrangements  which  Melville  had  already  in- 
troduced, as  to  the  branches  of  learning  to  be  taught, 
and  the  division  of  them  among  the  several  professors. 
The  number  of  persons  now  entitled  to  maintenance 
from  the  funds  was  twelve,  including  masters  and  bur- 
sars. The  other  students  either  paid  for  their  board 
at  the  college-table,  or  lodged  at  their  own  expense  in 
the  town.  In  consequence  of  the  new  foundation,  it 
became  the  duty  of  the  Principal  to  preach  on  Sab- 
bath at  the  Church  of  Govan. f 

It  was  not  by  his  public  instructions  only  that  Mel- 
ville promoted  the  cause  of  literature.  He  was  of  a 
communicative  disposition,  and  equally  qualified  and 
disposed  for  imparting  knowledge  by  private  conver- 
sation. This  appeared  in  his  intercourse  with  his 
colleagues,  and  at  the  college  table,  to  which  such 
individuals  of  education  as  resided  in  Glasgow  and 
its  neighbourhood  frequently  resorted  to  partake  of  a 
frugal  meal,  that  they  might  share  in  the  literary 
dessert  which  was  always  served  up  along  with  it.  His 
conversation  was  enlivened  with  amusing  anecdotes, 
smart  apophthegms,  and  classical  quotations  and  allu- 
sions. He  was  fond  of  discussing  literary  questions, 
and  had  a  singular  faculty  of  throwing  light  on  them 
ill  the  easy  and  unceremonious  form  of  table  talk. 
This  made  the  master  of  the  grammar  school,  who 
was  afterwards  Principal  of  the  college,  to  say  of 
these  literary  conversations,  "  that  he  learned  more 
of  Mr.  Andrew  Melville,  cracking  and  playing,  for 
understanding  of  the  authors  which  he  taught  in  the 
school,  than  by  all  the  commentators. :|:"  In  these 
academical  recreations,  philosophical  were  mixed  with 
literary  topics.  Blackburn,  the  regent  who  taught  the 
first  class  at  Melville's  coming  to  Glasgow,  was  a 
good  man,  and  far  from  being  unlearned,  according  to 
the  means  of  instruction  then  enjoyed  in  Scotland, 
but  unacquainted  with  the  world,  and  consequently 
dogmatical,  and  rude  in  his  manners.  He  was  a  great 
stickler  for  the  infallibility  of  Aristotle  as  a  philoso- 
pher, and  adhered  rigidly  to  the  maxim,  Jbsurdum  est 
dicere  Aristotehm  errasse,  which  nobody  had  yet  ventur- 
ed to  contradict  at  St.  Andrew's,  where  he  had  taken 
his  degrees.jl  When  the  subject  was  started  at  the 
college  table,  Melville  vigorously  opposed  this  senti- 
ment, and  produced  from  the  writings  of  the  Stagy- 
rite  examples  of  error  that  were  quite  incontrover- 
tible. Being  incapable  of  maintaining  his  ground 
by  argument,  Blackburn  was  apt  to  grow  angry,  and 
to  have  recourse  to  personal  reflections,  alleging  that 
the  Principal  was  proud,  arrogant,  full  of  his  own 
opinions,  and  disposed  to  set  himself  up  against  all 
the  world.  Whenever  Melville  perceived  this,  he 
dropt  the  dispute,  without  making  any  reply.  By  this 
means  he  gained  upon  his  colleague,  who,  feeling  him- 
self reproved  and  overcome,  gradually  corrected  his 


*  "  Patricias  Melvin,"  and  "  Edward'  Dromond"  were  lanre- 
ated  in  1578  ;  "  Andraeas  Knox"  in  1579  ;  "Duncanus  Nairn" 
in  1580  ;  Gedeon  Murray.  Johannes  Spotswood,  Jacobus  Ful- 
lertoun"  in  1581  ;  and  "Adam"  Newtoun"  in  1582.  (Annales 
Fac.  Art.  Glasj?.) 

t  Melville's  Diary,  p.  43,  44.  The  JVova  Ereciio  is  printed 
in  Memorial  for  Dr.  Trail,  anno  1771. 

\  Melville's  Diary,  p.  40. 

|!  Peter  Blackburn  afterwards  became  minister  of  Aberdeen, 
and  was  made  bishop  of  that  diocese  in  the  beginning  of  the 
17th  century. 


rude  behaviour,  and  at  last  became  as  forward  as  any 
in  acknowledging  the  obligations  he  owed  to  the  Prin- 
cipal.* 

We  are  not  however  to  conclude  from  this,  that 
Melville  was  disposed  to  sacrifice  his  sentiments  to 
courtesy  and  the  mere  love  of  peace,  or  to  yield  them 
up  in  silence  to  any  who  chose  to  oppose  them  from 
humour  or  prejudice.  He  had  higher  notions  of  the 
rights  of  truth  ;  and  when  called  upon  to  act  in  de- 
fence of  these,  and  especially  when  convinced  that 
they  were  inseparably  connected  with  the  public  good, 
he  was  ever  ready  to  exert  in  their  maintenance  all 
the  energy  of  his  talents,  and  all  the  fervour  of  his 
feelings.  On  controverted  subjects  he  was  patient  in 
his  inquiries  after  the  truth  ;  and  until  his  judgment 
was  satisfied,  he  reasoned  with  great  coolness,  and 
listened  with  the  utmost  attention  to  whatever  could 
be  urged  against  the  side  to  which  he  might  incline. 
But  when  he  had  examined  his  ground,  and  was  fully 
convinced  of  any  truth  and  of  its  importance,  he  was 
accustomed  to  maintain  it  tenaciously  and  boldly  ; 
would  suffer  no  man,  whatever  his  rank  or  authority 
might  be,  to  bear  away  the  point  in  dispute;  but  de- 
fended his  opinions  with  an  overwhelming  force  and 
fluency  of  language,  accompanied  with  uncommon  en- 
ergy of  voice  and  vehemence  of  gesture.  Nor  was 
he  a  less  persevering  than  ardent  advocate  of  the 
cause  which  he  espoused.  He  was  not  discouraged  by 
ill  success,  but  returned  to  the  charge  with  unabated 
ardour;  and  wherever  an  opportunity  presented  itself, 
in  private  or  in  public,  he  plied  his  opponents  with 
arguments,  until  he  either  made  converts  of  them,  or 
judged  them  to  be  obstinately  wedded  to  their  own 
opinions.  It  was  in  this  way  that  he  gained  over  so 
many  of  his  countrymen  to  his  views,  on  the  questions 
which  were  agitated  respecting  the  government  and 
liberties  of  the  church.  "  But  for  his  own  particular, 
(says  his  nephew,)  in  person,  geir,  or  fame,  I  knew 
him  never  heard  in  publick  with  any  man  to  this 
hour."t  In  this  light  is  his  character  presented  to 
us,  by  one  who  had  at  least  every  advantage  for  ob- 
serving it  narrowly.  We  shall  have  various  opportu- 
nities of  ascertaining  how  far  it  is  correct,  and  in 
what  degree  that  temper  and  behaviour,  which  a  warm 
friend  may  be  supposed  to  have  regarded  with  a  par- 
tial eye,  calls  for  our  censure  or  merits  our  applause. 

According  to  his  nephew's  statement,  Melville  was 
a  believer  in  Oneirology,  and  expert  in  the  interpreta- 
tion of  dreams.  Some  of  the  examples  adduced  in 
proof  of  this,  however,  would  rather  incline  us  to 
think  that  he  amused  himself  by  a  playful  exercise  of 
ingenuity  instead  of  pretending  to  skill  in  this  occult 
science.j[:  James  Melville  does  more  honour  to  him 
when  he  praises  his  sagacity  in  discerning  the  char- 
acters of  men  ;  and  he  has  certainly  produced  instances 
in  which  the  opinion  which  he  pronounced  on  in- 
dividuals of  his  acquaintance  was  strikingly  verified 
by  their  subsequent  behaviour.  One  of  these  occurred 
at  this  period,  and  relates  to  a  person  of  considerable 
notoriety  in  the  history  of  these  times.  John  Colville, 
being  called  before  the  synod  of  Glasgow  for  desert- 
ing his  ministry  at  Kilbride,  made  such  a  plausible 
apology  for  his  conduct  as  imposed  on  all  the  mem- 
bers. Melville  alone  suspected  his  sincerity,  and  in- 
terrogating him  closely,  received  such  answers  as  in- 
duced him  to  tell  his  brethren,  that  he  would  not  be 
surprised  to  see  that  man  renounce  the  profpssion  of 
the  ministry,  and  of  Christianity  itself.||  Colville  soon 
after  exchanged  the  character  of  the  preacher  for  that 
of  the  courtier.  Disappointed  of  his  expectations  at 
court,  he  joined  in  the  insurrections  of  the  turbulent  Earl 
of  Bothwell.  Being  driven  out  of  the  kingdom  along 
with  that  nobleman,  he  professed  himself  a  Roman 
Catholic,  and  became  a  keen  writer  against  the  Pro- 


*  Melville's  Diary,  p.  40,  51.  \lh\A.  p.  52. 

\  See  Note  O.  ||  Melville's  Diary,  p.  50. 


228 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


testant  religion.*  And  all  his  tergiversations,  poli- 
tical and  religious,  were  marked  by  uncommon  want 
of  principle."!"  I  mention  this  trait  in  MelvilJe'e  char- 
acter the  rather,  because  there  is  nothing  which  men 
bred  in  colleges,  and  devoted  to  literary  pursuits,  are 
more  deficient  in  than  the  knowledge  of  character ; 
in  consequence  of  which  they  are  ordinarily  disquali- 
fied for  the  management  of  public  business,  and  apt 
to  become  the  dupes  of  deceitful  friends  or  artful 
opponents. 

As  Principal,  it  was  Melville's  duty  to  take  an  ac- 
tive part  in  the  government  of  the  college.  Discipline 
weis  then  exercised  with  a  great  deal  more  strictness 
in  colleges  than  it  is  now.  This  necessarily  arose 
from  the  peculiar  constitution  of  such  societies,  com- 
posed of  young  men,  chiefly  boys,  who  did  not,  as  at 
present,  assemble  for  a  few  hours  every  day  to  receive 
instruction,  but  lived  constantly  together  in  the  same 
house.  While  questions  of  a  civil  or  criminal  nature 
which  arose  in  the  college  were  decided  by  the  rector 
and  his  council,  it  belonged  to  the  principal  to  pre- 
serve common  order  among  the  students,  and  to  keep 
them  in  due  subjection  to  their  respective  regents. 
At  his  installation  he  received  "  power  to  use  schol- 
astical  correction  and  discipline,"  and  as  the  badge 
of  this,  he  had  delivered  to  him  "  the  belt  of  correc- 
tion, with  the  keys  of  the  college.":|:  Accordingly,  it 
was  the  custom  for  the  Principal  to  inflict  corporal 
chastisement,  propria  nutnu,  upon  delinquents,  in  the 
presence  of  the  masters  and  students  assembled  in  the 
common  hall.  Melville  devolved  this  disagreeable 
task  on  the  regents  ;||  but  it  was  still  an  indispensable 
part  of  his  duly  to  give  judgment  in  cases  which  came 
before  him  by  complaint  or  reference, 

John  Maxwell,  son  to  Lord  Herreis,  was  drawn 
away  from  his  studies,  and  involved  in  disorderly 
practices,  in  consequence  of  a  connection  he  had 
formed  with  Andrew  "Heriot,  the  dissolute  heir  of  an 
opulent  citizen.  His  regent  having  reported  his  mis- 
behaviour and  disobedience,  the  Principal  rebuked 
the  young  nobleman  sharply,  before  the  whole  college, 
for  misspending  his  time,  and  disgracing  his  birth,  by 
associating  with  idle  and  debauched  company.  Irri- 
tated by  this  public  censure.  Maxwell  retired  into  the 
town,  and,  along  with  Heriot,  gave  himself  up  to  the 
management  of  certain  individuals  who  were  hostile 
to  the  college,  and  anxious  to  involve  it  in  a  quarrel 
with  the  inhabitants.  Having  collected  a  number  of 
lewd  and  disorderly  persons,  Heriot  threw  himself  in 


•  The  Paranese,  or  Admonition  to  his  Countrymen  when 
he  returned  to  the  Catholic  Religion,  by  Mr.  John  Colville, 
Paris,  1602.  He  had  published  this  work  in  Latin  in  the  pre- 
ceding year. 

f  He  gave  a  most  singular  proof  of  this,  in  a  work  entitled 
The  Palinode,  (Edinb.  1600.)  which  he  represents  as  a  refuta- 
tion of  a  treatise  of  his  own  against  James's  title  to  the  crown 
of  England,  which,  "  in  malice,  in  time  of  his  exile,  he  had 
penned."  Yet  he  had  penned  no  such  treatise,  but  merely 
pretended  this  to  ingratiate  himself  with  James  by  a  feigned 
recantation.  (Spotsw.  457.)  Charters  mentions  another  work 
by  Colville:  "Oratio  Funebris  Exsequiis  Elizabethffi  destinata. 
Paris,  1604."  (Lives  of  Scotish  Writers,  MS.  in  Advocates' 
Library.) 

}  Presentation  of  Mr.  James  Wilkie  to  be  principal  of  St. 
Leonard's  College,  St.  Andrews,  in  the  room  of  Mr.  George 
Buchanan,  April  15,  1670;  and"  Admission  of  Mr.  Andrew 
Bruce  to  the  »ame  office  in  1630:  Papers  of  St.  Leonard's  Col- 
lege. 

II  Robert  Boyd  ofTrochrig,  when  admitted  Principal  of  the 
college  of  Edinburgh  in  1622,  protested  before  the  Town 
Council  that  he  should  not  be  bound  to  administer  corporal 
correction,  which  he  considered  as  unbecoming  the  dignity  of 
the  station.  He  had  declined  it  (he  said)  when  Principal  of  the 
College  of  Montauban  in  France,  and  of  Glasgow,  altliough  be 
acknowledges  it  was  the  accustomed  duty  of  the  Principal. 
His  predecessor  at  Glasgow  (Patrick  Sharp)  had  performed  it; 
but  ne  alleges  that  this  was  owing  to  its  having  been  "  his 
wonted  custome,  whereunto  he  was  inured  in  the  grammar 
school,  wherefra  he  was  taken  to  be  Principal  of  the  College." 
(Life  of  Robert  Boyd,  p.  84—100.  WodrowMSS.  vol.  v.  Bibl. 
Col.  Glas.) 


the  way  of  the  masters  and  students,  as  they  were  re- 
turning one  day  from  church,  and  followed  them  until 
they  entered  the  college,  brandishing  a  drawn  sword 
in  the  Principal's  face,  and  making  use  of  the  most 
opprobrious  and  provoking  language.  Melville  bore 
this  insult  with  the  utmost  patience,  and  exerted  his 
authority  in  restraining  the  students,  who  burned  with 
desire  to  revenge  the  afi'ront  offered  to  their  master.* 
Lord  Herreis,  iiaving  heard  of  his  son's  misconduct, 
came  to  Glasgow,  and  obliged  him,  on  his  knees  and 
in  the  open  court  of  the  college,  to  beg  pardon  of  the 
Principal,  whose  forbearance  he  highly  commended. 
Heriot  was  soon  after  seized  with  a  dangerous  illness  ; 
during  which  Melville,  at  his  desire,  waited  on  him, 
assured  him  that  he  had  forgotten  the  late  injury,  and 
did  every  thing  in  his  power  to  sooth  the  last  moments 
of  the  unhappy  young  man."}" 

But  though  he  was  disposed  to  overlook  personal 
injuries,  and  shewed  a  due  regard  to  public  peace,  he 
knew  how  to  support  the  authority  of  his  office  ;  and 
when  he  perceived  that  the  credit  of  the  University 
was  at  stake,  or  that  it  was  intended  to  intimidate 
him  from  executing  the  laws,  he  discovered  the  native 
resolution  and  intrepidity  of  his  character.  I  shall 
give  an  instance  of  this,  which  throws  light  on  the 
manners  of  the  age,  and  derives  interest  from  the  re- 
lation it  bears  to  a  young  gentleman  who  afterwards 
attracted  considerable  notice  both  as  a  military  and  a 
literary  adventurer.  Mark  Alexander  Boyd,  was  the 
younger  son  of  Robert  Boyd  of  Pinkhill,  and  a  near 
relation  of  Lord  Boyd,  the  favourite  of  the  Regent 
Morton. :t:  Having  lost  his  father  at  an  early  period 
of  his  life,  he  was  placed  under  the  care  of  his  uncle, 
the  archbishop  of  Glasgow,  for  the  sake  of  his  educa- 
tion. Young  Boyd  evinced  spirit  and  genius,  but  ac- 
companied with  a  headstrong  and  ungovernable  tem- 
per. He  had  created  much  vexation,  to  the  master  of 
the  grammar-school,  and  to  the  first  regent  under  whom 
he  studied  at  college.  When  he  entered  the  second 
class,  James  Melville,  who  taught  it,  told  him  that 
such  practices  as  he  understood  him  to  have  indulged 
in  would  not  be  tolerated.  The  admonition  had  the 
desired  effect  for  some  time,  but  at  length  the  impres- 
sion of  it  wore  off,  and  Boyd  received  the  castigation 
of  which  he  had  been  forwarned,  and  which  his  be- 
haviour merited.  Upon  this  the  affronted  stripling 
resolved  to  be  revenged.  Having  pricked  his  face 
with  his  writing  instruments,  and  besmeared  it 
with  the  blood  which  he  drew,  he  presented  himself 
before  his  friends  in  this  guise,  with  loud  complaints 
of  the  cruel  treatment  which  he  had  received  from  his 
regent.  The  Principal  and  Professors  investigated 
the  affair,  and  easily  detected  the  trick  which  had  been 
played.  But  the  relations  of  the  young  man  having 
foolishly  taken  his  part,  he  not  only  absented  himself 
from  the  college,  but  determined  to  have  still  ampler 
revenge.  In  concert  with  his  cousin,  Alexander 
Cunninghame,  a  near  relation  of  the  Earl  of  Glen- 
cairn,  he  way-laid  the  regent  in  the  church-yard  as  he 
was  returning  one  evening  to  the  college.  Boyd  came 
behind  him  with  a  baton,  but  retreated  when  the  re- 
gent, who  had  perceived  his  tread,  turned  round. 
Cunninghame  then  rushed  forward  with  a  drawn 
sword  ;  but  the  regent,  though  unarmed,  being  an  ex- 
pert fencer,  declined  the  thrust  aimed  at  him,  seized 


*  "  The  schoUars  warout  of  thair  wittes,  and  fain  wald  haiff 
put  hands  on  him  (Heriot);  but  he  (the  Principal)  rebuiked 
tham  in  sic  sort  that  they  durst  not  steir.  As  for  myself,  for  als 
patient  as  I  am  called,  I  doucht  not  suffer  it,  bot  withdrew  my- 
self from  him."  James  Melville  relates  the  story  as  one  proof, 
among  many  others,  that  although  his  uncle  was  "  verie  not  in 
all  (public)  questions,  yet  when  it  twitched  his  particular,  no 
man  could  crab  him,  conti-ar  to  the  common  custom."  (Diary, 
p.  50.)  +  Ibid. 

\  Life  of  Mark  Alexander  Boyd,  by  Lord  Hailes.  Sibbaldi 
Prodromus  Nat.  Hist.  Scotise,  P.  ii.  lib.  3.  p.  2—4.  Sibbald 
had  heard  in  general  of  the  incident  related  in  the  text,  but 
was  unacquainted  with  the  particulars. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


229 


the  sword-arm  of  his  assailant,  and  wresting  the  wea- 
pon from  his  hand,  detained  him  a  prisoner.  The 
rector  and  the  magistrates  of  the  city  were  of  opinion 
that  this  outrage  could  not  be  passed  over  without  in- 
juring the  peace  and  credit  of  the  College,  and  de- 
creed that  Alexander  Cunninghame  should  come  to 
the  place  where  he  had  committed  the  offence,  bare- 
headed and  bare-footed,  and  there  crave  pardon  of  the 
University  and  of  the  regent  whom  he  had  assaulted. 
Encouraged  by  his  friends  he  refused  to  submit  to 
this  sentence ;  and  nothing  was  to  be  heard  in  the 
town  and  country  but  loud  Ihreatenings  that  the  Boyds 
and  Cunninghames  would  burn  the  college  and  kill 
the  professors.  Disregarding  these  threats,  Melville 
summoned  the  offender  before  the  Privy  Council,  went 
himself  to  St.  Andrews  to  prosecute  the  cause,  and, 
notwithstanding  the  powerful  interest  with  which  he 
had  to  contend,  obtained  a  decree,  ordaining  Alexan- 
der Cunninghame  to  obey  the  sentence  of  the  Univer- 
sity and  Town  Council  against  a  certain  day,  or  else 
enter  as  a  prisoner  into  the  castle  of  Blackness.* 
Andrew  Hay,  the  rector,  a  man  of  great  prudence  and 
knowledge  of  the  country,  was  of  opinion  that  the  col- 
lege should  not  insist  on  the  execution  of  this  de- 
cree; as  the  pride  of  the  families  concerned  would  not 
suffer  them  quietly  to  see  their  relation  make  such  a 
humiliating  acknowledgment,  and  it  was  to  be  feared 
that  the  affair  would  not  terminate  without  bloodshed. 
To  this  advice  the  Principal  peremptorily  refused  to 
yield.  "If  they  would  have  forgiveness  (said  he)  let 
them  crave  it  humbly,  and  they  shall  have  it ;  but  ere 
this  preparative  pass,  that  we  dare  not  correct  our 
scholars  for  fear  of  bangsters  and  clanned  gentlemen, 
they  shall  have  all  the  blood  of  my  body  first." 

On  the  day  appointed  for  making  the  submission, 
Lord  Boyd  came  to  Glasgow  accompanied  by  his 
friends,  and  the  Earl  of  Glencairn  by  his,  to  the  num- 
ber of  between  four  and  five  hundred  gentlemen.  The 
members  of  the  University  being  assembled  in  the 
College-hall,  attempts  were  made  to  deter  them  from 
appearing  at  the  appointed  place,  by  persons  who  pro- 
fessed to  act  as  mediators.  "  They  that  will  go  with 
me  (exclaimed  Melville)  let  them  go ;  and  they  that 
are  afraid,  let  them  tarry."  And  setting  out  instantly, 
ho  was  followed  by  the  rector,  regents,  and  students, 
in  their  gowns.  The  church-yard  was  filled  with 
gentlemen  in  armour,  who,  however,  gave  way,  and 
allowed  the  procession  from  the  college  to  advance  to 
the  spot  where  the  assault  was  made.  Alexander 
Cunninghame,  with  his  head  uncovered,  but  in  other 
respects  richly  dressed,  now  came  forward  supported 
by  two  of  his  friends,  and,  with  an  air  and  tone  very 
different  from  those  of  a  penitent,  said  he  was  ready 
to  make  his  submission,  provided  there  were  any  pre- 
sent who  were  ready  to  accept  it.  "  Doubt  not  of  that ; 
we  are  ready,"  replied  Melville.  This  bold  reply  com- 
pletely deranged  the  plans  of  the  cabal,  whose  object 
it  was  to  make  a  show  of  willingness  to  obey  the  or- 
der of  the  Privy  Council,  but  at  the  same  time  to  in- 
timidate the  College  from  requiring  it.  Accordingly, 
after  a  short  pause,  the  culprit  found  himself  obliged 
to  begin  his  confession,  which  he  went  through  in 
every  article,  conformably  to  the  original  sentence,  in 
the  presence  of  his  friends  convened  from  all  parts  of 
the  country.  When  the  ceremony  was  over,  the  Prin- 
cipal and  his  company  left  the  church-yard  in  the 
same  manner  as  they  had  entered  it,  without  meeting 
with  the  slightest  insult  or  interruption.  And  the 
gentlemen,  after  spending  a  considerable  sum  of 
money  in  the  town,  returned  home,  as  some  of  them 
expressed  themselves,  "  greater  fools  than  they 
came."f 

We  must  not  omit  to  notice  a  charge  brought 
against  Melville,  which  relates  to  the  period  of  which 
we  are  now  writing.  It  is  said  that  he  was  accessory  to 


»  See  Note  P. 


t  Melville's  Diary,  p.  52 — 55. 


"  a  little  disturbance"  which  took  place  in  Glasgow. 
"  By  the  earnest  dealing  of  Mr.  Andrew  Melville  and 
other  ministers,"  the  magistrates  agreed  to  demolish 
the  Cathedral,  as  a  monument  of  idolatry,  and  to  build 
a  number  of  small  churches  with  its  materials.  But 
the  trades  of  the  city,  resenting  this,  rose  in  a  tumult, 
and  forcibly  prevented  the  workmen  from  proceeding. 
The  ringleaders  of  the  riot  were  summoned  before  the 
Privy  Council,  when  the  king,  not  then  thirteen  years 
of  age,  took  their  part,  and  told  the  ministers  engaged 
in  the  prosecution,  "  that  too  many  churches  had 
already  been  destroyed,  and  that  he  would  not  tolerate 
more  abuses  in  that  kind."*  This  statement  rests 
solely  upon  the  authority  of  Bishop  Spotswood.  I 
never  met  with  any  thing  in  the  public  or  private 
writings  of  Melville,  or  of  any  minister  contemporary 
with  him,  that  gives  the  smallest  ground  for  the  con- 
clusion, that  they  looked  upon  cathedral  churches  as 
monuments  of  idolatry,  or  that  they  would  have  ad- 
vised their  demolition  on  this  ground.  The  records 
of  the  Town  Council  of  Glasgow  and  of  the  Privy 
Council  are  totally  silent  as  to  the  alleged  order  and 
riot ;  a  silence  which  it  is  extremely  diflScult  to  ac- 
count for,  on  the  supposition  that  the  bishop  has  given 
a  correct  report  of  the  affair.  It  appears  from  the 
most  satisfactory  documents,  that  the  magistrates  and 
ministers  of  Glasgow,  so  far  from  wishing  to  pull  down 
the  cathedral,  were  anxious  to  uphold  and  repair  it, 
that  they  made  repeated  representations  to  the  King  and 
Privy  Council  on  this  head,  and  that,  though  the  burden 
of  the  work  did  not  legally  fall  on  them,  they  volun- 
tarily and  zealously  contributed  for  carrying  it  into  ex- 
ecution.f  I  think  it  highly  probable,  that  any  dis- 
turbance which  may  have  furnished  the  ground-work 
of  the  statement  under  examination,  was  occasioned 
by  an  order,  not  for  demolishing,  but  for  repairing  the 
Cathedral ;  and  that  the  craftsmen  were  aggrieved  at 
some  encroachment  upon  their  rights,  real  or  supposed, 
in  the  mode  of  reparation. 

During  the  second  year  of  his  residence  at  Glasgow, 
Melville  received  from  Geneva  his  library,  consisting 
of  an  ample  collection  of  books  in  various  languages 
and  on  all  sciences,  which  he  had  purchased  while  he 
remained  on  the  Continent.:!:  This  was  the  treasure 
on  which  he  set  the  highest  value.  Though  the  re- 
verse of  parsimonious  in  every  other  article,  he  does 
not  appear  to  have  been  fond  of  making  presents  of 
his  books; II  he  was  even  cautious  in  lending  them; 
and  when  forced  to  fly  from  home,  one  of  the  first  ob- 
jects of  his  solicitude,  and  of  his  strict  injunctions, 
was  the  securing  of  his  library, §  Before  its  arrival 
at  this  time  he  must  have  felt  severely  the  want  of 
books.  For  this  commodity  was  then  exceedingly 
rare  in  Scotland  ;  nor  was  there  any  thing  in  which 
our  universities  were  more  poorly  provided.^ 

About  this  lime,  Melville's  first  publication,  which 
was  printed  abroad,  made  its  appearance  in  Scotland. 
It  consisted  of  a  poetical  paraphrase  of  the  Song  of 
Moses,  and  of  a  part  of  the  Book  of  Job,  with  several 
smaller  poems;  all  in  Latin.**  This  publication  gained 


*  Spotswood,  Hist.  p.  304.  f  See  Note  Q. 

t  Melville's  Diary,  p.  36.  41. 

II  I  have  not  found  his  name  among  those  of  his  learned  con- 
temporaries who  made  donations  of  this  kind  to  the  Universities 
of  Glasgow  and  St.  Andrews. 

5  Melvini  Epistola;,  p.  89,  295,  306.  t  See  Note  R. 

**  James  Melville  speaks  of  this  work  as  if  it  had  been  first 
published  in  1578.  Diary,  p.  49.  But  I  have  now  before  me 
a  copy  of  the  very  rare  original  edition,  communicated  by  Mr. 
David  Laing,  whose  extensive  acquaintance  with  Scottish 
bibliography  has  often  been  of  great  service  to  me.  The  fol- 
lowing is  the  title  of  the  work: 

"CarmenMosis,  Ex  Deuteron.  Cap.  XXXIT.  quod  ipse  mo- 
riens  Israeli  tradidit  ediscendum  et  cantanduni  perpetub,  latina 
paraphrasi  illustratum.  Cui  addita  sunt  nonnulla  Epigram- 
mata,  et  lobi  Cap.  ill.  latino  carmine  redditum.  Andrea  Mel- 
vino  Scoto  Avctore.     Basileae  M.  D.  LXXIIII."    8vo.  p.  16. 

The  manuscript  of  this  work  was,  it  is  probable,  left  on  the 
Continent  by  the  author,  when  he  returned  to  Scotland.     But 


230 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


bim  great  reputation  among  the  learned,  who  eagerly 
expected  that  he  would  undertake  a  work  of  greater 
extent,  which  might  prove  a  durable  monument  of  his 
talents.  He  excused  himself  for  declining  this,  by 
pleading  that  there  were  already  too  many  writers  who 
courted  the  public  favour,  and  that  it  was  his  duty  to 
devote  his  attention  to  the  task  of  education,  which  he 
regarded  as  the  great  business  of  his  life.  According- 
ly, he  checked  instead  of  encouraging  the  inclination 
to  write  for  the  press,  confining  himself  to  occasional 
pieces,  epigrams,  and  other  light  effusions  of  the  muse, 
in  which  he  indulged  for  his  own  amusement  and  the 
gratification  of  his  private  friends.* 

The  Carmen  Mosis  is  unquestionably  the  finest  poem 
in  the  collection,  or  perhaps  of  any  that  Melville 
wrote.  It  is  worthy  of  the  scholar  of  Buchanan,  and 
deserves  a  place  among  the  productions  of  those  mod- 
dern  writers  who  have  attained  great  excellence  in 
Latin  poetry.  The  author  did  not  propose  to  transfuse 
the  peculiar  beauties  of  the  original  into  his  para- 
phrase. The  different  genius  of  the  two  species  of 
poetry  rendered  this  impracticable.  Its  merits  must 
therefore  be  estimated  according  to  the  principles  of 
Latin  and  not  of  Hebrew  poetry.  The  language  is 
classically  pure,  and  at  the  same  time  not  unsuited  to 
the  sacredness  of  the  theme ;  the  versification  is  cor- 
rect and  smooth  ;  and  the  imagery  is  managed  with 
boldness  and  delicacy.  The  exordium,  though  it  does 
not  express  the  inimitable  simplicity  and  majesty  of 
the  original,  is  lofty  and  beautiful. 

Vos  aeterni  igues,  et  conscia  lumiaa  niundi, 
Palantesque  polo  flammae  ;  vos  huniida  regna 
Aeriiqne  super  tractus,  campique  jacentes, 
Et  coelum  et  tellus  (ego  vos  nunc  alloquor)  aures 
Arrigite  :  et  celsas  dicenti  advertite  nientes. 

Qualis  rore  fluens  genimanti  argenteus  imber 
Pluriinus,  arentes  maturis  solibus  agros 
Temperat  undanti  rivo  ;    glebasque  subactas 
Evocat  in  florem,  et  viridantes  elicit  herbas; 
Instauratque  novos  opulenti  ruris  honores. 
Talis  ab  ore  fluit  sacro  vis  lactea  fandi : 
Tale  polo  veniens  numeris  liquentibus  aureum 
Divitis  eloquii  flumen  manabit  in  artus, 
Ossaque,  perque  imos  sensus,  perque  alta  pererrans 
Pectora,  nectareos  Iseto  feret  ubere  fractus, 
Et  gazam  aetherea  cumulabit  messe  perennem. 

Quippe  Dei  pango  nomen  :  coelique  verendum 
Concelebro  nunien  :  vos  ergo  Dei  venerandum 
Et  nonien  celebrate,  et  numen  pangite  nostri. 

The  description  of  the  eagle's  teaching  her  young 
to  fly,  by  which  the  divine  care  exercised  about  Israel 
is  illustrated,  is  also  extremely  beautiful. 

Ac  velut  alituuni  princeps,  fulvusque  Tonantis 
Armiger,  iniplunies  et  adhuc  sine  robore  nidos 
Sollicita  refovet  cura,  pinguisque  ferinae 
Indulget  pastus,  mox  ut  cum  viribus  alae 
Vesticipes  crevere,  vocat  si  bland  ior  aura, 
Expansa  inritat  pluma  :  dorsoque  niorantes 
Excipit,  attoUitque  hunieris  :  plausuque  secundo 
Fertur  in  arva,  tioiens  oneri  natat  irapete  presso. 
Reinigiuni  lentans  alarum  :  incurvaque  pinnis 
Vela  iegens,  huniilesque  tranat  sub  nubibus  eras. 
Hinc  sensim  supera  alta  petit  :  jam  jaroque  sub  astra 
Erigitur  :  cursusque  leves  citus  Brget  in  auras, 
Omnia  pervolitans  late  loca  :   et  agniine  foetus 
Fertque  refertque  suos  vario  :  moremque  volandi 
Addocet.     Illi  autem  longa  assuetudine  docti 
Paulatini  innipiunt  pennis  se  credere  roelo 
Impavidi.     Tnntuni  a  teneris  valet  addere  curam. 

The  smaller  poems  consist  of  commendatory  verses 
to  the  memory  of  Admiral  Coligni  and  other  Protes- 
tants who  perished  in  the  massacres  of  France,  and 
of  satirical  invectives  against  the  tyrannical  and  cruel 


one,  at  least,  of  the  epigram*  (that  on  the  death  of  Charles  IX.) 
must  have  been  transmitted  to  the  printer  by  Melville,  after  bis 
arrival  in  Britain.  (Soe  above,  p.  56.) — In  the  inventory  of 
books  belonging  to  Thomas  Bassinden,  printer  in  Edinburgh, 
inserted  in  his  Testament  Testamentar,  is  the  following  article; 
"  Ite  xlviii  carmen  nioyses.ye  dosane  xviii''.  suroma  vis."  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  this  is  Melville's  work.  Bassinden  died 
18th  October,  1577.  (Commissary  Records  of  Edinburgh.) 
»  MelTille*iDiary,p.49. 


policy  of  the  individuals  who  planned  these  detestable 
scenes.*     The  dedication  of  the  work  to  the  young 
king  is  happily  conceived  and  expressed. 
Extremse  spes  sera  plagae,  lux  aarea  gcntis 

Arctoae,  et  secli  solque  jubarque  tui. 
Tot  sceptris  atavorum  ingens,  mgentior  alta 

Indole,  quam  toUit  relligionis  nonos, 
Sancte  pucr,  sacra  nieaj  primordia  musse, 

Non  secus  ac  grati  prima  elementa  animi. 
Parva  quidem  tanto,  fateor,  munuscula  Regi  : 

Parva,  sed  immensi  munere  magna  Dei. 
Ipse  tibi  majora  dabis  nostro  auspice  Pfaoebo  : 
Forsau  et  auspiciis  nos  meliora  tuis.  f 

The  whole  of  this  work  was  deemed  worthy  of  a 
place  in  the  selection  of  Latin  poetry  by  Scotsmen, 
published  at  a  subsequent  period  under  the  direction 
of  Arthur  Johnston.:]: 


CHAPTER  III.— 1574— 1580. 

Interest  which  Melville  took  in  Public  Affairs — His  connection 
with  the  Church — Character  of  the  Regent  Morton — State 
of  Ecclesiastical  Affairs  at  bis  return  to  Scotland — Conven- 
tion at  Leith — Tulchan  Episcopacy — Not  Approved  by  the 
General  Assembly — Consequences  of  its  Obtrusion — Melville 
sits  in  the  General  Assembly — Episcopacy  Attacked — Speech 
of  Melville  on  that  Occasion — Discussions  on  this  Subject — 
Episcopacy  Condemned — Proceedings  with  the  Bishops — 
Preparation  of  the  Second  Book  of  Discipline — Grounds  of 
Opposition  to  it  on  the  part  of  the  Court  and  Nobility — 
Approved  by  the  General  Assembly — Outline  of  it — Mel- 
ville charged  with  bringing  the  Geneva  Discipline  into  Scot- 
laud — Degree  in  which  the  Overthrow  of  Episcopacy  was 
owing  to  him — Remarks  on  his  conduct  in  that  A&air — 
His  Behaviour  to  Archbishop  Boyd — Conduct  of  Adamson 
— the  Regent  endeavours  to  gain  Melville — Proposes  send- 
ing him  to  a  General  Council  in  Germany — Interview  be- 
tween them— Changes  in  the  Political  Administration— Death 
of  the  Chancellor  Glaramis — The  Young  King  shows  him- 
self favourable  to  the  Proceedings-of  the  Church — Measures 
of  the  General  Assembly  for  Promoting  learning — Proposal 
to  bring  learned  Printers  into  the  Country — Scottish  Edition 
of  the  Bible — Proposed  Reformation  of  the  Universities — 
Melville's  Translation  from  Glasgow  to  St.  Andrews. 

Hitherto  we  have  considered  Melville  chiefly  as  a 
literary  character :  we  must  now  contemplate  him  in  a 
different  light.  His  immediate  object  in  returning  to 
Scotland  was  to  assist  in  the  revival  of  its  literature, 
and  not  to  take  part  in  the  management  of  its  public 
affairs.  But  he  did  not  think  that  the  attention  which 
he  was  called  on  to  give  to  the  former  necessarily  re- 
quired that  he  should  be  altogether  indifferent  to  the 
latter.  He  had  embraced  an  academical  life  from 
choice ;  and  the  situation  in  which  he  was  placed  af- 
forded sufficient  gratification  to  his  taste,  and  ample 
employment  to  his  time  and  talents.  But  partial  as 
he  was  to  literary  pursuits,  he  was  not  not  a  mere 
academic,  whose  ideas  are  all  confined  within  the 
cloistered  walls  of  his  college.  He  was  a  citizen  as 
well  as  a  man  of  letters.  From  constitution  and  from 
education  he  felt  a  lively  interest  in  the  welfare  of  his 
native  country,  and  of  his  native  church,  to  whose 
bosom   he  had   returned  after  a  long  absence,  and  to 


*  Two  of  these  have  already  been  given.  See  above,  p,  51. 
Some  of  them  are  introduced  into  a  valuable  work,  entitled, 
"  Menioires  de  I'Estat  de  France  sous  Charles  IX."  Tom.  i.  p. 
571,  b.  574.     A  Meidelborg,  1578. 

f  Below  the  dedication,  in  the  copy  of  the  book  which  I 
have  used,  a  few  lines  in  praise  of  Buchanan  have  been  written 
with  a  pen.  Thev  are  not  in  Melville's  hand-writing,  but, 
from  their  having  be«n  introduced  here,  it  is  probable  tnat  he 
was  considered  as  the  author  of  them.  I  have  not  observed 
that  they  have  been  printed. 

Geo.  Buchan,  Scotus, 
Vir  Excellentiss. 
Clarus  in  Historiae  campo,  clarusque  Poesi, 
Nomen  ad  seternos  fers,  Buchanane,  diem. 
Scotia  luce  tua  perfusa  celebrior  audet. 

Rex  disciplinae  gaudet  honore  tuae. 
Maximus  ei  meritis.     Quid  Patria  Rexvc  rependet, 
Quando  tuis  meritis  hie  sit  et  ilia  minor  ? 
I  Delitise  Poetanim  Scotorum,  torn.  ii. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILfci^ 


231 


whose  benefit  he  had  consecrated  his  gifts  and   his 
labours. 

His  right  to  take  a  share  in  ecclesiastical  manage- 
ments did  not  rest  merely  on  his  personal  gifts,  or  on 
the  common  interest  which  all  the  members  of  a  soci- 
ety have  in  its  welfare.  He  was  officially  connected 
with  the  Church  of  Scotland.  During  the  three  last 
years  of  his  residence  in  Glasgow  he  officiated  as 
minister  of  the  church  of  Govan.*  But  although  this 
was  the  only  period  of  his  life  in  which  he  acted  as 
the  pastor  of  a  particular  congregation,  yet  he  all 
along  held  a  public  situation  in  the  church  as  a  pro- 
fessor of  divinity.  Those  who  taught  theology  in 
colleges,  were  considered  as  belonging  to  the  order  of 
doctors,  and  under  this  name  were  recognized  as  eccle- 
siastical office-bearers  from  the  beginning  of  the  Re- 
formation in  Scotland.  Besides  the  general  superin- 
tendence which  the  church-courts  exercised  over  ail 
the  seminaries  of  instruction,  founded  on  the  connec- 
tion between  religion  and  education,  they  took  a  spe- 
cial cognizance  of  the  divinity  classes,  as  the  imme- 
diate nurseries  of  the  ministry  ;  and  the  teachers  of 
these,  if  not  formally  installed  by  their  authority, 
were  at  least  admitted  with  their  approbation  and  con- 
sent. The  professors  of  divinity  had  not  the  power 
of  dispensing  the  sacraments,  unless  they  were  also 
pastors;  but  they  were  entitled  to  perform  all  the 
other  parts  of  the  pastoral  function.  Besides  preach- 
ing in  public,  they  sat  in  the  church  courts,  and  took 
part  in  the  determination  of  religious  controversies 
and  the  exercise  of  ecclesiastical  discipline.  And  this 
they  had  a  right  to  do  in  respect  of  their  office  as  in- 
terpreters of  Scripture,  and  their  having  the  oversight 
of  seminaries  which  formed  an  integral  and  important 
part  of  the  general  church.  At  first,  when  there  was 
no  fixed  rule  as  to  the  constituent  members  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  they  attended  the  meetings  of  that 
judiciary  as  they  found  opportunity ;  but  afterwards, 
when  a  regular  plan  of  delegation  was  organized,  they 
were  chosen  and  sat  as  commissioners,  either  from  the 
universities  in  which  they  taught,  or  from  the  provin- 
cial synods  or  presbyteries  within  whose  bounds  they 
resided,  and  of  which  they  were  ordinary  members. f 

It  was  necessary  to  make  this  statement  of  Mel- 
ville's right  to  act  in  the  affairs  of  the  church  because, 
at  a  subsequent  period,  when  the  Court  wished  to  get 
rid  of  his  powerful  opposition  to  its  measures,  his  right 
was  called  in  question,  and  it  was  alleged  that  he  had 
been  admitted  to  a  seat  in  the  church-courts  through 
oversight,  or  at  best,  from  indulgence  or  courtesy. 
Nor  is  there  any  ground  for  the  insinuation,  that  by 
moving  out  of  his  place,  and  intruding  into  one  for- 
eign to  his  calling,  he  excited  prejudices  against  his 
professorial  character  and  marred  his  literary  useful- 
ness. To  such  a  charge  he  is  not  obnoxious,  unless  it 
can  be  shown  that  he  neglected  his  duties  in  the  col- 
lege, or  conducted  himself  improperly  in  the  ecclesi- 
astical assemblies ; — faults  which  the  lay  delegates 
from  universities  were  equally  liable  to  commit. 

To  enable  the  reader  to  judge  of  the  public  transac- 
tions in  which  Melville  took  such  an  active  part,  it 
will  be  necessary  to  give  a  short  view  of  the  state  of 
the  country  and  of  the  affairs  of  the  church  when  he 
returned  to  Scotland. 

The  young  king  was  still  a  minor ;  and  James,  Earl 
of  Morton,  exercised  the  suprentve  authority,  to  which 
he  had  been  raised  on  the  death  of  the  former  regent, 
the  Earl  of  Mar.  By  his  vigorous  measures,  Morton 
had  suppressed  the  party  attached  to  Queen  Mary; 
and,  having  put  an  end  to  the  fivil  war  which  continu- 
ed during  the  government  of  his  predecessors,  he  ex- 
erted himself  in  curbing  the  lawlessness  of  the  nobles, 
and  in   settling  a   regular   administration   of  justice 


*  See  above,  p.  71. 

•f  Bulk  of  the  Universal  Kirk,  f,  60,  b.  Dunlop's  Collect. 
of  Confessions,  vol  ii.  p.  409,  773.  Cald.  MS.  vol.  ii.  p.  432, 
464 


through  the  kingdom.  Unhappily,  the  success  of  this 
wise  and  salutary  policy  was  counteracted,  partly  by 
the  vices  of  the  regent's  character,  and  partly  by  the 
circumstances  in  which  he  found  himself  placed.  His 
ambition  was  equalled  by  his  avarice,  and  to  gratify 
these  passions,  he  did  not  scruple  on  some  occasions 
to  trample  both  on  law  and  humanity.  The  revenues 
of  the  church  tempted  his  cupidity,  and  as  the  sacred- 
ness  of  that  fund  had  been  already  violated,  he  looked 
to  it  as  the  most  convenient  source  of  enriching  him- 
self and  increasing  the  number  of  his  dependants. 
The  irregularities  of  his  private  life  made  him  dread 
the  reproofs  and  censures  of  the  preachers.  And  the 
dependance  which  he  had  on  Elizabeth  conspired  with 
his  love  of  power  in  inducing  him  to  seek  the  sup- 
pression of  the  liberties  of  the  church,  and  to  bring  it 
as  nearly  as  possible  to  a  conformity,  in  point  of  gov- 
ernment, with  the  church  of  England. 

It  has  been  shown  elsewhere,  that  the  church  of 
Scotland,  from  the  beginning  of  the  Reformation,  did 
not  acknowledge  any  permanent  ecclesiastical  office 
superior  to  that  of  the  pastor;  that  the  employment  of 
superintendents  was  a  provisional  and  temporary  ex- 
pedient, adopted  to  supply  the  deficiency  of  ministers; 
that  the  superintendents  possessed  no  episcopal  au- 
thority, in  the  common  acceptation  of  that  terra ;  that 
they  were  ordained  in  the  same  manner  as  other  pas- 
tors, and  derived  the  special  powers  with  which  they 
were  invested  from  the  general  assemblies  of  the 
church,  to  which  they  were  made  accountable  at  every 
meeting  for  all  their  managements.*  At  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Reformation,  the  popish  prelates,  secular 
and  regular,  were  allowed  to  retain  the  greater  part  of 
their  revenues ;  and  they  continued  to  occupy  their 
seats  in  parliament,  to  which  they  were  entitled,  in  the 
eye  of  the  law,  equally  as  other  lords,  as  long  as  their 
baronial  benefices  were  not  taken  from  them  by  the 
state.  Some  of  them  embraced  the  reformed  doctrines, 
but  even  these  did  not  represent  the  Protestant  church 
in  parliament;  and  if  they  exercised  any  ecclesiastical 
authority,  it  was  not  in  the  character  of  bishops,  but 
in  consequence  of  their  having  been  admitted  into  the 
ministry,  or  of  their  having  received  a  specific  com- 
mission to  that  purpose  from  the  General  Assembly.]" 
This  observation  may  be  applied  to  Deaneries,  Rec- 
tories, and  inferior  livings.  With  the  exception  of 
the  third  part,  the  incumbents  enjoyed  their  benefices; 
and,  upon  joining  the  Protestant  church,  they  were  ad- 
mitted ministers,  if  found  qualified,  according  to  the 
ordinary  forms.  In  this  case,  the  rank  which  they  had 
held  in  the  popish  church,  and  the  benefices  which 
they  continued  to  enjoy,  gave  them  no  precedence  or 
superiority  to  their  brethren  ;  altiiough  they  might  still 
be  called  by  their  old  titles  in  the  way  of  courtesy,  or 
from  the  power  of  custom.:}: 


*  Life  of  John  Knox,  vol.  ii.  p.  283—285. 

t  In  1562,  Alexander  Gordon,  bishop  of  Galloway,  wished 
to  be  made  superintendent  of  the  province  in  which  hisdiocese 
lay;  but  was  refused  by  the  General  Assemblj'.  (Knox,  His- 
toric, p.  327.  Keith's  Scottish  Bishops,  p.  166.)  He  was  after- 
wards employed  as  a  visitor. 

I  In  the  General  .Assembly  held  December,  1562,  the  Bishop 
of  Galloway  was  enrolled  after  the  superintendents,  under  this 
desif^nation,  "Mr.  Alexander  Gordon,  entituled  Bishop  of 
Galloway."  (Crawford's  MS.  History  of  the  church,  vol.  i.  p. 
88.) — "30  Dec.  1567.  Anent  the  niarriage  of  the  Queine  with 
the  Erie  of  Bothwell  be  Adam  callit  Bishop  of  Orknay,  the 
hailj  kirk  finds  that  he  transgrest  the  act  of  the  kirk  in  marieing 
the  divorcit  adulterer.  And  therfor  depryvis  hirii  fra  all  func- 
tioun  of  the  ministrie,"  &c.  (Buik  of  the  Universal  Kirk,  p. 
36.)  In  the  A.ssembly,  March  1570,  the  same  bishop  (after  his 
restoration)  was  accused  that  he  "  left  the  ofBce  of  preaching-, 
g;iving  himself  daily  to  the  exercise  of  the  office  of  a  temporal 
judge,  as  a  Lord  of  Session,  which  requireth  the  whole  man, 
and  so  rightly  no  wise  can  exercise  both;  and  stileth  himself 
with  Roman  titles,  as  Reverend  Father  in  God,  which  pertain- 
eth  to  no  ministers  of  Christ  Jesus,  nor  is  given  them  in  Scrip- 
tures." To  this  last  charge,  the  bishop  answered,  "  With  par- 
don and  reverence  of  the  Assembly,  I  may  declare,  I  nevei  de- 
lighted  in  such  a  stile,  nor  desired  any  such  arrogant  title; 


232 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


In  this  state  matters  continued  until  the  year  1571, 
whea  it  became  necessary  to  fill  several  prelacies  be- 
come vacant  by  the  death  or  the  forfeiture  of  the  in- 
cumbents. The  church  had  already  expressed  her 
judgment  on  the  subject,  both  in  the  Book  of  Disci- 
pline, and  in  representations  repeatedly  made  to  the 
Parliament  and  Privy  Council,  in  which  she  craved 
that  the  bishoprics  should  be  dissolved,  and  their  reve- 
nues applied  to  the  support  of  superintendents  and  min- 
isters. But  to  this  measure  the  regent  and  the  greater 
part  of  the  nobility  were  decidedly  averse.  Accord- 
ingly, the  vacant  bishoprics,  and  other  great  benefices, 
were  bestowed  on  noblemen,  who  presented  preachers 
to  them,  after  they  had  taken  care  to  secure  to  them- 
selves a  certain  portion  of  their  revenues. 

These  proceedings,  as  soon  as  they  transpired,  were 
protested  against  by  the  commissioners  of  the  church, 
and  they  every  where  excited  the  greatest  dissatisfac- 
tion.* Had  the  church  steadily  resisted  this  scheme, 
and  refused  to  admit  the  presentees,  the  patrons  would 
have  found  themselves  placed  in  a  very  awkward  pre- 
dicament ;  for  the  benefices  could  be  held  only  by  ec- 
clesiastics, and  the  whole  power  of  admission  legally 
belonged  to  the  superintendents  and  other  ministers. 

To  prevent  them  from  adopting  this  course,  measures 
of  intimidation  were  first  tried.  The  most  resolute  of 
their  number  were  threatened  with  punishment ;  and 
an  order  was  issued  discharging  the  payment  of  the 
thirds  of  benefices  to  the  collectors  of  the  church, +  in 
consequence  of  which  all  the  ministers  were  left  at 
the  mercy  of  the  court  for  their  stipends.  But  this 
harsh  proceeding  having  increased  instead  of  allaying 
the  heats,  recourse  was  next  had  to  the  arts  of  persua- 
sion and  address.  The  regent  convened  the  superin- 
tendents and  certain  ministers  at  Leilh,  in  January, 
1572,  to  consult  on  the  best  method  of  composing  the 
dissension  which  had  arisen.  This  convention,  after 
assuming  to  itself  the  powers  of  a  general  assembly, 
was  prevailed  on  hastily  to  devolve  the  whole  business 
on  a  few  of  its  members,  authorising  them  to  meet  with 
such  persons  as  should  be  appointed  by  the  Privy 
Council,  and  ratifying  whatever  they  might  determine 
agreeably  to  their  instructions. 

The  joint  committee,  which  met  in  the  course  of  the 
same  month,  came  to  a  speedy  agreement  on  the  mat- 
ters referred  to  them.  They  agreed  that,  "  in  consid- 
eration of  the  present  time,"  the  titles  of  archbishops 
and  bishops,  and  the  bounds  of  dioceses,  should  re- 
main as  heretofore,  at  least  until  the  King's  majority 
or  until  the  Parliament  should  make  a  different  ar- 
rangement; that  such  as  were  admitted  to  bishoprics 
should  be  of  due  age  and  scriptural  qualifications;  that 
they  should  be  chosen  by  a  chapter  or  assembly  of 
learned  ministers;  and  that  they  should  have  no  great- 
er jurisdiction  than  was  already  possessed  by  superin- 
tendents, but  should  be  subject  to  the  General  Assem- 
blies of  the  church  in  spiritual  as  they  were  to  the 
King  in  temporal  matters.  They  agreed  that  abbacies 
and  priories  should  continue  in  like  manner ;  that  pro- 
vision should  be  made  for  the  support  of  ministers  in 
the  churches  attached  to  them;  and  that  as  abbots, 
priors,  and  commendators  formed,  along  with  bishops, 
the  ecclesiastical  estate  in  Parliament  and  in  the  Col- 
lege of  Justice,  their  learning  and  ability  should,  be- 
fore their  election,  be  tried  by  the  bishops  of  the  re- 
spective provinces  within  which  the  monasteries  were 
situated.  They  farther  agreed,  that  inferior  benefices 
should  be  conferred  only  on  persons  duly  qualified  and 
regularly  admitted  to  the  ministry ;  that  the  churches 


for  I  acknowledge  myself  to  be  a  worm  of  the  earth,  not  wor- 
thy any  revertn'-p,  giving  and  attributing  to  my  God  only  all 
honour,  glory,  and  reverence  with  all  numble  nubmission." 
(Cald.  MS.  vol.  ii.  p.  163,  166.) 

•  Bannatyne'g  Journal,  p.  254.  259.  285.  Knox's  Letter  to 
the  AMembly  at  Stirling,  in  Kuik  of  Universall  Kirk,  p.  53. 
Hume  of  Godscroft,  Hist,  of  Doug-las  and  Aiig^us,  vol.  ii.  p.  217. 

t  Bannatyne,  p.  278.     Cald.  MS.  vol.  ii.  p.  284.  295. 


through  the  kingdom  should  be  planted,  residence  se- 
cured, and  pluralities  prevented  ;  and  that  the  revenues 
of  provostries,  prebendaries,  and  chaplainries  should 
be  appropriated  to  the  maintenance  of  bursars  at  gram- 
mar schools  and  universities.  This  agreement  was 
immediately  confirmed  by  the  Regent  and  council,  who 
engaged  to  persuade  the  lay  patrons  of  churches  to 
conform  to  such  of  its  regulations  as  concerned  them.* 
Such  was  the  new  ecclesiastical  constitution  framed 
by  the  famous  convention  at  Leith.  It  was  a  consti- 
tution of  the  most  motley  and  heterogeneous  kind  ; 
being  made  up  of  presbytery,  episcopacy,  and  papal 
monkery.  Viewed  in  one  light,  indeed,  it  might  be 
deemed  harmless.  It  made  little  or  no  alteration  on 
the  established  discipline  of  the  church.  The  bishops 
were  invested  with  no  episcopal  authority;  and  if  un- 
fit persons  were  admitted  to  the  oflice,  the  General  As- 
sembly to  whose  jurisdiction  they  were  subjected, 
might  suspend  or  depose  them,  and  call  the  chapters 
to  account  for  their  irregular  conduct.  Nor  were  the 
monastic  prelates,  as  such,  entitled  to  a  place  in  the 
church-courts.  But,  in  another  point  of  view,  the  in- 
novations were  real ;  and,  had  they  been  acquiesced  in 
and  ratified  by  the  proper  authority,  they  would  have 
eventually  overthrown  the  liberties  of  the  church  of 
Scotland.  Even  names  and  titles,  empty  as  they  are  in 
themselves,  have  often  great  influence  from  the  ideas 
which  have  been  imraemorially  combined  and  associat- 
ed with  them.  Limited  as  the  power  granted  to  bishops 
was,  there  was  every  reason  to  fear  that,  once  admitted, 
they  would  make  continual  efforts  to  extend  it,  until 
they  regained  the  original  prerogatives  of  their  order ; 
and  that  the  authority  of  the  church-courts  would 
prove  too  feeble  for  removing  them,  however  unwor 
thy,  from  their  places,  or  for  checking  their  encroach- 
ments, when  abetted  by  nobles  who  were  so  deeply  in- 
terested in  their  support.  The  neglect  of  discipline, 
or  endless  jarring  in  the  exercise  of  it,  was  the  inevit- 
able consequence  of  the  establishment  of  bishops  and 
superintendents  within  the  same  provinces,  who  were 
clothed  with  co-ordinate  and  equal  authority,  but 
guided  in  their  proceedings  by  distinct  advisers  and 
different  precedents. f  By  the  regulations  relating  to 
abbots  and  priors,  titles  and  dignities  generated  by  the 
grossest  superstition,  and  rendered  odious  by  the  sup- 
port which  they  had  uniformly  given  to  papal  corrup- 
tion and  tyranny,  were  recognized  as  in  some  sort  per- 
taining to  a  church  which  boasted  of  having  removed 
the  slightest  vestiges  of  popery. ij:     The  civil  places 


*  The  act  of  the  Privy  Council  appointing  commissioners  to 
meet  with  those  of  the  Kirk,  is  dated  January  16,  1571.  (Re- 
cords of  Privy  Council.)  The  act  of  the  Convention  of  the 
Kirk,  (Jan.  15,  1571,)  appointing  their  committee,  and  the 
whole  of  the  articles  agreed  on  bv  the  joint  connuittee,  arc 
inserted  in  Cald.  MS.  vol.  ii.  p.  310-^325. 

+  "  In  Marche  immediatilie  following  (the  convention  at 
Leith,)  the  Assembliecontinuit  still  the  superintendents,  so  that 
there  was  in  on  diocese  anc  Bishop  and  3  Superintendents,  quhillc 
he  maketh  Bishops."  (The  Replve  of  ane  Dotatist  (sic)  to  Mr. 
Cowper  his  Dicaiologie,  p.  27.  IVIS.  in  Advocates  Librarv. 
Comp.  Cald.  MS.  vol.  ii.  p.  344.) — Soon  after  John  Douglas 
was  made  bishop  of  St.  Andrews.  JohnWinram  came  to  be  de- 
signed Superintendent  of  Strathearn,  instead  of  Fife. 

\  The  framers  of  the  articles  of  Leith  appear  to  have  been 
aware  of  this  incongruity,  and  accordingly  take  care  to  expres* 
themselves  in  very  general  and  guarded  terms  as  to  the  qualifi- 
cations of  the  candidate  for  this  religious  office. — They  merely 
say  that  the  bishop  of  the  province  where  the  abbey  or  priory 
lies,  shall  "try  and  examinat  his  learning  and  abilitie."  For 
the  same  reason  they  excluded  entirely  from  theirconsidcratioo 
the  case  of  Nunneries,  not  knowing  what  place  in  the  church 
to  assign  to  the  right  reverend  Abbesses  and  Prioresses,  or 
how  to  examinat  their  learning  and  abilitie.  But  they  were 
not  overlooked  by  the  Regent.  There  is  a  curious  document 
with  relation  to  them,  after  the  death  of  Danie  Christiane  Bal- 
lenden,  "  Prioress  of  the  Priorissieof  the  Senis  besyde  the  bur- 
rowmure  of  Edinr."  "  James  eril  of  Mortone  &c.  understand- 
ing that  in  the  convention  of  the  Statis  of  yis  reaime  considem- 
tioun  being  had  that  the  nunreis  ar  nocht  ineit  to  be  conferrit 
and  geven  to  wemen  according  to  the  first  foundatioun  in  tyme 
of  Ignorance,"  &c.  appoints  "  capitanf  JVinian  cockburne  hit 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


233 


of  churchmen,  which  had  always  been  condemned  by 
our  reformers,  were  sanctioned  ;  and  the  church  was 
to  be  represented  in  parliament  and  in  the  courts  of 
justice,  not  only  by  bishops,  but  also  by  monkish  pre- 
lates, over  whom  she  had  no  direct  control,  and  whose 
official  names  it  would  have  been  reckoned  profane  to 
introduce  into  the  roll  of  her  General  Assembly.  The 
design  of  securing  the  richest  portion  of  the  benefices 
to  the  court  and  its  dependents,  which  gave  rise  to  the 
whole  scheme,  and  which  is  the  only  thing  that  can 
account  for  its  strange  incongruities,  did  not  appear  in 
any  part  of  the  details.  This  was  tacitly  understood, 
and  left  to  be  provided  for  by  secret  treaty  between  in- 
dividual patrons  and  presentees.  The  calf's  skin  alone 
appeared  :  the  straw  with  which  the  tulchan  was 
stuffed  was  carefully  concealed,  lest  the  cow  should 
have  refused  to  give  her  milk.* 

This  mongrel  species  of  prelacy  cannot  meet  the  ap- 
probation of  any  true  episcopalian.  Certain  eager  ad- 
vocates of  primitive  order  and  the  uninterrupted  suc- 
cession of  the  hierarchy,  have  indeed  persisted  in 
maintaining  that  episcopacy  always  existed  in  Scot- 
land, and  in  support  of  their  plea  have  appealed  to  the 
settlement  made  at  Leith  ;  but  they  have  generally 
shewn  themselves  reluctant  and  shy  in  claiming  kin- 
dred with  the  tulchan  prelates,  whenever  their  true 
original  and  real  condition  have  been  fairly  exposed. 
And,  indeed,  how  could  they  acknowledge  as  legiti- 
mate bishops  men  who  possessed  as  little  of  the 
episcopal  power  as  they  did  of  the  episcopal  revenues 
who  were  subject  to  the  authority  of  an  assembly  com- 
posed of  pretended  presbyters  and  mere  laics,  by  whom 
they  were  liable  to  be  tried,  censured,  suspended,  and 
deposed,  and  who,  in  one  word,  were  utterly  destitute 
of  canonical  consecration  ^f 

The  articles  agreed  on  at  Leith  were  laid  before  the 
General  Assembly  which  met  at  St.  Andrews  in  March, 
and  at  Perth  in  August,  1572.  At  the  last  of  these 
meetings,  the  Assembly,  after  hearing  the  report  of  a 
committee  appointed  to  examine  the  subject,  came  to 
the  following  resolution  :  That  the  articles  recognized 
certain  names,  such  as  archbishop,  dean,  archdean, 
chancellor,  and  chapter,  which  were  thought  slander- 
ous and  offensive  to  the  ears  of  many  of  the  brethren ; 


heines  chalinerlan  and  factor  to  the  said  priorissie  of  the  Se- 
nis,"  &c.  May  31,  1575.  (Register  of  Privy  Seal,  vol.  xliii, 
fol.   iO.) 

*  In  allusion  to  the  custom  in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland  of 
placin<^  a  calf's  skin  stuffed  with  straw,  called  a  Tulchan,  be- 
fore cows,  to  induce  them  to  give  their  milk,  those  who  occu- 
pied the  episcopal  office  at  this  time  were  called  Tulchan  Bish- 
ops.    (Cald.  MS.  ii.  340.) 

t  It  IS  proper,  however,  that  facts  should  be  stated  ;  and  there 
are  two  which  may  be  weighed  by  those  who  are  disposed  to 
lay  stress  on  such  things.  1.  .John  Winrara  took  part  m  the  in- 
auguration of  John  Douglas,  as  bishop  of  St.  Andrews,  Now 
Winram  was^opj'sWj/,  and  in  consequence  episcopally  and  can- 
onically  ordamed.  He  was  also  Sub-prior  of  the  Abbey  of  St. 
Andrews,  and,  as  such,  Vicar-General  during  the  vacancy  of 
the  see.  Will  not  these  two  circumstances,  jomed  to  the  terfi- 
titn  ^iiid  of  his  being  a  superintendent,  make  him.  if  not  Jbr- 
maliter,  at  least  virfualiter,  a  Bishop?  2.  Robert  Stewart, 
Bishop  of  Caithness,  was  present,  and  actually  laid  his  hands 
on  Douglas's  head.  (Bannatyne's  Journal,  p.  324.)  Now,  the 
most  rigid  canonists  allow  that  the  legal  quorum  of  three  may 
be  dispensed  with  in  a  case  of  necessity.  But  there  is  one  flaw 
remaining  which  cannot  be  so  easily  removed — The  Bishop  of 
Caithness  himself,  it  seems,  wag  never  consecrated,  nay,  "  he 
never  was  in  priest's  orders!'^  (K'eith's  Catalogue  of  Scot- 
tish Bishops,  p,  128.)  The  (ruth  appears  to  be,  that  the  Scots 
have  always  snown  a  peculiar  and  constitutional  incapacity  for 
the  difficult  task  of  making  bisho])S.  and  the  work  has  never 
succeeded  in  their  hands  without  assistance  from  York,  Lam- 
beth, or  Rome.  It  is  long  since  venerable  Bede  apologized  for 
this  by  observing,  that  we  drd  such  things  "  more  iniisifato." 
A  presbyterian  may  be  allowed  to  smile  on  this  subject,  when 
even  Keith,  a  bishop  of  the  true  stamp,  and  not  over-given  to 
be  witty,  could  not  help  reraarking,that "  itis  a  little  diverting" 
to  observe  a  commission  given  to  one  who  was  not  "  vested 
with  any  sacred  character  at  all,  to  assist  in  the  consecration  of 
other  men  to  the  sacred  office  of  Bishops."  (Catalogue,  ut 
supra.) 

3  E 


therefore,  the  whole  Assembly,  as  well  those  that  were 
in  commission  at  Leith  as  others,  protest  that  they 
meant  not,  by  using  such  names,  to  ratify,  consent,  and 
agree  to,  any  kind  of  papistry  or  superstition,  and  wish 
rather  the  said  names  to  be  changed  into  others  that 
are  not  slanderous  and  offensive ;  and  in  like  manner 
protest,  that  the  said  heads  and  articles  agreed  on  be 
received  only  as  an  Interim,  till  farther  order  may  be 
obtained  at  the  hands  of  the  king's  majesty,  regent, 
and  nobility,  for  which  they  will  press  as  occasion 
shall  serve.  This  declaration  and  protest  the  Assem- 
bly extended  to  the  titles  and  functions  of  abbots  and 
priors.* 

The  evils  which  this  new  and  inauspicious  settle- 
ment was  calculated  to  produce,  were  soon  apparent 
to  the  most  simple  and  unsuspecting.  The  sees  were 
generally  filled,  as  might  have  been  anticipated,  by 
persons  who  were  unqualified,  some  by  youth  and 
others  by  extreme  age,  some  by  want  of  talent  and 
others  by  want  of  character.^  They  incurred  public 
odium  by  consenting  to  become  the  tools  of  the  court, 
and  by  the  simoniacal  pactions  which  they  were 
known  or  suspected  to  have  made  with  those  to  whom 
they  were  indebted  for  their  presentations.  At  every 
meeting  of  the  General  Assembly,  complaints  were 
made  against  them,  or  censures  inflicted  on  them,  for 
neglect  of  duty,  transgression  of  the  laws  in  the  ad- 
mission of  ministers,  interference  with  superintendents 
in  fhe  exercise  of  discipline,  simony,  or  the  alienation 
of  the  property  of  the  church.  Those  who  had  agreed 
to  the  proposal  of  the  court  at  Leith,  in  the  hopes  that 
churches  would  be  planted  and  stipends  appointed, 
were  mortifyingly  disappointed.  The  patrons  of  ben- 
efices not  being  bound  by  any  law,  refused  to  comply 
with  the  regulations.  And  the  Regent,  instead  of 
using  his  influence,  as  he  had  promised,  to  procure 
their  compliance,  encouraged  them  by  his  conduct  to 
persevere  in  their  refusal.  Having,  under  a  deceitful 
pretext,  got  the  management  of  the  thirds  of  the  ben- 
efices out  of  the  hands  of  the  collectors  appointed  by 
the  church,  he  united  a  number  of  parishes  under  the 
care  of  one  minister,  assisted  by  readers  to  whom  a 
trifling  salary  was  allotted.  The  ministers  complain- 
ed loudly  of  these  abuses,  and  consulted  on  the  most 
proper  means  of  checking  them.  Upon  which  Morton 
accused  them  of  seditious  and  treasonable  speeches, 
withdrew  his  countenance  from  their  assemblies,  be- 
gan to  call  in  question  their  right  to  meet  and  transact 
business  without  his  express  allowance,  and  advanced 
a  claim  to  the  same  supremacy  over  the  church  in 
Scotland,  which  had  been  declared  to  belong  to  the 
inherent  prerogative  of  the  sovereign  in  England. ± 

In  this  confused  and  unsettled  state  were  the  affairs 
of  the  church  when  Melville  revisited  his  native  coun- 
try. Two  years  before  that  period,  the  individual 
whom  Providence  raised  up  to  enlighten  and  reform 
Scotland  had  rested  from  his  labours.  The  "  dead 
hand"  and  dying  voice  of  Knox  were  employed  in 
protesting  against  a  system  which,  as  he  foresaw, 
would  debase  the  purity  and  endanger  the  existence 
of  that  ecclesiastical  establishment  which  he  had 
reared  with  unwearied  exertion,   and  whose  safety  he 


*  Buik  of  the  Universall  Kirk,  f.  55.     Cald.  MS.  vol.  ii. 

t  Douglas,  Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews,  was  superannuated. 
Campbell,  Bishop  of  Brechin,  was  a  youth,  and  needed  to  be 
put  under  the  tuition  of  the  superintendent  of  Ang^us.  (Cald. 
MS.  vol.  ii.  p.  471.)  George  Douglas,  Bishop  of  Murray,  was 
under  process  for  immorality,  and  continued  under  trials  for 
years  without  giving  satisfaction  as  to  his  gift«.  (lb.  ib.  p. 
473,478.)  "The  yeir  efter,  was  maid  bischope  Geordie  of 
Murro,  whom  I  saw  a  haill  wintar  mumling  on  his  prttching 
of  his  peapers  everie  day  at  our  morning  prayers,  and  haid  it 
not  weill  parceur  when  all  was  done."  (Melville's  Diary,  p. 
27.)  Alexander  Hepburn,  bishop-elect  of  Ross,  delivered  his 
trials  before  the  General  Assembly,  and  gave  good  satisfaction. 
(Cald.  MS.  vol.  ii.  p.  4,'')8.) 

t  Buik  of  the  Universall  Kirk,  p.  58.  Cald.  MS.  vol.  ii.  p. 
393—403,  413—423,  454. 


234 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


had  watched  over  with  the  most  uncorrupted  fidelity. 
The  loss  sustained  by  his  removal  was  soon  severely 
felt.  There  still  remained  a  number  of  excellent  men, 
sincerely  attached  to  the  principles  upon  which  the 
Reformation  had  been  established  in  Scotland,  and  not 
incapable  of  defending  them.  But  there  was  wanting 
an  individual  inheriting  the  ardent  and  intrepid  spirit 
of  the  Reformer,  capable  of  giving  an  impulse  and  a 
voice  to  public  sentiment,  and  possessing  decision  of 
mind  to  execute,  as  well  as  sagacity  to  discern,  those 
measures  which  were  requisite  to  restore  the  church  to 
her  liberties,  and  to  fix  her  authority  on  a  proper  and 
solid  basis. 

All  were  convinced  that  things  ought  not  to  remain 
on  their  present  footing,  but  it  was  not  so  easy  to  come 
to  an  agreement  respecting  the  change  which  was 
needed,  and  the  best  way  of  effecting  it.  Three  ques- 
tions rose  out  of  the  present  conjuncture  of  affairs. 
The  first  related  to  the  superiority  of  bishops  above 
other  ministers  ;  the  second,  to  invasions  on  the  pro- 
perty of  the  church;  and  the  third,  to  the  encroach- 
ments made  on  her  authority.  But  although  these 
questions  are  distinct,  yet  the  two  last  were  in  reality 
involved  in  the  first,  or,  at  least,  were  inseparably  con- 
nected with  it  on  the  present  occasion.  It  was  by 
setting  up  bishops,  and  by  the  share  which  they  con- 
sequently had  in  the  admission  of  ministers,  that  the 
court  expected  chiefly  to  succeed  in  their  designs  on 
the  patrimony  of  the  ehurch.  And  whatever  they  may 
have  found  it  prudent  to  give  out,  or  whatever  a  few 
individuals  may  have  really  felt,  the  great  reason 
which  has  induced  rulers  to  prefer  episcopacy,  is  the 
superior  facility  with  which  it  enables  them  to  exert  an 
unlimited  sway  over  the  clergy,  and,  through  them, 
over  the  sentiments  and  feelings  of  the  people.  It 
was  in  this  light  that  Melville  appears  to  have  viewed 
the  subject.  By  conversation  he  ascertained  that  a 
number  of  the  ministers  coincided  with  him  in  these 
views;  and  he  considered  that  he  was  at  liberty,  and 
that  it  was  his  duty,  to  embrace  every  proper  opportu- 
nity of  inculcating  and  enforcing  them  upon  such  as 
doubted  of  their  truth,  or  scrupled  the  propriety  of 
reducing  them  to  practice. 

Melville  sat  as  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly 
which  was  held  at  Edinburgh  in  March,  1575,  being 
the  first  meeting  of  that  judicatory  after  his  admission 
to  the  College  of  Glasgow.  This  Assembly  resumed 
the  subject  of  ecclesiastical  polity,  which  had  former- 
ly been  under  its  consideration.*  The  conviction  that 
something  behoved  to  be  done  in  this  matter  was  now 
become  so  general  and  strong,  that  a  Convention  of 
Estates,  held  a  few  days  before,  had  voted  '  that  great 
inconveniences  had  arisen,  and  were  likely  to  increase, 
from  the  want  of  a  decent  and  comely  government  in 
the  church  ;'  and  had  appointed  a  committee,  consist- 
ing of  laymen  and  ministers,  to  draw  up  a  form  of 
ecclesiastical  polity  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God  and 
adapted  to  the  state  of  the  country. f  The  General 
Assembly  appointed  a  committee  of  their  number  to 
meet  with  the  parliamentary  commissioners,  enjoining 
them  to  wait  on  the  business,  and  to  transmit  to  the 
ministers  of  the  different  provinces  any  overtures  that 
might  be  made.     But  though  they  had  no  objection  to 


♦  Cald.  MS.  vol.  ii.  p.  436,  437. 

+  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vol.  iii.  p.  89.  In  the  writ  of  Privy  Seal 
respecting  the  Chalraerlanrie  of  the  Senig,  formerly  referred 
to,  after  quoting  from  the  act  of  the  convention,  it  is  added  : 
"  In  consideratioun  of  tlie  guid  intentionn  to  constitute  and  es- 
tablish a  godiie  and  decent  ecclesiasticall  poleey  for  ordering 
and  governing  of  the  kirk  within  this  realm,  and  that  na  thing 
quhilk  might  hinder  the  samin  wald  be  done  in  the  meyn 
tyme  It  was  concludit  that  the  saidis  nunries  and  vtheris 
abbayis  or  prioreis  now  vacand  or  that  heirefter  happenis  to 
raik  sail  nocht  be  disponit  nor  geven  in  titell  to  ony  maner 
of  persoun  or  personis  but  remane  vacand  quhill  the  constitu- 
tioun  and  establising  of  the  said  ecclesiasticall  polery.  As  the 
Act  maid  heirvpoun  purportis,"  &c.  (Register  of  Privy  Seal. 
Comp.  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  iii.  90.) 


concur  with  the  government,  they  considered  the  subject 
as  one  that  properly  belonged  to  themselves,  and  there- 
fore appointed  such  brethren  as  had  studied  the  ques- 
tion most  accurately  to  meet  and  prepare  a  draught  to 
be  laid  before  the  Assembly.  Melville  was  a  member 
of  this  committee,  which  was  renewed  from  time  to 
time,  and  whose  labours  at  last  produced  the  second 
Book  of  Discipline.* 

At  the  next  Assembly,  in  August,  1575,  when  it  was 
proposed  to  proceed,  as  usual,  to  the  trial  of  the  bish- 
ops, John  Dury,  one  of  tlic  ministers  of  Edinburgh, 
rose  and  protested,  that  the  examination  of  the  conduct 
of  the  bishops  should  not  prejudge  what  he  and  other 
brethren  had  to  object  against  the  lawfulness  of  their 
office. f  On  this  occasion,  Melville  rose  and  addressed 
the  Assembly  in  a  speecii  of  considerable  length,  in 
which  he  supported  Dury's  proposition,  and  stated  his 
own  sentiments  respecting  episcopacy.  '  He  was  sat- 
isfied,' he  said,  '  that  prelacy  had  no  foundation  in  the 
Scriptures,  and  that,  viewed  as  a  human  expedient, 
its  tendency  was  extremely  doubtful,  if  not  necessa- 
rily hurtful  to  the  interests  of  religion.  The  words 
bishop  and  presbyter  are  interchangeably  used  in  the 
New  Testament ;  and  the  most  popular  arguments  for 
the  divine  origin  of  episcopacy  are  founded  on  igno- 
rance of  the  original  language  of  Scripture. :|;  It  was 
the  opinion  of  Jerom  and  other  Christian  Fathers, 
that  all  ministers  of  the  Gospel  were  at  first  equal  ;|| 
and  that  the  superiority  of  bishops  originated  in  cus- 
tom, and  not  in  divine  appointment.  A  certain  degree 
of  pre-eminence  was,  at  an  early  period,  given  to  one 
of  the  college  of  presbyters  over  the  rest,  with  the 
view,  or  under  the  pretext  of  preserving  unity  ;  but 
this  device  had  oftener  bred  dissension,  while  it  fos- 
tered a  spirit  of  ambition  and  avarice  among  the  cler- 
gy. From  ecclesiastical  history  it  is  evident,  that,  for 
a  considerable  time  after  this  change  took  place,  bish- 
ops were  parochial  and  not  diocesan.  The  same  prin- 
ciples which  justify,  and  the  same  measures  which 
led  to  the  extension  of  the  bishop's  power  over  all  the 
pastors  of  a  diocese,  will  justify  and  lead  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  an  archbishop,  metropolitan,  or  patriarch 
over  a  province  or  kingdom,  and  of  a  universal  bishop, 
or  pope,  over  the  whole  Christian  world.  He  had  wit- 
nessed the  good  effects  of  Presbyterian  parity  at  Ge- 
neva and  in  France.  The  maintenance  of  the  hierarchy 
in  England,  he  could  not  but  consider  as  one  cause  of 
the  rarity  of  preaching,  the  poverty  of  the  lower  orders 
of  the  clergy,  pluralities,  want  of  discipline,  and  other 
abuses,  which  had  produced  dissensions  and  heart- 
burnings in  that  flourishing  kingdom.  And  he  was 
convinced  that  the  best  and  the  only  effectual  way  of 
redressing  the  grievances  which  at  present  afilicted  the 
church  of  Scotland,  and  of  preventing  their  return, 
was  to  strike  at  the  root  of  the  evil,  by  abolishing  pre- 
lacy, and  restoring  that  parity  of  rank  and  authority 
which  existed  at  the  beginning  among  all  the  pastors 
of  the  church.' 

This  speech  was  listened  to  with  the  utmost  atten- 
tion, and  made  a  deep  impression.^  The  question 
was  immediately  proposed,  '  Have  bishops,  as  they 
are  now  in  Scotland,  their  function  from  the  word  of 
God,  or  not  1  and  ought  the  chapters  appointed  for 
electing  them  to  be  tolerated  in  a  reformed  church  V 
For  the  better  resolution  of  this  question,  the  Assembly 
agreed  that  it  should  be  debated  by  a  select  number 


♦  Melville's  Diary,  p.  42.     Cald.  MS.  vol.  ii.  p.  457. 

+  Bulk  of  the  Universall  Kirk,  p.  62. 

t  Acts  XX.  17,  28  ;  1  Pet.  v.  1,  2.  In  the  venerable  Syriac 
version  called  the  Peshito,  •"■itxoto.  is  translated  "  the  elders," 
and  DTXTKOim,  •<  the  office  of  an  elder."  Philip,  i.  1  ;  1  Tim. 
iii.  1.  "This  proves,"  says  Dr.  Marsh,  "  that  the  Syriac  trans- 
lator understood  his  original,  and  that  he  made  a  proper  dis- 
tinction between  the  lang^iog'e  of  the  primitive  atid  that  of  the 
hierarchical  church."  Mirhaelis,  Introduction  to  the  New 
Testament,  vol.  ii.  p.  32,  553.     Lond.  1802. 

II  See  Note  S.  {  SpoUwood.Hist.  p.  275. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


235 


on  each  side.  John  Craig,  who  had  been  Knox's 
colleague,  but  was  at  this  time  minister  of  Aberdeen, 
James  Lawson,  one  of  the  ministers  of  Edinburgh, 
and  Andrew  Melville,  were  nominated  to  argue  on  the 
negative  ;  and  George  Hay,  commissioner  of  Caith- 
ness, John  Row,  minister  of  Perth,  and  David  Lind- 
say, of  Leith,  on  the  affirmative  side  of  the  question. 
After  two  days'  reasoning  and  conference  on  the  sub- 
ject, the  committee  presented  their  report.  They  did 
not  think  it  expedient,  for  the  present,  to  give  a  di- 
rect answer  to  the  first  part  of  the  question,  but  were 
unanimously  of  opinion,  that  if  unfit  persons  were 
chosen  as  bishops  by  the  chapters,  they  ought  to  be 
tried  anew  and  deposed  by  the  General  Assembly.* 
They  reported  farther,  that  they  had  agreed  on  the 
following  points  respecting  the  office  of  a  bishop,  or 
superintendent :  First,  that  the  name  of  bishop  is 
common  to  all  who  are  appointed  to  take  charge  of  a 
particular  flock,  in  preaching  the  word,  administering 
the  sacraments,  and  exercising  discipline  with  the 
consent  of  their  elders ;  and  that  this  is  the  chief 
function  of  bishops  according  to  the  word  of  God. 
And,  secondly,  that  out  of  this  number  some  may  be 
chosen  to  visit  such  reasonable  bounds,  besides  their 
own  flock,  as  the  General  Assembly  shall  allot  to 
them  ;  to  admit  ministers,  with  the  consent  of  the 
ministers  in  their  respective  bounds  and  of  the  parti- 
cular congregations  concerned  ;  to  admit  elders  and 
deacons  where  there  were  none,  with  the  consent  of 
the  people  ;  and  to  suspend  ministers,  for  just  causes, 
with  the  consent  of  their  brethren  in  the  district.  The 
Consideration  of  this  report  was  deferred  until  the  next 
meeting  of  Assembly.  There  were  six  bishops  pre- 
sent, none  of  whom  off"ered  any  defence  of  the  episco- 
pal office.f  In  April  1576,  the  Assembly,  after  delib- 
eration, approved  of  and  adopted  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee in  all  its  parts;  and  for  carrying  it  into  effect, 
ordained  that  such  of  the  bishops  as  had  not  taken  the 
charge  of  a  single  congregation,  should  now  make 
choice  of  one.  From  this  time  the  Assembly  followed 
up  their  decision,  until  they  formally  abolished  the 
episcopal  office.  In  April  1578,  they  agreed  that  the 
bishops  should,  for  the  future,  be  addressed  in  the 
same  style  as  other  ministers,  and,  in  case  of  a  vacancy 
occurring  in  any  bishopric,  they  discharged  the  chap- 
ters from  proceeding  to  a  new  election  before  next 
meeting  of  Assembly.  At  last  the  General  Assembly 
which  met  at  Dundee  in  July  1580,  found  and  de- 
clared the  office  of  a  bishop,  as  then  used  and  com- 
monly understood,  to  be  destitute  of  warrant  from  the 
word  of  God,  and  a  human  invention  tending  to  the 
great  injury  of  the  church;  ordained  the  bishops  to 
demit  their  pretended  office  simpUdter,  and  to  receive 
admission  de  novo  to  the  ministerial  office,  under  the 
pain  of  excommunication  after  due  admonition;  and 
appointed  the  places  and  times  at  which  they  should 
appear  before  the  provincial  synods,  and  signify  their 
submission  to  this  act.  The  minutes  bear,  that  this 
famous  act  was  agreed  to  by  "  the  whole  assembly  in 
one  voice,  after  liberty  given  to  all  men  to  reason  in 
the  matter,  none  opposing  himself  in  defending  the 
said  pretended  office."  The  King's  Commissioner 
was  present  in  the  Assembly,  and  made  not  the  small- 
est opposition  to  the  procedure.:}: 


•  In  Spotswood's  printed  History,  p.  176,  it  runs,  "  if  any 
bishop  was  chosen  that  had  not  qualities  renuircd  by  the  word 
of  God,  he  should  he  tried  by  the  General  Assembly."  But  in 
the  archbishop's  MS.  it  stands   thus;  "he  should  be  tried  de 


novo  by  the  Assembly,  and  deposed  from  his  place.'"     (Wod- 
row's  Life  o"  "     "         "'  '  '"  "   ■'-r^r^        ■        t%  ■  •   ^  .■ 

Glas.) 


3f  Andrew  Melville,  p.  9,  MSS.  vol.  i.  Bibl.  Coll. 


t  Buik  of  Univ.  Kirk,  p.  64.  Cald.  MS.  vol.  ii.  p.  470.  472. 
Spotswood,  p.  276. 

t  Buik  of  the  Univ.  Kirk.  p.  95.  Cald.  MS.  vol.  ii.  p.  620, 
621.  Melville's  Diary,  p.  62.  Spotswood,  Hist.  p.  311.  In 
consequence  of  a  difficulty  expressed  by  some  individuals  as  to 
the  exact  import  of  the  act  condemning-  episcopacy,  the  Gener- 
al Assembly  which  met  at  Glasgow  in  April,  1581,  (consisting, 


It  was  of  great  importance  to  the  success  of  this 
measure,  that  the  Assembly  should  procure  the  sub- 
mission of  the  individuals  who  filled  the  different  sees. 
This  was  no  easy  task,  as,  in  addition  to  the  reluc- 
tance which  all  men  feel  to  relinquish  power,  the  bish- 
ops were,  on  the  present  occasion,  encouraged  to  re- 
sistance by  the  court  and  nobility.  Notwithstanding 
this,  such  was  the  authority  of  the  Assembly,  and 
the  activity  of  their  agents,  that  the  submission  of 
the  whole  order,  with  the  exception  of  five,  was  ob- 
tained in  the  course  of  the  year  in  which  the  act 
abolishing  episcopacy  passed.* 

While  they  were  taking  these  decisive  steps  in 
abolishing  episcopacy,  the  Assembly  were  actively 
employed  in  maturing  their  plan  of  church  government. 
In  April  1576,  the  committee  entrusted  with  this  busi- 
ness was  enlarged.  It  was  divided  into  four  sub- 
committees, to  meet  in  Glasgow,  Edinburgh,  St.  An- 
drews, and  Montrose ;  which,  after  preparing  mate- 
rials, were  to  send  delegates  to  a  general  meeting 
at  Stirling,  where  the  whole  was  to  be  examined,  re- 
vised, and  put  into  proper  form.  The  result  of  their 
labours  was  laid  before  the  General  Assembly,  who 
spent  the  greater  part  of  several  meetings  in  examin- 
ing and  correcting  the  draught,  discussing  those  points 
which  were  doubtful  or  disputed,!  listening  to  objec- 
tions, receiving  hints  from  whatever  quarter  they  came, 
and,  in  short,  adopting  every  means  for  rendering  the 
platform  as  perfect  and  unexceptionable  as  possible. 
During  these  deliberations,  Morton,  with  the  view  of 
embarrassing  their  proceedings,  gave  in  a  paper  con- 
taining forty-two  questions  relating  to  the  govern- 
ment of  the  church,  to  which  he  required  answers. 
Although  the  greater  part  of  these  questions  were  evi- 
dently captious  and  frivolous,:|:  the  Assembly,  to  shew 
their  respect  for  the  Regent,  appointed  a  committee  to 
answer  them ;  but  they  did  not  suffer  themselves  to  be 
diverted  by  them  from  their  main  business.  Perceiv- 
ing their  determination,  Morton  altered  his  conduct, 
or  at  least  his  language,  signified  that  he  "  liked  well 
of  their  travels  and  labour  in  that  matter,"  and  re- 
quired them  to  use  all  expedition  to  complete  the 
work  which  they  had  begun.  The  work  was  com- 
pleted accordingly,  and  received  the  sanction  of  the 
General  Assembly,  at  their  meeting  held  in  the  Mag- 
dalene Chapel  of  Edinburgh  in  April  1578,  and  of 
which  Melville  was  Moderator.||  From  this  time,  the 
Book  of  Policy,  as  it  was  then  styled,  or  Second 
Book  of  Discipline,  although  not  ratified  by  the  Privy 
Council  or  Parliament,  was  regarded   by  the  Church 


"  for  the  most  part,"  of  the  same  individuals  who  had  been 
present  in  the  Assembly  at  Dundee,)  declared,  "  that  they  meant 
haillelie  to  condemne  the  estate  of  bischops  as  they  are  now  in 
Scotland,  and  that  the  same  was  the  determination  of  the  kirk 
at  that  time."  (Buik  of  Univ.  Kirk,  f.  101,  a.  Spotswood  has 
given  a  partial  account  of  this  explanation.     Hist.  p.  316.) 

*  Bulk  of  Univ.  Kirk,  f.  100.  b.     Cald.  MS.  vol.  ii.  p.  636. 

•f  The  heads  of  patronage,  divorce,  and  the  office  of  deacons, 
were  the  most  offensive  to  the  court,  and  consequently  were 
made  the  subject  of  longest  discussion.  The  ground  of  objec- 
tion to  the  last  of  these  heads  was,  that  it  gave  the  manage- 
ment of  the  patrimony  of  the  church  to  the  deacons. 

I  The  following  is  a  specimen  of  the  Regent's  questions, 
which  were  understood  to  have  been  drawn  up  by  Archbishop 
Adamson:  "Ought  there  to  be  any  degrees  of  dignity  and  or- 
der among  ministers,  in  respect  of  learning,  age,  or  places 
where  they  make  residence?  How  far  may  the  ministers,  elders, 
and  deacons,  of  every  particular  kirk  or  paroch  proceed,  and 
in  what  causes?  How  many  G.  Assemblies  ought  there  to  be 
within  a  kingdom?  by  whom  should  they  be  convocate?  for 
what  cause?  What  form  of  summoning  and  proceeding?  &c. 
What  is  the  proper  patrimony  of  the  kirk?  Shall  ministers' 
stipends  be  alike  in  quantity,  because  they  are  thought  to  be 
alike  in  dignity?  What  is  symony?  Whether  may  a  man  be 
both  a  minister  and  a  reader,  or  ane  officer  at  arms,  or  a  Lord 
or  Laird's  steward,  Griefe,  pantryman,  or  porter?  Whether 
has  the  city  of  Geneva  committed  sacrilege  or  not,  in  appoint- 
ing the  rents  or  teinds  of  their  Bishoprick  to  their  common 
theasury,  paying  but  a  certain  portion  tnereofto  the  stipend  of 
their  ministers?     (Cald.  MS.  vol.  ii.  p.  503—507.) 

II  Buik  of  Univ.  Kirk,  p.  73,  74.    Cald.  MS.  ii.  529 


236 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


as  exhibiting  her  authorized  form  of  government ;  and 
steps  were  immediately  taken  for  carrying  its  arrange- 
ments into  effect,  by  erecting  Presbyteries  throughout 
the  kingdom,  and  committing  to  them  the  oversight 
of  all  ecclesiastical  affairs  within  their  bounds,  to  the 
exclusion  of  bishops,  superintendents,  and  visitors.* 

The  First  Book  of  Discipline,  though  an  admirable 
production  for  the  time,  was  hastily  compiled,  to 
meet  the  emergency  caused  by  the  sudden  triumph  of 
the  Protestant  interest  over  the  Popish  hierarchy. f 
Several  arrangements  of  a  provisional  description 
were  necessarily  introduced  into  it,  while  others, 
which  subsequent  experience  shewed  to  be  of  great 
importance,  were  unavoidably  omitted.^  The  Second 
Book  of  Discipline  was  drawn  up  with  greater  care 
and  deliberation,  by  persons  who  had  studied  the  sub- 
ject with  much  attention,  and  had  leisure  to  compare 
and  digest  their  views.  It  is  methodically  arranged, 
and  the  propositions  under  each  head  are  expressed 
with  perspicuity,  conciseness,  and  precision. 

It  begins  by  laying  down  the  essential  line  of  dis- 
tinction between  civil  and  ecclesiastical  power.  Jesus 
Christ,  it  declares,  has  appointed  a  government  in  his 
church,  distinct  from  civil  government,  which  is  to  be 
exercised  in  his  name  by  such  office-bearers  as  he  has 
authorized,  and  not  by  civil  magistrates  or  under  their 
direction.  Civil  authority  has  for'its  direct  and  pro- 
per object  the  promoting  of  external  peace  and  quiet- 
ness among  the  subjects,  ecclesiastical  authority,  the 
directing  of  men  in  matters  of  religion  and  which  per- 
tain to  conscience;  the  former  enforces  obedience  by 
external  means,  the  latter  by  spiritual  means;  yet  as 
they  "  be  both  of  God,  and  tend  to  oise  end,  if  they  be 
rightly  used,  to  wit,  to  advance  the  glory  of  God,  and 
to  have  good  and  godly  subjects,"  they  ought  to  co- 
operate within  their  respective  spheres  and  fortify 
each  other.  "  As  ministers  are  subject  to  the  judg- 
ment and  punishment  of  the  magistrate  in  external 
things,  if  they  offend,  so  ought  the  magistrates  to 
submit  themselves  to  the  discipline  of  the  kirk,  if 
they  transgress  in  matters  of  conscience  and  religion." 
— The  government  of  the  church  consists  in  three 
things;  doctrine,  (to  which  is  annexed  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  sacraments,)  discipline,  and  distribution. 
Corresponding  to  this  division,  there  are  three  kinds 
of  church  officers ;  ministers,  who  are  preachers  as 
well  as  rulers,  elders,  who  are  merely  rulers,  and 
deacons,  who  act  as  distributers  of  alms  and  managers 


*  Among  the  overtures  made  by  the  Synod  of  Lothian  to  the 
General  Assembly  in  July  1579,  was  the  following:  "  A  general 
order  to  be  taken  for  erecting  of  Presbyteries  in  places  where 
Publick  Exercise  is  used,  until  the  tynie  the  Policie  of  the 
Kirk  be  established  be  law."  To  this  the  Assembly  answered : 
"The  Exercise  may  be  judged  a  Presbyterie."  (Cald.  MS.  vol. 
ii.  p.  501.  Bulk  of  Univ.  Kirk,  p.  T4.)  In  October  1579,  the 
Assembly  requested  the  Clerk  Register  to  assist  their  Commis- 
sioners "  to  lay  down  and  devise  a  plan  of  the  Presbyteries  and 
constitution  thereof,"  (Cald.  ii.  641.)  In  April  1581,  the  laird 
of  Caprington,  the  King's  Commissioner,  presented  to  the  As- 
sembly, "  certane  rolls  concerning  the  planting  of  the  Kirks, 
and  the  number  of  the  Presbiteries;"  and  the  same  Assembly 
ordained,  that  "the  booke  of  policie  aggreit  to  befor  in  divers 
assemblies  sould  be  registrat  in  acts  of  the  kirk,  and  to  rcmane 
therein  ad  perpetuara  rei  mcmoriam,  and  the  copies  thereof  to 
be  takin  be  every  Presbyterie,  of  the  qlk  bouke  the  tenour  fol- 
lovves,"  &c.  (Buik  of  Univ.  Kirk,  f.  101,  b.  104,  b.  Melville's 
Diary,  p.  67.)  i 

t  The  order  of  the  Privy  Council,  directing  the  ministers  to 
draw  it  up,  was  issued  April  26, 1560,  and  the  work  was  finished 
on  the  20th  of  May  following.  (The  First  and  Second  Book 
of  Discipline,  p.  23,  70.     Printed  anno  1621.) 

I  Its  compilers  were  fully  sensible  of  this  defect,  and  ac- 
cordingly at  almost  every  Assembly,  from  1563  to  1575,  when 
the  Second  Book  of  Discipline  beg^n  to  be  prepared,  resolu- 
tions were  made  as  to  the  necessity  of  defining  the  jurisdiction 
and  settling  the  polity  of  the  church  after  a  more  perfect  form. 
See  the  acts  of  Assembly  prefixed  to  the  First  and  Second 
Booke  of  Disciulinc,  printed  anno  1621.  The  reader  will  also 
find  in  that  work  ample  information  as  to  the  proceedings  of  the 
Assembly,  and  of  its  committees,  in  compiling  the  Second  Book 
of  Diacipline. 


of  the  funds  of  the  church.  The  name  hishup  is  of  the 
same  import  as  that  of  pastor  or  mtmster  ;  it  is  not  ex- 
pressive of  superiority  or  lordship;  and  the  Scriptures 
do  not  allow  of  a  pastor  of  pastors  or  a  pastor  of  many 
flocks.  Connected  with  the  pastor,  who  dispenses 
the  word  and  sacraments,  is  the  doctor  or  teacher, 
whose  function  lies  in  expounding  the  Scriptures,  de- 
fending the  truth  against  erroneous  teachers,  and  in- 
structing the  youth,  in  schools,  colleges,  and  univer- 
sities. There  should  be  elders  who  do  not  labour  in 
word  and  doctrine  :  they  ought  to  assist  the  pastor  in 
examining  those  who  come  to  the  Lord's  table,  and  in 
visiting  the  sick;  but  "  their  principal  office  is  to  hold 
assemblies  with  the  pastors,  and  doctors,  who  are 
also  of  their  number,  for  establishing  good  order  and 
execution  of  discipline." — ^The  office-bearers  of  the 
church  are  to  be  admitted  by  election  and  ordination. 
None  are  to  be  intruded  into  any  ecclesiastical  office, 
"  contrary  to  the  will  of  the  congregation  to  which 
they  are  appointed."  "The  ceremonies  of  ordination 
are  fasting,  earnest  prayer,  and  the  imposition  of  the 
hands  of  the  eldership,"  or  presbytery. — Ecclesias- 
tical assemblies  are  either  particular,  (consisting  of 
the  office-bearers  of  one  congregation  or  of  a  number 
of  neighbouring  congregations,)  provincial,  national, 
or  ecumenical  and  general.  It  is  not  thought  abso- 
lutely necessary,  that  there  should  be  a  stated  assem- 
bly or  session  in  country  congregations  ;  but  each 
ought  to  have  its  own  elders.*  The  Presbytery,  or 
Eldership,  as  it  is  called,  has  the  inspection  of  a  num- 
ber of  adjoining  congregations  in  every  thing  relating 
to  religion  and  manners,  and  has  the  power  of  ordain- 
ing and  deposing  ministers,  and  of  exercising  disci- 
pline within  its  bounds.  The  Provincial  Synod  pos- 
sesses the  collective  power  of  all  the  presbyteries  with- 
in a  province,  and  consequently  may  handle  and  re- 
dress whatever  has  been  done  amiss  by  any  of  them. 
The  General  Assembly,  or  "  general  eldership  of  the 
whole  churches  in  the  realm,"  takes  cognizance  of 
what  has  been  done  amiss  by  the  provincial  assemblies, 
and  in  general  of  every  thing  connected  with  the  wel- 
fare of  the  national  church.  "  None  are  subject  to  re- 
pair to  this  assembly  to  vote  but  ecclesiastical  persons 
only,|  to  such  a  number  as  shall  be  thought  good  by 
the  same  assembly  ;"  but  none  are  excluded  from  be- 
ing present  in  it  "  to  propone,  hear,  and  reason."  All 
the  ecclesiastical  assemblies  have  lawful  power  to 
convene  for  transacting  business,  and  to  appoint  the 
times  and  places  of  their  meeting.  In  each  of  them  a 
Moderator  is  to  be  chosen  by  common  consent  of  the 
brethren,  to  propose  the  causes,  gather  the  votes,  and 
cause  good  order  to  be  kept. — The  patrimony  of  the 
church  includes  whatever  has  been  appropriated  to 
her  use,  whether  by  donations  from  individuals,  or  by 
laws  and  usage.  To  take  any  part  of  this  by  unlaw- 
ful means,  and  apply  it  to  the  particular  and  profane 
use  of  individuals,  is  simony.  It  belongs  to  the  dea- 
cons to  receive  the  ecclesiastical  goods,  and  to  dis- 
tribute them  according  to  the  appointment  of  pres- 
byteries. The  purposes  to  which  they  are  to  be 
applied  are  the  four  following:  the  support  of  minis- 
ters ;  the  support  of  elders  and  other  church-officers, 
as  far  as  this  may  be  found  necessary,  and  of  teachers 
of  theology  and  schoolmasters,  provided  the  ancient 
foundations  for  education  are  insufficient ;  the  main- 


*  "  When  we  speak  of  the  Elders  of  the  particular  congre- 
gations, we  mean  not  that  every  particular  parish  kirk  can  or 
may  have  their  own  particular  Elderships,  especially  in  Land- 
ward; but  wee  think  three,  foure,  moe  or  fewer,  particular 
kirks,  may  have  one  Eldership  common  to  them  all,  to  judre 
their  Ecciesiasticall  causes.  Yet  this  is  meet,  that  some  of  the 
Elders  be  chosen  out  of  every  particular  congregation,  to  con- 
curre  with  the  rest  of  their  brethren  in  the  common  assembly, 
and  to  take  up  the  delations  of  ofl'cnces  within  their  owne 
kirks,  and  bring  them  to  the  assembly.  This  we  gather  of  the 
practice  of  the  primitive  kirk,  where  Elders  or  colledges  of 
Seniors  were  constitute  in  cities  and  famous  places."    Chap.  7. 

f  The  cidei-ship  is  a  spirituall  function  as  is  the  ministrie." 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


237 


tenance  of  the  poor  and  of  hospitals  ;  and  lastly,  the 
Teparation  of  places  of  worship,  and  other  extraordin- 
ary charges  of  the  church  or  commonwealth. — Among 
the  abuses  which  ought  to  be  removed  the  following 
are  specified,  the  titles  of  abbots  and  others  connected 
with  monastic  institutions,  with  the  places  which 
they  held,  as  churchmen,  in  the  courts  of  legislature 
and  judicature;  deans  and  others  attached  to  cathedral 
and  collegiate  churches ;  the  usurped  superiority  of 
bishops,  and  their  acting  in  parliament  and  council  in 
the  name  of  the  church,  without  her  commission  ;* 
the  exercise  of  criminal  justice  and  the  pastoral  office 
by  the  same  individuals;  the  mixed  jurisdiction  of 
commissaries ;  pluralities ;  and  patronages  and  pre- 
sentations to  benefices  whether  by  the  prince  or  any  in- 
ferior person,  which  lead  to  intrusion,  and  are  incon- 
sistent with  "  lawful  election  and  the  assent  of  the 
people  over  whom  the  person  is  placed,  as  the  prac- 
tice of  the  apostolical  and  primitive  kirk  and  good 
order  crave." 

Such  is  the  outline  of  the  Presbyterian  plan  of 
church-government,  as  delineated  in  the  Second  Book 
of  Discipline.  Its  leading  principles  rest  upon  the 
express  authority  of  the  word  of  God.  Its  subordinate 
arrangements  are  supported  by  the  general  rules  of 
Scripture — they  are  simple,  calculated  to  preserve  or- 
der and  promote  edification,  and  adapted  to  the  circum- 
stances of  the  church  for  which  they  were  intended. 
It  is  equally  opposed  to  arbitrary  and  lordly  domina- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  clergy,  and  to  popular  confusion 
and  misrule.  It  secures  the  liberty  of  the  people  in 
one  of  their  most  important  privileges,  the  choosing 
of  those  who  shall  watch  for  their  souls,  without 
making  them  the  final  judges  of  the  qualifications  of 
those  who  shall  be  invested  with  this  office.  While 
it  establishes  an  efficient  discipline  in  every  congrega- 
tion, it  also  preserves  that  unity  which  ought  to  sub- 
sist among  the  different  branches  of  the  church  of 
Christ;  secures  attention  to  those  numerous  cases 
which  are  of  common  concern  and  general  utility ; 
and  provides  a  remedy  against  particular  acts  of 
injustice  and  maladministration  arising  from  local 
partialities  and  limited  information,  by  the  institution 
of  larger  assemblies  acting  as  courts  of  appeal  and 
review,  in  which  the  interests  of  all  are  equally  rep- 
resented and  each  enjoys  the  benefit  resulting  from 
the  collective  wisdom  of  the  whole  body.  It  en- 
courages a  friendly  co-operation  between  the  civil 
and  ecclesiastical  authorities;  but  it,  at  the  same 
time,  avoids  the  confounding  of  their  limits — prohibits 
church-courts  from  "  meddling  with  any  thing  pertain- 
ing to  the  civil  jurisdiction," — establishes  their  inde- 
pendence in  all  matters  which  belong  to  their  cogni- 
zance— and  guards  against,  what  is  tlie  greatest  bane 
of  religion  and  curse  of  the  church,  a  priesthood  which 
is  merely  the  organized  puppet  of  the  state,  and  moves 
and  acts  only  as  it  is  directed  by  a  political  adminis- 
tration. It  is  a  form  of  ecclesiastical  polity  whose 
practical  utility  has  been  proportionate  to  the  purity  in 
which  its  principles  have  been  maintained.  Accord- 
ingly, it  has  secured  the  cordial  and  lasting  attach- 
ment of  the  people  of  Scotland  ;  whenever  it  has  been 
wrested  from  them  by  arbitrary  violence,  they  have 
uniformly  embraced  the  first  favourable  opportunity 
of  demanding  its  restoration  ;  and  the  principal  seces- 
sions which  have  been  made  from  the  national  church 
in  this  part  of  the  kingdom  have  been  stated,  not  in 
the  way  of  dissent  from  its  constitution,  as  in  Eng- 
land, but  in  opposition  to  departures,  real  or  alleged, 
from  its  original  and  genuine  principles. 

Hierarchical  writers   do   more  honour  to  Melville 

*  "  We  denie  not  in  the  raeane  time,  but  Ministers  may  and 
should  assist  their  Princes  when  they  are  required,  in  all  things 
agreeable  to  the  Word,  whether  it  be  in  Councell  or  Parlia- 
ment, or  otherwayes,  providing  alwayes  they  neither  neglect 
their  owne  charges,  nor  through  flattery  of  Princes,  hurt  the 
publick  estate  of  the  Kirk."     Chap.  ii. 


than  he  is  fairly  entitled  to,  when  they  ascribe  the 
overthrow  of  episcopacy,  and  the  erection  of  presby- 
tery, solely  to  his  authority  and  exertions.  Yet  the 
leading  part  which  he  took  in  the  work,  and  the  high 
degree  in  which  its  success  was  owing  to  his  zeal  and 
ability,  will  justify  the  details  into  which  we  have 
thought  it  proper  to  enter.  He  was  on  all  the  commit- 
tees employed  in  collecting  materials  for  the  Book  of 
Polity,  and  in  reducing  them  into  form.  He  was 
present  at  most  of  the  conferences  held  on  the  subject 
with  committees  of  the  Privy  Council  and  Parliament. 
He  had  a  principal  share  in  all  the  discussions  and  de- 
bates that  occurred,  both  in  private  and  in  public,  on 
the  articles  which  were  most  keenly  disputed  and  op- 
posed. And  he  subjected  himself  to  great  personal 
fatigue  and  expense  and  odium,  during  a  series  of 
years  which  were  spent  in  completing  the  work  and 
in  procuring  its  reception.*  Indeed,  he  regarded  his 
exertions  in  this  cause  as  the  greatest  service  which 
he  could  perform  for  his  country  ;  and  for  the  sake  of 
advancing  it,  he  cheerfully  sacrificed  the  gratification 
which  he  felt  in  prosecuting  his  studies,  and  the  pros- 
pects of  personal  fame  which  he  might  have  acquired 
by  engaging  in  literary  undertakings. 

The  eagerness  and  success  with  which  Melville 
laboured  in  the  erection  of  the  presbyterian  system 
naturally  rendered  him  obnoxious  in  the  eyes  of  the 
adherents  of  episcopac}'.  Accordingly,  writers  of 
that  persuasion  have  endeavoured,  by  the  representa- 
tions which  they  have  given  of  his  conduct  on  this 
occasion,  to  excite  prejudices  against  his  character  and 
the  cause  which  he  promoted.  Archbishop  Spots- 
wood,  whose  ambitious  views  he  long  crossed,  and 
who  has  never  mentioned  his  name  with  temper  in  the 
course  of  his  history,  set  an  example  of  this  treat- 
ment; and  we  shall  quote  his  words,  which  subse- 
quent writers  of  the  same  description  have  done  little 
more  than  repeated.  "  In  the  church  this  year  be- 
gan the  innovations  to  break  forth  that  to  this  day 
have  kept  it  in  a  continual  unquictness.  Mr.  An- 
drew Melville,  who  was  lately  come  from  Geneva, 
a  man  learned  (chiefly  in  the  tongues)  but  hot  and 
eager  upon  any  thing  he  went  about,  labouring  with  a 
burning  desire  to  bring  into  this  church  the  presbyte- 
rian discipline  of  Geneva  ;  and  having  insinuated  him- 
self into  the  favour  of  divers  preachers,  he  stirred  up 
John  Dury,  one  of  the  ministers  of  Edinburgh,  in  an 
Assembly  which  was  then  convened,  to  propound  a 
question  touching  the  lawfulness  of  the  episcopal 
function,  and  the  authority  of  chapters  in  their  elec- 
tion. He  himself,  as  though  he  had  not  been  ac- 
quainted with  the  motion,  after  he  had  commended 
the  speaker's  zeal,  and  seconded  the  purpose  with  a 
long  discourse  of  the  flourishing  estate  of  the  church 
of  Geneva,  and  the  opinions  of  Calvin  and  Theodore 
Beza  concerning  church-government — in  end  he  said, 
that  the  corruptions  crept  into  the  estate  of  bishops 
were  so  great,  as,  unless  the  same  were  removed,  it 
could  not  go  well  with  the  church. "f 

A  few  remarks  on  the  several  articles  of  this  libel 
will  be  sufficient.  It  is  insinuated  that  the  church 
was  in  a  tranquil  state  when  Melville  arrived  in  the 
country;  and,  indeed,  if  we  had  no  other  source  of 
information  as  to  these  times  than  the  archbishop's 
history,  we  might  be  ready  to  conclude  that  this  was 
really  the  case.  But  we  have  already  seen,  from  the 
most  undoubted  of  all  authorities,  from  acts  of  assem- 
bly and  acts  of  parliament  as  well  as  from  private 


*  "  And  in  deid  that  niater  cost  him  exceeding  greit  peans, 
bathe  in  niynd,  body,  and  gear,  during  the  space  of  five  or  sax 
yair,  with  the  gean  of  the  Regent  ErI  of  Morton  and  his 
bischopes  vtter  indignation.  Yit  with  the  wonderful  assistance 
of  God  he  bure  it  out  till  the  abolishing  of  bischopes  and  es- 
tablissing  of  the  Presbyteries  according  to  the  word  of  God. 
Wharby  he  gatt  the  name  of  •'rio-xoa-o^Mo-Tif,  episcoporum  ex- 
actor, the  sling-er  out  of  bishops."     (Melville's  Diary,  p.  42.) 

f  Spotswood,  Hi-st.  p.  275. 


238 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


writings,  that  the  state  of  matters  was  quite  the  re- 
verse, and  that  great  dissatisfactions  prevailed  in  the 
church  previous  to  and  at  his  arrival  in  Scotland.  Was 
it  Melville  who  instigated  those  who  protested  against 
the  consecration  of  Douglas  at  St.  Andrews'?*  or  the 
whole  Assembly,  which  at  Perth  protested  against  the 
titles  of  archbishops,  deans,  and  chapters?  Was  it 
Melville  who  struck  the  blow  at  the  civil  power  and 
places  of  bishops,  which  they  have  always  regarded 
as  among  their  dearest  privileges  1  Was  it  not  the 
archbishop's  own  father  who  moved  and  carried  in  the 
General  Assembly,  August  1573,  (when  there  was 
no  emissary  from  Geneva  to  incite  him,)  "  that  it 
was  neither  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God,  nor  to  the 
practice  of  the  primitive  church,  for  one  man  to  occu- 
py the  charges  of  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  and  of  a 
civil  or  criminal  judge  f " — a  sentiment  of  which  it 
was  the  great  ambition  of  his  son  to  afford  a  practical 
and  glaring  contradiction. 

But  Melville  laboured  "  to  bring  into  this  church 
the  presbyterian  discipline  of  Geneva."  Or,  as  the 
archbishop  expresses  it  in  another  publication,  "  His 
mind  being  imbued  with  the  institutions  of  that  city 
to  which  he  had  been  long  accustomed,  he  strained 
every  nerve  to  bring  our  church  to  the  nearest  possible 
conformity  with  Geneva  in  point  of  discipline,  not  ad- 
verting to  the  difference  between  a  kingdom  and  a 
republic.":|:  This  is  the  same  allegation  which  has 
been  made  with  respect  to  the  first  settlement  of  our 
Reformation  by  Knox.  It  was  first  brought  forward 
by  Hooker,  in  his  controversy  with  the  English  Pres- 
byterians, but  with  great  modesty,  and  many  expres- 
sions of  high  respect  for  the  Genevan  Reformer.||  It 
was  afterwards  urged,  but  in  a  very  different  spirit, 
by  Bancroft;  and  it  has  been  retailed  with  unvarying 
and  monotonous  uniformity  by  Episcopalian  writers 
down  to  the  present  day.  They  would  have  gained 
more  credit  to  their  cause  among  the  judicious,  if  they 
had  rested  its  defence  upon  the  authority  of  Scripture 
and  reason,  and  left  the  use  of  such  prejugez  legitimes 
wholly  to  Roman  Catholics,  from  whom  they  borrow- 
ed them,  and  whose  cause  would  have  been  early 
ruined  but  for  the  magic  influence  of  the  question, 
"  Where  was  your  church  before  Luther  ?"  But  if  it 
is  necessary  to  bring  the  controversy  to  this  test,  Pres- 
byterians have  surely  no  reason  to  blush,  or  to  be 
ashamed  of  their  descent.  Where  was  the  bishop  in 
Scotland  or  in  England,  during  the  sixteenth  century, 
that  could  be  compared  with  Calvin  or  with  Beza, 
either  in  point  of  talents  or  of  learning,  of  skill  in  the 
Scriptures  or  of  acquaintance  with  ecclesiastical  his- 
tory and  the  writings  of  the  fathers'?  If  the  Reform- 
ers of  Scotland  were  so  unfortunate  as  to  imbibe  erro- 
neous sentiments  at  Geneva,  what  was  the  enlightened 
school,  and  where  the  pure  fountain,  to  which  the 
English  Reformers  had  access,  and  at  which  they 
were  so  happv  as  to  drink  the  unpolluted  doctrines  of 
revelation  '?  That  Knox  and  Melville  were  greatly  in- 
debted to  Calvin  and  Beza,  and  that  they  admired  the 
religious  order  and  discipline  established  in  Geneva, 
I  do  not  wish  to  deny;  but  that  they  implicitly  adopt- 
ed and  slavishly  imitated  the  institutions  which  they 
had  seen  in  that  city,  is  an  assertion  which  argues 


»  Bannatynp,  p.  323,  331 .  +  Petrie,  part  iii.  p.  380. 

t  Refiitatio  Libelli  de  Repimine  Ecclesiae  Scoticanae,  p.  31. 
Calderwoofl,  in  his  reply  to  this  tract,  remarks  dryly,  "  If  Mel- 
ville, by  the  force  of  custom  during^  five  years  residence  at 
Geneva,  became  so  enamoured  with  its  discipline,  is  it  not 
Rtranofe  that  John  Spotswood  should  have  beon  so  easily  in- 
duced to  desert  the  Scots  discipline,  to  which  he  had  been 
habituated  for  more  than  ten  years  ?  The  reason  is  to  be 
Sought  for  in  the  different  dispositions  of  the  men,  not  in  their 
education — Discrimen  in  ingeniis,  non  in  disciplina,  fuit." 
(Epistolae  Philadelphi  Vind.  apud  Allare  Damasc.  p.  731, 
edit  2.) 

II  Preface  to  Ecclesiastical  Polity,  sect.  2  ;  a  section  which 
those  who  are  accustomed  to  disparage  Calvin,  and  eulogize 
Hooker,  with  equal  ignorance  of  both   would  do  well  to  read. 


great  ignorance  both  of  the  men  and  the  subject.  If 
Melville  had  laboured  merely  to  introduce  a  foreign 
institute,  why  did  he  bestow  so  much  pains  in  study- 
ing the  subject,  or  how  came  it  about  that  he  was 
always  so  ready  and  so  able  to  maintain  what  he  re- 
commended upon  higher  and  more  sacred  grounds  ■? 
The  ecclesiastical  polity  of  Geneva  and  of  Scotland 
agreed  in  their  radical  principles.  But  those  who  are 
accurately  acquainted  with  both,  know  that  they  dif- 
fered in  some  points  in  which  they  might  have  been 
made  accordant ;  and  that,  owing  to  the  great  diversity 
of  their  circumstances,  the  one  could  not  be  an  exact 
and  fit  model  for  the  other.  Within  the  small  territo- 
ry of  Geneva  there  was  no  room  and  no  occasion  for 
the  parochial  sessions,  presbyteries,  synods,  and  gen- 
eral assembly,  which  were  erected  in  Scotland.  Pres- 
bytery can  accommodate  itself  to  any  extent  of  coun- 
try; and  its  genius,  and  the  exercise  of  its  powers, 
are  not  incompatible  with  any  reasonable  form  of  civil 
government,  monarchical  or  republican. 

Melville,  it  is  allowed,  was  "learned,"  but  then  it 
was  "  chiefly  in  the  tongues."  Of  the  truth  of  this 
qualifying  clause,  the  reader  shall  be  left  to  judge, 
from  the  evidence  which  has  been  already  laid  before 
him.  With  respect  to  the  disparaging  style  in  which 
skill  in  languages  is  here  mentioned,  it  might  be  suffi- 
cient to  remark,  that  the  archbishop,  though  a  man  of 
talents,  was  no  great  scholar,  and  it  is  very  natural 
for  us  to  depreciate  what  we  do  not  possess  or  under- 
stand.* But  the  truth  is,  that,  in  speaking  after  this 
manner,  he  only  imitated  the  language  of  his  prede- 
cessors, Montgomery  and  Adamson.f  I  mention  this 
chiefly  because  it  affords  a  curious  illustration  of  the 
fact,  that  adventitious  recommendations  of  this  kind 
may  be  possessed  by  different  parties  at  different 
periods.  Superior  skill  in  ancient  languages,  upon 
which  the  members  of  the  Church  of  England  in  the 
present  day  plume  themselves,  and  which  I  have  no 
desire  to  deny  them,  was  in  the  sixteenth  century 
so  unquestionably  due  to  presbyterians  in  Scotland, 
that  their  opponents  thought  it  necessary  to  depreciate 
it  as  a  minor  acquisition,  and  as  calculated  to  do  more 
hurt  than  good. 

The  charge  that  Melville  "  insinuated  himself  into 
the  favour  of  diverse  preachers,"  is  absurd.  His 
talents  and  character  were  such  as  to  secure  him  easy 
access  to  the  company  and  favour  of  any  preacher  in 
Scotland  ;  and  the  most  learned  men  in  the  country 
were  proud  of  his  friendship.  He  communicated  his 
sentiments  respecting  episcopacy  and  church-govern- 
ment in  the  most  unreserved  manner  to  Adamson  and 
Cunninghame,  who  afterwards  became  bishops.  It  is 
true,  that  he  lived  on  terms  of  the  greatest  intimacy 
with  Lawson,  Dury,  and  Balcanquhall,  the  ministers 
of  Edinburgh  ;  and  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that 
he  had  confidential  conversations  with  them  on  those 
measures  which  at  that  time  engaged  universal  atten- 


*  Calderwopd  mentions  that  Spotswood  was  ignorant  of 
Greek,  and  says,  it  was  suspected  (probably  without  good  rea- 
son) that  he  had  got  a  certain  physician  to  translate  his  book 
into  Latin.  "  Dedicavit  Principi  Carolo  Libellum  istuni  de 
rebus  EcclesiiB  Scoticanae  Latinum,  et  Graecis  quasi  stellis  dis- 
tinctum,  quern  omnes  scinius  Graecc  nescire,  Latine  vix  scire, 
nedum  posse  tani  Latine  scribere.  Scd  non  est  mirum,  menti- 
tis  (Medici  cujusdam  ut  audio)  pennis  niti  mendaciorum  con- 
sarcinatorem."     (Prefat.  Epist.  Philadelph.  Vind.) 

f  One  of  the  articles  of  the  libel  raised  in  1581  against 
Montgomery,  archbishop  of  Glasgow,  was,  "  that,  so  farre  as  he 
could,  he  travellit  to  bring  the  original  languages,  Greik  and 
Hebrew,  into  contempt;  abusing  thereunto  the  words  of  the 
apostle  1  Cor.  xiv.  and  tauntingly  asking,  '  In  what  SchooU 
were  Peter  and  Pavl  gradual?"  (Buik  of  the  Universal  Kirk, 
f.  114.  b.)  The  following  is  one  of  the  assertions  collected 
from  the  lectures  which  archbishop  Adamson  delivered  at  St. 
Andrews:  "  GrsBcae,  Hebraicse  et  Chaldaicte  et  ceterarum  eius- 
modi  doctarum  et  sanctaruni  lingtiarum  cognitio,  non  solum 
otiosa  et  invtilis,  sed  ctiam  perniciosa  et  exitialis  est  Rcip.  et 
ecclesiae  Dei."  (Floretum  Archiepiscopale,  MS.  in  Bibl.  Jurid. 
Edin.  M.6,9.  Nam.  47.) 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


239 


tion.  It  may  even  be  true,  that  he  was  previously  ac- 
quainted with  Dury's  intention  to  object  against  the 
episcopal  office ;  for  what  is  more  customary  than  for 
a  person  to  consult  with  his  friends  before  he  submits 
a  motion  on  any  important  subject  to  a  court  1  But 
that  Melville  conducted  the  business  in  an  insidious  or 
dishonourable  way,  by  pushing  forward  another  to  do 
what  he  was  afraid  to  do  himself,  and  then  affecting 
ignorance  of  the  design;  or  that  John  Dury  would 
have  consented  to  become  a  tool  in  any  such  disgrace- 
ful management, — no  one  who  is  acquainted  with  the 
characters  and  tempers  of  the  two  men  will  ever  for  a 
moment  believe.*  Such  arts  were  reserved  to  be  em- 
ployed in  the  advancement  of  a  different  cause,  and  by 
a  very  different  set  of  men. 

There  is  no  evidence  that  Melville  conducted  him- 
self in  a  violent  and  overbearing  manner  in  the  pro- 
secution of  this  business.  He  had  no  means  of  ef- 
fecting an  alteration  on  the  government  of  the  church 
but  argument  and  persuasion  ;  and  had  he  pushed 
matters  with  the  intemperance  which  some  have  as- 
cribed to  him,  he  must  have  defeated  his  own  designs, 
and  raised  insurmountable  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
their  accomplishment.  No  dissension  was  produced 
in  the  church.  There  was  a  general  and  harmonious 
concurrence  of  sentiment  in  favour  of  the  measures 
which  were  adopted ;  and  aware  of  this  the  bishops 
themselves,  who  were  present  in  the  Assembly,  made 
no  formal  or  public  opposition.!  During  the  earlier 
and  most  important  part  of  the  proceedings,  the  reins 
of  civil  government  were  in  the  hands  of  one  who 
could  hold  them  with  sufficient  firmness,  and  who 
possessed  the  address  to  avail  himself  of  any  act  of 
imprudence  or  violence  on  the  part  of  the  ecclesias- 
tical courts,  as  a  pretext  for  putting  a  stop  to  those 
measures  to  which  he  was  known  to  be  decidedly 
averse.  But  no  occasion  of  this  kind  was  given. 
Every  thing  was  conducted  with  firmness,  indeed,  and 
perseverance,  but  at  the  same  time,  with  a  temper, 
deliberation,  and  unanimity  rarely  exhibited  by  a 
popular  assembly,  and  which  reflect  the  highest  honour 
on  its  members. 

Nor  was  this  harmony  purchased  at  the  expense  of 
that  freedom  which  belongs  to  a  popular  and  deliber- 
ative assembly.  There  was  at  that  period  no  party- 
management — nothing  similar  to  the  practice  afterwards 
introduced,  when  a  cabal  or  set  of  leaders  settled 
every  thing  in  private,  and  having  previously  decided 
on  their  measures,  and  calculated  their  strength,  gran- 
ted to  the  court  the  semblance  of  liberty  by  a  mock 
debate  and   the  formality  of  a  vote.:|:     One  who  was 

*  Durj  was  at  first  an  exhorterin  Leith.  Though  not  learn- 
ed, he  possessed  great  spirit,  and  had  distinguished  himself  by 
his  zeal  and  courage  during  the  civil  war.  "About  the  same 
tyme(1571)  cam  to  St.  Andrews,  to  visite  Mr.  Knox,Mr.Jhone 
Durie,  fellow  minister  at  Leith  with  Mr.  David  Lindsay,  who 
was  then  for  stoutnes  and  zeal  in  the  guid  cause  niickle  re- 
nowned <fe  talked  off'.  F"or  the  gown  was  na  sooner  of,  and  the 
Byble  out  of  hands  fra  the  kirk,  when  on  ged  the  corslet,  and 
fangit  was  the  hacbet,  and  to  the  fields."  (Melville's  Diary,  p. 
28.     Comp.  Bannatyne's  Journal,  p.  359,  360.) 

As  Dury  commenced  the  attack  on  episcopacy,  Spotswood 
was  eager  to  represent  him  as  having  retracted  his  sentiments 
on  this  subject  in  his  latter  days.  (History,  p.  458.)  But  the 
archbishop's  story  is  contradicted  by  Dury's  son-in-law,  who 
declares  that  he  retained  his  sentiments  concerning  episco- 
pacy unaltered  to  the  last.     (Melville's  Diary,  p.  345.) 

f  Spotswood  acknowledges  this  fact,  and  mentions  it  with 
much  surprise  and  disapprobation.  "What  respect  soever  it 
was  that  made  them  keep  so  quiet,  whether,  as  I  have  heard, 
that  they  expected  those  motions  should  have  been  dashed  by 
the  Regent,  or  otherwise  that  they  affected  the  praise  of  hu- 
mility, !t  was  no  vfisdom  in  them  to  have  given  way  to  such 
novelties,  &  have  suffered  the  lawfulness  of  their  vocation  to  be 
thus  drawn  in  question,"     (Hist.  p.  276.) 

t  The  appointment  of  assessors  or  assistants  to  the  modera- 
tor, has  been  urged  in  opposition  to  the  statement  given  in  the 
text.  That  practice  was  introduced  in  the  following  way.  In 
April,  1577,  Alexander  Arbuthnot,  Principal  of  the  University 
of  Aberdeen,  was  chosen  moderator.  It  was  the  moderator's 
business  to  fix  the  order  in  which  the  causes  should  come  be- 


present  at  most  if  not  all  of  the  Assemblies  occupied 
in  framing  the  Book  of  Discipline,  gives  the  follow- 
ing account  of  their  manner  of  proceeding.  "  It  was 
a  most  pleasand  and  comfortable  thing  to  be  present 
at  these  assemblies,  there  was  sic  frequencie  and  re- 
verence, with  holiness  and  zeall.  Maters  were  gravlie 
,and  cleirlie  proponit;  overtures  maid  by  the  wysest, 
douttes  reassonit  and  discussit  by  the  learnedest  and 
maistquik;  and,  finallie,  all  with  ane  voice  conclud- 
ing upon  matters  resolvit  and  cleirit,  and  referring 
thingis  intritit  and  uncleirid  to  farder  advysment. 
Namely,  this  is  to  be  noted,  that,  in  all  these  assem- 
blies anent  the  policie,  ther  was  not  sic  a  thing  as  a 
carieing  away  of  anie  poinct  with  a  number  of  vottes, 
ane  or  ma,  as  by  a  preoccupied  purpose  or  led  course ; 
hot  maters  were  indifferentlie  proponit,  and,  efter 
beging  light  of  God  and  sersing  the  scriptures,  by 
conference  and  reasoning  discussit,  with  large  and 
sufficient  tyme  taken  and  diligentlie  employit  for  that 
effect,  all  with  ane  voice  in  ane  consent  and  unitie  of 
mynd  determined  and  concluded."* 

Some  authors  are  of  opinion,  that  there  was  no  dif- 
ference of  sentiment  among  the  ministers  on  the  head 
of  episcopacy,  and  that  the  reasoning  between  certain 
members  of  Assembly,  when  the  question  was  first 
agitated,  was  merely  a  disputation,  according  to  the 
manner  of  the  schools,  with  the  view  of  throwing 
greater  light  on  the  subject.  This  opinion  is,  I  think, 
erroneous.  There  were  none  in  Scotland  at  that  time, 
so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  learn,  who  regarded  the 
episcopal  office  as  of  divine  institution  ;  but  I  have  no 
doubt  that  there  were  ministers,  besides  the  bishops, 
who  did  not  esteem  it  to  be  positively  unlawful  or 
necessarily  injurious  to  the  interests  of  the  church, 
and  who  thought  that  it  ought  to  be  retained,  or  at 
least  tolerated,  in  the  state  in  which  affairs  were  in 
Scotland  at  that  period.  It  is  reasonable  to  suppose 
that  these  were  the  sentiments  of  Row,  Lindsay,  and 
George  Hay,  who  were  nominated  by  the  assembly  to 
reason  in  defence  of  episcopacy.  That  they  were 
Row's  sentiments  we  know  from  the  testimony  of  his 
son,  who  informs  us  that  his  father  at  first  thought 
episcopacy  lawful,  but  was  constrained,  along  with 
those  who  reasoned  on  the  same  side  with  him,  to 
yield  lo  the  force  of  the  arguments  brought  forward 
by  their  opponents,  and  from  that  time  took  a  decided 
part  in  removing  bishops  and  establishing  the  presby- 
terian  polity. f  Among  those  who  held  the  lawfulness 
of  episcopacy,  archbishop  Spotswood  also  includes 
the  names  of  his  own  father,  of  Erskine  of  Dun,  John 
Winram,  Alexander  Arbuthnot,  Robert  Pont,  Thomas 
Smeton,  and  Andrew  Polwart.:|:  ?meton,  Polwart, 
and  Pont,  afterwards  distinguished  themselves  by 
their  opposition  to  bishops. ||     Arbuthnot  and  Melville 


fore  the  court.  But  as  Arbuthnot  had  not  been  present  at  the 
preceding  Assembly,  and  consequently  was  unacquainted  with 
the  business  which  remained  undecided,  he  requested  that  cer- 
tain members  should  be  appointed  to  assist  him.  This  was  com- 
plied with,  and  the  advantages  of  the  appointment  in  expedi-: 
ting  business  led  to  its  repetition  at  subsequent  meetings. 
Some  members  were  jealous  of  its  tendency,  and  objected 
against  the  precedent,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  was  after- 
wards abused  in  prejudice  of  the  liberties  of  the  Assembly. 
(Cald.  MS.  vol.  ii.  p.  508,  616.  Petrie,  P.  iii.  p.  391.)  The  wri- 
ter of  Arbuthnofs  Life  in  the  Biographia  Britannica,  absurdly 
says:  "  This  committee  had  the  name  of  the  Congregation,  and 
in  a  short  time  all  matters  of  importance  came  to  be  treated 
there,  and  the  Assembly  had  little  to  do  but  f  o  approve  their 
resolutions."     (Biogr.  "Brit.  vol.  i.  p.  236,  edit.  2.) 

*  Melville's  Diary,  p.  59,  60.     Comp.  Row,  Hist.  p.  22. 

t  Row  of  Carnock,  MS.  Historic  of  the  Kirk,  p.  289.  Comp. 
Melville's  Diary,  p.  64. 

\  De  Regimine  Ecclesiae  Scotianae,  p.  42. 

11  Melville,  in  a  letter  "  Johanni  Rowio  Ecclesiastas  Perth- 
ensi,"  dated  "  15.  Cal.  Feb.  1578,"  says  "  Smetonius  acerrimus 
bonas  causae  propugnator.''  (MS.  in  Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.M.  6,9.) 
Smeton  and  Polwart  protested  against  the  election  of  Mont- 
gomery as  bishop  of  Glasgow.  (Records  of  Privy  Council, 
April  12,  1582.)  Erskine^  Lindsay,  and  Pont,  presented  to  the 
Privy  Council  the  remonstrance  of  the    General    Assembly 


240 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


were  closely  united  in  their  views  and  public  con- 
duct.* And  if  the  others  were  at  first  of  episcopal 
sentiments,  they  must  have  changed  their  views,  as 
they  co-operated  in  the  establishment  of  presbytery, 
and  as  there  was  not  a  single  contradictory  or  dissen- 
ting voice  at  the  abolition  of  episcopacy. f 

It  is  agreed,  on  all  hands,  that  this  change  of  sen- 
timent was  brought  about  chiefly  by  the  influence  of 
Melville.  That  in  exerting  this  influence  he  never 
overstepped  the  bounds  of  moderation,  and  that,  in  the 
fervour  of  his  zeal  for  what  he  considered  as  the  cause 
of  God  and  truth,  lie  never  infringed  the  rights,  nor 
unnecessarily  wounded  the  feelings  of  good  men  who 
might  conscientiously  diflTer  from  him,  I  am  far  from 
wishing  to  assert.  But  there  is  one  instance,  in  which 
I  am  satisfied  that  this  charge  has  been  brought 
against  him  ground lessly,  if  not  wantonly.  I  refer  to 
the  case  of  James  Boyd,  archbishop  of  Glasgow. 
Spotswood  says  that  Boyd  was  so  much  vexed  with 
the  proceedings  of  the  Assembly  in  urging  him  to  re- 
move the  corruptions  of  the  episcopal  office,  and  with 
certain  injuries  which  he  received  from  one  of  his 
own  relations,  that  he  "  contracted  a  melancholy 
whereof  he  died  not  long  after  at  Glasgow."  He 
adds,  "Nothing  did  more  grieve  him  than  the  in- 
gratitude of  Mr.  Andrew  Melvil  and  his  uncourteous 
forms.  He  had  brought  the  man  to  Glasgow,  placed 
him  Principal  in  the  Colledge,  bestowed  otherwise 
liberally  upon  him,  and  was  paid  for  this  his  kindness 
with  most  disgraceful  contempt.  In  private,  and  at 
the  Bishop's  table  (to  which  he  was  ever  welcome) 
no  man  did  use  him  with  greater  respect,  giving  him 
his  titles  of  dignity  and  honour;  but  in  the  publick 
meetings,  where  he  owed  him  greatest  reverence, 
he  would  call  him  by  his  proper  name,  and  use  him 
most  uncivilly.  The  commission  of  the  Assembly 
he  exercised  with  all  rigour,  and  by  threatening  the 
Bishop  with  the  censures  of  the  Church,  induced  him 
to  set  his  hand  to  certain  articles,  which,  as  he  pro- 
fessed in  his  sickness,  did  sore  vex  his  mind  ;  yet, 
being  comforted  by  Mr.  Andrew  Polwart,  Subdean  of 
Glasgow,  he  departed  this  life  in  great  quietness.":}: 
Some  of  these  charges  are  ridiculous  and  childish, 
and  the  rest  are  unfounded  and  calumnious.  The  whole 
procedure  of  the  Assembly  in  this  case,  as  detailed  in 
the  public  records,  is  marked  with  tenderness  to  Boyd, 
and  regard  to  the  delicate  circumstances  in  which  he 
was  placed  with  his  relations.  It  is  false  that  the 
commission  to  procure  his  subscription  was  entrusted 
to  Melville,  or  to  a  committee  of  which  he  was  one. 
David  Weemes,  minister  of  Glasgow,  was  the  only 
individual  employed  in  this  business.||  And  two 
years  elapsed  between  that  transaction  and  the  death 
of  the  bishop. §  The  story  of  his  being  grieved  on  his 
death-bed  at  his  renunciation  of  episcopacy  is  contra- 
dicted by  what  is  immediately  added  ;  for  Polwart, 
who  is  represented  as  his  comforter,  was  a  decided 
anti-episcopalian.lf  The  allusion  to  Melville's  par- 
taking of  the  arch-bishop's  hospitality  is  utterly  un- 
worthy of  a  reply.  What  is  said  as  to  the  episcopal 
titles  is  worse  than  puerile.  There  was  an  act  of 
Assembly  directing  that  the  bishops  should   be  ad- 


dressed by  the  same  titles  as  other  ministers.  In 
obedience  to  this  act,  and  in  common  with  all  his 
brethren,  Melville  observed  this  rule  in  the  public 
meetings  of  the  church  ;  but  he  did  not  think  that  the 
Assembly  intended  to  interdict  or  interfere  with  the 
ordinary  civilities  of  life,  and  accordingly  made  no 
.scruple  of  giving  the  bishop  his  usual  titles  in  pri- 
vate intercourse.  And  this  compliance  with  the  rules 
of  courtesy  must  be  produced  and  published  as  a  proof 
of  his  "  uncourteous  forms,"  and  bring  the  blood  of  a 
bishop  on  his  head,  too  !  He  came  to  Glasgow  at  the 
urgent  solicitation  of  the  archbishop,  when  he  had  the 
offer  of  a  preferable  and  more  lucrative  situation.  The 
active  part  which  Boyd  took  in  bringing  him  there 
was  with  the  view,  not  of  conferring  a  favour  on  an 
individual,  but  of  benefiting  a  literary  institution  ;  and 
if  he  was  actuated  by  regard  to  the  public  good,  as  I 
have  no  doubt  he  was,  he  must  have  considered  his 
exertions  and  benefactions  as  amply  rewarded  by  the 
flourishing  condition  into  which  Melville  brought  that 
decayed  university,  and  must  have  derived  far  higher 
gratification  from  this  than  from  having  his  ears 
tickled  with  vain-glorious  and  high-sounding  titles, 
for  which  he  never  shewed  that  doting  fondness 
which  his  successor  must  have  felt  when  he  advanced 
so  heavy  a  charge  on  such  weak  and  miserable 
grounds.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  add,  that  the 
whole  accusation  of  disrespect  and  ingratitude  is  re- 
futed by  the  bishop's  own  son,  the  learned  and  excel- 
lent Robert  Boyd  of  Trochrig,  who,  in  his  family- 
memoirs,  mentions  the  inviolable  friendship  that  sub- 
sisted between  his  father  and  Melville,  and  records 
with  filial  satisfaction  and  pride  the  high  commenda- 
tions which  he  heard  the  latter  bestow  on  the  former.* 

There  are  too  good  grounds  for  retorting  on  Spots- 
wood  the  charges  which  he  has  so  groundlessly  aimed 
at  another.  He  received  his  education  at  tie  Univer- 
sity of  Glasgow,  while  Melville  was  Principal  there, 
and  .Tames  Melville  was  his  teacher.f  Yet,  in  his 
history,  he  has  embraced  every  opportunity  of  tar- 
nishing the  reputation  of  the  former,  and  has  injured 
the  character  of  the  latter  by  retailing,  as  true,  a  slan- 
der of  the  most  improbable  kind,  and  which,  if  he  did 
not  know,  he  might  easily  have  ascertained,  to  be 
false.:}: 

From  the  frequent  occasion  that  we  shall  have  in 
the  sequel  to  speak  of  Patrick  Adamson,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  give  a  short  account  of  his  conduct  at  this 
period.  He  was  minister  of  Paisley  when  the  ques- 
tions respecting  the  government  of  the  church  began 
to  be  publicly  agitated,  and  professed  a  hearty  con- 
currence with  the  views  of  Melville,  whose  society  he 
courted.  The  latter,  however,  always  suspected  his 
sincerity,  or  at  least  his  steadiness,  and  remarked  to 
his  confidential  friends,  that  Adamson,  as  well  as  Cun- 
inghame,||  was  too  courtly  to  remain  attached  to  the 
cause.§     In  the  course  of  the  year  1575,  he  left  his 


against  the  suspension  of  Montgomery's  excommunication. 
(Bulk  of  Univ.  Kirk,  f.  126,  b.) 

«  Letter  of  Melville  to  .\rbuthuot,  Sept.  4. 1579.  MS.  in  Bib. 
Jurid.  Edin.  M.  6.  9. 

f  The  reason  wliich  Spotswood  gives  for  their  consent  is  not 
much  to  their  honour:  '•Tandem,  ne  frustra  contranili  vide- 
rcntur,  in  iuiperitsc  inultitudinis  sententiam  concesserint."  (De 
Reginiine  Ecrles.  Scot.  p.  45.) 

t  Spotswood's  Hist.  p.  303.        ||  Cald.  MS.  vol.  ii.  d.  586. 

{  His  subscription,  "  where  he  willingly  agreed  to  the  act  of 
the  Assembly  made  at  Stirling,  1578,"  was  dated  "the  8th  day 
of  June,  1579."  (Cold,  ut  supra.)  And  he  died  in  June,  1581. 
(Keith's  Scottish  Bishops,  p.  155.)  During  the  interval  he  was 
employed  by  the  Assembly  as  Commissioner  of  Carrict,  and 
•ppoioted  on  a  comuiittec  to  present  articles  to  the  King. 
(Cald.  ii.  587,  642.)  T  Sec  preceding  page. 


•  After  mentioning  the  'friendship  between  his  father  and 
John  Davidson,  minister  of  Frestonjians,  he  proceeds  to  speak 
of  Melville:  "Die  quadam  hunc  ipsuin  in  fmem  convcnissem, 
ut  ejus  de  Patre  meo  sententiam  percontarer,  qucm  is  inter 
omnes  turn  viventcs  optime  perspectum  habebat,  quippe  a  quo 
olim  ipse,  Geneva  rediens,  ODviis  ulnis  cxccptus  fueraf,  et  Aca- 
demice  Glasguensis  prefectura  meritissinie  uonatus  in  quo  per 
annos  aliquot  substitit,  cum  Patre  meo  stinclissimam  cokna 
amiciliam,  post  cujus  demum  e  vivis  excessura  in  Acadeniiani 
Andreanam  translutus  est:  Respondit,  ex  veto  meo,  et  rei  ip- 
sius  veritate,  pectus  illud  candidissiinum,  illius  integritate  vir- 
tutique  luculentumperhibens  testimonium  lubentissinie."  (Ro- 
berti  Bodii  a  Trochorrgia  Philotheca:  Wodrow's  Life  of 
Archbishop   Boyd,  p.  3,  4.  MSS.  vol.  iv.  Bibl.  Coil.  Glas.) 


The  account  which  James  Melville  has  given  of  (he  Arch- 
bishop, and  of  his  uncle's  uninterrupted  intimacy  with  him, 
exactly  accords  with  the  above.     Diary,  p.  39. 

f  It  appears  from  his  graduation  that  Spolswootl  attended 

the  University  of  Glasgow  at  the  |)eriod  referred  to;  and  .MeU 

ille,  in  speaking  of  him  in  his  letters  to  his  nephew,  mcntioos 

ini  by  tne  designation  "your  scholar."      (Melvini  Epistoltc. 


p.  29.) 
II  See  above,  p.  246 


t  Hist.  p.  40.1. 

{  Melville's  Diary,  j).  13,  45. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


241 


charge  at  Paisley,  and  became  chaplain  to  the  Regent ; 
in  the  expectation,  and  indeed  with  the  assurance,  that 
he  would  obtain  preferment  in  the  church,  as  soon 
as  a  fit  opportunity  presented  itself.*  The  see  of 
of  St.  Andrews  was  at  that  time  vacant,  but  it  was 
necessary  to  proceed  with  caution  in  filling  it,  as 
the  church  had  declared  against  the  corruptions  of 
the  episcopal  function.  In  October,  1576,  the  General 
Assembly  was  informed  that  Adamson  was  presented 
to  that  bishopric,  upon  which  occasion  he  came  for- 
ward and  declared  that  he  did  not  intend  to  make  use 
of  his  presentation. f  But  before  the  next  meeting  of 
Assembly  he  had  procured  his  election,  and  was  ad- 
mitted Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews  and  Primate  of  all 
Scotland.  The  craft  with  which  he  accomplished  his 
ambitious  views  excited  the  indignation  of  his  breth- 
ren and  the  raillery  of  the  courtiers.  He  had  a  favour- 
ite phrase,  which  he  often  used  in  his  sermons.  The 
prophet  would  mean  here.  When  the  fact  of  his  being 
made  Primate  first  transpired,  Montgomery  the  court- 
poet,  exclaimed  :  "  For  as  often  as  I  have  been  told 
what  the  prophet  would  mean,  I  never  knew  what  he 
really  meant  till  now.":]:  After  much  shifting  and  ter- 
giversation, which  we  cannot  here  stop  to  relate, 
Adamson  submitted  to  the  determinations  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  and  subscribed  to  all  the  leading 
articles  in  the  Book  of  Discipline  concerning  episco- 
pacy and  ecclesiastical  government ;  but  it  was  too 
apparent  from  the  whole  of  his  conduct  that  his  pro- 
fessions were  illusory  and  hypocritical. |f  Cunning- 
hame,  who  succeeded  him  as  chaplain  to  the  Regent, 
was  soon  after  advanced  to  the  bishopric  of  Aber- 
deen.§ 

The  same  arts  of  corruption,  by  which  the  court  de- 
tached Adamson  and  Cunninghame  from  the  cause  of 
Presbytery,  were  tried  on  Melville.  We  have  already 
seen  the  advances  made  and  the  prospects  held  out  to 
him  on  the  part  of  the  Regent,  at  his  arrival  in  Scot- 
land.^ Upon  the  death  of  Douglas,  the  archbishopric 
of  St.  Andrews  was  intended  for  him,  and  it  was  not 
until  all  hopes  of  his  complying  with  the  court-mea- 
sures had  failed,  that  it  was  bestowed  on  Adamson.** 
He  was  next  offered  the  rich  benefice  of  Govan,  on 


*  "  Ane  letter  maid  to  iiiaister  Patrick  Adamsone,  minister 
of  Goddis  word  in  ye  lord  Regentis  house,  of  ane  gift  of  an 
ieirlie  pensioun  of  ye  sownie  of  thre  handreth  pundis  money 
of  yis  realme  a  furttof  ye  superplus  of  benefices  and  ye  thrid- 
dis  thairof  not  assignit  to  tiie  sustentatioun  of  vtheris  ministers 
during  all  the  dayis  of  his  lyfe,  at  leist  ay  and  quhil  he  be 
provydit  sufficientlie  of  benefice,  pensioun  truth  of  benefice,  or 
vtherways  to  the  yeirlie  rait  and  availl  of  ye  said  pensioun  and 
sowme  thairoff,  &c.  At  Dalkeith,  Jun.  15,  1575."  (Register 
of  Privie  Seal,  vol.  xlii.  fol.  7.) 

+  Buik  of  the  Univ.  Kirk,  p.  66.  Cald.  MS.  vol.  ii.  p.  494. 
"  Nevertheless,"  says  James  Melville,  "  er  the  nixt  asserablie 
he  was  seisit  hard  and  fast  on  the  bischoprik)  wharby  all  gosso- 
prie  ged  upe  betwin  him  and  my  uncle  Mr.  Andro."  (Diary,  p. 
46.)  Spotswood  says,  that  Adamson  answered,  "  that  he  was  dis- 
charged by  the  Regent  to  accept  the  office  otherwise  than  was 
appointed  by  mutual  consent  of  tne  Church  and  Estate."  (Hist.  p. 
277.)  But  he  appears  to  have  confounded  the  answers  returned 
at  two  different  times  by  Adamson.  (Buik  of  Universal  Kirk, 
p.  66.  comp.  p.  68.)  In  the  MS.  copy  of  Spotswood's  History, 
inmiediately  after  the  above  quotation,  it  is  added, — '*  in  the 
bishoprick,  wherein  if  it  should  please  the  King  and  Estates 
to  make  any  reformation,  he  should  consent  with  the  first 
thereunto."  (Wodrow's  Life  of  Archbishop  Adamson,  p.  15. 
MSS.  Bibl.  Coll.Glas.  vol.  iv.)  This  refers  to  the  .subsequent 
dealings  of  the  Church  with  Adamson;  as  to  which  James 
Melville  says:  "Ashe  was  wonderful  craftie  he  oflerit  to  laj' 
down  all  at  the  feit  of  the  brethering,  and  be  ordourit  at  the 
pleasure  of  the  asserablie,  whowsone  the  sam  was  throuche 
and  at  a  point  with  the  mater  of  the  policie,  and  sa  with  fear 
promises  drifted  and  pat  off  till  he  gat  his  tynie."  (Diary,  p. 
47.)  I  Melviile'sDiary,  p.  46- 

II  Buik  of  the  Univ.  Kirk.  p.  69.  90.  100.  Cald.  MS.  vol.  ii. 
p.  510.  565.  585.  636.  Melville's  Diary,  p.  49.  A  great  part  of 
the  procedure  of  the  Assembly  respecting  the  bishops  is  want- 
ing iQ  the  records,  in  consequence  of  the  leaves  having  been 
torn  out  by  Arran  and  Adamson  during  their  administration. 
(Cald.  ii.  540.  566.  630.  636.)  {  Melville's  Diary,  p.  46. 

f  See  above,  p.  232.  «•  Melville's  Diarv,  p.  38. 

2F 


the  condition  of  his  desisting  from  opposition  to  the 
bishops.  This  offer  he  at  once  rejected  ;  but  as  the 
parish  lay  in  the  vicinity  of  Glasgow,  and  could  be 
served  by  the  professors,  he  used  all  his  influence  to 
have  the  living  annexed  to  the  University.  The  Re- 
gent kept  it  in  his  own  hands  for  two  years,  giving 
out  that  the  Principal,  "  by  his  new  opinions  and  over- 
sea dreams,"  defrauded  the  College  of  this  valuable 
addition  to  its  slender  revenues.  Nor  were  there 
wanting  some  individuals  connected  with  the  Univer- 
sity who  murmured  against  him  on  this  account,  and 
wounded  his  feelings  by  reflections  equally  illiberal 
and  unjust.  But  as  his  independence  of  mind  had 
prompted  him  to  reject  personal  favours,  so  his  firm- 
ness and  conscious  integrity  enabled  him  to  disregard 
such  unmerited  imputations,  and  he  continued  steadily 
to  pursue  what  he  conceived  to  be  the  line  of  his 
duty.* 

In  October,  1577,  the  Regent  sent  a  message  to  the 
General  Assembly,  informing  them  that  the  Protes- 
tants of  Germany  intended  to  hold  a  General  Council 
at  Magdeburgh  for  establishing  the  Augsburg  Con- 
fession, at  which  they  wished  deputies  from  the  differ- 
ent Protestant  countries  to  be  present;  desiring  the 
Assembly  to  name  such  individuals  as  they  judged 
most  proper  for  that  employment;  and  promising  that 
he  would  defray  the  expenses  of  their  journey.  The 
Assembly  nominated  eight  of  their  number,  and  left  it 
to  the  Regent  to  select  from  them  such  as  he  thought 
most  fit  for  the  embassy.  He  accordingly  fixed  on 
Melville,  Arbuthnot,  and  George  Hay.f  But  whether 
he  grudged  the  expenses  which  would  have  been  in- 
curred, or  had,  from  the  first,  intended  merely  to  pay 
a  compliment  to  the  church  and  the  individuals  se- 
lected, it  is  certain  that  Morton,  although  urged  by 
the  Assembly,  took  no  farther  step  in  that  affair.:]: 

When  he  saw  that  Melville  could  not  be  bribed  or 
flattered,  the  Regent  next  attempted  to  overawe  him 
by  authority,  and  to  work  on  his  fears  by  threatening 
to  proceed  against  him  for  treason.  While  the  As- 
sembly were  taking  some  measures  that  were  disagree- 
able to  him,  he  one  day  sent  for  Melville  to  his  cham- 
ber. After  discoursing  for  some  time  on  the  impor- 
tance of  preserving  the  peace  of  the  church  and  king- 
dom, he  began  to  complain  that  the  public  tranquillity 
was  in  danger  from  certain  persons,  who  sought  to  in- 
troduce their  own  private  conceits  and  foreign  laws  on 
points  of  ecclesiastical  government.  Melville  ex- 
plained, by  telling  his  Grace,  that  he  and  his  brethren 
took  the  Scriptures,  and  not  their  own  fancies  or  the 
model  of  any  foreign  church,  for  the  rule  and  standard 
of  the  discipline  which  they  defended.  Morton  said, 
that  the  General  Assembly  was  a  convocation  of  the 
King's  lieges,  and  tliat  it  was  treasonable  for  them  to 
meet  without  his  allowance.  To  this  Melville  an- 
swered, that,  if  it  were  so,  then  Christ  and  his  apos- 
tles must  have  been  guilty  of  treason,  for  they  convo- 
cated  hundreds  and  thousands,  and  taught  and  govern- 
ed them,  without  asking  the  permission  of  magis- 
trates ;  and  yet  they  were  obedient  subjects,  and  com- 
manded the  people  to  give  what  was  due  unto  Cassar. 
Having  appealed  in  proof  of  this  assertion  to  the  Acta 
of  the  Apostles,  the  Regent  replied  scornfully,  "  Read 
ye  ever  such  an  Jet  as  we  did  at  St.  Johnston?"  re- 
ferring to  the  armed  resistance  which  the  Lords  of  the 
Congregation  made  to  the  Queen  Regent  at  Perth  in 
the  beginning  of  the  Reformation.  "  My  Lord,"  an- 
swered Melville,  "if  ye  be  ashamed  of  that  act, 
Christ  will  be  ashamed  of  you."  He  added,  '  that  in 
a  great  crisis  the  conduct  of  men  was  not  to  be  rigidly 
scanned  by  common  rules,  and  actions  which  in  other 


*  Melville's  Diary,  p.  43,44. 

T  The  other  individuals  named  by  the  Assembly,  and  who  on 
this  account  may  be  considered  as  the  ablest  among  the  minis- 
ters, were  Adamson,  Cunninghame,  Pont,  Christison,  and  David 
Lindsay. 

\  Buik  of  the  Univ.  Kirk,  p.  72.     Melville's  Diary,  p.  46. 
16 


u% 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


circumstances  would  be  highly  censurable,  may  be 
excused  and  even  approved  ;  as  our  Saviour  virtually 
justified  those  who  introduced  to  him  a  palsied  invalid 
by  the  roof  of  a  house,  without  waiting  the  permis- 
sion of  the  proprietor.  At  that  time  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  suffered  violence,  and  all  men  pressed  into  it, 
without  asking  the  leave  of  prince  or  emperor.'  The 
Regent,  biting  the  head  of  his  staff,  exclaimed  in  a 
tone  of  half-suppressed  indignation,  which  few  who 
were  acquainted  with  his  manner  and  temper  could 
hear  without  alarm  :  "  There  will  never  be  quietness 
in  this  country  till  half  a  dozen  of  you  be  hanged  or 
banished  the  country." — "Tush,  Sir,"  replied  Mel- 
ville, "  threaten  your  courtiers  after  that  manner.  It 
is  the  same  to  me  whether  I  rot  in  the  air  or  on  the 
ground.  The  earth  is  the  Lord's.  Fatria  est  ubicun- 
queest  bene.  I  have  been  ready  to  give  my  life  where 
it  would  not  have  been  half  so  well  wared,*  at  the 
pleasure  of  my  God.  I  have  lived  out  of  your  coun- 
try ten  years  as  well  as  in  it.  Let  God  be  glorified  : 
it  will  not  be  in  your  power  to  hang  or  exile  his 
truth."t 

The  wisest  of  men  are  apt  to  become  intoxicated 
with  power.  Morton  possessed  great  political  sagacity ; 
yet  he  overlooked  the  critical  situation  in  which  he 
stood  as  entrusted  with  delegated  and  temporary  au- 
thority. The  nobles  envied  his  greatness,  and  were 
irritated  by  the  severe  impartiality  with  which  he  re- 
pressed their  turbulence  ;  the  commons  felt  oppressed 
by  the  monopolies  in  trade  which  he  had  granted  in 
order  to  avoid  the  necessity  of  having  recourse  to 
direct  taxation  ;  his  austere  and  supercilious  treatment 
of  the  ministers  of  the  church  cooled  their  attachment 
to  his  administration  ;  and  he  had  neglected  to  secure 
the  fidelity  of  those  who  were  placed  about  the  person 
of  the  young  king.  In  these  circumstances  a  party  of 
discontented  nobles  having  gained  access  to  the  prince, 
persuaded  him,  although  only  in  the  twelfth  year  of 
his  age,  to  assume  the  government;  and  so  strongly 
did  public  opinion  incline  to  the  change,  that  Morton 
judged  it  prudent  to  give  way  to  it,  and  formally  re- 
signed the  regency. :{:  It  was  not  long  till  the  new 
counsellors  became  unpopular  ;  and  Morton  taking  ad- 
vantage of  this  sudden  turn  of  public  feeling,  re- 
appeared at  court,  and,  without  the  invidious  title  of 
regent,  regained  his  former  influence.  But,  after  what 
had  happened,  it  could  not  be  stable  or  permanent,  and 
his  adversaries,  by  insinuating  themselves  into  the 
royal  favour,  undermined  his  authority  and  precipi- 
tated his  fall. 

These  revolutions  in  the  political  administration  of 
the  kingdom  were  so  far  favourable  to  the  church. 
Had  Morton's  authority  remained  undisturbed,  or  had 
the  adverse  faction  not  felt  the  necessity  of  strengthen- 
ing themselves  against  him,  it  is  not  improbable  that 
force  would  have  been  employed  to  stop  those  eccle- 
siastical proceedings  to  which  both  parties  were  equal- 
ly averse.  The  King,  by  the  advice  of  his  counsel- 
lors, returned  a  very  gracious  answer  to  the  General 
Assembly,  when  they  presented,  the  Book  of  Disci- 
pline to  him  upon  his  assumption  of  the  government  ; 
and  at  a  conference  held  at  Edinburgh  between  com- 
missioners from  the  privy  council  and  the  church,  all 
the  heads  of  that  book  were  agreed  to,  with  the  ex- 


*  Expended. 

+  Melville's  Diary,  p.  52.  Referring  to  Morton's  threats 
against  him,  his  nephew  says — "  Manie  siclyk  hes  he  hard,  and 
far  ma  reported  in  mair  ferfull  form,  hot  for  ail  never  jarged  a 
jot  ather  from  the  substance  of  the  cause,  or  forme  of  proceid- 
ingtharin."     lb. 

I  He  resigned  the  regency  on  the  6th  of  March  167 J  ;  "  he 
beinfrwearte  ofyt  hxiraing  (hairqf,  and  be  his  earnest  cair  and 
traveil  lakin  thairin.  As  also  be  ressoun  of  his  great  age,  be- 
ing now  past  threscoir  ane  zciris.  And  yrwith  being  in  his 
persoun  seiklie  and  vnhabill,"  &c.  (Record  of  Privy  Seal, 
vol.  45.  fol-  56.)  In  Sept.  11,  1578,  he  obtained  a  licence  to 
seek  "in  foreign  countries"  a  remedy  for  bii  "infirmities  and 
diseases."     (Ibid.  fol.  79.) 


ception  of  four  which  were  subsequently  explained  by 
the  Assembly.*  But  when  laid  before  the  ensuing 
meeting  of  parliament,  its  ratification  was  evaded,  and 
a  committee  appointed  to  re-examine  it,  by  whose  pro- 
ceedings the  whole  subject  was  thrown  loose,  and 
points  formerly  conceded  were  again  brought  into  de- 
bate.f  The  reconciliation  of  the  two  political  parties 
was  chiefly  effected  by  the  influence  of  the  church, 
which  was  treated  as  mediators  have  often  been  ;^ 
and  the  General  Assembly  soon  after  received  a  letter 
from  the  king  couched  in  language  very  different  from 
the  reply  which  he  had  at  first  returned  to  their  depu- 
ties. II 

In  the  midst  of  these  changes  of  men  and  measures, 
the  country  suffered  a  severe  loss  by  the  death  of  the 
chancellor  Glammis,  who  was  casually  slain  in  one  of 
those  affrays  which  were  then  so  frequent  among  the 
retainers  of  the  nobility.  He  was  a  nobleman  of  great 
wisdom  and  integrity,  a  patron  of  learning,  and  a  sin- 
cere friend  to  the  reformed  religion. §  With  the  view 
of  bringing  the  disputes  on  church-government  to  an 
amicable  adjustment,  he  had  carried  on  an  epistolary 
correspondence  with  Beza,  who  composed  a  short 
treatise  in  answer  to  the  queries  which  the  Chancellor 
proposed  to  him  on  that  subject.  These  queries  form 
a  very  important  document.  They  shew  that  the  op- 
posers  of  the  Presbyterian  polity  did  not  merely  object 
to  some  of  the  distinguishing  features  and  subordinate 
parts  of  the  system,  but  that  they  were  in  reality 
averse  to  the  whole  discipline  and  jurisdiction  of  the 
church,  and  aimed  at  subjecting  the  freedom  of  her 
assemblies,  and  the  validity  of  her  sentences,  to  the 
arbitrary  will  and  determination  of  the  court.  Beza 
proved  himself  a  true  friend  to  the  church  of  Scotland 
on  this  occasion.  His  judgment  on  all  the  questions 
submitted  to  him  was  decidedly  in  favour  of  the  prin- 
ciples laid  down  in  the  Book  of  Discipline;  and  as 
his  treatise  was  printed  and  soon  after  translated  into 
English,  the  authority  of  his  name  and  the  force 
of  his  arguments  had  great  influence  on  the  public 
mind.^ 

"  During  these  contentions  in  the  state,  (says  Spots- 
wood)  Mr.  Andrew  Melville  held  the  church  busied 
with  the  matter  of  policy."  The  letters  which  he 
wrote  about  this  time  certainly  shew  that  he  was 
neither  idle  nor  indifferent  in  this  business.  In  a  let- 
ter addressed  to  John  Row  he  expressed  great  anxiety 
to  learn  the  particulars  of  the  conference,  or  "archi- 
episcopal  skirmishing,"  as  he  calls  it,  at  Stirling.** 
In  another  letter,  addressed  to  Alexander  Arbuthnot, 
he  adverts,  in  his  lively  manner,  to  the  continual  bus- 
tle in  which  he  and  his  brethren  had  been  kept  by 
attending  to  this  affair.  "  What  shall  I  say  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  ecclesiastical  discipline,  in  which  we  have 
laboured  so  sedulously  but  with  so  little  success  "i 
Shall  I  tell  you  what  we  have  done  during  this  and  the 
preceding  year,  when  called  sometimes  to  Sterling  and 
sometimes  to  Edinburgh,  now  by  letters  from  the  King 
and  then  by  letters  from  the  Council,  atone  time  by 
an  order  from  the  Estates  and  at  another  by  appoint- 
ment of  the  Assemblies  of  the  church?    shall  I  write 


♦  Buik  of  the  Univ.  Kirk,  p.  76.  77.  Melville's  Diary,  p.  49. 
The  minutes  of  the  conference  was  held  at  Edinburgh,  June 
23, 1578,  were  torn  out  of  the  register  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly.    (CM.  MS.  vol.  ii.  p.  539—541 .) 

•j-Cald.  MS.  vol.  ii.  p.  545-6.  The  whole  proceedings  of  thi» 
committee,  which  met  at  Sterling,  Dec.  22—29,  1578,  are  in- 
serted Cald.  ut  sup.  p.  569 — •'^77.  In  Spotswood's  History, 
(p.  289 — 301.)  their  opinion  of  the  several  propositions  in  the 
Book  of  Discipline  is  printed  on  the  margin,  but  inaccurately 
in  several  instances.  J  Cald.  ii.  549. 

II  Ibid.  p.  579.     Spotsw.  308. 

{The  following  epitaph  was  composed  by  Melville  on  the 
Chancellor,  whose  name  was  Lyon  : 

Tu,  Leo  magne,  jaccs  inglorius  :  ergo  manebunt 
Qualia  fata  canes  1    quaiia  fata  sues  7 

(Melville's  Diary,  p.  47.) 

U  See  Note  T. 

•*  15  Cal.  Feb.  1578.    MS.  in  Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.  M.  6.  9. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


243 


of  our  doings  in  August  last,  during  the  whole  of 
October,  and  in  the  course  of  the  present  month  ?"* 
To  his  friend  Bezaf  he  gives  a  more  precise  account 
of  the  sentiments  of  their  opponents,  and  the  true 
causes  which  hindered  the  establishment  of  the  disci- 
pline. "  Those  who  have  grown  rich  by  sacrilege, 
and  loaded  themselves  with  the  spoils  of  Christ,  deny 
that  ecclesiastical  discipline  is  to  be  derived  from  the 
word  of  God  and  to  be  executed  by  the  interpreters  of 
Scripture.  They  wish  to  have  it  moulded  entirely  ac- 
cording to  the  dictates  of  human  reason,  and  transfer- 
red to  the  cognizance  of  the  civil  magistrate.  They 
insist  that  the  work  of  framing  an  ecclesiastical  polity 
shall  be  committed  to  wrangling  lawyers,  and  to  per- 
sons that  are  illiterate,  or  at  least  unskilled  in  divine 
things.  And  merely  because  they  belong  to  the  church, 
they  maintain  that  such  persons  have  authority  and 
power,  not  only  to  give  their  approbation  to  what  has 
been  rightly  done  by  presbyteries  constituted  accor- 
ding to  the  word  of  God,  but  also  to  sit  themselves 
as  judges  in  sacred  causes,  and  to  rescind  at  their 
pleasure  the  sentences  and  constitutions  of  the  doctors 
and  pastors."  In  another  letter  to  the  same  individual, 
he  says  :  "  We  have  now  for  five  years  maintained  a 
warfare  against  pseudo-episcopacy,  and  have  not  ceas- 
ed to  urge  the  adoption  of  a  strict  discipline.  We 
have  presented  to  his  Majesty,  and  the  three  Estates 
of  the  kingdom,  at  different  times,  and  recently  to  the 
Parliament  which  is  now  sitting,  a  form  of  discipline 
to  be  enacted  and  confirmed  by  public  authority.  The 
king  is  favourably  inclined  to  us ;  almost  all  the  no- 
bility are  averse.  They  complain  that  if  pseudo-epis- 
copacy be  abolished,  the  state  of  the  kingdom  will  be 
overturned  ;  if  presbyteries  be  established,  the  royal 
authority  will  be  diminished ;  if  the  ecclesiastical 
goods  are  restored  to  their  legitimate  use,  the  royal 
treasury  will  be  exhausted.  They  plead  that  bishops, 
with  abbots  and  priors,  form  the  third  estate  in  parlia- 
ment, that  all  jurisdiction,  ecclesiastical  as  well  as 
civil,  pertains  solely  to  the  king  and  his  council,  and 
that  the  whole  of  the  ecclesiastical  property  should 
go  into  the  exchequer.  In  many  this  way  of  speaking 
and  thinking  may  be  traced  to  ignorance;  in  more  to 
a  flagitious  life  and  bad  morals ;  in  almost  all  to  a  de- 
sire of  seizing  such  of  the  church  property  as  yet  re- 
mains, and  the  dread  of  losing  what  they  have  already 
got  into  their  possession.  They  also  insist  that  the  sen- 
tence of  excommunication  shall  not  be  held  valid  until 
it  has  been  approved  by  the  king's  council  after  taking 
cognizance  of  the  cause.  For,  being  conscious  of  their 
own  vices,  they  are  afraid  of  the  sentence  of  the  pres- 
bytery, not  so  much  from  the  awe  in  which  they  stand 
of  the  divine  judgment,  as  from  terror  of  the  civil 
penalties,  which,  according  to  the  laws  and  custom  of 
our  country,  accompan}^  the  sentence  of  excommunica- 
tion. In  fine,  while  they  judge  according  to  the 
dictates  of  the  carnal  mind  instead  of  the  revealed  will 
of  God,  they  desire  to  have  every  thing  done  by  the 
authority  of  a  single  bishop  and  perpetual  overseer  of 
the  churches,  rather  than  by  the  common,  sentence  of 
presbyters  possessing  equal  autliority.  May  God  shew 
mercy  to  his  church,  and  remove  these  evils.":): 

From  the  manner  in  which  Melville  mentions  the 
civil  penalties  that  accompanied  excommunication,  it 
is  evident  that  he  did  not  look  upon  them  as  forming 
any  part  of  the  ecclesiastical  discipline,  or  even  as  a 
necessary  appendage  to  it.  The  laws  enacting  them 
were  allowed  to  remain  in  force  at  the  time  of  the 
Reformation,  and  they  afforded  the  most  plausible  pre- 
text for  the  control  which  the  court  claimed  over  the 
sentences  of  the   church.     It   was,   however,  only  a 


*  4  Sept.  1579.     MS.  ut  supra. 

+  Melville  received  letters  from  Beza  about  this  time,  though 
I  have  not  met  vcith  any  of  them.     (Diary,  p.  42.) 

tA.  M.  Th.  Bezx,  Cal.  Octob.  1578  ;  and  Id.  Novemb. 
1679.    MS.  ut  8upra. 


pretext ;  for  the  government  suspended  the  execution 
of  these  laws  whenever  they  pleased,  and  the  legis- 
lature had  it  in  their  power  at  any  time  to  abrogate 
them  entirely.  Some  of  the  ministers  would  have 
been  pleased  with  their  abrogation.*  Such  of  them 
as  wished  for  their  continuance  were  chiefly  influenced 
by  two  reasons  ;  first,  the  government  was  extremely 
remiss  and  partial  in  proceeding  against  certain  vices 
and  crimes  which  merited  civil  punishment,  and  of 
which  the  church-courts  took  regular  cognizance  as 
scandals  ;  and,  secondly,  they  reckoned  the  penal 
laws  necessary  as  a  protection  against  the  attempts  of 
the  papists,  whom  the  court  was  too  irequently  dis- 
posed to  favour.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  they 
were  one  means  of  saving  the  country  from  the  popish 
conspiracies  about  the  time  of  the  Spanish  Armada ; 
but  still  they  were  radically  wrong,  capable  of  being 
made  an  engine  of  the  grossest  persecution,  and  con- 
sequently were  wisely  and  happily  abolished  at  a  sub- 
sequent period. 

Amidst  these  important  occupations,  the  General 
Assembly  found  leisure  to  attend  to  the  interests  of 
learning.  In  March,  1573,  they  enacted  that  no  per- 
son unacquainted  with  the  Latin  language,  should 
afterwards  be  admitted  to  the  ministry,  unless  he  was 
distinguished  by  a  more  than  ordinary  degree  of  na- 
tural gifts  and  of  piety.  At  their  subsequent  meeting 
they  petitioned  the  Regent  in  behalf  of  schools  and 
colleges,  and  requested  him  to  make  provision  for 
such  young  men  of  talents  as  the  church  should  think 
proper  to  send  to  foreign  universities  to  complete  their 
education.  Being  informed  by  Melville,  that  a  learn- 
ed printer,  who  had  been  obliged  to  leave  France  for 
the  sake  of  religion,  was  willing  to  settle  in  Scotland, 
and  promised  to  procure  a  regular  supply  of  all  books 
printed  in  France  and  Germany,  they  warmly  recom- 
mended it  to  the  Regent  to  grant  him  the  pension 
which  he  demanded.  It  is  probable  that  the  indi- 
vidual referred  to  was  Andrew  Wechel,  whose  estab- 
lishment in  this  country  would  have  been  highly  fa- 
vourable to  its  literature.  There  is  reason  to  think 
that  the  parsimony  of  Morton  defeated  the  enlightened 
plan  of  the  Assembly.  Some  years  after  we  find 
them  applying  to  the  King  to  procure  Vaultrollier,  an- 
other printer,  who  accordingly  came  and  remained  for 
a  short  time  in  the  country.  It  was  also  under  their 
patronage  and  and  special  direction,  that  the  first  edi- 
tion of  the  Bible  printed  in  Scotland  was  undertaken, 
and  make  its  appearance  in  the  year  1579. f 

Another  important  object  which  engaged  the  As- 
sembly's attention  at  this  time  was  the  reformation 
and  new-modelling  of  the  universities.  Melville  had 
contemplated  this  measure  ever  since  his  settlement 
at  Glasgow.  In  the  year  1575,  he  had  a  meeting  with 
Alexander  Arbuthnot,  the  learned  and  amiable  Princi- 
pal of  King's  College,  Aberdeen,  at  which  they  agreed 
on  a  new  constitution  for  the  seminaries  over  which 
they  respectively  presided.:^:  But  he  was  still  more 
impressed  with  the  importance  of  improving  the  uni- 
versity of  St.  Andrews,  which  surpassed  the  other 
two  in  revenue  and  in  the  number  of  students.  The 
most  eligible  plan  for  attaining  this  object  formed  the 
topic  of  serious  inquiry  in  consultations  held  between 
him  and  Thomas  Smeton,  minister  of  Paisley.  j|  Mel- 
ville used  all  his  influence  with  the  leading  persons  in 
church  and  state  to  accomplish  this  favourite  design  ; 
and  he  had  at  length  the  satisfaction  to  see  the  new 


*  Calderwood,  Altare  Damage,  p.  312—13.     Edit.  2. 

■f  See  Note  U. 

\  "  Efter  the  Assemblie  we  past  to  Anguss  in  companie  wt 
Mr.  Alex'.  Arbuthnot,  a  man  of  singular  gifts  of  lerning,  wis- 
dome,  godliness  and  sweitnes  of  nature,  then  principal)  of  the 
college  of  Aberdin,  whom  with  Mr.  Andro  communicat  anent 
ye  ordorof  his  college  in  doctrine  and  discipline;  and  aggreit 
as  yfefter  was  sett  down  in  the  new  reformation  of  the  said 
College  of  Glasgow  and  Aberdein."     Melville's  Diary,  p,  43. 

II  Melville's  Diary,  p.  58. 


244 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


constitution  of  the  University  of  St.  Andrews  approv- 
ed of  by  the  General  Assembly  and  ratified  by  Parlia- 
ment. A  more  particular  account  of  it  will  be  after- 
wards given  :  at  present  I  shall  merely  advert  to  one 
part  of  the  plan.  St.  Mary's  or  the  New  College  was 
converted  entirely  into  a  school  of  divinity,  in  which 
provision  was  made  for  a  complete  course  of  theolo- 
gical instruction.  Five  professorships  were  instituted 
in  it ;  one  for  oriental  languages,  three  for  the  critical 
interpretation  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  and 
one  for  systematic  theology.* 

There  was  but  one  opinion  as  to  the  person  who  was 
best  qualified  for  being  placed  at  the  head  of  the  new 
theological  college.  In  October,  1580,  the  King  direc- 
ted a  letter  to  the  General  Assembly,  requesting  them 
to  concur  with  him  in  translating  Melville  to  St.  An- 
drews, and  appointing  Smeton  to  fill  his  place  at  Glas- 
gow. Considerable  opposition  was  at  first  made  to 
this  proposal.  The  translation  of  Melville  was  warm- 
ly opposed  by  the  University  of  Glasgow.  He  was 
himself  averse  to  leave  a  seminary  which  had  flourish- 
ed so  greatly  under  his  care,  and  to  disoblige  its  pa- 
trons, who  had  treated  him  with  the  utmost  kindness 
and  were  willing  to  do  every  thing  in  their  power  to 
make  his  situation  more  easy  and  comfortable.  Nor 
could  he  be  altogether  indifferent  to  the  difficulties 
which  he  might  expect  to  meet  with  at  St.  Andrews. | 
Smeton's  appointment  to  be  his  successor  was  also 
opposed  by  several  members,  who  scrupled  at  the 
idea  of  taking  a  minister  from  a  congregation  and  ap- 
pointing him  to  exercise  the  doctoral  instead  of  the 
pastoral  office.  The  Assembly  first  resolved,  that  they 
might  concur  with  his  Majesty  in  translating  teachers 
of  divinity  from  one  university  to  another.  At  a  sub- 
sequent session  they  agreed,  that  it  was  lawful  in  cer- 
tain circumstances  to  require  a  pastor,  to  desist  from 
his  office,  at  least  for  a  time,  and  to  devote  himself  to 
the  teaching  of  divinity.  Upon  this  the  Assembly, 
"  for  the  weal  and  universal  profit  of  the  church  of 
God  within  this  realm,"  ordained,  that,  agreeably  to 
the  King's  letter,  Melville  should  be  translated  to  the 
new  College  of  St.  Andrews,  and  that  Smeton  should 
succeed  to  his  present  situation.  From  this  deed,  An- 
drew Hay,  as  rector  of  the  University  of  Glasgow, 
dissented,  as  he  had  done  at  the  previous  stages  of 
procedure  in  this  affair.  His  dissent  was  dictated  by 
zeal  for  the  prosperity  of  the  institution  which  he  gov- 
erned, and  by  attachment  to  Melville,  and  did  not 
argue  the  slightest  disrespect  to  the  individual  ap- 
pointed to  succeed  him.:}: 

Legal  measures  were  immediately  taken  to  secure  a 
compliance  with  this  decision,  and  Melville  prepared 
to  remove  from  Glasgow.  This  he  did  with  less 
reluctance,  as  he  devolved  his  charge  upon  his  most 
intimate  friend,  of  whose  learning  and  sound  principles 
ho  entertained  the  highest  opinion.  Having  formally 
resigned  his  office,||  he  left  Glasgow,  in  the  end  of 
November,  1580,  "  with  infinite  tears  on  both  sides  ;" 
those  individuals  who  had  at  first  disliked  and  op- 


•  Acts  of  the  Parliaments  of  Scotland,  vol.  iii.  p.  178 — 182. 

+  Melvini  Epistolae,  p.  70. 

t  Bulk  of  Univ.  Kirk.  p.  99—101.  Cald.  MS.  vol.  ii.p.  637. 
640.  643. 

II  Smeton's  appointment  to  be  Principal  passed  the  privy 
seal  on  the  3d  of  January  1580-1 .  "  Ane  letter  maid  Makaiid 
raentioun  that  our  Soverane  Lord  vnderstanding  that  the  place 
of  the  principal  maister  within  the  College  of  Glasgow  now 
vaikis  be  the  transporting  of  maister  andro  Mailuile  principall 
thairof  for  the,  tyme  to  the  new  college  of  Sanctandrois  and 
that  necessar  it  is  to  haif  ane  Idoneus  and  qualifiit  persoun 
electit  in  that  place  and  office  that  wiibe  able  to  discharge  his 
cure  6i  dewtie  thairin  in  tymecuming.  And  his  heines  being  in. 
formit  of  the  literature  and  qualificatioun  within  the  College 
of  his  louit  clerk  Mr.  Thomas  Smetoun  for  using  of  the  office 
of  principall  maister  within  the  college  foirsaid.  Thairfor  hes 
noniinat  and  presentit  him  to  the  place  and  office  foirsaid  with 
all  privileges  and  dewtics  perteniner  thairto.  At  Halyrudhous 
Jan.  3, 1580."    (Register  of  Privy  Seal,  vol.  xl?ii.  foL  61.) 


posed  him  being  among  the  most  forward  to  testify 
their  regret  at  his  departure.* 

Melville  was  at  his  time  deprived  of  a  highly  re- 
spected friend,  and  the  church  of  a  valuable  pastor, 
by  the  death  of  John  Row,  who  had  officiated  as  min- 
ister of  Perth  since  the  establishment  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. Row  is  entitled  to  notice  as  one  of  the  revivers 
of  the  literature,  as  well  as  a  reformer  of  the  religion, 
of  his  native  country.  His  literary  attainments  were 
very  considerable  for  the  time  at  which  he  received  his 
education ;  and  they  were  combined  with  much  piety, 
candour,  disinterestedness,  and  courage,  in  the  cause 
of  truth. f  He  departed  this  life  a  few  days  before  the 
meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  which  decided  on 
Melville's  translation  to  St.  Andrews  ;:J:  and  the  town 
of  Perth  instantly  petitioned  to  have  his  room  filled  by 
Smeton,  a  circumstance  which  increased  the  opposition 
made  in  the  Assembly  to  the  settlement  of  the  latter 
in  the  University  of  Glasgow. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Melville  installed  Principal  of  the  New  College.  St.  An- 
drews— His  Colleagues — Character  of  his  Theolo^'ical  Lec- 
tures— Meets  with  Opposition  from  the  Ejected  Teachers — Of- 
fence taken  at  his  Censures  of  Aristotle — Favourable  Change 
on  the  University — State  of  politics — Dangerous  Schemes 
of  Lennox  and  Arran — National  Covenant — Episcopacy  re- 
vived— Montgomery  made  Archbishop  of  Glasgow — Prose- 
cuted by  Melville — Excomnmnicated — Resentment  of  the 
Court — Melville's  Sermon  before  the  General  Assembly — 
His  Intrepid  Conduct  at  Perth — The  Raid  of  Ruthven — 
Melville  employed  in  Preaching  at  St.  Andrews — Arran  re- 
covers his  Interest  at  Court — Death  of  Winram — Of  Buch- 
anan— Of  Arbuthnot — Of  Smeton — Melville  Summoned  be- 
fore the  Privy  Council — His  Trial — His  flight  into  England — 
Remarks  upon  his  Declinature — Conduct  of  Archbishop  Ad- 
amson  in  England — Overthrow  of  Presbyterj- — Persecution 
of  Ministers — State  of  the  University  after  the  flight  of  Mel- 
ville— He  visits  the  English  Universities — Death  oiLawson — 
Tyranny  of  the  Scottish  Court — Melville  returns  to  Scotland 
with  the  Banished  Lords. 

In  the  month  of  December  1580,  Melville  went  to 
St.  Andrews,  accompanied  by  Sir  Andrew  Ker  of 
Fadounside,  the  Lairds  of  Braid  and  Lundie,  and 
James  Lawson  and  John  Dury,  ministers  of  Edin- 
burgh, as  commissioners  from  the  Parliament  and  Ge- 
neral Assembly. II  Being  formally  installed  as  Prin- 
cipal of  the  New  College,  he  pronounced  his  inaugu- 
ral oration,  and  proceeded  to  give  lectures  on  the  sys- 
tem of  theology. 

He  had  obtained  liberty  to  select  from  (he  universi- 
ty of  Glasgow  such  as  he  thought  best  qualified  for 
teaching  the  sacred  languages  under  him  ;  but  he  was 
averse  to  hurt  that  rising  institution  and  to  weaken  the 
hands  of  his  successor,  he  contented  himself  with 
taking  along  with  him  his  nephew,  James  Melville, 
who,  being  admitted  professor  of  the  oriental  tongues, 
began  to  give  lessons  on  Hebrew.  At  the  same  time, 
John  Robertson  commenced  teaching  in  the  Greek  New 
Testament.  The  talents  and  literature  of  Robertson 
were  not  of  a  superior  order  ;§  but  as  he  was  unexcep- 
tionable in  other  respects,  and  had  long  been  a  regent 


*  Melville's  Diary,  p.  64. 

+  Bannatyne's  Journal,  p.  257.  Melville's  Diary,  p.  64. 
Spotswood,  Hist.Sll.     Life  of  John  Knox,  vol. ii.  )).  18. 

It  appears  from  the  following  article  in  the  Inventory  of  goods 
belonguig  to  Thomas  Bassenden,  printer  in  Edinburgh,  that 
Row  was  an  author  :  "  Item,  ane  Mr.  Johne  rowes  signes  of  ye 
sacrametes,  price,  xiid."  f  Commissary  Records  of  Edmburgh.J 

t  Row  died  on  the  16th  of  October  1580.  (Scott's  Hist,  of 
the  Scottish  Reformers,  p.  194.  And  Extracts  from  Registers 
among  Mr.  Scotts'  MSS.  now  in  the  Advocates'  Library.) 

II  According  to  Calderwood,  the  persons  nominated  by  the 
General  Assembly  to  attend  him,  were  "  the  Lairds  of  Lundie, 
of  Segy,  and  Colluthie,  with  Mr.  Robert  Pont,  Mr.  James 
Lawson,  and  William  Christieson."  (MS.  Hist.  vol.  iii.  p,  642.) 

}  Dr.  Lee  is  of  opinion  that,  if  a  judgment  may  be  formed 
from  the  books  on  which  his  name  still  appears,  Robertson  was 
not  devoid  of  taste  for  polite  letters. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


245 


in  that  college,  it  was  not  judged  proper  to  displace 
him,  and  the  Principal  exerted  himself  in  supplying 
his  deficiencies.*  These  were  all  the  professors  ap- 
pointed at  this  time  ;  the  commissioners  having  resolv- 
ed that  the  two  other  places  should  not  be  filled  until 
those  who  held  bursaries  of  philosophy  in  the  college 
had  finished  their  period  of  study. f 

The  ability  with  which  Melville  went  through  his 
first  course  of  lectures  at  St.  Andrews  is  acknowledg- 
ed by  his  greatest  enemies.  Of  this  the  testimony  of 
the  biographer  and  son-in-law  of  Adamson  may  be  re- 
garded as  a  satisfactory  proof.  "  To  confess  the  truth 
(says  he)  candidly  and  ingenuously,  Melville  was  a 
learned  man ;  though  more  qualified  for  ruling  in  the 
schools  than  in  the  church  or  commonwealth.  Of  his 
first  course,  extending  to  four  or  five  years,  I  can  speak 
from  personal  knowledge,  having  been  one  of  his  eager 
and  constant  hearers.  He  taught  learnedly  and  per- 
fectly the  knowledge  and  practice  of  the  Hebrew, 
Chaldee,  Syriac,  and  Rabbinical  languages.  At  the 
same  time,  he  elucidated  with  much  erudition  and  ac- 
curacy the  heads  of  theology,  as  laid  down  in  the  in- 
stitutions of  John  Calvin  and  other  writings  of  ap- 
proved divines,  together  with  the  principal  books  of 
both  Testaments  and  the  most  difficult  and  abstruse 
mysteries  of  revealed  religion.:!: 

His  lectures  excited  a  new  interest  in  the  university, 
and  were  attended  by  several  of  the  masters  in  the 
other  colleges,  who  were  conscious  of  their  deficiency 
in  those  branches  of  learning  in  which  he  excelled, 
and  not  ashamed  to  be  taught  after  they  had  become 
the  teachers  of  others.  Among  these  was  the  amiable 
Robert  Rollock,  at  that  time  a  regent  in  St.  Salvator's 
College,  and  soon  after  chosen  to  be  the  first  Professor 
and  principal  in  the  newly  erected  university  of  E din- 
fa  urgh.|| 

Notwithstanding  these  gratifying  testimonies  of  ap- 
probation, Melville  was  not  disappointed  in  his  antici- 
pation of  the  difficulties  which  he  would  meet  with  in 
his  new  situation.  It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  the 
extensive  changes  prescribed  by  the  late  act  of  Parlia- 
ment could  be  carried  into  effect  without  causing  um- 
brage and  dissatisfactions  in  the  university.  To  intro- 
duce a  reform  into  old  corporations  has  always  been 
found  a  difficult  task ;  and  self-interest  has  a  powerful 
influence  on  learned  bodies,  as  well  as  on  those  which 
are  constituted  for  purposes  of  a  more  worldly  na- 
ture. Some  of  the  teachers  were  offended  at  losing 
their  places,  and  others  at  finding  their  salaries  reduc- 
ed ;  the  new  regulations  respecting  the  mode  of  teach- 
ing were  alarming  to  the  indolence  of  some,  and  tc- 
volting  to  the  prejudices  of  others.  All  of  them  were 
disposed,  however  unreasonably,  to  impute  their  suf- 
ferings to  Melville.  Skene  and  Wei  wood,  the  profes- 
sors of  law  and  mathematics,  had  been  removed  from 
the  New  College  to  that  of  St.  Salvator.  Their  ad- 
mission was  opposed  by  the  masters  of  the  latter,  who 
alleged  that  its  funds  were  inadequate  for  such  an  ad- 
ditional burden,  and  that  the  new  professorships  were 
quite  superfluous. § 


»  Melville's  Diarv,  p.  65.  +  Act.  Pail.  Scot.  iii.  181, 

I  Vita  Patricii  Adamsoni  :  Opera  Tho.  Voluseni  J.C.  p.  4. 
Loncl.  1619.  12nio.  Thomas  Wilson,  "in  coll.  novo,"  was  made 
A.  M.  in  1577;  but  he  probably  remained  in  itafterthat  period 
as  a  bursar  or  student  of  theology.  For,  Mr.  Thomas  Vilsonus 
is  among  those  vpho  subscribed  the  articles  of  religion  "  in  Col- 
legio  Mariano,"  from  1580  to  1587.  His  name  occurs  in  a  list 
of  advocates  for  the  year  1585.  (Records  of  the  Hospital  of 
Perth.)  II  Melville's  Diary,  p.  66. 

5  In  a  supplication  to  the  Privy  Council,  by  the  Chancellor, 
&c.  of  the  University,  against  Mr.  William  Welwood,  professor 
of  mathematics,  dated  25th  July,  1583,  the  petitioners  say,  that 
Welwood  "  ties  employed  no  diligence  in  that  profession  of 
niathematiic  this  yeir," — that  the  "  college  is  superexpendit, 
and  that  the  smalness  of  the  rent  is  not  able  to  susteane  pik  ex- 
traordinar  professors," — and  they  offer  to  prove  "the  said  ex- 
traordinar  professors  to  be  superfluous  and  unprofitable  in  the 
universitie — becaus  no  ordinar  auditour  can  be  found  to  resort 
fruitfuUie  to  the  said  estraordinar  professouris."     The  presen- 


Robert  Hamilton,  who  had  been  deprived  of  the 
provostship  of  the  New  College,  vented  his  chagrin 
by  commencing  a  process  against  his  successor  for 
arrears  which  he  alleged  to  be  due  him.  Melville, 
when  he  accepted  the  office,  had  insisted  that  all  ac- 
counts should  be  settled  before  he  entered  on  its  du- 
ties ;  and  he  not  unreasonably  looked  to  the  parlia- 
mentary commissioners  for  relief  from  the  trouble 
and  expense  of  litigation.  He  found  himself,  however, 
involved  in  both.  The  death  of  Hamilton*  suspend- 
ed the  process  ;  but  it  was  revived  by  the  person  who 
married  his  widow.  This  was  Thomas  Buchanan, 
master  of  the  grammar-school  of  Stirling,  who  had 
lately  been  appointed  provost  of  the  collegiate  church 
of  Kirkheugh,  and  minister  of  Ceres,  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  St.  Andrews."!"  He  was  an  intimate 
friend  of  Melville,  who  felt  hurt  at  being  harassed  by 
an  individual  to  whose  sympathy  and  help  he  trusted 
when  he  undertook  his  present  difficult  charge.:}: 

John  Caldcleugh,  one  of  the  outed  regents,  was  ex- 
tremely noisy  with  his  complaints,  and  boasted  in  all 
companies  that  he  would  ^'^  hough  the  new-made  Prin- 
cipal," whenever  he  met  him.  He  one  day  burst  into 
Melville's  chamber,  and  demanded  rudely,  if  he  knew 
him.  Melville  said,  he  did  not.  "I  should  be  known 
as  a  master  of  this  college :  my  name  is  Mr.  John 
Caldcleugh." — "Ho!  is  this  you  that  will  hough 
mel"  replied  Melville;  and,  l)arring  the  door,  told 
him  that  they  were  now  alone,  and  he  had  a  fair  op- 
portunity of  carrying  his  threats  into  execution.  Cald- 
cleugh's  choler  and  courage  immediately  fell ;  upon 
which  Melville  gave  him  such  a  severe  and  at  the 
same  time  friendly  lecture  on  the  impropriety  of  his 
conduct,  that  he  went  away  quite  mortified  and  hum- 
bled, accepted  of  a  bursary  in  the  college,  and  lived 
in  it  quietly  as  a  student  until  he  was  called  to  act  as 
a  professor.jl 

The  discontents  of  the  excluded  masters  were 
scarcely  allayed,  when  a  greater  storm  arose  from 
the  other  colleges.  In  the  course  of  his  lectures  on 
the  system  of  theology,  Melville  took  occasion,  when 


talion  of  Mr.  Robert  Wilifie,  to  be  chaplain  of  the  altar  of  St. 
John  the  Evangelist  and  Mary  Magdalene,  "ult.  Mart.  1578," 
was  subscribed  before  "Mag.  W™°  Walwod  tertio  Mag™  Novi 
Collegii."     (Papers  of  the  University.) 

*  He  died  April  16,  1581.  (Register  of  Commissary  De- 
creets, Nov.  13,  1596.) 

f  The  Church  of  Kirkheuch,  Kirkhill,  or  our  Lady  of  the 
Rock,  was  situated  beside  the  harbour  of  St.  Andrews.  The 
parish  of  Ceres  was  attached  to  it,  as  a  prebend  or  provision 
for  the  provost.  "Jacobus  Allerdeis"  was  "  Praepositus  Eccle- 
siae  Collegiatae  Beata;  Mariee  Virginis,  in  rupe  prope  civitatem 
S.  Andreas,"  before  the  Reformation.  "Mr.  James  Lermonth, 
provost  of  Kirkhill,  besyde  the  citie  of  St.  And'."  lets  lands 
in  parochin  of  Seres,  Dec.  7, 1565  ;  and  Sept.  16,  1570.  (Com- 
missary Records  of  St.  Andrews.)  "Mr.  Thomas  buchan- 
naine"  presented  to  "the  prouestrie  of  Kirkhill,"  April  1, 
1578,  in  the  room  of  uniqll  Mr.  James  Lermonth.  (Reg.  of 
Presentations  to  Benefices,  vol.  ii.  f.  1.) 

I  The  dispute  was  finally  settled,  by  allotting  a  glebe  be- 
longing to  the  college  to  Hamilton's  relict  during  life.  (Mel- 
ville's Diary,  p.  91.)  "Elspet  Traill  ane  of  the  dochteris  and 
airis  of  umqll  Jhone  Traill  younger  of  Magask  my  fader,  and 
ane  of  the  oyis  and  appearand  airis  of  umqll  Jhone  Traill  of 
Blebowmy  guds''with  spetiall  advys  consent  and  assent  of  Mr. 
Robert  Hamiltown  now  my  spous,"  &c.  (Commissar}- Record 
of  St.  And.  A"  1567.)  In  a  process  before  the  Magistrates  of  St. 
Andrews,  in  which  Thomas  Buchanan  and  f^lizabeth  Traill  his 
spouse  were  defenders,  it  was  pleaded,  that  "  Mr.  Thomas  Buch- 
quhauan  is  suppost  of  the  universitie  of  St.  And'  and  ane  ac- 
tuall  student  of  theologie,  and  y'bye  the  said  cause  should  be 
remittit  to  the  rector  of  his  ofl"  (assessors)  as  only  juges  com- 
petent yi'to,and  the  provest  and  baillies  aucht  to  declair  them- 
selffis  incompetent  in  the  said  caus."  The  pursuer  pleaded  that 
"the  former  allegiance  aucht  and  sowld  be  repellit,  in  respect 
of  his  bill  conceavit  upon  ane  deid  don  betwix  Helene  Hunter, 
spouse  to  the  said  persewar,  and  the  said  Elizabeth  Traill  quha 
is  na  suppost  of  the  universitie,  and  the  said  Mr.  Thomas  onlie 
convenit  for  his  enteris,  qlk  can  na  wayis  stay  this  actioun,  bot 
the  bailleis  in  respect  yrof  aucht  to  proceed  heiruntill."  ("Bur- 
row  Court  of  St.  Andrews,  Dec.  14,  1591.) 

II  "  I  was  in  the  chalmer  abon  (says  James  Melville)  and  hard 
all,  and  cam  down  at  last  to  the  ending  of  it."  (Diary,  p.  91, 92.) 


246 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


treating  of  the  Being  and  Attributes  of  God,  Creation, 
and  Providence,  to  expose  the  errors  contained  in  the 
•writings  of  Aristotle,  and  to  shew  that  they  were  in- 
consistent with  the  principles  of  both  natural  and  re- 
vealed religion.  No  sooner  was  this  known,  than  the 
professors  of  philosophy  raised  an  outcry  against  him, 
almost  as  violent  as  that  of  the  craftsmen  of  Ephesus, 
when  the  Apostle  preached  against  idolatry,  and  from 
motives  not  essentially  different  from  theirs.*  They 
complained  that  their  character  was  attacked,  and 
their  credit  undermined;  and  that  a  philosopher  who 
had  been  held  immemorially  in  veneration  in  all  the 
schools  of  the  world,  was  falsely  accused  and  inde- 
cently traduced.  So  zealous  were  the  members  of  St. 
Leonard's  College,  that  they  delivered  solemn  orations 
in  defence  of  Aristotle,  containing  invectives  against 
the  individual  who  had  been  so  presumptuous  as  to 
condemn  their  oracle ;  by  which  means  the  minds  of 
the  students  were  inflamed,  and  Melville  was  exposed 
to  personal  danger. 

Tu  ne  cede  malts,  sed  contra  audentior  ito,  was  Mel- 
ville's motto,  and  the  principle  by  which  he  was 
guided  on  all  such  occasions.f  Disregarding  the  igno- 
rant clamour  and  interested  alarm  which  had  been  ex- 
cited, he  persisted  in  the  course  which  he  had  taken; 
and,  when  the  subject  was  introduced  in  the  public 
meetings  of  the  university  at  vacations  and  promo- 
tions, he  refuted  the  arguments  of  his  opponents  with 
such  readiness,  force  of  reasoning,  and  overpowering 
eloquence,  as  reduced  them  to  silence.  Before  he  had 
been  two  years  at  St.  Andrews,  a  favourable  change 
was  visible  on  the  university.  Many  of  those  who 
had  been  most  strongly  prejudiced  against  the  new 
learning,  as  they  called  it,  were  induced  to  apply  to 
the  acquisition  of  ancient  languages.  Instead  of  boast- 
ing perpetually  of  the  authority  of  Aristotle,  and  quo- 
ting him  ignorantly  at  second-hand,  they  perused  his 
writings  in  the  original ;  studied  the  arts  for  purposes 
of  utility,  and  not  for  shew  and  verbal  contention ; 
and,  becoming  real  philosophers  and  theologians,  ac- 
knowledged that  they  had  undergone  "  a  wonderful 
transportation  out  of  darkness  into  light."  Among 
these  were  John  Malcolm  and  Andrew  Duncan,  then 
regents  of  St.  Leonard's,  and  afterwards  ministers  of 
Perth  and  Crail,  who  from  being  among  the  keenest 
opponents,  were  converted  into  warm  admirers  and 
steady  friends  of  Melville. :t^ 

From  his  academical  labours,  Melville  was  sum- 
moned to  the  defence  of  the  liberties  of  the  church, 
and  the  ecclesiastical  polity  which  he  had  been  so 
active  in  establishing.  Soon  after  James  had  taken 
the  reins  of  government  into  his  own  hands,  Esrae 
Stewart,  Lord  d'Aubigne,  a  cousin  of  his  father's, 
arrived  from  France.  He  gave  out  that  he  came  to 
pay  a  short  visit  to  his  royal  relative,  and  to  claim  cer- 
tain lands  which  had  descended  to  him  from  his  an- 
cestors ;  but  excuses  were  found  for  prolonging  his 
stay,  and  it  soon  appeared,  that  his  journey  had  been 
undertaken  with  the  view  of  advancing  more  serious 
and  extensive  designs.  Since  the  coronation  of  James, 
all  intercourse  between  the  courts  of  Scotland  and 
France  had  been  broken  off,  and  those  who  were  suc- 
cessively entrusted  with  the  regency  had  cultivated  an 
exclusive  connection  with  England.  The  present  was 
deemed,  by  the  king  of  France  and  house  of  Guise, 
a  favourable  opportunity  for  recovering  their  influence 
over  the  counsels  of  this  country,  and  d'Aubigne  was 


•  "Thair  breadwinner,  Ihair  honor,  thair  estimation,  all  was 
f^oain,  giff  Aristotle  «houl(l  be  so  owirharled  in  the  heiring'  of 
thair  gchollars."     (Diary,  p.  92.)         f  Melvini  Kpist.  p.  70. 

}  Melville's  Diary,  p.  92.  John  Malcolm  was  the  son  of  An- 
drew Malcolm,  who  (in  instrument  of  sasine  to  Monedv  Roger, 
Oct.  29,  1577,)  is  called  "  Providug  vir  Andreas  Malcolme, 
pistor  burgen,  burgi  de  I'erlh."' — I  have  a  copy  of  the  history 
of  Polybius  (BasileJB  1549.  Folio.  Gr.  &  I^t.)  which  has  the 
following  inscription  on  the  title-page  in  Melville's  hand- 
writing :  "  Andreas  Melvinus  me  jure  possidet,  ex  done  Joan- 
nis  Malcolnii.     Tki  •»  ©»»  ^^Klx<  ivitv  fit^tturifir.'^ 


judged  a  fit  instrument  for  accomplishing  this  object 
by  insinuating  himself  into  the  favour  of  the  young 
monarch.  His  prepossessing  person  and  engaging 
manners  inade  an  easy  conquest  of  the  royal  affections  ; 
and  he  quickly  rose,  through  a  gradation  of  honours, 
to  be  Duke  of  Lennox,  and  Lord  High  Chamberlain. 
Under  his  influence  the  court  underwent  a  complete 
change,  and  was  filled  with  persons  who  were  addict- 
ed to  popery,  or  who  had  uniformly  opposed  the  king's 
authority,  or  whose  private  characters  rendered  them 
totally  unworthy  of  access  to  the  royal  ear.  Among 
these  was  Captain  James  Stewart,  a  son  of  Lord  Ochil- 
tree, and  a  man  of  the  most  profligate  manners  and 
unprincipled  ambition.  By  these  upstarts  the  design 
was  undertaken  of  exchanging  the  friendship  of  Eng- 
land for  that  of  France,  and  of  associating  the  name 
of  Queen  Mary  with  that  of  her  son  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  kingdom  ;  a  design  which  could  not  be 
carried  into  execution  without  overturning  all  that  had 
been  done  during  fourteen  years,  and  exposing  the  na- 
tional liberties  and  the  Protestant  establishment  to  the 
utmost  peril.* 

This  change  on  the  court  could  not  fail  to  alarm  the 
ministers  of  the  church,  who  had  received  satisfactory 
information  of  the  project  that  was  on  foot.  Their 
fears  were  confirmed  by  the  arrival  of  Jesuits  and 
seminary  priests  from  abroad,  and  by  the  open  revolt 
of  several  persons  of  great  influence  at  home  who  had 
hitherto  professed  the  Protestant  faith.  They  accord- 
ingly warned  their  hearers  of  the  danger  which  they 
apprehended,  and  pointed  at  the  favourite  as  an  emis- 
sary of  the  house  of  Guise  and  of  Rome.  Lennox, 
after  holding  a  conference  with  some  of  the  ministers, 
declared  himself  a  convert  to  the  Protestant  doctrine, 
and  publicly  renounced  the  popish  religion. f  This 
recantation  allayed  the  jealousy  of  the  nation.  But  it 
was  soon  after  revived  and  kindled  into  a  flame  by  the 
interception  of  letters  from  Rome,  granting  a  dispen- 
sation to  the  Roman  Catholics  to  profess  the  Protes- 
tant tenets  for  a  time,  provided  they  preserved  an  in- 
ward attachment  to  the  ancient  faith,  and  embraced 
every  opportunity  of  advancing  it  in  secret.:|;  This 
discovery  was  the  immediate  occasion  of  that  memo- 
rable transaction,  the  swearing  of  the  National  Cove- 
nant. It  was  drawn  up  by  John  Craig,  and  consisted 
of  an  abjuration,  in  the  most  solemn  and  explicit  terms, 
of  the  various  articles  of  the  popish  system,  and  an 
engagement  to  adhere  to  and  defend  the  doctrine  and 
discipline  of  the  reformed  church  in  Scotland.  As  the 
stability  of  the  Protestant  religion  depended  "  upon 
the  safety  and  good  behaviour  of  the  King's  Majesty, 
as  upon  a  comfortable  instrument  of  God's  mercy 
granted  to  this  country,"  the  covenanters  pledged 
themselves  farther,  "under  the  same  oath,  hand-writ, 
and  pains,  that  we  shall  defend  his  person  and  author- 
ity with  our  goods,  bodies,  and  lives,  in  the  defence 
of  Christ's  evangel,  liberties  of  our  country,  ministra- 
tion of  justice,  and  punishment  of  iniquity,  against  all 
enemies  within  this  realm  or  without."  Tiiis  bond 
was  sworn  and  subscribed  by  the  King  and  his  house- 
hold, and  afterwards,  in  consequence  of  an  order  of 
the  Privy  Council  and  an  act  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly, by  all  ranks  of  persons  through  the  kingdom; 
the  ministers  zealously  promoting  the  subscription  of 
it  in  their  respective  parishes. || 

This  solemn  transaction  had  a  powerful  influence  in 
riveting  the  attachment  of  the  nation  to  the  Protestant 
religion,  but  it  did  not  prevent  those  who  had  engross- 
ed the  royal  favour  from  prosecuting  the  designs  which 


•  See  Note  V. 

+  Buik  of  the  Universal  Kirk,  p.  96—99. 

X  Spotswood,  p.  308.     Strype's  Annals,  vol.  ii.  p.  6.*30,  631. 

|l  The  subscriptions  to  the  National  Covenant  in  the  united 
parishes  of  An.«truther,  Pittenween,  and  Abercroniby,  amount- 
ed to  743  ;  and  are  still  preserved  with  the  attestation  of  Mr. 
William  Clark,  the  minister,  and  two  witnesses.  (Register  of 
the  Kirk  Session  of  Anstruther.) 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


247 


they  had  formed.  The  uncomplying  spirit  of  presby- 
tery has  always  rendered  it  odious  to  despotical  rulers. 
But  in  addition  to  this  feeling,  Lennox  and  his  asso- 
ciates were  actuated  by  the  desire  of  revenging  the 
affronts  which  they  thought  had  been  put  on  them  by 
the  preachers,  and  of  gratifying  their  rapacity  by 
seizing  on  the  ecclesiastical  livings.  They  accord- 
ingly resolved  on  restoring  episcopacy,  and  filling  the 
bishoprics  with  creatures  of  their  own. 

The  death  of  Archbishop  Boyd  afforded  them  an 
opportunity  of  commencing  their  scheme.  Though 
the  regulations  recognizing  episcopacy,  which  were 
made  at  Leith  in  1572,  had  been  formally  abrogated 
by  the  General  Assembly,  and  abandoned  and  virtually 
annulled  by  the  court,*  yet  were  they  now  revived  by 
an  act  of  Privy  Council. f  The  disposal  of  the  see 
of  Glasgow  was  given  to  Lennox,  who  offered  it  to 
different  ministers,  upon  the  condition  of  their  making 
over  to  him  its  revenues  and  contenting  themselves 
with  an  annual  pension.  The  offer  was  at  last  accept- 
ed by  Robert  Montgomery,  minister  of  Stirling,  "  a 
man  vain,  feeble,  presumptuous,  and  more  apt,  by  the 
blemishes  of  his  character,  to  have  alienated  the  peo- 
ple from  an  order  already  beloved,  than  to  reconcile 
them  to  one  which  was  the  object  of  their  hatred.":^ 
This  "vile  bargain, "||  made  at  a  time  when  the  epis- 
copal office  stood  condemned  by  the  General  Assem- 
bly, and  tending  directly  to  place  the  church  at  issue 
with  the  government,  excited  universal  indignation. 
At  the  Assembly  which  met  in  October  1581,  the  affair 
was  warmly  taken  up,  and  Montgomery  put  to  the 
bar.  The  royal  authority  was  interposed  in  his  de- 
fence, and  a  message  from  his  majesty  signified,  that 
he  could  not  permit  Montgomery  to  he  prosecuted  for 
accepting  the  bishopric,  but  that  the  Assembly  might 
proceed  against  him  for  any  thing  that  was  faulty  in 
his  life  or  doctrine.  Upon  this  Melville  stood  forward 
as  his  accuser,  and  presented  a  libel  against  him,  con- 
sisting of  fifteen  articles.  Montgomery  having  with- 
drawn while  the  proof  was  taking,  the  Assembly  re- 
mitted the  process  to  the  Presbytery  of  Stirling,  ap- 
pointing them  to  report  their  decision  on  it  to  the  Pro- 
vincial Synod  of  Lothian,  who  were  empowered  to 
pronounce  sentence  against  him,  if  found  guilty,  ac- 
cording to  the  laws  of  the  church.  And  in  the  mean 
time,  they  prohibited  him  from  leaving  his  ministry  at 
Stirling  and  intruding  into  the  bishopric  of  Glas  w. 
This  injunction  he  disobeyed.  The  ministers  who 
composed  the  chapter  of  Glasgow  were  charged  to 
elect  him  as  their  bishop  ;  and  upon  their  refusal,  the 
Privy  Council  decided,  that  the  bishopric  had  devolv- 
ed into  the  hands  of  the  king,  and  might  be  disposed 
of  by  his  sole  authority .§     For  entering  on  Montgom- 


*  In  consequence  of  a  supph'cation  from  the  church— "  The 
Lords  of  Secret  Counsell  thinkis  nieit  and  advyses  the  Kings 
Matie  to  suspend  his  hienis  handis  on  making  any  gift  grant  or 
promeis  of  the  prelacies  abonewritten  (Aberbrothock  and  Pais- 
ley) or  any  part  yrof,  qlk  may  hinder  and  prejudge  the  disso- 
lution of  the  same  according  to  the  forme  els  intendit  and 
thocht  meit  to  be  done.  And  ordainis  this  pnt  act  to  be  maide 
heirupone  ad  futuram  rei  memoriam,"  (Record  of  Privy 
Council,  June  2,  1579.)  On  the  9th  of  May,  1581,  "the 
King's  Matie  with  advys  of  the  Lords  of  Secret  Counsall." 
finding  that  the  constitution  of  the  ecclesiastical  policy  would 
not  be  permanent,  "  qiihill  the  auncient  boundis  of  the  diocies 
be  dissolved,  quhair  the  parochines  ar  thick  togidderand  small 
to  be  vneitted,  and  quhair  they  ar  of  over  great  and  lairge 
boundis  to  be  devydit,  that  thairefter  presbyteries  or  elder- 
ships may  be  constitut,"  &c.  appoints  commissioners  to  attend 
to  this  business,  (Collection  of  Acts  of  Secret  Council  by  Sir 
John  Hay,  Clerk  Register.) 

t  Record  of  Privy  Council,  Octob.  28,  1581. 

JDr.  Robertson. 

]]  So  Spotsveood,  in  respect  of  the  simoniacal  nature  of  the 
paction,  designs  it. 

5  Bishoprick  of  Glasgow  devolvit  in  the  King's  hands  :  Re- 
cord of  Privy  Council,  April  12,  1582. — When  the  royal  gift, 
bestowing  the  h'lshopr'ic  pteno  jure,  was  presented  to  the  Lords 
of  Session  for  confirmation,  the  King  discharged  them,  by  let- 
ter, from  admitting  the  commissioners  of  the  church  as  a  party. 


ery's  cause  according  to  the  appointment  of  the  As- 
sembly, the  members  of  the  synod  of  Lothian  were 
summoned  before  the  Privy  Council,  They  appeared  ; 
and  Pont,  in  their  name,  after  protestation  of  their 
readiness  to  yield  all  lawful  obedience,  declined  the 
judgment  of  the  council,  as  incompetent,  according  to 
the  laws  of  the  country,  to  take  cognizance  of  a  cause 
which  was  purely  ecclesiastical.*  This  was  done 
amidst  the  menaces  and  taunts  of  Captain  Stewart, 
now  created  Earl  of  Arran,  who  was  exceedingly  ex- 
asperated at  seeing  the  King  shed  tears,  while  one  of 
the  ministers  affectionately  warned  him  to  be  on  his 
guard  against  wicked  counsellors. 

Melville  was  chosen  moderator  of  the  General  As- 
sembly which  met  at  St.  Andrews  in  April  1582. 
Upon  their  taking  up  Montgomery's  cause,  as  referred 
to  them  by  the  presbytery  of  Stirling,  the  Master  of 
Requests  presented  a  letter  from  his  Majesty,  desiring 
the  Assembly  not  to  proceed  against  him  for  any  thing 
connected  with  the  bishopric  of  Glasgow.  Soon  after 
a  messenger-at-arms  entered  the  house,  and  charged 
the  moderator  and  members  of  Assembly,  on  the  pain 
of  rebellion,  to  desist  entirely  from  the  prosecution. 
After  serious  deliberation,  they  agreed  to  address  a 
respectful  letter  to  his  Majesty  ;  resolved  that  it  was 
their  duty  to  proceed  with  the  trial ;  summoned  Mont- 
gomery, who  appealed  to  the  Privy  Council ;  ratified 
the  sentence  of  the  Presbytery  of  Stirling,  suspending 
him  from  the  exercise  of  the  ministry ;  and,  having 
found  eight  articles  of  the  charge  against  him  proved, 
declared  that  he  had  incurred  the  censures  of  deposi- 
tion and  excommunication.  The  pronouncing  of  the 
sentence  was  prevented  by  the  submission  of  the  cul- 
prit, who  appeared  before  the  Assembly,  withdrew 
his  appeal,  and  solemnly  promised  to  interfere  no  far- 
ther with  the  bishopric.  Though  gratified  with  this 
act  of  submission,  the  Assembly  dreaded  his  tergiver- 
sation, and  therefore  gave  instructions  to  the  Presby- 
tery of  Glasgow  to  watch  his  conduct  and,  provided 
he  violated  his  engagement,  to  convey  information  in- 
stantly to  the  Presbytery  of  Edinburgh,  who  were  au- 
thorized to  appoint  one  of  their  number  to  pronounce 
the  sentence  of  excommunication  against  him.  The 
event  shewed  that  these  precautions  were  not  un- 
necessary. Urged  on  by  his  own  avarice,  and  by  the 
importunities  of  Lennox,  who  was  incensed  at  his 
designs  being  thwarted,  the  Assembly  was  scarcely 
broken  up  when  Montgomery  began  to  preach  at  court 
and  revived  his  claims  to  the  bishopric.  The  Presby- 
tery of  Glasgow  having  met  in  consequence  of  this, 
he  entered  the  house  in  which  they  were  assembled, 
accompanied  by  the  magistrates  of  the  city  and  an 
armed  force,  and  presented  an  order  from  the  king  to 
stop  their  procedure.  Upon  their  refusal,  the  modera- 
tor, John  Howieson,  minister  of  Cambuslang,  was 
pulled  out  of  the  chair  by  the  provost,  and  after  being 
struck  several  times  with  great  brutality,  was  convey- 
ed to  prison.  For  testifying  their  indignation  at  such 
conduct,  the  students  of  the  university  were  dispersed 
by  the  guard  and  several  of  them  wounded.  But,  in 
spite  of  the  confusion  produced  by  this  disgraceful  in- 
trusion, the  presbytery  continued  sitting  until  they 
finished  their  deed,  finding,  that  Montgomery  had  vio- 
lated his  promise  and  contravened  the  act  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly.  This  was  transmitted  to  the  Presby- 
tery of  Edinburgh,  who  appointed  John  Davidson, 
minister  of  Libberton,  to  excommunicate  Montgomery. 
Davidson  pronounced  the  sentence  accordingly  ;  and, 


But  the  Lords  passed  an  interlocutor  (May  25,)  sustaining 
their  right  to  be  heard.  On  this  occasion  the  ministers  had 
the  support  of  all  the  advocates,  except  David  Macgill,  who 
was  King's  advocate  and  Montgomery's  procurator.  When 
the  cause  came  to  be  called,  the  Presiclent  was  sent  for  to  Dal- 
keith by  the  King,  and  a  stop  put  to  the  process.     (Cald.  iii. 

*  Dischairge  proceiding  contra  Mr.  Ro*  Montgomerie  :  Rec. 
of  Privy  Council,  die  ut  supra. 


248 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


although  the  court  threatened  and  stormed,  it  was  in- 
timated on  the  succeeding  Sabbath  from  the  pulpits 
of  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow,  and  all  the  surrounding 
churches.* 

Lennox  and  Arran  were  enraged  beyond  measure  at 
this  resolute  behaviour  of  the  church  courts.  A  pro- 
clamation was  issued  by  the  Privy  Council,  declaring 
the  excommunication  of  Montgomery  to  be  null  and 
void.  Such  as  refused  him  payment  of  the  episcopal 
rents  were  ordered  to  be  imprisoned  in  the  castle  of 
Inverness.!  The  College  of  Glasgow  was  laid  under 
a  temporary  interdict  on  account  of  the  opposition 
made  by  its  members  to  their  new  bishop.  The  min- 
isters of  Edinburgh,  on  account  of  their  freedom  in 
condemning  the  late  measures  of  the  court  and  point- 
ing out  the  favourites  as  the  guilty  advisers  of  them, 
were  repeatedly  called  before  the  council  and  insulted  ; 
and  John  Dury  was  banished  from  the  capital  and  dis- 
charged from  preaching.:}: 

Melville  preached  the  sermon  ||  at  the  opening  of  a 
meeting  of  the  General  Assembly,  extraordinarily  con- 
vened at  this  critical  juncture  of  affairs.  He  inveigh- 
ed against  those  who  had  introduced  the  hludie  gullie  § 
(as  he  termed  it)  of  absolute  power  into  the  country, 
and  who  sought  to  erect  a  new  popedom  in  the  person 
of  the  prince.  The  Pope,  he  said,  was  the  first  who 
united  the  ecclesiastical  supremacy  to  the  civil,  which 
he  had  wrested  from  the  emperor.  Since  the  Refor- 
mation, he  had,  with  the  view  of  suppressing  the  Gos- 
pel, delegated  his  absolute  power  to  the  emperor  and 
the  kings  of  Spain  and  France ;  and  from  France, 
where  it  had  produced  the  horrors  of  St.  Bartholomew, 
it  was  brought  into  this  country.  He  mentioned  the 
design,  then  on  foot,  of  resigning  the  King's  authority 
into  the  hands  of  the  Queen,  which  had  been  devised 
eight  years  ago,  when  he  was  in  France,  and  was  ex- 
pressed in  prints  containing  the  figure  of  a  queen  with 
a  child  kneeling  at  her  feet  and  craving  her  blessing. 
And  he  named  Bishops  Beaton  and  Leslie  as  the  chief 
managers  of  that  affair.  "  This  will  be  called  med- 
dling with  civil  affairs,"  exclaimed  he ;  "  but  these 
things  tend  to  the  wreck  of  religion,  and  therefore  I 
rehearse  them."^ 

This  meeting  being  considered  as  a  continuation  of 
the  preceding  Assembly,  Melville  was  appointed  to 
retain  the  chair.  The  Assembly  drew  up  a  spirited 
remonstrance  to  the  King  and  council,  complaining  of 
the  late  proceedings  and  craving  a  redress  of  griev- 
ances. They  complained  that  the  authority  of  the 
church  had  been  abrogated,  her  censures  condemned 
and  disannulled,  and  her  ministers  obstructed  and 
shamefully  abused  in  the  discharge  of  their  official 
duties  ;  that  his  Majesty  had  been  persuaded  by  some 
of  his  counsellors  to  lay  claim  to  a  spiritual  power,  as 
if  he  could  not  be  a  complete  king  and  head  of  the 
commonwealth  unless  he  was  also  head  of  the  church; 
and  that  the  two  jurisdictions,  which  God  had  divided, 
were  thus  confounded,  benefices  conferred  by  absolute 
authority,  and  unworthy  persons  intruded  into  the 
ministerial  office  to  gratify  the  will  of  men  and  advance 
their  worldly  interest  to  the  great  hurt  of  religion  and 
in  direct  opposition  to  the  standing  laws  of  the  land. 
These  complaints  were  arranged  under  fourteen  heads, 
and  the  assembly  concluded  by  "  beseeching  his  Ma- 
jesty most  humbly,  for  the  love  of  God  who  had 
placed  his  Grace  on  the  royal  throne,  and  had  hitherto 
wondrously  maintained  and  defended  his  authority," 
to  redress  their  grievances,  with  "  the  advice  of  men 


»  Bulk  of  the  Univ.  Kirk,  ff.  114.  117—123.  Cakl.  MS.  vol. 
iii.  p.  68.  74—77.  83.  91—112.  Melville's  Diary,  p.  95.  Spots- 
wood,  p.  316—320. 

When  informed  that  Davidson  had  ventured  to  preach  in 
his  own  church  on  the  Sabbath  subsequent  to  the  excommuni- 
cation, Lennox  exclaimed,  C'est  un petit  Diahle  ! 

+  Record  of  Privy  Council,  Julv  20,  1582. 

t  Cald.  iii.  108. 114.  ||  His  textwas  1  Tim.  iv.  10. 

(  Bloody  knife  or  sword.  T  Cald.  iii.  113,  114. 


that  fear  God  and  do  tender  his  Grace's  estate  and 
quietness  of  this  commonwealth."  Melville  was  ap- 
pointed, along  with  a  number  of  other  members,  to  go 
to  Perth,  where  the  king  was  then  residing,  and  to 
present  this  remonstrance. 

The  favourites  expressed  high  displeasure  on  hear- 
ing of  this  deputation,  and  the  rumour  ran  that  the 
commissioners  would  be  massacred  if  they  ventured 
to  approach  the  court.  When  they  reached  Perth,  Sir 
James  Melville  of  Halhill  waited  on  James  Melville, 
and  besought  him  to  persuade  his  uncle  not  to  appear, 
as  Lennox  and  Arran  were  particularly  incensed 
against  him  for  the  active  part  which  he  had  taken  in 
defeating  their  measures.  When  this  advice  was  com- 
municated to  him,  and  his  nephew  began  to  urge  him 
not  to  despise  the  friendly  warning  of  their  kinsman, 
Melville  replied,  "  I  am  not  afraid,  thank  God  !  nor 
feeble-spirited  in  the  cause  and  message  of  Christ : 
come  what  God  pleases  to  send,  our  commission  shall 
be  executed."  Having  next  day  obtained  access  to 
the  king  in  council,  he  presented  the  remonstrance. 
When  it  had  been  read,  Arran,  looking  round  the  as- 
sembly with  a  threatening  countenance,  exclaimed, 
"  Who  dares  subscribe  these  treasonable  articles  ?" 
"We  d.\re,"  replied  Melville;  and  advancing  to  the 
table,  he  took  the  pen  from  the  clerk  and  subscribed. 
The  other  commissioners  immediately  followed  his 
example.  Presumptuous  and  daring  as  Arran  was, 
he  felt  awed  and  abashed  for  the  moment ;  Lennox 
addressed  the  commissioners  in  a  conciliatory  tone; 
and  they  were  peaceably  dismissed.  Certain  English- 
men, who  happened  to  be  present,  expressed  their  as- 
tonishment at  the  bold  carriage  of  the  minister.^,  and 
could  scarcely  be  persuaded  that  they  had  not  an  armed 
force  at  hand  to  support  them.  Well  might  they  be 
surprised  ;  for  more  than  forty  years  elapsed  after  that 
period,  before  any  of  their  countrymen  were  able  to 
meet  the  frown  of  an  arbitrary  court  with  such  firm- 
ness and  intrepidity.* 

In  all  these  contendings,  the  ministers  of  the  church 
had  no  countenance  or  support  from  the  nobility. 
They  acted  solely  upon  their  own  convictions  of  duty, 
and  were  not  animated  by  any  assurances  of  protection 
from  the  rage  of  those  whom  they  offended.  There 
is  no  evidence  of  their  having  been  concerned  in  the 
confederacy  which  subsequently  produced  a  change 
in  the  administration  of  the  country.  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  is  evident  that  their  resistance  contributed 
greatly  to  check  the  career  of  the  favourites,  and 
roused  the  nation  to  assert  their  liberties,  so  ignomini- 
ously  trampled  on  by  unworthy  minions  and  insolent 
strangers.  Had  they  acted  in  as  passive  a  manner  as 
the  nobility  had  hitherto  done,  a  despotism  might  have 
been  established  in  the  country,  which  nothing  short 
of  a  national  convulsion  could  have  overturned.  The 
resistance  which  they  made  to  the  arbitrary  measures 
of  the  court  was  perfectly  defensible  and  legal.  While 
they  kept  within  the  strict  line  of  ecclesiastical  busi- 
ness, their  procedure  was  authorized  by  law.  They 
were  entitled  to  disregard  the  prohibitory  mandates 
which  were  issued,  and  to  hold  them  as  forged,  as 
surreptitiously  obtained,  cr  as  illegally  granted  by 
corrupt  courtiers,  who  attempted  to  supersede  the 
statutes  of  the  realm  and  to  stop  the  established  course 
of  justice.  And  they  had  a  right  to  employ,  in  de- 
fence of  their  liberties,  those  censures  which  were 
competent  to  them,  and  which  in  this  light  had  been 
solemnly  sanctioned  and  repeatedly  recognized  by  acts 
of  the  legislature.  At  the  same  time  their  resistance 
was  tempered  by  a  becoming  respect  for  authority  and 
a  due  regard  to  public  peace.  They  supplicated,  re- 
presented, remonstrated.  No  tumult  was  excited  by 
them.  And  although  pulpits  were  forced,  and  church- 
courts  violated,  and  ministers  assaulted,  they  never  at- 


•  Bulk  of  the  Univ.  Kirk,  ff.  125—127.     Melville's  Diary 
p.  96,   Cald.  MS.  vol.  iii.  p.  123—129.    Petric,  part  iii.  p.  431. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


249 


tempted  to  raise  the  populace,  nor,  according  to  a 
practice  common  at  that  time,  to  arm  their  friends  in 
their  defence. 

The  haughtiness,  rapacity,  and  arbitrary  procedure 
of  the  favourites  at  length  exhausted  the  patience  of 
the  nobles,  who  resolved  to  free  themselves  and  their 
country  from  a  disgraceful  servitude.  The  course 
which  they  took  to  accomplish  this  was  very  different 
from  the  open  and  regular  resistance  maintained  by 
the  assemblies  of  the  church.  A  combination  having 
been  secretly  formed  among  the  principal  barons,  they 
got  possession  of  the  king's  person  by  surprise,  and 
having  compelled  Lennox  to  leave  the  kingdom,  and 
Arran  to  confine  himself  to  one  of  his  own  houses, 
took  upon  themselves  the  direction  of  public  affairs. 
By  this  enterprise,  known  by  the  name  of  the  Raid 
of  Ruthven,  the  church  was  restored  to  her  liberty,  and 
enjoyed  a  temporary  calm.  Nothing  can  be  a  clearer 
proof  of  the  haughtiness  with  which  Lennox  had  used 
his  power,  and  the  dangerous  influence  which  he  was 
understood  to  possess  over  the  roj'^al  mind,  than  the 
inexorable  manner  in  which  the  confederated  lords  in- 
sisted on  his  quitting  the  country,  contrasted  with  their 
conduct  to  Arran,  whose  personal  character  and  pri- 
vate manners  were  incomparably  more  hateful  and  de- 
tested. If  they  were  really  actuated  by  any  favour 
for  the  latter,  or,  which-is  the  more  probable  supposi- 
tion, if  they  imagined  that  the  detestation  felt  at  his 
vices  would  prevent  him  from  ever  regaining  his  for- 
mer influence,  they  were  soon  undeceived  and  smarted 
severely  for  their  criminal  partiality  or  impolitic  for- 
bearance. 

While  Melville  was  engaged  in  this  contest  in  be- 
half of  the  liberties  of  the  church,  he  found  himself 
involved  in  the  performance  of  extraordinary  duty  at 
St.  Andrews.  On  the  abolition  of  episcopacy,  when 
the  General  Assembly  required  the  bishops  to  under- 
take individually  the  charge  of  a  particular  congrega- 
tion. Archbishop  Adamson  commenced  preaching  as 
colleague  to  Robert  Hamilton,  the  minister  of  St.  An- 
drews. But,  as  the  archbishop  had  frequently  occasion 
to  be  absent,  and  did  not  always  feel  himself  disposed, 
when  he  was  at  home,  to  appear  in  the  pulpit,  Melville 
was  often  prevailed  on,  at  his  request,  to  occupy  his 
place.  On  the  death  of  Hamilton  the  kirk-session 
petitioned  for  his  services  regularly,  and  during  the 
vacancy  of  the  parish,  the  public  duties  of  the  Sab- 
bath were  divided  between  him  and  his  nephew,  James 
Melville.*  He  was  extremely  anxious  that  they 
should  fix  on  a  person  properly  qualified  for  discharg- 
ing the  pastoral  duties  among  them,  and  one  who 
might  be  useful  in  that  station  to  the  university.  His 
exertions  in  forwarding  this  object  were  not  sponta- 
neous on  his  part,  but  made  at  the  express  appoint- 
ment of  the  General  Assembly  and  at  the  particular 
request  of  the  kirk-session  of  St.  Andrews.")"  The  in- 
dividual first  chosen  was  the  celebrated  Robert  Pont. 
He  had  held  the  office  of  a  ruling  elder  in  that  city  for 
some  time  after  the  Reformation,  but  was  at  present 
minister  of  St.  Cuthbert's  church,  and  provost  of 
Trinity  College,  Edinburgh.:^:  In  compliance  with  the 


*  Melville's  Diary,  p.  66. 

f  Register  of  Kiik-ses^ion  of  St.  Andrews,  Dec.  6.  and  20, 
1581,  and  May  9,  1582.     Bulk  of  Univ.  Kirk,  f.  134,  a. 

I  Pont  was  a  native  of  Culross,  (Dav.  Buchanan,  MS.  De 
Script.  Scot.)  and  was  incorporated  into  St.  Leonard's  College 
in  the  year  1554,  (Re^.  Univ.)  "  Mr.  Robert  Pont"  signs, 
among  the  elders,  a  deed  of  the  session,  March  20,  1560,  and 
another  May  14, 1561.  (Record  of  Kirk-session  of  St.  An- 
drews.) I  understand  him  to  be  the  person  called  "  Mr.  Robert 
Kynpont,"  who  was  one  of  the  commissioners  from  St.  Andrews 
to  the  General  Assembly  1560,  and  whom  the  Assembly  declared 
qualified  "  for  ministring  and  teaching."  (Keith,  Hist.  498.) 
"  Maister  Robert  Pontt  commissioner  of  the  superintendentrie 
of  Murray,"  was  presented  "to  the  personage  and  vicarage  of 
the  parish  kirk  of  Birnie,  in  the  diocie  of  Murray,"  Jan.  13, 
1567,  (Reg.  of  Present,  to  Benefices,  vol.  i.  f  2.)  He  was  pre- 
sented to  "  the  vicarage  of  St.  Cuthbert's  kirk,  vaicand  be  the 
deceise  of  W"  Hairlaw,"  Dec.  29,  1578,  (Reg. -of  Privy  Seal, 
2  G 


invitation  now  given  him,  Pont  came  to  St.  Andrews, 
and  officiated  as  minister  to  the  congregation  for  near- 
ly twelve  months,  but  being  unable  to  procure  a 
stipend,  left  it  with  the  consent  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly.* This  occurrence,  with  the  causes  in  which  it 
originated,  was  the  occasion  of  much  uneasiness  to 
Melville.  The  late  minister  of  the  town  had,  during 
the  latter  part  of  his  life,  grown  remiss  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  pastoral  functions,  and  allowed  the  ec- 
clesiastical discipline  to  fall  in  a  great  measure  into 
disuse.  The  consequence  was,  that  many  of  the 
principal  inhabitants  had  no  desire  to  obtain  an  ac- 
tive and  conscientious  minister,  and  would  have  been 
much  better  pleased  with  a  person  of  mean  gifts,  pro- 
vided only  he  would  allow  them  to  live  at  peace,  as 
they  termed  it,  and  not  disturb  them  with  reproofs 
from  the  pulpit,  or  with  sessional  prosecutions.  The 
prior  and  pensioners  of  the  abbey,  availing  themselves 
of  this  feeling,  threw  obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  set- 
tlement of  a  regular  pastor,  and,  with  the  connivance 
of  the  magistrates  of  the  city,  retained  the  funds  des- 
tined for  his  support  in  their  own  hands.  Finding 
that  their  services  were  made  an  excuse  for  delaying 
the  settlement,  Melville  and  his  nephew  resolved  to 
discontinue  them.  On  being  informed  of  this,  the 
presbytery  issued  orders  for  the  speedy  filling  up  of 
the  vacant  charge.  This  injunction,  with  the  repri- 
mand with  which  it  was  accompanied,  gave  great  of- 
fence;  and  two  of  the  bailies  caused  the  precentor  to 
read  to  the  congregation  a  paper,  drawn  up  in  the 
name  of  the  prior,  and  containing  the  most  disrespect- 
ful reflections  on  the  presbytery ;  for  which  they 
were  brought  before  the  General  Assembly  and  en- 
joined to  make  public  satisfaction. f  Smeton  and  Ar- 
buthnot,  the  Principals  of  the  Universities  of  Glasgow 
and  Aberdeen,  were  afterwards  successively  chosen 
ministers  of  St.  Andrews ;  and  so  sensible  were  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  importance  of  having  that 
town  provided  with  an  able  and  zealous  pastor,  that 
they  agreed  to  their  translation.  But  the  King,  in- 
fluenced, as  was  supposed,  by  the  prior,  prohibited  it 
in  both  instances,  on  the  ground  of  its  being  injurious 
to  the  universities.:}:  By  these  means,  that  extensive 
parish  was  kept  vacant  during  upwards  of  three 
years.  |j  • 

The  services  which  Melville  had  performed  gratui- 
tously, though  acceptable  to  the  body  of  the  people, 
exposed  him  to  ill-will  and  abuse  on  the  part  of  not  a 
few.  As  long  as  he  continued  to  preach,  it  was  im- 
possible for  him  to  refrain  from  condemning  the  con- 
duct of  those  who  obstructed  the  settlement  of  the 
parish.  The  umbrage  taken  at  this  was  increased  by 
the  plainness  with  which  he  rebuked  the  more  fla- 
grant vices  which  prevailed  among  the  inhabitants  and 
were  overlooked  by  those  in  authority.  Galled  by 
his  reproofs,  the  provost  one  day  rose  from  his  seat 
in  the  middle  of  the  sermon,  and  left  the  church, 
muttering  his  dissatisfaction  with  the  preacher.  Pla- 
cards were  affixed  to  the  gate  of  the  new  college^ 
threatening  to  set  fire  to  the  Principal's  lodging,  to 
bastinade  him,  and  to  chase  him  out  of  the  town. 
His  friends  became  alarmed  for  his  safety,  but  he  re- 
mained unintimidated,  and  refused  to  give  place  to 
the  violence  of  his  adversaries.  He  summoned  the 
provost  before  the  presbytery  for  contempt  of  divine 
ordinances.  He  persevered  in  his  public  censures  of 
vice.  One  of  the  placards  was  known,  by  the  French 
and  Italian  phrases  in  it,  to  be  the  production  of  James 
Learmont  younger  of  Balcomy,  This  Melville  pro- 
duced to  the  congregation,  at  the  end  of  a  sermon  in 
which  he  had  been  uncommonly  free  and  vehement. 


vol.  xlv.  f.  97.)  He  was  made  provost  of  Trinity  College,  Jan 
27,  1571,  and  resigned  that  place,  June  23,  1585,  (Reg.  of  Pre- 
sent, vols.  i.  and  ii.) 

*  Buik  of  the  Univ.  Kirk,  f.  134,  a.      f  lb.  ff.  132,  b.  134,  a. 

}  See  Note  W.       ||  Records  of  Kirk-session  of  St.  Andrews 


250 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


and  described  the  author  of  it,  who  was  sitting  before 
him,  as  "  a  Frenchified,  Italianized,  joly  gentleman, 
who  had  polluted  many  marriage-beds,  and  now  boas- 
ted that  he  would  pollute  the  church  of  God  by  bas- 
tinading  his  servants."  He  silenced  his  adversaries 
at  this  time,  but  they  soon  found  an  opportunity  of  re- 
venging themselves  for  the  freedoms  which  he  had 
taken  with  them.* 

During  these  transactions  several  distinguished  men 
were  removed  by  death.  In  the  year  1582,  John  Win- 
ram,  sub-prior  of  the  abbey  of  St.  Andrews,  and  super- 
intendent of  Fife,  died  at  an  advanced  ago.  j"  Though 
inclined  to  the  reformed  sentiments  at  an  early  period, 
he  retained  his  situation  in  the  popish  church  until  its 
overthrow.  His  timidity  and  temporizing  conduct 
were  often  blamed  by  the  Protestants,  and  aiforded  a 
topic  of  invective  against  him  to  the  Roman  Catholics, 
when  he  at  last  deserted  their  communion.  He  ap- 
pears to  have  been  a  man  of  mild  dispositions,  con- 
siderable learning,  and  great  influence. :|: 

In  the  same  year,  the  country  was  deprived  of  its 
greatest  literary  ornament  by  the  death  of  Buchanan. 
The  splendour  of  his  talents  is  universally  acknow- 
ledged, and  his  political  sentiments  and  moral  charac- 
ter have  found  able  advocates.  But  he  deserves  also 
to  live  in  the  memory  of  his  countrymen  as  a  sincere 
and  zealous  friend  to  the  principles  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. He  had  not  concealed  his  partiality  to  this  cause 
when  he  was  abroad, ||  and  after  his  return  to  his  na- 
tive country,  he  gave  it  his  uniform  and  most  decided 
support. §  The  sincerity  of  his  religious  profession 
was  proved  by  the  consistency  with  which  it  was 
maintained,  and  by  the  correctness  of  his  moral  con- 
duct. In  courts  and  in  the  palaces  of  the  great,  he 
preserved  that  independence  of  mind  and  simplicity  of 
manners  which  shewed  him  to  be  a  philosopher  as 
well  as  a  scholar.  Tyranny,  in  all  the  forms  which  it 
assumed  and  with  all  the  vices  of  which  it  was  the 
offspring  or  the  parent,  uniformly  found  in  him  a  de- 
termined and  powerful  foe.  Like  most  men  of  genius, 
he  possessed  a  lively  vein  of  wit,  exerting  itself  some- 
times in  the  keenest  satire»but  more  frequently  in  the 

»  Melville's  Diary,  p.  93. 

f  John  Johnston,  in  his  verses  to  the  memory  of  Winram, 
says,  that  he  died  on  the  28th  September,  1581,  (Life  of 
John  Knox,  ii.  443.)  But  the  true  date  appears  from  a  decreet 
of  the  Lords  of  Session  against  the  tenants  of  Portmoak,  Nov. 
24,  1582,—"  The  Priory  of  St.  Servan  be  within  the  Loch  of 
Levin,  otherwise  called  Portmoak — vacand  be  demission  of  the 
same  be  umqll  Mr.  John  Wynrani,  last  Prior — and  albeit  it  be  of 
veritie  that  the  said  Mr.  John  departit  this  mortal  lite  upon  the 
xviii  of  Sepf  last,"  &c.  The  Priory  of  Portmoak  having  been 
resigned  by  him,  was  given  to  the  College  of  St.  Leonard's  in 
1580,  (Register  of  Presentations  to  Benefices,  vol.  ii.  f.  37.) 

\  Life  of  John  Knox,  i.  31;  ii.  443.  JVicol  Burne's  Disputa- 
tion: Admonition  to  the  Ministers. — In  the  Records  of  the 
University  of  St.  Andrews,  Winram  isdesigned  "  Sacrarum  lit- 
eraruro  professor  eximius."  I  was  formerly  disposed  to  suspect, 
that  the  Catechism  which  Bale  ascribes  to  Winram,  under  the 
name  of  Wouram  or  Wyrem,  was  the  same  with  Archbishop 
Hamilton's,  (Life  of  Knox,  i.  411.^  But  in  a  list  of  books  be- 
longing to  the  University  of  St.  Andrews,  taken  in  the  year 
1599,  ihave  since  found  the  two  following  separate  entries: 
"  Catechismus  D.  J.  Winram  Supprior. 
Catechismus  Jo.  Hamilton  Epi.  ' 

The  superintendent  was  of  the  family  of  Rathow,  and  mar- 
ried Margaret  Stewart,  Lady  Kinawdy,  (relict  of Ajton 

of  Kinawdy)  who  died  March,  1573,  (Act  Buik  of  the  Com- 
missariot  of  St.  Andrews;  May  1,  and  Oct.  18,1574.) 

II  Langueti  Epistolae,  lib.  ii.  ep.  37. 

}  Dr.  Irving  says  "  The  extravagances  of  John  Knox  have 
received  no  splendid  eucomiaras  from  the  historical  pen  of 
Buchanan.  He  was  too  enhghtened  to  applaud  the  fierce  spirit 
of  intolcration  in  men  who  had  themselves  tasted  the  bitter- 
ness of  persecution,"  (Memoirs  of  Buchanan,  p.  316,  second 
edit.)  The  Doctor  appears  to  have  overlooked  the  fact,  that 
some  of  the  strongest  measures  to  which  he  affixes  the  char- 
acter of '■  intolcration,"  were  approved  by  an  Assembly  of 
which  Buchanan  was  not  only  a  member,  but  also  the  moder- 
ator. Buchanan's  usual  way  is  to  pronounce  his  encomiums  on 
individuals  when  he  records  their  death,  and  his  history  docs 
not  reach  the  death  of  Knox. 


sallies  of  sportive  humour  and  good-natured  railleryt 
which  he  delighted  to  indulge  in  with  his  friends  even 
to  the  latest  period  of  his  life.*  Melville  appears  to 
have  enjoyed  a  large  share  of  his  confidence  ;  and  the 
last  interview  between  them  presents  ns  with  some  of 
the  most  interesting  traits  in  the  character  of  one  of 
the  most  original  writers  that  Scotland  has  produced. t 

la  October  1583,  Alexander  Arbuthnot,  Principal 
of  the  University  of  Aberdeen,  departed  this  life.:J: 
He  was  followed,  in  the  course  of  two  months,  by 
Thomas  Smeton,  Principal  of  the  University  of  Glas^ 
gow.jj  I  shall  afterwards  have  occasion  to  speak  of 
both  in  reviewing  the  literature  of  the  period.  Mel- 
ville deplorerl  their  premature  death  in  strains  honour- 
able to  him  as  a  friend  and  a  patriot.^  The  removal 
of  two  men  so  much  revered,  and  occupying  such  im- 
portant stations,  was  universally  bewailed  as  an  irre- 
parable loss,  and,  occurring  at  a  critical  period,  was 
looked  on  as  a  prognostication  of  approaching  ca- 
lamities. 

Notwithstanding  what  his  Majesty  thought  proper 
to  profess  to  the  commissioners  of  the  church  and  to 
foreign  ambassadors,  it  soon  appeared  that  he  cherish- 
ed a  rooted  aversion  to  the  Ruthven  Lords.  In  the 
end  of  June  1583,  he  suddenly  withdrew  from  them, 
and  having  shut  himself  up  in  the  castle  of  St.  An- 
drews, issued  a  proclamation  condemning  the  enter- 
prise of  Ruthven,  and  declaring  that,  since  that  period, 
he  had  been  kept  in  a  state  of  restraint  and  captivity. 
At  first  he  promised  to  pardon  the  offence  which  he 


*  Perhaps  the  most  genuine  specimen  which  has  been  pre- 
served of  Buchanan's  humour,  is  to  be  found  in  nn  original  let- 
ter from  him  to  Sir  Thon)as  Randolph,  published  in  the  Ap- 
pendix. 

t  "That  September,  in  tyme  of  vacan?,my  vncle  Mr.  Andro, 
Mr.  Thomas  Buchanan,  and  I,  heiring  y'  Mr.  George  Buchana 
was  weak  and  his  historie  under  the  press,  past  ower  to  Edin'. 
annes  earend  to  visit  him  and  sie  the  wark.  When  we  cam  to 
his  chafmer  we  fand  him  sittfng  in  his  rhaire  teatching  his 
young  man  v'  servit  him  in  his  cnalnier  to  spelt  a,b,  ab;  e.  b, 
eb,  &c.  Efter  salutation  Mr.  Andro  saves,  I  sie,  sir,  yie  ar  nof 
ydle.  better  this  quoth  he  nor  steiling  sheipe,  or  sitting  ydle 
quhilk  is  als  ill.  yefter  he  shew  ws  the  epistle  dedicatorie  to 
tnc  king;  the  quhilk  when  Mr.  Andro  bad  read,  he  tauld  him 
y<  it  was  obscure  in  sum  places  and  wanted  ccrtean  words  to 
perfyt  the  sentence.  Sayes  he,  I  may  do  na  mair  for  thinking 
on  another  mater.  What  is  that,  sayes  Mi-.  Andro.  To  die 
quoth  he;  bot  I  leave  y*  and  manie  nia  things  to  you  to  helpe. 
He  was  telling  him  also  of  Blakwoods  answer  to  bis  buike  de 
iure  regni.  We  went  from  him  to  the  printers  wark  bous, 
whom  we  fand  at  the  end  of  the  17  buik  of  his  Chronicle,  at  a 
place  qhuilk  we  thought  very  hard  for  the  tyme,  qhuilk  might 
be  an  occasion  of  steying  the  haill  work,anent  the  burial  of 
Davie.  Therfor  steying  the  printer  from  proceiding  we  cam 
to  Mr.  George  again  and  fand  nim  bedfast  by  [contrary  to]  hi« 
custome,  and  askmg  him  whow  ht-  did.  Even  going  the  way 
of  weilfare  sayes  he.  Mr.  Thomas  his  cusing  scnawes  him  of 
the  hardnes  of  that  part  of  his  storie,  yi  the  king  wald  be  of- 
fendit  w'  it  and  it  might  stey  all  the  wark.  tdl  me  man  sayes 
he  giif  I  have  timid  the  treufbe.  yis  sayes  Mr.  Thomas  sir 
I  think  sa.  I  will  byd  bis  fead  and  all  his  kin's  then  qU>he; 
pray,  pray  to  God  for  me  and  let  him  direct  all.  Sa  be  the 
printing  of  his  Cronicle  was  endit  y'  maist  lerned  wyse  and 
godlie  man  endit  this  mortal  lyff."      (Melville's  Diary,  p.  90.) 

i  He  died,  unmarried,  on  the  I6th  of  October,  1583,  in  the 
45th  year  of  his  age.  (Cald.  iii,282.  Sootswood,  335.  Ken- 
nedy*^8  Annals  of  Aberdeen,  ii.  372,  373.;  On  the  15th  of  July, 
1568,  he  received  a  presentation  to  "  the  personage  and  vicar- 
age of  logy  callit  logy-buchane — ane  of  the  comonn  kirks  of 
the  cathearal  kirk  of  Aberdeen."  His  presentation  to  the 
oflSce  of  Principal  of  the  Kihg's  College,  is  dated  July  3,  1569. 
(Reg.  of  Present,  to  Benefices,  vol.  i.  ft".  14.  28.)  On  the  25lh 
July,  1.569,  he  was  presented  to  "the  personage  and  vicarage 
of  Arbuthnot  callit  ane  prebendarie  of  the  kirk  of  heuch  of 
sanctandrois  &c  Provydinghe — administrat  the  sacramentis  of 
Jesus  Chr}st.  Or  ellis  travell  in  sum  vther  aU  necessar  voca- 
toun  to  the  utilitie  of  the  kirk  and  approvit  be  the  samyn,"  &c. 
(lb.  f.  27.)  Dec.  3,  1583,  Mr.  Robt  Arbuthnett  was  presented 
to  "  the  personage,  &c.  of  Arbiithnct — vaikand  be  deceis  of 
vmqil  Mr.  Alexr  Arbuthnett."     (lb.  vol.  ii.  f.  93.) 

II  He  died  on  the  13th  of  December,  1583.  in  the  47th  year 
of  his  age.  (Cald.  iii.  299.  Spctswood,  336.)  Smeton  was 
married,  (Melville's  Diary,  53,)  and  Thomas  Smeton,  made 
A.  M.  at  Glasgow  in  1604,  was  probably  his  son. 

}  Delitiae  Poet.  Scot.  ii.  120, 121. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


251 


had  received,  and  to  govern  by  the  common  advice  of 
his  nobility.  But  the  mask  of  moderation  was  soon 
thrown  off.  Arran  was  again  received  at  court,  re- 
covered his  former  influence,  and  renewed  his  tyran- 
nical career  with  a  fury  increased  by  the  recollection 
of  his  recent  disgrace.  This  change  portended  a 
storm  to  the  church,  and  it  was  not  long  before  it 
burst  on  the  heads  of  her  principal  ministers. 

In  the  mean  time,  all  those  who  were  concerned  in 
seizing  the  King's  person  at  Ruthven  were  declared 
traitors,  and  having  refused  to  deliver  themselves  up, 
were  ordered  to  be  pursued  as  fugitives  from  justice. 
After  making  some  shew  of  an  intention  to  assemble 
in  their  own  defence,  the  greater  part  escaped  into 
England;  but  the  Earl  of  Gowrie  lingering  impru- 
dently in  Dundee,  fell  into  the  toils  of  Arran,  and  was 
tried  and  beheaded.  The  cautious  manner  in  which 
the  ministers  of  the  church  had  approved  of  the  for- 
mer conduct  of  these  noblemen,  and  their  peaceable 
conduct  on  the  present  occasion,  prevented  the  court 
from  taking  any  hasty  measures  against  them  as  a 
body.*  But  Arran  placed  spies  about  the  principal 
persons  among  them,  with  instructions  to  inform  him 
if  they  uttered  any  thing  from  the  pulpit  derogatory  to 
his  proceedings. f 

Soon  after  the  King  had  come  to  St.  Andrews,  and 
before  Arran  was  re-admitted  to  his  presence,  Melville 
received  a  visit  from  Sir  Robert  Melville,  one  of  the 
new  courtiers.  Sir  Robert  informed  him  that  some  of 
his  ill-wishers  had  been  busy  in  possessing  the  royal 
mind  against  him,  and  advised  him  as  a  kinsman,  to 
embrace  the  first  opportunity  of  waiting  on  his  Ma- 
jesty and  clearing  himself  from  calumny.  Melville 
thanked  his  friend  for  this  mark  of  kindness,  but  ex- 
cused himself  from  complying  with  his  advice.  If  his 
Majesty  wished  his  opinion  on  any  thing  relating  to 
the  church  or  commonwealth,  or  if  he  required  his 
attendance  to  explain  or  answer  for  any  part  of  his 
conduct,  he  was  ready,  he  said,  to  obey  the  royal 
commands  with  all  humility  and  reverence.  But  he 
was  certain  that  no  man  could  justly  charge  him  with 
having  failed  in  the  duty  of  a  subject;  and  he  would 
not  take  a  step  which  implied  a  consciousness  of 
guilt,  and  would  make  him  an  indirect  accuser  of  him- 
self to  his  sovereign. :{: 

On  Saturday  the  15th  of  February,  1584,  Melville 
received  a  charge  to  appear  before  the  Privy  Council 
at  Edinburgh  on  the  Monday  following,  to  answer  for 
seditious  and  treasonable  speeches  uttered  by  him  in 
his  sermon  and  prayers  on  a  fast  which  he  had  kept 
during  the  preceding  month.  Conscious  of  his  inno- 
cence, he  felt  no  hesitation  on  his  own  account  in  re- 
solving at  once  to  appear.  His  only  concern  was  to 
know  how  he  should  conduct  himself,  so  as  not  to 
prejudice  the  rights  of  the  church  and  the  liberty  of 

*  The  approbation  which  the  General  Assembly  gave  to  the 
Raid  of  Ruthven,  or  rather  to  what  was  done  in  consequence 
of  it,  was  very  guarded.  They  consulted  with  his  majesty  be- 
fore they  took  that  step,  and  it  required  all  James's  king-craft 
to  gloss  over  this  fact,  when  it  was  afterwards  appealed  to  by 
the  English  ambassador.  (Buik  of  Univ.  Kirk,  ff.  128,  b.  129. 
Cald.  iii.  261.) 

In  a  petition  presented  by  that  Assembly  are  the  following 
articles:  "That  his  Maitie  and  Lords  will  wey  quhat  great 
iDConvenients  and  absurdities  falls  furth  vpon  the  act  of 
counsell  made  concerning  absolute  power,  and  for  removing 
y'of  to  delate  ye  same  nevir  to  be  remeniberit  heirafter." — 
"  That  it  will  please  your  Ma.  and  Lo.  to  have  pitie  and  com- 
passion on  y*  noble  and  godlv  man,  James  Hamilton,  Erie  of 
Arran,  soraetyme  a  noble  and  comfortable  instrument  in  re- 
forming ye  kirk  of  God,  and  now  visit  be  ye  hand  of  God,  and 
under  pretense  of  law  bereft.'"  (Buik  of  Univ.  Kirk,  f.  131, 
b.)  The  Earl  had  laboured  under  mental  derangement  for 
many  years.  Captain  Stewart  was  appointed  tutor  to  him,  and 
afterwards  obtained  his  title  and  estates.  It  is  much  to  the 
honour  of  the  Assembly  that  they  had  presented  a  similar  pe- 
tition in  behalf  of  that  unfortunate  nobleman  during  the  ad- 
ministration of  Lennox.     (Ibid.  f.  98.) 

f  Wodrow's  Life  of  Galloway,  p.  6.  MSS.  vol.  ii. 

j  Melville's  Diary,  p.  10. 


the  pulpit,  which  the  court  sought  to  infringe  by  its 
present  mode  of  procedure.  On  this  important  point 
he  had  little  time  to  deliberate,  or  to  take  the  advice 
of  his  brethren.  The  University  gave  him  an  ample 
attestation,  in  which  they  declared  their  conviction 
that  the  accusation  was  false  and  calumnious ;  that 
they  had  been  constant  attendants  on  his  public  teach- 
ing, and  had  never  heard  any  thing  proceed  from  his 
mouth  that  was  derogatory  to  bis  majesty's  govern- 
ment ;  and  that,  whenever  he  had  occasion  to  touch  on 
that  subject,  in  doctrine,  in  application,  or  in  prayers, 
he  had  always  spoken  reverently  of  his  majesty,  and 
exhorted  his  hearers  to  yield  obedience  to  him  and  to 
the  meanest  magistrate  who  possessed  authority  under 
him.*  Similar  testimonials  were  given  him  by  the 
town-council,  the  kirk-session,  and  the  presbytery  of 
St.  Andrews. 

When  he  appeared  before  the  Privy  Co«ncil,  he, 
with  the  utmost  readiness,  gave  an  account  of  the  ser- 
mon on  which  he  was  accused,  for  the  satisfaction  of 
his  Majesty  and  his  counsellors.  He  had  preached, 
he  said,  on  the  words  with  which  Daniel  reminded 
Belshazzar  of  the  history  of  his  father  Nebuchadnez- 
zar; and  he  deduced  from  them  this  general  doctrine, 
"  That  it  is  the  duty  of  ministers  to  apply  examples 
of  divine  mercy  and  judgment  in  all  ages,  to  kings, 
princes,  and  people ;  and  that  the  nearer  the  persons 
are  to  us  the  more  applicable  is  the  example."  On 
that  part  of  his  subject  he  had  said,  "  But  if,  now  a 
dayes,  a  minister  should  rehearse  the  example  that  fell 
out  in  king  James  the  third's  dayes,  who  was  abused 
by  the  flattery  of  his  courtiers,  he  would  be  said  to 
vaigef  from  his  text,  and  perchance  be  accused  of 
treason."  He  denied  that  he  had  said,  as  he  was 
accused,  "that  our  Nebuchadnezzar,  (meaning  the 
king's  mother,)  was  twice  seven  years  banished,  and 
would  be  restored  again ;"  and  affirmed  that  such  a 
thought  never  came  into  his  mind.  He  solemnly  pro- 
tested that  neither  in  that  sermon,  nor  in  any  other, 
had  he  used  the  words  falsely  imputed  to  him,  "  The 
king  is  unlawfully  promoted  to  the  crown,"  nor  any 
expression  capable  of  being  interpreted  as  conveying 
such  a  sentiment.  Indeed,  it  was  notorious,  that  the 
lawfulness  of  his  Majesty's  authority  had  all  along 
been  strenuously  maintained  by  the  church  ;  and  he 
could  appeal  to  all  who  had  heard  him  or  with  whom 
he  had  ever  conversed,  if  he  had  not  exerted  himself 
to  establish  it  in  all  his  discourses  and  reasonings, 
both  publicly  and  privately.  What  he  had  laid  down, 
as  founded  upon  his  text,  was,  that  whether  kings 
are  raised  to  their  thrones  by  election,  by  succession, 
or  by  any  other  ordinary  means,  they  owe  their  ex- 
altation to  God;  and  that,  from  the  infirmity  of  human 
nature,  they  are  extremely  apt  to  forget  this  truth. 
Having  confirmed  the  last  part  of  this  remark  by  a 
reference  to  the  history  of  the  good  kings  mentioned 
in  Scripture,  instead  of  making  any  application  of  it 
to  the  present  time,  he  offered  up  a  prayer,  (as  he  was 
accustomed  to  do  whenever  he  spoke  of  his  Majesty,) 
beseeching  God  of  his  grace  not  to  suffer  our  king  to 
forget  the  divine  goodness  displayed  in  raising  him 
extraordinarily  to  the  throne  of  his  country,  when  he 
was  a  child  in  the  cradle,  his  mother  yet  alive,  and  a 
great  part  of  the  nobility  his  enemies,  and  in  preserv- 
ing him  since  the  burden  of  government  was  laid  on 
his  own  shoulders.  Melville  concluded  his  statement 
by  assuring  the  council  that  he  had  given,  as  nearly 
as  he  could  recollect,  the  very  words  which  he  had 
spoken  from  the  pulpit,  and  by  entreating  his  Majesty 
and  their  lordships  not  to  listen  to  the  misinformations 
of  those  who  wrested  his  words  from  malice,  or  who 
were  so  grossly  ignorant  as  not  be  able  to  distinguish 
between  an  extraordinary  and  an  unlawful  calling. 
He  at  the  same  time  produced  the  public  attestations 
of  his  innocence  which  he  had  brought  along  with  him. 


«See  Note  X. 


f  wander. 


252 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


Instead  of  resting  satisfied  with  the  explanation  and 
testimonials,  the  council  resolved  to  proceed  with  the 
trial,  upon  which  he  stated  the  followinff  objections, 
in  the  form  of  requests.  He  requested,  first,  that  as 
he  was  accused  upon  certain  expressions  alleged  to 
have  been  used  by  him  in  preaching  and  prayer,  his 
trial  should  be  remitted,  in  the  first  instance,  to  the 
ecclesiastical  courts,  as  the  ordinary  judges  of  his 
ministerial  conduct,  according  to  Scripture,  the  laws 
of  the  kingdom,  and  an  agreement  lately  made  be- 
tween certain  commissioners  of  the  Privy  Council  and 
of  the  Church.  Secondly,  that  he  should  be  tried  at 
St.  Andrews,  where  the  alleged  offence  was  commit- 
ted. Thirdly,  that  if  his  first  request  was  not  granted, 
he  should  at  least  enjoy  the  privilege  of  the  university 
of  which  he  was  a  member,  by  having  his  cause  sub- 
mitted, in  the  first  instance,  to  the  judgment  of  the 
Rector  and  his  assessors.  Fourthly,  that  he  should 
enjoy  the  benefit  of  the  apostolical  canon,  "  Against  an 
elder  receive  not  an  accusation  but  before  two  or  tliree 
witnesses."  Fifthly,  that  he  should  have  the  benefit 
of  a  free  subject  by  being  made  acquainted  with  his 
accuser,  and  that  the  individual  who  appeared  in  that 
character  should,  if  the  charge  turned  out  to  be  false 
and  calumnious,  be  liable  to  the  punishment  pre- 
scribed by  tlie  statutes  against  those  who  seek  to 
alienate  the  king  from  his  faithful  subjects.  In  fine, 
he  protested  that  if  William  Stewart*  was  the  in- 
former, he  had  just  ground  to  except  against  him, 
both  as  an  accuser  and  as  a  witness,  inasmuch  as  he 
entertained  a  deadly  malice  against  him,  and  had 
frequently  threatened  to  do  him  bodily  harm  if  it  was 
in  his  power.  When  he  had  stated  these  objections, 
the  council  adjourned  the  farther  consideration  of  the 
cause  to  the  following  day. 

In  the  interval,  Melville,  after  consulting  with  his 
brethren,  drew  up  in  the  form  of  a  protest  the  objec- 
tions which  he  had  stated  verbally  to  the  council. 
Next  day  commissioners  from  the  presbytery  and  from 
the  university  of  St.  Andrews  attended  ;  the  former 
to  protest  for  the  liberty  of  the  church,  and  the  latter 
to  re-pledge  Melville  to  the  court  of  the  rector.  But 
they  were  refused  admission  ;  and  Melville,  finding 
that  the  Council  were  determined  to  proceed  with  the 
trial,  gave  in  his  protest.f  The  reading  of  this  paper, 
though  couched  in  the  most  temperate  and  respectful 
language,  threw  the  King  and  Arran  into  so  violent  a 
rage,  that  their  threatenings  disturbed  the  Privy  Coun- 
cil, and  spread  an  alarm  among  those  who  were  with- 
out, and  anxiously  waited  the  issue  of  the  trial.  Their 
violence  roused  Melville's  spirit.  He  resolutely  defend- 
ed the  step  which  he  had  taken,  and  told  the  counsel- 
lors, that  as  there  was  a  constituted  church  in  the  coun- 
try, they  shewed  themselves  too  bold  in  passing  by  its 
teachers,  and  assuming  a  right  to  pronounce  sentence  on 
the  doctrine  and  control  the  administrations  of  the  ser- 
vants of  a  king  and  council  greater  than  themselves  : 
"  And  that  ye  may  see  your  rashness  in  taking  upon 
you  what  ye  neither  can  nor  eught  to  do  (unclasping 
his  Hebrew  Bible  from  his  girdle,  and  throwing  it  on 
the  table,  he  said,)  These  are  my  instructions  :  see  if 
any  of  you  can  judge  of  them,  or  show  that  I  have 
passed  my  injunctions."  Arran  took  up  the  book, 
and  perceiving  it  to  be  written  in  a  strange  language, 
handed  it  to  the  king,  saying,  "  Sir,  he  scorns  your 
Majesty  and  the  Council." — "No,  my  lords;  (replied 
Melville,)  I  scorn  not ;  but  with  all  earnestness  and 
gravity,  I  stand  for  the  cause  of  Jesus  Christ  and  his 

»  Stewart  was  one  of  the  pensioners  of  the  Abbey  of  St. 
Andrews,  and  had  conceived  hatred  a^inst  Melville  on  ac- 
count of  his  activity  in  procuring  a  minister  for  that  town,  (p. 
188.)  His  conduct  on  the  present  occasion  procured  him  the 
common  name  of  the  Accuser. 

f  This  protest,  or  declinature,  as  it  is  usually  called,  may  be 
seen  at  laije  in  the  printed  Calderwood,  p.  144 — 146.  Conip. 
Hume  of  Godscroft,  Hist,  of  the  House  of  Douglas  and  An- 
(pis,  ii.  309—313. 


church."  He  was  several  times  removed,  but  not 
allowed  to  have  any  intercourse  with  his  brethren. 
Entreaties  and  menaces  were  alternately  used  to  in- 
duce him  to  withdraw  his  protest,  but  this  he  refused 
unless  his  cause  were  remitted  to  the  proper  judges. 
At  last  Stewart  was  brought  forward  as  accuser,  and 
the  deposition  of  a  number  of  witnesses  taken.  But 
although  most  of  them  were  his  known  enemies,  no- 
thing could  be  extracted  from  their  evidence  that  tend- 
ed in  the  slightest  degree  to  criminate  him.  Notwith- 
standing this,  he  was  found  guilty  of  declining  the 
judgment  of  the  Council  and  behaving  irreverently 
before  them  ;  and  was  condemned  to  be  imprisoned  in 
the  Castle  of  Edinburgh,  and  to  be  further  punished 
in  his  person  and  goods  at  his  Majesty's  pleasure.* 

His  friends  were  greatly  perplexed  as  to  the  course 
which  they  should  now  advise  him  to  take.  On  the 
one  hand,  they  were  averse  to  deprive  the  church  and 
university  of  his  services  by  advising  him  to  leave  the 
kingdom,  and  they  were  not  without  hopes  that  they 
would  be  able  to  procure  his  liberation  after  a  short 
imprisonment.  On  the  other  hand,  a  temporary  inter- 
mission of  his  labours  was  not  to  be  put  in  balance 
with  the  risk  of  his  life ;  and  the  fury  with  which  Ar- 
ran conducted  himself  justified  the  strongest  appre- 
hensions. It  was  judged  proper  that  he  should  keep 
himself  concealed  in  the  capital,  while  his  nephew 
sounded  the  courtiers  and  tried  to  ascertain  the  treat- 
ntient  which  he  was  likely  to  receive.  From  some  of 
them,  James  Melville  received  favourable  assurances, 
but  those  on  whom  he  could  place  more  dependence 
repeated  the  proverb  of  the  house  of  Angus,  "  loose 
and  living,''^  and  signified,  that  if  his  uncle  surrender- 
ed his  liberty  he  would  come  out  of  prison  to  the 
scaffold.  This  was  corroborated  by  information  that 
the  place  of  his  confinement  was  changed  from  the 
Castle  of  Edinburgh  to  that  of  Blackness,  a  solitary 
and  unwholesome  dungeon  kept  by  a  creature  of  Ar- 
ran's.j"  As  soon  as  he  heard  this  circumstance,  Mel- 
ville decided  upon  the  course  which  he  would  take, 
but  without  imparting  his  resolution  to  his  brethren. 
He  came  from  his  concealment,  and  made  as  if  he  in- 
tended to  obey  the  sentence  of  the  Privy  Council. 
He  dined  in  Lawson's  house  with  the  ministers  who 
were  in  town,  and  was  the  most  cheerful  person  in  the 
company ;  mingling  more  than  his  usual  portion  of 
hilarity  with  the  graver  conversation  of  the  table, 
drinking  the  health  of  his  captain,  as  he  called  the 
keeper  of  Blackness,  and  desiring  his  brethren  to  pre- 
pare to  follow  him.  The  macer  being  announced,  he 
requested  that  he  should  be  brought  in  ;  and  received 
with  all  respect  the  charge  to  enter  himself  a  prisoner 
within  ten  hours.  A  little  after  this  he  left  the  com- 
pany, and  being  joined  by  his  brother  Roger,  retired 
from  Edinburgh,  passed  the  night  in  tlie  neighbour- 
hood, and  next  day  reached  Berwick  in  safety  ;  to  the 
mortification  of  Arran,  who  had  a  company  of  horse- 
men prepared  to  conduct  him  to  Blackness.:^: 

The  court  incurred  great  odium  by  its  severe  treat- 
ment of  Melville.  The  ministers  of  Edinburgh  pray- 
ed for  him  in  public,  and  the  universal  lament  was, 
that  the  king,  under  the  influence  of  evil  counsel,  had 
driven  into  exile  the  most  learned  man  in  the  king- 
dom, and  the  ablest  champion  of  religion  and  the  lib- 
erties of  the  church.  To  counteract  this  impression 
the  Privy  Council  issued  a  proclamation,  declaring 
that  his  exile  was  voluntary,  and  disclaiming  any  in- 


*  See  Note  Y. 

t  John  Davidson,  in  his  answer  to  Allain,  says  that  several 
of  the  lords,  when  requested  to  subscribe  the  sentence  as  alter- 
ed by  Arran,  refused,  and  said,  that,  to  please  bis  majesty, 
they  had  already  yielded  too  far  in  ngreTeing  to  it  in  its  original 
form.     (Cald.  ii.  348.) 

jCald.  iii.  304— 314.  Melville's  Diary,  p.  102—104.  Spots- 
wood,  330.  Hume,  Hist,  of  the  House  of  Douelas  and  Angus, 
ii.308. — Hume  says  that  Melville  published  his  Apology,  or 
the  Declinature  which  he  had  given  in  to  the  Pi-ivy  Council. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


253 


tention  of  using  him  rigorously.*  Little  credit  was 
given  to  this  representation,  which  was  contradicted 
by  an  act  of  council  made  upon  Melville's  flight,  and 
ordaining  that  such  preachers  as  were  accused  should 
henceforth  be  apprehended  without  the  formality  of  a 
legal  charge.f 

Had  the  aflfair  which  we  have  now  related  been  a 
detached  and  isolated  occurrence,  it  might  have  been 
passed  over  without  inquiring  narrowly,  whether  the 
issue  to  which  it  was  brought  was  more  owing  to  the 
imprudence  of  the  person  accused,  or  to  the  violent 
and  arbitrary  procedure  of  his  judges.  But,  it  is  only 
one  of  many  cases  which  occurred,  and  involves  the 
great  question  which  was  so  keenly  agitated  between 
the  court  and  the  church  during  the  whole  of  this 
reign.  On  this  account,  and  to  prevent  future  repeti- 
tion, I  shall  here  make  a  few  observations  on  a  sub- 
ject which  has  been  much  misunderstood  and  misrep- 
resented. 

It  is  needless  to  contend  about  words.  I  shall  there- 
fore allow  that  the  instrument  which  Melville  gave 
in  to  the  Privy  Council  on  his  trial  was  a  material 
declitiature ;  although  he  did  not  make  use  of  that 
term,  and,  it  is  probable,  avoided  it  intentionally,  that 
he  might  not  give  unnecessary  umbrage,  or  afford  a 
handle  to  those  who  sought  advantage  against  him 
and  the  cause  which  he  maintained.  But  it  would  ar- 
gue a  very  slender  degree  of  acquaintance  with  the 
subject  to  infer  from  this  circumstance,  that  he  dis- 
owned the  authority  or  called  in  question  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  king  and  his  council.  The  most  that  it 
could  imply  was,  that  the  Privy  Council  was  not  the 
proper  court  for  trying  the  accusation  brought  against 
him  ;  and  we  shall  afterwards  shew  that  it  did  not  im- 
ply so  much.  Every  lawful  judicature  is  not  entitled 
to  judge  in  every  cause,  and  a  party  has  a  right  to 
take  legal  steps  for  having  his  cause  brought  before 
the  competent  judges.  Even  in  that  age,  when  the 
boundaries  of  the  different  jurisdictions  were  far  from 
being  accurately  traced,  it  was  not  uncommon  for  per- 
sons to  decline  the  judgment  of  the  Privy  Council, 
and  to  bring  their  cause  before  the  Lords  of  Session. :t 
They  were  not  on  that  account  thought  to  be  guilty  of 
treason,  nor  charged  with  impeaching  the  royal  au- 
thority; and  the  assemblies  of  the  church  were  judi- 
catories acknowledged  by  law  as  much  as  any  civil 
or  criminal  court  in  the  country. 

It  is  equally  unreasonable  to  identify  the  plea  ad- 
vanced by  Melville  with  the  claim  which  the  popish 
clergy  made  to  immunity  from  the  civil  jurisdiction.  || 
Not  to  mention  that,  in  the  latter  case,  the  ultimate 
decision  might  be  given  by  a  foreign  power  in  conse- 
quence of  a  reference  or  appeal  to  tlie  court  of  Rome, 
the  popish  clergy  claimed,  and  actually  obtained,  an 
exemption  from  civil  jurisdiction  as  to  all  crimes,  of 
whatever  kind  they  might  be,  and  on  whatever  occa- 
sion they  might  be  committed — murders,  adulteries, 
ihefts,  secret  conspiracies,  and  open  appearances  in 
arms  against  the  state.  The  plea  of  the  Presbyterian 
ministers  was  limited  entirely  to  the  exercise  of  their 
pastoral  functions.  To  represent  these  claims  as  the 
same,  is  as  absurd  as  it  would  be  to  confound  the  pro- 
tection granted  to  worshipping  assemblies  by  every 


*  A  Declaration  to  sum  reportis  maid  anent  Mr,  Andro 
Mcluile.     Record  of  Privy  Council,  ult.  Febr.  1583. 

t  Galloway's  Apology  for  his  Flight,  in  Wodrow's  Life  of 
Mr.  Patrick  Galloway,  p.  6.     MSS.  in  Bibl.  Coll.  Glas.  vol.  ii. 

|"T.  Esteem  ye  that  light  for  a  subject  to  decline  his 
prince's  judgment  ?  Z.  Is  that  any  new  thing?  Falls  not 
that  forth  allmost  every  day  before  the  Secret  Counsel  1  De- 
clined not  Mr.  John  Cramound,  within  20  days  after  Mr.  An- 
drew's dyet,  the  King  and  Counsel  as  judges  competent  for 
the  exhibition  of  the  heretrix  of  Badraville,  and  he  was  never 
quarraled  as  a  declyner  of  the  King's  M.  authority.  This  is  a 
form  common  enough  before  any  judges."  Dialogue  between 
Zelator,  Temporizor,  and  Palasmon.     (Cald.  iii.  678.) 

jlThis  has  been  done,  in  very  unqualified  terms,  by  Dr. 
Robertson.     (Hist,  of  Scotland,  vol.  ii.  p.  425.    Lond.  1809.) 


civilized  nation,  with  that  privilege  which  formerly 
rendered  religious  houses  and  their  consecrated  appen- 
dages so  many  sanctuaries  for  all  kinds  of  malefac- 
tors. Nor  did  Presbyterians  plead  that  the  ecclesias- 
tical courts  were  the  sole  judges  of  doctrine  delivered 
from  the  pulpit,  or  that  it  belonged  to  them  to  judge 
of  treason.*  If  they  had  done  so,  and  if  they  had  at 
the  same  time  contended  that  the  mere  acquittal  of  a 
preacher  by  the  church-courts  barred  the  civil  magis- 
trate from  proceeding  against  him  for  the  crime  of 
sedition  or  treason,  then  I  acknowledge  that  the  charge 
brought  against  them  would  to  a  certain  extent  be 
well  founded,  and  that  their  claims  deserved  to  have 
been  resisted  and  reprobated.  But  such  was  not  the 
nature  of  their  plea.  All  that  they  insisted  for  was, 
that  when  a  minister  was  accused  of  having  exceeded 
the  proper  bounds  of  his  office,  and  of  having  taught 
from  the  pulpit  what  tended  to  the  hurt  of  the  state  or 
the  dishonour  of  magistrates,  instead  of  being  imme- 
diately dragged  before  a  civil  tribunal,  the  accusation 
against  him  should  be  brought,  in  thefirst  instance,  be- 
fore those  courts  which  had  the  direct  oversight  of  his 
pastoral  conduct.  If  they  should  find  the  accusation 
well  founded,  it  was  incumbent  on  them  to  censure 
him  for  a  violation  of  his  ministerial  duty,  and  to 
leave  him  to  the  judgment  of  the  proper  court  for  the 
civil  offence  of  which  he  had  been  guilty.  Qr  if  they, 
through  the  influence  of  undue  partiality,  should  jus- 
tify him  erroneously,  it  was  still  competent  for  the  civil 
magistrate  to  proceed  against  him  in  the  exercise  of 
that  authority  which  the  antecedent  judgment  of  the 
church  could  neither  supersede  nor  invalidate. j" 

Such  was  the  full  amount  of  the  claim  made  by  the 
church  at  this  time,  and  if  candidly  examined  it  will 
be  found  neither  so  extravagant  nor  so  unreasonable 
as  has  been  alleged.  When  accused  of  uttering 
seditious  or  treasonable  language  from  the  pulpit,  a 
preacher  was  charged  with  a  double  offence,  which 
rendered  him  amenable  to  a  double  jurisdiction.  He 
was  amenable  to  the  church  for  the  transgression  of  his 
official  duty,  and  to  the  state  for  violating  his  duty  as  a 
subject.  The  only  question  was  as  to  the  order'in  which 
the  cause  should  come  to  be  tried,  and  tlie  tribunal  be- 
fore which  he  should  be  primarily  called  to  appear. 
Some  arrangement  behoved  to  be  made  as  to  this  ;  and 
where  there  was  a  constituted  church,  whose  judica- 
tories were  recognized  by  the  state,  it  seems,  on  se- 
veral grounds,  the  most  proper  and  expedient  course 
that  the  individual  accused  should  in  the  first  instance 
be  made  accountable  to  them.  Though  a  subject,  it 
was  when  acting  in  the  character  of  a  public  minister 
of  the  church  that  he  incurred  the  charge  brought 
against  him.  And  he  could  not  offend  against  the 
state,  or  against  any  individual,  without  first  trans- 
gressing his  duty  as  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel.  By 
this  arrangement  the  state  might  have  been  saved  from 
much  disagreeable  and  unnecessary  business,  either 
in  the  way  of  its  appearing,  from  the  investigation 
before  the  ecclesiastical  courts,  that  the  charge  was 


*  Dr.  Robertson  represents  Melville  as  contending  that  "  the 
Presbytery  of  which  he  was  a  member  had  the  sole  right  to 
call  hira  to  account  for  words  spoken  in  the  pulpit  ;"  and  yet 
he  allows,  in  the  same  sentence,  that  his  plea  amounted  only 
to  this,  that  "neither  the  King  nor  council  could  Judge,  in 
thefirst  instance,  of  the  doctrine  delivered  by  preacners."  If 
this  plea  had  been  admitted,  he  says,  "  the  Protestant  clergy 
would  have  become  independent  on  the  civil  magistrate,"  and 
might  have  taught,  "  without  fear  or  control,  the  most  dan- 
gerous principles,"  &o.     (History,  ut  supra.) 

f  "  The  question  was  not,"  says  Principal  Baillie,  "  Whether 
ministers  be  exempt  from  the  magistrates'  jurisdiction,  nor, 
Whether  the  pulpit  puts  men  in  a  liberty  to  teach  treason 
without  any  civill  cognizance  and  punishment.  Since  the  Re- 
formation of  Religion  no  man  in  Scotland  did  ever  assert  such 
things.  Rut  the  question  was,  as  Spotswood  himselfe  states 
it.  Whether  the  Counsell  was  a  competent  judge  to  Master 
Melville's  doctrine  in  prima  ins lantia  :  these  were  the  ex- 
presse  termes."  (Answer  to  the  Declaration,  p.  12,  subjoined 
to  Historical  Vindication,  Lond.  1646.) 


254 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


completely  groundless ;  or,  if  it  turned  out  otherwise, 
in  the  way  of  their  sentence  leading  to  what  might 
be  justly  regarded  as  a  sufficient  reparation  of  the  of- 
fence and  a  prevention  of  its  recurrence ;  in  both 
which  cases,  the  necessity  of  a  legal  prosecution 
would  have  been  happily  superseded.  This  arrange- 
ment would  also  have  had  the  effect  of  preventing 
ministers  from  being  harassed  by  espionage  on  the  part 
of  the  government,  or  by  the  malicious  informations 
of  individuals  offended  at  their  faithfulness  in  the  re- 
proof of  sin  or  in  the  exercise  of  discipline.  All 
these  objects  would  have  been  gained,  while  at  the 
same  time  the  civil  courts  retained  their  authority  en- 
tire and  unimpaired.  I  need  scarcely  add,  that  the 
regulation  in  question  was  never  intended  to  apply  to 
extraordinary  cases  ;  and  that  no  such  immunity  was 
pleaded  as  would  have  prevented  the  executive  gov- 
ernment from  immediate  procedure  against  any  one 
who  should  be  notoriously  guilty  of  exciting  sedition 
or  treason  by  his  preaching,  or  who  should  even  be 
suspected  of  this  in  a  time  of  public  commotion  or 
national  alarm. 

It  may  be  alleged,  that  this  arrangement  would 
have  produced  collision  between  the  two  authorities. 
But  how  could  this  have  been  prevented  altogether, 
in  the  supposed  case,  without  abolishing  the  jurisdic- 
tion and  discipline  of  the  church  ]  If  it  should  be 
said,  that  the  previous  judgment  of  the  ecclesiastical 
court  would  have  imposed  a  certain  kind  of  restraint 
on  the  proceedings  of  the  civil,  I  grant  that  it  would 
indirectly.  But  then  I  maintain  that  this  would  have 
proved  upon  the  whole  a  salutary  check,  and  that  its 
tendency  would  have  been  to  discourage  the  court 
from  indulging  in  arbitrary  and  vindictive  prosecu- 
tions. What  is  it  but  the  restraint  of  opinion  on  co- 
ercive authority — the  great  safeguard  of  the  weak 
against  the  oppressions  of  the  powerful  1  It  is  proper 
to  guard  against  the  license  of  the  pulpit;  but  it  is 
equally  proper  to  provide  against  encroachments  on  its 
due  liberty.  This  is  an  object  of  great  importance, 
whether  it  be  viewed  in  relation  to  the  nature  and  im- 
mediate ends  of  the  pastoral  office,  or  to  the  indirect 
influence  which  it  is  calculated  to  have  upon  public 
opinion  and  the  national  weal.  Those  who  speak  in 
Heaven's  name  to  men,  and  whose  duty  it  is  to  de- 
clare the  whole  counsel  of  God — to  inculcate  the  ob- 
servance of  the  divine  law  in  all  its  extent — to  reprove 
irreligion  and  vice,  injustice  and  oppression,  wherever 
they  appear  and  by  whomsoever  committed — to  warn 
of  approaching  judgments  and  impending  dangers — 
to  call  all  to  repentance  and  reformation  of  life — and 
to  watch  for  souls  as  those  who  must  give  an  account 
— are  entitled  to  use,  and  ought  to  be  protected  in 
using,  a  more  than  ordinary  liberty  of  speech.  If 
they  are  fettered  by  injunctions,  and  awed  by  prosecu- 
tions and  penalties — if  they  dare  select  no  subject,  ad- 
vance no  sentiment,  employ  no  expression,  but  what 
is  agreeable  to  men  in  power,  and  smoothed  down  so 
as  not  to  grate  the  delicate  ears  of  courtiers — if  they 
are  prohibited  from  applying  the  examples  of  Scrip- 
ture, and  improving  the  events  of  Providence,  to  the 
instruction  and  admonition  of  their  hearers — and,  in 
fine,  if  they  are  not  allowed  to  exhort,  reprove,  rebuke, 
with  all  authority,  they  cease  to  be  the  servants  of 
Christ,  and  become  faithless  and  unprofitable  to  the 

fieople  of  their  charge.  Is  not  this  to  chain  them  up 
ike  the  animal  employed  to  keep  sentry  when  the 
family  are  asleep,  which  alarms  passengers  by  its 
noise,  licks  tlie  hand  that  feeds  it,  and  is  let  loose  at 
its  master's  pleasure  1  Who  would  undertake  such  a 
degrading  office,  but  hirelings,  parasites,  or  dastardly, 
grovelling,  and  slavish  souls?  Nor  is  the  conserva- 
tion of  this  privilege  (and  why  should  not  the  pulpit 
have  its  privileges  as  well  as  the  senate,  the  bench, 
the  bar,  or  the  academical  chair  ?)  of  less  importance 
in  a  national  and  political  point  of  view.  The  bene- 
ficial influence  which  religion  exerts  over  the  minds  of 


an  intelligent  people,  politically  considered,  depends 
in  a  high  degree  on  the  proof  which  its  teachers  give 
of  their  honesty  and  independence.  This  is  the  sa- 
vour of  their  salt,  without  which  they  are  good  for 
nothing,  and  soon  become  worse  than  nothing,  cor- 
rupting and  being  corrupted.  Despotism  has  rarely 
been  established  in  any  nation  without  the  subser- 
viency of  the  ministers  of  religion.  And  it  nearly 
concerns  the  cause  of  public  liberty,  that  those  who 
ought  to  be  the  common  instructors  and  the  faithful 
and  fearless  monitors  of  all  classes,  should  not  be 
converted  into  the  trained  sycophants  of  a  corrupt  or 
the  trembling  slaves  of  a  tyrannical  administration. 

At  the  period  of  which  we  speak,  the  pulpit  was, 
in  fact,  the  only  organ  by  which  public  opinion  was 
or  could  be  expressed  ;  and  the  ecclesiastical  courts 
were  the  only  assemblies  in  the  nation  which  pos- 
sessed any  thing  that  was  entitled  to  the  name  of  li- 
berty or  independence.  Parliament  had  its  business 
prepared  to  its  hand,  and  laid  before  it  in  the  shape 
of  acts  which  required  only  its  assent.  Discussion 
and  freedom  of  speech  were  unknown  in  its  meetings. 
The  courts  of  justice  were  dependent  on  the  will  of 
the  sovereign,  and  frequently  had  their  proceedings 
regulated  and  their  decisions  dictated  by  letters  and 
messages  from  the  throne.  It  was  the  preachers  who 
first  taught  the  people  to  express  an  opinion  on  pub- 
lic affairs  and  the  conduct  of  their  rulers;  and  the 
assemblies  of  the  church  set  the  earliest  example  of 
a  regular  and  firm  opposition  to  the  arbitrary  and  un- 
constitutional measures  of  the  court.  This  is  a  fact 
which  has  been  strangely  overlooked  by  most  modern 
writers,  who,  instead  of  presenting  accurate  and  liberal 
views  of  the  state  of  society  at  that  period,  have  too 
often  amused  their  readers  by  pointing  sarcasms,  or 
turning  elegant  periods,  on  the  arrogant  pretensions 
and  dangerous  encroachments  of  apresbyterian  hier- 
archy. 

The  truth  is,  that  the  nation  at  large  was  interested 
in  the  question  respecting  the  independence  of  the 
ecclesiastical  courts;  and  every  enlightened  friend  of 
justice  and  freedom  at  that  time  must  have  wished 
success  to  the  struggle  which  the  preachers  were 
making  in  defence  of  their  privileges.  The  powers 
of  the  Privy  Council  of  Scotland  appear  to  have  been 
vague  and  undefined,  their  mode  of  procedure  sum- 
mary, and  their  decisions  frequently  of  the  most  ar- 
bitrary, oppressive,  and  despotical  kind.  It  would 
not  be  a  difficult  task,  in  my  opinion,  to  extract  from 
their  records  a  series  of  proceedings,  in  which  they 
not  only  interfered  with  causes  which  properly  belong- 
ed to  the  civil  and  criminal  courts,  but  also  decided 
them  in  a  way  contrary  to  the  most  essential  principles 
of  justice  and  the  most  explicit  statutes  of  the  realm.  It 
will  scarcely  admit  of  a  doubt,  that,  in  the  prosecu- 
tion of  Melville,  the  court  had  more  in  view  than 
checking  the  liberties  used  by  preachers,  or  resisting 
the  alleged  claim  of  church-courts  to  judge  in  cases 
of  treason.  Their  grand  object  was  to  render  the 
authority  of  the  sovereign  absolute  by  bringing  every 
cause  before  the  council-table  for  decision.  A  right 
had  already  been  claimed  on  behalf  of  the  Privy  Coun- 
cil to  judge  in  all  causes  of  a  civil  nature,  and  the 
claim  was  afterwards  confirmed  by  a  slavish  parlia- 
ment.*    But  the  royal  power  was  regarded  as  limited 


*  In  the  cause,  James  Menzics  afirninsl  Earl  of  A  thole,  be- 
fore the  Privy  Council,  April  3,  1576,  it  was  pleaded  by  the 
defender  that,  by  the  institution  of  the  College  of  Justice,  all 
causes  should  be  tried  bv  them.  It  was  answered  by  the  pur- 
suer, and  "  by  Mr.  David  Borthwick.  advocate  to  his  Matie  in 
his  hienes  name,  that  be  act  maid  be  Kin":  James  the  Third, 
it  is  declared  that  it  shall  be  lesuni  to  his  Matie  or  his  succes- 
sourcs  to  decydc  in  whntsiimever  causes  at  y'  pleasour  notwith- 
Rtandinc  ony  priviledpe  granted  to  ony  vther  Juges."  The 
lords  ofsecret  council  found  that  they  were  "  Juges  competent." 
(Lord  Haddington's  MS.  Collections  from  Minutes  of  Secret 
Council,  &c.)  The  parliament  1584  ordained  that  the  king's 
majesty,  bit  ne>«^.  &c.  shall  be  "  Jnges  c<>petent  to  all  persons 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


255 


and  incomplete  so  lon^  as  ecclesiastical  causes  were 
exempted  from  its  jurisdiction.  Tlie  right  whicli  the 
church-courts  exorcised  of  appointing  their  own  diets, 
the  freedom  of  discussion  allowed  in  their  meetings, 
and  the  jealousy  with  which  they  resisted  every  at- 
tempt to  encroach  on  their  rights,  were  disliked  by  the 
courtiers  as  tending  to  abridge  the  prerogative  of  the 
crown,  and  dreaded  by  ihem  as  holding  out  a  tempta- 
tion to  the  civil  courts  to  lay  claim  to  similar  privi- 
leges. It  was  the  suppression  of  these  that  was  aim- 
ed at  in  the  present  prosecution  and  in  the  late  affair 
of  Montgomery. 

On  his  trial,  Melville  pleaded  not  only  the  acts  of 
Parliament  and  Privy  Council  ratifying  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  church,  but  also  an  agreement  which  had 
been  entered  into  with  the  view  of  avoiding  dissension 
on  this  very  subject.  In  consequence  of  the  oiTence 
which  was  taken  at  the  court's  having  imprisoned 
Dury  for  expressions  used  in  the  pulpit,  a  conference 
was  held  between  commissioners  of  the  Privy  Council 
and  certain  ministers,  who  agreed  that,  in  future,  if 
the  King  was  offended  at  the  doctrine  of  any  preacher, 
he  should  cause  a  complaint  to  be  given  in  against 
him  to  the  ecclesiastical  court,  instead  of  summoning 
him  to  appear  before  the  Privy  Council.*  Accord- 
ingly this  was  done  in  the  instance  of  Balcanquhall. 
Melville  had,  therefore,  reason  to  complain  that  this 
agreement  was  violated  in  his  case.  It  is  a  very  in- 
sufficient and  weak  apology  for  such  bad  faith,  that, 
in  Balcanquhall's  process,  the  General  Assembly  did 
not  give  the  King  satisfaction,  and  did  "  force  him  to 
take  other  courses  than  he  desired  to  follow  ;"f  as  if 
the  agreement  had  been,  that  the  Assembly  should 
have  the  power  to  judge  the  doctrine  of  preachers 
provided  they  humoured  his  majesty  by  always  con- 
demning it. 

Independently  of  these  considerations,  the  proceed- 
ings against  Melville  were  grossly  unjust  and  illegal. 
His  sentence  rested  not  on  the  proof  of  the  articles 
libelled,  but  entirely  on  the  mode  of  his  defence. 
Granting  that  the  council  had  the  fullest  right  to  judge 
in  the  cause  and  at  first  instance,  and  consequently 
that  his  requisition,  protest,  or  declinature  was  invalid 
and  inadmissible,  all  that  remained  for  the  court  to 
do,  was  to  repel  his  defences,  to  find  itself  competetit, 
and  to  proceed  with  the  trial.  He  was  before  them, 
and  the  only  opposition  which  he  made  was  by  words 
and  a  written  instrument.  Of  the  same  complexion, 
and  still  worse,  was  the  conduct  of  the  council  in  in- 
troducing, among  the  grounds  of  his  sentence,  his  be- 
haviour and  the  expressions  used  by  him  on  his  de- 
fence. Although  these  had  been  as  offensive  and 
disrespectful  as  they  were  alleged  to  he,X  still  it  was 


— in  all  matteris  quharin  thay  or  ony  of  thanie  salbe  appre- 
hendit,  suminound  or  char^eit  to  ansuer  to  sic  thingis  as  salhe 
inquirit  of  them  be  our  said  souerane  lord  and  his  counsell." 
(Act.  Pari.  Scot.  ili.  293.) 

*  "  In  respect  that  at  the  last  calling  of  Jo"  Durie  befor  the 
privie  counsell  vpon  ane  cornpt  of  certaine  words  alleclgit 
spokin  in  his  sermon,  ordour  was  takin  be  certaine  commission- 
ers of  counsell  and  brether  of  the  kirk,  that  in  cace  such  accu- 
sationes  afterward  sould  fall  out,  the  kirk  sould  have  the 
judgment  yrof :  And  if  the  kings  Ma,  please  to  send  any 
commissioners  at  tryall  they  sould  see  the  proceidings  of  the 
kirk."     (Buik  of  Universal!  Kirk,  f.  114.  b.) 

t  Spotswood,  p.  317,  318.  Those  who  consult  the  expres- 
sions charged  on  Balcanquhall,  as  givea  by  the  archbishop, 
will  probably  be  of  opinion,  that  if  there  was  any  thing  offen- 
sive in  them  it  lay  in  the  preacher's  playing  on  words  in  the 
pulpit.  And  surely  his  majesty,  at  least,  had  no  right  to  be 
offended  at  a  speaker's  being  acquitted  for  punning  unseason- 
ably. 

I  According  to  Spotswood's  account,  "  He  burst  forth  in  un- 
dutiful  speeches  against  the  king,  saj'ing,  Tie  perverted  the  laws 
both  of  God  and  man."  (Hist.  p.  330.)  But  this  statement  is 
refuted  by  the  act  of  Privy  Council,  which  makes  no  mention 
of  a  personal  charge  against  the  king,  but  merely  says  that  he 
alleged,  "that  the  laws  of  God  and  practices  observed  within 
this  countrv,  were  perverted,  and  not  observed  in  his  case." 
(Record  of'Privy  Council,  Feb.  17,  1583.) 


in  the  highest  degree  unjust  to  convert  them  into  mat- 
ter of  crimination  and  ground  of  punishment,  in  the 
absence  and  complete  failure  of  all  proof  of  the  charge 
exhibited  against  him.  Even  in  the  case  of  those 
who  are  charged  with  the  most  flagrant  crimes,  great 
liberality  is  allowed  to  them,  or  to  their  counsel,  to 
avail  themselves  of  every  legal  plea,  and  to  urge  every 
plausible  objection,  whether  it  respects  the  competen- 
cy of  the  judges,  the  relevancy  of  the  libel,  the  char- 
acter of  the  witnesses,  or  the  mode  of  conducting  the 
prosecution.  And  it  is  only  where  tyranny  and  blind 
passion  have  usurped  the  seat  of  justice,  that  the 
strong,  and,  it  may  be,  intemperate  language  that  has 
escaped  a  prisoner  in  the  heat  and  agitation  of  his  de- 
fence, is  charged  against  him  or  recorded  upon  his 
conviction  as  even  an  aggravation  of  his  crime.  Such 
procedure,  while  it  demonstrates  the  iniquity  of  the 
judges,  affords  a  strong  presumption  of  the  innocence 
of  the  accused  individual. 

Melville's  flight  to  England  turned  out  to  be  of 
great  advantage  to  his  native  country,  by  enabling  him 
to  discover  and  counteract  the  insidious  schemes  of 
Adamson.  During  the  late  changes  the  archbishop 
had  acted  with  his  usual  craftiness  and  inconstancy. 
In  the  affair  of  Montgomerjs  he  appeared  to  co-operate 
with  the  churcli,  while,  in  reality,  he  was  secretly 
encouraging  the  court  to  persevere  in  the  support  of 
episcopacy.  At  the  same  time  that  he  was  giving  the 
strongest  assurances  of  his  attachment  to  the  presby- 
terian  discipline,  he  was,  as  he  afterwards  confessed, 
plotting  its  overthrow.*  The  General  Assembly  ap- 
pointed the  Presbytery  of  Glasgow  to  try  certain 
charges  brought  against  him  ;  but  Melville,  who  was 
empowered  to  summon  him  to  appear,  excused  him- 
self from  executing  the  summons  on  account  of  the 
sickness  under  which  the  bishop  laboured.  No  soon- 
er, however,  had  the  king  withdrawn  from  the  con- 
federated lords,  than  Adamson  left  his  castle,  to  which 
he  had  confined  himself  for  a  whole  year,  appeared  in 
the  pulpit,  and  although  he  had  himself  approved  of 
the  enterprise  at  Rutliven,f  inveighed  against  the 
nobility  who  were  concerned  in  it  and  such  of  his 
brethren  as  had  supported  their  administration.  To 
avoid  the  prosecution  pending  against  him  he  left  the 
kingdom  in  the  end  of  the  year  1583,  under  the  pre- 
text of  going  to  vSpa  for  the  recovery  of  his  health. 
But  he  proceeded  no  farther  than  London,  and  having 
obtained  a  public  commission,  became  an  active  agent 
for  Arran,  by  endeavouring  to  prepossess  the  court  of 
Elizabeth  against  the  Scottish  noblemen  who  had  fled 
into  England.  He  consulted  with  the  archbishop  of 
Canterbury  and  bishop  of  London  as  to  the  overthrow 
of  presbytery  in  his  native  country.     He  represented 


*  "  Efter  y'  general!  assemblie  in  October  [1581]  Mr.  Patrik 
Adamsone  aggreit  to  all  the  poiiitts  in  the  buik  of  Polecie  and 
concerning  the  office  of  a  Bischope^and  calling  to  dinner  Mr. 
Andro  Meluill  my  uncle  Mr.  Alex""  Arbuthnot  and  ythers  diuers, 
he  subscryvit  yUo,  quhilk  his  subscription  is  yet  in  my  uncles 
custodie.  Item  y*  winter  he  passed  ower  to  a  convention  of 
the  esteates,  and  effer  he  fand  no'  curt  as  he  luiked  for  he  drest 
him  to  the  ministers  of  Edr,  shawing  thani  how  that  he  cam 
ower  to  court  w*^  Balams  hart  of  purpose  to  curse  the  kirk  and 
do  euill,  bot  God  haid  wrought  sa  w'  him,  y'  he  had  turned 
his  hart  to  the  contrare  and  maid  him  bathe  in  reasoning  and 
votting  to  stand  for  the  kirk,  promising  to  schaw  fordar  and  for- 
dar  fruitts  of  his  conversion  and  guid  miening.  Wharat 
Jhone  dury  was  sa  reioysit  y' he  treated  him  in  hous  and  wrote 
ower  at  lainthe  to  me  in  his  fawour.  Wherevpon  I  past  down 
to  his  caste!!  at  his  hamcoming,  and  schew  liim  what  informa- 
tion concerning  hini  I  haid  gottin  from  the  breithring  of  Ed', 
thanking  God  y'for  and  offering  him  in  caiss  of  continuance 
the  right  hand  of  societie,  whereat  reioysing  he  tauld  me  the 
maiter  at  lainthe,  and  namlie  concerning  the  grait  motiones  and 
working  of  the  spreit.  Weill  said  I  y'  spreit  is  an  vpright  hailie 
and  constant  spreit,  and  will  mairand  mair  kythe  in  effects;  bot 
it  is  a  fearful  thing  to  lie  against  him." — (Melville's  Diary, 
p.  89—91.  95.)  The  papers  which  Adamson  subscribed  at  thi» 
time  may  be  seen  in  the  printed  Calderwood,  p.  93 — 96.  Comp. 
Cald.  MS.  vol.  iii.  p.  350—364. 

t  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  iii.  326, 


256 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


the  principles  and  conduct  of  his  brethren  in  an 
odious  light  to  the  ministers  of  the  French  church  in 
London,  and  wrote  letters  to  the  same  purpose  to  the 
churches  of  Geneva  and  Zurich.  Melville  having  ob- 
tained intelligence  of  this  lost  no  time  in  despatching 
letters  to  the  foreign  churches,  in  which  he  conveyed 
a  very  different  account  of  the  late  proceedings  in 
Scotland,  and  painted  Adarason's  conduct  in  no  fa- 
vourable or  flattering  colours.  As  he  was  well  known 
in  the  places  to  which  he  wrote,  his  representations 
were  successful  in  defeating  the  scheme  of  the  arch- 
bishop, who  hoped  to  have  drawn  from  the  continen- 
tal divines  such  replies  as  would  be  helpful  to  him  in 
the  execution  of  his  plans.*  The  same  success  at- 
tended the  letters  which  Melville  sent  from  Berwick 
to  the  French  church  at  London.f  Whatever  en- 
couragement Adamson  might  receive  from  the  bishops 
in  England,:^:  his  embassy  did  not  succeed  at  court, 
aud  his  residence  at  ijondon  injured  the  cause  which 
he  was  employed  to  promote.  This  was  owing  in  no 
small  degree  to  his  private  conduct,  which  was  un- 
becoming the  clerical  character  and  disgraceful  to  the 
sovereign   whom  he  represented. || 

Upon  Adamson's  return  to  Scotland  a  Parliament 
was  held,  by  which  presb^'tery  was  overthrown,  and 
the  liberties  of  the  church  and  nation  laid  at  the  feet 
of  the  king  and  of  those  by  whom  he  was  guided. 
To  decline  the  judgment  of  his  Majesty  or  of  the 
Privy  Council  in  any  matter  was  declared  to  be  trea- 
son. Those  were  declared  guilty  of  the  same  crime 
who  should  impugn  or  seek  the  diminution  of  the 
power  and  authority  of  any  of  the  three  estates  of 
parliament;  by  which  all  that  the  church  had  done 
for  a  series  of  years  in  the  abolition  of  episcopacy  was 
pronounced  treasonable.  All  judgments  and  juris- 
dictions, spiritual  or  temporal,  which  had  hitherto 
been  exercised,  but  which  were  not  ratified  by  parlia- 
ment, were  discharged,  and  the  subjects  prohibited, 
under  high  pains,  from  convening  in  any  assembly, 
except  the  ordinary  courts,  to  treat,  consult,  or  deter- 
mine on  any  matter  of  state,  civil  or  ecclesiastical, 
without  the  special  commandment  and  license  of  his 
majesty.  This  act  was  intended  for  the  suppression 
of  the  General  Assembly  as  well  as  of  Presbyteries ; 
or  rather,  it  put  the  whole  government  of  the  church 
into  the  hands  of  the  king,  without  whose  express 
consent  no  ecclesiastical  assembly  could  be  held.§ 


*  Melvinus  Pastoribus  Genev.  et  Tigur.  (Wodrow  MSS. 
in  Bibl.  Jurid.  Ediii.  ccc.  2.  12,  vol.  xx.  no.  17.)  Adamson's 
papers,  and  a  Iraoslation  of  Melville's  letter,  are  preserved  in 
James  Melville's  Diary,  p.  107 — 118.  The  answer  from  Geneva, 
addressed  to  the  exiled  lords,  is  inserted  in  Cald.iii.  735. 

t  Letter  to  Castol:  Cotton  MSS.  Calig.  C.  ix.  59. 

I  Mr.  Beale,  Clerk  of  the  Queen's  Closet,  in  a  letter  publish- 
ed by  Strype,  charges  Archbishop  Whitgift  with  speakmg  in  a 
degrading  style  of  the  ministers  of  Scotland  and  of  other  re- 
formed churches,  and  says  that  he  was  suspected  of  having 
given  his  approbation  to  Adamson's  design  of  overturning  the 
order  of  the  church  of  Scotland.  Whitgift,  in  an  apologetical 
letter,  says,  that  he  had  not  given  his  subscription  to  Adam- 
son's plan,  but  does  not  deny  having  conferred  with  him  on 
the  subject.     (Life  of  Whitgift,  p.  149,  150.  Append,  p.  57.) 

II  This  statement  does  not  rest  on  the  authority  of  satirical 
poems,  (See  Dalyell's  Scottish  Poems  of  the  16th  Century,  p. 
309.)  nor  even  of  Calderwood,  who  might  be  sufpectej  of 
giving  too  easy  faith  to  reports  unfavourable  to  the  bishop.  But 
it  is  confirmed  by  Sir  .James  Melville,  who  was  of  the  same 
political  party  with  Adamson,  and  succeeded  him  as  ambassa- 
dor at  London.  "  The  said  Bishop — was  disdained  in  England, 
and  dishonoured  his  country  by  borrowing  gold  and  pretious 
furniture  from  the  Bishop  of  London  and  others,  which  was 
never  restored  nor  paid  for."  (Menioires.  p.  ISO.  folio  edit.) 
Adamsom  in  a  letter  to  Whitgift,  promises  to  send  his  Grace 
"a  galloway  naig."  in  return  for  his  hospitality ;  but  that  the 
"  opportnnit  comniodite"  of  conveying  it  ever  presented  itself, 
or  that  the  nag  ever  filled  a  stall  at  Lambeth,  is  more  than 
dubious.     (Harl.  MSS.  num.  7004.  2.) 

}  "  The  vther  forme  of  Jugcment  quhilk  hes  Majesty  hes 
dischargit,  is  the  generall  assemblic  of  the  haill  Clcrgie  in  the 
Realme:  under  pretence  quhairof  ane  number  of  Ministeris 
from  sundry  presbyteries  did  assemble,  with  sum  gentlemen  of 
the  country,"  Ac. — "  His  Maiestie  rpoun  necessario  occasions 


Accordingly,  it  was  ordained,  by  another  act,  that 
commissions  should  be  given  to  the  bishops,  along 
with  such  others  as  might  be  constituted  King's  com- 
missioners in  ecclesiastical  causes,  to  put  order  to  all 
ecclesiastical  matters  in  their  dioceses.  In  fine,  it 
was  ordained  that  none  should  presume,  privately  or 
publicly,  in  sermons,  declamations,  or  familiar  confer- 
ences, to  utter  any  false,  untrue,  or  slanderous  speeches, 
to  the  disdain,  reproach,  and  contempt  of  his  majesty, 
his  council,  or  proceedings,  or  to  the  dishonour,  hurt 
or  prejudice  of  his  highness,  his  parents,  and  progen- 
itors, or  to  meddle  in  the  affairs  of  his  highness  and 
his  estate,  present,  bygane,  or  in  time  coming,  under 
the  pains  contained  in  the  acts  of  parliament  against 
the  making  and  telling  of  lesings,  to  be  executed  with 
all  rigour,  even  upon  those  who  heard  such  speeches 
and  did  not  reveal  them.* 

These  are  the  hlack  acts  (as  they  were  called)  of 
this  servile  parliament.  Though  eversive  of  all  liberty, 
civil  and  natural  as  well  as  ecclesiastical,  not  a  noble- 
man, baron,  or  burgess  ventured  to  o|)en  his  mouth 
against  them.  Some  of  the  ministers  having  received 
secret  information  of  what  was  going  on,  repaired  to 
the  parliament-house  with  the  design  of  protesting  for 
the  rights  of  the  church  ;  but  the  doors  were  shut 
against  them.  The  magistrates  of  Edinburgh  receiv- 
ed orders  to  drag  from  the  pulpit  any  individual  who 
presumed  to  censure  what  the  parliament  had  done. 
But  this  did  not  deter  them  from  exonerating  their 
conscience  ;  and  when  the  acts  were  proclaimed  at 
the  market-cross  of  Edinburgh,  Lawson,  Balcanquhall, 
and  Pont,  "  taking  their  lives  in  their  hands,  went 
boldly  and  made  public  protestation"  against  them, 
with  all  the  ceremonies  usual  on  such  occasions. f 

Orders  were  immediately  issued  to  apprehend  the 
protesters,  who  saved  themselves  by  a  timely  flight. 
Upwards  of  twenty  ministers  soon  alter  followed  their 
example,  and  took  refuge  in  England.  Arran  threat- 
ened, with  his  usual  brutal  coarseness,  "  that  he  would 
make  Lawson's  head  to  leap  from  his  liaise,:}:  though 
it  was  as  big  as  a  hay-stack."  David  Lindsay,  the 
minister  of  Leith,  was  imprisoned  in  Blackness,  and 
John  Howieson  in  Spey  Tower.  For  praying  for  his 
distressed  brethren,  Nicol  Dalgleish,  minister  of  St. 


— vpoune  humble  supplicatioun  made  vnto  hig  Hienes  will  not 
refuse  to  grant  them  licence  to  convene,  to  wit,  the  Bishoppes, 
Commissioners,  and  sume  of  the  maist  verteous,  Iearnit&  godly 
of  their  dioceis,"  &c.  (Declaratioun  of  the  Kings  Majesties 
intentioun  and  meaning  toward  the  lait  Acts  of  Parliament,  p. 
17.  19.  Edin.  1585.)  Even  the  meetings  of  kirk-sessions  were 
considered  as  discharged  by  this  act.  On  the  28th  May,  1584, 
a  special  license  was  granted  by  his  Majesty,  in  virtue  of  his 
dispensing  power,  for  nolding  the  weekly  exercise,  and  tlie 
meetings  of  kirk-session  in  Edinburgh,  "  notwithstanding  our 
late  act  of  parliament  or  any  pains  contained  therein, anen<  the 
which  wee  dispense  be  thir  presents."  (Cald.  iii.  376^  An 
intimation  of  a  similar  kind  was  made  to  the  elders  of  St.  An- 
drews by  Adamson.  (Record  of  Kirk  Session  of  St.  And.  June  17, 
1584.)  But  where  the  ministers  or  elders  were  unconformable 
to  the  will  of  the  court,  they  were  prevented  from  assembling. 
The  kirk-session  of  Glasgow,  which  used  to  meet  every  week, 
did  not  assemble  from  July  18,  1584,  to  March  31,  1585. 
(Wodrow's  Life  of  Mr.  David  Weems.  p,  33.  MSS.  vol.  3.) 

»  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  iii.  293,  296,  303.— As  a  fit  supplement  to 
the  last  mentioned  act,  Buchanan's  Historj'  and  Dialogue  De 
Jure  Regiii  are  condemned.  Tempora  mulantur.  Not  many 
years  before,  a  pension  of  L.  20.  yearly  had  been  assigned, 
"  for  the  guid,  true  and  thankfull  service  done  to  oor  so.  lord 
be  his  louit  Mr.  John  Geddy,  seruitour  to  Mr.  George  Buch- 
quhannan,  preceptour  to  his  liienes  and  kepar  of  his  privie  sejil, 
in  writingof  the  Chronicles  of  this  realme  and  vtheris  lovable 
werkis  oT  the  said  Mr.  Georges  editioun."  May  8,  1577. 
(Reg.  of  Privy  Seal,  vol.  xliii.  f.  81.) 

To  be  consistent  the  Parliament  ought  also  to  have  condemn- 
ed Buchanan's  Baptistes,  or  at  any  rate  to  have  expunged  the 
following  sentence  in  the  dedication  of  it  to  James:  "  Volo 
etiam  hunc  libellumapud  posteros  tcstem  fore,  si  quid  aliquan- 
do  pravis  consultoribus  impulsus,  vel  regni  licentia  rectam 
educationem  superante,  secus  conniiittas,  non  pneceptoribus, 
sed  tibi,  qui  eis  rectc  moraentibu;  non  sis  obsecutus,  id  vitio 
vertendum  esse." 

t  Hume  of  Godscroft's  History,  ii.  335,  336.  Cald.  iii.  366 
368.    Spote.  333.  {  neck. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


257 


*  Nicol  Dalgleish  had  been  for  many  years  a  Regent  in  St. 
Leonard's  College,  St.  Andrews,  which'he  left  in  the  year  1577. 
(Papers  of  the  University.)  He  went  to  France,  and  remained 
for  some  time  at  Bourges.  (Cald.  ii.  606.)  After  his  return  to 
Scotland  he  was  nominated  by  the  General  Assembly,  in  1581, 
as  a  fit  person  for  being  made  Principal  of  King's  College, 
when  it  was  proposed  to  remove  Arbuthnot  to  the  ministry  of 
New  Aberdeen.     (Buik  of  Univ.  Kirk,  f.  102.) 

+  Act  Pari.  Scot.  iii.  347. 

j  They  promised  "  to  obey, — according  to  the  word  of  God" 
James  Melville,  who  wrote  a  long  letter  intended  to  expose  the 
the  evil  of  the  bond,  characterizes  this  qualifying  clause  as 
"  manifesiam  repng-nnntiam  in  adjecto;  as  if  one  should  say, 
he  would  obey  the  Pope  and  his  prelates  accordingto  the  word 
of  God."     (Diary,  p.  144.) 

H  Cald.  iii.  529,  641—643.  Hume  of  Godscroft'sHist.  p.  337. 
Wodrow's  Life  of  Mr.  .Tames  Melville,  p.  161,  MSS.  vol.  xri. 

}  Cald.  iii.  742,  743. 

2  H 


Cuthbert's  church,  was  tried   for  his  life.     The  jury 
acquitted  him  ;  but  he   was   instantly  served   with  a 
new  indictnnent   for  holding  correspondence  with   re- 
bels, merely  because  he  had  read  a  letter  which  one  of 
the  ministers  of  Edinburgh  had  sent  to  his  wife.    Be- 
ing persuaded   to  come   in  the   King's  will  for   this 
fault,   sentence   of  death  was   passed    on    him,   and, 
though    it  was  not   executed,  yet  by  a  refinement  in 
cruelty,  the  scaffold  was  erected  and  kept  standing  for 
several    weeks   before   the   window    of    his    prison.* 
All  ministers  and  masters  of  colleges  and  schools  were 
required  to  subscribe  a  bond,  in  which  they  engaged 
to  obey  the   late  acts  of  Parliament  and   to  acknow- 
ledge the  bishops  as  their  ecclesiastical  superiors,  un- 
der the  pain  of  being  for  ever  deprived  of  their  bene- 
fices and   salaries. f     The  most  of  the   ministers  re- 
fused subscription.      Having  convened  the   principal 
recusants,   Arran  asked  them,  how  they  durst   be   so 
bold  as  to  find  fault  with  the  late  acts  of  Parliament. 
John  Craig  told   him,  that  they  durst  find  fault  with 
any  thing  repugnant  to  the  word  of  God  ;  upon  which 
Arran  started  to  his  feet,  and  threatened  that  he  would 
shave  their  heads,  pare  their  nails,  cut  their  toes,  and 
make  them   an  example  to  all  rebels.     Craig  having 
admonished  him  that  persons  who  were  raised  as  high 
as   he  was   had    been    humbled,   he  replied,"!  will 
make  you  of  a  false  friar  a  true  prophet :"  and  falling 
on  his  knees,  exclaimed,  "  Now  I  am  humbled."    Per- 
ceiving that  the  greater  part  of  the  ministers  were  not 
to  be  terrified  into  compliance,  Adamson  artfully  di- 
vided them  by  introducing  into  the  bond  one  of  those 
ambiguous  and  unmeaning  clauses  whicli  serve  only 
to  blind  the  simple,  and   to  salve   the  consciences  of 
such  as  are  anxious  to  escape  from  trouble.:^     After 
havingmadea  manful  resistance,  CraigsufFered  himself 
to  be  caught  in  this  snare,  and  drew  into  it  the  greater 
part  of  his  brethren.     Even  the  honest  and   intrepid 
Dury  is  said  to  have  become  a  subscriber,  and  thus 
to  have  lent  his  hand  to  build  again  the  things  which 
he  was  among  the  foremost  to  destroy.     And  Erskine 
of  Dun,  whose  character  stood  so  high,  and  who  had 
formerly  made  so  honourable  a  stand  for  the  liberties 
of  the  church,  not  only  became  a  conformist  himself, 
but  was  extremely  active  in  persuading  others  to  con- 
form.    So  diflicult  is  it  for  good  men  to  preserve  a 
strict  and   inflexible  integrity  in  the  hour  of  tempta- 
tion !  II     But   there  is   no  end    to  the  impositions  of 
despotical  authority,  and  to  the  humiliations  of  those 
who  have  once  bowed  their  necks  to  its  yoke.     Sub- 
scription was  not  reckoned  a  suificient  bond  of  fidelity, 
and  written    injunctions  were  sent  to  all  the  conform- 
ing ministers,  by  which  they  were  obliged  to   frame 
every  sentiment  and  expression  in  such  a   manner  as 
to  please  the  court.§ 

The  privileges  of  the  universities  were  violated. 
At  Glasgow,  Hay,  the  Rector,  was  banished  to  the 
north  of  Scotland  ;  all  the  Professors  were  thrown  in- 
to jail  ;  the  students  dismissed,  and  commanded  by 
public  proclamation  to  leave  the  city  ;  and  the  col- 
lege shut  up.     Nor  did  the  remote  situation  of  the 


university  of  Aberdeen  save   it  from   similar  treat- 
ment.* 

As  soon  as  he  recovered  from  the  depression  of 
mind  into  which  he  had  sunk  upon  the  flight  of  his 
uncle,  James  Melville  returned  to  St.  Andrews,  and 
exerted  himself  in  preserving  the  college  from  the 
ruin  with  which  it  was  threatened.  His  first  care  was 
to  secure  his  uncle's  library,  which  was  in  danger  of 
confiscation  ;  after  which  he  endeavoured  to  supply 
his  place  by  reading  lectures  on  the  system  of  divin- 
ity. In  addition  to  his  double  task  as  Professor  of  Di- 
vinity and  of  Hebrew,  he  found  himself  obliged  to  un- 
dertake the  management  of  the  revenues  of  the  college 
and  the  board  of  the  students ;  the  persons  entrusted 
with  these  duties  having  refused  to  act,  as  soon  as 
they  learned  that  the  court  looked  on  the  establish- 
ment with  an  evil  eye.  In  these  circumstances  he  was 
encouraged  by  the  sympathy  of  the  masters  of  the 
university,  who  attended  his  lectures  and  did  every 
thing  in  their  power  to  promote  the  interests  of  the 
New  College.  On  this  occasion,  too,  Thomas  Buch- 
anan testified  his  regard  to  his  exiled  friend  at  the  risk 
of  displeasing  the  court,  by  coming  forward  and  ta- 
king a  share  of  the  burden  of  theological  instruction, 
to  which  he  had  formerly  been  appointed  by  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly.f  They  were  not  interrupted  until  the 
meeting  of  Parliament,  but  no  sooner  were  the  laws 
overthrowing  the  presbyterian  discipline  passed,  than 
Adamson  came  to  St.  Andrews  for  the  purpose  of  im- 
posing them  on  the  university.  He  had  procured  an 
order  for  apprehending  James  Melville  ;  who  being 
apprized  of  the  fact,  escaped,  not  without  great  haz- 
ard, by  crossing  the  sea  in  an  open  boat  to  Berwick. 
Robertson  was  the  only  professor  who  remained  in 
the  college,  and  the  bishop  soon  after  suppressed  the 
teaching  of  theology. :j: 

A  few  days  before  his  nephew  arrived  at  Berwick, 
Melville  had  left  it  for  London,  accompanied  by  his 
relation  and  pupil,  Patrick  Forbes,  younger  of  Corse.|| 
He  had  obtained  liberty  from  the  English  court  to 
repair  to  the  capital,  and  was  furnished  with  instruc- 
tions from  the  exiled  noblemen,  who  still  remained 
at  Berwick.  Along  with  James  Carmichael,  minis- 
ter of  Haddington,  who  added  to  his  learning  a  talent 
for  public  business,  he  had  several  interviews  with 
Walsingham,  Bowes,  and  Sydney,  and  found  hese 
statesmen  cordially  inclined  to  befriend  them.§  But 
there  were  counsellors,  particularly  among  the  bish- 
ops, who  were  unfriendly  to  their  cause  and  did  every 
thing  in  their  power  to  injure  it.  Adamson  conveyed 
his  representations  through  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury ;^  and  the  agents  of  Arran  spared  no  professions 
or  promises  to  induce  Elizabeth  to  drive  the  exiles 
from  her  dominions,  or  at  least  to  refuse  a  hearing 
to  their  complaints.  Melville  was  at  this  time  em- 
ployed in  writing  a  reply  to  a  vindication  of  the  Scot- 
tish court,  published  under  the  title  of  a  Declaration 
of  the  King's  Majesty's  intention  in  the  late  acts  of 
Parliament.  It  was  artfully  drawn  up  by  Archbishop 
Adamson,  and  contained  vile  and  unfounded  aspersions 


*  Cotton  MSS.  Calig.  C.  viii.  78. 

t  October  1582.  "It  is  leisum  for  a  minister  for  a  season  to 
superseid  y^  rainistrie  and  vse  ye  office  of  a  doctor,  y'for  ye 
asserablie  hes  concludit  and  ordanit  Mr.  Tho.  Buchannan  to 
enter  in  y*  new  CoUedge  and  vse  and  exercise  y*  office  of  a 
doctour  y'',  for  ye  support  of  ye  samein,  his  kirk  fCeres]  being 
alwayes  provydit  of  a  sufficient  pastour  and  ye  said  Mr.  Thom- 
as sufficientlie  satisfied  anent  ye  promise  maide  for  expeditioun 
of  his  pleyis."     (Buik  of  Universal!  Kirk,  f.  129,  b.) 

t  Melville's  Diary,  p.  105,  118—123.     Cald.  iii.  422. 

II  Afterwards  bishop  of  Aberdeen. 

5  A  great  number  of  letters  written  by  Carmichael,  Gallo- 
way, and  Hume  of  Godscroft,  which  contain  minute  informa- 
tion of  transactions  at  this  period,  are  preserved  among  the 
Wodrow  MSS.  in  the  Advocates'  Library.  A  great  part  of 
them  is  transcribed  into  the  third  volume  of  Calderwood's 
MS.  and  Wodrow's  Lives  of  Carmichael  and  Hume. 

IT  Letter  from  Patrick  archb.  of  St.  Andrews  to  his  Grace 
of  Canterbury,  June  16,  1584.     Harl.  MSS.  num.  7004.  2. 
17 


258 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


on  the  banished  lords  and  on  the  proceedings  of  the 
church.  Melville,  of  course,  came  in  for  a  large  share 
of  the  abuse.  This  declaration  deserves  particular 
notice  as  the  original  of  those  misrepresentations  of 
of  Scots  affairs,  which  prevailed  so  long  in  England 
and  are  not  completely  removed  at  this  day.  The 
answers  given  to  it  by  Melville  and  others  exposed  its 
falsehoods ;  but  they  shared  the  fate  of  all  fugitive 
pieces  in  being  soon  lost  and  forgotten.*  The  De- 
claration, on  the  contrary,  was  carefully  preserved. 
By  means  of  some  of  Arran's  agents  it  was  reprinted 
at  London,  with  a  preface  more  odious  than  itself.  Be- 
ing published  in  the  King's  name,  it  was  embodied, 
as  an  authentic  and  official  document,  in  Hollinshed's 
Chronicle,  from  whieh  it  contiuued  to  be  quoted,  and 
copied,  and  reprinted,  after  James  had  disowned  it, 
and  Adamson  had  retracted  it  as  a  false  and  slauderous 
libel.f 

In  the  month  of  July  1584,  the  Earls  of  Angus  and 
Mar,  and  the  Master  of  Glammis,  wrote  to  Melville, 
requesting  him  to  repair  to  them  immediately  at 
Newcastle,  along  with  Lawson,  "  on  matters  of  great- 
er importance"  than  they  could  judge  of  alone.:^:  With 
this  request  he  was  prevented  from  complying,  as  he 
was  then  absent  from  London  on  a  visit  to  the  Univer- 
sities of  Oxford  and  Cambridge. j|  He  was  received 
at  these  ancient  seats  of  literature  in  a  manner  be- 
coming his  profession  and  merits,  and  expressed  him- 
self much  delighted  with  the  magnificence  of  the 
colleges,  the  gravity  of  the  professors,  and  the  cour- 
teous manners  of  the  students.  On  this  occasion  he 
formed  an  intimacy,  which  was  afterwards  kept  up  by 
letters,  with  two  very  promising  young  men,  George 
Carleton,  who  became  bishop  of  Chichester,  and 
Thomas  Savile,  whose  early  erudition  was  not  less 
admired  than  his  premature  death  was  deplored  by  the 
learned  on  the  Continent  and  in  his  native  country .§ 
Melville  afterwards  paid  a  fine  compliment  to  two  of 
the  theological  masters,  and  to  the  young  men  whom 
he  found  at  this  time  prosecuting  their  studies  und-er 
them ; 

Non  ita  teterni  Whittakerus  IT  acer 
Luminis  vindex,  patrisque  lumen. 


*  Melville's  reply  (inserted  in  Cald.  MS.  iii.  714—734.)  is 
entitled,  "  Answer  to  the  Declaration  of  certain  Intentions  set 
out  in  the  King's  name,  &c.  7th  of  Feb.  1585."  James  Melville 
is  supposed  to  be  the  author  of  another  reply,  in  the  form  of  a 
Dialogue  between  Zelator,Temporizor,  and  Palaemon,  which  is 
dated  Newcastle,  Feb.  10,  1585,  (Cald.  iii.  672—714.)  It  is 
probable  that  both  were  printed.  (lb.  423.  428.  753.)  The 
former  reply  passes  over  what  relates  to  Melville;  but  the  lat- 
ter vindicates  him  strenuously,  and  its  style  is  sharper  and 
more  acrimonious  than  that  of  the  other.  Extracts  from  both 
may  be  seen  in  the  printed  Calderwood,  p.  174 — 184. 

f  This  was  strange,  considering  that  the  Declaration  was  the 
Manifesto  of  an  arbitrary  administration,  and  an  abusive  at- 
tack on  the  men  who  had  uniformly  shown  themselves  the  most 
steady  friends  of  England.  "  Our  kirk  deserved  no  such  in- 
dignity at  the  hands  of  that  estate  as  to  be  so  highly  prejudged 
by  the  publick  records  of  the  realme;  for  our  kirk  was  ever 
carefull,  and  at  that  time  specially,  to  entertain  amitie  betwixt 
the  two  countries.  But  let  such  a  lying  libell  lay  there  as  a 
blurr  to  blot  the  Chronicles  of  England.'*^  (Cald.  iii.  650.)  But 
this  was  not  all.  In  1646,  the  Declaration  was  reprinted,  in 
Scots  and  in  English,  not  by  the  Cavaliers  at  Oxford,  (tliat 
would  not  have  been  strange  J  but  by  the  friends  of  the  parlia- 
ment at  London,  who  had  so  lately  loaded  the  Scots  with 
thanks  for  their  "  brotherly  assistance,"  and  solemnly  vowed 
"  the  preservation  of  the  reformed  religion  in  the  cnurch  of 
Scotland, — in  discipline  and  government!"  (Baillie's  Histori- 
cal Vindication,  Epist.  Dedic.  A.  4.) 

t  Cald.  iii.  432.  |I  Melville's  Diary,  p.  159. 

}  See  Melville's  letter  "D.  Th.  Saville  et  G.  Carletono,"  in 
the  Appendix.  Wood's  Athenae  Oxon.  by  Bliss,  vol.  i.  col. 
159;  vol.  ii.  312,  422.  Fasti,  coll.  212.  227.  Thomas  Savile 
was  a  younger  brother  of  Sir  Henn-  Savile,  Provost  of  Eton 
College,  and  editor  of  the  works  of  Chrysostom.  His  letters 
in  Cambdeni  Kpislola  shew  the  progress  which  he  had  made 
in  recondite  literature  before  Melville  became  acquainted  with 
him. 

t  Dr.  William  Whittaker,  Regius  Professor  and  Master  of 
St  John'*  College,  Cambridge. 


Dixit  ant  sensit:  neque  celsa  summi 

Peiina  Renoldi,* 
Certa  sublimes  aperire  calles, 
Sueta  calcstes  iterare  cursus, 
Laeta  misceri  niveis  beatae 

Civibus  aute. 
Nee  Tami  aut  Canii  accola  saniore 
Mente,  qui  ca?lura  sapit  in  frequent! 
Hermathenaeo,  et  celebri  Lycaso 

Culta  juventus; 
Cujus  afl'ulget  ^enio  Jovas  lux : 
Cui  nitens  Sol  justitiae  reoidet: 
Queni  jubar  Christi  radiantis  alto 

Spectat  olympo.f 

On  his  return  to  London,  he  had  to  perform  the 
painful  duty  of  attending  the  death-bed  of  his  early 
friend,  and  highly  esteemed  brother,  James  Lawson. 
The  air  of  England  disagreed  with  his  constitution, 
and  brought  on  a  disorder,  which  was  aggravated  by 
grief  at  the  unhappy  state  of  his  native  country  and 
the  undutiful  behaviour  of  his  flock.  He  had  joined 
with  his  colleague  in  addressing  a  letter  to  the  inhab- 
itants of  Edinburgh,  in  which  they  stated  the  rea- 
sons of  their  flight.  Adamson  drew  up  a  reply  in  the 
name  of  the  congregation,  couched  in  the  harshest 
and  most  contumelious  language,  denominating  their 
ministers  fugitives,  rebels,  and  wolves,  and  renoun- 
cing all  communion  with  them.  This  the  King  sent 
to  the  town-council,  accompanied  with  an  injunction 
that  it  should  be  subscribed  by  them  and  the  princi- 
pal inhabitants  ;  and  by  the  threats  and  importunities 
of  the  court,  a  number  of  persons  were  induced  to  set 
their  names  to  this  disgraceful  paper.:|:  Their  con- 
duct made  a  deeper  impression  on  the  delicate  spirits 
of  Lawson  than  it  ought  to  have  done,  considering 
all  the  circumstances  of  the  case.  He  died  piously 
and  comfortably,  bearing  an  honourable  testimony  to 
the  cause  in  which  he  had  spent  his  life,  and  exhort- 
ing his  brethren,  who  surrounded  his  bed  and  sought 
to  alleviate  his  sufferings  by  the  most  sympathizing 
attentions,  to  persevere  in  their  attachment  to  it,  what- 
ever it  might  cost  them.  Such  was  the  respect  in 
which  he  was  held,  that,  though  a  stranger,  his  body 
was  accompanied  to  the  grave  by  above  five  hundred 
persons  of  respectability.  Lawson  had  been  selected 
from  all  his  brethren  by  Knox,  to  whom  "  he  owed 
even  his  own  self  besides,"  as  the  individual  best 
qualified  for  succeeding  him  in  the  charge  of  the 
church  of  Edinburgh  ;  and  his  conduct  in  that  impor- 
tant station,  and  during  the  most  difficult  times, 
proved  that  the  choice  had  been  made  with  our  Re- 
former's usual  sagacity.  He  was  pious,  learned,  elo- 
quent; modest,  zealous,  prudpnt.||  He  had  been  ori- 
ginally in  a  humble  situation,  and  displayed  the  orna- 
ment of  a  humble  spirit  after  he  rose  to  distinction. 
His  capacity  and  avidity  for  learning  when  a  young 
man  had  attracted  the  attention  of  Andrew  Simeon, 
the  celebrated  master  of  the  school  of  Perth,  who 
took  him  into  his  own  house,  bestowed  upon  him  a 
gratuitous  education,  and  recommended  him  first  to 
the  University  of  St.  Andrews,  and  afterwards  to  the 


•  Dr.  John  Rainolds,  Divinity  Reader,  and  successively  Mas- 
ter of  Queen's  College  and  President  of  Corpus  Christi,  Oxford. 

+  Anti-tami-cami  Categoria,  Aulhore  A.  Melvino,  1604. 

t  Cald.  iii.  377—383,  436.  Hunie  of  Godscroffs  Hist.  ii. 
361. — On  the  11th  June,  1584,  a  commissioner  from  his  Majesty 
presented  to  the  town-council  an  answer  to  a  letter  of  their 
ministers,  with  a  charge  to  subscribe  it;  because  it  appeared 
to  be  "consMvif  in  scharp  and  ruch  tearnies,"  the  council  ap- 
pointed another  form  to  be  drawn  up.  On  the  afternoon  of 
the  same  day,  they  appointed  some  of  their  number  to  go  to 
Falkland  to  entreat  his  Majesty,  that  they  should  "  nocht  be 
burthenit  w'  any  thing  hurtfull  to  yair  consciences,  and  to  la- 
bour that  his  Mailie  may  be  content  with  the  secund  form  y'of 
pennit  be  the  town."  (Records  of  the  Town-Council  of  Edin- 
burgh, vol.  vii.  91,  b.  92,  a.)  This  request  was  peremptorily 
refused.  (See  the  letter  from  William  Davison  to  Secretary 
Walsingham,  June  IS,  1584,  in  the  Appendix.) 

P  David  Buchanan  De  Script.  Scot,  lllustr.  num.  53.  MS, 
Adv.  Lib.  W.  6.  34.  The  works  which  this  author  ascribes  to 
Lawson  appear  to  have  been  all  in  manuscript. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


259 


Countess  of  Crawfurd,  whose  son  he  accompanied  as 
tutor  to  the  Continent.*  After  his  return  to  his  na- 
tive country,  he  testified  his  gratitude  by  the  zeal  with 
which  he  uniformly  promoted  public  education;  and 
his  exertions  in  restoring^  the  High  School,  and  erect- 
ing the  University  of  Edinburgh,  entitle  his  name  to 
a  distinguished  place  among  the  benefactors  of  our 
national  literature.| 

Balcanquhall  and  Davidson  preached  once  or  twice 
in  London,  but  received  an  order  from  the  bishop  to 
desist.:j:  When  the  banished  noblemen  came  to  the 
English  capital,  they  applied  for  the  use  of  a  separate 
place  of  worship  :  but  this  liberty,  which  had  been 
granted  to  the  French  and  Dutch,  was  refused  to  them. 
The  Lieutenant  of  the  Tower,  however,  invited  the 
Scots  ministers  to  preach  in  his  Chapel,  which  was 
exempted  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  bishop  of  Lon- 
don. Among  other  exercises  performed  there,  Mel«- 
ville  read  a  Latin  lecture  on  Genesis,  which  was  well 
attended,  and  much  admired,  particularly  by  the  Earl 
of  Angus,  who  possessed  a  more  cultivated  mind  than 
any  of  the  Scottish  peerage. |j  It  is  somewhat  sin- 
gular that  Melville  should,  on  this  occasion,  have 
officiated  as  a  lecturer  in  the  place  where  he  was 
afterwards  confined  as  a  prisoner  of  state. 

Scotland  was  in  the  mean  time  suffering  from  the 
ravages  of  the  plague,  by  wiiich  its  principal  towns 
were  depopulated,  and  from  the  scourge  of  the  worst  of 
all  plagues,  an  insensate  and  despotical  government. 
The  following  anecdotes,  which  are  less  generally 
known,  will  perhaps  convey  a  livelier  idea  of  the  po- 
licy with  which  it  was  aflfiicted,  than  the  more  glaring 
acts  of  tyranny  which  have  been  often  brought  forward 
in  histories.  In  the  year  1584,  Robert  Brown,  the 
founder  of  the  sect  of  Brownists  in  England,  came 
out  of  the  Low  Countries  into  Scotland,  accompanied 
by  some  of  his  followers.  Having  taking  up  his  re- 
sidence in  the  Canongate  of  Edinburgh,  he  began  to 
disseminate  his  peculiar  opinions,  and  to  circulate 
writings  in  which  all  the  reformed  churches  were 
stigmatized  as  unscriptural  and  antichristian  societies. 
The  court  took  this  rigid  sectary  under  their  protec- 
tion, and  encouraged  him,  for  no  other  conceivable 
reason  than  his  exclaiming  against  the  ministers  and 
calling  in  question  their  authority, §  At  the  same 
time  Papists  were  openly  favoured,  and  arrangements 
made  with  James  Skeen,  one  of  their  emissaries,  for 
having  a  colony  of  Jesuits  quietly  admitted  into  the 

*  Wodrow's  Life  of  James  Lawson,  p.  1,  2,30.  Cald.  iii.  535. 

t  Crawfurd's  Hist,  of  University,  p.  19,  26.  Feb.  3,  1568, 
he  was  presented  to  "  the  secund  place  w'in  the  new  roliege 
or  pedagog  w'in  the  universitie  of  Sanctandrois,"  or,  if  it  was 
already  provided,  to  "  the  third  place  in  the  said  new  college." 
(Reg.  of  Present,  vol.  i.  f.  23.)  January  8,  1569,  he  was  pre- 
sented to  the  place  of  Sub-principal  in  the  university  of  Aber- 
deen, (lb.  vol.  i.  f.  26,  b.)  He  died  on  the  12th  o'f  October 
1584,  and  was  buried  "in  the  new  church-yaird  at  Bedleni." 
His  testament  was  subscribed  bv  him  "  at  London  in  Honielane 
of  Cheapside,  in  Mr.  Antony  Martine's  house  upon  Wednes- 
day the  7  of  October  1584."  On  hearing  of  his  death.  Arch- 
bishop Adamson  wrote  a  testament  in  his  name,  containing  a 
recantation  of  his  principles,  and  a  variety  of  letters  to  his 
brethren,  in  which  he  is  made  to  reflect  on  their  conduct  and 
motives  in  opposing  the  King  and  the  bishops.  These,  as  well 
as  the  real  testament,  are  inserted  in  Cald.  lii.  537 — 584.  His 
testament  informs  us,  that  he  left  three  children.  Among  the 
alumni  of  the  New  College  of  St.  Andrews,  A.  1601 ,  was  "  M. 
Jacobus  Lowson,  M.  .Tac.  f.  Edinburg.;"  of  whom  the  record 
says,  "paulo  post  obiit."  Elizabeth  Lawsoun  was  his  only  sur- 
viving child  in  Aug.  23,  1603.  (Inquisitiones  Retorn.  Gener. 
num.142.)  She  married  Mr.  George  Greir,  minister  of  Had- 
dington.  (Commissary  Records  of  Edinburgh,  April  5,  1615.) 

t'Cald.  iii.  649.  ||  Hume  of  Godscroft's  Hist.  ii.  361. 

5  Cald.  iii.  302 — 304.  On  his  return  to  England.  Brown 
published  a  book  into  which  he  introduced  various  invectives 
against  the  ministers  and  government  of  the  church  of  Scot- 
land. Dr.  Bancroft  did  not  scruple  to  appeal  to  his  inflamed 
statements,  as  one  of  the  two  authorities  on  which  he  rested 
his  attack  on  the  Presbyterian  discipline.  (Sermon  preached 
at  St.  Paul'is  Cross,  9  Feb.  1588,  p.  63.  Reprinted  Lend. 
1636. 


country.* — The  wives  of  the  exiled  ministers  of  Edin- 
burgh, indignant  at  an  abusive  letter  which  Adamson 
had  addressed  to  their  husbands,  wrote  a  reply  to  it, 
in  which  they  expressed  themselves  with  great 
warmth  and  treated  his  Grace  very  unceremoniously. f 
Instead  of  overlooking  this  very  excusable,  if  not 
amiable,  display  of  conjugal  affection,  or  defending 
himself  by  the  weapons  with  which  he  was  assailed, 
the  affronted  primate,  in  a  way  rather  unmanly,  re- 
treated behind  the  throne,  and  directed  its  thunder 
against  the  spirited  females  whose  wrath  he  had  pro- 
voked and  whose  charges  he  was  unable  to  repel.  A 
royal  proclamation  was  issued,  charging  them  and 
their  families  instantly,  linder  the  pain  of  rebellion,  to 
leave  their  manses  ;  and  also  commanding  and  charg- 
ing, under  the  same  pains,  certain  other  matrons, 
"  worse  affected  to  the  obedience  of  our  late  acts  of 
parliament,  to  remove  beyond  the  capital,  and  retire 
beyond  the  Water  of  Tay,  till  they  give  farther  de- 
claration of  their  disposition. ":|: — The  treatment  of  the 
Countess  of  Gowrie,  whose  husband  had  been  lately 
executed,  was  marked  with  the  most  savage  inhu- 
manity. She  had  come  to  Edinburgh  to  present  a 
petition  in  behalf  of  her  children,  whose  property  was 
confiscated.  After  being  different  times  repulsed,  she 
one  day  met  the  King  on  the  street,  and  "reaching  at 
his  cloak  to  stay  his  majesty,  Arran,  putting  her  from 
him,  did  not  only  overthrow  her,  which  was  easy  to 
do  in  respect  of  the  poor  lady's  weakness,  but  march- 
ed over  her,  who  partly  with  extreme  grief,  and  part- 
ly with  weakness,  swooned  presently  in  the  open 
street,  and  was  fain  to  be  conveyed  into  one  of  the 
next  houses,  where  with  much  ado  they  recovered 
life  of  her."|| — The  last  fact  which  I  shall  mention  is, 
if  possible,  a  proof  of  still  deeper  depravity,  whether 
it  be  viewed  in  a  political,  moral,  or  religious  light. 
William,  Prince  of  Orange,  the  patriotic  asserter  of 
the  liberties  of  the  Low  Countries,  fell  at  this  time  by 
the  hands  of  a  hired  assassin.  When  the  news  of  his 
death  came  to  Scotland,  the  King  said  openly,  that 
the  Prince  had  met  with  such  an  end  as  he  deserved, 
and  the  greater  part  of  the  court  rejoiced  at  the  event.§ 
An  administration  so  much  at  variance  with  the 
sentiments  of  the  nation,  and  which  trampled  so  out- 
rageously on  its  teriderest  and  most  sacred  feelings, 
could  not  maintain  itself  long.  The  people  groaned 
for  deliverance  from  a  tyranny  of  which  they  durst 
not  complain.  The  principal  courtiers  whom  Arran 
had  attached  to  him  by  his  favours,  disgusted  at  his 
arrogance,  or  anticipating  the  fall  of  his  fortunes,  con- 
sulted their  own  security  by  entering  into  a  corres- 
pondence with  those  who  were  likely  soon  to  supplant 
him.  His  power  rested  wholly  on  the  dread  he  in- 
spired and  the  ascendancy  which  he  had  gained  over 
the  royal  mind.  James  himself  began  to  feel  unhappy, 
though  he  still  continued  to  be  the  slave  of  an  ignoble 
and  vicious  favouritism.^  In  these  circumstances, 
the  exiled  noblemen,  having  obtained  the  permission 
of  Elizabeth,  appeared  on  the  borders.  They  had 
scarcely  entered  Scotland  when  the  inhabitants  began 
to  flock  to  their  standard,  and  by  the  time  that  they 
reached  Stirling,  to  which  the  court  retreated  on  their 
approach,   they  found  themselves  surrounded  with  a 


*  W.  Davison  to  Sec.  Walsingham.  Cotton  MSS.  Calig. 
C.  viii.  63. 

+  Harl.  MSS.  num.  291.  68.       Cald.  iii.  437. 

J  Harl.  MSS.  num.  291.  66.  Cald.  iii.  531.  Janet  Adamson, 
relict  of  Sir  James  Macgill  of  Rankeillor,  Clerk  Register,  was 
among  those  "worse  affected"  ladies. 

II  Davison  to  Walsingham,  Cotton  MSS.  Calig.  C.  viii.  84. 

I  Cotton  MSS.  Calig.  C.  viii.  63.     Cald.  iii.  435,  528. 

II  "  The  king  is  become  very  ill :  I  will  say  no  worse.  For, 
being  at  the  hunting,  when  he  came  home,  he  drank  to  all  his 
dogs.  Among  the  rest  he  had  one  called  Tell-true,  to  whom 
he  spake  thir  words:  Tell-true,  I  drink  to  thee  above  all  the 
rest  of  my  hounds;  for  Twill  give  thee  more  credence  nor 
either  the  Bishop  or  Craig."  (David  Hume  of  Godscroft  to 
Mr.  James  Carmichae],  March  20,  1584.  Cald.  iii.  750.) 


260 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


numerous  army.  After  meeting  with  a  slight  resist- 
ance, they  entered  the  town,  and  Arraa  consulted  his 
safety  by  flight.  A  short  negociation  followed  ;  and 
the  king  having  come  from  the  castle,  the  nobles  laid 
down  their  arms,  and  were  admitted  to  favour  and 
power. 

Melville  accompanied  the  banished  noblemen  from 
London,  and  returned  to  Scotland  in  the  beginning  of 
November  1585,  after  an  absence  of  twenty  months.* 


CHAPTER  v.— 1585— 1592. 

Melville  exerts  himself  in  recovering  the  liberties  of  the 
Church — Difficulties  in  the  Way  of  this — Selfishness  of  the 
Restored  Noblemen — Threatened  Dissension  among-  the 
Ministers  of  the  church — Education  and  character  of  the 
King — Examples  of  his  Dogmatism — Restoration  of  the  The- 
ological College  of  St.  Andrews — Melville  invited  back  to 
the  College  of  Glasgow — Returns  to  his  Place  at  St.  An- 
drews— His  Share  in  the  Process  against  Adamson — He  is 
Confined  beyond  the  Tay — Is  Restored — Disputes  on  the 
Execution  ot  Queen  Mary — The  French  Poet,  Du  Bartas, 
Visits  the  University  of  St.  Andrews — Annexation  of  the 
Temporalities  of  Bishoprics  to  the  Crown — Exertions  of 
Melville  at  the  time  of  the  Spanish  Armada — Inten  lew  be- 
tween James  Melville  and  a  Spanish  Admiral — The  Court 
Favourable  to  the  Church — Robert  Bruce — Melville's  Ste- 
phaniskion  Pronounced  at  the  Coronation  of  the  Queen — 
Royal  Encomium  on  the  Church  of  Scotland — Bancroft's 
Attack  on  it — Disgrace,  Recantation,  and  Death  of  Adamson 
— Civil  Establishment  of  Presbytery — Remarks  upon  it. 

The  first  object  that  engaged  Melville's  attention, 
after  his  return  to  Scotland,  was  the  restoration  of  the 
liberties  of  the  church,  which  lay  buried  under  the 
late  parliamentary  laws.  Considering  the  corrupt  in- 
fluence by  which  they  had  been  procured,  the  irregular 
manner  in  which  they  were  enacted,  and  the  baleful 
effects  which  they  had  produced,  the  abrogation  of 
these  laws  might  have  been  expected,  almost  as  a  mat- 
ter of  course,  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  estates  of 
the  kingdom.  But  it  soon  appeared  that  this  meas- 
ure would  have  to  encounter  the  most  strenuous  op- 
position, and  that  it  would  find  weak  and  treacherous 
friends  in  those  who  were  under  the  greatest  obliga- 
tions to  support  it. 

The  removal  of  the  corruptions  which  had  been 
introduced  into  the  church  during  the  late  maladmin- 
istration, was  at  first  craved  by  the  nobility,  and  ac- 
ceded to  by  the  King  in  general  terms. f  But,  in  the 
course  of  the  conferences,  the  sagacity  of  Secretary 
Maitland  soon  discovered,  that,  provided  they  obtain- 
ed satisfaction  in  what  regarded  themselves,  the  most 
of  the  nobles  would  be  easily  induced  to  pass  from 
their  demands  respecting  the  church.  Emboldened 
by  this  information,  the  King  opposed  any  alteration 
of  the  existing  ecclesiastical  law,  as  touching  on  his 
prerogative  which  he  was  determined  to  maintain. 
And  the  nobility  consented  to  gratify  him  in  this,  at 
the  expense  of  their  honour  and  good  faith.  In  all 
the  manifestoes  which  they  had  published  to  the  world, 
they  professed  that  one  of  their  primary  objects  was 
the  redress  of  the  grievances  under  which  the  church 
laboured.  They  had  repeatedly  and  solemnly  pledg- 
ed themselves  to  the  same  cause  during  their  exile  ;:t: 
and  by  this  means  had  secured  the  good  wishes 
and  cordial  support  of  the  nation  in  their  recent  at- 
tempt. The  hardships  and  sufferings  which  the  min- 
isters of  the  church  had  endured,  were  owing  in  no 
small  degree,  to  the  inviolable  attachment  which  they 
had  shewn  to  the  liberties  of  the  nation  and  the  inter- 
ests of  the  nobility.  Had  they  refused  to  approve 
of  the  Raid  of  Ruthven,  or  had  they  afterwards  con- 
sented to  retract  the  approbation  which  they  had  given 
it,  and  yielded  their  support  to  the  administration  of 
Arran,  they  might  have  secured  to  themselves  favour- 


•  Melville's  Diarv,  p.  162—164.  +  lb.  p.  164. 

t  Cald.  iii.  328,  ^9,  800.     MelvlUe't  Diary,  p.  133. 


able  terms,  or  at  least  have  escaped  persecuiion; — 
they  might  have  escaped  imprisonment,  and  tlie  loss 
of  goods,  and  exile,  and  this  last  wrong  and  insult, 
for  which  they  were  altogether  unprepared,  and  which 
was,  in  some  respects,  more  galling  and  intolerable 
than  all  the  former.  The  nobility  did  not  pretend  to 
deny  the  truth  of  these  allegations.  But  they  plead- 
ed that  the  King  was  inflexibly  bent  on  tiie  mainten- 
ance of  episcopacy  ;  that  he  felt  his  honour  implicated 
in  the  support  of  the  late  statutes  ;  that  it  was  neces- 
sary to  humour  him  and  to  gain  his  affections  ;  that  as 
soon  as  their  power  was  firmly  established  they  would 
obtain  for  the  church  all  that  she  required;  and  that 
in  the  meantime,  if  any  altercation  arose,  they  would 
interpose  their  influence  between  her  ministers  and  the 
resentment  of  the  sovereign.  All  this  was  only  an 
excuse  for  bad  faith ;  and  it  was,  moreover,  bad  policy. 
The  King  could  not,  and  he  would  not,  have  refused 
the  joint  demands  of  the  nobility  and  the  church;  his 
honour  could  not  suffer  so  much  from  giving  up  the 
bishops  as  it  had  done  from  declaring  good  subjects 
and  admitting  into  his  secret  councils  men  whom  he 
had  so  lately  proclaimed  traitors  and  rebels ;  they  could 
urge  their  sense  of  duty  and  the  public  pledges  which 
they  had  given,  with  more  propriety,  and  with  less  risk 
of  giving  offence,  than  their  own  personal  claims ; 
by  humouring  his  Majesty  in  the  manner  proposed, 
they  would  foster  the  prejudices  which  he  had  unfor- 
tunately conceived,  infuse  jealousies  of  him  into  the 
minds  of  his  best  subjects,  and  give  occasion  to  dis- 
cord and  dissension  between  him  and  the  ministers  of 
the  church  ;  and,  in  fine,  the  boon  which,  if  now  con- 
ferred, would  allay  all  animosities,  diffuse  joy  and 
gratitude  among  all  his  majesty's  subjects,  and  estab- 
lish the  authority  of  his  present  counsellors  on  a  solid 
and  permanent  basis,  would,  if  withheld  till  a  future 
and  distant  period,  produce  none  of  these  salutary  ef- 
fects— ^be  conferred  without  cordiality,  and  accepted 
without  confidence.* 

From  the  charge  of  selfishness  and  ingratitude  to 
which  the  nobility  of  Scotland  subjected  themselves 
on  the  present  occasion,  justice  requires  that  we  should 
except  the  Earl  of  Angus,  who  remained  faithful  to 
his  promises,  and  deeply  lamented  the  defection  of 
his  peers.  This  is  but  a  small  part  of  the  tribute  due 
to  the  memory  of  the  most  patriotic,  pious,  and  intelli- 
gent of  the  Scottish  nobility,  whose  modest  and  un- 
assuming disposition,  and  retired  habits,  prevented 
him  from  taking  that  lead  in  public  affairs  to  which  he 
was  entitled  by  his  rank,  and  which  those  who  best 
knew  his  worth  and  talents  were  most  anxious  that  he 
should  not  have  declined. f  It  has  been  one  of  the 
great  misfortunes  of  princes  and  commonwealths,  that 
men  of  integrity  and  real  patriotism  have  shrunk  from 
the  contest  necessary  to  obtain  and  keep  possession  of 
high  ofl^cial  stations,  and  have  given  way  to  the  am- 
bitious, the  daring,  and  the  unprincipled,  who  deemed 
no  sacrifices  too  dear  for  the  enjoyment  of  power, 
and  scrupled  not  to  set  a  whole  nation  or  even  the 
world  on  fire,  that  they  might  rescue  their  own  names 
from  obscurity.  This  will  continue  to  be  the  case 
until  the  period  when  a  change  shall  take  place  which 
it  will  require  something  more  to  bring  about  than  a 
mere  reform  of  constitutional  laws,  when  it  shall  be 
believed  that  the  affairs  of  a  nation  can  be  managed 
on  the  same  principles  as  other  affairs,  and  when 
sound  sense  and  sterling  principle  shall  be  more  ad- 
mired by  the  public,  than  a  talent,  not  for  great  things 
— ^fbr  that  has  always  been  very  rare — but  for  intrigue 
and  bustle  and  shew ;  a  period,  as  to  the  near  approach 
of  which  the  wisest  will  not  be  the  most  sanguine 
in  their  expectations. 


*  Hume  of  Godscroft's  Hist.  ii.  375—381,  402 — 407.  Cald. 
iii.  853.     Sir  Janie*  Melville's  Mem.  171. 

f  Hume  of  Godscroft,  ii.  289.  293,  344,  375.  Meiville'a 
Diary,  p.  134, 164,  230.    Spot*.  372. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


361 


One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  new  counsellors  was  to 
advise  the  King  to  summon  a  parliament  to  be  held  at 
Linlithgow  in  the  month,  of  December.  Tiiis  was 
necessary  to  rescind  the  forfeitures  under  which  they 
were  still  lying,  and  to  legalize  the  step  which  they 
had  lately  taken.  It  had  been  the  almost  uniform 
practice  since  the  Reformation,  for  the  General  As- 
sembly to  convene  before  the  meeting  of  Parliament, 
that  they  might  have  an  opportunity  of  preparing 
petitions  to  lay  before  that  high  court.  Accordingly 
it  was  judged  proper  that  the  moderator  of  last  Assem- 
bly should  call  an  extraordinary  meeting  to  be  held  at 
Dunfermline  in  the  end  of  November.  But  when  the 
members  assembled,  the  provost,  alleging  an  express 
command  from  his  Majesty,  refused  them  admission 
into  the  town  ;  upon  which  they  met  in  the  fields,  and 
adjourned  to  meet  again  at  Linlithgow  some  days  be- 
fore the  opening  of  Parliament.* 

In  the  interval  Melville  was  busily  employed  in  re- 
pressing a  dissension  which  threatened  to  break  out 
among  his  brethren  respecfinof  subscription  to  the  late 
bond.  Travelling  through  different  parts  of  the  coun- 
try, he  urged  the  necessity  of  union  on  the  present  oc- 
casion, and  prevailed  on  the  subscribers  to  co-operate 
with  their  brethren  in  petitioning  for  the  repeal  of  the 
offensive  laws.f  The  success  which  attended  his 
labours  was  nearly  blasted  after  they  assembled  at 
Linlithgow.  A  preacher  introduced  the  subject  im- 
prudently into  the  pulpit,  and  condemned  the  conduct 
of  the  subscribers.  Craig  considered  his  honour  as 
affected  by  this,  and  in  a  sermon  preached  before  the 
members  of  Parliament,  not  only  vindicated  what  he 
had  done,  and  blamed  the  peregrine  ministers^  (as  he 
called  those  who  had  fled  to  England,)  but,  contrary  to 
the  doctrine  which  he  had  himself  formerly  maintained, 
he  extended  the  royal  prerogative  beyond  all  reasonable 
bounds,  and  exhorted  the  noblemen,  instead  of  stand- 
ing upon  their  innocence,  to  crave  pardon  of  his  Ma- 
jesty.:{:  This  incident  would  have  led  to  consequences 
fatal  to  the  church,  had  not  the  flame  been  allayed  by 
the  interposition  of  the  wiser  and  more  moderate,  who 
persuaded  the  parties  to  postpone  the  adjustment  of 
their  differences  to  a  future  period.  This  affair  having 
been  accommodated,  a  deputation  of  ministers  was  ap- 
pointed to  wait  on  the  nobility,  and  again  to  urge  the 
fulfilment  of  their  promises.  They  intreated,  reason- 
ed, expostulated,  threatened  ;  but  all  to  no  purpose. 
The  only  answer  which  they  could  obtain  was,  that 
an  insuperable  obstacle  had  presented  itself  in  the  re- 
pugnance of  the  royal  mind  to  their  requests.  They 
were  thus  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  having  recourse 
to  the  King,  and  this  led  to  a  personal  altercation  with 
him,  which  they  were  most  anxious  to  avoid.  He  re- 
ceived them  very  ungraciously,  repeated  all  the 
charges  against  them  which  they  had  been  accustomed 
to  hear  from  Lennox  and  Arran,  and  made  use  of  ex- 
pressions which  were  not  more  disrespectful  to  them 
than  they  were  indecorous  from  the  lips  of  a  king. 
The  consequence  was,  that  he  was  obliged  to  hear 
some  things  in  reply  which  were  not  the  most  grateful 
to  his  royal  ears.  Melville  defended  himself  and  his 
brethren  with  spirit,  and  hot  speeches  passed  be- 
tween his  Majesty  and  him  at  several  interviews. 

At  the  King's  desire  the  ministers  -drew  up  their 
animadversions  on  those  laws  of  which  they  craved 
the  repeal.  When  these  were  presented  to  his  Ma- 
jesty he  shut  himself  up  in  his  chamber  and  spent  a 
whole  day  in  penning  a  reply  to  them  with  his  own 
hand.  This  he  delivered  to  the  ministers  as  his  de- 
claration and  -interpretation  of  the  statutes,  telling 
them  that  it  should  be  as  valid  and  authentic  as  an 
act  of  Parliament.||     It  differed  considerably  from  the 


»  Melville's  Diary,  p.  164,  165.  +  Cald.  iii.  810. 

\  Life  of  Knox,  ii.  127 ;  compare  Hume  of  Godscroft,  ii.  333 
—399. 

II  Printed  Calderwood,  p.  193—196.    James  prefixed  to  his 


declaration  lately  published  by  authority,  and  which 
James  now  thought  proper  to  disavow  under  the 
name  of  "  the  bishop  of  St.  Andrews'  own  declara- 
tion."* But  still  it  defended,  and  indicated  a  dispo- 
sition to  support,  the  main  encroachments  which  had 
been  made  on  the  jurisdiction  and  liberties  of  the 
church.  Notwithstanding  the  challenge  with  which 
it  concluded,  the  ministers  declined  engaging  in  a  con- 
test in  which  authority  would  have  supplied  the  lack 
of  argument.  As  Parliament  was  in  haste  to  conclude 
its  business,  they  contented  themselves  with  present- 
ing a  supplication  to  the  King,  in  which,  after  expres- 
sing their  satisfaction  at  the  display  which  he  had 
given  of  his  "knowledge  and  judgment,"  they 
craved  that  the  subject  should  be  submitted  to  grave 
consultation  ;  that  the  execution  of  the  objectionable 
acts  should  be  suspended  until  the  next  meeting  of 
Parliament ;  that  they  should  have  liberty  to  hold 
their  ecclesiastical  assemblies  as  heretofore;  that  the 
bishops  should  assume  no  more  power  than  they  ex- 
ercised before  the  late  enactments  ;  and  that  all  minis- 
ters and  masters  of  colleges  should  be  restored  to 
their  places  and  possessions.  The  last  article  of 
their  request  was  the  only  one  which  was  ratified  by 
Parliament.! 

This  Parliament  dissolved  without  fulfilling  any 
of  the  expectations  which  had  been  raised  by  the  cir- 
cumstances in  which  it  met.  In  the  long  list  of  its 
acts,  consisting  of  so  many  ratifications  to  noblemen 
and  gentlemen  who  had  been  lately  outlawed,  and  in- 
cluding the  names  of  hundreds  of  their  retainers,  we 
look  in  vain  for  one  statute  calculated  to  secure  per- 
sonal or  public  liberty  against  the  invasions  of  arbi- 
trary power.:}:  On  the  other  hand  it  decreed  the  pun- 
ishment of  death,  "  to  be  executed  with  all  rigour," 
against  such  as  should  publicly  or  privately  speak  to 
the  reproach  of  his  Majesty's  person  or  government, 
or  should  misconstrue  his  proceedings  ;  and  it  pro- 
hibited, under  the  pains  of  sedition,  all  leagues  or 
bands  among  the  subjects  without  his  Majesty's  pri- 
vity and  consent,  under  whatever  pretext  they  should 
be  made ;  ||  although  the  principal  members  owed 
their  seats  in  that  parliament  to  a  league  of  this  de- 
scription, and  had  recently  been  charged  by  open  pro- 
clamation with  using  those  very  freedoms  against 
which  they  now  denounced  so  exemplary  a  punish- 
ment. The  despotical  acts  of  Arran's  parliament  were 
left  untouched;  and  although  some  of  them  were  in 


Declaration  the  words,  F.jus  est  eoqplicare  ciijus  est  condere;  a 
legal  maxim  of  which  he  was  extremely  fond,  and  which  he 
often  used  in  this  application.  (King  James's  Works,  p.  520. 
Lord  Hailes,  Memorials,  i.  52.) 

*  The  following  is  a  specimen  of  his  Majesty's  explications, 
and  of  his  egotistic  dialect:  "My  bishops,  which  are  one  of  the 
three  estates,  shall  have  power,  as  far  as  God's  word  and  ex- 
ample of  the  primitive  kirk  will  permit,  and  not  according  to 
that  man  of  sin  his  abominable  abuses  and  corruptions. — In  the 
fourth  act.  /discharge  all  jurisdictions  not  approved  in  parlia- 
ment and  conventions  without  my  special  license. — /acclaime 
not  to  myself  to  be  judge  of  doctrine  in  religion,  salvation, 
heresies,  or  true  interpretation  of  Scripture.  /  allow  not  a 
bishop  according  to  the  traditions  of  men  or  inventions  of  the 
pope,  but  only  according  to  God's  word. — Finally  I  say  his 
office  is  solum  •^ic-xomv  ad  vitam,  having  therefore  some  pre- 
lation  and  dignity  among  his  brethren,  as  was  in  the  primitive 
kirk. — To  conclude,  I  confess  and  acknowledge  Chri.st  Jesus 
to  be  head  and  lawgiver  to  the  same,  and  whatsomever  person 
doth  arrogate  to  himself  as  head  of  the  kirk,  and  not  as  mem- 
ber, to  suspend  or  alter  any  thing  that  the  word  of  God  hnth 
only  remitted  unto  them,  that  man,  I  say,  conmiitteth  manifest 
idotatrj-,  and  sinneth  against  the  Father,  in  not  trusting  the 
word  of  the  Son;  against  the  Son,  in  not  obeying  him,  and 
taking  his  place;  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  said  Holy  Spirit 
bearing  contrary  record  to  his  conscience." 

f  Cald.  iii.  210— 2fi8,  253.  Melville's  Diary,  p.  175— 179. 
Act.  Pari.  Scot.  iii.  395. 

t  The  only  act  which  has  the  semblance  of  this  is  that  which 
relates  to  charges  super  inqidrendis ;  and  all  the  provision 
which  it  makes  is,  that  the  charge  shall  be  subscribed  by  four 
of  the  chief  officer?  of  state.     (Act.  Pari.  Scot.  iii.  377.) 

11  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  iii.  375,  376. 


262 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


whole  or  in  part  rescinded  or  disabled  by  subsequent 
statutes,  yet  others  continue  to  this  day  to  disgrace 
our  legal  code ;  and  recourse  has  been  had  to  them, 
even  in  modern  times,  by  high-flying  statesmen  and 
court-lawyers,  to  crush  opposition  to  unpopular  mea- 
sures or  to  inflict  vengeance  on  those  who  had  incur- 
red their  political  resentment.  It  has  been  remarked, 
that  the  lords,  after  the  enterprise  of  Ruthven,  "  im- 
proved the  opportunity  of  insinuating  themselves  into" 
the  King's  "  favour  with  little  dexterity."*  It  ap- 
pears that  they  were  now  convinced  of  their  error ; 
and  as  they  were  men  by  no  means  destitute  of  sa- 
gacity, their  conduct  shews  what  was  the  most  likely 
way  of  securing  the  royal  favour. 

As  the  personal  conduct  of  his  Majesty  had  from 
this  period  great  influence  on  transactions  in  church 
and  state,  and  as  his  name  will  often  occur  in  the  fol- 
lowing pages,  it  may  be  proper  here  to  give  some  ac- 
count of  his  education  and  character. 

James,  after  he  grew  up,  was  accustomed  to  com- 
plain of  the  treatment  he  had  received  from  those  who 
governed  the  kingdom  during  his  minority.  In  these 
complaints  there  was  much  ingratitude  mixed  with  the 
political  prejudices  which  he  unhappily  imbibed.  No 
monarch  of  that  age  had  such  attention  paid  to  him 
in  his  early  years.  Every  provision  was  made,  by  the 
Estates  of  the  kingdom,  for  his  personal  safety  and 
comfort,  and  for  his  being  educated  in  a  manner  be- 
coming his  rank  as  king  of  Scotland,  and  his  pros- 
pects as  presumptive  heir  to  the  throne  of  England. 
The  command  of  the  Castle  of  Stirling,*chosen  as  the 
place  of  his  residence,  was  entrusted,  upon  the  death 
of  the  Regent  Mar,  to  his  brother.  Sir  Alexander 
Erskine  of  Gogar,  a  gentleman  of  approved  courage, 
and  of  the  strictest  honour  and  integrity.  The  imme- 
diate care  of  James's  person,  during  his  youth,  was 
committed  to  Annabella,  Countess  of  Mar,  the  widow 
of  the  deceased  regent,  who  discharged  the  duties  of 
her  place  with  the  most  unexceptionable  propriety 
and  delicacy. f  David  and  Adam  Erskine,  commen- 
dators  of  Dryburgh  and  Cambuskenneth,  both  gentle- 
men of  excellent  character,  superintended  the  bodily 
exercises  and  sports  proper  for  a  young  prince.  Gil- 
bert Moncrieff,  a  learned  man  who  had  studied  in 
foreign  universities,  and  sustained  the  fairest  reputa- 
tion both  abroad  and  at  home,  held  the  place  of  physi- 
cian in  the  royal  household.:^:  The  superintendence 
of  the  Prince's  studies,  and  of  whatever  related  to  the 
improvement  of  his  mind,  was  devolved  on  Buchanan, 
who  was  qualified  for  this  important  task  not  less  by 
his  unbending  integrity  and  the  soundness  of  his 
judgment,  than  by  the  splendour  of  his  genius  and  the 
extent  of  his  erudition. 

The  plan  on  which  the  education  of  James  was 
conducted  is  a  proof  of  the  enlightened  views  of  his 
preceptor.  It  included  the  learned  languages,  arith- 
metic, geography,  astronomy,  rhetoric,  logic,  and  his- 
tory.||  In  the  exercises  in  composition  prescribed  to 
the  royal  pupil,  more  attention  appears  to  have  been 
paid  to  improvement  in  the  vernacular  language  than 
was  common  at  that  period. §  Great  care  was  taken  to 
instruct  him  in  modern  history,  and  especially  the  his- 
tory of  the  nation  over  which  he  was  to  rule.^     And 


•   Robertson's  Hist,  of  Srot.  ii.  419. 

+  "  Sed  hoc  est  niemorabile  quod  Coniitissae  Mariae,  Proregis 
uxori,  coniissus  fuerft  enutricndus,  quae,  profecto,  gravitate, 
honitate,  oinnes  nobiiesexsuperavit.quae,  quantum  prae  loci  ejus 
dio^itate  potuit,  Regeni  sicut  ejus  nlium  aluit,  fovit,  et,  Zoilo 
Ftiani  contratestantp,  nutrivit.  Sic  Rex  puer  omnimodo  felix, 
si  fortuiiam  stiam  non  hesisset."  (Arch.  Simson,  Annales  Eccl. 
Scot.  MS.  p.  158.     See  also  Art.  Pari.  Scot.  vol.  iii.  p.  158.) 

1  Buchanan)  Epist.  p.  27.     Melville's  Diary,  p.  39,  56. 

ij  Irvine's  Memoirs  of  Burtianan,  p,  160,  second  edit. 

{  It  is  highly  probable,  that  "  The  Essayes  of  a  Prentice  in 
the  Divine  Art  of  Poe»ie,"  the  earliest  publication  of  James, 
consisted  chiefly  of  exercises  performed  by  him  under  the 
dirertion  of  Buchanan. 

%  Sibbaldi  ConiBient.  in  Vitam  G.  Buchanani,  p.  20. 


next  to  the  imbuing  of  his  mind  with  the  principles 
of  religion  and  virtue,  it  was  Buchanan's  great  con- 
cern to  give  him  just  views  of  the  nature  of  govern- 
ment, and  what  was  incumbent  on  the  king  of  a  free 
people.* 

James  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  a  private  and  pub- 
lic education  combined.  Several  young  men  of  rank 
were  allowed  to  reside  in  the  castle,  and  to  carry  on 
their  studies  along  with  him;  as  the  young  Earl  of 
Mar,  Sir  William  Murray  of  Abercairny,  a  nephew  of 
the  Countess  of  Mar,  who  spent  his  future  life  at 
court,  Walter  Stewart,  afterwards  Lord  Blantyre  and 
Lord  High  Treasurer,  and  the  Lord  Invertyle.t  To 
these  may  be  added  Jerom  Groslot,  a  Frenchman, 
afterwards  known  by  the  name  of  the  Sieur  de  I'lsle,:^ 
who  lived  in  habits  of  friendship  with  the  greatest 
men  of  his  age,  and  by  his  attachment  to  letters  and 
his  exertions  in  behalf  of  religious  liberty,  proved 
himself  worthy  of  the  master  under  whom  he  was 
educated,  and  of  the  high  commendations  which  he 
received  from  him.|| 

When  the  education  of  a  young  man  is  entrusted  to 
more  than  one  tutor,  it  is  of  the  utmost  consequence 
that  they  harmonize  in  their  views  and  mode  of  man- 
agement. To  the  want  of  this  is  to  be  ascribed  in  no 
small  degree  the  disappointment  of  the  hopes  formed 
from  the  education  of  James.  Peter  Young  acted  as 
Buchanan's  assistant,  and  was  sufficiently  qualified 
for  attending  to  the  more  trivial  parts  of  instruction. § 
Young  was  destitute  of  Buchanan's  genius,  and  every 
way  his  inferior  in  literature  ;  but  he  possessed  one 
talent  to  which  his  colleague  was  an  utter  stranger, 
that  of  knowing  how  to  improve  the  situation  which 
he  held  to  his  own  advantage.  He  did  not  indeed  fail 
in  outward  respect  for  Buchanan,  nor  did  he  resist  his 
authority,  but  he  injured  him  more  deeply  than  if  he 
had  been  guilty  of  both  these  offences.  Buchanan 
had  undertaken  the  delicate  task  of  directing  the 
young  king's  education  from  the  most  disinterested 
motives,  and  he  never  suffered  himself  to  be  diverted 
from  his  duty  by  the  slightest  regard  to  his  own  emol- 
ument. He  did  not  forget  that  he  was  training  up 
one  who  was  destined  to  reign,  but  he  knew  that  the 
best  way  for  fitting  him  to  sway  the  sceptre,  when  it 


•  See  his  Dedication  to  the  kiiig  of  his  Bapiistes,  De  Jure 
Regni,  and  Histor.  Rer.  Scot.  Translations  of  these  may  be 
seen  in  Dr.  Irving's  Memoirs. 

+  Crawfurd's  Officers  of  State,  p.  393,  402.  Douglas's  Bar- 
onage, p.  102.     Mackenzie's  Lives,  iii.  172. 

\  "  Coniite  itineris  Hieronymo  Groslotio  Lislaeo,  nobili  Gal- 
lo,  cuius  niaiores  ex  Francia  Germanise  oriundi  erant,  nni  cum 
adolescentulo  Jacobo  vi.  Scotiaerege,  sub  Georgio  Bucnanano, 
educatus  fuerat,  Academias  Oxoniensera  et  Cantabrigienseni, 
bibliothecasque  libris  veteribus  refertissimas,  perlustrasset." 
(Vita  Pauli  Melissi.  in  Adanii  Vit.  German.  Philosoph.  p.  450.) 

His  father,  a  respectable  magistrate  of  Orleans,  lost  nis  life 
in  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew.  Buchanan  repaid  the 
civilities  which  he  had  formerly  received  from  the  father,  by 
the  kind  reception  which  he  gave  to  the  son,  when  he  took 
refuge  in  Scotland.  It  was  doubtless  by  his  influence  that  the 
young  exile  was  received  at  court,  and  permitted  to  prosecute 
his  studies  along  with  the  prince.  In  consequence  of  the  con- 
nexions which  he  at  this  time  formed  with  the  court  of  Scot- 
land, the  Sieur  de  I'Isle  was  afterwards  employed  in  certain 
confidential  communications  between  .fames  and  Henry  IV. 
of  France,  while  the  latter  was  king  of  Navarre.  They  related 
chiefly  to  a  proposal  of  marriage  between  King  James  and 
Henry's  sister.  Bayle  is  incorrect  in  his  statement  of  this  af- 
fair. (Diet.  art.  Navarre,  Jeanne  d'Albret  Reine  de.  Note 
Z.)  The  true  state  of  facts  mav  be  learned  from  Memoires  de 
M.  du  Plessis,  tom.  i.  p.  125— f27,  624,  648,  656;  and  Vie  dc 
M.  Plessis,  p.  122. 

II  Lipsii  Opera,  tom.  ii.  p.  139,  144.  Teissier,  Eloe-es,  tom. 
iii.  p.  314.  Buchanani  Epist.  p.  33,  34;  and  Irving's  Memoirs 
of  Buchanan,  p.  279—282.  In  1612,  he  sat  in  the  National 
Synod  of  Privas,  as  an  elder  of  the  church  of  Orleans,  and  was 
one  of  the  deputies  appointed  to  reconcile  the  Marshal  Duke 
of  Bouillon  to  the  Dukes  of  Sully  and  Rohan.  (Quick,  Syno- 
dicon  Galliae  RcformataB,  vol.  i.  p.  347,  368.) 

}  Young  was  for  some  time  on  the  Continent  with  his  uncle, 
Henry  Scrimger,  and  attended  the  University  of  Lausanne. 
(Smith,  Vita  Petri  Junii,  p.  4.  Adami  Vit.  German.  Theolog. 
p.  766,) 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


263 


should  be  placed  in  his  hands,  was  to  treat  him  as  a  boy 
as  long  as  he  was  such  ;  and  he  guarded  against  foster- 
ing those  premature  and  extravagant  ideas  of  superiority 
which  are  but  too  ready  to  rise  in  the  breast  of  a  royal 
youth  in  spite  of  the  utmost  care  and  vigilance  on  the 
part  of  his  tutors.  At  an  early  period  James  discover- 
ed symptoms  of  those  vices  which  afterwards  degrad- 
ed his  character,  and  rendered  his  administration  a 
source  of  uneasiness  to  himself  and  oppression  to  his 
people.  Buchanan  treated  these  with  a  whol(;some 
severity,  and  accordingly  kept  the  King  in  great  awe.* 
It  was  Young's  duty  to  have  avoided  every  thing 
which  tended,  even  indirectly,  to  counteract  the  in- 
fluence of  such  measures  ;  and  provided  he  had  used 
his  endeavours  to  reconcile  the  mind  of  James  to  the 
restraints  imposed  on  him  by  representing  them  as 
proceeding  from  the  regard  which  his  preceptor  felt 
for  his  welfare,  the  superior  mildness  of  his  own  man- 
ners might  have  proved  highly  beneficial.  But  he 
was  in  the  prime  of  life  ;  he  had  the  prospect  of  a 
family ;  he  saw  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from  in- 
gratiating himself  with  the  young  king;  and  with  a 
cool  and  calculating  prudence,  which  men  of  ordinary 
minds  often  possess  in  a  liigh  degree,  he  pursued  the 
course  which  tended  to  advance  his  worldly  interests, 
by  flattering  the  vanity  of  his  pupil,  humouring  his 
follies,  and  conniving  at  those  faults  which  he  ought 
to  have  corrected. f  The  consequences  were  such  as 
might  have  been  expected.  The  youthful  vices  of 
James  were  confirmed  ;  Buchanan  incurred  the  rooted 
aversion  of  his  pupil ;  and  Young  had  his  reward  in 
the  honours  and  gifts  that  were  lavished  on  himself 
and  his  family.:}: 

At  the  most  critical  period  of  his  life  .Tames  fell 
into  the  hands  of  Lennox  and  Arran.  The  great  ob- 
ject of  those  by  whom  he  was  now  surrounded,  was 
to  eradicate  any  good  principles  which  his  instructors 
had  sown  in  his  mind,  and  to  give  him  habits  opposite 
to  those  which  they  had  laboured  to  form.  The  great- 
er part  of  his  time  was  spent  in  pastime.  The  con- 
versation to  which  he  was  accustomed  was  profane, 
loose,  and  mixed  with  low  buffoonery.  Monberneau, 
a  French  gentleman  who  had  accompanied  Lennox  to 
Scotland,  and  who  was  equally  distinguished  by  his 
facetious  talents  and  his  licentious  manners,  was  the 
manager  of  these  scenes,  and  accompanied  the  King 
wherever  he  went.||  The  odious  and  abandoned  Arran 
initiated  him  into  youthful  debauchery,  and  with  the 
view  of  inflaming  his  passions,  scrupled  not  to  trample 
on  those  ties  which  natural  aff"ection  and  a  sense  of 
honour  have  induced  the  most  profligate  to  Tespect.§ 
At  the  same  time,  the  doctrine  of  absohite  power,  so 
flattering  and  grateful  to  princes,  was  poured  into  his 


*  Irvine's  Memoirs  of  Buchanan,  p.  159.  D'Israeli's  Inquirj* 
into  the  Cnaractpr  of  James  I.  p.  61. 

f  Sir  James  Melvil  (Memoirs,  p.  125.)  has  insinuated  all 
that  is  oontained  in  the  text.  The  charge  has  been  direct!}' 
brought  against  Young  bj-  Archibald  Simson,  who  had  p-ood 
opportunities  of  information,  as  his  brother  Patrick  was  minis- 
ter of  Stirling,  and  lived  on  an  intimate  footing  with  the  family 
of  Mar.  His  words  are:  "  Educationis  ejus  cura  Georgio 
Buchanano  comissa  est  et  Pctro  Junio,  qui  impares  omnimodo 
erant;  quod  ille  inter  literatos  fuit  literatissimus,  iste  medio- 
critcr  elementa  vix  gustaverit.  Sed  in  hoc  differebant:  Bu- 
chananus  animi  candore  juvenis  Regis  naturam  praesagiens 
satis  acriter  monendo  cnnipescebat;  alter  adulando  fovebat. 
Sed  quid  eruditionis  in  Rege  erat,  hoc  Georgio  Buchanano 
debebat."     (Annales  Ecclesige  ScoticanpCvMS.  p.  158.) 

i  See  the  places  in  the  Acts  of  the  Parliaments  of  Scotland 
referred  to  in  the  Index  under  the  articles,  Young  (Peter,) 
and  his  children.  Scaliger  has  remarked,  that  princes  of  some 
learning  dislike  men  of  great  learning,  and  delight  only  in  pe- 
dantic pedagogues.  "  Principes  docti  oderunt  doctissimos 
homines,  amant  tantuni  pedantes  raagisterulos."  (Scaligerana, 
Thuana,  f.x.  torn.  ii.  p.  473.) 

H  Strype's  Annals  of  the  Reformation,  ii.  622.  Melville's 
Diary,  p.  59,  60.  See  also  the  facts  and  authorities  stated  in 
Note  V. 

§  Cald.  MS.  apud  Adamson's  Muse's  Threnodie,  vol.  ii.  p. 
86.  Perth,  1774. 


ear.  His  mind  was  filled  with  prejudices  against 
those  who  had  preserved  his  life  and  crown  during 
his  minority.  He  was  told,  that  all  that  had  been 
done  during  that  period,  and  ever  since  the  Reforma- 
tion, was  obnoxious  to  the  charge  of  faction  and  usur- 
pation and  rebellion.  And  he  was  taught,  that  the 
only  way  to  legitimate  his  authority,  and  procure  the 
acknowledgment  of  it  by  foreign  princes,  was  either 
to  admit  his  mother  to  a  share  with  him  in  the  gov- 
vernment,  or  else  by  renouncing  his  crown,  to  receive 
it  again  with  her  voluntary  consent  and  parental  bene- 
diction. Strong  prejudices  were  instilled  into  his 
mind  against  the  government  and  ministers  of  the 
church.  The  former  was  represented  as  utterly  irre- 
concilable with  a  pure  and  absolute  monarchy.  And 
if  the  latter  were  suffered  to  retain  their  liberties,  he 
was  taught  to  believe  tliat  he  would  be  liable  to  be 
continually  checked  and  controlled  in  the  execution  of 
his  will.*  Historians  have  dwelt  on  the  arbitrary 
administration  of  the  favourites ;  but  pernicious  as 
this  was,  it  appears  harmless  when  compared  with 
their  malignant  and  too  successful  efi"orts  to  poison  the 
principles  and  corrupt  the  morals  of  the  prince  who 
had  unhappily  lallen  under  their  influence.  To  the 
impressions  which  he  received  at  this  time  we  must 
trace,  as  their  principal  cause,  the  troubles  which  dis- 
tracted his  administration  in  Scotland,  as  well  as  his 
arbitrary  and  disreputable  reign  in  England,  which 
prepared  the  revolution  by  which  his  successor  was 
overwhelmed,  and  led  to  the  ultimate  expulsion  of  the 
Stuarts  from  the  throne  of  their  ancestors. 

When  the  banished  lords  returned  from  England, 
James  was  in  the  twentieth  year  of  his  age;  and  as 
he  early  arrived  at  maturity,  his  character  had  already 
unfolded  itself,  and  his  capacity  appeared  to  greater 
advantage,  and  perhaps  was  really  greater,  than  at  any 
future  period  of  his  life.f  He  possessed  a  natural 
quickness  of  apprehension  and  fluency  of  speech, 
which  had  an  imposing  efl"ect,  and  impressed  strangers 
with  an  idea  of  his  talents  which  subsequent  acquain- 
tance invariably  tended  to  diminish.  He  was  not  de- 
ficient in  learning,  but  his  knowledge  was  of  that 
kind  which  is  often  attained  by  persons  of  high  rank 
but  slender  intellect,  who  have  received  a  good  edu- 
cation. The  soil  being  thin  but  well  improved,  the 
abundance  of  the  first  crops  excited  hopes  which  were 
not  afterwards  gratified.  The  taste  which  he  had  con- 
tracted for  study,  and  which  to  a  vigorous  and  sound 
mind  would  have  afl'orded  an  innocent  and  agreeable 
relaxation,  only  served  to  minister  to  his  vanity,  and 
to  create  a  feverish  thirst  for  literary  fame  which  noth- 
ing but  courtly  adulation  could  gratify.  His  studies 
never  interfered  with  his  amusements  ;  but  they  di- 
verted him  from  the  duties  of  his  office,  and  confirmed 
and  agrgravated  the  errors  of  his  administration.  When 
he  should  have  been  learning  the  art  of  government 
he  was  serving  an  apprenticeship  to  the  muses;  and 
while  his  ministers  were  perverting  all  the  principles 
of  justice,  and  grinding  the  faces  of  his  subjects  with 
oppression,  he  was  busied  in  composing  and  publish- 
ing "  rules  and  cautelis  for  Scottish  poesy .":}:   Having 


*  Melville's  Diary,  p.  89.  "  At  that  time  it  was  a  pitie  to  sie 
sa  weill  a  brought  vp  prince,  till  his  bernhead  was  past,  to  be 
sa  miserablie  corrupted  in  the  entress  of  his  springall  age; 
baith  with  sinistrous  and  fals  information  of  all  proceidings  in 
his  niinoritie,  and  with  euitt  and  niaist  dangerous  grundes  and 
principalles  in  government  of  kirk  and  common  welth,"  &c. 

+  "  Encore  (says  the  French  ambassador  in  a  letter  to  the 
Marquis  de  Sillerj',  October  31,  1606.)  qu'un  Gentilhomnie 
d'honneur  ni'ait  dit,  que  tous  ceux  de  cette  niaison  promettent 
m'erveille  jusqu'a  Page  de  20  ans,  niais  que  de-la  en  avant  ils 
diminuent'bien;  m'alleguant  a  ce  propos  I'example  du  jRoi  pre- 
sent." He  adds,  speaking  of  Prince  Henry:  '•  Toutefois  ce  qui 
fait  centre  cela,  c'est  que  celui-ci  tient  beaucoup  de  sa  mere." 
(Ambassades  de  M.  de  la  Boderie,  torn.  i.  p.  402.) 

I  James's  first  publication,  which  made  its  appearance  during 
the  reign  of  Arran,  is  entitled,  •'  The  Essayes  of  a  Prentise  in 
the  Divine  art  of  Poesie.    Imprinted  at  Edinburgh,  by  Thomas 


264 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


little  mind  of  his  own,  he  was  moulded  by  those  who 
were  near  him,  and  whom  vanity  or  affection  induced 
him  to  imitate.  Hence  the  motley  and  heterogeneous 
composition  of  his  character — that  love  of  letters 
which  was  combined  with  a  passion  for  low  sports 
and  buffoonery  ;  those  pretensions  to  religion  which 
were  discredited  by  vulgar  profaneness  and  the  coarsest 
blasphemy;  and  those  maxims  of  political  wisdom  which 
w^ere  mixed  up  in  his  speeches  and  writings  with  the 
most  undisguised  avowal  of  the  principles  of  absolute 
authority.  The  former  were  instilled  into  his  mind  by 
his  early  instructors  :  the  latter  he  drank  in  from  his 
corrupt  favourites  and  the  base  companions  whom  they 
placed  around  him.  Other  princes  were  in  love  with 
despotic  power :  James  thought  that  he  could  demon- 
strate its  reasonableness,  and  was  not  satisfied  unless 
he  could  produce  the  same  conviction  in  the  breasts 
of  others.  He  employed  both  the  sceptre  and  the  pen 
in  its  defence,  and  those  who  ventured  to  oppose  his 
measures,  had  to  encounter  the  dogmatism  of  the  dis- 
putant as  well  as  the  wrath  of  the  despot. 

Poetry,  politics,  and  divinity,  vi'ere  the  three  sub- 
jects on  which  his  Majesty  was  fond  of  displaying 
his  talents.  The  poets  were  more  disposed  to  pay 
their  court  to  him  than  to  contest  his  merits  ;  there 
were  few  politicians  at  that  time  who  were  so  bold  as 
to  lay  down  rules  to  kings,  or  to  question  the  wisdom 
of  their  actions ;  so  that  the  chief  opposition  which 
James  met  with  was  from  divines,  who  wanted  taste 
to  perceive  or  politeness  to  applaud  the  beauties  of  his 
sonnets,  insinuated  their  doubts  of  the  political  apho- 
risms which  he  gave  out,  and  flatly  contradicted  his 
theological  dogmas.  James,  on  the  contrary,  plumed 
himself  greatly  on  his  skill  in  divinity,  and  verily 
thought  that  he  could  settle  a  theological  question,  or 
make  a  commentary,  or  handle  a  text,  better  than  all 
the  divines  of  his  kingdom.  This  appeared  very  con- 
spicuously in  the  late  conferences  at  Linlithgow.  In 
the  same  paper  in  which  he  disclaimed  the  right  of 
judging  in  doctrine,  interpretation  of  Scripture,  or 
heresies,  he  dogmatized,  and  interpreted,  and  created 
heresies,  with  the  utmost  freedom  and  confidence. 
And  he  concluded  with  throwing  down  the  gauntlet  to 
the  whole  clerical  corps  :  "  Whatsoever  I  have  aflSrm- 
ed,  I  will  offer  me  to  prove  by  the  word  of  God,  pur- 
est ancients,  and  modern  neotericks,  and  by  the  ex- 
ample of  the  best  reformed  kirks."  He  gave  another 
display  of  his  passion  for  polemics  soon  after  the  dis- 
solution of  the  Parliam>ent.     Having  gone  to   Edin- 

Vautrouliier,  1584.  Cum  Privilegio  Regali."  Small  4to.  P  in 
fours.  It  consisted  of  sonnet*  and  other  poems,  partly  original 
and  partly  translated;  and  of"  Ane  schort  treatise  ronteining 
•ome  revlis  &  cautelis  to  be  obseruit  &  eschewit  in  Scottis 
Poesie."  This  last  is  in  prose.  The  "  Metaphoricall  invention 
of  a  Tragedie  called  Phoenix"  was  intended  to  commemorate 
his  late  favourite,  the  Duke  of  Lennox.  The  paraphrase  of  a 
part  of  Lucan  was  evidently  chosen  to  convey  James's  high 
notions  of  royal  power,  and  to  reflect  on  his  nobility  who  were 
then  living  in  England.  Having  said  that  all  the  rivers  are 
supplied  from  the  ocean,  which  could  suffer  no  diminution  by 
their  conspiring  to  withhold  their  waters,  he  goes  on  to  say: 

So  even  siclike:  Though  subjects  do  conjure 
For  to  rebell  again.at  their  prince  and  king; 
By  leuing  him,  although  they  hope  to  smjjre 
That  grace  wherewith  God  maks  him  for  to  ring. 
Though  by  his  gifts  he  shew  himself  bening 
To  help  their  need  and  make  them  thereby  gaine. 
Yet  lacke  of  them  no  harm  to  him  doth  bring. 
When  they  to  rue  their  folic  shall  be  fain. 

The  best  way  of  making  the  royal  pedant  to  "  rue  hia  folly* 
would  have  been  to  have  left  him  to  live  by  his  sonnets,  in 
which  case  he  would  soon  have  felt  that  dependence  from 
which  many  better  poets  have  not  been  able  to  save  themselves. 

James  Carmichael,  in   a  letter  written  from  London  to  the 

Earl  of  Angus,  Feb.  27,  1585,  mentions  that  "  the  King's  Po- 
esies" had  just  arrived,  and  "  some  sentences  and  verses  are 
not  well  liked  of,  as  he  being  a  king  of  great  expectation,  to 
whom  his  birth-right  hath  aeitinat  and  provided  great  king- 
doms. And  the  verses  which  are  a  commentarie  to  the  prose. 
Quo  duce,"  &c.     (Cald.  ii.  p.  745.) 


burgh,  he  attended  worship  in  the  Iligli  Church.  Bal- 
canquhall,  in  the  course  of  his  sermon,  advanced  some- 
thing which  was  derogatory  to  the  authority  of  bishops  ; 
upon  which  James  rose  from  his  seat,  and,  interrup- 
ting the  preacher,  asked  him  what  Scripture  he  had 
for  that  assertion.  Balcanquhall  said  that  he  could 
bring  sufficient  proof  from  Scripture  for  all  that  he 
had  asserted.  '^I'he  King  denied  this,  and  pledged  his 
kingdom  that  he  would  prove  the  contrary  ;  adding, 
"  I  know  it  is  the  practice  of  you  preaciiers  to  busy 
yourselves  about  such  causes  in  the  pulpit,  but  I  am 
aware  of  your  intentions  and  will  look  after  you." 
This  interlude  continued  upwards  of  a  quarter  of  an 
hour,  to  the  great  edification  of  the  audience;  after 
which  James  resumed  his  seat,  and  heard  the  sermon 
to  the  end.  But  he  was  not  satisfied  with  this  skir- 
mish. The  preacher  was  sent  for  to  the  palace,  where 
his  Majesty  had  the  satisfaction  of  engawing  him  in 
close  combat  for  more  than  an  hour.*  Not  long  after 
this,  he  signalized  himself  in  a  contest  with  an  ad- 
versary of  a  different  description.  A  great  number 
of  ministers  and  oilier  spectators  being  assembled  in 
Holyroodhouse,  James  Gordon,  a  Jesuit,  was  produc- 
ed ;  his  Majesty  singly  entered  the  lists  with  him, 
beat  that  practised  disputant  from  all  his  defences,  and 
was  saluted  victor  by  acclamation.f  James  has  often 
been  accused  of  cowardice;  but,  at  least,  he  discover- 
ed no  lack  of  courage  or  keenness  in  fightin?  for  his 
civil  supremacy  against  popish  priests,  and  for  his 
ecclesiastical  supremacy  against  presbyterian  par- 
sons.:}; 

The  conduct  of  the  nobilit)',  in  referring  the  minis- 
ters to  the  King  for  an  answer  to  their  petitions,  in- 
stead of  transacting  the  business  themselves,  produced 
another  evil  beside  that  of  fostering  the  unhappy  dis- 
position which  James  had  contracted  for  controversy. 
In  their  censures  of  public  measures,  the  preachers 
had  hitherto  said  nothing  which  implied  a  reflection 
upon  the  King  personally,  but  had  uniformly  imputed 
the  faults  which  they  condemned,  and  the  grievances 
of  which  they  complained,  to  the  advice  and  influ- 
ence of  his  counsellors.  What  had  taken  place  at 
Linlithgow,  joined  to  the  galling  disappointment 
which  they  had  met  with,  drove  some  of  them  to  a 
different  course.  In  particular,  James  Gibson,  minis- 
ter of  Pencaitland,  in  a  sermon  which  he  preached 
in  Edinburgh,  made  use  of  the  following  indiscreet 
language:  "I  thought  that  Captain  James  Stewart, 
Lady  Jesabel  his  wife,  and  William  Stewart,  had 
persecuted  the  church,  but  now  I  have  found  the  truth, 
that  it  was  the  King  himself:  As  Jeroboam  and  his 
posterity  were  rooted  out  for  staying  of  the  true  wor- 


*  Hent-y  Widdriiigton  toS<cietaiy  ^^'al!!ingham,  January  7, 
1585.     (Cotton  MSS.  Calig.  C.  viii.  237.) 

■)•  Moyse's  Mem.  p.  132.  Johnsloni  Hist.  Rer.  Brit.  n.  125. 
The  Jesuit  here  referred  to  was  uncle  to  the  Farl  of  Hunfly; 
and  is  commonly  designed  "Jacobus  Gordonus  HimlltBvs,"  to 
distinguish  him  fron)  "Jacobu.s  Gordonus  Lesmorans,"  who  was 
also  a  Scotchman  and  a  controversial  writer  among  the  Roman 
Catholics.  Spotswood  calls  him  "a  simple  man,  and  not  deoplv 
learned."  (Hist.  p.  306.)  But  this  is  a  mistake.  Gordon  was  well 
versed  in  the  controversies  of  the  age.  and  some  of  the  most 
distinguished  Protestant  divines  did  not  look  on  him  as  a  dtspi- 
cable  adversary.  (Glassii  Philol.  Sacra  Acronmiod.  a  J.  Aug. 
Dathio,  torn.  ii.  par.  i.  p.  48.)  Charters  says,  "  Pelcr  Black- 
burn wrote  a  book  against  James  Gordon  the  Jesuit."  (Short 
Account  of  Scotch  Divines,  p-  4.  MS.  in  Adv.  Lib.)  The  fol- 
lowing extract  from  the  proceedings  of  the  General  Assembly. 
February  1587,  relates  to  it.  "  Anent  the  dieput  l)ad  betwixt 
Mrs  James  Gordoun  and  Peeter  blackburne  commitlit  to  the 
revieu  of  Mr  Andro  Melvill  and  ctrtaine  brether,  the  said  Mr 
Andro  reportit  that  on  the  pairt  of  the  said  Mr  James  and  the 
enemies  they  fand  great  diligence  and  sopliistrie:  nlwnyesthey 
praised  god  for  the  knowledge  gevin  to  thair  brother,  in  whose 
answer  they  had  found  solid  judgment  and  great  licht  to  the 
praise  of  god  and  overthrow  of  the  enemie.''  (Buik  of  the 
Universair  Kirk,  f.  152,  a.) 

\  In  the  language  of  his  ancestor, 

"  He  turned  and  p^ave  them  baith  their  paikis,  "* 

F'or  he  (lurst  ding  na  udir. 

Men  (aid." 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


265 


shipping  of  God,  so  I  fear  that  if  our  King  continue 
in  his  present  course  he  shall  be  the  last  of  his  race." 
He  was  immediately  brought  before  the  Privy  Coun- 
cil, and  having  acknowledged  the  expressions  which 
he  had  employed,  was  declared  to  have  incurred  the 
penalty  of  treason,  and  imprisoned  until  further  steps 
were  taken  against  him.*  He  was  afterwards  liberated 
from  prison,  and  suspended  from  the  exercise  of  the 
ministry  by  the  General  Assembly  ;  but  as  the  King 
was  uncommonly  sensitive  as  to  personal  affronts, 
and  pardoned  them  with  greater  difficulty  than  an  at- 
tempt upon  his  crown,-)-  he  continued  long  after  to 
resent  the  liberty  which  Gibson  had  taken  with  his 
name.:}: 

Though  the  Parliament  had  passed  an  act  restoring 
the  ejected  professors  to  their  places,  Melville  found 
it  impossible  to  resume  his  academical  employment. 
The  plague  had  dispersed  the  students,  and  the  New 
College  had  been  completely  disorganized  during  his 
absence.  When  James  Melville  fled  into  England, 
Adamson  assumed  the  superintendence  of  its  affairs. 
At  first  he  attempted  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the 
young  men  by  professions  of  great  respect  for  their 
Principal ;  but  not  succeeding  in  this  he  altered  his 
course.  He  questioned  them  in  private  on  the  lec- 
tures which  they  had  been  accustomed  to  hear,  and 
the  doctrine  which  they  had  been  taught  on  particular 
topics;  and  the  information  which  he  acquired  in  this 
clandestine  way  he  used  to  inflame  his  Majesty  against 
Melville. II  The  supremacy  of  kings  and  the  pre- 
eminence of  bishops  formed  the  leading  features  of 
his  own  discourses  from  the  chair  and  the  pulpit;  a 
mode  of  teaching  which  was  extremely  acceptable  to 
the  King  and  his  courtiers :  For,  though  rulers  have 
often  complained  loudly  of  clergymen  for  introducing 
affairs  of  state  into  their  sermons,  they  have  never  had 
any  objection  to  the  practice  when  it  was  employed  to 
exalt  the  prerogative  or  to  eulogize  their  own  adminis- 
tration. But  the  students,  who  were  not  altogether 
strangers  to  such  controversies,  and  moreover  had  not 
the  greatest  confidence  in  the  bishop's  honesty,  ex- 
amined the  quotations  which  he  made,  and  the  author- 
ities to  which  he  referred  in  support  of  his  opinions, 
and  triumphantly  exposed  such  infidelities  and  inac- 
curacies as  they  detected. §  Other  acts  of  annoyance, 
such  as  young  men  are  extremely  apt  to  use  against 
those  who  have  incurred  their  dislike,  were  employed 
by  them  ;1[  so  that  Adamson  was  glad  to  give  up  his 
prelections,  and  to  avail  himself  of  an  order  of  court 
to  leave  St.  Andrews,  and  supply  the  place  of  the 
ministers  who  had  forsaken  the  capital.**  Irritated  by 


*  Record  of  Privy  Council,  21st  and  23d  Dec.  1585.  An  ac- 
count of  a  very  curious  conversation  between  tlie  King  and  the 
prisoner,  before  the  Council,  is  inserted  in  Wodrow's  Life  of 
Gibson,  p.  2,  3. 

f  Ambassades  de  M.  de  la  Boderie,  torn.  v.  p.  437,  489. 

i  Record  of  Privy  Council,  Sept.  24, 1586.  Bulk  of  the  Univ. 
Kirk,  tT.  150,  153.  Records  of  Presbytery  of  Haddington,  July 
15,  1590.  Gibson  being  apprehended  a  second  time  in  Novem- 
ber, 1590,  for  resuming  the  exercise  of  his  office,  Duncanson, 
one  of  the  King's  chaplains,  said  that  the  people  were  offended 
that  he  was  so  hardly  used,  while  Jesuits  were  overlooked. 
James  replied  that  "  no  Jesuit  had  wronged  his  person  so  much 
as  James  Gibson."  (Cald.  iv.  211,  212.  Wodrow's  Life  of 
Gibson,  p.  6.) 

II  Discoursing  one  day  on  this  subject,  he  exclaimed,  "  By 
the  Lord  God,  Sir,"  (for  the  bishop  cfid  not  scruple  to  encour- 
age his  Majesty  in  his  habit  of  profane  swearing,)  "  had  that 
enemy  to  lawful  authority  remained  another  half  year,  he  had 
pulled  the  crown  off  vour  head  by  his  seditious  doctrine:  For 
he  taught  that  kings  should  come  by  election,  as  the  multitude 
pleased  to  put  them  up  or  down."     (Cald.  iii.  530.) 

5  Cald.  iii.  530. 

%  Davison  to  Wulsingham,  Cotton  MSS.  Calig.  C.  vii.  78. 

**  Adamson  felt  himself  exposed  to  similar  affronts  at  Edin- 
burgh. The  council  ordered  a  proclamation, "  that  nane  mak 
prouocation  to  the  archiebischop  of  Sanctand."  He  had  been 
called  over  "  to  use  the  pastoral  office  within  the  said  burgh," 
and  certain  of  the  inhabitants  had  employed  "  their  wives  and 
bairns"  to  insult  him  in  various  ways,  pretending  ignorance, 
&c.  (Record  of  Privy  Council,  Sept.  26,  1584.) 
2  I 


the  opposition  he  had  met  with,  and  averse  to  the 
system  of  theological  instruction,  he  procured  a  war- 
rant to  convert  the  college  into  a  school  of  philosophy, 
to  invest  Robertson,  who  had  become  subservient  to 
his  purposes,  with  the  office  of  Principal,  and  to  make 
such  other  arrangements  in  it  as  he  should  think  pro- 
per.* 

During  the  early  part  of  the  year  1586,  James  Mel- 
ville was  employed  before  the  Privy  Council  and 
Court  of  Session  in  getting  these  deeds  reduced,  and 
in  taking  such  other  steps  as  were  necessary  to  restore 
the  college  to  its  former  state. -f-  His  uncle  in  the 
mean  time,  took  up  his  residence  at  Glasgow  with  his 
old  friend  the  Rector,  who  had  requested  his  assis- 
tance in  reorganizing  the  university  in  that  city.  Hay 
and  the  other  patrons  of  the  institution  urged  him  to 
remain  with  them,  and  to  resume  his  former  situation, 
which,  owing  to  the  public  confusions,  had  continued 
vacant  since  the  death  of  Smeton.:}:  The  most  hand- 
some and  liberal  offers  were  made  to  induce  him  to 
comply  with  this  request.  But  though  he  retained  a 
great  affection  for  that  college,  which  he  used  to  call 
his  eldest  bairn,  and  though  he  was  sensible  that  he 
had  the  prospect  of  enjoying  far  more  personal  com- 
fort there  than  in  any  other  place,  yet  such  were  his 
convictions  of  the  national  utility  of  the  new  college 
of  St.  Andrews,  as  a  theological  and  literary  estab- 
lishment, that  he  could  not  think  of  deserting  it,  and 
determined  to  force  himself  a  second  time  from  Glas- 
gow, against  his  own  inclination  and  the  solicita- 
tions of  his  best  friends. ||  He  accordingly  returned 
to  St.  Andrews  in  the  month  of  March,  and  recom- 
menced his  lectures  after  an  intermission  of  two 
years. § 

Next  to  Arran,  no  individual  in  the  nation  was  so 
universally  disliked  as  Archbishop  Adamson.  He 
had  been  the  chief  adviser  of  the  laws  which  over- 
turned the  ecclesiastical  discipline.  He  had  lent  all 
the  influence  of  his  clerical  character  and  episcopal 
power  to  the  support  of  the  late  detested  adminis- 
tration ;  and  he  had  employed  his  pen  in  arraigning 
the  exiled  noblemen  and  ministers  as  traitors,  traduc- 
ing their  characters  before  the  world,  and  attempting 
to  drive  them  from  the  asylum  which  they  had  found 
in  England.  His  disgrace  ought  to  have  accompanied 
the  fall  of  the  administration  with  which  he  had 
chosen  to  connect  his  fortunes.  It  does  not  appear 
that  the  King  ever  felt  for  Adamson  that  personal 
favour  which  he  still  retained  for  Arran  ;^  but  having 
resolved  to  maintain  episcopacy,  he  judged  it  neces- 
sary to  protect  the  individual  who  was  its  ablest  and 
most  devoted  champion. 

James  Melville  preached  at  the  opening  of  the  pro- 
vincial synod  of  Fife  which  met  at  vSt.  Andrews  in 
April  1586.  In  the  course  of  his  sermon,  the  preach- 
er turned  to  the  archbishop,  who  was  sitting  with  great 
dignity  in  the  assembly,  and  charged  him  with  over- 
throwing, in  violation  of  his  promises,  the  scriptural 
government  and  discipline  of  the  church  of  Scotland  ; 
and  then,  addressing  himself  to  the  members  of  the 
synod,   exhorted  them  to  act  the  part  of  bold  chirur- 


*  See  Note  AA.  t  Melville's  Diary,  p,  180. 

I  On  the  10th  day  of  January,  1585,  (i.  e.  1586,  according 
to  modern  computation,)  Mr.  Patrick  Sharp  was  nominated  ana 
presented  to  the  place  of  Principal  of  the  College  of  Glasgow, 
vacant  by  the  decease  of  Mr.  Thomas  Sraeton.  (Register  of 
Presentation  to  Benefices,  &c.  voL  ii.  f  140.) 

II  Meivini  Epistolse,  p.  70,  71.         J  Melville's  Diary,  p.  180. 
IT  The  continuance  of  James's  attachment  to  that  worthless 

favourite  after  his  removal  from  court,  is  mentioned  by  H, 
Widdryngton  in  a  letter  to  Secretary  Walsingham,. dated  Jan. 
7,  1585—6.  (Cotton  MSS.  Calig.  C.  v44i.  237.)  And  by  the 
French  ambassador  in  a  letter  to  D'Esneval,  Oct.  31,  1586. 
(Extract  of  the  Dispatches  of  Courcelles.)  It  appears  also 
from  the  circumstance  of  his  not  filling  up  the  office  of  Chan- 
cellor, on  the  flight  of  Arran,  but  committing  the  discharge  of 
its  duties  to  Secretary  Maitland,  as  Vice-Chancellor,  which 
seems  to  have  been  an  office  created  for  (he  occasion.  (Craw- 
furd's  Officers  of  State,  p.  140,  143,  146.) 


266 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


geons  by  cutting  off  such  a  corrupt  member.  Adam- 
son  complained  of  lliis  injury  ;  but  the  synod  instant- 
ly converted  the  admonitions  of  the  preacher  into  for- 
mal charges,  and  put  the  bishop  on  his  trial.  He  at 
first  refused  to  answer,  and  asserted  that  it  was  his 
prerogative  to  judge  the  synod  instead  of  their  sitting 
in  judgment  upon  his  conduct.  But  after  being  repeat- 
edly summoned,  he  attended,  and  gave  in  objections 
to  their  procedure,  accompanied  with  answers  to  the 
charges  brought  against  him.  To  the  charge  of  having 
assumed  the  exercise  of  an  unlawful  office,  he  replied 
that  he  was  ready  to  maintain  the  lawfulness  of  epis- 
copacy before  the  General  Assembly  ;  and  he  defend- 
ed his  conduct  in  overthrowing  the  presbyteries,  by 
pleading  the  acts  of  Parliament,  which  he  dared  the 
synod  to  impeach.  He  objected,  among  other  things,* 
that  the  two  Melvilles,  and  the  Master  of  Lindsay,  as 
his  declared  enemies,  ought  not  to  be  permitted  to  sit 
as  judges  in  his  cause ;  but  the  synod  allowed  them  to 
retain  their  seats  after  they  had  cleared  themselves  of 
malice  in  the  usual  way.  On  this  ground  Adamson 
protested  and  appealed  to  the  General  Assembly. 
Notwithstanding  this,  the  synod  proceeded  with  the 
cause,  found  Adamson  guilty,  and  ordered  him  to  be 
excommunicated,  which  was  immediately  done  at  their 
appointment  by  Andrew  Hunter,  minister  of  Carnbee. 
As  soon  as  the  synod  was  dissolved,  the  archbishop 
drew  up  an  excommunication  of  Melville  and  some 
other  ministers,  which  he  caused  to  be  read  in  the 
church  by  one  of  his  servants ;  and  then  addressed  a 
complaint  and  appeal  to  the  King,  the  Privy  Council, 
and  the  E states. f 

Without  denying  that  Adamson  merited  the  censure 
inflicted  on  him,  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  the  pro- 
cedure of  the  synod  was  precipitant  and  irregular.  The 
manner  in  which  James  Melville  introdnced  the  affair 
was  certainly  a  material  prejudging  of  the  cause  ;  and 
there  is  reason  to  think  that  his  uncle  was  not  a  stran- 
ger beforehand  to  his  intentions.  At  any  rate,  both 
had  suffered  severely  from  the  bishop ;  and  although 
this  does  not  prove  that  they  had  conceived  malice 
against  him,  and  might  not  have  warranted  the  synod 
to  exclude  them  judicially  from  a  voice  in  the  trial, 
yet  their  voluntarily  declining  to  act  as  judges  would 
have  given  to  the  process  an  appearance  of  greater 
decorum  and  impartiality.  In  fine,  to  gain  in  any  due 
measure  the  end  proposed,  it  was  fit  that  the  sentence 
Bhould  have  had  higher  authority  than  that  of  a  pro- 
vincial synod,  and  that  the  cause  should  have  been  re- 
ferred to  the  General  Assembly,  especially  as  the 
bishop  had  appealed  to  that  judicature.  But  the  truth 
seems  to  be,  that  the  ministers  were  afraid  that  the 
ensuing  meeting  of  Assembly  would  be  overawed  by 


*  The  bishop  objected  to  ruling  elders  and  professors  of  uni- 
versities, who  had  not  received  imposition  of  hands,  having  a 
voice  in  the  synod;  and  in  particular  to  Robert  Wilkie,  who 
was  chosen  moderator.  In  hi<!  answer  to  the  bishop's  reasons 
of  appeal,  James  Melville  says:  "  He  distinguishes  the  clergy 
from  the  laicks.  This  smelleth  of  the  pride  of  papistry  and 
arrogancy  of  the  shavelings. — Mr.  Ro'  Wilkie  was  appointed 
be  tlie  act  of  the  reformation  of  the  colleges  to  teach  tlieology, 
and  to  expone  the  Scriptures,  as  Origcn  in  Alexandrina  Ec- 
cleitia,  being  but  Lztdimngisfer,  and  yet  approved  by  the  best 
bishops  of  Palrstina  before  whom  he  teached  in  divinity.  Mr. 
Robert  Wilkie  Lad  been  upon  the  exercise  sixteen  3'ears before, 
and  at  the  first  erection  of  the  presbyterie  of  St.  Andrews  be 
common  vote  of  the  brethren  elected  and  ordained  an  elder 
of  the  samen,  and  hath  from  that  time  still  laboured  in  the 
word  and  doctrine."  (Cald.  iii.  869.)  Wilkie  was  at  this 
time  a  professor  in  St.  Leonard's  College,  and  in  the  month  of 
June  following  was  elected  minister  and  pastor  of  the  congre- 

fation  of  St.  Andrews.  (Record  of  Kirk  Session,  penult.  Junii, 
sse.)  ^  ' 

+  CaJd.  iii.  858—865.  Melville's  Diary,  p.  180—182.  Spots. 
345,  346.  "April  26,  1586,  Bishop  of  St.  And*  excommuni- 
cation, qlk  was  acted  in  fyft',  to  be  intimat  and  registrat."  (Ab- 
stract o?  Records  of  IVesbytery  of  Edinburgh.  Wodrow,  MSS. 
Advoc.  Lib.  vol.  xxi.  4to.)  Adamson  him.setf  appears  to  say 
that  the  sentence  against  him  was  intimated  through  the  king- 
dom,   (Kpist.  ad  Jac.  Reg.  ante  Paraph.  Jobi.) 


the  King  who  had  summoned  it  and  in  whose  pre- 
sence it  was  to  be  held.  It  is  probable,  too,  that  the 
general  odium  under  which  Adamson  lay  at  this  time 
among  the  principal  gentlemen  of  Fife,  pushed  on  the 
synod  to  the  adoption  of  such  hasty  and  decisive 
measures.* 

It  has  been  said,  that  "  the  personal  emulation  be- 
tween Melville  and  Adamson  mingled  with  the  dis- 
putes of  the  church,  and  heightened  them."  I  con- 
fess I  have  not  met  with  any  thing,  either  in  the  con- 
duct of  Melville  or  the  bishop,  which  directly  warrants 
this  conclusion.  But  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  suppose 
that  personal  offences  had  arisen  from  their  having 
been  so  often  opposed  to  one  another  on  public  ques- 
tions, and  that  their  mutual  alienation  was  greatly  in- 
creased by  what  happened  during  Melville's  banish- 
ment. If  we  are  to  believe  Adamson,  the  Melvilles, 
not  contented  with  directing  the  highest  censures  of 
the  church  against  him,  were  concerned  in  a  conspi- 
racy against  his  life.f  He  wrote  to  the  King,  that 
James  Melville  had  travelled  through  the  country  to 
excite  the  gentlemen  against  him,  and  that  his  uncle 
had  convened  them  in  the  college,  and  instigated  them 
by  a  violent  harangue  to  assault  his  person.  James 
Melville,  on  the  other  hand,  informs  us,  that,  at  the 
time  referred  to,  he  was  confined  to  his  bed  with  a 
fever;  and  he  gives  the  following  account  of  what  re- 
lates to  his  luicle.  The  bishop,  to  testify  his  contempt 
for  the  sentence  of  the  synod,  determined  to  preach  in 
the  parish  church  on  the  Sabbath  after  it  was  pro- 
nounced. Such  of  the  people  as  scrupled  to  hear  an 
excommunicated  person  repaired  to  public  worship  in 
the  New  College.  It  happened  that  the  laird  of  Lun- 
die  had  come  to  St,  Andrews  on  business,  and  he  went 
also  to  hear  Melville,  accompanied  by  his  friends  and 
retinue.  An  individual  who  observed  the  crowd 
thronging  into  the  college,  told  Adamson,  as  he  was 
entering  the  parish  church,  that  a  number  of  gentlemen 
were  assembled  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  in- 
tended to  take  him  out  of  the  pulpit  and  hang  him. 
The  bishop,  whose  courage  was  not  equal  to  his  am- 
bition, was  struck  with  a  sudden  panic,  collected  his 
servants  around  him,  and  not  thinking  himself  safe 
in  the  church  took  refuge  in  the  belfry,  from  which 
the  magistrates  with  great  difficulty  persuaded  him  to 
descend,  by  promising  to  escort  him  home  in  safety, 
and  assuring  him  that  there  was  not  the  slightest  ap- 
pearance of  tumult  in  the  city.:J: 


*  "The  bishop  is  marvileuslie  hated  of  all  the  protestaiits, 
his  life  very  slanderous  and  shamfull  that  its  feared  that  yf  the 
k.  stand  in  his  defence,  as  hitherto  he  doth,  that  that  will  ali- 
enate many  mens  harts  or  make  thcni  judge  I'.ardly  of  hiuj. 
ffuU  resoluconys  taken  by  all  the  gentlemen  of  the  flife  and 
the  borough  townes  about  them  to  stand  with  their  ministers 
and  other  that  have  deaft  in  this  cause  agajnst  the  I!i?hop, — 
At  a  word  I  never  harde  man  worce  sfrokrn  of  Ther  is  a 
legend  wryten  of  his  life,  the  nearest  to  that  of  the  abbot  of 
Cfunye  that  was  wryten  of  the  death  of  the  Cardiuall  of  Lor- 
rayne,  that  may  be.  (Randolph  to  Walsingham,  April  22, 
1586.     Cotton  MSS.  Calig.  C.  ix.  iii.) 

The  following  notice  appears  to  be  taken  from  a  diary 
written  at  the  time:  "Upon  the  16  o(  Aprile,  Patrick,  arch- 
bishop of  Sanct  Andrews,  was  stricken  be  the  Master  of  Lind- 
say and  Thomas  Scott  of  Abbotshall.and  was  excommunicated 
be  the  ministers.  Whereupon  both  the  strickers  &excomniuii- 
icaters  were  summoned."     (Cald.  iii.  873.) 

•)•  To  this  the  bishop  refers  in  the  following  rhetorical  pas- 
sage, quoted  by  his  btographer:  "  Adjuro  te,  Mrlvine,  per  bi- 
furcata  tuani  frontem,  per  tumentes  venas,  perardentes  oculos, 
Ac.  quo  die  Barrimoniium  conscendisti;  Quee  tua  mensl  qui* 
ille  animus?  quis  ardor  oculi?  quae  tune  nefarias  atque  impiae 
conjurationes  cu  sceleratis  tuis  &  perditis  latronibus  undiqueq. 
coactis,  &  in  scelus  omne  propensis,  in  caput  nostrum  conjur- 
antibus?  Ecce  duo  gladii  hic,  unus  ad  excommunicandnni,  alter 
ad  interficiendum."  (Tho.  Volueenus,  Vita  Patricii  Adam- 
soni,  p.  6.) 

'ByBarrimontium  we  are  probably  to  understand  Eali-umont, 
a  place  in  the  neighbourhooil  of  St.  Andrews,  where,  it  wa» 
alleged,  the  conspiracy  against  the  bishop  was  formed. 

\  Adamson,  De  Pastoris  Munrre,  p.  68,  69,  et  Vila  ejus  ad- 
ject, p.  6.     Lond.  1619, 12nio.     Melville's  Diarj-,  p.  182, 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


267 


When  Adamson's  cause  came  before  the  General 
Assembly,  which  met  at  Edinburgh  on  the  10th  of 
May,*  it  was  agreed  to  wave  the  formal  consideration 
both  of  the  sentence  of  the  Synod  of  Fife,  and  of  the 
appeal  from  it,  and  to  remove  the  excommunication, 
upon  condition  that  the  bishop  subscribed  a  form  of 
submission  which  was  prescribed  to  him.  By  this 
deed  he  disclaimed  all  supremacy  over  the  synod,  and 
all  right  to  judge  other  pastors  or  ministers,  and  de- 
clared, that  if  he  had  claimed  this  power,  he  had  done 
wrong,  and  craved  pardon  for  his  oversight  and  impe- 
rious behaviour;  and  he  promised  to  conduct  himself 
for  the  future  as  a  moderate  pastor,  and  to  submit  his 
life  and  doctrine  to  the  trial  and  censure  of  the  General 
Assembly,  without  appealing  in  any  way  from  its  de- 
terminations. This  declaration  having  been  subscribed 
by  Adamson,  the  Assembly,  •'  to  give  testimony  with 
what  good  will  they  would  obey  his  highness  so  far  as 
they  might  and  ought,"  declared,  that,  without  judging 
of  the  appeal  or  condemning  the  synod,  "  ihey  held  tlie 
said  process  and  sentence  as  unled,  undeduced,  or  un- 
pronounced,  and  restored  the  said  bishop  to  the  state 
he  was  in  immediately  before,  provided  always  he  ob- 
served his  promises  and  behaved  himself  dutifully. f 
Archbishop  Spotswood  expresses  his  surprise  that  Ad- 
amson should  have  submitted  to  terms  so  derogatory 
to  his  episcopal  authority ;  and  he  insinuates  that  the 
King  temporized  with  the  church,  in  the  hopes  that  he 
would  be  able  at  a  future  period  to  restore  the  bishops 
to  their  legitimate  power.  The  conduct  of  James  gives 
too  much  ground  for  suspecting  him  of  such  views. 
But  so  far  were  the  court  from  thinking  that  they  had 
pledged  themselves  too  far,  that  they  regarded  what 
they  had  accomplished  as  a  victory  ;  and  the  act  of  As- 
sembly restoring  Adamson,  in  which  his  submission 
was  embodied,  was  triumphantly  proclaimed  at  the 
market-cross  of  Edinburgh  by  sound  of  trumpet. ij: 

In  the  month  of  February  preceding,  the  Kintj  had 
called  together  certain  ministers,  whom  he  judged  more 
moderate  than  the  rest,  to  confer  with  a  deputation  from 
the  Privy  Council  on  the  subject  of  the  ecclesiastical 
polity.  Their  consent  was  obtained  to  a  species  of 
episcopacy,  although  of  a  very  limited  kind.  The  re- 
sult of  this  conference  was  now  laid  before  the  General 
Assembly,  and  all  the  influence  of  the  court  was  em- 
ployed to  procure  its  ratification. §  The  King's  com- 
missioners protested  that  if  it  was  not  simply  adopted, 
his  Majesty  would  retract  the  concessions  which  he 
had  made,  and  leave  the  late  acts  of  Parliament  to  be 
carried  into  execution.  Notwithstanding  this  threat, 
the  assembly  entered  upon  the  examination  of  the  ar- 
ticles laid  before  them.  They  declared  that  bishops 
were  not  superior  to  other  pastors  ;  and  being  asked,  if 
they  would  not  allow  them  a  pre-eminence  in  respect 
of  order,  though  not  of  jurisdiction,  they  answered, 

*  This  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  was  called  by  a 
royal  proclamation,  which  declared  that  the  members  should 
incur  no  danger,  "  notwithslanuinj^  any  laws  &c.  maid  in  the 
contrair."  (Record  of  Privy  Council,  April  5,  1586.)  Before 
proceeding  to  choose  their  moderator,  the  members  received  a 
niessa<je  to  come  down  to  the  Royai  Chapel,  with  which  they 
complied  after  protesting  that  this  should  not  prejudge  their 
liberties.  James  having  taken  his  place  at  the  head  of  a  table 
around  which  the  members  were  seated,  entertained  them  with 
a  harangue,  and  then  dismissed  them  to  their  ordinary  house. 
(Cald.  iii.  881.) 

+  Bulk  of  Univ.  Kirk,  f.  141.  Cald.  899,  900.  Against  this 
decision  Hunter,  who  had  pronounced  the  sentence  of  excom- 
munication, protested.  Spotswood  represents  Melville  and 
Thomas  Buchanan  as  adhering  to  Hunter's  protest.  (Hist.  p. 
347.)  This  is  a  mistake.  The  fact  is  correctly  stated,  from  the 
minutes,  in  Printed  Calderwood,  p.  210,  211.  The  bishop,  in 
his  history,  passes  over  one  circumstance  which  he  could  scarcely 
have  forgotten,  vit.  that  in  the  list  of  those  who  opposed  the 
absolution  of  Adamson,  is  the  name  of  John  Spotswood.  (Cald. 
iii.  916.) 

t  Melville's  Diary,  p.  183. 

q  It  appears  from  Cotton  MSS.  Calig.  C.  ix.  60,  and  Cald.  iii. 
055,  857,  that  the  resolutions  of  this  conference  are  correctly 
given  in  the  Printed  Calderwood,  p.  197,  199. 


that  "  it  could  not  stand  with  the  word  of  God,  only 
they  must  tolerate  it  in  case  it  be  forced  upon  them." 
After  several  conferences  with  the  court,  it  was  at  last 
agreed,  that  until  presbyteries  were  better  constituted, 
and  the  General  Assembly  should  take  further  order  in 
the  matter,  bishops  should  admit  ministers  with  the 
consent  of  the  majority  of  the  members  of  the  presby- 
tery or  of  assessors  to  be  given  them  ;  that  they  should 
preside  in  the  presbyteries  within  which  they  officia- 
ted ;*  and  be  subject  to  be  tried  and  censured  by  the 
General  Assembly  only,  or  by  commissioners  whom  it 
should  appoint  for  that  purpose.  At  the  same  time 
presbyteries  were  ordered  to  be  re-established,  and 
some  of  the  leading  articles  in  the  Second  Book  of  Dis- 
cipline, concerning  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  and  the 
powers  of  general,  provincial,  presbyterial,  and  ses- 
sional assemblies,  were  agreed  to  with  the  consent  of 
his  Majesty. f  Upon  the  whole,  though  the  proceed- 
ings of  this  assembly  were  somewhat  at  variance  with 
former  acts  of  the  church,  yet  the  approbation  given  to 
them  by  the  court  unquestionably  paved  the  way  for 
the  downfall  of  the  bishops,  and  the  establishment  of 
presbytery. 

Melville  was  employed  by  this  assembly  to  write  in 
their  name  to  the  French  Protestant  ministers,  who 
had  obtained  his  Majesty's  license  to  reside  in  Scot- 
land during  the  persecution  which  raged  in  their  native 
country,  and  to  assure  them  that  the  assembly  would 
do  every  thing  in  their  power  to  render  their  exile 
agreeable.  The  letter  was  delivered  to  Monsieur  du 
Moulin,  who  had  already  arrived  and  remained  for 
some  years  in  Scotland.^ 

The  relaxation  of  Adamson  from  ecclesiastical  cen- 
sure was  followed  by  Melville's  being  laid  under  civil 
restraint.  That  the  archbishop  might  return  to  St.  An- 
drews with  suitable  eclat,  and  recover  his  lost  reputa- 
tion, it  was  judged  necessary  that  his  rival  should  be 
removed  for  some  time  with  as  little  noise  as  possible. 
On  the  dissolution  of  the  General  Assembly,  Melville 
was  sent  for  to  the  palace,  and  after  being  graciously 
received  and  allowed  to  kiss  the  King's  hand,  was  told 
that  his  services  in  the  university  would  be  dispensed 
with  for  a  season,  and  he  might  spend  his  time  in  his 
native  place  until  his  Majesty  was  pleased  to  recall 
him.  Lest  he  should  refuse  compliance  with  this  inti- 
mation, he  was  served,  on  quitting  the  palace,  with  a 
written  charge  to  confine  himself  beyond  the  Water  of 
Tay.§  The  bishop  was  appointed,  besides  preaching, 
to  read  a  Latin  lecture  in  St.  Salvador's  College,  which 
all  the  members  of  the  university  were  enjoined  to  grace 
with  their  presence.     In  consequence  of  this  the  prin- 


*  Robert  Wilkie,  however,  was  appointed  Moderator  of  the 
Presbytery  of  St.  Andrews  instead  of  Bishop  Adamson. 

+  Buik  of  Univ.  Kirk,  f.  143.  Harl.  MSS.  num.  7004,  6.  Cald. 
iii.  902 — 905.  Spotswood  says,  "  In  the  mean  time  was  the  or- 
der of  presbyteries  set  down,  and  their  power  defined,  the  King 
taking  no  notice  of  their  doings  in  that  kind."  (Hist.  p.  348.) 
So  far  was  this  from  being  the  case,  that  the  platform  of  pres- 
byteries entered  into  the  register  of  this  assembly  is  expressly 
said  to  have  been  "  presentit  be  my  Lord  Clerk  of  Register,  and 
sett  (lowne  be  his  Lordship's  travells,"  And  with  respect  to 
their  power,  the  commissioners  deputied  to  wait  on  the  King, 
reported  that  "  in  the  haill  heads  fund,  little  difficulty  except 
[a  little  difficulty  excepted,  Cald.'j  quhilk  is  noted  with  his  Ma. 
hand,  his  Grace  aggried."  (Bulk  of  Univ.  Kirk,  ff.  143,  a. 
144,  a.) 

I  Buik  of  the  Universall  Kirk,  ff.  140,  b.  141,  a.  Joachim  du 
Moulin,  minister  of  Orleans,  and  father  of  the  celebrated  Pierre 
du  Moulin,  minister  of  Paris,  appears  to  be  the  individual  re- 
ferred to.  The  Magistrates  of  Edinburgh  not  only  allowed  the 
French  refugees  to  meet  for  worship  in  the  common-hall  of  the 
college,  but  allotted  stipends  to  their  ministers.  (Reg.  of  Town 
Council,  May  11,  1586.)  Collections  for  them  and  their  breth- 
ren in  England  were  made  in  the  different  parishes.  (Rec.  of 
Kirk  Session  of  St.  And.  Dec.  20.  1587;  and  Extracts  from 
Records  of  Kirk  Session  of  Glasgow,  May  23,  1588:  in  Wod- 
row's  Life  of  David  Weenies,  p.  26.)—"  Also  the  said  Jame« 
(Lamb)  dely  verit  the  warrand  from  the  Synodall  for  the  ingad- 
dering  of  the  support  to  Mr.  Mwling  banest  out  of  France  " 
(Record  of  Presbytery  of  Haddington,  Oct.  18, 158S.) 

}  See  Note  BE. 


268 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


cipal  duties  of  the  New  College  were  a  second  time 
devolved  on  James  Melville.  The  University  sent  a 
deputation  to  the  King,  consisting  of  the  Dean  of  Fac- 
ulty and  a  Professor  from  each  college,  to  solicit  Mel- 
ville's restoration,  as  a  measure  necessary  to  the  pros- 
perity of  the  academy  and  conducive  to  the  honour  of 
his  Majesty  and  the  nation.  James  testified  his  wil- 
lingness to  gratify  them,  provided  the  bishop  was 
treated  with  due  respect.  But  although  all  the  secu- 
rity for  this  that  could  be  required  was  given,  the  an- 
swer of  the  request  was  delayed  ;  and  Melville  owed 
his  liberty  at  last  to  that  secret  influence  which  is  often 
exerted  by  the  meanest  persons  about  weak  and  arbi- 
trary princes.  The  King  spent  the  summer  at  Falk- 
land in  his  favourite  employment  of  hunting  and  hawk- 
ing. He  sent  several  times  for  James  Melville,  who 
was  surprised  to  find  that  his  Majesty,  after  conversing 
■with  him  on  ordinary  topics,  always  left  him  in  com- 
pany with  the  master  of  his  hawks.  It  turned  out  that 
this  important  personage  had  a  friend  who  was  a  ten- 
ant of  the  New  College,  and  who  wished  to  have  his 
lease  renewed  at  a  low  rent;  and  James  Melville  was 
given  to  understand  that,  provided  this  boon  was  grant- 
ed, his  uncle  would  immediately  be  set  at  liberty. 
The  professors  were  extremely  averse  to  injure  the 
revenues  of  the  college  to  gratify  such  a  minion  ;  but 
there  was  no  remedy,  and  the  King  having  pledged  his 
word  that  he  would  compensate  the  loss  doubly,*  the 
lease  was  subscribed  and  put  into  the  hands  of  the 
hawk-master.  Upon  this,  orders  were  issued  for  the 
liberation  of  Melville,  who,  coming  to  Falkland,  was 
introduced  by  the  Master  of  Gray,  and  after  a  free  con- 
versation with  his  Majesty,  was  restored  to  favour  and 
sent  home  to  his  college.f 

Melville  resumed  his  academical  labours,  which  had 
been  so  long  interrupted,  with  fresh  ardour,  and  the 
consequence  was,  that  the  bishop's  prelections  fell  into 
disesteem  and  neglect.  Adamson  was  still  more  mor- 
tified b)'  the  desertion  of  his  pulpit-discourses,  in  con- 
sequence of  numbers  leaving  the  parish  church  when 
he  officiated,  and  attending  sermon  in  the  chapel  of  the 
Theological  College.  To  prevent  this  he  had  recourse 
to  a  measure  which  was  a  sure  proof  of  his  declining 
fame.  A  mandate  came  from  court,  prohibiting  the 
masters  of  the  New  College  from  preaching  in  Eng- 
lish, and  ordering  them  to  confine  their  instructions  on 
Sabbath  as  well  as  on  other  days  to  the  Latin  tongue.:}^ 

Great  occasion  has  been  taken  to  asperse  the  Church 
of  Scotland  from  the  circumstance  of  some  of  her  min- 
isters having  refused  to  obey  the  King's  order  to  pray 
for  his  mother,  when  she  was  under  sentence  of  death. 
They  might  be  too  squeamish  ;  but  had  James  been 
less  imperious,  and  more  mindful  of  his  disclaimer  of 
all  interference  with  the  immediate  acts  of  worship,  he 
might  have  obtained  ample  satisfaction  on  this  head. 
Instead  of  this,  an  act  of  council  was  made  prescribing 
the  form  of  prayer ;  all  ministers  were  ciiarged  by  pub- 
lic proclamation  to  use  it  on  pain  of  incurring  his  Ma- 
jesty's displeasure;  and  commissioners  and  superin- 
tendents were  commanded  to  suspend  from  preaching 
such  as  refused. II  None  of  the  ministers  refused  to 
pray  for  the  Queen.  The  scruples  of  those  who  hesi- 
tated to  comply  with  the  order  of  the  court  rested  upon 
the  manner  in  which  it  was  issued,  and  its  implying, 
in  their  opinion,  that  Mary  was  innocent  of  the  crime 
for  which  she  was  condemned  to  die.§     They  had  not 

*  A  gift  of  certain  prebendaries,  &c.  to  the  New  Col  lege  of 
St.  Andrews  passed  tne  Great  Seal,  on  the  last  day  of  January 
1586.  It  was  confirmed  in  the  subsequent  Parliament.  (Act. 
Pari.  Scot.  iii.  488.) 

+  Melville's  Diary,  p.  183—185. 

i  Sec  Note  BB. 

IJ  Record  of  Priv;y  Council,  Feb.  1,  1586. 

5  Cald.  iv.  9.  The  only  recusant  specified  by  Spotswood 
(Hist.  p.  354.)  is  Mr.  John  Cowper,  "a  young  man  not  entered 
at  yet  in  the  function."  It  is  evident,  from  his  narrative  of  that 
ca«e,  that  the  archbishop  had  the  Record  of  Privy  Council  be- 


been  accustomed,  like  the  English  clergy,  to  pray  by 
book,  or  to  frame  their  addresses  to  the  Almighty  i.i 
words  which  courtiers  might  be  pleased  to  dictate  to 
them,  or  to  offer  them  up,  like  criminals  at  the  foot  of 
the  gallows,  under  the  terrors  of  suspension.  They 
had  long  entertained  an  unfavourable  opinion  of  Mary  ; 
they  had  at  different  times  been  alarmed  for  the  secu- 
rity of  their  religion  by  plans  laid  for  her  restoration  ; 
and  many  of  them  were  convinced  of  her  accession  to 
the  conspiracy  of  Babington  ag-ainst  Elizabeth.  But 
the  truth  is,  that  few  if  any  of  them  refused  to  pray  for 
the  preservation  of  her  life.*  The  order  for  this  was 
not  made  known  to  the  ministers  of  St.  Andrews  until 
the  very  day  of  her  execution,  and  it  was  immediately 
complied  with.f  But  the  worst  feature  in  the  affair  is, 
that  there  is  reason  to  suspect  that  James  wished  the 
ministers  to  act  a  part  in  the  solemn  farce  along  with 
himself  and  Elizabeth.  While  he  was  issuing  orders 
to  offer  up  prayers  for  his  mother's  preservation,  and 
summoning,  imprisoning,  and  silencing  ministers  for 
alleged  disobedience  to  these, |:  strong  presumptions 
are  not  wanting-,  that  his  grief  for  her  fate,  and  his  in- 
dignation at  Elizabeth's  conduct,  were  in  a  great  de- 
gree affected  and  hypocritical. ||  It  is  certain,  at  least, 
tliat  they  were  neither  de<5p  nor  lasting.  One  proof 
of  this,  among  many  others,  may  be  mentioned.  Soon 
after  the  execution  of  -Mary,  Melville  happened  to  be 
introduced  to  his  Majesty.  James  appeared  to  be  in 
great  spirits  ;  laughed,  and  frisked,  and  danced  about 
the  room,  in  the  boyish  manner  which  he  retained  long 
after  he  came  to  man's  years.  The  contrast  between 
this  levity  and  the  Kable  attire  of  the  company  and 
apartment  struck  Melville's  fancy,  and  brought  to  his 
recollection  the  way  in  which  Mary  was  said  to  have 
mourned  for  the  murder  of  her  husband.  He  express- 
ed his  feelings,  in  an  improtnplu,  to  a  gentleman  of  his 
acquaintance  who  stood  beside  him.  The  King  seeing 
them  smile,  came  forward  and  eagerly  inquired  the 
cause  of  their  mirth.  The  gentleman  excused  himself 
by  saying,  that  it  was  merely  a  sally  of  the  Principal's 

fore  him.  But  he  has  introduced  circumstances  not  warranted 
by  tliat  record,  and  which,  if  true,  it  would  scarcely  have  failed 
to  mention.  It  says  nothing  of  the  King's  giving  the  preacher 
liberty  to  proceed  with  the  service  provided  he  would  obey  the 
charge  ana  remember  the  Queen  in  his  prayers;  nor  of  Cow- 
per's  replying,  that  he  would  do  as  the  Spirit  of  God  should 
direct  hini.  Cowper  was  not  imprisoned  for  refusing  or  decli- 
ning to  pray  for  the  Queen,  but  (as  the  minute  expresses  it)  "  be- 
caus  his  Matie  desyrit  him  to  stay  cfter  he  had  begwn  his  prayer 
in  the  pulpit  within  sanct  geills  kirk  in  Edinburgh,  declanng 
that  thair  was  anc  vther  appoyntit  to  occupy  that  rtwme,  that 
he  vtterit  thir  words  following,  (hay  ar  to  say.  That  this  day 
suld  bcrewitnes  agaiits  his  Matie  in  the  grelt  day  of  the  Lord;" 
and  because  he  denounced  a  woe  against  the  inhabitants  of  Ed- 
inburgh.    (Record  of  Privy  Council,  Ecb.  3,  1586.) 

*  Spotswood  says,  "  Of  all  the  number,  Mr.  David  Lyndesay 
at  Leilh  and  the  King's  own  miniiiters  gave  obedience.  (Hist. 
}).  354.)  The  native  inference  from  this  is  that  .Spotswood  him- 
self did  not  "give  obedience;"  for  he  was  then  one  of  "the 
number."  But  Courcelles,  the  F'rench  ambassador,  who  was  in 
Scotland  and  took  n  particular  interest  in  the  afl'air,  informs  ug, 
that  even  those  who  at  first  refused,  yielded.  (Letter  to  Henry 
HI.  Feb.  28,1587.) 

X  "Die  mercurii  viii.  ft"'  anno  Ixxx.  sexto,  Tliequhilk  day 
comperit  M.  Patrick  Adamsoun,  bishop  of  St  Ands  allegeand 
him  to  hnifan  verbal  direction  of  the  i^ingis  maiestie  to  desyre 
the  minister  and  redar  to  pray  publiclie  for  his  hicnes  mother 
for  hir  conversioun  and  amendment  of  lyfe,  and  if  it  be  godis 
plcsor  to  preserve  hir  from  this  present  danger  quhairin  ache  it 
now,  that  sche  may  heir  efter  be  ane  profitabill  member  in 
chrystis  kirk.  The  session  presentlie  asscmblit  being  sufH- 
cientlie  resoluit  heirwith  hes  concludic  that  the  minister  at  ilk 
sermone  and  the  redar  at  ilk  time  quhen  he  sayis  prayers,  pray 
publiclie  for  the  kingis  g.  mother  as  is  desyrit."  (Record  of 
Kirk  Session  of  St.  Andrews.) 

X  The  two  ministers  of  Aberdeen  were  brought  twice  all  the 
way  to  Edinburgh,  on  a  charge  of  disobeving  the  King's  ortler. 
When  the)'  app«'ared  before  the  Privy  Council,  it  turned  out 
that  they  were  innocent;  but,  to  save  James's  honour,  one  of 
them  was  obliged  to  make  a  declaration  from  the  ])ulpi(,  on  hit 
return.  (Rccoixl  of  Privy  Council,  March  25,  and  May  19, 
1587.) 

II  See  Note  CCT. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


269 


humour  which  had  extorted  a  smile  from  him.  His 
Majesty  then  applied  to  Melville,  who  felt  averse  to 
gratify  the  royal  curiosity  ;  but  James,  insisting  on  his 
demand,  and  promising  not  to  resent  any  freedom  that 
might  have  been  used,  he  repeated  the  lines  : 

Quid  sibi  vu!t  tantus  lugubri  sub  veste  cachinnus  ? 
Scilicet  hie  matrem  detlet,  ut  ilia  patreni  * 

In  the  course  of  this  year,  Guillaume  de  Salluste, 
Sieur  du  Bartas,  the  celebrated  French  Poet,  visited 
Scotland.  The  King,  in  a  work  lately  published  by 
him,  had  given  a  translation  of  the  Uranie  of  Du  Bar- 
tas, whom  he  had  invited  to  his  dominions,  with  the 
view  of  engaging  him  to  return  the  compliment  by 
translating  his°Majesty's  Scoltis  poesie  into  the  French 
language. f  Henry  IV.  then  King  of  Navarre,  availed 
himself  of  this  opportunity  to  secure  the  friendship  of 
the  King  of  Scots,  by  giving  the  poet  a  letter  of  cre- 
dence to'^him,  and  secret  instructions  to  propose  a  mar- 
riage between  him  and  his  sister,  the  Princess  of  Na- 
Tarre.  A  wiser  choice  of  an  ambassador  could  not 
have  been  made;  for  James  was  flattered  by  the  visit 
of  a  man  of  genius,  and  felt  disposed  to  concede  to  his 
representations  what  he  might  have  denied  to  a  profes- 
sional though  more  dignified  negocialor.:}: 

In  the  end  of  .Tune  his  Majesty  accompanied  Du  Bar- 
tas to  St.  Andrews.  On  his  arrival  he  came  to  the 
New  College,  and  intimated  that  he  would  return  in 
the  course  of  an  hour,  along  with  his  learned  French 
friend,  to  hear  a  lecture.  Melville  had  already  read 
his  ordinary  lecture,  and  was  quite  unprepared  for  en- 
tertaining such  illustrious  auditors  ;  but  the  King  would 
take  no  excuse.  Accordingly  the  university  was  as- 
sembled, and  Melville  delivered  an  extemporary  dis- 
course, which  gave  satisfaction  to  all  the  hearers,  ex- 
cept his  Majesty,  who  considered  some  parts  of  it  as 
levelled  against  his  favourite  notions  of  church-govern- 
inent.  Next  day  the  bishop  feasted  the  King  and  Du 
Bartas.  Previous  to  this  he  pronounced  an  elaborate 
discourse,  containing  the  substance  of  his  late  lectures 
in  support  of  prelacy  and  the  ecclesiastical  supremacy 
of  princes.     Melville  attended  on  the  occasion,  and  was 

*  Woilrow's  Life  of  Andrew  Melville,  p.  52.  MSS.  vol.  i.— 
Two  copies  of  verses  on  Queen  Marv,  by  Melville,  are  inserted 
in  Jonstoni  Inscriptiones  Historicae  Reevui  Scotorvm,  p.  58. 
Amstel.  1602.  The  following  lines,  which  he  comiwsed  on  her 
execution,  have  not  been  printed. 

Si  Scotani  Angla  ferit,  Mariani  si  mactat  Eliza, 
Reginani  Regina  necat,  cognata  propinquani; 
Ecquid  agas  Mariaeque  hffires,  h;cres  et  Elizae  ? 
Non  abeunt,  non  adveniunt  sine  sanguine  regua. 

Archib.  Simsoni  Annal.  Eccl.  Scotic. 
MS.  p.  47. 

t  Courcelles's  tenth  dispatch  to  the  French  king,  June  24, 
1587.  fMS.  referred  to  in  Note  CC.)  Du  Hartas  did  translate 
one  of  James's  poems  into  French  heroics,  and  added  very  grate- 
ful encomiums  on  the  "  Scots  Phosnix:"  so  be  calls  liiin.  "La 
Lepanthe  de  Jaques  vi.  Roy  D'Ecosse,  Faicte  Francoise  par  le 
Sieur  du  Bartas.  Impriuie  a  Edinbvrg  par  Robert  Walde- 
grave,  Imprimeur  du  Roy.  Anno  Dom.  1591.  Auec  Priuel6ge 
de  sa  Majeste."  4to.  14  leaves.  It  was  printed,  along  with  the 
original,  in  His  Majesties  Pocticall  Exercises. 

\  James  denied  to  Courcelles  that  the  King  of  Navarre  had 
requested  military  aid.  "  He  (James)  will  not  assist  rebellious 
subjects  against  their  Soveraigne,a  thing  commendable  neither 
before  God  nor  man,  and  of  evil  example  to  all  the  world." 
The  Lord  of  Weimcs  (he  added)  "  was  going  with  10  or  12 
gentlemen  to  accompany  the  king  of  Navarre  in  hunting,  but 
to  have  nothing  to  do  with  war."  But  the  ambassador  did  not 
feel  disposed  to  place  implicit  confidence  in  his  Majesty's  word, 
which  he  had  already  found  reason  to  suspect.  (Courcelles's 
11th  Dispatch,  compared  with  his  6th.) 

"The  kinge,  besides  all  his  costes  which  he  defraied,  grate- 
fyed  Dubartas  at  his  departure  with  a  Chaine  of  1000  li.  and  as 
much  in  redic  money,  made  him  knight,  and  accompanied  him 
to  the  sea  side,  wher  he  made  him  promise  to  retourn  againe." 
(13th  Dispatch,  Sept.  28,  1587.)  Lord  Tun^land  accompanied 
him  to  France,  to  bring  James  a  report  of  the  Princess  of  Na- 
varre. (Ibid,  and  Sir  James  Melville's  Mem.  p.  177^  The 
Princess  rejected  the  match  in  consequence  of  ner  ardent  at- 
tachment to  the  Conite  de  Soissons.  (Memoires  de  M.  du 
Plessis,  torn.  i.  p.  656.     Vie  dc  M.  du  Plessis,  p.  122.) 


observed  to  take  notes  during  the  delivery  of  the  dis- 
course. When  it  was  over,  he  sent  information  to  the 
royal  party,  and  to  the  members  of  the  university,  that 
he  intended  to  prelect  in  the  afternoon.  Suspecting 
his  intention  to  answer  the  bishop's  oration,  James 
sent  one  of  his  attendants  to  warn  him,  that  if  he  did 
not  keep  within  the  bounds  of  moderation,  and  of  the 
respect  due  to  his  presence,  he  would  again  lay  him 
under  restraint.  Melville  replied,  that  he  was  bound 
to  counteract  the  effect  of  poisonous  doctrine  at  the 
risk  of  his  life,  but,  so  far  as  was  consistent  with  what 
he  owed  to  truth,  he  would  be  most  tender  of  his  Ma- 
jesty's honour.  James  sent  a  second  messenger  to 
say,  that  he  depended  on  his  prudence,  and  meant  to 
take  a  repast  with  him  in  the  college.  At  the  hour  ap- 
pointed, the  hall  was  crowded  with  auditors,  among 
whom  were  the  King,  Du  Bartas,  and  Adamson,  who, 
expecting  to  be  attacked,  had  obtained  liberty  from  his 
Majesty  to  defend  himself.  Melville  took  no  notice 
of  the  discourse  which  had  been  delivered  in  the  morn- 
ing, but  quoted  from  certain  popish  books,  which  he 
brought  along  with  him,  the  leading  positions  and  ar- 
guiTients  which  the  bishop  had  advanced  ;  and  then,  as 
if  he  had  to  do  only  with  Roman  Catholics,  proceeded 
to  overthrow  them  "  with  such  inimitable  force  of  rea- 
son and  flood  of  eloquence,  that  the  bishop  was  dashed 
and  stricken  as  dumb  as  the  stock  he  sat  upon."  His 
Majesty  afterwards  made  a  speech  in  English,  inter- 
posed some  scholastic  distinguos,  and  concluded  by  en- 
joining the  members  of  the  university  to  respect  and 
obey  the  bishop.  He  then  partook  of  an  entertainment 
in  the  college  and  retired.*  Du  Bartas  remained  be- 
hind to  converse  with  Melville.  In  the  evening  James 
asked  his  visitor's  opinion  of  the  two  discourses.  Du 
Bartas  said,  they  were  both  learned,  hut  the  bishop's 
was  prepared  for  the  occasion,  whereas  the  Principal 
had  shewn  that  he  had  a  vast  stare  of  various  learning 
at  command  ;  "besides,"  added  he,  "  he  has  far  more 
spirit  and  courage  than  the  other."  In  this  judgment 
his  Majesty  professed  to  acquiesce. f 

Melville  was  chosen  moderator  of  the  General  As- 
sembly held  in  June  1587,  and  appointed  one  of  their 
commissioners  to  the  ensuing  meeting  of  Parliament.:^: 
At  this  Parliament  the  temporal  lands  of  bishoprics, 
abbacies,  and  priories,  were  annexed  to  the  crown ;  a 
measure  which  paved  the  way  for  the  abolition  of  epis- 
copacy'.||  It  virtually  divested  the  bishops  of  their 
right  to  sit  in  the  national  judicature,  which  was  found- 
ed on  their  baronial  possessions ;  and,  consequently, 
removed  the  principal  plea  upon  which  the  court  had 
hitherto  upheld  them  in  opposition  to  the  unequivocal 
and  decided  sentiments  of  the  church.  This  consider- 
ation induced  the  presbyterian  ministers  to  wink  at  the 
alienation  of  the  ecclesiastical  property.  Nor  do  the 
bishops  appear  to  have  made  any  formal  opposition  to 
this  sweeping  statute.  Existing  solely  by  the  favour 
of  the  prince,  and  dreading  the  entire  suppression  of 
their  order,  they  silently  acquiesced  in  a  measure  which 
stripped  them  of  such  valuable  possessions,  and  left 
them  exposed  to  the  persevering  attacks  of  their  adver- 
saries. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1588,  Melville  took  an 
active  part  in  arousing  the  nation  to  a  sense  of  its  dan- 


*  The  king  with  Monsieur  du  Bartas  cam  to  the  collage  hall, 
wher  I  causit  prepear  and  haif  in  readiness  a  banquet  of  wat 
and  dry  confecliones  with  all  sorts  of  wyne;  wherat  his  Matie 
camped  verie  mirrilie  a  guid  whill."     (Melville's  Diary,  p.  188.) 

t  Melville's  Diary,  p.  188,  189.  Wodrow's  Life  of  Andrew 
Melville,  p.  52,  53.  Adanison's  son-in-law  says  that  his  dis- 
course before  the  King  and  Du  Bartas  was  extempore.  (Vita 
Patr.  Adamsoni,  p.  9.) 

t  By  this  assembly  "Mr.  Andro  Mevill  was  ordainit  to  pen  a 
favourable  wryting  to  the  ministrie  in  Danskine  [Dantzic]  con- 
gratulating their  embracing  of  the  treuth  in  the  matter  of  the 
sacrament."  (Bulk  of  Univ.  Kirk,  f.  148,  b.)  They  had  reject- 
ed the  Lutheran  doctrine  of  consubstantiation.      (Bibliotheca 


Bremensis,  Class,  vi.  p.  1142.) 
II  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  iii.  431—437. 


270 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


ger  from  the  threatened  Spanish  Armada.  James  had 
received  timely  warning  of  the  hostile  intentions  of  the 
King  of  Spain,  and  of  the  correspondence  which  he 
maintained  with  Scotland  ;  but  he  testified  no  disposi- 
tion to  adopt  the  precautions  necessary  to  avert  the  dan- 
ger which  menaced  his  dominions.*  While  Jesuits 
and  seminary  priests  were  seducing  his  subjects  from 
their  allegiance,  and  preparing  them  for  revolt  on  the 
first  appearance  of  a  foreign  force,  he  was  busy  com- 
menting on  the  Apocalypse,  and  demonstrating  by  ar- 
guments drawn  from  that  book  that  the  Pope  was  An- 
ti-christ.f  So  bold  was  the  faction  devoted  to  Spain 
and  Rome,  and  so  great  its  influence  at  court,  that  it 
obtained  a  protection  for  these  dangerous  emissaries  to 
remain  in  the  country  ;  a  liberty  which  they  improved 
in  maturing  a  plot  to  banish  or  massacre  the  Protestant 
statesmen.:!:  In  these  circumstances,  Melville,  in  vir- 
tue of  the  powers  vested  in  him  as  moderator,  called 
an  extraordinary  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly. 
He  opened  the  deliberations  with  an  animated  address, 
in  which  he  acquainted  the  members  with  his  reasons 
for  convening  them.  The  alarming  crisis  had  drawn 
an  unusual  concourse  of  the  subjects  to  the  capital,  and 
all  were  actuated  with  the  same  spirit.  It  was  agreed 
that  the  barons,  burgesses,  and  ministers,  should  meet 
apart,  to  consult  on  the  dangers  which  hung  over  the 
church  and  commonwealth,  and  on  the  best  means  of 
providing  against  them.  A  deputation  was  appointed 
to  lay  the  result  of  their  consultations  before  the  King, 
and  to  make  him  an  offer  of  their  lives  and  fortunes. 
James  interpreted  this  as  an  interference  with  his  ad- 
ministration, and  an  implicit  censure  upon  his  past  con- 
duct ;  but  the  deputies  having.remonstrated  with  him 
freely  on  the  dangers  of  the  times,  he,  after  consulting 
with  his  advisers,  returned  them  thanks  for  their  zeal, 
and  nominated  a  committee  of  Privy  Council  to  meet 
with  them  and  concext  common  measures  for  the  pub- 
lic safety.  The  consequences  of  this  co-operation  were 
of  the  happiest  kind.  Among  other  steps  that  were 
taken,  a  solemn  bond  of  allegiance  and  mutual  defence, 
approved  by  his  Majesty  and  zealously  promoted  by 
the  ministers  of  the  church,  was  sworn  by  all  ranks. 
In  this  they  protested  that  the  reformed  religion  and 
his  Majesty's  estate  had  the  same  friends  and  foes,  and 
engaged  that  they  would  defend  and  maintain  them 
against  all  plots  and  preparations,  foreign  or  domestic, 
and  particularly  against  the  threatened  invasion  from 
Spain  ;  that  they  would  assist  in  the  discovery  and  ap- 
prehension of  Jesuits  and  other  vassals  of  Rome;  that 
they  would  assemble  at  his  Majesty's  command,  and 
hazard  their  lives,  lands,  and  goods,  in  resisting  the 
common  enemy  ;  and  that  they  would  lay  aside  ali  pri- 
vate feuds,  and  submit  every  difference  that  might 
arise  among  them  in  the  mean  time  to  the  judgment  of 
arbiters  to  he  chosen  by  the  King.||  By  these  means 
Scotland  was  put  in  a  state  of  defence,  and  in  concert 
with  England  waited  the  result  of  the  formidable  pre- 
parations of  Spain. 

James  Melville  had,  some  time  before  this,  left  the 
university  of  St.  Andrews,  and  was  now  minister  of 
Anstruther,  a  maritime  town  on  the  southeast  coast  of 
Fife.  Early  one  morning,  when  the  fate  of  the  Arma- 
da was  yet  unknown  in  Scotland,  one  of  the  bailies  of 
the  town  appeared  at  his  bedside,  and  informed  him 
that  a  ship  filled  with  Spaniards  was  off  their  harbour  ; 
adding,  that  he  needed  be  under  no  alarm,  as  they 
were  come  "  not  to  give  mercy  but  to  ask  it,"  and  that 


*  Courccllet'g  Eighth  Dispatch  to  the  French  king,  May  12, 
1587. 

f  Melville's  Diarv',  p.  191. 

i  Cotton  MSS.  Cal.  D.  i.  98.  Gordon's  Hist,  of  the  Earldom 
of  Sutherland,  p.  210—212.     Moyse's  Mem.  p.  130,  134. 

II  Buik  of  Univ.  Kirk,  ff.  149—152.  Printed  Calderwood,  p. 
223 — 225.  Spotswood  pa»<>es  over  this  transaction  entirely. 
Dr.  Robertson  has  confounded  this  Band  with  the  J^ationnl 
Covenant  which  was  sworn  seven  years  before.  (Hist,  of  Scot- 
land, vol.  iii.  b.  vii.  p.  83.) 


the  magistrates  desired  his  advice  how  to  act  towards 
them.  The  principal  inhabitants  having  convened,  it 
was  agreed  to  give  audience  to  the  commander,  and 
that  their  minister,  who  had  some  acquaintance  with 
the  Spanish  language,  should  convey  to  him  the  senti- 
ments of  the  town.  Intimation  of  this  having  been 
sent  to  the  vessel,  a  venerable  old  man  of  large  stature 
and  martial  countenance  entered  the  town-hall,  and 
making  a  profound  bow  and  touching  the  minister's 
shoe  with  his  hand,  addressed  him  in  Spanish.  "  His 
name  was  Don  Jan  Gomes  de  Medina;  he  was  com- 
mander of  twenty  ships,  being  part  of  the  grand  fleet 
which  his  master,  Philip  King  of  Spain,  had  fitted  out 
to  revenge  the  insufferable  insults  which  he  had  re- 
ceived from  the  English  nation;  but  God,  on  account 
of  their  sins,  had  fought  against  them,  and  dispersed 
them  by  a  storm  ;  the  vessels  under  his  command  had 
been  separated  from  the  main  fleet,  driven  on  the  north 
coast  of  Scotland,  and  shipwrecked  on  the  Fair  Isle; 
and,  after  escaping  the  merciless  waves  and  rocks,  and 
enduring  great  hardships  from  hunger  and  cold,  he  and 
such  of  his  men  as  were  preserved  had  made  their  way, 
in  their  only  remaining  bark,  to  this  place,  intending 
to  seek  assistance  from  their  good  friends  and  confed- 
erates, the  Scots,  and  to  kiss  his  Majesty's  hand,  (ma- 
king another  profound  bow,)  from  whom  he  expected 
relief  and  comfort  to  himself,  his  oflicers,  and  poor 
men,  who  were  in  a  most  pitiable  condition."  When 
James  Melville  was  about  to  reply  in  Latin,  a  young 
man,  who  acted  as  interpreter,  repeated  his  master's 
speech  in  English.  The  minister  then  addressed  the 
admiral.  "On  the  score  of  friendship,  or  of  the  cause 
in  which  they  were  embarked,  the  Spaniards,"  he  said, 
"  had  no  claims  on  them  ;  the  king  of  Spain  was  a 
sworn  vassal  to  the  bishop  of  Rome,  and  on  that  ground 
they  and  their  King  defied  him ;  and  with  respect  to 
England  the  Scots  were  indissolubly  leagued  with  that 
kingdom,  and  regarded  an  attack  upon  it  as  the  same 
with  an  attack  on  themselves  :  But  although  this  was 
the  case,  they  looked  upon  them,  in  their  present  situ- 
ation, as  men  and  fellow-creatures  labouring  under  pri- 
vations and  sufferings  to  which  they  themselves  were 
liable  ;  and  they  rejoiced  at  an  opportunity  of  testifying 
how  superior  their  religion  was  to  that  of  their  ene- 
mies :  Many  Scotsmen  who  had  resorted  to  Spain  for 
the  purpose  of  trade  and  commerce  had  been  thrown 
into  prison  as  heretics,  their  property,  confiscated,  and 
their  bodies  committed  to  the  flames ;  but  so  far  from 
retaliating  such  cruelties  on  them,  they  would  give 
them  every  kind  of  relief  and  comfort  which  was  in 
their  power,  leaving  it  to  God  to  work  such  a  change 
on  their  hearts  respecting  religion  as  he  pleased." 
This  answer  being  reported  by  the  interpreter  to  the 
Spanish  admiral,  he  returned  most  humble  thanks; 
adding,  that  he  could  not  answer  for  the  laws  and  prac- 
tices of  the  church  to  which  he  belonged,  but  as  for 
himself  there  were  many  in  Scotland,  and  perhaps 
some  in  that  very  town,  who  could  attest  that  he  had 
treated  them  with  favour  and  courtesy.  After  this,  the 
admiral  and  his  officers  were  conveyed  to  lodgings 
which  had  been  provided  for  them,  and  were  hospita- 
bly entertained  by  the  magistrates  and  neighbouring 
gentlemen,  until  they  obtained  a  protection  and  licence 
from  his  Majesty  to  return  home.*  Before  their  de- 
parture James  Melville  received  a  printed  account  of 
the  complete  destruction  of  the  Armada,  with  the  names 
of  the  principal  persons  who  had  perished  in  the  wreck 
of  the  galleots  on  the  coasts  of  Wale.s,  Ireland,  and 
Scotland.  On  this  news  being  imparted  to  Jan  Gomes, 
the  tears  flowed  down  the  furrowed  cheeks  of  the  hardy 
veteran. 


•  The  names  of  the  oflScers  were  "Capitan  Patricio,  Capitan 
de  Legaretlo,  Capitan  de  SufTera,  Capitan  Mauritio,  and  Seig-n- 
our  Serrano."  The  privates  "to  the  number  of  threttin  score, 
for  the  maist  part  young  berdlfs  men,  sillie,  trauchled,  and 
hungred,"  were  supplied  with  "  keall,  pottage,  and  fishe."  (Mel- 
ville%Diary,p.  193.) 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


271 


The  sequel  of  the  story  must  not  be  suppressed. 
Some  time  after  this,  a  trading  vessel  belonging  to  An- 
struther  was  arrested  in  a  Spanish  port.  Don  Jan 
Gomes  was  no  sooner  informed  of  this  than  he  posted 
to  court,  and  obtained  her  release  from  the  King,  to 
whom  he  spoke  in  the  highest  terms  of  the  humanity 
and  hospitality  of  the  Scots.  He  invited  the  ship's 
company  to  his  house,  inquired  kindly  after  individ- 
uals of  his  acquaintance  in  the  good  town  of  Anstruther, 
and  sent  his  warmest  commendations  to  their  minister, 
to  whom  he  considered  himself  as  particularly  indebt- 
ed.* The  mind  feels  relieved  in  turning  from  "the 
battle  of  the  warrior,  with  its  confused  noise,  and  gar- 
ments rolled  in  blood,"  to  contemplate  the  image  of 
him  who  is  "  a  strength  to  the  needy  in  his  distress, 
and  a  refuge  from  the  tempest,  when  the  blast  of  the 
terrible  is  as  a  storm  against  the  wall."  It  is  pleasing 
to  perceive  the  ardent  zeal  of  our  ancestors  against 
popery  not  interfering  with  the  calls  of  humanity  and 
charity  ;  and  it  is  consolatory  to  find  that  there  have  al- 
ways been  examples  of  generosity  and  gratitude  in  a 
country  which  superstition  has  chosen  for  her  favourite 
abode,  and  where  bigotry  has  so  long  maintained  her 
intolerant,  degrading,  and  most  frightful  reign. 

The  signal  overthrow  of  the  Spanish  Armament  did 
not  repress  the  fiery  zeal  of  the  Papists  in  Scotland. 
During  the  year  1589  they  were  indefatigable  in  ex- 
tending their  conspiracy  among  the  nobility  ;  and  their 
agents  urged  Philip,  and  the  Duke  of  Parma,  his  gen- 
eral in  the  Low  Countries,  to  send  an  army  directly  to 
Scotland,  as  the  best  method  of  invading  the  dominions 
of  the  English  Queen.  An  assembly  of  the  chief  min- 
isters was  again  called  ;  Thomas  Craig  and  other  em- 
inent lawyers  assisted  at  their  deliberations ;  and  the 
wise  and  vigorous  measures  which  they  recommended, 
enabled  the  government  to  suppress  the  insurrection 
made  by  the  popish  lords  on  the  discovery  of  their 
traitorous  correspondence.  Melville  took  the  lead  in 
this  aflfair ;  and  was  chosen  Moderator  of  the  Assem- 
bly, to  which  his  nephew  acted  as  clerk.f 

It  was  at  this  time  that  the  variance  which  had  long 
subsisted  between  the  court  and  the  church  began  to 
be  removed.  This  was  chiefly  owing  to  the  prudence 
of  the  Chancellor  Maitland.  That  able  statesman  had 
commenced  his  political  career  unhappily  under  the  ad- 
ministration of  Arran,  and  had  taken  an  active  part  in 
promoting  some  of  the  most  obnoxious  measures  re- 
specting the  government  of  the  church.  But  he  was 
soon  convinced  of  the  folly  and  mischief  of  that  course, 
and  embraced  the  first  opportunity  of  cautiously  retra- 
cing his  steps.  He  perceived  the  danger  to  which  the 
nation  was  exposed  from  the  popish  faction,  and  the 
policy  of  cultivating  a  close  connexion  with  England. 
He  saw  that  the  peace  of  the  church  was  necessary  to 
the  strength  of  the  kingdom,  and  that  this  could  not  be 
established  so  long  as  the  court  supported  the  bishops, 
who  were  odious  to  their  brethren  and  destitute  of  all 
influence  over  the  people.  And  he  was  convinced  that 
it  was  a  gross  anomaly  in  politics,  for  the  civil  author- 
ity to  uphold  one  form  of  ecclesiastical  polity,  while 
the  church  established  by  law  continued  to  act  upon 
another  which  was  diametrically  opposite  to  it.  These 
views  he  took  every  opportunity  of  inculcating  upon 
the  King ;  and  although  he  was  thwarted  by  those  who 
envied  his  power,  and  felt  it  no  easy  task  to  counteract 
prejudices  which  he  had  contributed  to  infuse  into  the 
royal  breast,  yet  as  James  entertained  a  high  opinion 
of  his  talents,  and  was  very  dependent  on  those  to 
whom  he  entrusted  his  affairs,  the  Chancellor  was  ulti- 
mately able  to  execute  his  plans. :|: 

Another  individual  who  had  great  influence  in  bring- 
ing matters  to  this  desirable  issue  was  Robert  Bruce. 
He  was  the  second  son  of  the  laird  of  Airth,  and  after 

*  Melville'sDiary,  p.  192— 194. 

+  Melville's  Diary,  p.  195—198.  Printed  Calderwood,  p.  227 
—229,  230—244. 

t  Melville's  Diary,  p.  200. 


completing  the  study  of  the  laws  abroad,  had  practised 
for  some  years  at  the  Scottish  bar  with  the  most  flat- 
tering prospects  of  advancement.  But  after  a  severe 
struggle  of  mind  between  secular  motives  and  convic- 
tions of  a  higher  kind,  he  abandoned  that  profession 
and  entered  as  a  student  of  divinity  at  St.  Andrews. 
In  the  year  1587  he  was  introduced  to  the  General  As- 
sembly by  Melville,  who  recommended  him  as  every 
way  qualified  for  filling  the  pulpit  that  had  been  occu- 
pied by  Knox  and  Lawson.  It  was  not  without  great 
reluctance,  and  after  a  considerable  trial,  that  Bruce 
complied  with  the  joint  entreaties  of  his  brethren  and 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  capital.*  The  nobility  res- 
pected him  for  his  birth  and  connexions ;  his  eminent 
gifts  as  a  preacher  gained  him  the  aflection  of  the  com- 
mon people ;  and  those  who  could  not  love  him  stood 
in  awe  of  his  commanding  talents,  and  his  severe  and 
incorruptible  virtue.  He  acted  in  full  concert  with 
Melville  ;  and  his  station  at  Edinburgh,  and  his  influ- 
ence with  the  Chancellor,  who  paid  much  deference  to 
his  opinions,  enabled  him  to  be  of  greater  service  to 
the  church  than  any  other  individual. f 

The  happy  effects  of  this  change  of  policy  appeared 
convincingly  while  his  Majesty  was  in  Denmark,  on 
the  occasion  of  his  marriage.  In  the  instructions  which 
he  left  behind  him,  he  nominated  Bruce  an  extraordi- 
nary member  of  the  Privy  Council,  and  declared  that 
he  reposed  more  confidence  in  him  and  his  brethren, 
for  preserving  the  country  in  peace,  than  he  did  in  all 
his  nobility.  Nor  was  he  disappointed.  Bothwell 
was  made  to  give  public  satisfaction  in  the  church  of 
Edinburgh  for  his  turbulent  conduct.  The  popish 
lords  attempted  to  excite  disturbance  ;  but,  finding  the 
council  prepared  to  resist  them,  they  desisted  from 
their  practices  and  remained  quiet.  During  the  six 
months  that  the  King  and  Chancellor  were  absent,  the 
kingdom  exhibited  a  scene  of  unwonted  tranquillity : 
scarcely  one  affray  happened  in  which  blood  was  shed  ; 
although  formerly  a  week  seldom  elapsed  without  in- 
stances of  such  violations  of  the  peace  and  insults  on 
legal  authority.:^:  The  letters  which  Bruce  received 
at  this  time  from  James  remain  as  proofs  of  his  meri- 
torious services,  and  of  the  ingratitude  of  the  monarch 
by  whom  he  was  afterwards  treated  with  the  most  un- 
merited and  unrelenting  severity.|| 

Melville  was  invited  to  be  present  at  the  ceremony 
of  the  Queen's  coronation,  which  was  performed  with 
great  solemnity  in  the  Chapel  of  Holyroodhouse,  on 
the  17th  of  May,  1590,  in  the  presence  of  the  ambassa- 
dors of  Denmark  and  other  foreign  states,  and  of  a 
great  concourse  of  Scottish  nobility  and  gentry.  On 
that  occasion  three  sermons  were  preached  ;  one  in 
Latin,  another  in  French,  and  a  third  in  English. § 
After  an  interval,  during  which  the  royal  party  retired 


*  Maitlanri,  after  mentioning  that  Bruce  "  threatened  to  leave 
the  town"  of  Edinburgh  in  1589,  says  the  reason  "  may  be  easily 
guesseJ  at,"  as  he  agreed  (o  stay  upon  "  the  increase  of  his  sti- 
pend to  a  thousand  merks."  (Hist,  of  Edinburgh,  p.  45.)  If  in- 
stead of  guessing-,  the  vpriter  had  made  hiniselt  acquainted  with 
facts,  he  wotdd  have  known,  that  Bruce,  at  the  period  referred 
to,  had  not  yet  consented  to  settle  at  Edinburgh,  and  had  a  call 
to  St.  Andrews  which  he  preferred;  (Record  of  Kirk  Session  of 
St.  Andrews,  May  21, 1589,  Wodrow's  Life  of  Bruce,  p.  4.)  that 
the  minister  who  held  the  first  charge  in  the  metropolis  requi- 
red a  stipend  much  greater  than  that  of  his  colleagues,  in  as 
much  as  the  task  of  keeping  up  an  extensive  correspondence  on 
the  afTairs  of  the  national  cnurch  was  devolved  on  him ;  and  that 
the  independent  spirit,,  and  scrupulous  honour,  which  Bruce 
evinced  through  the  whole  of  his  life,  raised  him  above  the  sus- 
picion of  being  actuated  by  such  mean  and  mercenary  motives. 

t  Cald.  iii.  320.     Melville's  Diary,  p.  106,  200. 

t  Melville's  Diary,  p.  204,  205. 

I]  Calderwood  (iv.l78 — 194,  445.)  has  preserved  three  letters 
written  from  Denmark  by  the  Chancellor,  and  four  by  the  King, 
to  Bruce.  His  Majesty  addresses  hini  as  his  "trusty  and  well- 
beloved  counsellor;"  and  says  that  he  was  "worth  the  quarter 
of  his  kingdom,"  that  he  would  reckon  himself"  beholden  while 
he  lived"  for  the  services  he  had  done  him,  and  that  he  would 
"  never  forget  tlie  same." 

{  The  coronation  was  on  a  Sabbath. 


272 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


for  a  little  from  the  assembly,  Robert  Bruce  performed 
the  ceremony  of  anoinlinsf  the  Queen,  and,  assisted  by 
the  Chancellor  and  David  Lindsay,  placed  the  crown 
on  her  Majesty's  head.  Melville  then  rose,  and  recited 
a  Latin  poem  in  celebration  of  the  joyful  event.  The 
solemnity  continued  from  ten  in  the  morning  till  five  at 
night.* 

Melville  had  no  information  that  he  was  expected  to 
take  part  in  tlie  coronation  until  two  days  before  it  hap- 
pened. He  had  therefore  little  time  for  preparation. 
But,  although  hastily  composed,  his  poem  was  greatly 
admired,  as  well  as  the  spirited  and  graceful  manner  in 
which  it  was  pronounced.  In  returning  him  thanks, 
his  Majesty  said.  That  he  had  that  day  done  him  and 
the  country  such  honour  as  he  could  never  requite.  He 
enjoined  him  to  give  the  poem  immediately  into  the 
hands  of  the  printer,  adding,  that  all  the  ambassadors 
joined  with  him  in  soliciting  its  publication.  It  was 
accordingly  printed  next  day,  under  the  title  of  Stephan- 
iskion;f  and  being  circulated  through  Europe,  added 
to  the  reputation  which  the  author  had  already  gained. 
Lipsius  and  Scaliger,  who  then  divided  between  them 
the  dictatorship  in  the  republic  of  letters,  bestowed  on 
it  their  warmest  commendations.:^  A  general  regret 
was  expressed  that  the  author  of  such  a  poem  did  not 
favour  the  public  with  larger  and  more  frequent  pro- 
ductions of  his  muse.  When  this  was  signified  to  him 
by  his  friends,  he  repeated  the  excuse  which  he  had 
formerly  made,||  but  at  the  same  time  gave  them  ground 
to  hope  that  their  wishes  would  be  gratified,  if  he  should 
find  leisure  from  his  more  important  and  pressing  avo- 
cations.§ 

On  the  first  Sabbath  after  the  coronation  of  the 
Queen,  the  King  attended  sermon  in  St.  Giles's  church, 
and  made  a  harangue  to  the  people,  in  which  he  thank- 
ed them  and  the  ministers  for  their  conduct  during  his 
absence,  confessed  that  the  affairs  of  the  kingdom  had 
hitherto  been  ill  administered,  and  promised  to  exert 
himself  in  the  correction  of  all  abuses.  At  the  ensuing 
meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  he  repeated  these 
professions,  lamented  the  bloody  feuds  which  disgra- 
ced the  country,  and  exhorted  the  ministers  to  embrace 
every  opportunity  of  impressing  their  hearers  with  the 
enormity  of  such  crimes.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that 
he  pronounced  his  celebrated  panegyric  on  the  purity 
of  the  Church  of  Scotland.  He  praised  God  that  he 
was  born  in  such  a  time,  as  in  the  time  of  the  light  of 
the  Gospel,  and  in  such  a  place,  as  to  be  King  in  such 
a  kirk,  the  purest  kirk  in  the  world.  "The  kirk  of 
Geneva  (continued  his  Majesty)  keepeth  Pasch  and 
Yule.     What  have  they  for  them  1  they  have  no  insti- 


»  Cald.  iv.  196— 198.  Moyse's  Memoirs,  p.  170.  .Srhedias- 
niata  Hadr.  Datnmanis.  Edta.  1590.  Spotswood  hurries  over 
the  affair  of  the  coronation.  "  The  King  (says  he)  determining- 
to  have  it  done  in  most  solemn  manner,  because  none  of  the 
bishops  were  present, nor  could  conveniently  be  brought  against 
the  day,  made  choice  of  Mr.  Robert  Bruce  to  perform  the  cer- 
emony." (Hist.  p.  381.)  The  bishops,  forsooth,  good  meu  ! 
were  all  so  conscientiously  employed  in  watching  their  flocks, 
that  not  one  of  them  could  spare  time  to  wait  on  the  court,  but 
left  this  business  to  "idle"  ministers.  To  make  amends  for  the 
brevity  of  his  description,  the  archbishop  introduces,  by  way 
of  episode  or  diversion,  an  account  of  a  dispute  among  the  min- 
isters respecting  the  lawfulness  of  unction<  which  his  Majesty 
put  an  end  to,  by  threatening  that  he  would  "  stay  till  one  of 
the  bishops  came."  Jan)es  knew  very  well,  that  half  a  dozen 
of  them  would  have  started  up  at  a  single  blast  of  his  hunting 
horn. 

+  See  Note  DD. 

j  On  reading  it,  Lipsius  exclaimed,  Revera  Andreas  J^felvi- 
nus  est  serio  doctus.  And  Scaliger,  who  was  not  usually  lavish 
in  his  praises  of  others,  and  did  not  entertain  the  lowest  opinion 
of  his  own  abilities,  among  other  complimentary  expressions, 
said  in  his  letter  to  the  author,  .A'tij  talia  nan  possumus.  (Mel- 
ville's Diary,  p.  206.) 

|l  See  above,  p.  87. 

0  Melville's  Diary,  ut  supra.  Calderwood  represents  Mel- 
ville's Stephaniskion  as  delivered  in  the  presence  of  the  ambas- 
sadors on  the  day  of  the  Queen's  public  entrance  into  the  city 
of  Exiinburgh,  which  was  two  daj's  after  the  Coronation.  (Cain. 
iv.  198.)     This  is  incorrect.     (Dclitiae  Poet.  Scot.  ii.  71.) 


tution.  As  for  cur  neighbour  kirk  in  England,  their 
service  is  an  evil-said  mass  in  English  :  they  want  no- 
thing of  the  mass  but  the  liftings.  I  charge  you,  my 
good  people,  ministers,  doctors,  elders,  nobles,  gentle- 
men, and  barons,  to  stand  to  your  purity ;  and  I  for- 
sooth, so  long  as  I  brrok  my  life  and  crown,  shall 
maintain  the  same  against  all  deadly."*  Whether 
James  was  seized  on  this  occasion  with  a  sudden  fit  of 
devotion  and  of  affection  for  his  mother-church,  or 
whether  he  merely  adopted  this  language  to  gain  the 
favour  of  the  ministers,  may  admit  of  some  doubt. 
But  it  is  certain,  that  the  speech  was  received  by  the 
assembly  with  a  transport  of  joy  :  "  there  was  nothing 
heard  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  but  praising  God  and 
praying  for  the  King." 

When  the  church  was  enjoying  internal  peace,  and 
had  the  prospect  of  obtaining  from  the  government  a 
redress  of  her  grievances,  she  met  with  an  unexpected 
attack  from  a  foreign  quarter.  Notwithstanding  the 
difference  between  the  churches  of  England  and  Scot- 
land, in  their  external  form  of  worship  and  discipline, 
they  had  hitherto  continued  on  friendly  terms.  The 
latter  rested  satisfied  with  acting  for  herself  in  remo- 
ving various  corruptions  which  were  retained  by  the 
former,  and  did  not  interfere  with  the  internal  affairs 
of  her  neighbour;  except  by  interceding,  in  one  or  two 
instances,  in  behalf  of  those  who  were  suffering  for 
non-conformity  to  the  ceremonies.  Even  when  en- 
gaged in  contending  against,  episcopacy,  which  the 
court  and  a  few  ambitious  churchmen  obtruded  on  them, 
contrary  to  the  original  constitution  of  their  church,  the 
ministers  of  Scotland  had  avoided,  as  far  as  possible, 
reflections  on  the  ecclesiastical  establishment  of  Eng- 
land. The  English  bishops,  who  were  in  general  men 
respectable  for  their  piety  and  talents,  had  used  the 
same  reserve  with  respect  to  Scotland,  and  endeavour- 
ed to  preserve  that  union  between  the  two  nations  which 
was  of  the  greatest  consequence  to  both,  while  they 
were  exposed  to  the  restless  attacks  of  a  common  and 
dangerous  enemy.  Of  late  years,  symptoms  of  an  op- 
posite spirit  had  manifested  themselves,  in  the  counte- 
nance given  to  Adarason,  and  in  the  industry  with 
which  his  calumnious  libel  had  been  circulated,  in 
England.  But  open  hostilities  were  at  this  time  pro- 
claimed by  Doctor  Bancroft,  an  aspiring  ecclesiastic, 
in  a  sermon  which  he  preached  before  the  Parliament, 
and  which  was  immediately  published.  It  is  scarcely 
possible  to  conceive  a  more  perfect  specimen  of  the 
argument  ad  invidiam,  than  this  oration  exhibits.  All 
the  topics  of  declamation  calculated  to  excite  prejudice 
are  carefully  collected,  and  emploj-ed  with  no  small 
art.  Puritanism  is  the  offspring  of  a  spirit  of  pride, 
ambition,  covetousncss,  and  insubordination.  Puri- 
tans are  coupled  with  the  worst  heretics  who  had  in- 
fested the  church  in  ancient  or  modern  times.  All 
those  writings  which  contained  sentiments  less  favour- 
able to  monarchical  government,  whether  published  in 
Britain  or  on  the  Continriit,  are  imputed  to  them.  The 
jealousy  of  the  Queen  is  aroused  by  representing  them 
as  enemies  to  her  supremacy;  the  nobility  are  alarmed 
by  being  told  that  the  recovery  of  abbey-lands  was 
what  they  aimed  at;  and  the  gentry  and  commons  are 
frightened  with  the  inquisitorial  powers  of  the  presby- 
terian  discipline.  All  are  warned  to  avoid  such  pests 
to  society;  and  magistrates  are  called  on  to  use  their 
authority  to  restrain  and  punish  thom.f  Not  contented 
with  exposing  the  evils  of  prcsbyterianism  in  the  way 

»  Cald.  iv.  198,  204.  When  Spotswood  has  occasion  to  men- 
tion any  thing  said  or  done  by  his  Majesty  in  favour  of  presby- 
tery, he  usually  adds,  that  the  King  tcmporiied  with  the  minis- 
ters. But  sucn  an  apology  on  the  present  occasion  would  have 
been  rather  too  gross;  anu,  accordingly,  he  omits  entirely  that 
part  of  the  speech  which  was  in  commendation  of  the  church 
of  Scotland.     (Hist.  p.  382.) 

t  "  If  they  (the  puritanical  "geese  and  dogs")  will  gaggle 
and  make  a  noise  in  the  day  time  without  any  cause,  opinor  iis 
crura  svffringantur :  I  think  it  very  fit  they  be  rapt  in  the 
shinncs.       (Haiicrcfl'.-*  Sermon,  p.  7."?,  edit.  1636.) 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


273 


of  general  argument,  and  with  confuting  such  as  main- 
tained it  in  England,  the  author  of  the  sermon  makes  a 
direct  and  wilful  attack  on  the  government  and  disci- 
pline of  the  church  of  Scotland.  The  Reformer  whom 
the  Scots  held  in  veneration  is  stigmatized  as  a  man  of 
contentious  humour  and  perverse  behaviour.  And  an 
odious  picture,  borrowed  from  the  distorted  represen- 
tations of  Adamson  and  Brown,  is  given  of  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  ministers  and  church-courts  in  Scotland 
during  their  late  dissensions  with  the  court.  They 
took  it  upon  them  to  alter  the  laws  of  the  land  without 
the  consent  of  the  King  and  Estates — threatened  them 
with  excommunication — filled  the  pulpit  with  seditious 
and  treasonable  doctrine — utterly  disclaimed  the  King's 
authority — trode  upon  his  sceptre — laboured  to  estab- 
lish an  ecclesiastical  tyranny  of  an  infinite  jurisdiction, 
such  as  neither  the  law  of  God  nor  of  man  could  tol- 
erate, which  was  the  mother  of  all  faction,  confusion, 
sedition  and  rebellion,  and  an  introduction  to  anabap- 
tism  and  popularity — instead  of  one  pope  and  some 
lord  bishops  in  name,  they  had  setup  a  thousand  lordly 
tyrants  who  disclaimed  the  name:  On  these  accounts 
the  King  had  overthrown  the  presbyteries ;  and  al- 
though it  miglit  seem  from  his  recent  conduct  that  he 
had  altered  his  views  of  them,  yet  this  could  not  be 
the  case,  and  he  was  to  be  considered  as  merely  ac- 
commodating himself  for  a  time  to  circumstances.* 
Such  was  the  way  in  which  the  chaplain  of  the  Lord 
Chancellor  of  England  excited  the  members  of  the  high 
court  of  Parliament  to  express  their  gratitude  to  Prov- 
idence, for  the  deliverance  which  they  had  just  experi- 
enced from  the  Spanish  Armada  !  And  such  was  the 
reward  which  the  preachers  of  Scotland  received,  for 
their  unwearied  efforts  to  preserve  amity  between  the 
two  kingdoms,  and  for  the  zeal  with  which  they  had 
aroused  and  persuaded  their  countrymen  to  make  a 
common  cause  with  England,  during  the  most  alarm- 
ing danger  with  which  she  was  ever  threatened  !f 

It  is  easy  to  conceive  how  the  ministers  of  the  church 
of  Scotland  must  have  felt  at  this  unprovoked  attack. 
They  viewed  it,  not  as  an  attempt  to  bring  the  merits 
of  the  two  forms  of  ecclesiastical  polity  to  a  fair  and 
dispassionate  discussion,  but  as  a  vile  libel,  intended 
to  hold  them  up  to  detestation  before  a  neighbouring 
nation  ;  as  the  work  of  an  interested  alarmist,  who  was 
regardless  of  the  means  which  he  employed  to  please 
his  patrons  and  to  protect  lucrative  alwuses ;  and  as  an 
attempt  to  throw  a  firebrand  into  a  peaceable  commu- 
nity, to  rekindle  the  flame  of  dissension  which  was 
nearly  quenched  in  Scotland,  and  to  revive  in  the  breast 
of  his  Majesty  those  prejudices  and  enmities  which 
had  already  been  productive  of  so  much  evil.  Under 
these  impressions  they  appointed  a  committee  to  write 
a  letter  to  Elizabeth,  complaining  of  the  indignity 
which  they  had  suffered  ;:J;  and  to  draw  up  an  answer 
to  the  railing  accusations  which  had  been  brought 
against  them.||  The  letter  and  the  answer  were  pre- 
pared ;  but  on  a  calmer  consideration  of  all  circum- 
stances, it  was  judged  proper  to  suppress  them,  and  to 
rest  satisfied  with  a  small  publication  by  an  individual. 


*  "  A  sermon  preached  at  Pauls  Crosse  the  9th  of  February ; 
being  the  first  Sunday  in  the  Parliament  Anno  1588  by  Richard 
Bancroft — Chaplaine  to  the  L.  Chancellor  of  England."  Print- 
ed in  1588,  and  reprinted  in  1636. 

•)  The  only  excuse  that  can  be  made  for  such  conduct  is,  that 
the  bishops  were  at  this  time  greatly  alarmed  at  the  increase  of 
the  non  conformists,  and  at  the  resolutions  of  the  House  of 
Commons  against  ecclesiastical  abuses.  Bancroft  gives  an  ex- 
tract from  "  a  Letter  of  P.  A."  (Patrick  Adamson)  which  throws 
light  on  these  fears.  "  Certain  of  the  chiefe  Noblemen  of  Eng- 
land dealt  with  me  to  persuade  the  king  of  Scotland  my  mas- 
tei  to  overthrow  all  the  Bishopricks  in  his  country,  that  his 
proceedings  therein  might  be  an  example  for  England  adjoin- 
ing."    (Dangerous  Positions,  p.  5,  2nd  edit.) 

t  Records  of  the  Presbytery  of  Edinburgh,  Dec.  9,  1589.  A 
copy  of  the  intended  letter  to  Elizabeth  is  inserted  in  Cald.  iv. 
171—175. 

II  Records  of  the  Presbytery  of  Edinburgh,  April  29,  and  June 

3K 


containing  a  protest  against  the  rashness  of  the  calum- 
niator, and  the  reasons  of  their  declining  to  enter  upon 
a  defence  of  their  conduct.||  They  were  averse  to  en- 
gage in  open  hostilities  against  the  church  of  England. 
The  falsehood  of  the  charges  brouoht  against  them 
was  known  to  several  individuals  of  the  English  court, 
who  promised  to  see  justice  done  them.  They  were 
loath  to  offend  Elizabeth,  whose  patronage  they  had 
experienced,  and  of  whose  aversion  to  all  innovations  on 
the  ecclesiastical  constitution  of  her  kingdom  they 
were  fully  aware.  And  they  knew  that  James,  though 
disposed  to  consent  to  the  abolition  of  episcopacy  in 
Scotland,  was  anxious  to  avoid  giving  offtnce  to  the 
English  bishops,  who  might  be  provoked  to  lay  obsta- 
cles in  the  way  of  his  succession.  A  generous  adver- 
sary would  have  scorned  to  avail  himself  of  the  advan- 
tage which  these  circumstances  gave  him,  and  would 
have  desisted  from  assailing  persons  whom  he  knew 
to  be  restrained  from  self-defence.  Bancroft  was  of  a 
different  disposition.  Besides  corresponding  witli  Ad- 
amson, he  employed  an  English  bookseller  at  Edin- 
burgh as  a  spy  on  the  ministers,  transmitted  to  him  a 
string  of  officious  queries  respecting  the  conduct  of  the 
preachers  and  the  procedure  of  the  church-courts,  and 
continued,  from  time  to  time,  to  publish  the  informa- 
tion which  he  catered  by  such  means,  in  books  still 
more  inflamed  and  abusive  than  his  first  production.-]" 
Sutcliff,  Saravia,  and  other  English  divines  carried  on 
the  same  mode  of  warfare  in  various  publications.  By 
remaining  silent  under  these  attacks,  the  ministers  of 
Scotland  certainly  displayed  their  moderation  :j'  the 
wisdom  of  their  conduct  may  be  questioned  by  some 
who  respect  the  motives  from  which  it  proceeded. 
The  fact  is  mentioned  here,  as  it  throws  light  on  the 
state  of  parties,  and  helps  to  account  for  events  which 
will  afterwards  come  under  our  notice. 

.Tames  took  an  opportunity  of  contradicting  the  in- 
sinuation of  Bancroft,  that  he  dissembled  in  the  con- 
cessions which  he  had  lately  made  in  favour  of  pres- 
bytery.||  But  various  parts  of  his  conduct  gave  too 
much  reason  for  concluding  that  he  still  retained  the 
anti-reformation  principles  which  he  had  imbibed  from 
his  early  favourites.  Desirous  as  the  ministers  were 
at  this  period  to  cultivate  his  good  graces,  it  was  impos- 
sible for  them  to  refrain  from  censuring  the  glaring  in- 
stances in  which  justice  was  diverted  from  its  course, 
and  convicted  or  notorious  murderers  screened  from 
punishment,  by  his  culpable  negligence  and  favourit- 
ism. No  instance  of  this  kind  raised  the  indignation 
of  the  people  to  such  a  pitch,  or  sunk  the  character  of 
the  King  so  low,  as  the  murder  of  the  Earl  of  Mur- 
ray, the  heir  of  the  first  Regent,  by  the  Earl  of 
Huntley,  and  the  indifference,  or  rather  aversion, 
which  the  court  testified  to  avenge  the  crime.  Mel- 
ville, along  with  some  other  ministers,  was  deputed 


*  This  WHS  published  by  John  Davidson  under  the  following 
title:  "D.  Bancrofts  Rashness  in  rayling  against  the  Chvrch  oi 
Scotland,  noted  in  Answere  to  a  letter  of  a  worthy  person  of 
England,  and  some  reasons  rendred,  why  the  answere  thereunto 
hath  not  hitherto  come  foorth.  By  J.  D.  a  brother  of  the  sayd 
Church  of  Scotland.  Ex  Mvltis  Pnvca.  At  Edinbvrgh  printed 
by  Robert  Walde-grave.  Anno.  1590."  Bin  eights.  The  run- 
ning title  is:  "  A  proofe  of  D.  Bancrofts  rashness  against  the 
Church  of  Scotland."  It  concludes:  "  Farewell,  from-  F.din.  the 
18.  of  September.  1590.  Yours  in  the  Lord.  J.  D."  The  only 
copy  of  this  rare  tract  which  I  have  seen  or  heard  of  is  in  the 
possession  of  Mr.  David  Laing. 

f  Cald.  iv.  175.  Bancroft's  publications  are  entitled:  "  A  Sur- 
vey of  the  Pretended  Holy  Discipline;"  and  "Dangerous  Posi- 
tions, or  Scottish  Genevatin^  and  English  Scottizing  for  Disci- 
pline:" printed  in  1593,  and  reprinted  in  1662.  In  the  last 
mentioned  work,  (p.  .30,  2d  edit.)  Bancroft  disingenuously  com- 
plains of  the  Scottish  ministers  as  attempting  to  "  cast  some 
of  their  contentious  and  disloyal  seeds  into  England."  The 
only  proof  of  this  which  he  is  able  to  produce  is  Davidson's 
book,  consisting  of  sixteen  small  leaves,  and  extorted  by  his  own 
virulent  invective. 

J  Calderwood  quotes  from  an  answer  made  by  John  David- 
son to  Sutcliff,  but  I  do  not  know  that  it  was  ever  printed. 

II  Bancroft's  Rashnes,  sig.  A  5. 
18 


274 


LIFE   OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


by  the  General  Assembly,  to  wait  on  the  King,  and  to 
stimulate  h'm  to  the  vigorous  discharge  of  his  duty  in 
this  affair.  As  was  natural,  the  preachers,  in  taking 
notice  of  the  death  of  the  son,  had  alluded  to  the  fa- 
ther, and  mentioned  the  name  of  the  Good  Regent 
with  that  regard  and  veneration  with  which  they  con- 
tinued to  cherish  his  memory.  In  the  course  of  the 
present  conference  James  testified  his  dissatisfaction  at 
such  speeches.  Melville  defended  them,  and  express- 
ed his  surprise  and  sorrow  at  learning,  that  there  were 
persons  about  the  court  who  spoke  disrespectfully  of 
those  to  whom  Scotland  was  under  the  highest  obliga- 
tions. The  conversation  growing  warm,  the  Chancel- 
lor, who  did  not  feel  quite  at  ease  on  this  topic,  inter- 
rupted Melville,  and  told  him  that  that  was  not  the 
errand  on  which  he  came.  He  answered,  that  on  such 
a  theme  he  would  not  be  silenced  by  any  individual  be- 
neath his  Majesty,  The  King  said,  that  none  but 
seditious  and  traitorous  theologues  would  defend  Mur- 
ray, Knox,  and  Buchanan.  Melville  replied,  that  they 
were  the  men  who  set  the  crown  upon  his  head,  and 
deserved  better  treatment.  His  Majesty  said,  that  his 
crown  came  to  him  by  succession,  and  was  not  given 
him  by  any  man.  "  But  they  were  the  instruments," 
replied  Melville  ;  "  and  whoever  informs  your  Majes- 
ty sinistrouoly  of  these  men  neither  loves  you  nor  the 
commonwealth."* 

Adamson  was  the  only  one  of  the  bishops  who  per- 
sisted in  opposing  the  church  after  the  annexation  of 
their  temporalities  to  the  crown. f  In  August  1588,  a 
variety  of  accusations  were  in  against  him  to  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly.  His  extravagance  and  imprudence 
had  involved  him  in  great  pecuniary  embarrassments, 
and  his  person  was  liable  to  be  seized  by  his  creditors. 
He  was  charged  with  having  abstracted,  secreted  and 
mutilated  the  registers  of  the  assembly,  and  with  hav- 
ing celebrated  the  marriage  of  the  Earl  of  Huntly, 
contrary  to  an  express  inhibition  of  the  commissioners 
of  the  church.:}:  The  assembly  remitted  hijs  trial  to 
the  presbytery  of  Edinburgh,  giving  them  full  power 
to  pass  a  final  sentence  in  the  process  according  to  the 
laws  of  the  church.  Having  proceeded  on  a  libel  given 
in  against  him  by  Robert  Pont  and  Adam  Johnston,  the 
presbytery  found  the  bishop  guilty  of  falsehood   and 


«  Cald.  iv.250. 

+  Montgomery  having  submitted  to  the  church,  the  trial  of 
his  repentance  was  referred  to  the  Presbytery  of  Edinburgh, 
who,  upon  receiving  satisfaction  from  him,  removed  the  excom- 
munication. (Record  of  Presb.  of  Edin.  June  7,  1586;  and 
Aug.  29, 1586.)  "  Anent  the  suppHcatioun  of  Mr.  Ro«  Mont- 
gomerie,"  the  General  Assembly  (February  158g.)  found  that 
*'  be  may  be  admittit  pastour  over  a  flock  quhair  he  hes  not 
been  slanderous,  provyding  he  be  found  qualified  in  lyfe  and 
doctrine."     (Buik  of  Univ.  Kirk,  f.  150,  a.) 

\  The  writer  of  the  life  of  Archbishop  Adamson,  in  the  Bi- 
ographia  Britannica,  speaking  of  the  marriage  of  the  Earl  of 
Huntly,  says:  "The  not  permitting  a  man  to  marry  without 
his  having  first  subscribed  a  confession  of  faith  is  one  of  the 
Completest  instances  of  ecclesiastical  folly  and  bigotry  re- 
corded in  history."  (Biog.  Brit.  vol.  i.  p.  41,  2nd  edit.)  The 
reader  may  pronounce  on  the  wisdom  and  liberality  of  this 
censure,  after  considering  the  following  circumstances  of  the 
case.  Huntly  was  the  chief  of  the  Popish  party  in  Scotland, 
and  deeply  engaged  in  a  treasonable  correspondence  with 
Spain.  His  proposed  marriage  with  a  ward  of  the  crown,  the 
daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Lennox,  his  majesty's  favourite,  was, 
for  obvious  reasons,  dreaded  by  all  the  Protestants.  To  ac- 
complish this  object  the  more  easily,  Huntly  feigned  (as  he 
afterwards  acknowledged)  a  disposition  to  renounce  the  Cath- 
olic faith,  but  aflected  to  stickle  at  some  of  the  Protestant  doc- 
trines. The  Presbytery  of  Edinburgh,  believing  that  his  ob- 
ject was  to  drive  time,  prohibited  any  of  the  ministers  to  cele- 
Drate  the  marriage  until  he  had  subscribed  the  confession. 
Notwithstanding  this,  Adamson  performed  the  ceremony,  at 
the  very  time  that  the  Spanish  Armada  was  expected  to  appear 
on  the  coast  of  England.  (Record  of  the  Presbytery  of  Edin- 
burgh, July  3,  1588.  Buik  of  Univ.  Kirk.  f.  152,  b.)— The 
Life  of  Adamson  in  the  Biograjthin  is  extremely  incorrect.  In 
the  second  edition,  the  liberal  ideas  of  the  editor,  Dr.  Kippis, 
joined   to  the  old  prejudices  of  the  original  author,    fonn  a 

f>iece  of  literary  patchwork,  which  is  curious,  but  not  singu- 
ar  in  such  coiupnationi. 


double-dealing,  erroneous  doctrine,  opposition  to  the 
discipline  of  the  church,  and  contempt  of  the  late  pub- 
lic thanksgiving ;  and  therefore  deposed  him  from  all 
function  in  the  ministry,  and  debarred  him  from  pri- 
vileges in  the  church,  until  he  should  give  satisfaction 
for  his  offensive  conduct,* 

What  happened  on  the  King's  return  from  Den- 
mark should  have  convinced  Adamson,  that  he  could 
no  longer  depend  on  the  royal  favour.  But  he  contin- 
ued to  deceive  himself  with  vain  hopes;  and,  being 
flattered  by  letters  from  Bancroft,  persevered  in  his 
opposition  to  presbytery,  and  in  his  attacks  on  Mel- 
ville.f  Nor  was  he  undeceived  until  his  annuity 
was  sequestered  and  given  to  the  Duke  of  Lennox. 
In  vain  did  he  remonstrate  against  this  deed  ;  in  vain 
did  he  address  elegant  and  plaintive  verses  to  his  Ma- 
jesty, in  which  he  reminded  him  of  the  zeal  with 
which  he  had  served  him  from  his  birth,  and  was  ready 
still  to  serve  him.:}:  James  remained  insensible  to  his 
entreaties,  and  withheld  from  him  even  that  assistance 
which  was  necessary  to  preserve  him  from  want.  The 
unhappy  bishop,  deprived  of  his  only  support,  sunk 
into  deep  dejection  of  mind,  aggravated  by  poverty 
and  sickness.  So  little  reliance  was  placed  on  his  sin- 
cerity, that  few  would  believe  that  he  was  really  in 
such  a  miserable  situation  ;  and  he  was  reduced  to  the 
humiliating  step  of  writing  a  letter  to  Melville,  in 
which,  after  professing  sorrow  for  his  former  conduct, 
he  disclosed  to  him  his  destitute  circumstances.  Mel- 
ville immediately  visited  him,  supported  his  family 
out  of  his.  own  purse  for  some  months,  and  afterwards 
procured  a  contribution  for  him  from  his  friends  in  St. 
Andrews.  When  the  provincial  synod  of  Fife  met, 
Adamson  applied  to  them  to  be  released  from  the  sen- 
tence of  excommunication  which  they  had  formerly 
pronounced  against  him.  His  petition  was  granted ; 
and  he  subscribed  several  papers,  in  which  he  recant- 
ed his  episcopal  sentiments,  retracted  the  famous  dec- 
laration which  he  had  published  in  defence  of  the  acts 
of  Arran's  parliament,  and  professed  his  deep  sorrow 
for  the  opposition  which  he  had  made  to  the  judicato- 
ries and  discipline  of  the  chuich.  He  died  on  the 
19th  of  February,  1592. 

The  circumstances  in  which  the  archbishop  sub- 
scribed his  recantation  necessarily  throw  a  degree  of  sus- 
picion over  the  sincerity  with  which  it  was  made,  and 
detract  from  its  value  as  a  testimony  in  favour  of  pres- 
bytery. But  there  is  not  the  least  reason  to  doubt  the 
genuineness  of  the  document  itself,!]     The  presbyterian 

»  Buik  of  Univ.  Kirk.  f.  153.  Cald.  iv.  71.  Record  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Edinburgh,  Oct.  15,  and  Dec.  17,  1588;  and 
June  5,  1589-. 

t  In  his  Dedication  of  his  Paraphrase  of  the  Revelation  in 
Latin  verse,  ("  Sanctiandreas,  Cal.  Maijs,  1590.")  he  informs 
the  King  that  he  had  prepared  a  work,  entitled  Psillus,  in 
in  which  he  had  "sucked  out  the  seditious  poison  infused  by 
the  Jilelvinian  faction,  defended  the  episcopal  authority  and 
the  royal  supremacy,  and  warned  the  neighbouring  kingdom 
of  England  of  the  rocks  on  which  the  church  of  Scotland  had 
struck."     (Opera  Adamsoni.) 

J  Auspiciia  i  rausa  bonis,  pete  limina  Regis, 
DifTiciles  aditus  non  habet  ille  locus. 
Invenies  illic  castas,  tua  vota,  sorores; 
Musarura  Princeps  praesidet  ipse  choro. 
After  mentioning  the  various  services  which  he  had  rendered 
to  the  King,  in  France,   in  England,  and  in  Scotland,  he  con- 
cludes.: 

His  dictis.postquam  surgentes  ordine  musas 

Viderit  ad  lacrymas  ingemuisse  tuas, 
Et  tristi  aspiciens  Bartassia  Numina  vult 

Haud  dubie  votis  annuel  ille  tuis. 
Tu  voti  compos,  caveas  ne  decide  penna 
Segnior  in  laudes  repperiare  suas. 

(Epigrammata,  T.  4.  Oper.  Adamsoni,  4to.) 
II  Wilson  passes  it  over,  and  says  that  the  ministers  took  ad- 
vantage of  an  ambiguous  expression  of  his  father-in-law,  to  cir- 
culate the  report  that  he  had  renounced  cpiscopac)-.  (Vita  Patr. 
Adamsoni,  p.  16,  17.)  Spotswood  allows  that  he  subscribed 
the  articles  "  which  were  afterwards  imprinted  undrr  the  name 
of  Mr.  Patrick  Adamson's  Recantation;"  but  he  alleges  that 
''  wh«a  it  was  told  him  that  such  a  recantation  was  published  in 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


275 


writers  have  done  ample -justice  to  Adamson's  talents, 
but  it  has  been  alleged  that  their  prejudices  induced 
them  to  injure  his  character.  If  they  did  so,  they  act- 
ed not  merely  an  unjustifiable,  but  also  a  tbolish  and 
preposterous  part ;  for  in  proportion  as  they  detracted 
from  his  reputation,  they  diminished  the  honour  of  the 
victory  which  they  had  gained  over  the  chief  of  their 
antagonists.*  Nothing  can  be  more  absurd,  although 
nothing  is  more  common,  than  to  identify  the  merits 
of  a  public  cause,  good,  or  bad,  with  the  private 
qualities  of  individuals  by  whom  it  may  happen  to  be 
supported.  There  have  been  learned  and  pious  bish- 
ops ;  and  there  have  been  illiterate  and  worthless  pres- 
byters. That  the  opponents  of  Adamson  exaggerat- 
ed his  faults,  and  accused  him  of  some  things  which 
were  not  criminal,  I  allow  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  I 
am  satisfied  that  those  who  feel  most  respect  for  his 
talents  and  station  will  be  pained  to  find,  on  examin- 
ation, that  the  leading  charges  brought  against  him 
are  supported  by  evidence  too  strong  to  admit  of  being 
controverted.  In  his  works  is  a  beautiful  little  poem, 
breathing  a  spirit  of  warm  piety,  which  his  son-in-law 
informs  us  was  composed  by  him  a  short  lime  before 
his  death. f 

The  death  of  Adamson  was  followed  by  the  legal  es- 
tablishment of  presbytery.  In  June  1592,  the  Par- 
liament passed  an  act,  ratifying  the  general  assemblies, 
provincial  synods,  presbyteries,  and  particular  sessions 
of  the  church;  and  declaring  thein,  with  the  jurisdic- 
tion and  discipline  belonging  to  them,  to  be  in  all  time 
coming  most  just,  good,  and  godly,  notwithstanding 
whatsoever  statutes,  acts,  and  laws,  canon,  civil,  or 
municipal,  made  to  the  contrary.  This  act  ratified  and 
embodied  some  of  the  leading  propositions  in  the  Se- 
cond Book  of  Discipline,  relating  to  the  power  of 
these  judicatories.  It  appointed  General  Assemblies 
to  be  held  once  every  year,  or  oftener  pro  re  ivita,  as  oc- 
casion should  require ;  the  time  and  place  of  next 
meeting  to  be  appointed  by  his  Majesty  or  his  commis- 
sioner, or,  provided  neither  of  them  should  be  pre- 
sent, by  the  Assembly  itself.  And  it  appointed  pro- 
vincial synods  to  be  held  twice  a-year.  It  rescinded 
an  act  authorising  the  observance  of  Christmas  and 
Easter,  and  some  other  acts  favourable  to  popery, 
which  had  hitherto  been  allowed  to  remain  in  the 
statute-book.  It  declared  that  the  act  of  the  parlia- 
ment 1584,  respecting  the  royal  supremacy,  should  be 
in  no  wise  prejudicial  to  the  privileges  of  the  office- 
bearers of  the  church,  concerning  heads  of  religion, 
matters  of  heresy,  excommunication,  the  appointment 
or  deprivation  of  ministers,  or  any  such  essential  cen- 


his  name  he  complained  heavily  of  the  wrong  that  was  done 
him,  and  committing  his  cause  to  God,  ended  his  days  in  the 
end  of  this  year.  (Hist.  p.  385.)  The  recantation  was  sub- 
scribed April  8,  1591.  (Cald.  iv.  214.)  It  was  sent  to  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Edinburgh  in  the  course  of  that  month,  that  they 
might  "  give  thair  advysgif  they  vald  the  said  patrick  suld  add 
ony  thing  thairto — as  also  gif  they  sail  think  it  expedient  to  be 
prentit."  (Record  of  Presbytery  of  Edinburgh,  April  20, 
1591.)  Adamson  survived  this  ten  months.  (Th.  Volusenus, 
Vita  P.  Adamsoni,  p.  23.)  By  its  being  "■  published,"  Spots- 
wood  must  mean  its  being  made  publicly  known:  and  surely 
Adamson  knew,  when  he  subscribed  the  paper,  that  this  was 
the  use  to  be  made  of  it.  It  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
printed  until  the  year  1598.  (Ames  by  Herbert,  p.  1519.)  At 
that  time  several,  if  not  all,  of  the  witnesses  in  whose  presence 
it  was  subscribed,  were  alive;  and  among  them  were  the  most 
respectable  gentlemen  of  the  county. 

*  This  is  allowed  by  James  Melville.  '*  The  man  haid  ma- 
nie  grait  giftes,  bat  speciallie  excellit  in  the  toung  and  pen. — If 
he  haid  bein  endowitbot  withe  a  commoun  civill  piece  of  hon- 
estye  in  his  delling  and  conversation,  he  haid  ma  nieanes  to 
naiff  wrought  mischieff  in  a  kirk  or  countrey  nor  anie  I  haiff 
knawin  or  hard  of  in  our  yland."     (Diary  p.  215.) 

+  Adamsoni  Opera,  4to.  Vita  Adamsoni,  p.  16,  12mo.  James 
was  the  eldest,  and  Patrick  the  second,  son  of  Patrick  arch- 
bishop oi  St.  Andrews.  (Act.  Pari.  Scot.  iii.  355,  480.)  His 
daughter  was  married  to  Thomas  W^ilson,  an  advocate,  who 
wrote  a  life  of  his  father-in-law,  and  published  a  collection  of 
his  works  in  1619.  The  bishop  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of 
William  Arthour  and  Margaret  Martine.     (Inventory  of  goods 


sures  warranted  by  the  word  of  God.  And  it  declar- 
ed the  act  of  the  same  Parliament,  granting  commis- 
sion to  bishops  and  other  judges  appointed  by  his 
Majesty  in  ecclesiastical  causes,  to  be  null,  and  of  no 
avail,  force  or  eflTect  in  time  coming ;  and  ordered  pre- 
sentations to  be  directed  to  presbyteries,  who  should 
have  full  power  to  give  collation  to  benefices,  and  to 
manage  all  ecclesiastical  causes  within  their  bounds, 
provided  they  admitted  such  qualified  ministers  as 
were   presented  by  his  Majesty  or  other  lay  patrons.* 

This  settlement  was  not  without  its  defects.  Not 
to  mention  some  important  pieces  of  reformation, 
craved  in  the  Second  Book  of  Discipline,  which  were 
entirely  left  out,  the  supreme  court  was  deprived 
of  the  right  which  it  had  hitherto  possessed  of  ap- 
pointing its  own  meetings  ;  and  the  power  of  presby- 
teries and  the  liberties  of  the  people  were  fettered  by 
the  continuance  of  lay  patronage.  At  a  posterior  pe- 
riod, when  the  reformation  of  the  church  was  carried 
to  a  higher  degree  of  perfection,  and  a  settlement 
made  upon  more  liberal  principles,  these  restrictions 
were  abolished.  But  at  present  this  could  not  be  ob- 
tained ;  and  the  church  waved  her  demand  in  consid- 
eration of  the  advantages  which  the  act  conferred  on 
her.  Nor  were  these  restrictions  found  to  be  so  hurt- 
ful in  eifect  as  might  have  been  imagined.  So  long  as 
the  court  was  disposed  to  respect  the  law,  and  to  al- 
low the  church  to  meet  annually  in  General  Assembly, 
the  settling  of  the  particular  time  and  place  of  meeting 
was  of  minor  importance  ;  and  the  arrangement  made 
respecting  this  might  be  viewed  as  an  accommodation 
to  the  ideas  that  then  generally  prevailed  as  to  all  pub- 
lic conventions.  Nor  was  the  law  of  patronage  at- 
tended with  very  serious  evils  at  a  period  when  the 
church  courts  held,  that  the  consent  of  the  people  was 
to  be  obtained  previously  to  the  settlement  of  a  minister 
among  them,  and  when,  actuated  by  this  principle,  they 
were  studious,  by  the  influence  which  they  used  with  pa- 
trons, and  by  the  regulations  which  they  made  as  to  pre- 
sentees, to  lighten,  instead  of  aggravating,  a  yoke  which 
has  alwajrs  been  felt  to  be  oppressive  and  degrading.f 

The  Act  of  Parliament  1592,  which  still  continues 
to  be  the  charter  of  the  Church  of  Scotland's  liberties, 
has  always  been  regarded  by  Presbyterians  in  an 
important  light,  and  as  a  great  step  in  national  re- 
formation. It  repealed  several  statutes  which  were 
favourable  to  superstition,  and  hostile  to  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  kingdom.  It  reduced  the  prerogative 
of  the  crown,  which  had  lately  been  raised  to  an  ex- 
orbitant height ;  and,  by  legally  securing  the  religious 
privileges  of  the  nation  against  arbitrary  encroach- 
ments, it  pointed  out  the  propriety  and  practicability 
of  providing  similar  securities  in  behalf  of  political 
rights.  It  gave  the  friends  of  the  Presbyterian  con- 
stitution the  advantage  of  occupying  legal  ground, 
and  enabled  them,  during  a  series  of  years,  to  oppose 
a  succes.sful  resistance  to' the  efforts  of  the  court  to  ob- 
trude on  them  an  opposite  system.  And  as  often  as 
the  nation  felt  disposed  to  throw  off  the  imposed  yoke 
of  episcopacy,  they  appealed  to  this  charter,  and 
founded  upon  it  a  "  claim  of  right"  to  the  recovery  of 
their  ancient  liberties. 

The  Church  of  Scotland  did  not  regard  the  present 
or  any  other  parliamentary  grant,  as  the  basis  of  her 
religious  constitution.  This  had  been  already  laid 
down  from  Scripture  in  her  Books  of  Discipline.  For 
all  her  internal  administration,  she  pleaded  and  rested 
upon  higher  grounds  than  either  regal  or  parliamentary 


and  books  belonging  to  Mr.  William  Skene.)  Margaret  Mar- 
tine,  after  the  death  of  "Mr.  Williarae  Arthor  of  Kernis  her 
first  husband,"  married  "Mr.  William  Skene  commissar  of 
Sanctandrois."  (Record  of  Privy  Council,  January  17,  1582. 
Commissary  Rec.  of  St.  Andrews,  Jan.  2,  1572;  May  8,  and 
and  24,  1594.) 

*  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  iii.  541.  This  statute  has  the  vague  and 
undescriptive  title  of  "  Act  for  abolishing  of  the  actis  contrair 
the  true  religioun." 

+  See  Note  EE. 


•276;^ 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


authority.  What  she  now  obtained  was  a  legal  recog- 
nition of  those  powers  which  she  had  long  claimed  as 
belonging  to  her  by  scriptural  institution  and  the  gift 
of  her  Divine  Head.  She  had  now  a  right  in  foro 
poli  et  soli,  by  human  as  well  as  by  divine  law,  to  hold 
her  assemblies  for  worship  and  discipline,  and  to  trans- 
act all  the  business  competent  to  her  as  an  ecclesias- 
tical society,  without  being  liable  to  any  challenge  for 
this,  and  without  being  exposed  to  any  external  inter- 
ruption or  hindrance  whatever,  either  from  individuals 
or  from  the  executive  government.  Without  entering 
on  the  question  of  civil  establishments  of  religion, 
which  might  be  shewn  to  be  consonant  with  the  sound- 
est principles  of  policy  and  Christianity,  I  sliall  only 
remark  that  when  the  sanction  of  civil  authority  is 
given  to  a  church  properly  organized  and  duly  reform- 
ed, it  may  prove  one  of  the  greatest  national  blessings, 
and  be  no  less  beneficial  to  the  power  which  confers  it 
than  to  the  society  on  which  it  is  conferred.  Had  the 
Church  of  Scotland  been  remiss  in  her  exertions  to  ob- 
tain this  sanction,  or  had  she  declined  to  accept  it 
■when  offered,  she  would  have  acted  an  unwise  and 
criminal  part.  Had  the  statutes  which  w'ere  directly 
opposed  to  her  discipline  been  simply  abrogated,  with- 
out its  receiving  a  positive  and  legal  ratification,  it 
would  have  been  still  liable  to  be  interrupted  and  hin- 
dered, whenever  the  court  chose  to  take  offence  at  any 
part  of  ecclesiastical  management,  or  to  advance  the 
plea  that  it  fell  under  the  civil  jurisdiction.  And  if 
the  system  of  some  modern  theorists  hadnbeen  adopted 
— if  all  laws  relating  to  the  church  had  at  once  been 
swept  away,  the  ecclesiastical  property  totally  secu- 
larized, and  a  universal  freedom  in  matters  of  religion 
proclaimed-^the  consequences  would  have  been,  that 
many  parts  of  the  country  would  have  been  thrown 
destitute  of  religious  instruction  and  worship  ;  ignor- 
ance, and  crime,  and  atheism,  would  have  spread 
through  the  land;  and,  wdthin  a  short  time,  popish 
superstition  and  tyranny  would  have  regained  that 
power  which  had  been  wrested  from  them  with  such 
difficulty,  and  at  the  expense  of  so  much  toil  nnd 
blood.  The  folly  of  such  a  course  would  scarcely 
have  been  less  than  that  of  abolishing  all  public  insti- 
tutions for  education  and  the  promotion  of  learning 
through  the  kingdom,  and  of  leaving  the  object  of  these 
to  be  gained  entirely  by  individual  exertion  or  volunta- 
ry association  ;  a  measure  which  would  be  preposter- 
ous and  hurtful  at  any  time,  but  which,  at  the  period 
under  consideration,  would  have  been  productive  of 
ruinous  and  irremediable  mischief. 

This  important  act  was  not  obtained  without  a  final 
struggle.  It  was  keenly  opposed  by  some  of  the  nobil- 
ity from  motives  which  had  long  been  no  secret,  and 
they  suffered  it  at  last  to  pass  in  the  hopes  that  it  would 
be  suppressed  by  the  King.  There  is  little  reason  to 
doubt  that  this  would  have  been  its  fate,  had  it  not 
been  for  the  peculiar  situation  in  which  the  court  was 
then  placed.  The  murder  of  the  Earl  of  Murray,  and 
the  impunity  extended  to  the  murderer,  had  excited 
universal  indignation  among  the  people.  Ballads  and 
placards  were  published,  accusing  the  principal  court- 
iers, and  even  James  himself,  as  accessory  to  that  foul 
deed ;  and  Bothwell  was  in  arms  to  revenge  it.  In 
these  circumstances,  the  Chancellor,  who  had  incurred 
a  great  share  of  the  popular  odium,  prevailed  on  the 
King  to  assent  to  the  act'  ratifying  Presbytery,  as  a 
deed  which  more  than  any  other  would  conciliate  the 
public  favour  to  his  administration.  The  royal  assent 
vras  accordingly  given  to  it,  to  the  great  joy  of  the 
commissioners  of  the  General  Assembly,  who  had  been 
in  constant  and  active  attendance,  but  despaired  of  be- 
ing able  to  carry  the  measure  until  the  Parliament 
was  on  the  eve  of  dissolution,  and  were  not  fully  reliev- 
ed from  their  fears  until  they  heard  the  act  proclaim- 
ed among  others  at  the  market-cross  of  Edinburgh.* 


Melville  must  have  been  highly  gratified  with  this 
act  of  the  legislature.  He  had  now  procured  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  state  as  well  as  of  the  church,  to  a  form  of 
ecclesiastical  polity  which  he  regarded  as  agreeable 
to  the  Scripture  pattern,  and  eminently  conducive  to 
the  spiritual  and  temporal  welfare  of  the  nation.  Prin- 
ciples, for  the  maintenance  of  which  he  had  often  been 
branded  as  seditious  and  a  traitor,  were  now  not  mere- 
ly recognized  as  innocent  and  lawful,  but  pronounced 
"  most  just,  good,  and  godly,"  by  the  highest  author- 
ity in  the  land.  It  was  the  triumph  of  the  cause  which 
had  cost  him  so  much  labour  and  anxiety  during 
eighteen  years.  He  could  now  cherish  the  hope  of  be- 
ing permitted  to  apply  himself  with  less  interruption 
to  his  studies  and  academical  duty;  although  he  must 
have  been  aware,  that  it  would  be  necessary  for  him  to 
watch,  with  the  utmost  vigilance,  over  the  safety  of  an 
establishment  which  still  had  many  enemies,  by  whose 
efforts  it  might  be  secretly  undermined  or  violently 
overthrown. 


•  Melville's  Diary,  p.  216,  219.     CaW.  iv.  252. 


CHAPTER  VI.— 1592— 159G. 

Change  of  Professors  in  the  New  College — James  Melville 
becomes  Minister  at  Anstruther  and  Kilrmnj* — His  disinter- 
ested conduct — John  Jonston — Learned  Englishmen  invited 
to  Scotland — Melville  elected  Rector  of  tlie  University — 
Firmness  displayed  by  him  in  that  Office — He  sits  as  an  Elder 
in  the  Kirli-session  of  St.  Andrews — Peculiar  practices  in 
Sessions  and  Presbyteries — David  Black — Dissension  in  the 
Presbytery  of  St.  Andrews — Death  of  Erskine  of  Dun — Pub- 
lic Afi'airs — Arran's  return  to  Court  Frustrated  by  the  Firm- 
ness of  the  Ministers — Conspiracy  of  the  Popish  Lords — Their 
Excommunication  and  Cruuinal  Process — Reasons  of  the 
Kinij's  partiality  to  them — Melville  calumniated  as  a  favourer 
of  Bothwell — -Loyal  dispositions  of  the  Ministers  of  the 
Church — Melville's  reasoning  before  the  Lords  of  Articles — 
He  accompanies  the  Expedition  against  the  Popish  Lords — 
Who  leave  the  Kingdom — Melville's  Poem  on  the  Birth  of 
Prince  Henry — His  broil  with  Balfour  of  Burley — Death  of 
Chancellor  Mailland — Renovation  of  the  Covenant— Return 
of  the  Po})ish  Lords — Singular  interview  between  the  King 
and  Melville — The  Court  renew  their  Designs  against  the 
Liberties  of  the  Church — Black's  Declinature — Tumult  in 
Kdinburgh. 

Since  the  j'ear  1586,  Melville  had  met  with  no  in- 
terruption in  the  performance  of  his  academical  duties. 
Nor  did  any  thing  deserving  of  particular  notice  occur 
in  the  college  until  the  year  1597,  except  the  changes 
of  the  professors  who  taught  under  him. 

.Tames  Melville  had  all  along  intended  to  devote  him- 
self to  the  service  of  the  church  as  a  parochial  minis- 
ter ;  and  the  only  thing  which  prevented  him  from  grat- 
ifying his  predilection  for  this  employment,  was  a  con- 
viction that  his  assistance  was  necessary  to  his  uncle 
at  the  commencement  of  his  literary  operations.  In 
the  end  of  the  year  1586,  the  affairs  of  the  theological 
seminary  at  St.  Andrews  were  brought  to  such  a  set- 
tled state,  that,  with  the  consent  of  all  parties,  he  ac- 
cepted of  a  call  from  the  parish  of  Anstruther,  to  which 
he  was  soon  after  admitted  by  the  presbytery.*  His 
predecessor,  William  Clark,  a  pious  and  laborious  min- 
ister, had  been  burdened  with  the  care  of  the  neigh- 
bouring parishes  of  Kilrinny,  Pittenweem,  and  Aber- 
cromby  ;  according  to  a  vicious  arrangement  which  the 
court,  in  concert  with  the  spoilers  of  the  ecclesiastical 

*  "1586.  22.  day  Oct.  being  Sonday,  Mr.  James  Melvill  our 
ministair  now  began  and  ministered  the  sacrament  of  Bantisnie 
as  aftir  follows  in  Anstruther."  (Register  of  Births,  4c.  in  An- 
struther.) In  the  records  of  that  session  the  name  of  Andrew 
Melville,  an  elder,  frequently  occurs;  and  as  the  witnesses  nt 
ba])tisms  were  generally  the  relations  of  the  parents,  it  is  proba- 
ble, from  the  following  minute,  that  he  was  allied  to  the  Prin- 
cipal. "  1588.  25  Junii.  Andro  Melvill,  a  rhyld  baptisit  called 
Andro.  Witncs  Mr  Andro  Melvill."  (Ibid.")— "3  November 
1590.  Androu  Melvill,  anc  child  baptizit,  railed  Robert.  Wit- 
nesses thomas  Morton  of  Cambo  and  S'  Jo"  Melvill  of  carnbie." 
(Record  of  Kirk  Session  of  Anstruther.) 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


277 


revenues,  had  sanctioned.*  James  Melville  entered 
on  the  same  extensive  charge,  but  it  w^as  with  views 
very  remote  from  those  of  a  necessitous  and  mercenary 
pluralist.  By  his  exertions  with  the  parishioners,  and 
with  the  proper  courts,  separate  ministers  were  settled 
at  Pittenweem  and  Abercromby,  in  whose  favour  he 
relinquished  the  proportions  of  stipend  due  to  him  from 
these  places.  He  had  brought  with  him  Robert  Dury 
as  an  assistant."}"  To  him  lie  demitted  the  charge  of 
Anstruther  with  all  its  emoluments,  while  he  himself 
removed  to  Kilrinny.  Thus,  in  the  course  of  three 
years,  he  provided  a  minister  for  each  of  these  four  par- 
ishes, which  had  been  long  deprived  of  the  dispensa- 
tion of  divine  ordinances  or  had  enjoyed  that  benefit 
but  partially  and  occasionally. :{:  On  his  settlement  in 
Kilrinny  he  built  a  manse  almost  entirely  at  his  own 
expense.  The  legal  funds  for  supporting  the  minister 
having  been  alienated,  the  parish  voluntarily  bound 
themselves  to  pay  him  an  annual  stipend.  Tliis  he  re- 
linquished for  a  sum  of  money ;  with  which,  added  to 
what  he  could  borrow  from  his  friends,  he  purchased 
from  the  family  of  Anstruther  the  right  to  the  tithes  of 
the  vicarage.  Instead  of  taking  his  title  to  these  from 
the  laird  of  Anstruther  as  tacksman,  in  which  case  he 
would  have  secured  the  repayment  of  what  he  had  ex- 
pended, he  entered  to  the  benefice,  by  presentation  and 
institution,  as  actual  minister  ;  thus  securing  it  to  his 
successors  in  office,  and  leaving  his  family  to  Provi- 
dence, and  to  the  sentiments  of  justice  and  gratitude 
by  which  the  future  incumbent  might  be  actuated.  He 
paid  the  salary  of  the  schoolmaster  out  of  his  own 
purse ;  and  as  the  parish  was  populous,  and  he  was 
often  called  away  on  the  common  affairs  of  the  church, 
he  constantly  maintained  an  assistant.  His  whole 
conduct  in  this  aflfair  exhibits  a  rare  example  of  minis- 
terial disinterestedness,  which,  in  this  calculating  age, 
will  be  in  danger  of  passing  for  simplicity,  not  only 
with  the  secular  clergy,  but  with  those  whose  spiritu- 
ality is  so  exquisitely  sensitive  as  to  shrink  from  the 
very  idea  of  a  legal  or  fixed  provision  for  ministers  of 
the  Gospel. II 

»  Melville's  Diary,  p.  1,  101.  "Mr  W?  Clerk  minf  of  the 
kirkis  of  Kylraarynnie  and  anstruther  deceissand  in  the  month 
of  feb''  1583."  No  person  was  placed  in  his  room  on  the  8th 
of  June,  1585.     (Reg.  of  Present,  of  Benef.  vol.  ii .  f.  133.) 

f  James  Melville  had  married  Elizabeth  the  daughter  of  John 
Dury  minister,  first  of  Edinburg-h,  and  afterwards  of  Montrose. 
Robert  Dury  appears  to  have  been  a  relation  of  that  minister. 
He  married  Elizabeth  Ramsay,  and  one  of  his  children  was  pre- 
sented to  baptism  by  George  Ramsay  of  Langraw.  (Session 
Rec.  of  Anstruther,  May  18,  1605,  and  March  8,  1607.)  "  Mr 
Andre  Meluill"  was  a  witness  to  the  baptism  of  a  son  of  Robert 
Dury's, named  Andrew, and  a  daughter,  named  Margaret.  (Ibid. 
March  18,  1592.) 

I  The  town  of  Anstruther-Easter  belonged  to  the  parish  of 
Kilrinny.  The  minutes  of  the  kirk-session  of  Anstruther- 
Wester,  contain  the  following  most  natural  expression  of  disap- 
pointed love,  on  their  minister's  leaving  them.  "  Mr.  James 
Meluill  touk  his  guid  nyght  from  this  cogregation  the  said  mo- 
net  of  October  1590  years  and  touk  him  to  kylrynnie  to  be  thair 
minister.  God  forgif  him  that  did  sa,  for  I  know  and  saw  him 
promes  that  he  suld  never  laif  ws  for  any  vardlie  respect  salang 
as  he  ly  vit  except  he  var  forssit  be  the  kiVk  and  his  Majestie,  bot 
nevir  being  forsit  aither  be  kirk  or  his  Majestie,  leift  ws."  (lb. 
October  6,  1590.)  Had  the  minister  taken  that  step  "  for  any 
worldy  respect,"  could  he  have  read  this  extra-judicial  minute 
of  the  honest  session-clerk  without  a  pang  of  remorse  1 

II  Melville's  Diary,  p.  2—9.  After  stating  that  he  had  ex- 
pended 3,500  merks  on  the  manse,  and  2,400  merks  on  the 
teinds,  he  says:  "My  frind  wald  ask.  What  I  haiif  for  my  re- 
lieft"  of  sic  sounies.  In  answer,  the  fawour  and  prouidence  of 
ray  guid  God.  For  giff  he  spear  my  dayes,  with  rest  in  his 
jcirk,  I  hope  he  sail  utreade  all  mv  dettes. — Gif  not,  and  the  In- 
trant he  vvorthie  of  the  roum  of  this  rainistrie,God  and  his  con- 
science will  moue  him  to  pay  the  deat  resting;  giff  he  will  not, 
the  grieff  and  los  will  be  graitter  to  haiff  sic  a  man  in  the  roura, 
nor  of  myne  to  pay  my  deattes  whowbeit  they  sell  the  books 
and  plenessing  for  that  effect. — As  for  the  Town  and  paroche 
the  benefit  indeed  is  thairs:  let  them  thairfor,  as  I  hope  they 
will,  consider  thair  dewtie. — I  man  crnestlie  admonische  the 
hous  of  Anstruther  nevir  to  inein  to  acclauie  againe  the  tytle 
and  possessioun  of  thay  teinds — for  I  promise  heir  a  curse  and 
malediction  from  God  upon  whosoever  sail  intromet  and  draw 


James  Melville  was  succeeded,  as  professor  of  He- 
brew, by  his  cousin  Patrick  Melville,  who  had  held 
the  same  situation  at  Glasgow.*  About  the  same  time 
John  Caldcleugh  was  employed  to  teach  as  a  fourth 
professor.f  Robertson  continued  in  the  college  until 
the  year  1593,  when,  on  occasion  of  his  death  or  resig- 
nation, he  was  succeeded  by  John  Jonston,  a  native  of 
Aberdeenshire,  and  of  the  family  of  Creimond.:^:  Af- 
ter finishing  the  ordinary  course  of  study  at  King's 
College,  Jonston  went  abroad,  and  continued  during 
eight  years  to  cultivate  polite  and  sacred  letters  at  the 
most  celebrated  universities  on  the  continent. ||  Hav- 
ing gained  the  friendship  of  the  chief  literati  in  France 
and  Germany,  and  spent  some  time  in  England,  he  re- 
turned to  his  native  country.  Jonston  was  a  poet  and 
divine  as  well  as  a  scholar.  Melville  had  heard  of  the 
reputation  which  he  had  gained  abroad,  and  was  so 
much  pleased  with  him  on  a  personal  interview,  that 
he  never  ceased  until  he  procured  him  as  a  colleague 
in  the  work  of  theological  instruction. §  His  admis- 
sion was  opposed  by  Caldcleugh,  who  thought  himself 
entitled  to  Robertson's  place,  and  had  recourse  to  legal 
measures  to  enforce  his  claim  ;  but  he  not  only  lost  his 
cause,  but  was  also  deprived  of  the  situation  which  he 
already  held  in  the  college.^ 

About  this  time  the  King  invited  Hugh  Broughton, 
the  celebrated  Hebrew  scholar,  to  Scotland.**  I  should 
have  mentioned  before,  that  Melville  joined  in  an  in- 
vitation to  Cartwright  and  Travers,  the  two  well- 
known  English  nonconformists,  to  come  to  St.  An- 
drews, on  the  erection  of  the  Theological  college  in 
that  city."|"t     None  of  these  invitations  was  accepted. 

away  the  commoditie  thairof  from  the  right  vse  of  sustening 
of  the  ministrie  of  God»  worschipe  and  of  the  saluation  of  Gods 
peiple." 

*  "  M.  Patricius  Melvin"  signs  the  Articles  of  Religion  in  the 
University  of  St.  Andrews  in  1587,  and  in  the  following  year 
he  was  chosen  one  of  the  Rector's  assessors.     (Papers  of  Univ.) 

T  Grant  by  James  to  Mr.  John  Caldcleu^i,  anno  1588.  (MS. 
in  Bibl.  Fac.  Jurid.  Edin.  Jac.  v.  i.  12.)  This  ratifies  and  dis- 
pones to  him  "  the  3d  place  of  the  Lectors  and  professors  of  the 
said  new  CoUedge,"  and  assigns  to  him  "  for  his  stipend  yearly- 
Three  chalders  of  victuall  together  with  a  hundred  pounds  nao- 
ney."  It  states  that  he  had  been  chosen  by  the  Commissioners 
for  the  reformation  of  the  University,  and  had  taught  within  the 
said  college  continually  since  that  time.  But  it  appears  from 
the  Commissary  Records  that  Andrew  Melville,  James  Melville, 
and  John  Robertson  were  the  only  professors  between  1580  and 
1584. 

I  John  Jonston  calls  himself  "  Aberdonensis"  in  the  title- 
page  of  his  Heroes;  but  this  does  not  necessarily  imply  that  he 
was  horn  in  the  town  of  Aberdeen.  In  his  Last  Will  he  con- 
stitutes Robert  Johnston  of  Creimond  one  of  his  executors,  and 
bequeathes  a  small  legacy  to  the  laird  ofCaskiben.  "Item  I 
leave  to  Mr.  Rob*  Merser  persoun  of  Banquhorie,  my  auld 
kynd  maister,  in  taiken  of  my  thankeful  dewtie,  my  quhyit  cope 
w'  the  silver  fit." 

II  Consolatio  Christiana,  per  Joan.  Jonstonum,  p,  4.  In  1587, 
he  was  at  the  University  of  Helmstadt,  whence  he  sent  a  MS, 
copy  of  Buchanan's  Sphatra,  to  Pincier,  who  published  a  second 
edition  of  that  poem,  with  two  epigrams  by  Jonston.  (Sphaera. 
a  Georgio  Bvchanano  Scoto.  A  5,  6.  Herbornas,  1587.)  In 
1588,  he  was  in  the  University  of  Rostock,  whither  Lipsius 
wrote  to  him  in  very  flattering  terms,  acknowledging  the  re- 
ceipt of  a  letter  and  a  poem  from  him.  (Lipsii.  Opera,  torn.  ii. 
p.  49,  50.)  In  1591,  he  was  studying  at  Geneva.  (Hovaeus 
De  Rcconciliatione:  Epist.  Ded.  ad  Joan.  Jonstonum.  Basil. 
1591.) 

\  Consolatio  Christiana,  ut  supra,  p.  4,  5.  In  the  Dedication 
of  that  work  (4.  eid.  Feb.  1609.)  Jonston  says  he  had  then  been 
only  fourtefen  years  in  the  University  of  St.  Andrews — "  binas 
annorum  hebdoraadas."  But  "  Mr.  Jhone  Jhonesoun  maister 
in  ye  new  college"  was  elected  one  of  the  elders  of  St.  Andrews 
"Die  xxviii"  raensis  Novembris  1593."  (Record  of  Kirk-seg- 
gion  of  St.  Andrews.) 

T  Melville's  Diary,  p.  226. 

**  Strype's  Life  of  Whitgift,  (anno  1595)  p.  432. 

\\  Fuller's  Church  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  215.  That  historian 
has  inserted  the  letter,  of  which  he  possessed  the  original,  un- 
der the  year  159-;  but  it  bears  internal  marks  of  having  been 
written  in  1580,  before  Melville  left  Glasgow.  It  was  subscrib- 
ed, according  to  Fuller,  by  "  Ja»  Glasgney  (Glasguen.)  Acad- 
emia;  Cancellarius.  Alaynus  (A.  Hayius)  Rector.  Thonias 
Smetonius  Decanus.  Andreas  Melvinus  Collegij  prKfectus. 
Mr.  David  Wems  minister  Glascovicnsis." 


278 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


In  the  year  1590,  the  venerable  James  Wilkie,  prin- 
cipal of  St,  Leonard's  College,  and  rector  of  the  Uni- 
versity, died.  Robert  Wilkie  succeeded  to  the  former 
of  these  places.  Melville  was  elected  Rector  ;  and 
continued  to  hold  the  office,  by  re-election,  for  a  num- 
ber of  years.*  He  had  more  than  one  opportunity  of 
shewing  his  resolution  and  prudence  as  chief  magis- 
trate of  the  university.  In  these  times,  when  the 
students  formed  a  separate  community  under  a  juris- 
diction independent  of  the  town  in  which  they  resided, 
frequent  feuds  occurred  between  them  and  the  inhab- 
itants. The  students  of  divinity  at  St.  Andrews  had 
fitted  up  a  place  in  the  garden  of  their  college,  in 
which  they  might  enjoy  the  favourite  amusement  of 
shooting  with  the  bow.  Caldcleugh,  "  one  of  the 
masters  of  theology,  but  scarce  yet  a  scholar  in  ar- 
chery," amusing  himself  one  day  with  this  exercise, 
overshot  the  mark  so  far,  that  his  arrow,  flying  over 
several  houses,  lighted  in  the  neck  of  one  Turnbull,  a 
maltman,  who  happened  to  be  passing  through  an  ad- 
joining lane.  The  wound  was  neither  mortal  nor 
dangerous  ;  but  some  individuals  who  were  inimical  to 
the  New  College  laid  hold  on  this  incident  to  inflame 
the  minds  of  the  inhabitants.  A  mob,  collected  by 
the  ringing  cf  the  town-bell,  forced  the  gate  of  the 
college,  and  finding  Melville's  chamber  secured,  call- 
ed for  fire,  and  threatened  to  burn  the  house,  with  all 
that  were  in  it,  unless  Caldcleugh  was  instantly  deliv- 
ered up  to  them.  By  addressing  them  from  a  window, 
and  flattering  some  and  threatening  others,  Melville 
succeeded  in  gaining  time  till  his  friends  assembled 
and  rescued  him  from  his  perilous  situation.  The 
town-council,  yielding  to  the  popular  clamour,  took  up 
the  cause,  and  insisted  that  the  rector  should  renounce 
all  right  to  judge  in  the  affair,  and  find  security  to 
produce  the  aggressor  before  them  or  the  lord  of  regal- 
ity, provided  Turnbull's  wound  proved  mortal. f  Some 
of  his  friends,  alarmed  at  the  storm  raised  against  the 
university,  went  and  gave  the  security  which  was  de- 
manded ;  but  he  refused  to  compromise  his  authority  or 
allow  the  outrage  to  pass  unpunished.  The  magistrates 
were  accordingly  called  to  account,  and  obliged  to  de- 
lete the  obligation  from  their  records.  The  ringlead- 
ers of  the  riot  were  brought  to  trial,  and  would  have 
been  severely  punished,  had  not  Melville  put  a  stop  to 
the  prosecution,  upon  their  submission  and  giving 
bond  for  their  peaceful  conduct  for  the  future.:}: 

He  was  no  less  ready  to  support  the  authority  of 
the  magistrates  of  the  town,  when  assailed  by  the  tur- 
bulent and  ambitious,  than  he  was  to  assert  the  rights 
of  the  university.  The  affairs  of  the  borough  had 
been  grossly  mismanaged  under  the  direction  of  Lear- 
mont  of  Dairsie,  a  neighbouring  gentleman,  who  had 
for  many  years  held  the  oflice  of  provost.  In  the  year 
1592,  the  burgesses,  availing  themselves  of  their  right, 
elected  another  individual  as  chief  magistrate.  In- 
censed at  being  excluded  from  an  office  which  he  con- 
sidered as  hereditary  in  his  family,  Dairsie  sought  to 
revenge  himself  in  a  way  which  was  then  too  com- 
mon ;  and  Balfour  of  Burley,  one  of  his  friends,  re- 
peatedly entered  St.  Andrews  during  the  night  at  the 
head  of  an  armed  force,  and  committed  depredations 
upon  the  inhabitants.  On  one  occasion,  Dairsie  hav- 
ing approached  the  town  at  the  head  of  a  strong  band 
of  his  retainers,  the  magistrates,  despairing  oi  being 
able  to  oppose  him,  proposed  to  capitulate.  But  Mel- 
ville encouraged  them  to  stand  out  for  their  independ- 
ence. Having  assembled  the  members  of  the  univer- 
sity, he  persuaded  them  to  take  arms  in  defence  of 
their  brethren,  put  himself  at  their  head,  with  a  white 
spear,  the  badge  of  his  rectorial  office,  in  his  hand, 
and  joined  the  forces  of  the  town  and  of  some  neigh- 
bouring gentlemen  who  went  out  to  meet  Dairsie,  and 


•  Paper*  of  the  Unireraitj. 

+  Seo  Note  FF. 

X  Melville's  Diary,  p.  225,  226. 


gave  him  such  a  reception  as  discouraged  him  from  re- 
pealing his  turbulent  and  illegal  aggressions.* 

Among  his  other  employments,  Melville  acted  for 
several  years  as  a  ruling  elder  in  the  congregation  of 
St.  Andrews.  It  was  a  matter  of  importance,  at  that 
early  period,  that  kirk-sessions  should  contain  such  in- 
dividuals within  their  bounds,  as,  in  addition  to  reli- 
gious qualifications,  possessed  superior  knowledge  and 
influence.  In  boroughs,  it  was  the  almost  invariable 
custom  to  have  some  of  the  elders  chosen  from  among 
the  magistrates.  This  circumstance,  connected  with  the 
nature  of  the  offences  usually  tried  and  the  punish- 
ments decreed  against  them  by  the  legislature,  led  to 
that  apparent  confounding  of  the  two  Jurisdictions, 
which  is  apt  to  strike  those  who  happen  to  look  into  the 
ancient  records  of  kirk-sessions  as  an  anomaly,  and  a 
contradiction  to  the  principles  of  the  Presbyterian 
church.  At  the  beginning  of  the  Reformation,  the 
kirk-session  of  St.  Andrews  were  in  the  habit  of  calling 
in  the  principal  professors  of  the  colleges,  and  taking 
their  advice,  in  the  decision  of  the  most  difficult  causes 
which  came  before  them.t  From  experience  of  the 
benefit  derived  from  their  advice,  it  came  to  be  the  com- 
mon practice  to  choose  a  certain  number  of  elders 
from  the  university  every  year.:}:  Upon  the  same  prin- 
ciple ministers  or  preachers  who  happened  to  reside  in 
the  town  were  taken  into  the  session ;  and  it  may  startle 
our  southern  neighbours  to  learn,  that  even  archbish- 
ops were  chosen  to  be  ruling  elders,  and  did  not  think 
themselves  degraded  by  occupying  an  inferior  form  in 
the  lowest  court  of  the  Presbyterian  church.:}:  The 
general  law  of  the  church  was,  that  the  elders  and 
deacons  should  be  chosen  by  the  voice  of  the  congre- 
gation over  whom  they  were  placed.  But  deviations 
were  made  from  this  law  at  an  early  period,  and  in 
some  congregations  the  formal  election  was  assumed 
by  the  session ;  although  the  people  still  retained  a 
right  to  add  to  the  leet  or  list  of  nominees,  as  well  as 
to  object  to  those  who  were  chosen  upon  "  the  serving 
of  their  edict."  The  office  of  an  elder  in  those  times 
was  far  from  being  merely  nominal.  Those  who  accept- 
ed it  were  bound  to  give  regular  attendance  on  the  meet- 
ings of  session,  which  were  held  at  least  once  a-week. 
The  town  and  parish  of  St.  Andrews  was  divided  into 
districts,  and  over  each  of  these  a  certain  number  of  el- 
ders and  deacons  were  appointed  as  inspectors  and  visit- 
ors, whose  duty  it  was  to  report  to  the  session  on  the 
state  of  morals  and  the  necessities  of  the  poor.  Such 
elders  as  were  professors  appear  to  have  been  exempted 
from  this  part  of  duty,  in  consideration  of  their  academ- 
ical charge;  but  they  were  required  to  assist  the  pastors 
in-the  examination  of  the  congregation  before  the  com- 
munion.§  The  session  took  cognizance  of  all  open  vio- 

«  Melville's  Diary,  p.  226. 

f  Causes  of  divorce  were  tried  before  the  reformed  church- 
courts,  previously  to  the  erection  of  the  commissury  court*. 
In  the  cause  Rantoun  against  Gedde,  the  sentence  runs  in  the 
following  terms:  "We  the  minister  and  seniors  of  this  our 
Christian  cogregation  within  the  parochin  of  Sanctandrois 
Judges  in  the  actioun  and  caus  moved — In  pns  [presencel  of 
Mr.  Johne  Dowglass  rectour  of  the  vniversitie  of  Sanctandrois 
Johne  Wynrame  Supprior  men  of  singular  erviditioun  and 
vnderstanding  in  the  Scriptures  and  word  of  God,  with  Mrs. 
Williame  Skene  and  Johne  Rutherfurdc  men  of  cunning  in 
sundry  sciences,  with  quhorae  we  comunicatet  the  secretes  of 
the  merits  of  the  said  actioun  and  caus  being  be  ws  and  them 
hard  and  seane,"  &c.  (Record  of  Kirk  Session  of  St.  An- 
drews, March  21,  1559.) 

\  The  same  practice  was  observed  at  Glasgow.  (Extracts 
from  Records  of  Kirk  Session  of  Glasgow.  Wodrow's  Life  of 
David  Weemcs,  p.  28,  MSS.  vol.  iii.) 

II  "  The  names  of  Eldars  and  Deaconis  chosin  vpon  ye  xii 
daye  of  October  1571.  Eldars.  Mr.  John  Douglas  archbishop 
&  rector  of  Sanctnndr.  Mr.  Thomas  Balfour.  Mr.  John  Ruth- 
erfurd,  Mr.  W"  Cok,  Mr.  James  Wylkie,"  &c.  (Record  of 
Kirk  Session  of  St.  Andrews.)  Mr.  Robert  Wilkie  was  chosen 
an  elder  immediately  after  he  resigned  the  pastoral  inspection 
of  the  congregation.     (lb.  Jan.  20,  1590.) 

{  Record  oi  the  Kirk  Session  of  St.  Andrews,  April  16, 
1584,  and  April  9, 1589,  compared  with  the  minute  of  Decem- 
ber 5,  1593. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


279 


lations  of  the  moral  law,  not  only  unchastity,  but  also 
non-attendance  on  religious  ordinances,  profane  swear- 
ing, sabbath-breaking,  undutifulness  to  parents  and 
other  relations,  neglect  of  the  education  of  children, 
drunkenness,  slander,  backbiting,  and  even  scolding. 
In  some  sessions  it  was  the  custom,  as  a  preparation 
for  the  communion,  to  nominate  a  certain  number  of 
elders  as  arbiters ;  and  such  members  of  the  congrega- 
tion as  were  at  variance  with  one  another,  were  pub- 
licly warned  to  attend  on  a  particular  day,  and  submit 
their  differences  to  an  extra-judicial  decision.  And 
there  are  examples  of  their  proceeding  in  certain  causes 
by  way  of  inquest  and  the  nomination  of  a  jury.  The 
session  was  no  less  strict  in  the  inspection  which  it 
exercised  over  its  own  members.  At  their  entrance 
to  office  they  were  sworn  to  observe  the  sessional  sta- 
tutes, and  a  day  was  annually  fixed  for  administering 
the  privy  censures,  which,  at  that  period,  were  some- 
thing more  than  a  form.  On  that  occasion,  the  min- 
isters, elders,  and  deacons  were  removed,  one  after 
another;  their  conduct,  both  in  and  out  of  court,  was 
judged  of  by  the  remainder;  and  each  was  commend- 
ed, admonished  or  rebuked,  as  his  behaviour  was 
thought  to  liave  merited.* 

Melville  had  been  instrumental  in  procuring  for  St. 
Andrews  two  faithful  and  laborious  ministers,  David 
Black  and  Robert  Wallace.  The  former  of  these,  in 
particular,  was  most  indefatigable  in  the  discharge  of 
his  pastoral  functions,  and  exerted  himself  in  reviving 
the  ecclesiastical  discipline,  and  in  taking  care  that 
the  different  members  of  his  session  performed  their 
respective  duties  in  the  most  efficient  manner.  By 
these  means  he  produced,  during  the  short  period  of  his 
incumbency,  a  striking  reformation  on  his  people,  by 
checking  vice,  promoting  religious  knowledge,  and  di- 
minishing pauperism.  To  strengthen  the  hands  of  this 
zealous  minister,  was  one  great  object  which  Melville 
had  in  view  in  undertaking  the  office  of  an  elder,  which 
he  accepted  in  1591,  and  continued  to  hold  until  Black 
was  forced  from  St.  Andrews. f 

As  a  member  of  presbytery,  Melville  attended  and 
took  part  in  the  weekly  exercise.  Two  members,  ac- 
cording to  the  order  of  the  roll,  delivered  each  a  dis- 
course at  the  weekly  meeting  of  presbytery.  The  one 
explained  a  passage  of  Scripture,  and  the  other  stated 
and  briefly  illustrated  the  doctrines  which  it  contained  ; 
after  which  the  presbytery  gave  their  opinion  of  the 
performances.  In  their  form  these  discourses  bore  a 
resemblance  to  the  Exercise  and  Addition  in  our  divin- 
ity-halls, and  on  trials  for  license  and  ordination.  Such 
students  of  divinity  as  were  recommended  by  their  pro- 
fessors were  allowed  to  take  part  in  them,  after  they 
had  given  a  satisfactory  specimen  of  their  gifts  before 
the  presbytery  in  (what  was  called)  the  private  exercise. 
A  contrii)ution  was  sometimes  levied  from  the  mem- 
bers to  purchase  commentaries  on  those  parts  of  Scrip- 
ture which  were  thus  explained,  for  the  use  of  such  as 
were  deficient  in  books ;  and  this  laid  the  foundation, 
in  several  instances,  of  presbytery  libraries.  In  the 
year  1597,  the  General  Assembly  enjoined  an  additional 
exercise  to  presbyteries.  Once  every  month  a  question 
relating  to  some  point  in  divinity  controverted  by  the 
adversaries  of  the  truth,  was  substituted  for  the  ordi- 
nary subject  of  presbyterial  exercitation.  One  of  the 
members  in  his  turn  discussed  the  question ;  after 
which,  he  defended  his  thesis  against  the  objections 
started  by  his  brethren.  The  discourse  was  delivered 
before  the  people  and  in  English  r  the  disputation  was 


»  See  Note  GG.  " 

t  Melville's  Diary,  p.  215,  237.  Bulk  of  the  Univ.  Kirk,  f. 
167,  a.  Record  of  Kirk  Session  of  St.  Andrews,  Nov.  11,  1590 
— Dec.  1596, ^aiiim.  '•  Erat  hie  Blackius,"  (says  Calderwood) 
"  et  vitae  et  sinceri  aniini  laude  omni  raemoria  dignus.  Delec- 
tus ad  Fanum  Andrese  Minister,  ita  Ecclesiam  illain  adniinis- 
travit,  ut  in  tanto  populo  (sunt  enim  plures  quani  3000  qui  Sa- 
cram  Cosnam  percipiunt)  nemo  menaicus  conspiceretiir,  nemo 
Sabbatum  auderet  violare."     (Altare  Damasc.  p.  751.) 


held  in  private  and  in  the  Latin  language.  In  point 
of  form,  our  modern  Exegesis  corresponds  to  this  per- 
formance. The  Presbytery  of  Aberdeen  were  consid- 
erably later  than  their  brethren  of  the  south  in  opening 
this  theological  palestra,  but  they  appear  to  have  en- 
tered very  much  mto  the  spirit  of  the  exercise ;  for  they 
agreed  that "  the  head  of  controversy  should  be  handled 
every  fourteen  days,"  and  their  minutes  inform  us,  that 
the  brother  who  took  the  lead  in  it  "  did  marvellous." 
This  fact  may  perhaps  help  to  account  for  the  superior 
dexterity  which  the  Doctors  of  Aberdeen  afterwards  at- 
tained in  the  use  of  controversial  weapons,  and  which 
they  displayed  so  conspicuously  in  their  celebrated 
contest  with  the  champions  of  the  covenant.  What- 
ever may  be  in  this,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  pres- 
byterial exercises  were  useful  in  sharpening  the  judg- 
ment, and  stimulating  the  ardour  of  the  ministers,  and 
particularly  the  younger  part  of  them,  in  their  private 
studies.* 

The  exertions  made  at  this  time  shew,  that  the 
fathers  of  our  church,  in  seeking  to  substitute  presby- 
tery in  the  room  of  prelacy,  stretched  their  views  be- 
yond the  establishment  of  a  mere  form  of  ecclesiastical 
polity,  and  that  it  was  their  grand  object  to  provide  an 
evangelical  ministry  which  should  be  efficient  for  the 
purposes  of  diffusing  the  knowledge  and  promoting  the 
power  of  religion.  During  the  period  of  the  Tulchan 
Episcopacy,  a  number  of  persons  had  been  inducted 
into  parishes  who  were  destitute  of  gifts,  or  who  la- 
boured under  other  disqualifications.  Presbyteries,  for 
some  years  after  their  erection,  were  employed  in  rem- 
edying this  evil.  The  General  Assembly  repeatedly 
appointed  commissioners  to  assist  in  the  work ;  giving 
them  power,  along  with  the  respective  presbyteries 
which  they  visited,  to  try  all  actual  ministers,  and  to 
suspend  or  deprive  those  whom  they  found  unqualified. 
In  consequence  of  this,  several  individuals,  in  different 
parts  of  the  country,  were  deposed  from  the  ministerial 
office ;  some  were  suspended  for  a  time,  or  translated 
to  more  obscure  corners  ;  and  others  were  admonished 
of  their  deficiencies  and  exhorted  to  give  themselves  to 
reading  and  study.  The  measure  was  unquestionably 
an  extraordinary  one,  and  may  be  blamed  by  some  as 
an  undue  and  unwarrantable  stretch  of  authority.  But 
it  shews  the  zeal  for  the  credit  and  usefulness  of  their 
order  with  which  the  ministers  were  at  that  time  ani- 
mated ;  and  it  will  be  difficult  to  prove  that  the  essen- 
tial end  of  the  pastoral  function — the  instruction  and 
edification  of  the  people — ought  to  be  sacrificed  to 
forms,  or  that  it  should  be  indefinitely  postponed  from 
respect  to  personal  claims  which  had  been  irregularly 
and  unjustly  acquired  during  a  corrupt  administration. f 
So  far  as  a  judgment  can  be  formed  from  the  records 
which  remain,  this  delicate  trial  appears  to  have  been 
conducted  with  impartiality,  and  with  all  that  tender- 
ness to  individuals  which  was  consistent  with  jnstice  to 
the  public. 

Melville  exerted  himself  with  much  success  in  the 
plantation  of  vacant  parishes  within  the  bounds  of  the 
presbytery  of  which  he  was  a  member.  When  he  first 
came  to  St,  Andrews  there  were  not  above  five  parishes 
provided  with  ministers  ;  but  in  the  course  of  a  few 
years  the  number  had  increased  to  sixteen.  This  ob- 
ject was  effected  chiefly  by  his  exertions,  joined  to 
those  of  his  nephew  and  Black.:|:  Spotswood  takes  no 
notice  of  this  meritorious  service  ;  but  he  details  with 
great  minuteness  the  particulars  of  a  dissension  which 
arose  in  that  presbytery  on  occasion  of  the  settlement 
of  the  parish  of  Leuchars.  The  presbytery  (he  says) 
was  divided  in  opinion  as  to  the  candidate  most  fit  for 
the  charge ;  Melville  being  at  the  head  of  the  one  par- 
ty ,^  and  Thomas  Buchanan  of  the  other.     Impatient  of 


*  See  Note  HH. 

t  See  the  authorities  brought  forward  in  the  last  mentioned 
Note. 
t  Melville's  Diary,  p.  237,  243. 


280 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


contradiction,  and  irritated  at  being  left  in  the  minor- 
ity, Melville  made  a  secession  from  the  majority,  and, 
along  uith  those  who  supported  him,  constituted  an- 
other preshytery  in  the  New  College.  At  the  desire 
of  the  provincial  synod  of  Fife,  the  synod  of  Lothian 
sent  three  of  their  members  to  compose  this  disgrace- 
ful strife.  Melville  defended  himself  by  pleading,  that 
the  candidate  preferred  by  his  opponents  was  not  to  be 
compared  with  the  individual  whom  he  supported,  and 
that  votes  ought  to  be  weighed  and  not  numbered.  And 
the  umpires  could  find  no  other  way  of  restoring  peace 
than  that  of  dividing  the  presbytery  into  two,  and  ap- 
pointing the  one  to  meet  at  St.  Andrews  and  the  other 
at  Cupar.*  It  has  been  shewn  by  a  contemporary  wri- 
ter that  the  archbishop  has  misrepresented  and  grossly 
exaggerated  this  afFair.|  To  gain  the  greater  credit  to 
his  narrative,  after  it  was  contradicted,  Spofswood 
states  in  his  history,  that  he  was  himself  one  of  the 
delegates  appointed  by  the  synod  of  Lothian  to  recon- 
cile the  parties.  The  minute  of  that  appointment  is 
now  before  me.  It  mentions  that  "  a  little  dissension" 
had  fallen  out  among  the  members  of  the  presbytery 
of  St.  Andrews,  who  had  agreed  to  submit  the  matter 
in  dispute  to  certain  brethren  belonging  to  other  pres- 
byteries ;  it  specifies  the  four  ministers  whom  the 
synod  "  licentiated"  to  go  to  Fife  on  this  business,  and 
also  those  who  were  appointed  to  supply  their  place 
during  their  absence ;  but  Spotswood  was  none  of 
them,  nor  does  his  name  occur  in  the  minute. :^:  It  is 
possible  that  the  archbishop  might  be  present  at  St. 
Andrews  on  the  occasion  referred  to  ;  but  it  is  also  pos- 
sible, that,  owing  to  the  multiplicity  of  secular  employ- 
ments in  which  he  was  afterwards  involved,  his  mem- 
ory deceived  him,  and  that  he  imagined  he  had  been  a 
witness  of  what  he  had  only  heard  by  report. 

The  archbishop  does  not  conceal  that  he  introduced 
this  story,  to  shew  that  Melville  was  incapable  of 
brooking  submission  to  the  parity  which  he  had  estab- 
lished, and  that  presbyterian  government  natively  tends 
to  produce  discord  and  division.  But  who  does  not 
perceive  that  such  a  mode  of  reasoning  is  inconclusive 
and  weak?  Did  the  archbishop  forget  the  "conten- 
tion," not  unlike  that  which  he  describes,  between 
Paul  and  Barnabas  about  the  choice  of  a  minister, 
which  was  "  so  sharp  that  they  departed  asunder  the 
one  from  the  other  ?"  or,  would  he  have  pronounced  it 
also  "  to  be  ominous,  and  that  the  government,  which 
in  the  beginning  did  break  forth  into  such  schisms, 
could  not  long  continue  1"  Wherever  affairs  are  deci- 
ded by  a  plurality  of  voices,  a  diiference  of  opinion, 
and  consequently  opposition,  may  be  expected  to  arise. 
In  supporting  measures  which  they  believe  to  be  con- 
ducive to  public  good,  men  of  honest  and  independent 
minds  will  display  a  warmth  and  an  earnestness  which 
will  appear  excessive  and  intemperate  to  the  lukewarm 
and  temporizing.  And  as  they  are  men  of  like  pas- 
sions with  others,  their  zeal  will  occasionally  hurry 
them  beyond  the  bounds  of  reason  and  moderation. 
But  the  enlightened  friend  of  a  free  government  will 
not  be  moved  by  objections  founded  on  the  partial  in- 
conveniences or  incidental  evils  to  which  it  may  lead. 
Though  not  more  in  love  with  discord  and  contention 
than  other  men,  he  knows  that  ebullitions  of  this  kind 
are  inseparable  from  the  spirit  of  liberty,  and  that  they 
are  often  productive  of  good.  He  is  convinced  that 
there  is  a  necessary  and  honourable,  as  well  as  a  hate- 
ful and  ungodly,  strife.  He  is  aware,  that  where  all 
things  are  decided  by  the  arbitrary  will  of  an  individ- 
ual, dissension  and  dissent  are  alike  precluded.      But 


•  Spotswood's  History,  p.  386. 

■f-  Calderwood,  F.pist.  Philadelphi  Vindiciae:  Altare  Damasc. 
p.  722.  The  tract  referred  to  is  an  answer  to  Refutatio  Libelli 
de  Re.gimine  Ecclesice  Scolicance,  which  Spotswood  published 
in  1620,  and  in  which  he  first  brought  forward  this  accusation 
Hg^inst  Melville. 

}  Record  of  the  Provincial  Synod  of  Lothian  and  Tweeddalc, 
October  3, 1692. 


he  knows  also,  that  this  is  the  harmony  and  peace 
which  is  to  be  found  in  the  prison  and  the  grave ;  and 
he  would  prefer  the  disunion  and  even  uproar  by  which 
a  deliberative  assembly  is  sometimes  shaken  and  con- 
vulsed, to  the  appalling  tranquillity  and  death-like 
stillness  which  reigns  in  the  courts  of  despotism. 

Before  resuming  the  narrative  of  public  transactions, 
it  is  proper  to  notice  the  death  of  John  Erskine,  the 
venerable  superintendent  of  Angus.  This  enlightened 
and  public-spirited  baron  will  be  remembered  as  one 
of  the  early  and  most  distinguished  patrons  of  litera- 
ture in  Scotland.  In  the  wars  against  the  English,  he 
had  displayed  his  courage  and  love  to  the  indepen- 
dence of  his  native  country.*  He  embarked  with  great 
zeal  in  the  struggle  for  the  Reformation ;  and  after  the 
triumph  of  that  cause,  served  the  church  first  as  a 
superintendent  and  afterwards  as  a  parochial  minister.! 
If  at  a  later  period  he  suffered  himself  to  be  entangled 
by  the  politics  of  the  court,  and  lent  the  influence  of 
his  name  to  the  support  of  measures  injurious  to  the 
church,  his  advanced  age  and  the  difficulty  of  the  times 
may  be  pleaded  as  an  extenuation  of  his  fault.  When 
incapacitated  for  active  employment,  he  retained  his 
literary  habits,  and  continued  in  his  closet  to  pursue 
the  studies  connected  with  the  sacred  profession  to 
which  he  had  devoted  himself.:}:  His  death  took  place 
on  the  16th  of  October,  1592,  and  in  the  eighty-second 
year  of  his  age.|| 

The  afltairs  of  the  kingdom  were  still  in  a  very  un- 

*  Beague's  History  of  the  Canipagnes  1548  and  1549,  p.  10, 

+  On  the  24th  of  March,  1574,  "Thomas  Erskine  lauchful! 
Sonne  to  Johne  Erskine  of  Dwn"  was  presented  to  "the  per- 
sonage and  vicarage  of  Dwn." — On  the  6th  of  August,  1575, 
"  Our  soureine  lord  being  informed — of  his  weilbelouit  Johne 
erskine  and  of  his  lang  travellis  in  the  niinisterie  w*in  the  kirk 
of  God,"  presents  him  to  "the  personage  and  vicarage  of  Dwn 
— vacand  oe  deceis  of  M.  James  Erskine;"  and  requires  the  su- 
perintendent of  Fife  to  admit  him,  "seeing  it  is  knawin  he  is 
qualifeit."     (Register  of  Present,  to  Benefices.) 

I  Dedicatory  verses  to  The  Winter  JVtght,  a  poem.  The 
dedication  is  inscribed,  "To  the  right  godly  worshipfvll  and 
vigilant  pastor  in  Christs  kirke,  Johne  Erskin  of  Dun, — James 
Anderson  Minister  of  CoUace,  wisheth  grace,"  &c.  The  ex- 
cellence of  this  small  work  certainly  does  not  lie  in  the  poetry; 
but  it  went  through  several  editions.  That  of  1599,  mentioned 
by  Herbert,  1  do  not  consider  as  the  earliest  one.  I  quote  from 
Andro  Hart's  printed  about  1614.  The  following  is  the  con- 
cluding stanza  in  the  address  to  Erskine: 

I  can  not  dite  as  thou  hast  done  deserue, 

In  Kirk  and  court,  countrey  and  commonweaie 

Carefull  the  kirk  in  peace  for  to  preserue: 

In  court  thy  counsel!  was  stout,  and  true  as  Steele, 

Thy  policie  decores  the  country  well. 

In  planting  trees,  and  building  places  faire. 

With  costly  brigs  ouer  waters  plaine  repaire 

The  poem  itself  begins  thus: 

The  winter  night  I  think  it  long. 

Full  long  and  teugh,  while  it  ouergang 

The  winters  night  I  think  so  long 

Both  long  and  dreigh  till  day. 
Full  long  think  I  the  winters  night. 
While  daye  breake  up  with  beams  so  bright 
And  banish  darknesse  out  of  sight 

And  works  of  darknesse,  Aa. 

The  winter  night  that  I  of  meane 
Is  not  this  natural!  night  I  weine. 
That  lakes  the  light  of  the  sunneshine 

And  differs  froir  Ihe  day. 
But  darknesse  of  our  roinde  it  is 
Which  hides  from  us  the  heavens  blisse 
Since  Adam  first  did  make  the  luisse 

In  paradise  that  day. 

|l  Act  Buik  of  the  Commissariat  of  St.  And*  Oct.  25, 1593, 
and  Apr.  19,  1594. — Spotswood  fixes  hh  death,  by  mistake,  on 
the  12th  of  March,  1591.  He  also  represents  him  as  "  leaving 
behind  him  a  numerous  posterity.  (Hist.  384.)  But  Ills  Will 
mentions  only  "  his  son  and  air  and  Margaret  Erskine  his  doch- 
ter"  who  were  minors,  and  whose  "  tuitioun  gyding  &  keeping" 
he  left  to  "  his  weilbelovit  spous  Margaret  Kaith  thair  mother." 
— "  The  noble  and  potent  Lord  Robert  Lord  Altrie"  (probably 
Mrs.  Erskine's  brother)  was  one  of  their  "  tutouris  testament- 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


281 


settled  state.  His  Majesty,  after  his  return  from  Den- 
mark, had  promised  to  reform  his  administration,  and 
having  assembled  the  chief  barons,  exacted  from  them 
a  pledge  that  they  would  lay  aside  their  deadly  feuds  ; 
but  he  held  the  reins  of  government  with  such  a  weak 
and  unsteady  hand,  that  these  scenes  of  lawless  dis- 
order were  renewed,  and  murders,  accompanied  with 
circumstances  of  shocking  atrocity,  were  perpetrated 
with  impunity  in  the  very  heart  of  the  kingdom.*  He 
had  pledged  himself  to  his  Parliament  to  rule  by  the 
advice  of  his  counsellors,  and  "  to  suffer  none  to  inter- 
vene betwixt  his  Highness  and  them  in  the  credit  of 
their  offices."f  But  the  spirit  of  favouritism  was  too 
strong  in  his  breast  to  suffer  him  to  adhere  long  to  this 
course,  and  his  ablest  statesmen  found  their  measures 
defeated  by  the  secret  influence  of  the  companions  of 
his  amusements,  and  of  such  as  had  otherwise  insinu- 
ated themselves  into  his  good  graces.  Captain  James 
Stewart,  who  had  formerly  rendered  himself  so  hateful 
to  the  nation  under  the  name  of  Earl  of  Arran,  pre- 
sumed at  this  time  to  present  himself  in  the  palace ; 
and  the  reception  he  met  with  shewed  that  he  still  re- 
tained a  place  in  his  Majesty's  affections.  With  the 
view  of  establishing  himself  at  court,  and  in  the  hopes 
of  regaining  his  former  station,  he  applied  to  the  pres- 
bytery of  Edinburgh,  professed  great  regard  for  the 
church,  and  offered  to  give  satisfaction  for  any  offences 
which  he  might  formerly  have  committed.  But  the 
presbytery  met  his  advances  with  the  most  discoura- 
ging coldness,  declined  receiving  his  suspicious  sub- 
missions, and  told  him  that  the  sincerity  of  his  repent- 
ance behoved  to  be  demonstrated  by  more  visible  to- 
kens of  reformation,  and  a  longer  course  of  trial,  be- 
fore they  could  indulge  a  good  opinion  of  his  charac- 
ter.:); They  at  the  same  time  appointed  a  deputation 
to  wait  upon  his  Majesty,  and  to  warn  him  against  ad- 
mitting such  a  dangerous  person  into  his  counsels.  In 
consequence  of  this,  Stewart  retired  in  despair  of  being 
able  to  accomplish  his  purpose.  This  firmness  on  the 
part  of  the  ministers  was  highly  applauded  by  all  who 


*  Richard  Preston  of  Craigmillar,  a  gentleman  of  excellent 
character,  was  basely  stabbed  to  death,  when  hfe  was  in  the  act 
of  giving  alms  to  his  murderer,  David  Edmonston,  who  had  ac- 
costed him  under  the  disguise  of  a  j)auper.  (Simsoni  Annales, 
p.  62.)  The  Records  of  the  Presbytery  of  Edinburgh  at  this 
period  furnish  examples  of  a  similar  kind. 

+  Act.  Pari.  Scot.iii.  562. 

\  The  presbytery  refused,  oil  the  request  of  his  nephew. 
Lord  Ochiltree,  to  appoint  a  committee  to  converse  with  him  in 
private;  upon  which  he  appeared  before  them.  Alter  hearing 
what  he  had  to  say,  and  informing  him  that  it  belonged  to  the 
General  Assembly  to  judge  of  his  conduct,  "  the  brether  assurit 
him  that  they  culd  haifna  opinion  boteuill  of  him  for  ocht  that 
zit  they  saw;  and  schew  thot  it  wald  not  be  woordis  hot  gude 
deidis  that  wald  chang  thair  myndis,  and  thairfor  as  they  judgit 
euill  of  the  things  that  ar  past,  sua  they  culd  not  judg  weill  of 
him  for  the  tyme  to  cum,  till  they  saw  alsmekle  of  his  gud  eas 
they  [had]  sene  of  bis  euill.  And  thairfore  was  exhovtit  that 
gif  thair  was  ony  kind  of  pieti,  ony  godlines  or  religion  into  him 
that  he  suld  schaw  the  fruict  thairof  be  a  better  repentance  nor 
they  had  sene,  and  wtter  the  effect  in  gude  deidis,  quhilk  gif  he 
suld  doe,  as  thair  is  mercie  with  the  Lord,  sua  the  brether  wald 
judg  of  him  according  to  his  warkis,  hot  in  cais  he  had  cum  thair 
tor  the  fassones  sake  to  insinuatt  him  self  into  the  bosome  of  the 
kirk  that  thairby  he  myght  creip  in  the  fauour  of  the  prince,  and 
sua  mak  a  couUour  of  all  to  the  end  that  he  my  accomplische 
the  rest  of  the  mistereis  of  his  iniquities  &  euill  warkis,  Tlien 
he  was  scharpely  aduertisit  that  that  God  whom  he  had  hitherto 
mockit,  and  for  that  caus  had  hitherto  dejectit  him  with  schame, 
sua  gif  he  continewit  in  his  mocking  that  sani  God  sail  deiect 
him  and  cast  him  down  agane  with  greiter  schame  &  confusioun 
nor  of  before."  Lest  a  false  report  of  their  proceedings  should 
be  given,  the  presbyteiy  appointed  certain  of  their  number  to 
go  to  the  palace,  "  to  inform  his  nia'ie  of  the  things  that  wer 
done,  and  to  schaw  that  they  as  zit  culd  persaif  na  appearance 
of  gude  in  that  man,  bot  rather  that  he  continewit  still  in  his 
former  prvde,  and  thairfore  desyrit  thanie  to  exhort  his  maU"  that 
as  he  luitfit  the  weill  of  the  kirk,  the  weill  of  countrey,  and  re- 
spectit  his  awin  honour  that  he  suld  geive  na  countenance  nor 
place  to  that  man  to  be  about  him,  or  haif  ony  publict  charg  in 
this  countrey,  quhilk  gif  he  did,  to  protest  that  the  kirk  was  in- 
nocent of  all  the  euill  that  was  able  to  ensew  thairupon."  (Re- 
cord of  Presbytery  of  Edinburgh,  December  5,  1592.) 
2L 


understood  the  true  interests  of  the  nation  ;  but  it  expo- 
sed them  to  the  undisguised  resentment  of  the  King.* 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1592,  the  uncommon 
activity  of  trafficking  priests  within  the  kingdom,  join- 
ed to  obscure  intelligence  received  from  abroad,  excit- 
ed strong  suspicions  that  the  popish  party  were  about 
to  renew  their  treasonable  attempts  against  the  public 
peace.  In  these  circumstances  Melville  came  over  to 
Edinburgh  to  attend  an  extraordinary  meeting  of  his 
brethren.  The  precautionary  measures  suggested  by 
him  were  unanimously  agreed  to  by  this  meeting,  and 
carried  into  effect  with  the  consent  of  the  King.  It 
was  agreed  to  advertise  presbyteries  of  the  apparent  dan- 
ger, and  to  desire  them  to  prepare  the  well-affected 
gentlemen  within  their  bounds  for  resisting  it;  and 
with  this  view  to  endeavour  to  compose  any  feuds  or 
quarrels  which  might  subsist  among  them.  An  indi- 
vidual in  each  presbytery  was  nominated  to  collect  in- 
formation from  his  brethren  respecting  the  secret  or 
open  practices  of  the  papists,  and  to  transmit  this 
with  the  utmost  dispatch  to  a  committee  which  was 
appointed  to  sit  in  Edinburgh  during  the  present  emer- 
gency, and  which  was  charged  to  watch  ne  quid  Ec- 
cksia  detrimenti  capcret.  The  information  thus  procur- 
ed was  immediately  to  be  communicated  to  his  Majesty 
and  the  Privy  Council,  who  were  requested  to  adopt 
such  other  measures  as  were  necessary  for  detecting 
the  conspiracy,  and  providing  for  the  public  safety. f 

The  wisdom  of  these  precautions,  and  the  justice 
of  the  suspicions  which  had  dictated  them,  were  soon 
made  apparent  to  all.  On  the  27th  of  December,  in 
consequence  of  secret  intelligence  which  he  had  re- 
ceived, Andrew  Knox,  minister  of  Paisley,  accom- 
panied by  a  number  of  students  from  the  college  of 
Glasgow,  and  neighbouring  gentlemen,  seized  George 
Ker,  a  doctor  of  laws  and  brother  of  Lord  Newbattle, 
in  the  island  of  Cumray,  as  he  was  about  to  take  ship 
for  Spain.  On  searching  him  there  were  found  in  his 
possession  letters  from  certain  priests  in  Scotland,  and 
blanks  subscribed  and  sealed  by  the  Earls  of  Huntly, 
Angus,  and  Errol,  with  a  commission  to  William 
Crighton,  a  Jesuit,  to  fill  up  the  blanks  and  address 
them  to  the  persons  for  whom  they  were  intended. 
Graham  of  Fintry,  an  associate  of  Ker,  was  soon  af- 
ter apprehended;  and  being  both  examined  before  the 
Privy  Council,  they  testified  that  the  signatures  to  the 
blanks  were  genuine,  and  laid  open  the  nature  and  ex- 
tent of  the  conspiracy.  The  King  of  Spain  was  to  have 
landed  thirty  thousand  men  on  the  west  coast  of  Scot- 
land, part  of  whom  were  to  invade  England,  and  the  re- 
mainder, in  concert  with  the  forces  which  the  three 
earls  promised  to  have  in  readiness,  were  to  suppress 
the  Protestants,  and  procure  the  re-establishment,  or 
at  least  the  full  toleration,  of  the  Roman  Catholic  re- 
ligion in  Scotland.:): 

James  was  absent  from  the  capital  when  this  con- 
spiracy was  discovered.  Having  arrived  at  the  urgent 
entreaties  of  his  Privy  Council  and  the  ministers  of 
Edinburgh,  he  betrayed  his  characteristic  weakness 
and  obliquity  of  mind.  Instead  of  sympathising  with 
his  people,  whose  feelings  had  been  wound  up  to  a 
high  pitch  of  alarm  and  indignation  by  the  recent  dis- 
covery, and  thanking  them  with  frankness  for  the 
vigilance  and  zeal  which  they  had  shown  in  his  ser- 
vice, he  renewed  his  petty  and  provoking  complaints  as 
to  the  encroachments  which  they  had  made  on  his  prerog- 


«  Cald.  iv.  269— 271. 

+  Melville's  Diary,  p.  219—224.     Cald.  iv.  262—268. 

\  Melville's  Diary,  p.  219 — 225.  A  discoverie  of  the  un- 
natural and  traiterous  Conspiracy  of  Scotish  Papists.  Edin- 
burgh, 1593.  This  book,  which  contains  the  intercepted  let- 
ters and  the  confessions  of  Ker  and  Graham  of  Fintry,  was 
published  under  the  direction  of  the  ministers  of  Edinburgh. 
(Record  of  Presb.  of  Edin.  May  li,  1593.)  John  Davidson, 
who  wrote  the  preface  to  it,  recorded,  in  his  Diary,  that  one 
of  the  intercepted  letters  was  suppressed,  because  it  "  touched 
the  King  with  knowledge  and  approbation  of  the  traffiquing, 
and  promise  of  assistance."     (Cald.  iv.  322.) 


282 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


ative  by  their  precipitate  measures ;  as  if  they  had 
been  bound  to  sit  still  and  suffer  themselves  to  be 
spoiled  of  their  lives,  liberties,  and  religion,  merely 
because  he  thoug^ht  that  these  were  in  no  danger,  or 
because  he  chose  to  neglect  his  duty  and  give  him- 
self up  to  idle  and  frivolous  amusements.  He  found 
fault  with  the  magistrates  of  Edinburgh  for  apprehend- 
ing the  Earl  of  Angus,  who  had  entered  the  town 
without  knowing  that  his  treasonable  correspondence 
was  discovered.  A  deputation  from  the  barons  and 
ministers  of  the  church  having  been  sent  to  congratu- 
late him  on  his  escape  from  the  conspiracy,  and  to  of- 
fer him  their  advice  and  assistance  in  bringing  the 
conspirators  to  justice,  he,  in  a  tedious  and  formal 
harangue,  blamed  them  for  assembling  without  wait- 
ing for  his  call ;  pointed  out  the  difference  between  the 
times  of  the  Queen  Regent,  when  the  country  was 
under  a  sovereign  addicted  to  popery,  and  the  present, 
when  they  had  a  protestant  king ;  and  upbraided  the 
ministers,  in  particular,  by  saying,  that  they  were 
not  wont  to  assemble  with  such  alacrity,  or  in  such 
great  numbers,  at  his  call.  They  replied,  that  they 
had  the  authority  of  the  Privy  Council  for  their  meet- 
ing, and  that  it  was  not  a  fit  time  to  stand  upon  forms, 
when  they  saw  his-person,  the  church,  and  common- 
wealth, brought  into  extreme  jeopardy.  Upon  being 
made  more  fully  acquainted  with  the  nature  of  the  plot, 
however,  he  professed  himself  convinced  of  the  mag- 
nitude of  the  danger,  promised  to  pursue  the  conspir- 
ators with  all  severity,  and  requested  the  barons  and 
ministers  who  were  assembled  to  favour  him  with 
their  best  advice.  A  proclamation  was  issued,  declar- 
ing that  Providence  had  mercifully  discovered  a  dan- 
gerous conspiracy,  contrived  by  the  crafty  practices  of 
pernicious  trafficking  papists,  seminary  priests  and  Je- 
suits, who  had  seduced  a  number  of  his  Majesty's 
subjects  to  apostatize  from  their  religion,  and  to  sub- 
ject their  native  country  to  "  the  slavery  and  tyranny 
of  that  proud  nation,  which  hath  made  such  unlawful 
and  cruel  conquests  in  diverse  parts  of  the  world,  as 
well  upon  christians  as  infidels;"  and  commanding  all 
who  loved  God,  wished  well  to  their  Prince,  and  did 
not  desire  to  see  "  their  wives,  children,  and  posteri- 
ty made  slaves  in  souls  and  bodies  to  merciless  stran- 
gers," to  abstain  from  all  intercourse  with  popish 
priests  under  the  pain  of  treason,  and  to  "  put  them- 
selves in  arms  by  all  good  means  they  can,  remaining 
in  full  readiness  to  pursue  or  defend,  as  they  shall  be 
certified  by  his  Majesty  or  otherwise  find  the  occa- 
sion urgent."*  To  remove  the  suspicions  of  the  na- 
tion, which  had  been  raised  by  the  conduct  of  James, 
an  act  of  council  was  made,  prohibiting  all  from  at- 
tempting to  procure  indemnity  to  the  conspirators,  and 
authorizing  the  King's  chaplains  to  exact  an  oath  from 
his  domestics  that  they  should  not  intercede  in  their 
behalf,  t 

Confiding  in  the  faith  of  the  court,  all  classes  now 
vied  in  demonstrations  of  loyalty  and  patriotism.  The 
gentlemen  voluntarily  agreed  to  form  themselves  into 
a  guard  to  defend  the  King's  person  and  preserve 
the  public  peace.  And  a  sacred  bond,  in  defence  of 
religion  and  the  government,  was  everywhere  subscrib- 
ed with  the  utmost  zeal  and  unanimity.  But  the  hopes 
of  the  nation  were  soon  disappointed.  Graham  of 
Fintry,  the  least  guilty  of  the  conspirators,  was,  in- 
deed, executed ;  but  the  Earl  of  Angus  and  Ker  were 
allowed  to  escape  from  prison.  James  having  advanc- 
ed to  Aberdeen,  attended  by  a  large  body  of  his  faith- 
ful subjects,  the  conspirators  concealed  themselves, 
and  those  whom  they  sent  to  intercede  for  them  were 
received.  The  parliament  which  met  in  July  1593, 
listened  to  their  offers  of  submission,  and  rejected  the 
bill  of  attainder  against  them,  on  the  pretext  of  its  in- 

•  Bulk  of  Unir.  Kirk,  f.  169. 

+  "Quhilk  WM  done;"  says  the  Buikof  the  Univeruall  Kirk, 
1. 168,  a. 


formality.*  They  were  suffered  to  repossess  their 
castles,  and  enjoyed  every  degree  of  liberty  except 
that  of  appearing  in  some  of  the  principal  towns  of 
the  kingdom.  This  injudicious  lenity  to  persons  who 
had  repeatedly  conspired  against  their  native  country, 
accompanied,  as  it  was,  with  a  breach  of  the  royal 
faith,  gave  universal  dissatisfaction,  and  excited  strong 
suspicions  in  the  breasts  of  not  a  few  as  to  the  sound- 
ness of  his  Majesty's  attachment  to  the  protestant  re- 
ligion.f 

Alarmed  at  the  tendency  of  this  policy,  the  provin- 
cial synod  of  Fife,  which  met  in  September  1593, 
came  to  the  resolution  of  excommunicating  the  four 
popish  noblemen,  Huntly,  Angus,  Errol,  and  Hume, 
with  their  two  principal  adherents,  Sir  Patrick  Gordon 
of  Auchindown,  and  Sir  James  Chisholm  of  Dun- 
durn.:j:  This  sentence  was  communicated  to  the  other 
synods,  and  being  unanimously  approved  and  intima- 
ted in  all  the  pulpits,  contributed  to  repress  the  bold- 
ness of  the  conspirators,  who,  confiding  in  the  royal 
favour,  had  begun  to  behave  themselves  with  extreme 
audacity.  Melville  was  appointed  by  his  synod  to  at- 
tend a  meeting  of  the  gentlemen  and  burgesses  of  the 
county  at  Cupar;  and  measures  were  taken  to  have  a 
general  meeting  held  at  Edinburgh  on  the  17th  of  Oc- 
tober, consisting  of  commissioners  from  the  different 
counties.  If 

James  was  highly  dissatisfied  with  the  excommuni- 
cation of  the  popish  lords,  as  tending  to  counteract  his 
intentions  of  pardoning  them,  and  he  dealt  importunate- 
ly with  Robert  Bruce  to  prevent  tiie  intimation  of  the 
sentence  in  Edinburgh.  Unable  to  succeed  with  the 
ministers,  he  had  recourse  to  the  most  popular  of  the 
barons,  and  endeavoured  to  gain  them  over  to  an  ap- 
probation of  his  scheme.  In  dealing  with  some  of 
them  he  urged  the  necessity  of  the  case,  and  with 
others  the  claims  of  humanity.  Among  other  argu- 
ments, he  availed  himself  of  the  specious  plea  of  lib- 
erty of  conscience  ;  a  plea  which,  as  applied,  was  a 
felo  de  se,  and,  had  it  been  then  acted  upon,  would  have 
led  to  the  overthrow  of  liberty,  both  civil  and  religious. 
A  curious  conversation  between  him  and  Lord  Ham- 
ilton on  this  subject  has  been  preserved.  James  paid 
a  visit  to  Hamilton  House,  for  the  purpose  of  sound- 
ing that  nobleman's  views.  He  introduced  the  con- 
versation by  saying,  that  he  was  confident  that  he  en- 
joyed the  friendship  of  his  lordship,  notwithstanding 
some  reports  which  had  been  circulated  to  the  contrary. 
"  Ye  see,  my  lord,  (continued  he)  how  I  am  used,  and 
have  no  man  in  whom  I  may  trust  more  than  in  Huntly. 
If  I  receive  him,  the  ministers  will  cry  out  that  I  am 
an  apostate  from  the  religion;  if  not,  I  am  left  deso- 
late." "  If  he  and  his  associates  be  not  enemies  to 
the  religion,  (said  his  lordship)  ye  may  receiv*^  them; 
otherwise,  not."  "  I  cannot  tell  (replied  his  Majesty) 
what  to  make  of  that,  but  the  ministers  hold  them  for 
enemies.  Always,  I  would  think  it  good,  that  they 
enjoyed  liberty  of  conscience."  Upon  this  Lord 
Hamilton  exclaimed  with  great  fervour,  "Sir,  then 
we  are  all  gone  !  then  we  are  all  gone!  If  there  is  not 
another  to  withstand  them,  I  will."  Alarmed  at  his 
earnestness,  and  perceiving  the  servants  at  hand,  the 
King  put  an  end  to  the  conversation  by  saying  with  a 

*  The  act  of  Parliament  makes  no  mention  of  informality; 
(Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vol.  iv.  p.  15.)  but  a  reference  is  made  to  it 
in  the  proceedings  of  the  subsequent  convention.  (lb.  p.  44.) 
Spotsvirood  says,  tlieir  process  was  remitted  to  the  King  and 
Privy  Council,  (Hist.  p.  397.)  but  tlie  record  is  silent  on  this 
lieacf. 

■}•  MS.  Historie  of  Scotland  from  1566  to  1594  under  the 
year  1592.  (This  is  a  copy  of  the  work,  a  jjart  of  wliicli  »va« 
published  by  Mr.  Laine,  under  the  title  of  Hinlory  <>f  King 
James  the  Sexl.)  Melville's  Diarj-,  p.  225.  Cald.  iv.  291  — 
293.     Bulk  of  Univ.  Kirk,  f.  168. 

}  The  grounds  upon  which  this  synod  considered  it  as  com- 
petent for  them  to  proceed  to  this  censure,  may  be  seen  in  th« 
printed  Culderwood,  p.  290,  291 

II  See  Note  II. 


LIFE  OP  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


283 


forced  smile,  "  My  lord,  I  did  this  to  try  your  mind."* 
The  dissimulation  of  James  was  so  gross,  and  so 
frequently  practised,  as  at  last  to  forfeit  him  the  confi- 
dence of  the  most  credulous.  Before  setting  out  on  a 
journey  to  the  borders,  he  renewed  his  promise  to  the 
ministers  of  Edinburgh  not  to  shew  favour  to  the  con- 
spirators. Yet,  on  the  very  day  on  which  he  gave  this 
pledge,  they  were  admitted  to  his  presence  at  Fala, 
and  made  arrangements  with  him  respecting  their  trial. 
A  convention  held  at  Edinburgh  a  few  days  after  this, 
appointed  commissioners  to  go  to  Jedburgh,  and  lay 
their  representations  before  his  Majesty.-)"  They  were 
instructed  to  complain  of  his  having  admitted  the 
popish  lords  into  his  presence,  to  request  that  the  ar- 
rangements made  respecting  their  trial,  so  far  as  they 
were  calculated  to  defeat  the  ends  of  justice,  should 
be  altered  ;  and  to  inform  him  that  all  his  faithful 
subjects  were  aggrieved  at  the  favour  shewn  to  traitors, 
and  determined  to  sacrifice  their  lives  sooner  than  al- 
low the  land  to  be  overrun  with  idolatrous  and  bloody 
papists.  James  gave  them  a  very  different  reception 
from  that  which  he  had  lately  vouchsafed  to  the  rebels. 
He  challenged  the  meeting  from  which  they  were  de- 
puted as  unlawful.  He  inveighed  against  the  synod 
of  Fife  for  excommunicating  the  popish  lords.  He 
expressed  great  displeasure  at  Melville  for  the  active 
part  which  he  had  taken  in  that  affair,  at  different 
meetings  held  in  the  county  of  Fife.  He  alleged  that 
the  persons  assembled  at  one  of  these  meetings  had 
entered  into  a  protestation,  in  which  they  declared  that 
they  would  not  acknowledge  him  as  their  lawful  King, 
unless  he  adhered  to  the  religion  presently  professed 
and  punished  such  as  sought  to  overthrow  it;  and 
that  they  had  endeavoured  to  bring  their  brethren  in 
the  southern  part  of  the  kingdom  under  the  same  trea- 
sonable engagement.  And  he  concluded  with  threat- 
ening that  he  would  call  a  meeting  of  Parliament,  to 
chastise  the  insolence  of  the  ministers  and  restore  the 
estate  of  bishops.  James  Melville,  in  the  name  of 
the  commissioners,  replied  to  this  royal  philippic,  and 
defended  his  constituents ;  after  which  his  Majesty 
grew  calmer,  returned  a  fair  answer  to  their  petition, 
and  dismissed  them  with  promises  that  were  never  to 
be  performed.:^ 

It  is  unnecessary  to  detail  all  the  deceptions  methods 
taken  by  the  court  in  the  course  of  this  pretend- 
ed judicial  process.  The  Convention  of  Estates 
held  at  Linlithgow  in  October  1593,  after  preparing 
matters  for  the  acquittal  of  the  conspirators,  referred 
their  trial  to  certain  individuals  named  by  them,  along 
with  the  officers  of  state,  whom  they  appointed  to 
meet  in  the  following  month  at  Holy  rood-house.  Mel- 
yille  attended  on  this  occasion  as  one  of  the  commis- 
sioners of  the  church, II  and  used  his  wonted  freedom 


»  Cald.  iv.  338. 

t  The  commissioners  were  Jaiiits  Melville,  Patrick  Galloway. 
Napier  of  Merchiston,  the  laird  of  Calderwood,  and  three  bnr- 


\  Cald.  iv.  338—342.  Melville's  Diary,  p.  227,  228.  Spots- 
wood's  History,  p.  398,  399.  MS.  Historie,  ut  supra.  Gor- 
don's Geneal.  History  of  the  Earldom  of  Sutherland,  p.  222, 
223.  The  last  mentioned  writer  says  that  it  was  resolved  by 
the  court,  in  the  year  1593,  to  re-establish  episcopac)'.  Spots- 
wood,  in  his  account  of  the  interview  at  Jedburgh,  says  that 
the  commissioners  "humbly  besought  his  Majesty  to  vouch- 
safe the  Assembly  some  answer  in  writing,  but  he  absolutely 
refused,  and  so  thev  took  their  leave."  (Hist.  p.  399.)  On  the 
contrary,  James  Melville,  who  was  present  as  one  of  the  com- 
missioners, expressly  says,  "  Sa  that  night  delyvering  our  pe- 
titiones  in  wryt,  be  tynies  on  the  morn  we  gat  our  answers  in 
wrait  fear  aneuche,  and  returned  on  the  thride  day."  (Mel- 
ville's Diary,  p.  227.) 

II  Six  ministers  were  nominated  by  the  Convention  of  Estates, 
and  allowed  to  be  present  at  the  trial.  (Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vol.  iv. 
p.  44.)  Gordon  states  that  this  nomination  was  opposed  by  the 
church  as  an  encroachment  upon  her  libTties:  upon  which  the 
King  caused  their  names  to  be  deleted,  and  ordered  that  in 
future  the  ministers  should  have  no  place  on  such  occasions 
but  as  suppliants.  (Geneal.  Hist,  of  the  Earldom  of  Suther- 
land, p.  223.) 


in  uttering  his  sentiments.  He  reproved  the  King  for 
the  manner  in  which  he  allowed  himself  to  speak 
of  those  who  had  been  the  chief  instruments  of  the 
Reformation  and  the  best  friends  of  his  throne,  and  for 
the  uniform  partiality  which  he  had  shown  to  the  avow- 
ed enemies  of  both,  and  particularly  to  the  house  of 
Huntly.  He  challenged  those  who  advised  his  Majes- 
ty to  favour  the  popish  noblemen  to  come  forward  and 
avow  themselves  before  the  Estates;  pledging  him- 
self to  prove  them  traitors  to  the  crown  and  kingdom 
of  Scotland,  provided  they  were  made  liable  to  pun- 
ishment if  found  guilty,  and  engaging  that,  if  he  fail- 
ed in  his  proof,  he  would  himself  go  to  the  gibbet. 
The  King  and  courtiers  smiled  at  his  offer,  and  said 
that  he  was  more  zealous  than  wise.  After  his  Ma- 
jesty had  made  a  speech,  in  which  he  urged  the  dan- 
ger which  might  arise  to  the  country  from  proceeding 
to  extremities  against  the  powerful  individuals  who 
were  accused,  the  assembly  agreed  to  "  the  act  of  ab- 
olition" which  had  been  previously  drawn  up  by  the 
counsellors.  By  this  act  the  popish  lords  were  or- 
dained, according  to  the  offer  which  they  had  made, 
to  give  satisfaction  to  the  church  and  embrace  the  pro- 
testant  religion,  or  else  to  leave  the  kingdom  within  a 
limited  time;  the  process  against  them  was  dropped; 
and  they  were  declared  "  free  and  unaccusable  in  all 
time  coming"  of  the  crimes  laid  to  their  charge,  pro- 
vided they  did  not  for  the  future  enter  into  any  trea- 
sonable correspondence  with  foreigners.* 

This  mode  of  issuing  the  process  was  a  gross  impo- 
sition on  the  nation.  No  intelligent  person  believed 
that  the  popish  earls  were  sincere  in  their  offers,  or  that 
they  would  comply  with  the  terms  prescribed  to  them. 
The  plain  tendency  of  the  measure,  and  their  evident 
object  in  agreeing  to  it,  was  to  obtain  for  them  an  inter- 
val of  repose  to  strengthen  their  party,  and  to  establish 
their  influence  at  court,  that  they  might  renew  their  in- 
trigues and  embroil  the  country  on  the  first  favourable 
opportunity  that  occurred.  Various  reasons  may  be 
assigned  for  James's  adopting  this  line  of  policy,  with- 
out having  recourse  to  the  supposition  that  he  was  se- 
cretly inclined  to  popery.  Huntly,  the  head  of  the  po- 
pish party,  had  great  interest  at  court  in  consequence 
of  his  family  alliance  with  Lennox,  the  King's  favour- 
ite, which  was  increased  by  the  recent  marriage  of  his 
sister-in-law  to  the  Earl  of  Mar.f  James  was  now 
looking  eagerly  forward  to  the  English  succession,  and 
was  desirous  of  gaining  the  Roman  Catholics,  who 
formed  a  considerable  party  in  that  kingdom,  and  had 
conceived  a  rooted  antipathy  against  Elizabeth.  His 
timidity  made  him  averse  to  vigorous  measures  ;  and 
he  piqued  himself  on  his  superior  skill  in  that  secret 
of  the  art  of  government  which  lies  in  balancing  the 
different  parties  in  the  state  so  as  to  render  them  all 
dependent  on  the  sovereign ;  although  he  was  destitute 
of  the  talents  requisite  for  this  delicate  task,  and  could 
neither  poize  the  scales  with  judgment  nor  hold  them 
with  a  steady  and  impartial  hand.  The  political  prin- 
ciples of  the  papists  were  agreeable  to  James  ;  and  the 
chiefs  of  the  party  paid  assiduous  court  to  him  by  flat- 
tering his  love  of  power,  and  inveighing  against  the 
levelling  doctrines  and  republican  spirit  of  the  reform- 
ing ministers.  But  from  whatever  causes  it  proceeded, 
it  is  clear  that  he  had  adopted  a  line  of  policy  which 
led  him  to  protect  and  favour  a  foreign  faction,  addict- 
ed to  popery  and  arbitrary  power ;  while  the  best  friends 
of  the  Reformation,  who  were  at  the  same  time  the 
natural  and  surest  friends  of  a  protestant  government, 
became  the  objects  of  his  jealousy  and  aversion.  This 
absurd  and  criminal  course  he  pursued  throughout  his 
reign,  in  spite  of  all  the  admonitions  which  he  receiv- 


*  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vol.  iv.  p.  46—48.  Cald.  iv.  351—357. 
Melville's  Diary  p.  229.     Spotswood,  p.  400,  401. 

t  Jameg  was  feasting  at  the  marriage  of  the  Earl  of  Mar  when 
he  received  information  of  the  discovery  of  the  late  conspiracy, 
(Spotswood,  p.  391.) 


284 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


ed ;  and  it  was  persisted  in,  with  hereditary  fatuity,  by 
his  successors,  who  carried  on  a  secret  and  illicit  in- 
tercourse with  the  church  of  Rome,  which  issued  at 
length  in  their  laying  their  triple  crown  ingloriously 
and  irrecoverably  at  her  feet :  an  example  to  all  Brit- 
ish sovereigns  who  may  be  tempted  to  form  such  an 
unnatural  and  unhallowed  attachment! 

While  the  country  was  agitated  by  this  affair,  the 
court  was  kept  in  a  state  of  continued  and  disgraceful 
alarm  by  the  attempts  of  the  Earl  of  Bothwell,  who  re- 
peatedly besieged  the  palace,  and  on  one  occasion, 
forced  his  way  into  the  royal  presence,  and  extorted  a 
pardon  for  his  rebellious  practices.  Inflamed  with  per- 
sonal resentment  against  the  Chancellor,  he  had  for- 
merly associated  with  the  popish  lords  ;  and  availing 
himself  of  the  odium  which  the  court  had  incurred  by 
favouring  them,  he  changed  sides,  and  now  affected 
great  concern  for  the  preservation  of  the  protestant  reli- 
gion. He  was  unable,  however,  to  make  a  dupe  of 
more  than  one  of  the  ministers  of  the  church.  The 
vices  of  his  private  character,  his  known  selfishness, 
versatility,  and  turbulence,  were  sufficient  to  put  them 
on  their  guard  against  his  loud  but  hollow  professions, 
even  although  they  had  been  disposed  to  abet  any  hos- 
tile attempt  against  the  government.*  But  this  did 
not  prevent  them  from  being  aspersed  as  favourable  to 
him.  With  the  view  of  gaining  partisans  among  the 
people,  Bothwell  circulated  the  report,  that  he  acted 
in  concert  with  the  principal  preachers  ;  and  those  who 
were  about  the  King  were  either  so  jealous  as  to  credit 
the  slander,  or  so  politic  as  to  employ  it  by  way  of  re- 
tort to  the  charge  brought  against  them  of  countenan- 
cing the  popish  conspirators.  In  a  conference  with 
the  magistrates  and  ministers  of  Edinburgh,  the  King 
complained  that  Bothwell  had  been  suffered  to  remain 
in  the  capital,  and  upbraided  the  ministers  for  main- 
taining silence  respecting  his  treasonable  conduct, 
while  they  were  loud  in  their  invectives  against  Cap- 
tain Stewart  and  the  popish  earls.  He  charged  Bruce 
in  particular  with  having  conspired,  along  with  some 
of  his  brethren,  to  place  the  crown  on  Bothwell's  head, 
and  with  having  harboured  a  traitor  who  sought  the 
life  of  his  sovereign.  The  rest  of  the  ministers  con- 
tented themselves  with  denying  the  charge,  and  appeal- 
ing to  their  hearers  as  to  their  innocence ;  but  as  the 
accusation  against  Bruce  was  specific  and  more  serious, 
he  insisted  that  he  was  entitled  to  know  the  individ- 
uals who  had  slandered  him  to  his  Majesty,  and  de- 
clared that  he  would  not  again  enter  the  pulpit  until  he 
was  legally  cleared  of  the  crime  imputed  to  him.  Af- 
ter some  shifting,  James  named  the  Master  of  Gray 
and  one  Tyrie  a  papist,  as  his  informers.  But  on  the 
day  fixed  for  investigating  the  affair,  no  person  appear- 
ed to  make  good  the  charge  ;  and  Gray,  having  left  the 
court,  sent  word  that  he  had  given  no  such  information 
against  Bruce,  and  offered  to  fight  any  individual,  his 
Majesty  excepted,  who  should  aflfirm  that  he  had  de- 
famed that  minister.f 

The  activity  of  the  Melvilles  in  thwarting  the  wishes 
of  the  court  respecting  the  popish  lords,  subjected  them 
to  the  same  odious  imputation.  It  had  been  the  laud- 
able custom  of  the  church  of  Scotland  to  make  contri- 
butions in  their  different  parishes  for  the  relief  of  their 
brethren  in  foreign  countries  who  were  persecuted  for 
religion.  Since  the  year  1589,  the  city  of  Geneva  had 
been  involved  in  a  dangerous  war  with  the  Duke  of 
Savoy,  which  reduced  it  to  the  necessity  of  applying 
for  foreign  aid.rf:  Liberal  collections  were  accordingly 
made  for  this  purpose  throughout  Scotland.  James 
Melville  was  collector  for  the  province  of  Fife,  and  it 
was  surmised  at  court,  that  he  had,  with  the  concur- 
rence of  his  uncle  and  some  other  ministers,  given  the 
money,  intended  for  Geneva,  to  Bothwell,  to  enable 

•  Calrl.  \v.  241-246,  271,305. 

t  Cald.  iv.  269—272. 

t  Spon,  Histoire  de  Geneve,  toin.  i.  p.  334 — 393,  edit.  1730. 


him  to  raise  troops  to  harass  the  King.  Setting  aside 
the  acknowledged  probity  of  the  individuals  accused, 
the- supposition  of  their  having  committed  such  an  act 
of  sacrilegious  fraud  involves  the  highest  improbabil- 
ities. Who  can  believe  that  Melville,  who  felt  so  en- 
thusiastically attached  to  Geneva,  who  regarded  that 
city  as  one  of  the  bulwarks  of  the  Reformation,  and 
who,  at  the  solicitation  of  his  most  revered  friends  in 
it,  had  exerted  himself  to  obtain  collections  for  its  re- 
lief, would  have  given  his  consent  to  rob  it  of  those 
very  succours  which  were  so  urgently  required  to  pre- 
serve its  independence,  nay,  its  very  existence  as  a  pro- 
testant state  ]  W'ho  can  believe  that  he  or  his  nephew, 
who  was  as  his  own  soul,  would  have  done  this  in  be- 
half of  a  nobleman  of  irregular  habits  and  of  no  princi- 
ples, with  whom,  although  he  courted  the  friendship 
of  both,  their  keenest  adversaries  could  not  prove  that 
either  of  them  had  ever  had  the  slightest  political  con- 
nexion, even  for  a  single  day  1  *  But  James  Melville, 
whose  character  was  immediately  attacked,  had  direct 
evidence  to  produce  in  defence  of  his  honour,  and  of 
the  strict  fidelity  with  which  he  had  acted  in  this  busi- 
ness. He  had  in  his  possession  the  receipts  granted 
by  those  for  whom  the  money  with  which  he  had  been 
entrusted  was  contributed  ;t  and  during  his  lifetime  no 
individual  durst  convert  the  calumnious  surmises  cir- 
culated to  his  prejudice  into  a  direct  and  manly  charge. 
In  the  General  Assembly  held  in  May  1594,  some 
members  objected  to  his  being  nominated  as  one  of  the 
commissioners  to  the  King,  on  the  ground  that  he  had 
incurred  the  suspicions  of  the  court  as  a  favourer  of 
Bothwell.  His  conduct  on  that  occasion  was  such  as 
became  a  man  who  was  conscious  of  innocence,  and 
who  felt  what  was  due  to  his  reputation.  He  told  the 
Assembly,  that  so  far  from  having  courted  appoint- 
ments of  that  kind,  he  had  often,  as  they  knew,  en- 
treated to  be  excused  from  them  ;  but,  at  present,  he 
thought  it  incumbent  upon  him  to  insist  that  his  name 
should  be  put  on  the  list,  that  he  might  have  an  oppor- 
tunity of  clearing  himself  from  the  slander  ;  and  if  they 
declined  doing  this,  he  was  determined  to  repair  to  the 
palace  of  his  own  accord,  and  to  demand  an  investiga- 
tion of  his  conduct.  He  was  accordingly  included  in 
the  commission. :t:  After  the  commissioners  had  trans- 
acted their  business  with  the  King,  and  were  about  to 
retire,  James  Melville  rose,  and  requested  to  be  inform- 
ed if  his  Majesty  had  any  thing  to  lay  to  his  charge, 
or  if  he  harboured  suspicions  of  his  fidelity.  The 
King  replied,  that  he  had  nothing  to  say  against  him 
more  than  against  the  rest,  except  that  he  found  his 
name  on  every  commission.  James  Melville  thanked 
God  that  this  was  the  case ;  for  in  all  his  public  em- 


*  "  About  the  spring  tynie  in  thej'eir  following  1594  the  out- 
law Boducll  kythe  openfie  with  forces  at  Leithe  and  at  Preist- 
field  bot  with  lyk  success  as  oftentynies  befor,  he  tuk  vpe  men 
of  war  in  secret  vpe  and  down  the  countrey  and  gaifl"  out  that 
it  was  at  the  kirks  employment  against  the  papists,  whilk  maid 
me  being  then  mickle  occupied  in  publict  about  the  kirks  effeares 
to  be  greatly  suspected  be  the  king  and  bak  speirit  be  all  mcanes, 
bot  it  was  hard  to  find  quhilk  was  neuer  thought,  for  I  never 
lyket  the  man  nor  haid  to  do  with  him  directlie  or  indirectlie. 
yea  efter  guid  Archbald  Erie  of  Angus  whom  God  called  to  his 
rest  a  yeir  or  twa  befor  this,  1  kend  him  not  of  the  nobilitie  in 
Scotland  that  1  could  communicate  my  niynd  with  anet  publict 
afl'ears,  let  be  to  haift'  a  delling  with  in  action."  (Melville's  Di- 
ary, p.  230.)  . 

f  After  mentioning  the  liberality  with  which  the  people  un- 
der his  charge  contributed  for  the  relief  of  their  bretnren  in 
France,  he  says,  "The  scum  of  the  haill  collection  quilk  the 
frenche  kirks  gat  (from  Scotland)  extendit  bot  till  about  x  thow- 
sand  mcrks,  as  their  acquittances  and  Letters  of  thanksgiffing 
beares,  quhilk  I  haiffin  custodie  delyverit  to  me  be  thcgenprall 
assemblie  to  translet  in  Scottes  and  sett  furthe  to  close  the 
mouthes  of  invyfull  sclanderers  wha  gaifl'  out  that  the  collec- 
tion was  maid  for  an  vther  purpose;  as  also  the  Collection  maid 
for  Geneva,  whar  for  we  gat  mair  thankes  by  a  letter  of  Theo- 
dore du  Bez  in  the  name  of  the  Senat  and  kirk  thairof  nor  it 
was  all  worthe,  readie  to  be  producit."  (Melville's  Diary,  p. 
194.) 

(  Buik  of  the  Univ.  Kirk,  f.  171,  a. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


285 


ployments  he  had  studied  the  good  of  the  King  as  well 
as  that  of  the  church ;  and  if  there  were  any  that  tra- 
duced him  to  his  Majesty  as  having  engaged  in  secret, 
unlawful,  or  undutiful  practices,  he  desired  that  they 
would  now  come  forward  and  shew  their  faces,  when 
he  was  present  to  answer  for  himself.  No  reply  was 
made  to  this  challenge.  After  this  the  King  took  him 
into  his  cabinet,  and,  having  dismissed  his  attendants, 
conversed  with  him  on  a  variety  of  topics  with  the 
greatest  familiarity,  sent  his  special  commendations  to 
his  uncle,  the  principal,  and  declared  that  he  looked 
upon  both  of  them  as  faithful  and  trusty  subjects. 
"  So,"  (says  James  Melville)  "  of  the  strange  working 
of  God,  I  that  came  to  Stirling  the  traitor,  returned  to 
Edinburgh  a  great  courtier,  yea  a  cabinet  councellor."* 
Spotswood  had  good  opportunities  of  becoming  ac- 
quainted with  this  honourable  exculpation,  and  yet  af- 
ter the  death  of  the  individual  whom  he  was  bound  to 
revere,  he  embodied,  in  his  History,  this  slander  on  his 
master's  memory,  not  as  a  report,  but  as  if  it  had  been 
a  well-authenticated  fact.f  And  it  has  been  retailed 
from  his  time  down  to  the  present,  as  scandal  is  usually 
propagated,  by  the  prejudiced,  the  gossiping,  and  those 
who  have  neither  patience  to  examine  the  grounds  of  a 
report,  nor  sagacity  to  perceive  the  most  palpable  marks 
of  its  improbability. 

The  General  Assembly,  which  was  held  in  May 
1594,  testified  its  sense  of  the  important  public  servi- 
ces which  Melville  had  lately  performed,  by  placing 
him  again  in  the  moderator's  chair.  Lord  Hume,  one 
of  the  popish  noblemen,  presented  himself  at  the  bar 
of  this  Assembly,  and  made  such  professions  of  sor- 
row for  his  past  conduct  as  induced  the  members  to 
agree  to  his  being  absolved  from  the  sentence  of  ex- 
communication which  the  synod  of  Fife  had  passed 
against  him.  From  suspicions  of  the  sincerity  of  these 
professions,  and  from  the  consideration  that  his  former 
adherents  were  still  in  arms,  the  moderator  hesitated  to 
absolve  Hume  ;  and  the  Assembly,  after  hearing  his  rea- 
sons, excused  him,  and  appointed  David  Lindsay  to  sup- 
ply his  place  in  pronouncing  the  act  of  absolution. :{:  This 
is  not  the  only  instance  in  which  we  find  the  ecclesi- 
astical courts  at  this  period  paying  such  deference  to 
the  private  convictions  of  their  members,  and  even  of 
those  whose  province  it  was  to  carry  their  sentences 
into  execution. II  Nor  does  it  appear  that  the  practice 
led  to  any  decidedly  bad  consequences.  Even  in  the 
ordinary  management  of  affairs  in  the  best  regulated 
churches,  instances  will  occur  in  which  conscientious 
individuals  may  entertain  serious  scruples  as  to  the 
lawfulness  of  particular  decisions,  and  may  decline  to 
take  an  active  part  in  executing  them,  without  being 
guilty  of  a  contempt  of  the  court,  or  maintaining  a  fac- 
tious opposition  to  the  measures  which  they  condemn. 
By  giving  place  to  such  scruples,  at  the  expense  of  de- 
viating a  little  from  the  strict  line  of  ordinary  proce- 
dure, a  court  neither  testifies  its  weakness  nor  com- 
promises its  authority:  it  merely  evinces  that  modera- 
tion which  becomes  a  tribunal  confessedly  subordinate 
and  fallible,  and  does  homage  to  the  sacred  rights  of 
conscience  and  private  judgment.  Obstinacy  and  pride 
will  screen  themselves  under  this  plea;  but  it  is  better 
that  these  evils  should  be  overlooked  and  tolerated, 
than  that  the  spirit  of  independence  should  be  crushed, 
that  there  should  be  no  medium  left  between  absolute 
submission  and  endless  separation,  and  that  a  despoti- 
cal  administration  should  be  grafted  on  an  authority 
which  is  immediately  conversant  about  the  aifairs  of 
the  mind  and  conscience. 

»  Melville's  Diary,  p.  231, 232.     Cald.  iv.  371, 389,  390. 

t  Spotswood's  Hist.  p.  430.     See  above,  p.  142. 

j  Melville's  Diary,  p.  230. 

II  In  1586,  Robert  Wilkie,  the  moderator  of  the  provincial 
synod  of  Fife,  having  declined  pronouncing  the  sentence  of  ex- 
lommunication against  Archbishop  Adamson,  the  synod  appoint- 
ed one  of  the  members  to  act  for  him  in  that  instance.  (Print- 
ed Calderwood,  p.  201,  203. 


The  Assembly  unanimously  ratified  the  sentence 
which  the  synod  of  Fife  had  pronounced  against  the 
other  popish  lords.  These  noblemen  had  refused  to 
take  the  benefit  of  the  act  of  abolition,  continued  in 
arms,  and  persevered  in  their  treasonable  correspon- 
dence with  Spain.  To  a  faithful  and  spirited  exposi- 
tion of  the  state  of  the  country  which  the  assembly  laid 
before  him,  the  King  returned  a  very  favourable  an- 
swer. He  acknowledged  the  dangers  which  they  had 
pointed  out,  and  declared  his  resolution  to  adopt  the 
most  prompt  and  decisive  measures  against  the  com- 
mon enemies  of  the  religion  and  peace  of  the  kingdom. 
All  his  desires  were  most  cordially  granted  by  this  as- 
sembly. They  renewed  an  act  of  a  former  assembly, 
enjoining  ministers,  under  the  pain  of  deposition,  not 
to  utter  from  the  pulpit  any  rash  or  irreverent  speeches 
against  the  Kiug  or  his  council.*  They  censured  a 
preacher  of  the  name  of  Ross  who  had  been  guilty  of 
this  offence.  They  pronounced  the  sentence  of  depo- 
sition against  the  minister  of  Carnbee,  who  had  taken 
part  with  Bothwell.f  And  they  enjoined  all  ministers 
to  warn  the  people  under  their  charge  not  to  concur 
with  that  turbulent  nobleman,  or  others  who  might  en- 
gage in  treasonable  practices  against  his  Majesty,  and 
not  to  receive  military  pay,  without  the  royal  warrant, 
from  any  individual  under  the  pretext  of  defending  the 
cause  of  religion.:^ 

Indeed,  there  is  not  the  slightest  ground  for  calling 
in  question  the  loyalty  of  the  ministers  of  the  church, 
or  their  decided  and  steady  attachment  to  the  person 
and  government  of  James.  Had  he  ceased  from  fa- 
vouring a  faction  equally  hostile  to  his  crown  and  the 
established  religion  ;  had  he  exerted  a  reasonable  su- 
perintendence over  the  administration  of  the  state,  and 
abstained  from  encroachments  on  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
church  ;  and  above  all,  had  he  maintained  his  word  and 
promises  inviolate,  he  would  have  found  the  ministers 
disposed  to  give  him  all  due  satisfaction,  and  might 
have  derived  from  them  the  most  essential  and  efficient 
support.  The  submission  which  the  nobility  yielded 
to  him  was  always  partial  and  precarious.  In  the  dis- 
pute which  soon  after  arose  between  him  and  the 
Queen,  as  to  the  disposal  of  the  person  of  the  young 
Prince,  he  was  deserted  by  some  of  his  principal 
courtiers.  His  favourites  engaged  in  cabals  against 
him,  and  Lennox,  for  whom  he  had  done  so  much,  re- 
peatedly connived  at  the  audacious  attempts  of  Both- 
well.  The  preachers  were  inclined  to  favour  no  fac- 
tion in  the  state.  The  selfishness  and  avarice  of  the 
barons  had  weaned  them  from  any  dependence  which 
they  might  once  have  been  disposed  to  place  on  that 
order;  and  there  was  not  at  that  time  a  single  noble- 
man to  whom  they  looked  up  as  a  protector,  or  who 
possessed  any  considerable  share  of  their  confidence. 
Had  their  jealousies  not  been  awakened  and  kept  alive 
by  the  misconduct  of  the  King,  the  leading  men  among 
them  possessed  too  much  sense,  and  were  too  well 
aware  that  the  safety  of  the  church,  including  their 
own,  depended  on  the  stability  of  his  government,  to 
indulge  in  or  countenance  any  freedoms  from  the  pul- 
pit that  tended  to  embarrass  his  administration,  or  to 
bring  his  person  into  contempt.||     The  joint  influence 


*  Some  judicious  and  pertinent  remarks  on  this  act,  and  on 
the  subject  to  which  it  relates — the  freedom  used  by  the  minis- 
ters in  their  sermons,  may  be  seen  in  Dr.  Cook's  History  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland,  vol.  ii.18— 20. 

f  The  language  employed  by  James  in  requesting  this  may 
be  referred  to  as  an  exculpation  of  the  ministers  from  the  chai"ge 
often  brought  against  them:  "3.  that  they  will  exconimunicat 
Mr.  Andro  hunter  for  bringing  in  ane  scandall  upon  thair  pro- 
fessioun,  as  the^r*<  opin  traitour  of  thair  functioun  agains  ane 
christian  king  of  thair  religioun  and  thair  naturall  soveraigne." 
(Bulk  of  Univ.  Kirk,  f.  174,  a.)  James  Melville  says  that  the 
Presbytery  of  St.  Andrews  had  previously  deposed  Hunter. 
(Diary,  p.  231.) 

t  Buik  of  the  Univ.  Kirk,  ff.  167—174.  Melville's  Diary,  p. 
230—232.     Spotswood,  406. 

II  Bruce,  at  the  time  he  was  using  the  greatest  freedom  in  re- 
buking the  court,  said:  "  It  is  our  parts  to  crave  it  (wisdom  to 


286 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


of  their  doctrine  and  discipline  presented  to  James  a 
powerful  instrument,  not  possessed  by  any  of  his  pre- 
decessors, for  suppressing  the  feuds  of  the  nobility, 
purifyinop  the  administration  of  justice,  and  civilizing 
and  reforming  the  morals  of  the  people.  Had  he  known 
how  to  avail  himself  of  thi^,  his  reign  in  Scotland 
might  have  been  tranquil  and  happy. 

Although  the  popish  noblemen  were  now  in  a  state 
of  open  rebellion,  they  found  advocates  in  the  Parlia- 
ment which  was  held  in  the  month  of  June.  Melville 
was  present,  and  appeared  for  the  church  before  the 
Lords  of  Articles.  He  urged  the  adopting  of  deci- 
sive measures  against  the  delinquents  as  necessa- 
ry to  the  security  of  religion  and  the  peace  of  the 
kingdom.  "  Sir,  (said  he,  addressing  the  King,) 
many  think  it  a  matter  of  great  weight  to  overthrow 
the  estate  of  three  so  great  men.  I  grant  it  is  so : 
but  yet  it  is  a  weightier  matter  to  overthrow,  and 
expel  out  of  the  country,  three  far  greater;  to  wit, 
true  religion,  the  quietness  of  the  commonwealth,  and 
the  prosperous  estate  of  the  King.  If  ye  can  get  us 
a  better  commonwealth  than  our  own,  (continued  he, 
directing  his  speech  to  the  lords,)  and  a  better  King, 
we  are  content  that  the  traitorous  lords  be  spared  ; 
otherwise,  we  desire  you  to  do  your  duty."  He  ob- 
jected, that  some  who  were  present  and  prepared  to 
vote,  were  excluded  by  law,  and  particularly  the  Prior 
of  Pluscarden.  One  of  the  lords  said,  that  the  Prior  was 
a  man  of  honourable  place,  being  President  of  the  Court 
of  Session.  "  More  honourable  men  than  he  are  de- 
barred from  a  place  among  the  Lords  of  Articles,"  re- 
plied Melville.  The  King  acknowledged  that  this  was 
true,  and  promised  to  attend  to  the  matter.  Melville 
went  on  to  say,  that  there  were  other  individuals  on 
the  Articles  who  were  strongly  suspected  of  partiality 
in  this  cause,  and  of  being  almost  as  guilty  as  those 
who  were  under  process.  The  abbots  of  Kinloss  and 
Inchaffray  smiled  to  each  other.  "  Whom  do  you 
mean  V  said  the  King,  "  One  who  laughs  across  the 
table,"  replied  Melville.  "  Do  you  mean  me  V  said 
Kinloss.  "  If  you  confess  yourself  guilty,  I  will  not 
clear  you  ;  but  I  meant  Inchaffray."  "Mr.  Edward, 
(said  his  Majesty  to  Kinloss)  that  is  Judas's  question. 
Is  it  J,  Master?"  a  remark  which  excited  laughter. 
The  majority  of  the  Lords  of  Articles  voted  for  the 
forfeiture  of  the  three  earls,  and  the  judgment  was  rat- 
ified by  Parliament.* 

On  the  defeat  of  the  Earl  of  Argyle  by  the  popish 
lords  at  Glenlivet,  the  King  set  out  for  the  north,  at 
the  head  of  some  troops  to  oppose  the  rebels.  At  his 
express  request,  he  was  accompanied  by  Melville, 
his  nephew,  and  two  other  ministers.  Had  it  not 
been  for  their  presence,  the  expedition  must  have  end- 
ed disgracefully.  The  popish  chiefs  retired  into  their 
fastnesses,  and  the  royal  forces  were  ready  to  disband 
for  want  of  pay.  So  great  was  the  distrust  of  his 
Majesty's  professions,  that  the  nation  testified  no  dis- 
position to  raise  the  supplies  necessary  to  insure  the 
success  of  an  expedition  of  which  they  highly  approv- 
ed. In  this  emergency,  James  Melville  was  despatch- 
ed to  the  south  with  recommendatory  letters  from 
his  brethren,  to  procure  contributions  in  the  principal 
towns.  He  had  scarcely  left  the  camp  when  meas- 
ures were  proposed  which  would  have  disgraced  his 
mission,  and  contradicted  the  assurances  which  he 
was  authorized  to  give  in  the  name  of  the  King.  But, 
after  the  greater  part  of  the  Privy  Counsellors  had 
given  their  opinion  that  it  was  not  fit  to  proceed  to  ex- 


the  King:)  becaug  for  as  iouss  as  he  is,  he  is  the  greatest  bias- 
sing  that  ever  we  shall  see."  And  in  another  sermon :  "  Surely 
the  only  band  teniporall  that  holds  up  the  comnioiiweill  here, 
quhillc  is  ruinousc  on  all  sides,  and  is  like  to  fall  down,  stands 
upon  that  prince.  Suppose  he  be  many  wayes  abused,  out  of 
question  an  he  war  removed — I  look  to  see  confusion  multiplied 
on  confusion."  (MS.  Notes  of  Sermons  by  Robert  Bruce: 
Wodrow's  Life  of  Bruce,  p.  14, 15.) 

»  Cald.  iv.  392,  393.     The  Form  and  Probation  of  the  sum- 
oondt  of  treason,  p.  398.    Act.  Pari.  Scot.  iv.  56 — 61. 


tremities  against  the  insurgents,  Melville  reasoned  so 
forcibly  against  the  proposal,  and  his  arguments  made 
such  an  impression  upon  the  minds  of  the  officers  of 
the  army  who  were  present,  that  his  Majesty  deemed 
it  prudent  to  dissent  from  the  majority  of  his  council, 
and  issued  immediate  orders  for  throwing  down  Strath- 
bogie,  a  castle  belonging  to  the  Earl  of  Huntly. 
This  decisive  measure  produced  the  expected  effect 
upon  the  popish  earls,  who  soon  after  quitted  the  king- 
dom.* 

In  the  midst  of  the  confusions  caused  by  the  re- 
bellion of  the  popish  lords,  great  joy  was  diffused 
through  the  nation  by  the  birth  of  an  heir  to  the  crown. 
Melville  celebrated  that  event  in  an  elegant  little  poem, 
in  which  he  predicted  that  the  infant  prince  would 
unite  the  crowns  of  Britain,  and  humble  the  pride  of 
Spain  and  Rome: 

Fastu  donee  Iberico 
Late  subacto,  sub  pedibus  premas 

Clarus  triumpho  delibuti 

Geryonis  triplicera  tiaram. 
Qua  nunc  revinctus  tempora  Cerbems 
Romanus  atra  conduplicat  face 

De  rupe  Tarpeja  fragores 

Tartareos  tonitru  tremendo. 
Quo  terrani  inertem,  quo  mare  barbarum, 
Orcumque,  et  oras  territat  igneas 

Septem,  potitus  verna  scentris, 

Et  solio,  gemini  draconis-x 

The  poet,  however,  lived  to  see  his  prediction  contra- 
dicted, and  to  sing  in  other  strains  the  premature  death 
of  a  prince  whose  rare  virtues  and  talents  had  excited 
universal  expectation.  David  Cunninghame,  bishop 
of  Aberdeen,  was  employed  to  celebrate  the  baptism  of 
Prince  Henry;  a  circumstance  which,  when  compar- 
ed with  what  took  plaee  at  the  Coronation  of  the 
Queen,  may  be  viewed  as  indicating  that  the  court  had 
altered  its  intentions  as  to  the  government  of  the 
church,  and  already  meditated  the  gradual  restoration 
of  the  episcopal  order.:}: 

In  the  course  of  the  year  1595,  Melville  was  in- 
volved in  trouble  through  his  friendship  for  David 
Black.  Black  had  commenced  a  process  against  Bal- 
four of  Burley,  who  retained  possession  of  a  house  in 
the  Abbey  which  had  been  assigned  as  a  manse  to  the 
minister  of  St.  Andrews. ||  Fearing  that  he  would  lose 
his  cause,  Burley  stirred  up  the  court  against  his 
prosecutor,  whom  he  accused  of  reviling  the  late 
Queen,  in  his  sermons.  Melville  was  charged  with 
abetting  him  in  his  seditious  harangues,  and  both  were 
summoned  before  the  King  at  Falkland.  At  their 
arrival  Black  was  brought  before  an  assembly  consist- 
ing partly  of  members  of  the  Privy  Council,  and  partly 
of  ministers  called  together  from  the  neighbouring  par- 

*  Record  of  Privy  Council,  Oct  19,  and  28. 1594.  Melville's 
Diary,  p.  232—236.     Cald.  iv.  402,  407—418. 

+  This  poem  was  published  under  the  following  title:  "  Prin- 
cipis  Scoti-Brittanorvm  Natalia.  Kdinbvrgi  F.xcudcbat  Ro- 
bertus  Waidegraue,  Serenissimae  Regiae  Majestatis  Typogra- 
phus.  Anno  1594."  4to.  four  leaves.  A  poem  entitled  "Anivle- 
tum"  is  subjoined  to  it. 

X  The  Account  of  the  Baptism  of  Henry  Prince  of  Scotland, 
has  been  frequently  printed.  I  do  not  know  that  the  conclud- 
ing orations  of  the  Bishop  were  ever  published,  but  they  are 
preserved  in  MS.  in  the  British  Museum:  "  Frcderici  Henrici 
Principis  Scotorum  Sacra  Lustralia,  actore  atque  auctore 
Dauide  Cuninghamo,  Episcopo  Aberdonensi,  celebrata  Niueo- 
duni  Sterlingorum  Septembris  1594."  (Harl.  MSS.  4043,  4044.) 
They  consist  of  a  "  Votum"  in  verse,  and  "  Eucharisteria," 
addressed  to  the  ambassadors,  in  prose.  The  former  contains 
the  following  encomium  upon  the  royal  parents: 

Sin  te  exempla  sequi  juvat  aut  vestigia  reguni, 
Nequicquam  antiquata  petas,  quae  occlusa  vetustas 
Occulit,  ast  unum  patrcm  mireris,  et  ununi 
Patrem  qui  reges  tantum  super  altior  ornnes, 
Astraeos  quantum  Phiebus  super  eniicat  ignes. 
Nee  parum  matre  est,  tantaque  viragine  nasci 
Filia  quae  regis  conjunxque  sororque  parensque, 
Sed  superans  meritis  sortem  sexumque  genusque. 
II   Buik  of  Univ.  Kirk,  f.  176,  b. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


287 


ishes.  He  expressed  his  willingness  to  give  an  ac- 
count of  his  doctrine  for  the  satisfaction  of  his  Majes- 
ty and  the  individuals  present,  but  objected  to  being 
put  on  his  trial  before  an  assembly  which  was  neither 
civil  nor  ecclesiastical.  His  objections  were,  how- 
ever, summarily  overruled,  and  the  examination  of  wit- 
nesses was  already  begun,  when  Melville,  suspecting 
the  irregular  proceedings  which  were  going  on,  knocked 
at  the  door  and  was  admitted.  Having  obtained  permis- 
sion to  speak  on  a  mode  of  proceedure  which  tended 
to  prejudge  the  rights  of  the  church  and  his  own  cause, 
he  told  his  Majesty,  what  he  had  often  rung  in  his  ears, 
that  though  he  was  the  King  of  Scotland,  he  was  not 
the  King  of  the  church  in  Scotland  ;  and  that  there  was 
no  court  assembled  there  which  had  a  right  to  try  the 
cause  which  he  had  brought  before  them.  "  But," 
continued  he,  "  if  King  James  the  Sixth  has  any  judi- 
cature or  cause  here,  it  should  be  to  judge,  not  the 
faithful  servants  of  Jesus  Christ,  but  (turning  to  Bur- 
ley)  this  traitor,  who  has  committed  diverse  points  of 
high  treason  against  his  Majesty's  civil  laws,  by  tak- 
ing his  peaceable  subjects  in  the  night  out  of  their 
houses,  and  resetting  in  his  own  house  the  King's 
rebels  and  forfeited  enemies."  Burley  fell  on  his 
knees  before  his  Majesty,  and  craved  justice.  "  Jus- 
tice!" exclaimed  Melville,  "would  to  God  you  had 
it!  You  would  not  then  be  here  to  bring  a  judgment 
from  Christ  upon  the  King,  and  thus  falsely  and  un- 
justly to  vex  and  accuse  the  faithful  servants  of  God." 
James  attempted  to  silence  him  by  assuming  an  air 
and  tone  of  authority,  but  the  feelings  of  Melville 
were  wrought  up  to  too  high  a  pitch  to  suffer  him  to 
pay  regard  to  frowns  or  threats ;  and  his  Majesty  was 
fain  to  allay  the  heat  by  addressing  the  parties  in  a 
jocular  strain,  and  telling  them,  "  that  they  were  both 
little  men,  and  their  heart  was  at  their  mouth."  By 
this  affray  the  trial  was  suddenly  broken  off  as  it  had 
been  irregularly  begun.  The  affair  was  at  last  brought 
to  a  happy  termination  by  the  wisdom  of  James  Mel- 
ville, who  had  been  sent  for  by  his  uncle  to  be  present 
on  the  occasion.  He  acquainted  the  Earl  of  Mar,  with 
the  real  circumstances  of  the  case ;  set  before  him  the 
injurious  consequences  which  would  arise  from  a  breach 
between  the  church  and  the  King,  at  a  time  when  the 
court  was  divided  and  the  country  far  from  being  in  a 
settled  state;  and  persuaded  him  to  mitigate  his  Ma- 
jesty's resentment,  and  bring  about  an  accommodation 
on  reasonable  terms.  The  consequence  was,  that 
Black,  bring  admitted  to  a  private  interview,  satisfied 
the  king  that  he  had  spoken  with  great  respect  of  his 
mother,  and  touched  very  gently  on  the  errors  of  her 
administration  ;  professed  that  he  had  no  design  of  in- 
sinuating that  the  extraordinary  measures  taken  by  the 
nation  during  her  reign  should  be  adopted  in  the  pres- 
ent ;  and,  as  his  Majesty  was  afraid  that  the  seditious 
would  put  such  a  construction  on  his  words,  promised 
to  abstain  for  the  future  from  such  forms  of  speech  as 
he  had  used.  Melville  too  was  admitted  to  an  audi- 
ence, and  after  free  but  amicable  reasoning  with  James, 
was  graciously  dismissed. 

All  parties  professed  to  be  satisfied  with  the  con- 
duct of  James  Melville  in  this  affair,  but  he  observed 
thit  from  this  time  his  credit  with  the  King  declined. 
His  object  in  cultivating  the  interest  which  he  had  at 
court  was  to  persuade  his  Majesty  that  the  ministers 
loved  him,  and  were  disposed  to  please  him  as  far  as  was 
consistent  with  their  sense  of  duty  ;  that  so  the  affairs 
of  church  and  state  might  be  conducted  harmoniously, 
or  with  as  little  jarring  as  possible.  His  Majesty,  on 
the  other  hand,  was  anxious  to  gain  him  over  to  an 
approbation  of  court-measures;  but  finding,  after  an 
experiment  of  two  years,  that  he  could  not  detach  him 
from  his  brethren,  he  withdrew  the  remarks  of  regard 
and  confidence  with  which  he  had  hitherto  honoured 
him.  Among  those  who  are  to  be  found  in  kings' 
courts  few  are  like-minded  with  James  Melville.  He 
annually  expended  the  half  of  his  stipend  on  the  public 


service :  and  as  for  gifts  from  the  crown,      I  sought 
none,  (says  he)  and  I  got  none  unsought."* 

In  the  end  of  this  year,  Melville,  along  with  his 
nephew  and  Bruce,  visited  Lord  Thirlstane,  the  Chan- 
cellor, in  his  castle  beside  Lauder.  His  lordship  was 
then  on  his  death-bed,  and  the  conversation  which  he 
held  with  them  was  highly  satisfactory  to  his  visitors. 
The  loss  of  this  able  statesman  was  quickly  felt  by 
the  nation,  and  must  be  viewed  as  a  principal  means 
of  bringing  on  those  evils  with  which  the  church  was 
soon  after  assailed. f 

The  year  1596  is  memorable  in  the  history  of  the 
church  of  Scotland.  "  It  had,"  says  James  Melville, 
"  a  strange  variety  and  mixture;  the  beginning  thereof 
with  a  shew  of  profit  in  planting  the  churches  with 
perpetual  local  stipends;  the  midst  of  it  very  comfort- 
able for  the  exercise  of  reformation  and  renewing  the 
covenant;  but  the  end  of  it  tragical  in  wasting  the 
Zion  of  our  Jerusalem,  the  church  of  Edinburgh,  and 
threatening  no  less  to  many  of  the  rest."  The  first  of 
these  measures  was  defeated  by  the  same  cause  which 
had  opposed  its  adoption  in  every  shape  since  the  Re- 
formation.^ The  second  measure  commenced  under 
more  favourable  auspices,  and,  though  interrupted  by 
the  confusions  which  ensued,  was  productive  of  good 
and  lasting  effects.  It  originated  with  that  pious  and 
honest  minister  of  the  Gospel,  John  Davidson. ||  His 
mind  had  for  a  considerable  time  been  deeply  affected 
with  various  corruptions  in  the  church.  He  lamented 
the  inefficacy  of  the  means  which  had  hitherto  been 
used  to  correct  them.  He  was  apprehensive  of  the 
consequences  which  might  ensue,  if  the  constancy  of 
ministers  and  people,  in  adhering  to  their  religious  pro- 
fession, should  be  subjected  to  any  severe  trial.  And 
he  was  anxious  that  a  great  and  general  effort  should 
be  made  to  bring  about  such  a  reformation  as  all  good 
men  wished  to  see  accomplished.  Accordingly,  he 
laid  a  proposal  to  this  purpose  before  the  presbytery 
of  Haddington,  who  transmitted  it,  in  the  form  of  an 
overture,  to  the  General  Assembly  which  met  at  Edin- 
burgh in  the  month  of  March.  The  overture  was 
unanimously  approved  of  by  the  Assembly ;  and  a 
writing  was  immediately  drawn  up,  containing  an  enu- 
meration of  the  evils  to  be  reformed,  under  the  four 
following  heads  :  Corruptions  in  the  persons  and  lives 
of  ministers  of  the  Gospel ;  offences  in  his  Majesty's 
house ;  the  common  corruptions  of  all  estates ;  and  of- 
fences in  the  courts  of  justice.  Great  moderation  was 
used  in  specifying  the  offences  of  the  royal  household, 
and  of  the  civil  courts.  The  ministers  did  not  spare 
their  own  order,  and  that  part  of  the  statement  which 
related  to  them  was  larger  than  all  the  rest  taken  tc- 
gether.§  On  the  motion  of  Melville,  the  means  to  be 
employed  for  reforming  ministers,  and  the  censures  to 
be  inflicted  on  them  for  particular  acts  of  delinquency, 
were  condescended  on.  As  a  primary  step  to  reforma- 
tion, and  according  to  an  approved  practice  in  the  best 
times  of  the  church,  the  members  of  Assembly  agreed 

«  Melville's  Diary,  p.  237—242. 

f  Ibid.  p.  242.  Siinsoni  Annales,  p.  73.  Spotswood,  p.  411. 
Melville  testified  his  respect  for  the  memory  of  the  Chancellor, 
in  an  epjtaph.     Deliti*  Poet.  Scot.  ii.  116. 

\  The  plan  of  providing  fixed  stipends  here  referred  to  was 
drawn  up  by  Secretary  Lindsay,  and  has  been  preserved  at 
length  by  James  Melville.  (Melville's  Diary,  p.  244—2.54.) 
Those  who  wish  to  be  acquainted  with  its  provisions  may  con- 
sult Printed  Calderwood,  (p.  325 — 328.)  or  the  more  abridged 
account  of  it  given  by  Dr.  Cook.  (Hist,  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land, ii.  55 — 59.)  The  constant  plat,  as  it  was  called,  became 
a  convenient  engine  in  the  hands  of  the  court,  who  set  it  in  mo- 
tion whenever  they  wished  the  concurrence  of  the  ministers  in 
any  of  their  measures. 

Il  He  was  admitted  minister  of  Prestonpans  on  the  7th  of  Jan- 
uary, 1595-6.     (Rec.  of  the  Presb.  of  Haddington.) 

{  Buik  of  the  Univ.  Kirk,  ff.  178,  179.  This  record  contains 
the  offences  of  the  ministers  only;  but  the  entire  paper  may  be 
seen  in  Printed  Calderwood,  p.  314 — 320.  The  fotlowing  is  the 
only  specification  of  personal  vice  in  the  King:  "  His  Maj.  it 
blotted  with  banning  and  swearing,  which  is  common  to  court- 
iers also." 


288 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


to  meet  by  themselves  for  the  purpose  of  jointly  con- 
fessingr  their  sins,  and  "making  promise  before  the 
Majesty  of  God"  to  amend  their  conduct.  This  meet- 
ing was  accordingly  held  in  the  Little  Church,  on  Tues- 
day the  30th  of  March,  1596.  John  Davidson,  who 
was  chosen  to  preside  on  the  occasion,  preached  so 
much  to  the  conviction  of  his  hearers,  and  made  confes- 
sion of  their  sins  to  Heaven  with  such  devout  fervour, 
that  the  whole  Assembly  melted  into  tears  before  him  ; 
and  rising  from  their  seats  at  his  desire,  and  lifting  up 
their  right  hands,  they  renewed  their  covenant  with 
God,  "  protesting  to  walk  more  warily  in  their  ways, 
and  to  be  more  diligent  in  their  charges."  The  scene, 
which  continued  during  three  hours,  was  solemn  and 
affecting  beyond  any  thing  that  the  oldest  person  pre- 
sent had  witnessed.* 

As  the  greater  part  of  the  ministers  were  not  present 
to  join  in  this  sacred  action,  the  General  Assembly  or- 
dained that  it  should  be  repeated  in  the  several  provin- 
cial synods  and  presbyteries,  and  that  it  should  after- 
wards be  extended  to  congregations.  Tills  ordinance 
was  obeyed  with  an  alacrity  and  ardour  which  spread 
from  synod  to  synod,  from  presbytery  to  presbytery, 
and  from  parish  to  parish  ;  "  the  inhabitants  of  one  city 
saying  to  another.  Come  and  let  us  join  ourselves  to 
the  Lord  in  a  perpetual  covenant  that  shall  not  be  for- 
gotten," until  all  Scotland,  like  Judahofold,  "rejoiced 
at  the  oath."f  Nowhere  was  the  service  performed 
with  more  affecting  solemnity  than  at  Dunfermline  by 
the  members  of  the  synod  of  Fife.  After  they  had 
plighted  their  failh  to  God  and  to  one  another,  James 
Melville,  who  had  the  direction  of  the  exercise,  called 
up  some  of  the  most  judicious  members  to  address  the 
assembly.  David  Ferguson,  the  oldest  minister  of  the 
church,  rose  and  gave  an  account  of  the  first  planting 
of  the  reformed  church  in  Scotland.  He  was  one  of 
six  individuals,  (he  said)  who  engaged  in  that  work, 
when  the  name  of  stipend  was  unknown,  when  they 
had  to  encounter  the  united  opposition  of  the  civil  and 
ecclesiastical  authorities,  and  could  scarcely  reckon  on 
the  countenance  and  support  of  a  single  person  of  rank 
and  worldly  estimation  :  yet  they  firmly  and  fearlessly 
persevered,  and  Providence  crowned  their  labours  with 
success.  Davidson,  who  was  present  by  appointment 
of  the  General  Assembly,  said  that  the  opposite  emo- 
tions by  which  the  Jewish  convocation  was  agitated  at 
the  founding  of  the  second  temple,  were  at  that  mo- 
ment blended  in  his  soul :  he  rejoiced  at  what  he  saw 
that  day,  but  he  was  at  the  same  time  filled  with  sad- 
ness when  he  reflected  how  far  he  and  his  brethren  had 
degenerated  from  the  godliness,  zeal,  gravity,  love, 
courage,  and  painfulness,  which  shone  in  the  first  re- 
formers, and  which  he  had  witnessed  in  his  youth. 
Melville,  at  the  moderator's  desire,  delivered  the  con- 
cluding address.  In  warning  his  brethren  against  de- 
fection and  breach  of  covenant,  he  put  them  in  mind  of 
the  humbling  example  of  human  frailty  which  had 
been  given  in  the  year  1584,  when  the  greater  part  of 
the  ministers,  after  swearing  the  national  covenant, 
were  induced,  by  the  mere  dread  of  losing  their  sti- 
pends, to  ratify  by  their  subscription  those  acts  which 
subverted    the  liberties  and  whole  discipline  of  the 

•  Bulk  of  the  Univ.  Kirk,  ff.  178,  179.  Melville's  Diary,  p. 
261.     Cald.  V.  47— 49. 

+  Ibid.  Row's  Historie,  p.  61.  The  covenant  was  renewed 
by  the  Synod  of  Fife  on  the  13th  of  May  (Melville's  Diary,  p. 
262.;)  by  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Andrews  "  upon  the  penult  furis- 
day  of  the  iiionethe  of  July"  (ib.  268;)  by  the  congregation  of 
Kilrinny  on  the  5th  of  September  (ib.  p.  271.;)  and  by  the  con- 
g^regation  of  Anstruther  soon  after:  "  We  tho*  meet  to  enter  in 
trj'ell  of  ourselfes  for  the  better  preparation  to  the  covenant  and 
Lordes  8up|)er."  (Rec.  of  Kirk  Session  of  Anstruther,  Sept.  5, 
1596.)  James  Melville  laments  that  the  ministers  of  Edinburgh 
omitted  this  exercise  in  their  congregations.  (Diary,  p.  274.) 
If  they  did  so,  the  presbytery  cannot  be  blamed  for  the  omis- 
kion:  "  It  is  coiicluditt,  according  to  the  act  of  the  Generall  As- 
semblie,  a  covenant  salbe  reneivitt  in  all  the  boundis  of  this 
presbitrie,  and  that  upon  the  vii  of  October  next."  (Rec.  of 
Presbytery  of  Edinburg^i,  Sept.  21,  1596.) 


church.  "  What  should  be  looked  for,  then,  (said  he) 
if  the  Spaniards,  who  have  lately  taken  Calais,  from 
which  in  a  few  hours  they  might  easily  transport  them- 
selves to  this  island,  yea,  into  our  own  frith,  should 
essay  our  constancy  with  the  fine  and  exquisite  tor- 
ments of  their  Inquisition  ;  a  piece  of  service  upon 
which  our  excommunicated  and  forfeited  earls  are  at- 
tending?"* 

The  satisfaction  felt  in  this  exercise  was  like  a  gleam 
of  sunshine  before  a  storm  ;  and  the  principal  persons 
engaged  in  it  were  soon  after  involved  in  a  severe  con- 
flict, attended  with  a  train  of  consequences  distressing 
to  them  and  disastrous  to  the  church.  The  ministers 
were  informed,  by  letters  from  their  friends  abroad,  of 
the  active  exertions  which  the  Scottish  priests  were 
making  on  the  Continent  against  their  native  country.f 
The  King  of  Spain  again  threatened  the  invasion  of 
Britain.  Elizabeth  had  put  her  kingdom  in  a  posture 
of  defence  to  meet  the  meditated  attack.:^:  James  was 
fully  apprized,  by  intercepted  letters,  of  the  treasona- 
ble correspondence  which  the  popish  lords  continued 
to  hold  with  Spain,  and  of  the  plans  which  they  had 
suggested  for  getting  possession  of  the  principal  ports 
in  Scotland.!)  He  had  made  this  information  public  by 
repeated  proclamations ;  had  given  orders  for  military 
musters  and  reviews  in  the  several  counties ;  and  had 
urged  the  ministers  to  exhort  their  people  to  take  arms, 
and  to  assist  him  in  raising  supplies,  to  repel  the  in- 
tended invasion. §  In  these  circumstances  the  nation 
was  thrown  into  a  state  of  alarm  and  confusion  by  the 
news  that  the  popish  lords  had  secretly  entered  the 
kingdom.  James  protested  that  they  had  come  with- 
out his  consent  or  knowledge  ;  but  this,  instead  of  re- 
lieving men's  minds,  placed  them  in  the  most  distress- 
ing dilemma.  If  they  disbelieved  his  Majesty's  assev- 
eration, what  confidence  could  they  have  in  any  thing 
that  he  said  or  did  ?  If  they  gave  credit  to  it,  what 
could  they  think  but  that  the  noblemen,  in  coming 
home,  must  have  received  assurances  of  aid,  both  do- 
mestic and  foreign,  to  enable  them  to  set  at  defiance 
the  royal  authority  1  The  state  of  matters  was  now 
much  altered  from  what  it  had  formerly  been,  when 
the  prime  minister  was  decidedly  favourable  to  the  in- 
terests of  religion  and  the  church.  Since  the  death  of 
the  Chancellor,  the  administration  of  affairs  had  been 
entrusted  to  eight  individuals,  commonly  called  Octavi- 
ana ;  the  greater  part  of  whom,  including  the  Lord 
President  and  the  King's  Advocate,  were  either  known 
or  suspected  Papists.  That  they  were  privy  to  the  re- 
turn of  the  forfeited  noblemen,  could  scarce  admit  of  a 
doubt ;  that  their  interest  would  be  used  to  procure  for 
them  an  indemnity  and  admittance  to  his  Majesty's 
counsels,  there  was  the  strongest  reason  to  suspect. 
In  that  case,  the  days  of  Lennox  and  Arran  would  re- 
turn ;  and  the  religion  and  lives  of  the  Protestants 
would  be  exposed  to  the  most  imminent  hazard.  Such 
were  the  apprehensions  entertained  by  the  nation. 
Their  fears  might  be  too  highly  raised ;  but  none  who 
attends  to  all  the  circumstances  will  pronounce  them 
groundless,  or  wonder  that  the  preachers  should  have 


*  Melville's  Diarj-,  p.  261—267. 

f  Letter  from  Augaburgh,  April  27,  1596,  by  Mr.  D.  Ander- 
son; in  the  Appendix. 

X  Cali.iv.  443. 

II  Printed  Calderwood,  p.  353,  372. 

\  "  Being  surlie  informit  that  the  forainc  preparatiouns 
threatnit  oi  lang  tyme  for  prosequtioun  of  that  detestable  con- 
spiracie  ag^nis  christ  and  his  evangill  ar  presentlic  in  readinet 
and  intendis  to  arryve  in  this  Hand — Qnairfoir  his  Maiestie 
with  aduise  of  the  lordis  of  his  secreit  counsall  ordains  and 
romraandis  as  aUua  effectuouslie  requiris  all  ministers  of  Godis 
worde  and  presbitcries  w'in  this  realm  Kirnestlie  to  travaill 
w*  all  his  hienes  subiectis  of  all  estatis — to  convene  in  armes 
with  hu  Maiestie  his  lieutenantis  or  conimissionaris,"  &c.  (Re- 
cord of  Privy  Council,  Nov.  4,  1595.)  Proclamations  for  arm- 
ing and  weaponshawing,  in  which  langiiage  equally  strong,  and 
even  more  alarming,  is  used,  are  contained  in  the  fcourcil  ."Vlin- 
uteii  of  2d  of  December,  the  5th  of  February,  and  the  11th  of 
March. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


289 


exerted  their  utmost  influence  to  avert  the  dangers 
with  which  they  saw  themselves  and  the  country 
threatened. 

Soon  after  his  arrival  in  the  country,  Huntly  sent  an 
offer  of  sub  mission  for  himself  and  his  associates  ;  and  an 
extraordinary  meeting  of  the  Privy  Council  was  sum- 
moned at  Falkland  to  take  his  proposals  into  consider- 
ation.* Certain  ministers  whom  the  court  judged  more 
complying  than  the  rest  were  desired  to  be  present  at 
this  meeting  to  give  their  advice.  Though  not  invited, 
Melville  judged  it  his  duty  to  attend  as  one  of  the 
Commissioners  of  the  General  Assembly.  On  hear- 
ing of  his  arrival  the  king  sent  a  messenger  to  know 
his  errand,  and  to  charge  him  to  depart;  but  he  ex- 
cused himself  from  complying  with  this  private  man- 
date, by  pleading  the  public  commission  which  he 
had  received.  When  he  made  his  appearance  along 
with  his  brethren,  the  King  asked  him,  what  call  he 
had  to  be  there.  "Sir,"  replied  he,  "I  have  a  call 
from  Christ  and  his  church,  who  have  a  special  inter- 
est in  this  convention  ;  and  I  charge  you  and  your 
estates  in  their  name,  that  you  favour  not  their  enemies, 
nor  go  about  to  make  citizens  of  those  who  have  traitor- 
ously sought  to  betray  their  country  to  the  cruel  Span- 
iard, to  the  overthrow  of  Christ's  kingdom."  Being  in- 
terrupted by  his  Majesty,  and  ordered  to  remove,  he  re- 
tired, thanking  God  that  he  had  enjoyed  an  opportunity 
of  exonerating  his  conscience.  Encouraged  by  his  bold- 
ness, the  other  ministers  resisted  the  proposals  of  the 
court ;  but,  in  the  end,  as  James  Melville  acknowl- 
edges, they  were  induced  to  relax  in  their  opposition. 
The  President  made  a  plausible  speech,  in  which  he 
defended  the  policy  of  calling  home  the  exiled  noble- 
men, lest,  like  Coriolanus  and  Themistocles,  they 
should  join  the  enemies  of  their  country.  And  the 
council  agreed,  that  although  the  propositions  made 
by  Huntly  were  too  general,  yet  he  might  be  restored 
upon  his  acceding  to  such  conditions  as  the  King  and 
Privy  Council  should  prescribe.f  This  agreement 
having  given  general  offence,  his  Majesty  took  an 
early  opportunity  of  declaring  that  he  did  not  mean  to 
act  upon  it.  The  presbytery  of  Edinburgh  voted  him 
an  address  of  thanks  for  this  declaration,  and  the 
persons  who  presented  it  received  from  his  own  mouth 
the  strongest  assurances  that  he  would  adhere  to  the 
determination  which  he  had  avowed. :|:  Understanding 
that  a  Convention  of  Estates  was  to  be  held  at  Dun- 
fermline to  deliberate  on  the  affair,  the  presbytery  sent 
two  of  their  members  to  request  that  the  royal  promise 
made  to  them  should  be  kept ;  but  their  petition  was 
disregarded,  and  the  resolution  taken  at  Falkland  was 
approved  of  and  ratified. || 

In  consequence  of  this  the  commissioners  of  the 
General  Assembly,  assisted  by  some  public  spirited 
gentlemen,  met  at  Cupar  in  Fife;  and  being  assured 
by  the  royal  chaplains  that  his  Majesty  was  not  privy 
to  the  return  of  the  popish  lords,  they  appointed  a 
deputation  to  go  to  Falkland,  and  exhort  him  to  pre- 
vent the  evil  consequences  which  would  ensue  from 
the  measures  which  his  council  were  pursuing.  The 
deputies  were  admitted  to  a  private  audience  of  the 
King.  They  had  agreed  that  James  Melville  should 
be  their  spokesman  on  account  of  the  courteousness 
of  his  address,  and  the  superior  degree  of  respect 
which  his  Majesty  had  uniformly  expressed  for  him. 
But  he  had  scarcely  begun  to  speak,  when  the  King 
interrupted  him,  and  in  a  tone  of  irritation  challenged 
the  meeting  held  at  Cnpar  as  illegal  and  seditious, 
and  accused  them  of  infusing  unreasonable  and  un- 
founded fears  into  the  minds  of  the  people.  James 
Melville  was  preparing  to  reply  in  his  mild  manner, 


*  Errol  did  not  return  till  September. 

f  Record   of  Privy  Council,  August   12,  1596.     Melville's 
Diaiy,  p.  275. 

t  Records  of  the  Presbytery  of  Edinburgh,  vltimo  Aug''  1596. 
II  Ibid.  28  Sept.  1596.     Act.  Pari.  Scot.  iv.  101. 

3  M 


when  his  uncle,  unable  to  restrain  himself,  or  judging 
that  the  occasion  called  for  a  different  style,  stepped 
forward  and  addressed  the  King.  His  Majesty  tes- 
tified the  strongest  reluctance  to  listen  to  his  discourse, 
and  summoned  up  all  his  authority  to  silence  him  ;  but 
Melville  persevered,  and  taking  hold  of  the  King's 
gown  in  his  fervour,  and  calling  him  Godh  silly  vassal, 
he  proceeded  to  address  him  in  the  folioAving  strain, 
perhaps  the  most  singular,  in  point  of  freedom,  that 
ever  saluted  royal  ears,  or  that  ever  proceeded  from  the 
mouth  of  a  loyal  subject,  who  would  have  spilt  the 
last  drop  of  his  blood  in  defence  of  the  person  and 
honour  of  his  prince.  "  Sir,  we  will  always  humbly 
reverence  your  Majesty  in  public;  but  since  we  have 
this  occasion  to  be  with  your  majesty  in  private,  and 
since  you  are  brought  in  extreme  danger  both  of  your 
life  and  your  crown,  and  along  with  you  the  country 
and  the  church  of  God  are  like  to  go  to  wreck,  for  not 
telling  you  the  truth  and  giving  you  faithful  counsel, 
we  must  discharge  our  duty,  or  else  be  traitors  both  to 
Christ  and  you.  Therefore,  Sir,  as  diverse  times  be- 
fore I  have  told  you,  so  now  again  I  must  tell  you, 
tliere  are  two  kings  arrd  two  kingdoms  in  Scotland  : 
there  is  King  James  the  head  of  this  commonwealth, 
and  there  is  Christ  Jesus  the  King  of  the  church, 
whose  subject  James  the  Sixth  is,  and  of  whose  king- 
dom he  is  not  a  king,  nor  a  lord,  nor  a  head,  but  a 
member.  Sir,  those  whom  Christ  has  called  and  com- 
manded to  watch  over  his  church,  have  power  and  au- 
thority from  him  to  govern  his  spiritual  kingdom  both 
jointly  and  severally;  the  which  no  Christian  king 
or  prince  should  control  and  discharge,  but  fortify  and 
assist;  otherwise  they  are  not  faithful  servants  of 
Christ  and  members  of  his  church.  We  will  yield  to 
you  your  place,  and  give  you  all  due  obedience  ;  but 
again  I  say,  yow  are  not  the  head  of  the  church  :  you 
cannot  give  us  that  eternal  life  which  we  seek  for  even 
in  this  world,  and  you  cannot  deprive  us  of  it.  Per- 
mit us  then  freely  to  meet  in  the  name  of  Christ,  and 
to  attend  to  the  interests  of  that  church  of  which  you 
are  the  chief  member.  Sir,  when  you  were  in  your 
swaddling-clothes,  Christ  Jesus  reigned  freely  in  this 
land  in  spite  of  all  his  enemies  :  his  officers  and  minis- 
ters convened  and  assembled  for  the  ruling  and  weir 
fare  of  his  church,  which  was  ever  for  youf  welfare, 
defence,  and  preservation,  when  these  same  enemies 
were  seeking  your  destruction  and  cutting  off.  Their 
assemblies  since  that  time  continually  have  been  terri- 
ble to  these  enemies  and  most  steadable  to  you.  And 
now,  when  there  is  more  than  extreme  necessity  for 
the  continuance  and  discharge  of  that  duty,  will  you 
(drawn  to  your  own  destruction  by  a  devilish  and  most 
pernicious  counsel)  begin  to  hinder  and  dishearten 
Christ's  servants  and  your  most  faithful  subjects,  quar- 
relling them  for  their  convening  and  the  care  they  have 
of  their  duty  to  Christ  and  you,  when  you  should 
rather  commend  and  csuntenance  them,  as  the  godly 
kings  and  emperors  did  ?  The  wisdom  of  your  coun- 
sel, which  I  call  devilish,  is  this,  that  ye  must  be 
served  by  all  sorts  of  men,  to  come  to  your  purpose 
and  grandeur,  Jew  and  Gentile,  Papist  and  Protestant ; 
and  because  the  Protestants  and  ministers  of  Scotland 
are  over  strong  and  control  the  King,  they  must  be 
weakened  and  brought  low  by  stirring  up  a  party 
against  them,  and,  the  King  being  equal  and  indifferent, 
both  shall  be  fain  to  flee  to  him.  But,  Sir,  if  God's 
wisdom  be  the  only  true  wisdom,  this  will  prove  mere 
and  mad  folly;  his  curse  cannot  but  light  upon  it;  in 
seeking  both  ye  shall  lose  both  ;  whereas  in  cleaving 
uprightly  to  God,  his  true  servants  would  be  your  sure 
friends,  and  he  would  compel  the  rest  counterfeitly 
and  lyingly  to  give  over  themselves  and  serve  you." 
During  the  delivery  of  tliis  confounding  speech  his 
Majesty's  passion  subsided.  On  recovering  from  the 
surprise  into  which  he  was  thrown,  along  with  all  who 
I  were  present,  he  repeated  his  asseverations,  that  he 
t  had  no  previous  knowledge  of  the  return  of  the  popish 
19 


290 


LIFE   OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


lords,  and  pledged  his  word,  that  the  proposals  which 
they  had  been  allowed  to  make  should  not  be  received 
till  they  left  the  kingdom,  and  that,  even  then,  he 
would  shew  them  no  favour  before  they  satisfied  the 
church.*   • 

But  "  the  church  got  only  words  and  promises  ;  her 
enemies  got  the  deed  and  effect. "t  The  design  of  re- 
storing the  popish  noblemen  was  persevered  in ;  the 
Countess  of  Huntly  was  invited  by  the  King  to  the 
baptism  of  his  daughter  Elizabeth  ;  and  Lady  Living- 
ston, an  adherent  to  the  Roman  Catholic  religion,  was 
appointed  to  have  the  care  of  the  person  of  the  young 
princess.  Upon  this  the  presbytery  of  Edinburgh,  at 
the  desire  of  their  brethren  in  Fife,  called  together  the 
commissioners  of  the  General  Assembly.:}:  They,  with 
the  advice  of  deputies  from  the  different  synods,  drew 
up  a  representation  of  the  dangers  of  the  country,  and 
of  the  measures  best  calculated  for  averting  them. 
This  was  transmitted  to  every  presbytery.  It  propo- 
sed that  the  sentence  of  excommunication  against  the 
popish  lords  should  be  intimated  anew;  and  that  a  cer- 
tain number  of  ministers  from  the  different  quarters  of 
the  kingdom,  should  sit  at  Edinburgh,  during  the  pre- 
sent crisis,  as  an  ordinary  council  of  the  church,  to  re- 
ceive information,  and  to  convoke,  if  they  should  see 
cause,  a  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly. 

Despairing  of  being  able  to  overcome  the  resistance 
of  the  ministers  of  the  church  to  the  scheme  which  it 
was  bent  on  accomplishing,  the  court  resolved  to  put 
them  on  their  own  defence,  by  attacking  their  privi- 
leges. This  was  first  ascertained  by  the  commission- 
ers on  the  9th  of  November,  at  an  interview  which  they 
had  requested  with  the  King  for  the  purpose  of  remo- 
ving the  jealousies  which  had  arisen  between  them. 
On  that  occasion,  his  Majesty  told  them  that  there 
could  be  no  agreement  between  him  and  them,  till  the 
marches  of  their  jurisdiction  were  rid,  and  unless  the 
following  points  were  conceded  to  him :  That  the 
preachers  should  not  introduce  matters  of  state  into 
their  sermons;  that  the  General  Assembly  should  not 
be  convened  without  his  authority  and  special  com- 
mand ;  that  nothing  done  in  it  should  be  held  valid  un- 
til ratified  by  him  in  the  same  manner  as  acts  of  Par- 
liament ;  and  that  none  of  the  church-courts  should  take 
cognizance  of  any  offence  which  was  punishable  by  the 
criminal  law  of  the  country.  If,  after  this  declaration, 
any  doubt  as  to  the  intentions  of  the  court  still  remain- 
ed on  the  minds  of  the  ministers,  it  was  removed  by 
the  information,  that  David  Black  had  been  served  with 
a  summons  to  answer  before  the  Privy  Council  for  cer- 
tain expressions  used  by  him  in  his  sermons.  Satis- 
fied that  the  overthrow  of  their  liberties  was  aimed  at, 
the  commissioners  resolved  on  making  a  firm  and 
united  resistance  to  this  premeditated  attack.  They 
wrote  to  the  several  presbyteries  to  put  them  on  their 
guard  against  any  attempts  that  might  be  made  to  dis- 
unite them  ;  they  exhorted  them  to  turn  their  attention 
particularly  to  those  points  which  were  likely  to  be- 
come the  subjects  of  controversy  ;  and  they  appointed 
certain  individuals  to  make  a  collection  of  all  the  acts 
of  Privy  Council  and  Parliament  which  had  been  made 
in  favour  of  the  liberties  and  discipline  of  the  church. 
Having  in  vain  used  means  to  prevail  on  the  King  to 
desist  from  the  prosecution  of  Black,  the  commission- 
ers, after  deliberation,  agreed  that  the  rights  of  the 
church  were  inseparably  connected  with  his  cause,  and 
advised  him  to  decline  the  judgment  of  the  Privy 
Council  as  incompetent  to  decide  at  first  instance  on 
the  accusation  brought  against  him.  A  declinature 
having  been  drawn  up  in  this  form,  it  was  sent  through 


»  Melville's  Diary,  p.  276—278.  Epist.  Philadelphi  Vin- 
diciae:  Altare  Daniasc.  p.  754,  755. 

+  This  was  the  saying  of  Patrick  Galloway,  one  of  the  min- 
i.'ters  of  the  King's  house;  at  which  James  was  so  much  offend- 
ed, that  he  refused  for  a  considerable  time  to  admit  him  into 
bi«  presence.     (Printed  Calderwood,  p.  336.) 

)  Record  of  the  Presbytery  of  Edinourgh,  5th  October,  1596. 


the  presbyteries,  and  subscribed  in  a  very  short  time 
by  upwards  of  three  hundred  ministers.  The  contest 
between  the  civil  and  ecclesiastic  authorities  now  be- 
came open  ;  each  had  recourse  to  its  own  weapons  in 
defence  of  its  claims ;  and  high  and  strong  measures 
were  taken  on  both  sides. 

According  to  Spotswood's  representation,  it  was 
chiefly  through  the  persuasions  of  Melville  that  the 
commissioners  of  the  church  were  induced  to  make  a 
common  cause  with  Black.  He  adds,  that,  when  it 
was  proposed  to  give  in  a  declinature,  "  this  was  held 
a  dangerous  course,  and  earnestly  dissuaded  by  some 
few,  but  they  were  cried  down  by  the  greater  num- 
ber."* I  have  no  doubt  that  Melville  joined  in  advi- 
sing this  step.  His  friendship  for  Black,  his  convic- 
tion of  the  innocence  of  his  friend,  and  his  having  for- 
merly adopted  the  same  course  when  a  similar  charge 
was  brought  against  himself,  put  this  beyond  all  rea- 
sonable doubt.  But  that  there  was  any  thing  like  an 
opposition  among  the  ministers  to  the  course  which 
was  taken,  I  have  seen  no  good  reason  to  believe.  The 
fact  is,  that  there  never  was  more  unanimity  in  the 
church  than  was  displayed  in  this  cause.  All  seemed 
to  be  animated  with  the  same  sentiment  as  to  the  dan- 
gerous tendency  of  the  encroachments  of  the  court,  and 
the  necessity  of  resisting  them.  Rollock,  Lindsay, 
and  Buchanan,  who  were  most  distinguished  for  mod 
oration,  and  Gladstanes,  Nicolson,  and  Galloway,  who 
were  afterwards  most  active  in  advancing  the  views  of 
the  King,  testified  the  greatest  zeal  and  forwardness  in 
defence  of  the  rights  of  the  church  on  the  present  occa- 
sion.! 

It  is  commonly  taken  for  granted,  even  by  those  who 
are  favourable  to  the  cause  of  the  ministers,  that  during 
the  disputes  between  the  King  and  the  church  respect- 
ing the  popish  noblemen,  Black  preached  a  sermon  in 
which  he  used  a  number  of  freedoms  with  the  royal 
family,  the  counsellors,  and  judges,  which,  to  say  the 
least,  were  very  unseasonable,  and  afforded  the  court  a 
handle  against  him  and  his  brethren.:}:  But  this  is  not 
a  correct  view  of  the  case.  Black  was  summoned  ««- 
per  inquircndh ;  and  when,  at  his  appearance  before 
the  Privy  Council  on  the  10th  of  November,  he  object- 
ed to  this  mode  of  procedure  as  inquisitorial  and  ille- 
gal, he  was  told,  and  told  for  the  first  time,  that  the 
general  charge  was  restricted  to  the  particular  one  con- 
tained in  a  letter  from  the  English  ambassador,  com- 
plaining of  liberties  which  had  been  taken  with  the 
character  of  his  mistress. ||  His  summons  bore  that  he 
was  to  be  examined,  not  concerning  alleged  treasona- 
ble or  seditious  language,  but  "touching  certain  unde- 
cent  and  uncomely  speeches  uttered  by  him  in  diverse 
his  sermons  made  in  St.  Andrews. "§  So  trivial  were 
the  delations,  or  so  suspicious  the  channels  througrh 
which  they  came,  that  his  Majesty  professed  to  the 
commissioners,  that  "  he  did  not  think  much  of  that 
matter;  only  they  should  cause  him  appear  and  take 
some  course  for  pacifying  the  English  ambassador: 
but  take  heed  (said  he)  that  you  do  not  decline  the  ju- 
dicatory; for  if  you  do,  it  will  be  worse  than  anything 
that  has  yet  fallen  out."<[  Black  gave  an  explanation 
vvhich  satisfied  Bowes,  the  English  ambassador,  who 
had  been  pushed  on  to  complain  of  him.**  But,  instead 
of  dropping  the  process,  the  court  served  Black  with  a 


•  Spotswood's  History,  p.  420,  421. 
T  Ibid.  p.  423— 430.  Printed  Cald.  p.  333— 336. 
\  Spotswood  says,  "  Whilst  things  thus  past  betwixt  the 
King  and  the  church,  a  new  occasion  of  trouble  was  presented 
by  Mr.  David  Blake,  one  of  the  ministers  of  St.  Andrews,  who 
had  in  one  of  his  sermons  cast  forth  diverse  speeches  full  of 
spight  against  the  King,  the  Queen,  the  Ix)rds  of  Council  and 
Session,  and  amongst  the  rest  had  called  the  Queen  of  England 
an  Atheist,  a  Woman  of  no  religion."  (Hist.  p.  420.)  The 
minutes  of  the  Privy  Council,  to  which  the  archbishop  had  ac- 
cess, do  not  warrant  this  statement. 

See  the  minute  of  the  Privy  Council,  in  Note  KK. 
Ibid.  t  Spotswood,  p.  421. 

»  Moyse's  Memoirs,  p.  246. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


291 


new  libel,  containing  articles  of  charge  which  had  been 
collected  since  his  former  appearance,  and  which  re- 
lated to  his  sermons  and  conduct  during  the  three  pre- 
ceding years.  In  short,  it  appears  from  the  whole  pro- 
ceedings, that  the  offence  was  not  offered,  but  eagerly 
sought ;  and  that  "  the  process  against  Mr.  Black  was 
but  a  policy  to  divert  the  ministers  from  prosecuting 
their  suit  against  the  popish  earls."*  The  accusations 
in  the  second  libel  were  odious ;  but,  although  it  is 
probable  that  he  had  used  expressions  which  gave  some 
occasion  for  them,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  his 
language  was  wrested  and  his  meaning  misrepresented. 
At  his  appearance,  he  protested  that  the  cliarges  were 
utterly  false  and  calumnious,  and  had  been  devised  by 
informers  who  were  filled  with  resentment  against  him 
for  bringing  them  under  church  censure  for  their 
faults.j  He  produced,  in  support  of  his  innocence,  the 
testimonials  of  the  provost,:):  bailies,  and  council  of  St. 
Andrews,  and  of  the  rector,  dean  of  faculty,  professors, 
and  regents  of  the  university.  He  declared  his  readi- 
ness to  submit  immediately  to  the  trial  of  the  Privy 
Council  on  that  article  of  the  libel  which  charged  bim 
with  having  raised  companies  of  armed  men  in  June 
1594.  And  he  requested  that  the  other  articles  should 
be  remitted  to  the  presbytery  of  his  bounds,  to  which, 
and  not  to  the  Privy  Council,  it  belonged  to  judge,  in 
the  first  instance,  of  the  doctrines  which  he  had  deliv- 
ered from  the  pulpit.  On  the  30th  of  November,  the 
day  fixed  for  hearing  his  cause.  Black  was  assisted  in 
his  defence  by  Pont  and  Bruce.  The  council  rejected 
the  declinature,  and,  disregarding  the  testimonials 
which  he  produced  in  his  favour,  proceeded  to  sustain 
themselves  judges  of  the  whole  libel ;  upon  which 
Black  refused  to  plead.  At  a  subsequent  diet  they 
found  all  the  charges  against  him  proved,  and  senten- 
ced him  to  be  confined  beyond  the  North  Water,  until 
his  Majesty  resolved  what  farther  punishment  should 
be  inflicted  on  him.|| 

I  have  already  inquired  at  some  length  into  the 
merits  of  this  question,  which  had  formerly  been  the 
subject  of  litigation  between  the  church  and  the  court.§ 
It  is  common  to  censure  the  ministers  for  imprudence 
in  entering  with  so  much  warmth  into  Black's  defence, 
when  they  were  involved  in  another  dispute  with  the 
King.  But  from  the  preceding  statement  it  appears 
that  they  were  forced  into  it.  Besides,  the  question 
respecting  the  liberty  of  the  pulpit,  considered  in  all 
its  bearings,  was  of  more  importance  than  that  which 
related  to  the  popish  lords.  These  noblemen,  if  restor- 
ed, might  have  distracted  the  country,  but  they  would 
not  have  been  permitted  to  ruin  it,  so  long  as  the  preach- 
ers were  allowed  to  retain  their  wonted  freedom  of 
speech.  A  law  which  would  have  had  the  effect  of 
restraining  the  ministers  of  Edinburgh  alone  from  ex- 
pressing any  opinion  on  matters  of  state,  was  more  to 
be  dreaded  at  that  time  than  the  presence  of  ten  thou- 
sand armed  Spaniards  in  the  heart  of  Scotland.  The 
question  was  important  in  another  point  of  view.  The 
indefinite  restraint  of  public  rebukes  and  censures  of 
immorality,  at  least  so  far  as  concerned  all  who  had 
any  connexion  with  the  court,  was  ultimately  aimed 
at.^     Persons  may  declaim  at  their  pleasure  on  the 

*  Spotswood,  p.  421. 

+  The  principal  informer  was  John  Rutherfurd,  minister  of 
Kilconquhar,  whom  Blaclc  had  prosecuted  before  the  presby- 
tery for  non-residence.  (Altare  Damage,  p.  425.  Crawfurd's 
MS.  History  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  vol.  i.  p.  193.) 

f  The  laird  of  Dairsie,  who  could  not  be  suspected  of  parti- 
ality for  Black,  was  at  that  time  provost. 

II  See  Note  KK.  Cotton  MSS.  Cal.  D.  ii.  96.  Spotswood, 
424 — 427.  A  full  account  of  the  proceedings  in  this  affair  is 
given  in  Printed  Calderwood,  p.  345 — 356. 

6  See  above,  p.  260,  263. 

IT  "  Because  impiety  dare  not  be  yet  so  impudent  to  crave  in 
expresse  terms  that  sinne  be  not  rebuked,  (say  the  commission- 
era  of  the  church,)  it  is  sought  only  that  his  ivfajesty  and  Coun- 
cil be  acknowledged  judges  in  matters  civil  and  criminal,  trea- 
sonable and  seditious,  which  shall  be  found  uttered  by  any  min- 
ister in  his  doctrine;  thinking  to  draw  the  rebuke  of  sinnc,  in 


insufferable  license  in  which  the  preachers  indulged  ; 
but  it  will  be  found  on  examination,  that  the  discour- 
agement of  vice  and  impiety,  the  checking  of  the 
most  crying  abuses  in  the  administration  of  justice, 
and  the  preserving  of  common  peace  and  order  in  the 
country,  depended  upon  the  freedom  of  the  pulpit,  to 
a  degree  which  no  one  who  is  not  intimately  acquaint- 
ed with  the  state  of  things  can  conceive.* 

I  cannot  refrain  from  quoting  here  the  following  en- 
ergetic, and,  I  must  say,  affecting  passage,  which  no 
person  can  read  without  feeling  that  he  reads  the  heart 
of  the  writers.  It  is  taken  from  an  address  which  the 
commissioners  of  the  church  presented  to  the  King 
and  council  on  the  morning  of  Black's  trial.  "  We 
are  compelled,  for  clearing  of  our  ministry  from  all  sus- 
picion of  such  unnatural  affection  and  offices  towards 
your  Majesty  and  the  state  of  your  Majesty's  country, 
to  call  that  great  Judge  who  searcheth  the  hearts,  and 
shall  give  recompense  to  every  one  conform  to  the  se- 
cret thought  thereof,  to  be  judge  betwixt  us  and  the 
authors  of  all  these  malisious  calumnies.  Before  his 
tribunal  we  protest,  that  we  always  bare,  now  bear, 
and  shall  bear,  God  willing,  to  our  life's  end,  as  loyal 
affection  to  your  Majesty  as  any  of  your  Majesty's 
best  subjects  within  your  Majesty's  realm,  of  what- 
somever  degree  ;  and  according  to  our  power  and  call- 
ing shall  be,  by  the  grace  of  God,  as  ready  to  procure 
and  maintain  your  Majesty's  welfare,  peace,  and  ad- 
vancement, as  any  of  the  best  affectioned  whatsomever. 
We  call  your  Majesty's  own  heart  to  record,  whether 
you  have  not  found  it  so  in  effect  in  your  Majesty's 
straits,  and  if  your  Majesty  be  not  persuaded  to  find 
the  like  of  us  all,  if  it  fall  out  that  your  Majesty  have 
occasion  in  these  difficulties  to  have  the  trial  of  the  af- 
fection of  your  subjects  again.  Whatsoever  we  have 
uttered,  either  in  our  doctrine  or  in  other  actions  to- 
ward your  Majesty,  it  hath  proceeded  of  a  zealous  af- 
fection toward  your  Majesty's  welfare  above  all  things 
next  to  the  honour  of  God,  as  we  protest ;  choosing 
rather  by  the  liberty  of  our  admonitions  to  hazard  our- 
selves, than  by  our  silence  to  suffer  your  Majesty  to  draw 
on  the  guiltiness  of  any  sin  that  might  involve  your  Ma- 
jesty in  the  wrath  and  judgment  of  God.  In  respect 
whereof  we  most  humbly  beseech  your  Majesty  so  to 
esteem  of  us  and  our  proceedings  as  tending  always, 
in  great  sincerity  of  our  hearts,  to  the  establishing 
of  religion,  the  surety  of  your  Majesty's  estate  and 
crown,  (which  we  acknowledge  to  be  inseparably  join- 
ed therewith)  and  to  the  common  peace  and  welfare 
of  the  whole  country.  We  persuade  ourselves  that 
howsoever  the  first  motion  of  this  action  might  have 
proceeded  upon  a  purpose  of  your  Majesty  to  have 
the  limits  of  the  spiritual  jurisdiction  distinguished 
from  the  civil,  yet  the  same  is  entertained  and  blown 
up  by  the  favourers  of  those  that  are  and  shall  prove 
in  the  end  the  greatest  enemies  that  either  your  Majes- 
ty or  the  cause  of  God  can  have  in  this  country  ;  think- 
ing thereby  to  engender  such  a  misliking  betwixt  your 
Majesty  and  the  ministry  as  shall  by  time  take  away 
all  farther  trust,  and  in  end  work  a  division  irreconcil- 
able, wherethrough  your  Majesty  might  be  brought  to 
think  your  greatest  friends  to  be  your  enemies,  and 
your  greatest  enemies  to  be  your  friends.     There  is  no 


in  the  King,  councell,  or  their  proceedings,  under  the  name  of 
one  of  these  crimes."     (Printed  Calderwood,  p.  362.) 

t  The  author  of  a  letter,  which  was  given  in  to  the  palace 
under  the  fictitious  name  of  the  Minister  of  Kilconquhar,  and 
which  fretted  James  exceedingly,  says,  "Had  not  the  disci- 
pline of  the  kirk  been  more  reverently  and  better  executed  than 
the  civill  policy  was  these  years  bygane,  the  country  had  been 
cast  in  a  barbarous  confusion.  Sir,  wise  men  would  have  your 
Majesty  to  ponder  that  saying,  1  Tim.  iii.  5.  "  If  anie  man 
cannot  rule  his  own  house,  how  .sail  he  care  for  the  Kirk  of 
God"?"  And  wise  men  think  and  say,  that  had  the  ministers 
winked  and  been  silent  att  mens  proceedings,  and  suffered  you 
to  runne  from  tyme  to  tyme  your  intended  course,  the  crowne 
long  er  now  had  not  been  on  your  head."  (Cald.  v.  167, 161, 
165.) 


"92 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


necessity  at  this  time,  nor  occasion  offered  on  our  part, 
to  insist  on  the  decision  of  intricate  and  unprofitable 
questions  and  processes  ;  albeit,  by  the  subtile  craft  of 
adversaries  of  your  Majesty's  quietness,  some  absurd 
and  almost  incredible  suppositions  (which  the  Lord 
forbid  should  enter  into  the  hearts  of  Christians,  let 
be  in  the  hearts  of  the  Lord's  messengers)  be  drawn 
in  and  urged  importunately  at  this  time,  as  if  the  surety 
and  privilege  of  your  Majesty's  crown  and  authority 
royal  depended  on  the  present  decision  thereof.  We 
most  humbly  beseech  your  Majesty  to  remit  the  decis- 
ion thereof  to  our  lawful  assembly  that  might  deter- 
mine thereupon  according  to  the  word  of  God.  For, 
this  we  protest  in  the  sight  of  God,  according  to  the 
light  that  he  hath  given  us  in  his  truth,  that  the  spe- 
cial cause  of  the  blessing  that  remaineth  and  hath  re- 
mained upon  your  Majesty  and  your  Majesty's  country, 
since  your  coronation,  hath  been  and  is  the  liberty 
which  the  Gospel  hath  had  within  your  realm  ;  and  if 
your  Majesty,  under  whatsoever  colour,  abridge  the 
same  directly  or  indirectly,  the  wrath  of  the  Lord  shall 
be  kindled  against  your  Majesty  and  the  kingdom  which 
"we  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  forwarn  you  of, 
that  your  Majesty's  and  your  council's  blood  lie  not 
upon  us."*  Had  James  possessed  half  the  wisdom 
which  he  laid  claim  to,  he  would  have  perceived  that 
the  rights  of  his  crown  could  be  in  no  danger  from  the 
attempts,  or  from  the  faithful  and  affectionate  though 
sometimes  officious  and  rough  reproofs,  of  such  men 
as  these  :  he  would  have  revered  their  integrity,  and 
been  proud  of  their  spirit. 

During  the  process  of  Black,  and  after  it  was  brought 
to  a  termination,  daily  communings  were  held  between 
the  court  and  the  ministers,  and  various  proposals  were 
made  for  removing  the  variance  which  had  unhappily 
arisen. f  Different  accounts  are  given  of  the  causes 
which  defeated  the  success  of  these  proposals ;  but 
from  what  the  King  had  already  avowed,  and  from  the 
whole  tenor  of  his  proceedings,  there  is  reason  to  con- 
clude, that,  if  the  ministers  had  yielded  the  point  in 
dispute,  the  concession  would  have  been  followed  by 
additional  encroachments  on  their  rights.  As  it  was, 
the  court  was  determined  against  any  reconciliation 
which  did  not  imply  an  absolute  submission  to  its 
claims  on  the  part  of  the  church.  The  preposals  made 
by  the  commissioners  were  listened  to,  and  hopes  of 
conciliation  were  held  out  to  them;  but  when  they 
were  flattering  themselves  that  they  were  on  the  eve 
of  an  amicable  arrangement,  some  new  difficulty  was 
started,  or  some  new  symptom  of  hostility  manifested. | 
Finding  that  they  had  been  anatused  and  deceived,  the 
ministers  expressed  their  dissatisfaction  from  the  pul- 
pit ;  upon  which  the  court  had  recourse  to  the  most  irri- 
tating measures.  An  act  of  council  was  passed,  or- 
daining the  ministers,  before  receiving  payment  of  their 
stipends,  to  subscribe  a  bond,  in  which  they  promised  to 
submit  to  the  judgment  of  the  King  and  Privy  Council 
as  often  as  they  were  accused  of  seditious  or  treasona- 
ble doctrine.  An  old  act  of  council  was  renewed,  pro- 
hibiting all  from  uttering,  privately  or  publicly,  in  ser- 
mons or  in  familiar  coniferences,  any  false  or  slander- 
ous speeches  to  the  reproach  or  contempt  of  his  Maj- 
esty, his  council,  proceedings,  or  progenitors,  and  from 
meddling  with  affairs  of  state,  "  present,  bygane,  or  to 
coine,  under  the  pain  of  death  ;"  commanding  all  mag- 


•  Printed  Calderwood,  p.  344,345. 

+  Calderwood,  p.  348 — 356;  compare  Spotswood,  p.  423 — 
427. 

t  "  In  those  treatyis  with  the  King  (gays  the  English  anibas- 
•ador)  the  coramissioners  alwayes  returned  satisfyed,  reporting 
to  the  rest  that  the  K.  was  pleased  to  enter  in  calme  [confer- 
encel  and  sundry  particular  overtures  were  layde  forth  and 
lyked  therin,  and  as  it  [seemed]  that  the  same  should  have  been 
allowed  and  authorized  perfectly  by  the  K.  the  next  day:  so 
tliat  every  night  a  fall  end  ana  conclusion  was  looked  to." 
(Despatches  by  Robert  Bowes.  Edinb.  Dec.  14, 1596.  Cotton 
MSS.  Calig.  D.  II.  96.) 


istrales  in  burghs,  and  noblemen  and  gentlemen  in 
country  parishes,  to  interrupt  and  imprison  any  preach- 
ers wliom  they  should  hear  uttering  such  speeches 
from  pulpits;  and  threatening  with  the  highest  pains 
all  those  who  should  hear  offences  of  this  kind  com- 
mitted without  revealing  them.*  At  the  same  time,  a 
proclamation  was  issued,  ordering  the  commissioners 
of  the  General  Assembly  to  leave  the  capital,  and  de- 
claring the  powers  which  they  claimed  to  be  unwar- 
ranted and  illegal.! 

Melville  left  Edinburgh,  along  with  the  rest  of  the 
commissioners,  on  the  15th  of  December ;  but  as  the 
events  which  followed  made  great  noise,  and  had  an 
important  influence  on  the  affairs  of  the  church,  it 
would  he  improper  to  pass  them  over. 

The  Octavians^X  by  the  rigid  economy  which  they 
had  introduced  into  the  management  of  the  finances, 
restricted  his  Majesty  from  lavishing  money  upon  his 
private  favourites.  Irritated  at  this,  the  latter,  known 
at  that  time  by  the  name  of  Cubiculars,  or  gentlemen  of 
the  bed-chamber,  were  desirous  of  driving  these  states- 
men from  their  places,  and  to  accomplish  this  object 
they  industriously  fomented  the  dissension  between 
the  King  and  the  church.  They  insinuated  to  the  Oc- 
tavians,  that  the  friends  of  the  ministers  were  engaged 
in  a  plot  against  their  lives.  They,  at  the  same  time, 
privately  assured  the  ministers,  that  the  Octavians 
were  the  advisers  of  the  return  of  the  popish  lords  and 
of  the  prosecution  of  Black;  that  it  was  through  their 
influence  that  the  mind  of  the  King  was  alienated  from 
the  church  ;  and  that  they  intended  nothing  less  than 
the  overthrow  of  the  protestant  religion. || 

On  the  morning  of  the  17th  of  December,  1596,  in- 
formation was  conveyed  to  Bruce,  that  the  Earl  of 
Huntly  had  been  all  night  in  the  palace,  and  that  his 
friends  and  retainers  were  at  hand,  waiting  for  orders 
to  enter  the  capital.  This  communication,  which  was 
partly  true,  excited  the  more  alarm,  as  a  charge  had 
just  been  given  to  twenty-four  of  the  most  zealous  cit- 
izens to  remove  from  Edinburgh.  It  being  the  day  of 
the  weekly  sermon,  the  ministers  agreed  that  the  barons 
and  burgesses  who  were  present  should  be  desired  to 
meet  in  the  Little  Church,  after  public  worship,  to  ad- 
vise on  what  ought  to  be  done.§  They  met  accord- 
ingly, and  deputed  two  persons  from  each  of  the  es- 
tates to  wait  on  the  King,  who  happened  to  be  then  in 
the  Tolbooth  with  the  Lords  of  Session.  Having  ob- 
tained an  audience,  Bruce  told  his  Majesty  that  they 
were  sent  to  lay  before  him  the  dangers  which  threat- 
ened religion.  "  What  dangers  see  you  ?"  said  the 
King.  Bruce  mentioned  what  they  had  been  told  as  to 
Huntly.  "  What  have  you  to  do  with  that  1"  said  his 
Majesty;  "and  how  durst  you  convene  against  my 
proclamation  V  "  We  dare  do  more  than  that,"  said 
Lord  Lindsay;  "  and  will  not  suffer  religion  to  be  over- 
thrown." Upon  this  the  King  retired  into  an  inner 
apartment,  and  shut  the  door  upon  them.  The  depu- 
ties returned,  and  made  their  report  to  the  assembly. 
During  their  absence,  Cranston,  a  forward  minister, 
had  been  reading  to  the  people  in  the  chnrcli  certain 
passages  from  the  Bible,  and  among  the  rest  the  story 
of  Haman  and  Mordecai.  Perceiving  that  their  minds 
were  somewhat  moved,  Bruce  proposed  that  they 
should  defer  the  consideration  of  their  grievances,  and 
merely  pledge  themselves  at  present  to  be  constant  in 
the  profession  and  defence  of  their  religion.    This  pro- 

«  Record  of  Privy  Council,  Dec.  13, 1596.  Act.  Pari.  Scot, 
iv.  101,  102. 

t  Record  of  Privy  Council,  Dec.  9, 1596. 

i  See  above,  p.  296. 

II  Caldci-wood,  v.  127.     Spotswood,  p.  428. 

}  It  is  not  commonly  adverted  to,  that,  besides  long  usage, 
the  ministers  had  the  authority  of  an  express  act  of  Privy  Coun- 
cil for  calling  meetings  of  this  kind.  The  King  was  aware  of 
this,  and  accordinely  procured  the  repeal  of  that  act.  But  thi« 
was  not  done  until  the  5th  of  March,  1597.  (Act.  Pari.  Scot, 
vol.  iv.  p.  116;  compare  Bruce'i  Apology,  iu  Printed  Calder* 
wood,  p.  272.) 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


^93 


posal  having  been  received  with  acclamation,  he  be- 
sought them,  as  they  regarded  the  credit  of  the  cause, 
to  be  silent  and  quiet.  At  this  time,  an  unknown  per- 
son (supposed  to  have  been  an  emissary  of  the  Cubicu- 
lars)  hastily  entered  the  church,  exclaiming,  Fy,  fy, 
save  yourselves !  the  Papists  are  coming  to  massacre  you ! 
At  the  same  time  a  cry  was  raised  in  the  street.  To 
arms!  to  arms !  Some  one  exclaimed  in  the  church. 
The  sword  of  the  Lord  and  Gideon !  "  These  are  not 
our  weapons,"  cried  Bruce,  who  attempted  to  calm  the 
assembly;  but  the  panic  had  seized  them,  and  they 
rushed  into  the  street,  where  they  found  a  crowd  al- 
ready collected.  For  a  time  all  was  confusion.  Some, 
hearing  that  their  ministers  were  slain,  ran  to  the 
church ;  others,  being  told  that  the  King  was  in  dan- 

fer,  flocked  to  the  tolbooth.  One  or  two  called  for  the 
'resident  and  Lord  Advocate,  that  they  might  take  or- 
der with  them  for  abusing  the  King.  All  accounts  that 
are  entitled  to  any  credit  agree  in  stating,  that  this  was 
the  greatest  offence  that  was  committed  during  the  up- 
roar. The  ministers  immediately  called  in  the  aid  of 
the  magistrates,  and,  by  their  joint  persuasion,  the  tu- 
mult was  speedily  quelled.  Within  less  than  an  hour, 
not  an  offensive  weapon,  nor  the  least  symptom  of  a 
disposition  to  riot,  was  to  be  seen  on  the  streets.  The 
barons  and  ministers  resumed  their  deliberations  in  the 
church,  and  sent  Lord  Forbes,  the  laird  of  Bargeny, 
and  Principal  RoUock,  to  lay  their  requests  before  the 
King,  who  continued  to  transact  business  with  the 
Lords  of  Session.  His  Majesty  directed  them  to  come 
to  him  in  the  afternoon,  when  they  would  have  an  op- 
portunity of  laying  their  petition  before  the  council ; 
after  which  he  walked  down  the  public  street  to  the 
palace,  attended  by  his  courtiers,  with  as  much  quiet- 
ness and  security  as  he  had  ever  experienced  on  any 
former  occasion.* 

Such  are  the  facts  connected  with  the  tumult  of  the 
seventeenth  of  December,  which  has  been  related  in  so 
many  histories  and  magnified  into  a  daring  and  horrid 
rebellion.  Had  it  not  been  laid  hold  of  by  designing 
politicians  as  a  handle  for  accomplishing  their  mea- 
sures, it  would  not  now  have  been  known  that  such  an 
event  had  ever  occurred  ;  and  were  it  not  that  it  has 
been  so  much  misrepresented  to  the  disparagement  of 
the  ministers  and  ecclesiastical  polity  of  Scotland,  it 
would  be  a  waste  of  time  and  labour  to  institute  an  in- 
quiry into  the  real  state  of  the  facts.f  "  No  tumult  in 
the  world  was  ever  more  harmless  in  the  effects,  nor 
more  innocent  in  the  causes,  if  ynu  consider  all  those 
who  did  openly  act  therein. "||  It  never  was  seriously 
alleged  that  there  was  the  most  distant  idea  of  touch- 
ing the  person  of  the  King.  Had  there  been  any  inten- 
tion of  laying  violent  hands  on  the  unpopular  states- 


*  Cald.  V.  128,  176.  Spotswood,  p.  428,  429.  James  Mel- 
ville's History  of  the  declining  Age  of  the  Church  of  Scotland, 
p.  4,  5.  (MS.  in  Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.  Rob.  iii.  2,  12.)  Row's 
Hist.  p.  64—66.  Baillie's  Historical  Vindication,  p.  68—71. 
Bishop  Guthrie  represents  the  tumult  as  suppressed  by  a  com- 
pany of  musketeers  sent  from  the  castle  by  tne  Earl  of  Mar,  and 
he  oescriljes  their  circuitous  march  with  as  much  minuteness  as 
if  he  had  accompanied  them.  (Memoirs,  p.  6.)  If  there  was 
any  foundation  for  this  story,  it  is  strange  that  Spotswood,  who 
was  present,  should  have  passed  it  over.  But  the  blunders 
which  Guthrie  has  committed  in  his  narrative  of  this  atiair  are 
sufficient  to  discredit  his  statement,  so  far  as  it  differs  from  those 
of  other  writers.  Calderwood  and  Spotswood  agree  in  all  the 
material  circumstances.     Compare  Simsoni  Annal.  p.  76. 

t  Adrian  Damman,  the  Resident  of  the  States  General  at  the 
court  of  Scotland,  transmitted  a  false  and  exaggerated  account 
of  the  affair  to  his  constituents.  He  was  not  in  Scotland  when 
the  tumult  happened,  and  it  is  evident  that  his  information  was 
derived  from  James  and  his  courtiers,  or  rather  that  his  letter 
was  written  at  their  desire  and  dictation.  Damman's  letter  was 
published  in  Epist.  Eccles.  et  Theologicct,  (p.  35 — 37,  edit. 
S'ia)  and  the  substance  of  it  was  afterwards  adopted  by  Brandt. 
(History  of  the  Reformation  in  the  Low  Countries,  vol.  i.  p. 
457.)  Among  the  writers  of  this  country  who  were  most  indus- 
trious in  circulating  calumnies  on  this  head  was  Bishop  Max- 
well inhis  Isachar's  Burden,  reprinted  in  Phoenix,  vol.  1.  p.  307 
—309. 

t  Baillie's  Hist.  Vindication,  p.  71. 


men,  there  was  nothing  to  have  prevented  the  popu- 
lace, at  the  commencement  of  the  tumult,  from  forcing 
the  house  in  which  they  were  assembled.  No  assault 
was  made  upon  the  meanest  creature  belonging  to  the 
court:  no  violence  was  offered  to  the  person  or  the  pro- 
perty of  a  single  individual.  So  far  from  partaking  of 
the  nature  of  a  rebellion,  the  affair  scarcely  deserves 
the  name  of  a  riot.  Nor  did  it  assume  the  appearance 
of  one  of  those  dangerous  commotions  by  which  the 
public  peace  is  liable  to  be  disturbed  in  large  towns, 
and  to  which  a  wise  government  seldom  thinks  of  giv- 
ing importance,  by  inquiring  narrowly  into  their  origin, 
or  punishing  those  who,  through  thoughtlessness  or 
imprudence,  may  have  been  led  to  take  part  in  their 
excesses. 


CHAPTER  VII 159G— 1603. 

The  Tumult  in  Edinburgh  made  a  pretext  for  overthrowing 
the  Liberties  of  the  Church — Violent  Proceedings  against 
the  Ca{)ital — and  its  Ministers — The  King's  Questions  re- 
specting the  Government  of  the  Church — Caution  of  the 
Synod  of  Fife — Ecclesiastical  Convention  at  Perth — Policy 
of  the  Court  in  gaining  over  Ministers  to  its  Measures — New 
Ecclesiastical  Commission — Royal  Visitation  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  St.  Andrews — Melville  restricted  from  attending 
Church  Courts — Rights  of  Theological  Professors — Removal 
of  the  Ministers  of  St.  Andrews — Parliamentary  Restoration 
of  Bishops — Ministers'  Vote  in  Parliament — Opposition  to  it 
— Cautions  under  which  it  was  agreed  to — Bishops  nominat- 
ed— Death  of  distinguished  Ministers — Archbishop  Beaton 
restored  to  the  Temporalities  of  the  See  of  Glasgow — Law 
of  Free  Monarchies — Basilicon  Doron — Gowrie's  Conspii-acy 
— Sufferings  of  Bruce  on  Account  of  it — Anniversary  of  the 
King's  Deliverance  from  it — The  King  renews  his  Vows — 
New  Translation  of  the  Bible  proposed — Measures  for  pro- 
pagating the  Gospel  in  the  Highlands  and  Islands — Melville 
confined  within  the  Precincts  of  his  College — Accession  of 
James  to  the  Throne  of  England. 

Unpremeditated  in  its  origin,  and  harmless  in  its 
effects,  as  the  uproar  in  Edinburgh  was,  it  offered  a 
pretext,  which  was  eagerly  laid  hold  of  by  the  court, 
for  commencing  an  attack  on  the  government  of  the 
church.  A  tumult  had  taken  place  in  the  capital, 
which  would  necessarily  make  a  noise  through  the 
kingdom.  It  would  not  be  difficult  to  magnify  it  into 
a  dangerous  and  designed  rebellion,  and  to  involve  the 
ministers  who  were  present  on  the  occasion  in  the 
odium  attached  to  that  crime.  This  would  enable  the 
court  to  get  rid  of  men  who  proved  a  disagreeable 
check  on  its  proceedings;  the  severities  used  against 
them  would  strike  terror  into  the  minds  of  their  breth- 
ren ;  and  thus  measures  might  be  carried  which  other- 
wise would  have  met  with  a  determined  and  successful 
resistance.  Nothing  could  be  more  congenial  to  the 
character  of  James  than  this  piece  of  Machiavelian 
policy,  which  had  a  shew  of  deep  wisdom  in  the  de- 
vice, and  required  a  very  slender  portion  of  courage  in 
the  execution. 

To  secure  the  success  of  his  plan,  he  began  by  pro- 
moting a  reconciliation  between  the  two  parties  at  court. 
He  induced  the  Octavians  to  resign  the  invidious  office 
of  managing  the  revenue,  and  the  gentlemen  of  the 
Bed-chamber  to  join  in  punishing  a  riot  which  they 
had  raised  for  the  express  purpose  of  driving  their 
rivals  from  their  places.*  Having  accomplished  this 
object,  the  King  hastily  quitted  the  palace  of  Holy- 
roodhouse.  As  soon  as  he  was  gone,  a  proclamation 
was  issued,  requiring  all  in  public  office  to  repair  to 
him  at  Linlithgow,  and  commanding  every  person  who 
had  not  his  ordinary  residence  in  the  capital  to  leave 
it  instantly.  This  was  followed  by  severer  proclama- 
tions. The  ministers  of  Edinburgh,  with  a  certain  num- 
ber of  the  citizens,  were  commanded  to  enter  into  ward 
in  the  castle ;  they  were  summoned  before  the  Privy 
Council  at  Linlithgow  to  answer  super  inquirendis;  dLnA 


*  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  ir.  107. 


294 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


the  magistrates  were  ordered  to  seize  their  persons. 
The  tumult  was  declared  to  be  "a  cruel  and  barbarous 
attempt  against  his  Majesty's  royal  person,  his  nobil- 
ity, and  council,  at  the  instigation  of  certain  seditious 
ministers  and  barons  ;"  and  all  who  had  been  accesso- 
ry to  it,  or  who  should  assist  them,  were  declared  to 
be  liable  to  the  penalties  of  treason.  In  the  beginning 
of  January,  his  Majesty,  with  great  pomp  and  in  a 
warlike  attitude,  returned  to  Edinburgh,  where  he  held 
a  convention  at  which  these  proclamations  were  rati- 
fied, and  measures  of  a  still  stronger  kind  were  taken. 
It  was  ordained,  that  the  courts  of  justice  should  be 
removed  to  Perth  ;  and  that  no  meeting  of  general  as- 
sembly, provincial  synod,  or  presbytery,  should  hence- 
forth be  held  within  the  capital.* 

A  deputation  from  the  town  council  had  waited  on  his 
Majesty  at  Linlithgow,  to  protest  their  innocence,  and 
to  implore  forgiveness  to  the  city  for  a  tumult  which 
had  ended  without  bloodshed,  and  which  they  had 
done  every  thing  in  their  power  to  suppress.  Their 
supplication  was  rejected,  and  the}'  heard  nothing, 
while  they  remained  at  court  bat  denunciations  of 
vengeance.  They  were  told  that  the  borderers  would 
be  brought  in  upon  them — that  their  city  would  be 
razed  to  the  ground  and  sowed  with  salt — and  that  a 
monument  would  be  erected  on  the  place  where  it  stood 
to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  such  an  execrable  treason. 
Intimidated  by  these  menaces,  and  distressed  at  the 
loss  of  the  courts  of  justice,  they  came  to  the  resolu- 
tion of  surrendering  their  political  and  religious  rights. 
The  magistrates,  in  the  name  of  the  community  sub- 
scribed a  bond  in  which  they  engaged  not  to  receive 
back  their  ministers  without  the  express  consent  of  his 
Majesty,  and  to  give  him  for  the  future  an  absolute  nega- 
tive over  the  electiou  of  both  magistrates  and  ministers. 
This  pusillanimous  and  abject  submission  encouraged 
the  court  to  treat  them  with  still  greater  indignity. 
"  The  magistrates  and  body  of  the  town"  were  de- 
clared to  be  "  universally  guilty  of  the  odious  and  trea- 
sonable uproar  committed  against  his  Majesty."  And 
thirteen  individuals,  as  representatives  of  the  burgh, 
were  ordered  to  enter  into  prison  at  Perth,  and  stand 
trial  before  the  Court  of  Justiciary.  One  of  the  num- 
ber, who  had  obtained  a  dispensation  from  his  Majes- 
ty, being  absent  on  the  day  appointed,  a  sentence  of 
non-compearance  was  pronounced  against  the  whole, 
the  citizens  were  declared  rebels,  and  the  property  of 
the  town  was  confiscated.  Being  thus  entirely  at  the 
royal  mercy,  the  members  of  the  town  council  receiv- 
ed his  majesty's  gracious  pardon  on  their  knees,  after 
paying  a  fine,  and  giving  a  new  bond,  containing  arti- 
cles of  submission  still  more  humiliating  than  those 


*  " Coraperit  Georg  Todrik  one  of  the  baillieg  of  Edinr  with 
comissioners  from  the  kinges  Ma''«  and  chargit  the  presbyte- 
rie  in  hig  Ma"*  name  to  depart  outwith  the  boundis  of  the  ju- 
risdiction of  Ed'.  The  presbyterie  for  obedience  to  his  Ma"" 
lawis  concludit  to  depart  and  to  keip  the  presbyterie  at  Leyth." 
(Record  of  Presbytery  of  Edinburgh,  ll«>o  Ja"'  1596.)  "Mr. 
JUichatl  Cranstone"  was  moderator  of  this  meeting  of  presbj'- 
tery,  in  the  absence  of  Robert  Bruce,  the  ordinary  moderator, 
who  had  been  obliged  to  abscond.  This  circumstance  throws 
no  small  light  on  the  motives  of  the  King's  behavior  on  the 
present  occasion.  Cranston  was  the  minister  who  had  read  the 
story  of  Haman  on  the  day  of  the  tumult,  and  the  only  one 
whose  behaviour  had  any  tendency  to  inflame  the  minds  of  the 
people.  He  had  been  summoned,  but  was  alreadv  received  in- 
to favour;  for  if  this  had  not  b«en  the  case,  the  presbyteiT 
would  not  have  thought  of  putting  him  into  the  chair  at  this 
time.  It  was  not  the  conduct  of  the  ministers  on  the  17th  of 
December,  it  was  the  resistance  which  they  had  previously 
ma^e  to  his  measures,  at  which  James  was  so  much  oirended. 
Caldcrwood,  in  his  account  of  what  preceded  the  tumult,  says, 
"Mr.  Michael  Cranston,  then  a  very  forward  minister,  but  now 
key-cold,  readeth  the  history  of  Hainan  and  Mordecai."  (MS. 
vol.  v.  p.  129.) 

The  minutes  of  presbytery  are  dated  "  Apud  Leyth"  from 
Jan.  11,  to  the  8th  of  Feb.  1596:  i.  e.  1597,  according  to  mod- 
ern computation.  After  that  they  are  dated  "  At  the  Quenis- 
colledp.'*  On  the  9th  of  August,  1597,  they  begin  to  be  dated 
"  Apud  Edr." 


which  they  had  already  subscribed.*  In  the  mean 
time,  the  court  was  unable,  after  the  most  rigid  inves- 
tigation, to  discover  a  single  respectable  citizen  who 
had  taken  part  in  the  riot,  or  the  slightest  trace  of  a 
premeditated  insurrection.  When  we  consider  the 
mixture  of  hypocrisy  and  tyranny  which  runs  through 
these  proceedings,  it  is  impossible  to  read  the  remark 
with  which  Spotswood  closes  his  account  of  the  affair 
without  derision.  "  Never,"  says  the  sycophantish 
prelate,  "did  any  king,  considering  the  offence,  tem- 
per his  authority  with  more  grace  and  clemency  than 
did  his  majesty  at  this  time  ;  which  the  people  did  all 
acknowledge,  ascryving  their  life  and  safety  onely  to 
his  favour."f 

While  the  court  was  breathing  out  threatenings 
against  the  inhabitants  of  Edinburgh,  and  particularly 
against  its  ministers,  the  latter  were  advised  by  their 
friends  to  withdraw  and  conceal  themselves  for  a 
time.:^:  As  soon  as  it  was  known  that  they  had  taken 
this  step,  they  were  publicly  denounced  rebels.  Great 
keenness  was  shown  to  find  some  evidence  of  their 
accession  to  the  tumult;  and  when  this  failed,  recourse 
was  had  to  fabrication  in  order  to  criminate  them.  On 
the  day  that  the  King  left  Edinburgh  with  such  marks 
of  displeasure,  the  barons  who  remained  behind  met, 
and  agreed  to  "  take  upon  them  the  patrociny  and 
mediation  of  the  church  and  its  cause  ;"  and  at  their  de- 
sire Bruce  wrote  a  letter  to  Lord  Hamilton,  asking  him 
to  come  and  "  countenance  them  in  this  matter  against 
those  councillors"  who  had  inflamed  his  Majesty  against 
them. II  Hamilton  having  conveyed  a  copy  of  this  let- 
ter to  the  King,  some  person  about  the  court  (for  I  do 
not  believe  that  his  lordship  was  capable  of  such  a  dis- 
honourable act)  altered  it  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make 
it  express  an  approbation  of  the  late  tumult,  and  con- 
sequently an  intention  of  embodying  an  armed  resist- 
ance to  the  measures  of  government.§     Conscious  of 

*  Register  of  Town  Council  of  Edinburgh,  vol.  x.  f.  104 — 
117.  Record  of  Privy  Council  from  December  18,  to  March 
21,  1596.  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vol.  iv.  p.  103—109,  114.  Cald.  v. 
131,  137,  147,  151,  238.  Spotswood,  p.  431—434,  444.  Mel- 
ville's Diary,  p.  288,  289. 

t  Spotswood's  Hist.  p.  444. 

I  Bruce  and  Balcanquhal  went  into  England,  Balfour  and 
Watson  concealed  themselves  in  Fife.  They  wrote  apologies 
for  their  conduct,  in  which  they  vindicated  themselves  from 
the  aspersions  thrown  on  them,  and  assigned  reasons  for  their 
flight.  The  apology  of  the  two  former  is  inserted  in  Cald.  v. 
168 — 191.  That  of  the  two  latter  is  inserted  in  Melville's 
Diary,  p.  280—288. 

II  According  to  Spotswood  (Hist.  p.  432.)  the  letter  was 
signed  by  Bruce  and  Balcanquhal  only;  but  the  copy  of  it  in- 
serted by  Calderwood  has  also  the  subscriptions  of  Rollock  and 
Watson.  (Vol.  v.  p.  132.~) 

}  Both  the  genuine  ana  the  falsified  copies  of  the  letter  are  in- 
serted by  Calderwood.  (MS.  vol.  v.  p.  132,  133.)  Speaking 
of  the  tumult,  the  former  says,  "  The  people  animated,  as  ef- 
faires,  partly  be  the  word  ana  violence  of  the  course,  took  armes, 
and  made  some  commotion,  fearing  the  invasion  of  us  y'  min- 
isters; but,  be  the  grace  of  God,  we  repressed  and  pacified 
the  motions  incontinent."  In  the  vitiated  copy  this  is  altered 
in  the  following  manner:  "  The  people  animated,  no  doubt,  be 
the  word  and  motion  of  God's  spirit,  took  arms;"  and  what 
was  said  of  the  ministers  repressing  the  commotion  is  omitted. 
Spotswood,  in  his  account  of  the  letter,  has  followed  the  falsi- 
fied copy,  without  so  much  as  hinting  that  its  genuineness  was 
ever  called  in  question;  and  at  the  same  time  that  he  quotes 
from  a  letter  to  Lord  Hamilton,  in  which  Bruce  complains  of 
the  vitiation.  (History,  p.  432,  compared  with  Calrt.  v.  150.) 
It  is  impossible  to  reprobate  such  conduct  too  severely,  espe- 
cially wnen  it  is  considered  that  Spotswood  had  hitherto  co-op- 
erated with  his  brethren.  According  to  the  accounts  of  differ- 
ent writers,  he  had  evinced  a  more  than  ordinary  leal  in  for- 
warding their  meajoires:  he  subscribed  and  promoted  the  sub- 
scription of  Black's  declinature;  he  called  out  his  patron, 
Torphichen,  to  defend  the  ministers  on  the  day  of  the  tumult; 
and  he  transcribed  Bruce's  apology  with  his  own  hand,  and  had 
even  given  it  a  sharper  edge.  (Cald.  MS.  vol.  v.  p.  175. 
Printed  History,  p.  339.  Epist.  Philadelphi  Vindiciae:  Altare 
Damasc.  p.  753.)  Archibald  Sinison  (Annales  MSS.  p.  76.) 
agrees  with  Calderwood,  and  charges  Spotswood  with  acting 
treacherously  previously  to  the  17tn  of  December,  by  inform- 
ing the  court  of  all  that  passed  in  the  private  nicetinp  of  the 
ministers.    This  last  charge  however  might  proceed  Irom  nn- 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


295 


ihe  fraud  which  had  been  committed,  the  court  did  not 
dare  to  make  any  public  use  of  the  vitiated  document; 
but  it  was  circulated  with  great  industry  in  private, 
with  the  view  of  blasting  the  reputation  of  Bruce  and 
his  friends. 

Matters  being  thus  prepared,  a  publication  appeared  in 
the  name  of  the  King,  consisting  of  fifty-five  questions. 
They  were  drawn  up  by  Secretary  Lindsay,  after  the 
model  of  the  questions  which  Archbishop  Adamson  had 
framed  when  the  Second  Book  of  Discipline  was  com- 
posed ;  and  were  intended,  by  bringing  into  dispute 
the  principal  heads  of  the  established  government  of 
the  church,  to  pave  the  way  for  the  innovations  which 
the  court  intended  to  introduce.*  A  Convention  of 
Estates  and  a  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  were 
called  by  royal  authority,  to  be  held  at  Perth  in  the 
end  of  February,  to  consider  these  questions.  This 
measure  had  been  previously  resolved  on,  and  the  ques- 
tions were  prepared  before  the  17th  of  December;  al- 
though the  publication  of  them  was  deferred  to  this 
time.f 

The  leading  ministers  throughout  the  kingdom  pre- 
pared for  a  vigorous  defence  of  the  established  disci- 
pline. Though  grieved  at  the  advantage  which  the 
court  had  gained  by  the  late  occurrence  in  the  capital, 
the}'  did  not  suffer  themselves  to  fall  under  an  unmanly 
dread  of  its  menaces.  The  presbytery  of  Haddington 
suspended  one  of  their  members  for  agreeing,  without 
their  consent,  to  an  arrangement  of  the  Privy  Council 
for  supplying  the  pulpits  of  Ed  in  burgh.  :J:  The  synod 
of  Lothian  virtually  approved  of  the  conduct  of  that 
presbytery,  and  testified  their  dissatisfaction  at  his 
Majesty's  proposing  that  they  should  advise  the  inflic- 
tion of  censure  on  their  brethren  who  had  fled.|)  Not- 
withstanding the  royal  threat,  that  those  ministers  who 
refused  subscription  to  the  lately-imposed  bond  should 
not  have  their  pensions,  (as  James  insultingly  called 

due  suspicion.  Hut  he  appears  to  have  declared  for  the  court- 
measures  soon  after  the  tumult.  I  find  the  following  references 
to  him  in  the  record  of  the  presbytery  of  Edinburgh:  "  Maij 
iij  1596.  Anent  the  desyre  of  M.  Johnn  Spottiswood  craving- 
that  seing  he  was  resident  within  the  burgh,  and  was  admitted 
to  the  ministerj,  that  thairfoire  he  ni3'ght  be  licentiat  to  exer- 
cise in  this  presbyterie.  Quhais  desyre  being  considerit,  it  is 
grantit."— "  Apud  Leyth  xxv"  Ja"J  1596.  The  exerceis  made 
be  M.  William  Birni,  and  additioun  be  M.  Johnn  Spottiswood. 
The  text  Exod.  16.  beginnand  at  the  1  v».  to  the  4.  The 
doctrine  judged,  the  haill  brether  were  ofi'ended  with  the 
doctrine  delivered  be  the  said  M.  Johnn,  refussit  to  let  him 
mak  the  nixt  day,  and  appointit  M.  Henrie  Blyth  to  mak  the 
exhortatioun  the  first  of  fe^nixt."  It  is  highly  probable  that 
Spotswood  had  given  offence  to  the  presbytery,  by  some  allu- 
bions  to  the  difl'erences  between  the  court  and  the  church. 

*  "  The  Questions  to  be  resolvit  at  the  Convention  of  the 
Estaits  and  Generall  Assemblie,  appointed  to  be  at  the  Burt'-h 
of  Perth  the  last  day  of  Februarie  next  to  come.  Edinbvrgh 
Printed  be  Robert  Waldegraue,  Printer  to  the  Kings  Majestie. 
Anno  Dom.  1597."  4to.  Subscribed  at  the  close  "James  R." 
In  the  College  Library  at  Glasgow  is  a  copy  of  this  book,  which 
appears  to  have  belonged  to  Melville,  and  has  on  the  n)argin, 
in  his  handwriting,  short  answers  to  some  of  the  questions. 
They  agree  in  general  with  the  answers  of  the  synod  of  Fife. 
Spotswood  has  inserted  all  the  questions  in  his  History  (p.  435 
— 438.)  Two  slight  inaccuracies  in  the  13th  and  53d  questions 
may  be  corrected  by  Printed  Calderwood,  (p.  381—389,)  where 
the  address  To  ihe  iJeader,  prefixed  to  the  publication,  will  also 
be  found. 

f  Calderwood  has  shown  this  from  the  minutes  of  the  com- 
missionei-s  of  the  General  Assembly,  which  he  had  in  his  pos- 
session. After  referring  to  various  minutes  between  the  llth 
of  November  and  the  llth  of  December,  he  adds,  "So  that  it 
is  clear  that  the  king  intended  before  the  17th  of  December  to 
work  ane  alteration  in  discipline,  and  to  sett  the  ministers  on 
work  to  defend  themselves  that  they  might  be  diverted  from 
persueing  the  excommunicated  Earls,  which  was  also  the  ground 
of  calling  Mr.  David  Black  before  the  Counsell  for  speeclies  ut- 
tered three  years  before."     (MS.  Hist.  v.  193 — 4.) 

t  Record  of  Presb.  of  Haddington,  Dec.  29,  Jan.  12,  and  Feb. 
9, 1596. 

II  Instructions  to  Mr.  John  Preston,  Mr.  Edw.  Bruce,  and  Mr. 
Wm.  Oliphant,  commissioners  for  the  K.  of  Sc.  to  the  Synod 
of  Lothian,  to  be  convened  at  Leith,  Feb.  1,  1596.  (Cotton 
MSS.  Calig-.  D.  ii.  97.)  This  paper  contains  also  the  answers 
which  the  synod  returned  to  his  Majesfy'.s  propositions. 


their  stipends,)  not  an  individual  of  any  note  could  be 
induced  to  subscribe;  and  papers  were  circulated,  in 
which  the  bond  was  commented  on  with  becoming 
freedom,  and  shown  to  be  ambiguous  and  ensnaring.* 
One  of  these  papers,  which  is  written  with  much  abil- 
ity and  temper,  concludes  with  these  words  :  "  How- 
soever it  shall  please  God  to  dispose  of  his  (Majesty's) 
heart,  the  ministry,  I  dowte  not,  will  keepe  themselves 
within  the  boundis  of  their  callinge,  and  neither  directly 
nor  indirectly  attempte  any  thing  that  shall  not  be  law- 
full  and  seeming  for  them,  but  with  patience  committe 
all  the  successe  unto  the  Lorde;  remembringe  the  say- 
inge  of  Ambrose,  that,  when  they  have  done  their  du- 
ties, preces  et  lachrimse  arma  nostra  sunt,  and  we  have 
no  warrant  to  proceede  farther."  f 

The  synod  of  Fife  set  an  example  to  their  brethren 
in  the  other  provinces  on  this  interesting  occasion. 
Having  met  joro  re  nata,  they  appointed  a  committee  to 
draw  up  answers  to  the  King's  questions. :|:  They  sent 
a  deputation  to  request  his  Majesty  to  refer  the  deci- 
sion of  them  to  the  regular  meeting  of  the  General  As- 
sembly, and  to  prorogue  the  extraordinary  meeting 
which  he  had  called.  In  case  he  should  not  comply 
with  this  request,  they  advised  the  presbyteries  under 
their  inspection  to  send  commissioners  to  Perth,  in  tes- 
timony of  their  obedience  to  the  royal  authority  :  but 
they  at  the  same  time  drew  up  instructions  for  the  reg- 
ulation of  their  conduct.  The  commissioners  were  in- 
structed to  declare,  that  they  could  not  acknowledge 
that  meeting  as  a  lawful  General  Assembly,  nor  con- 
sent that  it  should  call  in  question  the  established  pol- 
ity of  the  church.  If  this  point  should  be  decided 
against  them,  they  were  to  protest  for  the  liberties  of 
the  church,  and  keep  themselves  free  from  all  approba- 
tion of  the  subsequent  proceedings.  In  any  extra-judi- 
cial discussion  of  the  questions  that  might  take  place, 
they  were  instructed  to  adhere  to  the  following  general 
principles:  that  the  external  government  of  the  church 
is  laid  down  in  the  word  of  God  ;  that  it  belongs  to  the 
pastors  and  doctors  of  the  church  to  declare  what  the 
Scriptures  have  taught  on  this  head  ;  and,  as  a  scriptu- 
ral form  of  government  and  discipline  had  after  long 
and  grave  deliberation  been  regularly  settled  in  Scot- 
land, as  the  church  had  for  many  years  been  happily 
preserved  by  means  of  it  from  heresy  and  schism,  and 
as  none  of  the  ecclesiastical  office-bearers  moved  any 
doubts  about  it,  that  his  Majesty  should  be  requested 
not  to  disturb  such  a  rare,  peaceable,  and  decent  con- 
stitution by  the  agitation  of  fruitless  and  unnecessary 
questions. [|  The  presbytery  of  Edinburgh  limited  and 
instructed  their  representatives  in  the  same  manner.§ 
These  instructions  display  much  wisdom,  and  point 
out  the  true  way  of  resisting  innovations  which  were 
sought  to  be  introduced,  not  by  reason  and  argument, 
but  by  the  combined  influence  of  fraud  and  force. 

His  Majesty  was  convinced  by  these  proceedings, 
that,  in  order  to  carry  his  measures,  it  behoved  him  to 
employ  other  arts  besides  those  of  intimidation.     The 


*  In  one  of  the  papers  it  is  objected,  that  the  bond  was  so 
expressed  as  to  imply,  that  the  King  by  himseW,  and  indepen- 
dently of  the  courts  of  justice,  might  decide  on  all  civil  and 
criminal  causes;  and  that  he  had  a  right  not  only  to  inflict  civil 
punishment  on  ministers,  but  also  to  deprive  them  of  their  of- 
fice. And  it  is  pleaded  that,  as  the  word  of  God  declares  the 
duties  of  all  civil  relations,  and  as  idolatry,  adultery,  murder, 
&c.  are  criminal  offences,  so  ministers,  for  inculcating  the  for- 
mer and  rebuking  the  latter,  migtht  be  charged  with  a  violation 
of  the  bond.  (Cald.  v.  139 — 145.)  It  would  be  easy  to  justify 
these  interpretations.  For  example,  the  late  Convention  de- 
clared, that  his  Majesty  had  "power  upon  any  necessitie  to 
command  any  minister — to  preiche  or  to  desist— from  preiching 
in  particular  placeis."     (Act.  Pari.  Scot.  iv.  107.) 

f  Objections  to  the  subscription  that  is  obtruded  upon  the 
ministers  of  Scotland.     (Cotton  MSS.  Calig.  D.  ii.  100.) 

I  Their  answers  may  be  seen  in  Printed  Calderwood,  p.  382 
—390. 

II  Melville's  Diary,  p.  290—292. 

{  Rec.  of  the  Presb.  of  Edin.  Feb.  22,  1596.  Cald.  v.  197-t 
199. 


296 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


ministers  in  the  northern  parts  of  the  kingdom  had 
rarely  attended  the  General  Assembly,  owinor  to  their 
distance  from  the  places  of  its  meeting,  and  the  defi- 
ciency of  their  incomes.  They  were  comparatively 
unacquainted  with  its  modes  of  procedure,  and  strar«- 
gers  to  the  designs  of  the  court;  not  to  mention  their 
general  inferiority  in  point  of  gifts  to  their  brethren  of 
the  south.  Sir  Patrick  Murray,  one  of  the  gentlemen 
of  the  Bed-chamber,  was  now  despatched  on  a  mission 
to  them.  He  was  instructed  to  visit  the  presbyteries 
in  Angus  and  Aberdeenshire  ;  to  acquaint  them  with 
the  late  dangerous  tumult,  and  the  undutiful  and  trea- 
sonable conduct  of  the  ministers,  in  Edinburgh ;  to 
procure,  if  possible,  their  subscription  to  the  bond,  and 
their  consent  to  receive  the  popish  lords  into  the  com- 
munion of  the  church  ;  and  to  desire  them  to  send  some 
of  their  members  to  the  ensuing  assembly  to  resolve 
his  Majesty's  questions,  which  had  already  been  ap- 
proved by  the  discreetest  of  the  ministers.*  In  his 
private  conversations,  Murray  laboured  to  inspire  them 
with  jealousies  of  the  southern  ministers,  as  wishing 
to  engross  the  whole  management  of  ecclesiastical  af- 
fairs, to  the  exclusion  of  those  who  had  an  equal  right 
and  more  discretion  to  use  it;  and  he  assured  them, 
that,  if  they  were  once  acquainted  with  his  Majesty, 
any  suspicions  which  they  might  have  conceived  of 
him,  and  which  had  been  fostered  by  the  representa- 
tions of  their  ambitious  brethren,  would  be  speedily 
and  completely  dissipated. f 

Melville  was  prevented  from  being  present  at  Perth, 
in  consequence  of  his  being  obliged,  in  his  capacity  of 
rector,  to  attend  a  public  meeting  of  the  university. 
But  he  had  done  his  duty  in  procuring  the  instructions 
by  which  the  conduct  of  the  commissioners  from  Fife 
was  regulated  ;  and  his  nephew  was  prepared  to  ex- 
press his  sentiments  on  the  different  points  that  were 
likely  to  be  brought  forward.  After  a  contest  of  three 
days,  during  which  all  the  arts  of  court-intrigue  were 
employed  in  influencing  the  minds  of  the  voters,  it  was 
decided  by  a  majority  of  voices  that  the  meeting  should 
be  held  to  be  a  lawful  General  Assembly  extraordina- 
rily convened  ;  upon  which  the  commissioners  from 
Fife,  agreeably  to  their  instructions,  protested  that  no- 
thing which  might  be  done  should  be  held  valid,  or 
improved  to  the  prejudice  of  the  liberties  of  the  church 
of  Scotland.  Disgusted  at  the  influence  which  he  saw 
exerted,  deserted  by  some  of  the  friends  in  whom  he 
most  confided,  deprived  of  the  assistance  of  his  uncle, 
and  distrusting  his  own  ability  and  firmness,  James 
Melville  hastily  quitted  Perth.  His  colleagues  re- 
solved to  remain,  and,  under  the  protection  of  their 
protest,  to  prevent,  as  far  as  possible,  the  assembly 
from  sacrificing  the  rights  of  the  church.  But  in  spite 
of  all  their  exertions,  his  Majesty  succeeded  in  obtain- 
ing such  answers  to  his  leading  questions,  as  gave  him 
the  greatest  advantage  in  carrying  on  his  future  opera- 
tions against  the  ecclesiastical  constitution.  The  an- 
swer to  the  very  first  question,  simple  and  harmless  as 
it  may  appear  in  terms,  was  really,  in  the  circum- 
stances of  the  case,  pregnant  with  danger;  and  the  as- 
sembly, in  agreeing  to  it,  acted  like  a  garrison,  which, 
on  the  first  parley,  should  throw  open  its  gates,  and 
allow  the  enemy  to  make  a  lodgement  within  the 
wall.^     The  King  had  published  a  long  list  of  ques- 

*  Instractions  to  Patrick  Murray.  (Cotton  MSS.  Calig.  D. 
ii.  98.)  The  following  extracts  from  his  instructions  will  shew 
the  kiad  of  arguments  which  Murray  was  directed  to  employ. 
"  We  will  not  believe  that  the  presbyterie  of  Aberdene  will  ac- 
knawledge  any  gupremacie  of  the  presbyterie  and  ministers  of 
Edinburge  above  them. — As  to  the  pretended  commissioners  of 
the  generall  asseinblie  their  commission  is  found  and  decernit 
be  us  and  our  counsell  to  be  unlawful!. — So  ther  is  no  present 
power  above  the  said  presbyterie  of  Aberdene  to  stay  tDem  to 
accept  the  Earles  reasonable  satisfaction,  in  case  the  same  be 
oflierit,  sen  we  and  the  counsell  hes  commanded  tbem  to  accept 
the  tame."     (Instructions,  at  supra.) 

+  Spotswood,  438,  439. 

j  Tnat  the  assembly,  wheo  unbiassed,  viewed  the  matter  in 
this  light,  may  be  inferred  from  the  manner  in  which  the  answer 


tions  which  went  to  produce  a  total  alteration  of  the 
existing  church-goverument.  By  declarino-,  in  these 
circumstances,  "that  it  is  lawful  to  his  Majesty  or  to 
the  ]>astors  to  propose  in  a  General  Assembly  whatso- 
ever point  they  desired  to  be  resolved  or  reformed  in 
matters  of  external  government,"  the  assembly  virtu- 
ally and  constructively  sanctioned  the  project  of  the 
court,  although  they  might  reserve  to  themselves  a 
right  to  deliberate  upon  its  details.  The  qualifications 
added  to  their  resolution,  "  providing  it  be  done  de- 
cenier,  in  right  time  and  place,  and  animo  xdijicandi 
non  ientandi"  were  mere  words  of  course,  and  could 
be  no  safeguard  against  any  proposals  of  royal  innova- 
tion. If  it  behoved  them  to  speak  Latin,  the  answer 
which  they  ought  to  have  returned,  (and  it  would  have 
served  as  an  answer  to  all  the  questions,)  was,  Nolu- 
mus  leges  Eccksix  Scoticanx  mufari.  The  other  an- 
swers which  the  assembly  gave  related  chiefly  to  the 
liberty  of  the  pulpit,  upon  which  they  imposed  restric- 
tions, which  were  doubly  dangerous  at  a  time  when  the 
court  had  not  only  discovered  its  hostile  intentions 
against  the  polity  of  the  church,  but  had  procured  the 
assistance  of  some  of  its  official  guardians  to  carry 
tliem  into  execution.  Having  succeeded  thus  far  to 
his  wish,  the  King  signified  his  willingness  to  refer 
the  decision  of  the  remaining  questions  to  another 
General  Assembly  to  be  held  at  Dundee  on  the  10th 
of  May  following;  and,  in  the  mean  time,  the  articles 
agreed  to  were  ratified  by  the  Convention  of  Estates 
which  was  then  sitting  at  Perth.* 

This  assembly  is  chiefly  remarkable,  as  being  the 
first  meeting  of  the  ministers  of  Scotland  which  yield- 
ed to  that  secret  and  corrupt  influence,  which  the  King 
continued  afterwards  to  use,  until  the  General  Assem- 
bly was  at  last  converted  into  a  mere  organ  of  the 
court,  employed  for  registering  and  giving  out  royal 
edicts  in  ecclesiastical  matters.  "  Coming  to  Perth 
(says  James  Melville)  we  found  the  ministers  of  the 
north  convened  in  such  number  as  was  not  wont  to  be 
seen  at  any  assemblies,  and  every  one  a  greater  courtier 
nor  another  :  So  that  my  ears  heard  new  votes,  and  my 
eyes  saw  a  new  sight,  to  wit,  flocks  of  ministers  going 
in  and  out  at  the  king's  palace,  late  at  night  and  be- 
times in  the  morning.  Sir  Patrick  Murray,  the  dili- 
gent Apostle  of  the  North,  had  made  all  the  northland 
ministers  acquainted  with  the  King.  They  began  then 
to  look  big  in  the  matter,  and  find  fault  with  the  minis- 
ters of  the  south  and  the  popes  of  Edinburgh,  who  had 
not  handled  matters  well,  but  had  almost  lost  the 
King."|  James  afterwards  depended  chiefly  upon  the 
votes  of  the  northern  ministers  for  carrying  his  meas- 
ures. The  General  Assembly  was  appointed  to  meet 
at  such  places  as  were  most  convenient  for  their  attend- 
ance ;  and  if  at  any  time  it  was  found  necessary  to  con- 
vene it  at  a  greater  distance  from  them,  ways  and 
means  were  fallen  upon  to  provide  them  with  a  viati- 
cum.^ 


was  expressed^  before  it  was  altered  to  please  the  King:  "The 
breither  convened  give  their  advys  in  the  first  article,  that  it  is 
not  expedient  to  niak  a  law  or  act  twiching  this,  leisl  a  durre 
should  be  opened  to  curious  and  turbulent  sprits,  otherwise 
they  think  it  lawfull,"  &c.  (Melville's  Diary,  p.  305.  Spots- 
wood,  440.) 

♦  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  iv.  110—112.  Bulk  of  Univ.  Kirk,  ff.  131 
—134.  Cald.  v.  222— 236.  Spotswood,  439— 443.  Melville's 
Diary,  303 — 309.  James  Melville  enumerates  thirteen  reasons 
for  maintaining  the  nullity  of  this  assembly.  The  ctiief  of  these 
are:  that  it  was  not  appointed  by  the  last  assembly,  nor  called 
by  its  commissioners,  but  by  the  sole  authority  of  the  King;  that 
it  was  not  opened  by  sernion;  and  that  there  was  no  choice  of 
a  moderator  or  clerk.  The  Buik  of  the  Universal  Kirk  says: 
"  Exhortatioun  y  was  none;"  and  it  mentions  no  moderator. 
It  says  that  Mr.  Thomas  Nicholson  was  chosen  clerk ;  but  states, 
on  the  margin,  that  some  thought  his  election  did  not  take 
place  till  the  subsequent  assembW. 

f  Diary,  p.  303.  comp.  his  History  of  the  Declining  Age  of 
the  Church,  p  7. 

t  "  I  am  bold  humbly  to  advise  your  Majesty,  (says  Arch- 
bishop Gladstanes,)  that,  in  the  Jeiiiirnation  of  the  place  of  the 
ensuing  G.  Assembly,  your  Majisty  make  choice  either  of  th* 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


297 


But  to  secure  credit  to  his  cause  it  was  necessary 
for  his  Majesty  to  gain  over  some  individuals  who  pos- 
sessed greater  respectability,  and  who  were  able  to 
plead  as  well  as  to  vote  for  his  plans.  James  Nicol- 
son,  minister  of  Meigle,*  was  highly  esteemed  among 
his  brethren.  He  was  the  intimate  acquaintance  and 
bosom  friend  of  James  Melville.  At  assemblies  they 
always  lodged  in  the  same  apartment,  and  slept  in  the 
same  bed  ;  and  harmonized  as  much  in  their  sentiments 
about  publie  affairs  as  they  did  in  their  private  dispo- 
sitions. On  the  evening  before  the  question  respecting 
the  constitution  of  the  assembly  was  determined,  Nic- 
olson  was  amissing ;  and  in  the  morning  James  Mel- 
ville learned,  to  his  astonishment  and  grief,  that  the 
mind  of  his  friend  had  undergone  a  sudden  revolution. 
He  had  been  sent  for  to  the  palace,  where  he  was  de- 
tained till  a  late  hour ;  and  the  King,  partly  by  threats 
that  if  his  will  was  not  complied  with  he  would  ruin 
the  church,  and  partly  by  promises  and  flatteries,  had 
engaged  his  vote.  The  two  friends  went  together  to 
the  meeting  of  ministers ;  and  after  James  Melville 
had  reasoned  at  great  length  against  the  proposal  of 
the  court,  Nicolson  rose  and  replied  to  his  arguments 
in  a  plausible  speech,  which  had  the  greatest  influence 
in  persuading  the  members  to  come  to  the  resolution 
which  was  adopted. — Thomas  Buchanan  distinguished 
himself  during  this  assembly  by  the  boldness  and  abil- 
ity with  which  he  asserted  the  liberties  of  the  church. 
Having  summoned  the  ministers  into  the  hall  where 
the  Convention  of  Estates  was  met,  the  King  pro- 
voked the  friends  of  the  established  discipline  to  a  dis- 
pute on  the  subject  of  his  queries,  by  insinuating 
broadly  that  their  silence  proceeded  from  fear  and  dis- 
trust of  their  cause.  "  We  are  not  afraid,"  replied 
Buchanan,  "  nor  do  we  distrust  the  justice  of  our  cause; 
but  we  perceive  a  design  to  canvass  and  toss  our  mat- 
ters, that  they  may  be  thrown  loose,  and  then  left  to 
the  decision  of  men  of  little  skill  and  less  conscience." 
Having  protested  that  nothing  which  he  might  say 
should  invalidate  the  authority  of  the  received  disci- 
pline, he  proceeded  to  examine  the  doubts  started  by 
the  royal  queries,  and  exposed  their  weakness  in  a 
style  not  greatly  to  his  Majesty's  satisfaction.  But, 
alas  !  this  was  the  expiring  blaze  of  Buchanan's  zeal. 
Before  he  left  Perth  he  was  "  sprinkled  with  the  holy 
water  of  the  court ;"  and  at  the  next  assembly,  he  ap- 
peared as  an  advocate  for  those  very  measures  which 
he  had  so  eagerly  and  so  ably  opposed. f  It  may  be 
observed,  however,  that  Buchanan,  and  some  others 
who  acted  along  with  him,  seem  to  have  intended 
merely  to  concede  some  points  which  they  deemed  of 
less  importance,  with  the  view  of  pleasing  the  King. 
They  were  kept  in  ignorance  of  the  ulterior  designs  of 
James,  which  were  imparted  to  such  men  as  Glad- 
stanes,  Spotswood,  and  Law,  who  had  been  corrupted 
by  the  promise  of  bishopricks.  But  the  latter  had  at 
that  time  so  little  influence  in  the  church,  that  they 
could  have  carried  no  measure  without  the  assistance 
of  the  former,  whose  facility  and  want  of  foresight  we 
cannot  help  blaming,  while  we  acquit  them  of  having 
been  actuated  by  mercenary  motives. 

Melville  learned  the  proceedings  at  Perth  with  deep 
concern,  but  without  feelings  of  surprise  or  despond- 
ency. He  perceived  the  course  which  the  court  was 
driving,  and  that  nothing  would  satisfy  the  King  but 
the  overthrow  of  the  presbyterian  constitution.     At- 


place  appointed  by  the  last  Assembly,  whilk  will  help  the  for- 
mality of  it,  or  then  of  Dundee,  where  your  Majesty  knows 
your  own  northern  men  may  have  commodity  to  repair.  And 
albeit  your  Majesty's  princely  liberality  may  supply  distance  of 
place  by  furniture  to  those  thai  travel,  3'et,"  &c.  (Letter  of 
Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews  to  the  King:  April  18,  1610.  MS. 
in  Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.  Fac.  V.  1.  12.  N"  50.) 

*  Mr.  James  Nicolson  was  presented  to  the  parsonage  and 
vicarage  of  Cortoquhay,  on  the  7th  of  May,  1580:  and  to  the 
parsonage  and  vicarage  of  Meigle,  "penult  febr.  1583."  (Reg- 
ister of  Present,  to  Benefices,  vol.  ii.  ff.  34,  97.) 

+  Melville's  Diary,  p.  303,  308,  311. 
2  N 


tached  to  this  from  conviction  as  well  as  from  the  share 
he  had  had  in  its  erection,  satisfied  of  its  intrinsic 
excellence  and  its  practical  utility,  and  believing  it  to 
be  the  cause  of  Christ,  of  freedom,  and  of  his  coun- 
try, he  resolved  to  defend  it  with  intrepidity  and  per- 
severance, to  yield  up  none  of  its  outworks,  to  fight 
every  inch  of  ground,  and  to  sacrifice  his  liberty,  and, 
if  necessary,  his  life,  in  the  contest.  With  this  view 
he  joined  with  some  of  his  brethren  in  keeping  the 
day  fixed  for  holding  the  ordinary  meeting  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly.  This  meeting  was  constituted  by 
Pont,  the  last  moderator,  after  which  the  members 
present  agreed  to  dismiss,  and  to  refer  all  business  to 
the  assembly  which  the  King  and  Convention  at  Perth, 
had  appointed  to  be  held  in  Dundee.  By  this  step 
they  asserted  the  right  of  the  church  as  to  the  holding 
of  her  assemblies,  which  it  was  one  great  object  of  the 
court  to  infringe.* 

The  King  was  sensible  that  the  advantages  which 
he  had  gained  at  Perth  were  in  no  small  degree  owing 
to  the  absence  of  Melville,  and  he  dreaded  his  oppo- 
sition in  the  assembly  at  Dundee.  Before  it  proceed- 
ed to  business.  Sir  Patrick  Murray,  who  was  now  beJ- 
come  his  Majesty's  Vicar-general,  sent  for  James  Mel- 
ville, and  dealt  with  him  to  persuade  his  uncle  to  re- 
turn home,  otherwise  the  King  would  take  forcible 
measures  to  remove  him.  James  Melville  replied, 
that  it  would  be  to  no  purpose  for  him  to  make  the  at- 
tempt. If  his  Majesty  should  use  his  authority  in  the 
way  of  commanding  him  to  leave  the  town,  he  had  no 
doubt,  he  said,  that  his  uncle  would  submit,  but  death 
would  not  deter  him  from  acting  according  to  his  con- 
science. "  Truly,  I  fear  he  shall  suffer  the  dint  of  the 
King's  wrath,"  said  Sir  Patrick.  "  And  truly,"  re- 
plied the  other,  "  I  am  not  afraid  but  he  will  bide  all." 
James  Melville  reported  the  conversation  to  his  uncle, 
"  whose  answer,"  says  he,  "I  need  not  write."  Next 
morning  they  were  both  sent  for  to  the  royal  apart- 
ments. The  interview  was  at  first  amicable  and  calm  ; 
but  entering  on  the  subject  of  variance,  Melville  deliv- 
ered his  opinion  with  his  wonted  freedom,  and  the  al- 
tercation betweeu  him  and  the  King  soon  became  warm 
and  boisterous. f 

Notwithstanding  all  the  arts  of  management  em- 
ployed, it  was  with  difficulty  that  the  court  carried  its 
measures,  even  in  a  very  modified  form,  in  this  as- 
sembly. The  assembly  at  Perth  was  declared  lawful, 
but  not  without  an  explanation ;  its  acts  were  approv- 
ed, but  with  certain  qualifications  ;  and  the  additional 
answers  now  given  to  the  King's  questions  were  guard- 
edly expressed.  Through  the  influence  of  the  northern 
ministers  an  act  passed  in  favour  of  the  popish  lords, 
authorizing  certain  ministers  to  receive  them  into  the 
bosom  of  the  church,  upon  their  complying  with  the 
conditions  prescribed  to  them.  They  were  received 
accordingly  ;  although  it  was  evident  that  they  were 
induced  to  submit,  in  consequence  of  the  failure  of  an 
attempt  which  some  of  their  adherents  had  made  on 
the  peace  of  the  kingdom  :  and  it  was  soon  after  found  ne- 
cessary, with  the  consent  of  government,  to  bring  them 
again  under  the  sentence  of  excommunication.  The 
design  of  altering  tlie  government  of  the  church  was 
carefully  concealed  from  this  assembly;  but  the  King, 
under  a  specious  pretext,  obtained  their  consent  to  a 
measure  by  which  he  intended  to  accomplish  it  clan- 
destinely. He  requested  them  to  appoint  a  committee 
of  their  number  with  whom  he  might  advise  respect- 
ing certain  important  affairs  which  they  could  not  at 
present  find  leisure  to  determine ;  such  as,  the  ar- 
rangements to  be  made  respecting  the  ministers  of 
Edinburgh  and  St.  Andrews,  the  planting  of  vacant 
churches  in  general,  and  the  providing  of  local  and 
fixed  stipends  for  the  ministers  through  the  kingdom. 


»  Melville's  Diary,  p.  309.     Cald.  v.  240. 

t  "  And  ther  they  heeled  on,  till  all  the  hous  and  clos  bathe 
hard,  mikle  of  a  large  houre.  In  end  the  King  takes  upe,  and 
dismissis  him  favourablie."     (Melville's  Diary,  p.  312.) 


298 


LIFE   OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


To  this  the  assembly  agreed,  and  nominated  fourteen 
ministers,  to  whom  or  any  seven  of  them,  they  granted 
power  to  convene  with  his  Majesty  for  the  above  pur- 
poses, and  to  give  him  advice  "  in  all  affairs  concern- 
ing the  weed  of  the  church,  and  entertainment  of  peace 
and  obedience  to  his  Majesty  within  his  realm." 
This  was  a  rash  and  danaerous  appointment.  The 
General  Assembly  had  been  in  the  habit  of  appointing 
commissioners  to  execute  particular  measures,  or  to 
watch  over  the  safety  of  the  church  until  their  next 
meeting.  But  the  present  commission  was  entirely  of 
a  different  kind.  Tiie  persons  nominated  on  it  were 
appointed  formally  as  advisers  or  assessors  to  his  Ma- 
jesty. They  were  in  fact  his  ecclesiastical  council ; 
and  as,  with  the  exception  of  an  individual  or  two 
named  to  save  appearances,  they  were  devoted  to  the 
court,  he  was  enabled,  by  their  means,  to  exercise  as 
much  power  in  the  church  as  he  did  by  his  privy  coun- 
cil in  the  state.  "A  wedge  taken  out  of  the  church 
to  rend  her  with  her  own  forces!"  says  Calderwood: 
"the  very  needle  (says  James  Melville)  which  drew 
in  the  episcopal  thread  !"* 

James  was  too  fond  of  the  ecclesiastical  branch  of 
his  prerogative,  and  too  eager  for  the  accomplishment 
of  his  favourite  plans,  to  suffer  the  new  powers  which  he 
had  acquired  to  remain  long  unemployed.  Repairing 
to  Falkland  on  the  rising  of  the  assembly,  he  called 
the  presbytery  of  St.  Andrews  before  him,  reversed 
a  sentence  which  they  had  pronounced  against  a  worth- 
less minister,  and  restored  him  to  the  exercise  of  his 
office.  Accompanied  by  his  privy  counsellors,  laical 
and  clerical,  he  next  repaired  to  the  town  of  St.  An- 
drews, for  the  double  purpose  of  expelling  its  minis- 
ters, and  imposing  such  restrictions  on  the  university 
as  would  facilitate  his  future  operations.  He  attended 
public  worship  on  the  day  of  his  arrival  ;  and  when 
Wallace  was  about  to  proceed  to  the  application  of  his 
discourse,  James,  either  afraid  of  the  freedom  which 
he  might  use,  or  wishing  to  gratify  his  own  dictato- 
rial humour,  interrupted  the  preacher  and  ordered 
him  to  stop.  Melville  (although  aware  that  one  ob- 
ject of  the  royal  visit  was  to  find  some  ground  of  ac- 
cusation against  himself)  could  not  refrain  from  pub- 
licly expressing  his  displeasure  at  this  royal  interfer- 
ence, and  at  the  silence  which  the  commissioners  of 
the  church  preserved  on  the  occasion. f 

At  the  RoyalVisitation  of  the  university,:^  great  ea- 
gerness was  testified  to  find  matter  of  censure  against 
Melville.  All  those  individuals,  in  the  university  or  in 
the  town,  whose  envy  or  ill-will  he  had  incurred, 
were  encouraged  to  come  forward  with  complaints 
against  him ;  and  a  large  roll,  consisting  of  informa- 
tions to  his  prejudice  was  put  into  the  hands  of  the 
King.  He  underwent  several  strict  examinations  be- 
fore the  visitors.  But  the  explanations  which  he  gave 
of  his  conduct  were  so  satisfactory,  and  his  defence 
of  himself  against  the  slanders  of  his  detractors  so 
powerful  that  the  visitors  could  find  no  ground  or  pre- 
text for  proceeding  against  him,  either  as  the  head  of 
his  own  college,  or  as  the  chief  magistrate  of  the  uni- 
versity.||  Spotswood  has  preserved  some  of  the  ac- 
cusations brought  against  him,  and  disingenuously 
represents  them  as  having  been  proved  before  the 
visitors.  "  In  the  New  College,  (says  he)  whereof 
the  said  Mr.  Andrew  had  the  charge,  all  things  were 
found  out  of  order ;  the  rents  ill  husbanded,  the  pro- 


*  Buik  of  the  Univ.  Kirk,  ff,  184—188.  Melville's  Diary,  p. 
311,312.  Hist,  of  Dec.  Age  of  the  Church,  p.  10.  Cald.  v. 
243—261.     Spotswood,  p.  445—447. 

+  Melville's  Diary,  p.  313. 

\  In  this  visitation  six  of  the  commissioner*  of  the  cliurch 
were  associated  with  certain  members  of  the  privy  council,  the 
provost  of  St.  Andrews,  &c.  The  founded  persons  in  the  sev- 
eral coIleRes  were  required  to  give  in  to  the  visitors,  "yair 
grciffis  &  disorders  and  contraversies  gif  they  ony  haif,  togid- 
uer  with  the  abuses  and  enormlteis  committit  wtin  ye  samm," 
&c.      (Sumnionds  to  appear  before  the  Visitors:  July  7,  1597.) 

II  Melville's  Diary,  p.  313. 


fessions  neglected,  and  in  place  of  divinity  lectures, 
politick  questions  oftentimes  agitated  :  as.  Whether 
the  election  or  succession  of  Kings  were  the  better 
form  of  government;  How  far  the  royal  power  extend- 
ed ;  and.  If  Kings  might  be  censured  for  abusing 
the  same,  and  deposed  by  the  Estates  of  the  King- 
dom. The  King  to  correct  these  abuses  did  prescribe 
to  every  professor  his  subject  of  teaching,  appointing 
the  first  master  to  read  the  Common  Places  to  the 
students,  with  the  Law  and  History  of  the  Bible ;  the 
second  to  read  the  New  Testament;  the  third,  the 
Prophets,  with  the  Books  of  Ecclesiastes  and  Canti- 
cles; and  the  fourth,  the  Hebrew  Grammar,  with  the 
Psalms,  the  Proverbs,  and  the  Book  of  Job."*  The 
Jlcfs  of  the  Visitation,  which  were  in  the  archbishop's 
possession,  are  still  in  existence,  and  disprove  every 
one  of  these  allegations.  They  do  not  contain  one 
word  which  insinuates  that  the  affairs  of  the  New  Col- 
lege were  out  of  order  ;|  and  the  regulations  made  re- 
specting the  future  management  of  the  academical 
revenues  apply  equally  to  all  the  colleges.  Nor  do 
they  contain  one  syllable  on  the  subject  of  abuses  in 
the  mode  of  teaching.  It  is  true  that  they  prescribe 
the  branches  to  be  taught  in  the  different  classes  ;  but 
this  was  not  intended  to  "  correct  abuses."  It  was  an 
arrangement  made  in  the  prospect  of  an  additional  pro- 
fessor being  established  in  the  college,  according  to  a 
recommendation  of  the  visitors ;  a  fact  which  Spots- 
wood  has  suppressed.  While  I  am  obliged  to  expose 
these  unpardonable  perversions  of  a  public  document, 
I  am  quite  ready  to  admit  that  something  of  the  kind 
mentioned  by  the  archbishop  might  be  included  among 
the  accusations  presented  against  the  Principal  of  the 
New  College.  The  head  de  Magistratu  is  to  be  found 
in  every  System  of  Divinity,  and  falls  to  be  treated 
by  every  theological  professor  in  the  course  of  his  lec- 
tures. I  have  little  doubt,  that  Melville,  when  he 
came  to  that  part  of  his  course,  laid  down  the  radical 
principles  on  which  a  free  government  and  a  limited 
monarchy  rest;  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  the  young 
men  under  his  charge  would  take  the  liberty  of  occa- 
sionally discussing  questions  connected  with  this  sub- 
ject in  their  private  meetings.:^:  This  will  not  now  be 
considered  as  reflecting  any  dishonour,  either  on  the 
master  or  his  scholars.  On  the  contrary,  Melville's 
countrymen  will  listen  with  pride  and  gratitude  to  the 
information,  that,  in  an  age  when  the  principles  of  lib- 
erty were  but  partially  diffused,  and  under  an  admin- 
istration fast  tending  to  despotism,  there  was  at  least 
one   man,  holding   an  important  public  situation,  who 

»  History,  p.  449. 

f  One  would  almost  suppose  that  Spotswood  had  confound- 
ed the  Visitation  of  1597  with  another  which  took  place  after 
he  had  been  many  years  Chancellor  of  the  university,  when  it 
was  stated  by  authority,  "  that  of  late  years  some  abuses,  cor- 
ruptions, and  disorders  have  arisen,  and  are  still  yet  fostered 
and  entertained  within  the  JVew  College  of  St.  Andrews,  part- 
ly upon  the  occetsion  of  sloth,  neglig-ence  and  connivance  of  the 
persons — to  whose  credit  and  care  the  redress  and  reformation 
of  these  abuses  properly  appertained — whereupon  has  follow- 
ed the  dilapidation,  &c.  of  the  patrimonie — the  neglect  of  the 
ordinar  teaching — the  professours  are  become  careless  and 
negligent,"  &c.  &c.  (Commission  for  Visitation,  Nov.  29, 
1621.) 

X  Speaking  of  this  subject  in  another  work,  Spotswood  says. 
"  Hffic  erat  aiscip<ilornm,"  he.  "  This  was  the  theology  of  the 
students  of  the  New  College,  who  at  that  time  were  more  con- 
versant with  Buchanan's  book,  Z>e  Jure  Rtgni,  than  with  Cal- 
vin's Institutions."  (Refutatio  l/ibelli,  p.  67.)  To  this  Calder- 
wood replies:  "  Neminem  novi  Theologi,"  ifec.  "  I  know  none 
among  us  entitled  to  the  name  of  a  Divine,  who  has  not  read 
Calvin's  Institutions  more  diligently  than  Spotswood,  who,  I 
suspect,  is  scarcely  capable  of  understanding  tnem,  although  he 
should  read  them.  Must  a  Divine  spend  all  his  days  in  study- 
ing nothing  but  Calvin's  Institutions?  Why  should  not  a 
Scottish  theologian  read  the  Dialogue  of  a  learned  Scotsman 
concerning  the  Law  of  Government  among  the  Scots?"'  (Kpist. 
Philad.  Vind.  Altare  Damasc.  p.  753.)  Whatever  the  archbishop 
might  do,  the  King,  at  least,  could  not  blaiue  those  who  neg- 
lected Calvin.  It  was  one  of  the  wise  sayings  of  Jnnies, 
"  That  Calvin's  Institutions  is  a  childish  work  I"  (Cald.  iv.  213.) 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


299 


dared  to  avow  such  principles,  and  who  imhued  the 
minds  of  his  pupils  with  those  liberal  views  of  civil 
government  by  which  the  presbyterian  ministers  were 
distinguished,  and  which  all  the  efforts  of  a  servile 
band  of  prelates,  in  concert  with  an  arbitrary  court 
and  a  selfish  nobility,  were  afterwards  unable  to  ex- 
tinguish. 

Not  being  able  to  find  any  thing  in  his  conduct 
which  was  censurable,  the  visitors  deprived  Melville 
of  his  rectorship.  This  was  easily  accomplished  ;  for, 
disapproving  of  the  union  of  that  office  with  the  pro- 
fessorship of  theology,  he  had  accepted  it  at  first  with 
reluctance,  and  acquiesced  conditionally  in  his  last  re- 
election. Of  this  circumstance  the  visitors  availed 
themselves  to  prevent  the  odium  which  they  must  have 
incurred  by  ejecting  him.* — Under  the  pretext  of  pro- 
viding for  the  better  management  of  the  revenues  of 
the  colleges,  a  council,  nominated  by  the  King,  was 
appointed,  with  such  powers  as  gave  it  a  control  over 
all  academical  proceedings.  Thus  his  Majesty  was 
furnished  with  a  commission  to  rule  the  church,  and  a 
council  to  rule  the  university,  until  he  should  be  able 
to  place  bishops  over  both,  and  become  supreme  Dicta- 
tor in  religion  and  literature,  as  well  as  in  law. 

But  the  regulation  which  was  intended  chiefly  to  af- 
fect Melville  remains  to  be  mentioned.  All  doctors 
and  regents  who  taught  theology  or  philosophy,  not 
being  pastors  in  the  church,  were  discharged,  under 
the  pain  of  deprivation  and  of  rebellion  at  the  instance 
of  the  Conservator,  from  sitting  in  sessions,  presby- 
teries, provincial  synods,  or  general  assembly,  and 
from  all  teaching  in  congregations,  except  in  the  weekly 
exercise  and  censuring  of  doctrine.  To  reconcile  them 
in  some  degree  to  this  invasion  on  their  rights,  the  ac- 
tual masters  were  allowed  annually  to  nominate  three 
persons,  from  whom  the  council  appointed  by  the  vis- 
itors should  choose  one  to  represent  the  university  in 
the  General  Assembly ;  provided  the  same  individual 
should  not  be  re-elected  for  three  years.  The  pretext 
of  concern  for  the  interests  of  learning,  by  preventing 
the  teachers  from  being  distracted  from  their  duties, 
was  too  flimsy  to  impose  upon  a  single  individual. 
The  court  was  anxious  to  get  rid  of  Melville's  opposi- 
tion to  its  measures  in  the  church  judicatories;  and 
this  was  deemed  the  safest  way  of  accomplishing  that 
object,  according  to  the  creeping,  tortuous,  and  timid 
policy  of  .Tames.  In  imposing  this  restriction  on  the 
professors,  the  visitors  acted  entirely  by  regal  author- 
ity ;  for  no  such  powers  were  conveyed  to  them  by  the 
act  of  Parliament  under  which  they  sat.f  They  were 
guilty  of  an  infringement  of  the  rights  of  the  church  : 
for  by  law  and  by  invariable  practice,  doctors  or  theo- 
logical professors  were  constituent  members  of  her  ju- 
dicatories. A  greater  insult  was  otfered  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  university  by  the  reservation  made  in  this 
case,  than  if  the  privilege  had  been  altogether  taken 
from  them.  They  were  not  deemed  fit  to  be  entrusted 
with  the  power  of  choosing  their  own  representative  to 
the  General  Assembly.  This  was  given  to  a  council, 
composed  of  individuals  who  did  not  belong  to  their 
body,  and  who  were  the  creatures  of  the  King.  No 
wonder  that  RoUock   sunk   in   the   estimation  of  his 

*  "  In  respect  the  present  Re(-tor  alled^es  he  never  accepted 
the  said  office  but  conditionally,  against  the  form  of  such  elec- 
tions, therefore  the  office  is  found  vacant."  (Acts  of  Visitation. 
Melville's  Diary,  p.  313.)  Spotswood  says  that  the  King,  un- 
derstanding that  iVIelville  had  continued  Rector  for  a  number 
of  years  together  "  against  the  accustomed  form,"  commanded 
a  new  election;  "  and  for  preventing  the  like  disorders  a  statute 
was  made  that  none  should  be  continued  Rector  above  a  year." 
(Hist.  p.  448.)  But  how  do  the  facts  stand  ?  John  Douglas 
was  Rector  from  1550  to  1572;  Robert  Hamilton  from  1572  to 
1576;  James  Wilkie  from  1576  to  1590;  Andrew  Melville  from 
1590  to  1597;  and  Robert  Wilkie  from  1597  to  1608.  The  re- 
election of  Robert  Wilkie  was  sanctioned  by  the  King.  (The 
King's  Majesties  Second  Visitation.) 

f  In  the  year  1599,  the  ratification  of  a  Convention  of  Estates 
was  procured  to  this  and  other  regulations  of  the  Visitors.  (Act. 
P«rl.  Scot.  iv.  189.) 


friends,  by  suffering  himself,  as  one  of  the  visitors,  to 
be  made  a  tool  to  enslave  the  university  in  which  he 
was  educated,  and  to  establish  a  precedent  for  ensla- 
ving the  learned  institution  over  which  he  himself  pre- 
sided. Indeed,  by  one  of  the  regulations  to  which  he 
gave  his  sanction  on  the  present  occasion,  he  virtually 
stripped  himself  of  the  right  to  sit  in  ecclesiastical  ju- 
dicatories ;  and  in  order  to  escape  from  the  operation 
of  his  own  law,  he  found  it  necessary  to  take  a  step 
which  violated  its  ostensible  principle,  by  undertaking 
the  additional  duty  of  a  fixed  pastor  of  a  particular 
congregation.*  The  record  hears,  that  all  the  masters 
willingly  submitted  to  the  regulations  made  by  the 
visitors,  and  gave  their  oath  to  observe  them  under  the 
pain  of  deprivation.  As  far  as  Melville  was  concern- 
ed, this  promise  could  mean  no  more  than  that  he 
would  run  his  risk  of  the  penalty  ;  for  he  was  deter- 
mined not  to  relinquish  his  right  to  sit  in  the  church 
courts. 

There  is  another  act  of  the  visitors  which  illustrates 
the  malignant  influence  of  arbitrary  power  on  the  in- 
terests of  learning.  William  Welwood,  Professor  of 
Laws  in  St.  Salvator's  College, f  being  called  before 
them,  was  declared  to  have  transgressed  the  founda- 
tion in  sundry  points,  and  was  deprived  of  his  situa- 
tion. Welwood  was  the  friend  of  Melville  and  of  the 
ministers  of  St,  Andrews.:):  Whether,  in  his  lectures, 
he  had  touched  these  delicate  questions  respecting  the 
origin  and  limits  of  kingly  power  which  the  Principal 
of  the  New  College  was  accused  of  discussing,  I  have 
no  means  of  ascertaining.  But  his  profession,  as  a 
teacher  of  jurisprudence,  was  obnoxious  in  the  eyes  of 
.Tames.  Accordingly,  the  visitors  declared,  in  their 
wisdom,  "  that  the  profession  of  the  Laws  is  no  ways 
necessary  at  this  time  in  this  university ;"  and  the 
class  was  suppressed.  Another  set  of  visitors,  two 
years  after,  ventured  to  recommend  the  seeking  out  of 
"  a  sufficient  learned  person  in  the  Laws,  able  to  dis- 
charge him  both  in  the  ordinary  teaching  of  that  pro- 
fession in  the  said  college,  and  of  the  place  and  juris- 
diction of  commissary  within  the  diocese;"  but  the  re- 
commendation was  "  delete  by  his  Majesty's  special 
command. "II  James  considered  himself  as  Teacher  of 
Laws  to  his  whole  kingdom;  and,  unquestionably, 
royal  proclamations  were  the  proper  commentaries  on 
statutes  which  derived  their  sole  authority  from  the 
royal  sanction,  according  to  his  favourite  device,  Ejus 
est  expHcare  cujus  est  condere. — Melville  might  have 
shared  the  same  fate  as  Welwood,  had  it  not  been  for 
circumstances  which  pressed  the  fear  of  disgrace  into 
the  service  of  a  sense  of  justice.  There  was  at  that 
time  in  the  university  a  number  of  young  men  from 
Denmark,  Poland,  France,  and  the  Low  Countries, 
who  had  been  attracted  to  Scotland  by  the  fame  of 
Melville's  talents.  James  was  afraid  to  take  a  step 
which  would  have  had  the  eflFect  of  lowering  his  repu- 


*  See  Note  A. 

t  John  .Arthour  (a  brother-in-law  of  Archbishop  Adamson) 
succeeded  William  Skene  as  Professor  of  Laws.  (Carta  Reces- 
sus  pro  Reformatione,  Junij  21,  1586.)  On  his  removal  Wel- 
wood exchanged  the  Mathematical  for  the  Juridical  Chair,  about 
the  year  1587.     (Melville's  Diary,  p.  200—203.) 

I  Ad  Expediendos  Processvs  in  Jvdiciis  Ecclesiastic!?.  Ap- 
pendix Parallelorum  Juris  diuini  humanique.  Lvgd.  Bat.  1594. 
4to.  Pp.  12.  The  epistle  dedicatory  is  inscribed  :  "  Fidis  Christi 
seruis,  Davidi  Blakkio  et  Roberto  Wall^,  Ecclesia;  An- 
dreapolitanie  pastoribus  vigilantissimis  fratribusque  plurinium 
dilectis,  G.  Velvod."  Scaliger's  epitaph  on  Buchanan  was 
published  for  the  first  time  at  the  end  of  this  work,  and  is  intro- 
duced with  the  following  note:  "  Ne  reliqua  esset  pagina  vacua, 
placuit  subiicere  Carmen  hoc  ab  authore  ipso  etiam  assentiente, 
dum  ista  cuderentur,  oblatum." 

II  The  Actis  and  Recesse  of  the  King's  two  Visitations  of  the 
Univ.  of  St.  And'.  In  the  year  1600,  the  King,  out  of  "  his  frie 
favour  and  clemency  decerned  Mr  Wm  Walwood  to  be  re-pos- 
sessed in  the  lawyers  piece  and  professioun  in  the  auld  college 
of  Sanctandrous— upon  his  giving  sufficient  bond  and  security 
for  his  dutiful  behaviour  to  his  Mai«e."  But  his  restitution  did 
not  take  place,  at  least  not  at  that  time.  (His  Majesty's  Order 
and  Letters,  June  6,  and  Nov.  3, 1600,  and  March  9, 1611.) 


300 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


tation  in  the  eyes  of  the  foreign  literati,  whose  good 
opinion  he  was  fond  of  cultivating.* 

While  the  visitors  were  busy  in  imposing  on  the 
university  such  regulations  as  were  dictated  by  his 
Majesty,  the  commissioners  of  the  General  Assembly 
had  gratified  him  by  their  proceedings  against  the  min- 
isters of  St.  Andrews.  Wallace  was  accused  of  hav- 
ing charged  Secretary  Lindsay  with  partiality  and  in- 
justice in  the  examination  of  the  witnesses  on  Black's 
process.  This  might  surely  have  been  excused,  as 
proceeding  from  the  amiable  feeling  of  sympathy  with 
his  colleague;  and  the  secretary  was  willing,  for  bis 
part,  to  pass  over  the  offence.  But  he  was  instigated 
to  prosecute;  and  Wallace,  having  declined  the  judg- 
ment of  the  commissioners,  was  removed  from  St. 
Andrews. f  Black  was  removed  without  any  form  of 
process  •,%  and  George  Gladstanes,  minister  of  Arbir- 
lot  in  Angus,  was  nominated  as  his  successor.||  Glad- 
stanes was  a  man  entirely  to  his  Majesty's  mind.  He 
had  a  competent  portion  of  pedantry,  was  abundantly 
vainglorious,  and  at  the  same  time  possessed  all  the 
obsequiousness  which  is  necessary  in  one  who  is  to 
be  raised  to  the  primacy.  As  the  session  and  better 
part  of  the  congregation  were  warmly  attached  to 
their  ministers,  the  admission  of  Gladstanes  would 
have  met  with  great  opposition  had  not  .Tames  Mel- 
ville, from  amiable  motives,  taken  an  active  part  in 
persuading  the  parties  aggrieved  to  submit,  and  make 
a  virtue  of  necessity.§  In  consequence  of  this,  the 
King  was  so  far  reconciled  to  Black,  as  to  allow  his 
admission  to  the  vacant  parish  of  Arbirlot,  During 
the  six  years  that  he  survived  this  event,  he  gained 
universal  esteem  by  his  private  conduct,  and  by  the 
affectionate  and  condescending  manner  in  which  he 
discharged  his  pastoral  duties  among  a  simple  people. 
He  died  of  an  apoplectic  stroke,  when  he  was  in  the 
act  of  dispensing  the  communion-elements  to  his  con- 
gregation. The  circumstances  of  his  death  are  beau- 
tifully described  in  a  poem  which  Melville  dedicated 
to  his  memory.^ 

Having  taken  these  precautions  to  prevent  opposi- 
tion in  the  quarters  from  which  it  was  most  to  be  dread- 
ed, the  court  thought  that  it  might  now  safely  com- 
mence its  operations.  In  the  month  of  December, 
1597,  the  commissioners  of  the  General  Assembly, 
who  are  henceforward  to  be  considered  as  moving  at 
the  direction  of  the  King,  gave  in  a  petition  to  Par- 
liament, requesting  that  the  church  should  be  admit- 
ted to  a  vote  in  the  supreme  council  of  the  nation. 
The  royal  influence  was  exerted  in  overcoming  any 


*  Melville's  Diary,  p.  313.  It  may  be  mentioned  here,  that 
there  was  another  royal  visitation  of  the  university  in  the  j-ear 
1599.  On  that  occasion  it  was  agreed  that  the  faculty  of  the- 
ologry  should  be  restored,  but  the  designations  to  be  given  to 
the  graduates  was  left  to  subsequent  arrangement.  Melville 
was  chosen  Dean  of  the  theological  faculty.  JVo  provision  was 
made  for  carrying  into  effect  the  recommendation  of  the  former 
visitors,  by  the  settlement  of  a  fourth  professor  in  the  Kew  Col- 
lege.    (Acts  of  Visit,  and  Diary,  ut  supra.) 

^  Mr.  Ro.  Wallace  reasons  of  his  Declinature.  (MS.  in 
Bibl.  Jurid.  Rob.  III.  5.  1.)  Melville's  Diary,  p.  313,  314. 
SpoUwood,448.— On  the  10th  of  December,  1602,  Mr.  Robert 
Wallace  w:..s  admitted  minister  of  Tranent.  (Record  of  Presb. 
of  Haddington,  Dec.  8,  1602.)  James  Gibson  was  translated 
from  Pencaltland  to  Tranent  on  the  9th  of  May,  1598.  On  the 
6th  of  October,  1602,  a  report  was  made  of  "  the  dereis  of  our 
loving  brother  James  Gibsone,  of  gud  memorie."     (Ibid.) 

t  Snotswood's  misrepresentations  of  Ibis  affair  are  consider- 
ed in  Note  B. 

II  He  v/as  at  first  a  schoolmaster  in  Montrose,  and  had  been 
minister  in  several  parishes  before  his  settlement  in  Arbirlot. 
(Wodrow's  Life  of  Gladstanes,  p.  1.  MSS.  Bibl.  Col.  Glasg. 
vol.  iv.)  It  would  seem,  from  a  letter  of  Melville,  that  Glad- 
stanes married  a  daughter  of  John  Dury,  and  consetjucntly  was 
brother-m-law  to  Ja».  Melville.  For,  writing  of  the  arc hbisliop's 
death,  he  says:  •' I  have  pitie  on  his  wyfe  and  children,  if  it 
were  but  for  good  Johnne  Duries  memory,  whose  simplicity 
and  sincerity  in  his  lyfe  tyme  condemned  the  worldy  wisdom 
In  all  without  exception."     (MS.  in  Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.  M.  6.  9.) 

6  Melville's  Diary,  p.  316. 

T  Sfe  under  Note  B. 


objections  which  were  entertained  against  this  meas- 
ure on  the  part  of  the  nobility,  who  humoured  his 
Majesty  by  granting  more  than  was  asked  by  the  pe- 
titioners. It  was  declared  that  prelacy  was  the  third 
estate  of  the  kingdom  ;  that  such  ministers  as  his  Ma- 
jesty should  please  to  raise  to  the  dignity  of  bishop, 
abbot,  or  other  prelate,  should  have  as  complete  a 
right  to  sit  and  vote  in  Parliament  as  those  of  the  ec- 
clesiastical estate  had  enjoyed  at  any  former  period  ; 
and  that  bishoprics,  as  they  became  vacant,  should  be 
conferred  on  none  but  such  as  were  qualified  and  dis- 
posed to  act  as  ministers  or  preachers.  The  spiritual 
power  to  be  exercised  by  bishops  in  the  government 
of  the  church,  was  left  by  the  Parliament  to  be  set- 
tled between  his  Majesty  and  the  General  Assembly, 
without  prejudice,  in  the  mean  time,  to  the  authority 
possessed  by  the  several  ecclesiastical  judicatories.* 
The  last  clause  has  been  ascribed  to  the  respect  which 
the  estates  felt  for  the  presbyterian  discipline,  and 
their  fears  that  "this  beginning  would  tend  to  the 
overthrow  of  the  established  order  of  the  church, 
which  they  had  sworn  to  defend. "f  Such  might  be 
the  views  entertained  by  some  members  of  parliament, 
and  they  might  be  professed  by  others ;  but  it  is 
probable  that  the  form  of  the  act  was  agreeable  to  the 
King,  who  was  aware  of  the  opposition  which  it 
would  meet  with  from  the  ministers,  and  knew  that  it 
was  only  in  a  gradual  manner,  and  by  great  art  and 
management,  that  episcopacy  could  be  introduced  into 
the  church. 

The  commissioners  of  the  church  were  anxious  to 
represent  what  they  had  done  in  the  most  favourable 
light.  In  a  circular  letter  which  they  addressed  to 
presbyteries,  desiring  them  to  send  their  representa- 
I  tives  to  the  General  Assembly  at  Dundee  in  the  month 
of  March  following,  they  took  credit  to  themselves 
for  having  procured  a  meeting  of  that  court  at  an 
earlier  day  than  had  been  appointed.  They  spoke  of 
the  petition  which  they  had  given  in  to  the  late  Parlia- 
ment as  merely  a  prosecution  of  similar  petitions  pre- 
sented by  the  church;  and  they  connected  it  with  the 
providing  of  fixed  stipends  for  ministers,  and  rescuing 
them  from  the  poverty  and  contempt  under  which  they 
had  so  long  suffered.  They  dwelt  on  the  difficulty 
which  they,  in  concert  with  his  Majesty,  had  felt  in 
procuring  this  boon  for  the  church  ;  mentioned  the  care 
which  they  had  taken  that  it  should  be  granted  with- 
out prejudice  to  the  established  discipline;  and  signi- 
fied that  it  was  the  advice  and  earnest  wish  of  their 
best  friends  that  they  should  not  hesitate  to  accept  it, 
although  the  grant  was  not  made  altogether  in  the 
form  which  they  could  have  desired.:^  This  is  the 
language  of  men  who  either  wished  to  deceive,  or 
who  had  suffered  themselves  to  be  grossly  deceived. 
The  commissioners  had  no  instructions  from  their  con- 
stituents to  take  any  stop  in  this  important  affair.  It 
is  true  that  the  General  Assembly  had  often  complain- 
ed that  persons  who  had  no  authority  or  commission 
from  the  church  took  it  upon  them  to  sit  and  vote  in 
Parliament  in  her  name ;  and  in  some  instances  a  wish 
had  been  expressed  that  individuals  appointed  by  the 
church  should  be  admitted  to  a  voice  in  such  parlia- 
mentary causes  as  involved  her  interest.  But  this 
was  not  her  deliberate  and  unanimous  opinion,  at 
least  it  had  not  been  so  for  a  considerable  time  back; 
and  far  less  had  she  agreed  that  the.se  voters  should  be 
ministers  of  the  gospel.  On  the  contrary,  it  was  the 
decided  opinion  of  the  principal  ministers,  that  if 
the  church  should  send  representatives  to  Parliament, 
they  ought  to  be  ruling  elders,  or  such  laymen  as  she 
might   think    proper  to   choose. H     In   fine,  whatever 


»  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vol.  iv.  p.  130,  131. 

T  Historr  of  the  Refonnation,  by  Mr.  John  Forbes,  minister 
of  Alford,  MS.  penes  me,  p.  19. 

t  Printed  Cald.  413,  414. 

II  The  only  evidence  (to  far  as  I  can  recollect)  of  the  minis- 
ters having  proposed  that  some   of  their  number  should  have 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


301 


might  be  the  views  of  the  Estates,  the  evident  object 
of  the  King  was,  by  means  of  the  ministers'  vote  in 
Parliament,  to  introduce  episcopacy  into  the  church  ; 
and  it  requires  the  utmost  stretch  of  charity  to  believe 
that  the  commissioners  were  ignorant  of  his  intentions. 

The  provincial  synod  of  Fife  met  soon  after  the  dis- 
solution of  Parliament.  Sir  Patrick  Murray  was  sent 
to  it  with  a  letter  from  the  King,  in  which  all  the  argu- 
ments which  the  commissioners  had  used  in  favour  of 
the  vote  in  Parliament  were  repeated  and  enforced. 
The  impression  at  first  made  by  their  joint  representa- 
tions was  speedily  effaced  by  the  speeches  of  the  more 
judicious  members  of  synod.  The  subject  was  dis- 
cussed with  that  unshackled  and  bold  spirit  which  be- 
comes the  deliberations  of  a  presbyterian  judicatory. 
In  the  course  of  the  debate  which  ensued,  James  Mel- 
ville, to  the  great  displeasure  of  the  King's  commis- 
sioner, exposed  the  real  nature  of  the  proposed  mea- 
sure, and  warned  his  brethren  of  the  snare  which  was 
laid  for  them.  They  could  not,  he  contended,  accept 
the  proffered  grant  without  giving  their  sanction  to 
episcopacy  :  for  the  ministers  whom  they  sent  to  Par- 
liament could  be  admitted  to  sit  and  vote  there  in  no 
other  character  than  that  of  bishops,  according  to  the 
very  terms  of  the  late  act ;  and  what  was  this  but  to 
rebuild  what  they  had  taken  so  much  pains  and  time 
to  pull  down?  His  uncle  followed  on  the  same  side. 
As  he  was  proceeding  in  his  usual  style  of  vehement 
oratory,  he  was  interrupted  by  Thomas  Buchanan,  who 
told  him,  that  he  was  prohibited  from  attending  church 
courts,  and  had  no  right  to  take  part  in  the  discussion. 
"  It  was  my  province  (replied  Melville)  to  resolve 
questions  from  the  word  of  God,  and  to  reason,  vote, 
and  moderate  in  the  assemblies  of  the  church,  when 
yours  was  to  teach  grammar  rules ;"  a  retort  which 
was  much  relished  by  the  members  of  synod,  who 
were  offended  at  the  late  tergiversation  of  Buchanan, 
and  at  his  rude  interruption  on  the  present  occasion. 
A  disposition  to  defend  their  constitution  against  the 
danger  to  which  it  was  exposed  now  pervaded  the 
whole  assembly.  The  venerable  Ferguson  adverted 
to  the  early  period  at  which  the  evils  of  episcopacy 
had  been  discovered  in  Scotland  ;  he  narrated  the  means 
which  had  been  used,  from  pulpits  and  in  assemblies, 
to  expel  it  completely  from  the  church  ;  and  compa- 
ring the  project  now  on  foot  to  the  artifice  by  which 
the  Greeks,  after  a  fruitless  siege  of  many  years,  suc- 
ceeded in  at  last  taking  Troy,  he  concluded  with  the 
warning  words  of  the  Dardan  prophetess,  "  Equo  ne 
eredite,  Teucri.''''  Davidson,  whose  zeal  had  prompted 
him  to  attend  the  meeting,  shewed  that  the  parliamen- 
tary voter  was  a  bishop  in  disguise,  and  catching  en- 
thusiasm from  the  speech  of  his  aged  brother,  exclaim- 
ed, "  Busk,*  busk,  busk  him  as  bonnilie  as  ye  can,  and 
fetch  him  in  asfairlie  as  ye  will,  we  see  him  weill  eneuch, 
we  see  the  horns  of  his  mitre."  f 

I  should  not  give  a  faithful  picture  of  the  sentiments 
of  the  age  and  of  the  state  of  public  feeling,  if  I  passed 
over  altogether  the  impression  made  on  the  public 
mind  by  two  extraordinary  phenomena  which  occurred 


votes  in  Parliament,  is  to  be  found  in  the  Remarks  which  they 
made  at  Linlithg-ow  on  the  acts  of  the  Parliament  1584.  But  there 
was  no  ineetin^  of  the  General  Assembly  at  that  time;  and  the 
clause  in  question  was  inserted  at  the  instance  of  Pont,  who 
had  been  a  Lord  of  Session,  in  opposition  to  the  opinion  of 
other  ministers,  and  particularly  of  Melville  and  his  nephew. 
Even  in  that  document  an  alternative  is  proposed:  "Discreet 
conmiissioners  of  the  most  learned  both  in  the  law  of  God  and 
of  the  country,  being  of  ike  function  of  the  minisirie  or  el- 
ders of  the  kirk,  are  to  represent  that  estate,  at  whose  mouth 
the  law  ought  to  be  required,  namely,  in  ecclesiastical  mat- 
ters." (Melville's  Diary,  p.  171.)  Previously  to  this,  in  Octo- 
ber, 1581,  the  assembly  agreed  "that  tuiching  voting  in  par- 
liament [and]  assisting  in  counsell,  commissioners  ftom  the 
generall  kirk  sould  supplie  the  place  of  bishops.  And  as  to 
the  exercising  of  the  civill  or  criminall  jurisdiction  anent  thu 
office  of  Bishops,  the  heretabill  baillies  sould  vse  the  same." 
(Bulk  of  Univ.  Kirk.  f.  113,  b.) 

*  Dress.  f  Melville's  Diary,  p.  326, 327. 


at  this  time.  In  the  month  of  July,  1597,  a  smart 
shock  of  an  earthquake  was  felt  in  the  north  of  Scot- 
land, which  extended  through  the  shires  of  Perth,  In- 
verness, and  Ross ;  and  in  February  following  there 
was  a  great  eclipse  of  the  sun.  Both  of  these  occur- 
rences were  deemed  portentous,  and  viewed  as  prog- 
nosticating a  disastrous  revolution  which  should  shake 
the  constitution  of  the  church  and  obscure  her  glory. 
James  Melville  gives  the  following  account  of  the  last 
of  these  appearances  :  *'  In  the  month  of  February 
(1598,)  upon  the  25th  day,  being  the  Saturday,  betwixt 
nine  and  ten  hours  before  noon,  a  most  fearful  and  con- 
spicuous eclipse  of  the  sun  began,  which  continued 
about  two  hours  space.  The  whole  face  of  the  sun 
seemed  to  be  darkness  and  covered  about  half  a  quar- 
ter of  an  hour,  so  that  none  could  see  to  read  upon  a 
book ;  the  stars  appeared  in  the  firmament ;  and  the 
sea,  land,  and  air,  were  so  stilled  and  stricken  dead,  as 
it  were,  that,  through  astonishment,  herds,  families, 
men  and  women,  were  prostrate  to  the  ground.  My- 
self knew,  out  of  the  Ephemerides  and  Almanack,  the 
day  and  hour  thereof,  and  also,  by  natural  philosophy, 
the  cause,  and  set  myself  to  note  the  proceedings 
thereof  in  a  bason  of  water  mixed  with  ink,  thinking 
the  matter  but  comiuon.  But  when  it  came  to  the  ex- 
tremity of  darkness,  and  my  sight  lost  all  the  sun,  I 
was  stricken  with  such  heaviness  and  fear  that  I  had 
no  refuge,  but,  prostrate  on  my  knees,  commended  my- 
self to  God  and  cried,  mercy.  This  was  thought  by 
all  the  wise  and  godly  very  prodigious ;  so  that  from 
pulpits  and  by  writings  both  in  prose  and  verse,  ad- 
monitions were  given  to  the  ministers  to  beware  that 
the  changeable  glistering  shew  of  the  world  should 
not  get  in  betwixt  them  and  Christ."* 

In  the  prospect  of  the  ensuing  General  Assembly, 
Melville  could  not  help  feeling  the  awkward  situation 
in  which  he  was  placed  by  the  restriction  imposed  on 
him  at  the  late  visitation  of  the  university.  He  did 
not,  however,  hesitate  in  resolving  to  make  his  appear- 
ance at  Dundee,  whatever  it  might  cost  him.  Had  he 
acted  otherwise  at  such  a  crisis,  he  would  have  betray- 
ed the  rights  of  the  church,  and  forfeited  the  honour 
which  he  had  acquired  by  his  exertions  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  presbytery.  When  his  name  was  men- 
tioned, at  the  calling  of  the  roll  in  the  beginning  of  the 
assembly,  his  Majesty  challenged  it,  and  said  that  he 
could  not  agree  to  the  admission  of  one  whom  he  had 
prohibited  from  attending  on  church  courts.  Melville 
defended  his  right.  His  Majesty's  prohibition,  he 
said,  might  extend  to  his  place  and  emoluments  in  the 
university,  but  could  not  affect  his  doctoral  office,  which 
was  purely  ecclesiastical :  he  had  a  commission  from 
his  presbytery,  and  was  resolved,  for  his  part,  not  to 
betray  it.  Davidson  spoke  to  the  same  purpose,  and 
reminded  the  King  that  he  was  present  as  a  Christian, 
and  not  as  president  of  the  assembly.  .Tames  attempt- 
ed a  reply  to  this  distinction,  but  had  recourse  to  the 
ultimate  reason  of  Kings,  by  declaring  that  he  would 
allow  no  business  to  be  transacted  until  his  will  was 
complied  with.  Melville  accordingly  retired  ;  but  not 
until  he  had  delivered  his  sentiments,  briefly  and  ner- 
vously, on  the  leading  business  which  was  to  engage 
the  attention  of  the  assembly.  He  was  commanded  at 
first  to  confine  himself  to  his  lodgings ;  but  no  sooner 
was  it  understood  that  his  brethren  repaired  to  him, 
than  he  and  his  colleague,  Jonston,  were  charged  to 
quit   Dundee   instantly,  under  the  pain  of  rebellion. 


*  History  of  the  Declining  Age  of  the  Church,  p.  8.  In  his 
Diary  he  has  given  a  similar  account  of  the  eclipse;  and  this 
coincidence  forms  one  of  the  internal  marks  of  the  two  histories 
having  been  written  by  the  same  author.  "  I  was  not  ignorant," 
says  he,  "of  the  natural  cause  thairof,  and  yet  when  It  cam  to 
the  amazfull  uglie  alriche  darknes,  I  was  cast  on  my  knies,  and 
my  hart  almaist  fealled."  The  verses  which  he  composed  on 
this  occasion  are  recorded  in  his  Diary,  p.  320.  The  more  po- 
etical description  of  his  uncle  may  be  seen  in  Delitiae  Poetarum 
Scotorum,  ii.  120. 


302 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


Davidson  complained  of  this  next  day  in  the  assembly  ; 
and  another  member*  boldly  asserted  that  the  restric- 
tion laid  on  the  university,  and  the  interdiction  now 
given,  proceeded  from  the  dread  which  the  court  had 
of  Melville's  learning.  "  I  will  not  hear  one  word  on 
that  head,"  said  his  Majesty  twice  or  thrice.  "Then 
we  must  crave  help  of  him  that  will  hear  us,"  replied 
Davidson. I  The  highest  eulogium  from  the  mouth  of 
James  could  not  have  done  half  so  much  honour  to 
Melville  as  his  present  treatment  of  him  did.  He  had 
procured  a  parliamentary  statute  in  favour  of  the  mea- 
sure which  he  wished  to  carry  ;  he  knew  that  a  great 
part  of  the  elders  stood  pledged  to  support  it  by  the 
vote  which  they  had  given  in  Parliament ;  he  had  the 
commissioners  of  the  church  at  his  beck ;  and  he  had 
brought  up  a  trained  band  of  trusty  voters  from  the  ex- 
tremities of  the  north.  And  yet,  with  all  these  advan- 
tages on  his  side,  he  dreaded  to  bring  forward  his  mo- 
tion, or  to  submit  it  to  discussion,  so  long  as  Melville 
remained  in  the  house,  or  even  within  the  precincts  of 
the  town,  in  which  the  assembly  was  held. 

After  a  week  spent  in  secret  and  public  management, 
during  which  the  complaints  given  in  from  different 
quarters  against  the  commissioners  were  got  quashed, 
the  main  business  was  at  last  introduced  by  a  speech 
from  the  throne.  His  Majesty  dwelt  on  the  important 
services  which  he  had  done  for  the  church,  by  estab- 
lishing her  discipline,  watching  over  her  peace,  and 
endeavouring  to  recover  her  patrimony,  which  would 
never  be  fully  effected  unless  the  measure  which  he 
was  about  to  propose  was  adopted.  He  solemnly  and 
repeatedly  protested,  (with  what  truth  it  is  now  un- 
necessary to  say,)  that  he  had  no  intention  to  introduce 
either  Popish  or  Anglican  bishops,  but  that  his  sole 
object  was  that  some  of  the  best  and  wisest  of  the  min- 
istry, chosen  by  the  General  Assembly,  should  have  a 
place  in  the  Privy  Council  and  Parliament,  to  sit  in 
judgment  on  their  own  affairs,  and  not  to  stand,  as  they 
had  too  long  stood,  at  the  door,  like  poor  suppliants, 
disregarded  and  despised.  Bruce,  Davidson,  Aird, 
James  Melville,  and  John  Carmichael,  were  the  chief 
speakers  against  the  vote  in  Parliament;  Pont,  Bu- 
chanan, and  Gladstanes,  in  support  of  it.  The  latter 
had  a  powerful  auxiliary  in  the  King,  who  was  always 
ready  to  interfere  in  the  debate.  Gladstanes  having 
pleaded  the  power  which  the  priests  had  among  the  an- 
cient Romans  "  in  rogandis  etferendis  legibus,"  David- 
son replied,  that  at  Rome  the  priests  were  consulted, 
but  had  no  vote  in  making  laws  :  " praesenlibus  sacerdo- 
tibus  et  divina  exponeniibus,  sed  non  suffragia  habenii- 
bus."  "  Where  have  ye  that  ?"  asked  the  King.  "  In 
Titus  Livius,"  said  Davidson.  "  Oh  !  are  you  going 
then  from  the  Scriptures  to  Titus  Livius  ?"  exclaimed 
his  Majesty.  There  were  flatterers  present  who  ap- 
plauded this  wretched  witticism ;  and  they  were  en- 
couraged to  laugh  at  the  old  man,  who  pursued  his 
argument  with  equal  disregard  of  the  puerilities  of 
James,  and  the  rudeness  of  his  minions.  The  ques- 
tion being  called  for,  it  was  decided  by  a  majority  of 
ten  votes,:j:  "  that  it  was  necessary  and  expedient  for 
the  weal  of  the  church,  that  the  ministry,  as  the  third 
estate  of  this  realm,  should  in  the  name  of  the  church 
have  a  vote  in  Parliament."  The  measure  was  carried 
chiefly  by  the  votes  of  the  elders,  and  it  was  urged  by 
the  minority  that  a  number  of  them  had  no  commis- 
sion ;  but  the  demand  of  a  scrutiny  was  resisted.  Da- 
vidson, who  had  refused  to  take  part  in  the  vote,  gave 
in  a  protest  against  this  decision,  and  against  the  pro- 
ceedings of  this  and  the  two  preceding  assemblies,  so 

*  This  wag  John  Knox,  minister  of  Melrose,  who  was  a  son 
of  William  Knox  minister  of  CocJtpen,  the  brother  of  the  Re- 
former. 

+  Melville's  Diary,  p.  329.  Cald.  v.  302,  303.  Wodrow's 
Life  of  Andrew  Melville,  p.  73  MSS.  vol.  i.  in  Bibl.Col.  Glagg. 

\  "  Mr.  Gilbert  Body  led  the  rin?,  a  drunken  Orknay  ass, 
and  the  graittest  number  foliuwit,  all  for  the  bodie  bnt  [with- 
out] respect  of  the  spreit."    (Melville's  Diary,  p.  329.) 


far  as  they  derogated  from  the  rights  of  the  church ; 
upon  the  ground  of  their  not  being  free  assemblies,  but 
overawed  by  the  King,  and  restricted  in  their  due  and 
wonted  privileges.  His  protest  was  refused,  and  he 
was  prosecuted  for  it  before  his  presbytery  at  the 
King's  instance.* 

The  Assembly  farther  agreed  that  fifty-one  ministers 
should  be  chosen  to  represent  the  church,  according  to 
the  ancient  number  of  bishops,  abbots,  and  priors;  and 
that  their  election  should  belong  partly  to  the  King  and 
partly  to  the  church.  The  court  presented  a  series  of 
resolutions  respecting  the  manner  of  electing  the  vo- 
ters, the  duration  of  their  cojnmission,  their  name,  their 
revenues,  and  the  restrictions  necessary  to  prevent  them 
from  abusing  their  powers.  But  the  proposal  of  them 
excited  so  much  dissatisfaction,  that  the  King,  dread- 
ing, from  the  feeling  that  began  to  be  displayed,  that  » 
he  would  lose  the  ground  which  he  had  already  gain- 
ed, deemed  it  prudent  to  put  off  the  discussion.  It  was 
therefore  appointed  that  the  presbyteries  should  imme- 
diately take  the  subject  under  consideration  ;  that  they 
should  report  their  opinions  to  the  respective  provincial 
synods;  and  that  each  synod  should  nominate  three 
delegates,  who,  along  with  the  theological  professors, 
should  hold  a  conference,  in  the  presence  of  his  Majes- 
ty, on  the  points  which  the  Assembly  had  left  undeter- 
mined. If  they  were  unanimous,  the  resolutions  to 
which  they  came  were  to  be  final ;  if  not,  the  whole 
matter  was  to  be  referred  to  the  next  General  Assem- 
bly.f 

The  resolutions  in  all  the  southern  presbyteries  and 
synods  evinced  the  greatest  jealousy  of  episcopacy,  and 
a  disposition  to  confine  the  powers  of  the  voter  in  par- 
liament within  the  narrowest  possible  bounds.  Yet 
matters  were  so  craftily  conducted  by  the  agents  of  the 
court,  in  concert  with  such  of  the  ministers  as  were 
secretly  in  their  interest,  that  the  delegates  chosen  for 
the  conference  were,  in  several  instances,  of  opposite 
views  to  those  of  their  constituents.:}:  Perceiving  this, 
disapproving  of  the  whole  scheme,  and  convinced  that 
no  restrictions  would  prevent  it  from  issuing  in  the  es- 
tablishment of  episcopacy,  there  were  individuals  who 
thought  it  safest  to  stand  aloof,  and  to  take  no  part  in 
the  subordinate  arrangements.  Among  these  was  James 
Melville.  But  his  uncle  was  of  a  different  mind.  He 
was  quite  aware  of  the  policy  which  permitted  him  to 
take  part  in  private  and  extrajudicial  conferences,  while 
he  was  excluded  from  the  public  assemblies  in  which 
the  points  in  debate  were  to  be  ultimately  and  authori- 
tatively determined.  But  he  deemed  it  of  consequence 
to  encourage  his  brethren  by  his  presence,  and  to  inter- 


*  Spotswood,  who  embraces  every  opportunity  of  speaking 
disrespectfully  of  Davidson,  has  advanced  a  number  of  asser- 
tions respecting  his  conduct  on  the  present  occasion,  all  of 
which  it  would  be  easy  to  refute.  Among  other  things,  he 
says:  "  He  himself,  as  his  custom  was  whfn  he  made  any  such 
trouble,  fled  away,  and  lurked  a  while,  till  his  peace  was  again 
made."  (Hist.  p.  452.)  It  is  very  easy  for  a  time-serving 
priest,  who,  by  his  tame  compliances,  can  always  secure  him- 
self against  falling  into  danger,  to  talk  thus  of  a  man,  from  whose 
rebuke  he  more  than  once  shrunk,  and  to  accuse  him  of  cow- 
ardice merely  because  he  fled  from  the  lawless  rage  of  a  despot. 
But  it  is  not  true  that  Davidson  either  fled  or  concealed  him- 
self at  this  time.  On  the22d  of  March,  1597,  immediately  after 
the  rising  of  the  General  Assembly,  Lord  Tungland  and  David 
Macgill  of  Cranston  Riddell  appeared  before  the  presbytery  of 
Haddington,  and,  in  his  Majesty's  name,  gave  in  a  complaint 
against  him.  Being  summoned  to  attend  next  meeting,  David- 
son appeared  before  the  presbytery  at  Haddington,  on  the  29th 
of  March.  On  the  5th  of  April,  it  was  attested  to  the  presby- 
tery, that  he  was  "stayit  be  ane  heavie  fever,"  and  on  the  12th 
of  that  month,  "the  presbyterie  wt  con.scnt  of  his  Mat'"  com- 
missioner continewit  all  farder  dealing  in  this  mater  till  y*  said 
Mr.  Johne  at  the  pleaso'  of  God  suld  be  restorit  to  his  health." 
(Record  of  Presbytery  of  Haddington.) 

+  Buik  of  the  Univ.  Kirk,  ff.  188—192.  Cald.  v.  301—325. 
Melville's  Diary,  p.  329,  330.  And  his  History  of  the  Decli- 
ning Age,  p.  13—18.     Spotswood,  p.  450 — 452. 

\  Record  of  the  Presbytery  of  Edinburgh,  May  30,  1598. 
Rec.  of  Provincial  Synod  of  Lothian,  June,  1598.  Melville's 
Diary,  p.  330,  331. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


303 


pose  every  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  accomplishment 
of  a  measure  so  injurious  to  the  interests  of  the  church. 
Accordingly,  he  gave  faithful  attendance  on  all  the 
meetings  of  the  conference.* 

The  result  of  the  first  meeting,  held  at  Falkland, 
was  so  dissatisfactory  to  the  King,  that  he  prorogued 
the  General  Assembly  which  had  been  appointed  to 
meet  at  Aberdeen  in  July,  1599.  Other  meetings  were 
held  ;  but  they  were  chiefly  occupied  in  desultory  con- 
versation, or  in  attempts  to  lull  asleep  the  most  vigilant 
of  the  church's  guardians  by  artful  professions,  and 
proposals  for  removing,  what  were  called,  unreasona- 
ble and  unfounded  jealousies. -j-  Melville  took  a  lead- 
ing part  in  an  interesting  debate  which  occurred  in  No- 
vember, 1599,  at  a  meeting  of  the  conference,  assisted 
by  ministers  from  the  different  quarters  of  the  country, 
convened  by  royal  missives  in  the  palace  of  Holyrood- 
house.  One  design  of  calling  this  meeting  appears  to 
have  been,  to  ascertain  the  arguments  which  were  to 
be  used  in  opposition  to  the  vote  in  parliament,  that  so 
the  court  party  might  be  prepared  to  meet  them  in  the 
next  General  Assembly.  In  opening  the  conference 
the  King  signified,  that  all  were  at  liberty  to  reason  on 
the  subject  at  large,  including  the  points  which  had 
been  determined,  as  well  as  those  which  had  been  left 
undecided,  at  last  assembly  ;  but  that  such  as  refused 
to  state  their  objections  at  present  should  forfeit  their 
right  to  bring  them  forward  at  a  subsequent  period. 
Accordingly,  the  lawfulness  of  ministers  sitting  in  par- 
liament came  first  under  discussion.  And  here  the  de- 
bate turned  chiefly  on  the  following  question — "Is  it 
consistent  with  the  nature  of  their  office,  its  duties,  and 
the  directions  of  Scripture  about  it,  for  ministers  of  the 
gospel  to  undertake  a  civil  function?" 

By  those  who  maintained  the  affirmative  it  was  ar- 
gued, That,  as  the  gospel  does  not  destroy  civil  pol- 
icy, so  it  does  not  hinder  any  of  those  who  profess  it 
from  discharging  political  duties  :  That  when  ministers 
are  enjoined  "  not  to  entangle  themselves  with  the  af- 
fairs of  this  life,"  they  are  not  prohibited  from  dis- 
charging civil  offices  any  more  than  the  duties  of  natu- 
ral economy  and  domestic  life  :  That  there  are  appro- 
ved examples  in  scripture  of  sacred  and  civil  offices 
being  united  in  the  same  person :  That  ministers  were 
as  much  distracted  from  the  duties  of  their  office  by  the 
visitation  of  churches  and  waiting  on  meetings  for  fix- 
ing stipends,  as  they  would  be  by  sitting  in  parlia- 
ments and  conventions  of  estates:  That  it  was  allowed 
by  all  that  ministers  might  wait  on  his  Majesty  and 
give  him  their  advice  in  matters  of  state  :  That  as  free 
men  and  citizens,  ministers  were  entitled  to  be  repre- 
sented as  well  as  the  other  orders  in  the  state  :  That 
the  General  Assembly  had  often  craved  a  vote  in  Par- 
liament :  And  that  ecclesiastical  persons  had  sitten  in 
that  court  ever  since  the  Reformation. 

In  the  negative  it  was  argued.  That,  though  the 
gospel  by  no  means  destroys  civil  policy,  yet  all  po- 
litical laws  which  are  inconsistent  with  it,  or  which 
interfere  with  any  of  its  institutions,  are  unlawful  : 
That  the  duties  of  natural  and  domestic  economy  are 
altogether  different  from  those  which  belong  to  public 
offices  in  society :  That  when  the  apostle  prohibits 
ministers  from  "entangling  themselves  with  the  af- 
fairs of  this  life,"  he  puts  his  meaning  out  of  doubt, 
by  referring,  as  an  illustration,  to  the  case  of  a  sol- 
dier, who  must  renounce  and  avoid  all  worldly  occu- 
fiations,  that  he  may  devote  himself  to  the  military 
ife  and  entirely  please  and  obey  his  commander  :  That 
the  duties  of  the  ministerial  office  are  so  great  and 
manifold,  and  the  injunctions  to  constant  and  unre- 
mitting diligence  in  discharging  them  so  numerous, 
so  solemn,  and  so  urgent,  that  no  minister  who  is  du- 
ly impressed  with  these  considerations  will  accept  of 
another  function  which  must  engross  much  of  his  tims 

*  Melville's  Diary,  p.  331. 

t  Cald.  V.  371.    Melville^  Witt,  of  the  Declining  Age,  p.  91. 


and  attention  ;  and  that  it  is  criminal  to  throw  tempta- 
tions to  this  in  his  way :  That  the  union  of  sacred  and 
civil  offices  in  certain  individuals  mentioned  in  scripture 
was  extraordinary  and  typical ;  and  when  the  Jewish 
polity  was  established,  these  offices  were  separated, 
and  could  not  be  lawfully  held  by  the  same  persons  : 
That  the  occasional  visitation  of  churches  is  a  part  of 
the  ministerial  function  :  That  if  ministers  are  diverted 
from  their  pastoral  duty  by  commissions  for  fixing  sti- 
pends, this  is  owing  to  a  defect  in  the  establishment 
which  they  had  long  complained  of,  and  for  which  the 
magistrates  and  their  flocks  must  answer  :  That  minis- 
ters, as  such,  do  not  form  an  order  in  the  state,  and 
that  as  citizens  they  are  represented  along  with  others 
by  the  commissioners  of  shires  and  burghs  :  That  if 
the  King  and  estates  entrust  ministers  with  the  care 
of  their  souls,  the  latter  may  surely  give  credit  to  the 
former  in  what  relates  to  their  bodies  :  That  no  Gen- 
eral Assembly  before  the  last  one  had  ever  craved  a 
vote  for  ministers  in  parliament :  And  that  ever  since 
the  church  had  condemned  episcopacy,  she  had  ob- 
jected to  bishops  and  other  persons  called  ecclesias- 
tical, sitting  in  the  supreme  court  of  the  nation. 

On  this  part  of  the  debate,  Melville  deduced  the 
history  of  the  gradual  blending  of  ecclesiastical  and 
civil  jurisdiction  under  the  papacy,  by  means  of  which 
the  Roman  Pontiff  became  at  last  so  formidable,  arm- 
ed himself  with  the  two  swords,  trampled  on  princes, 
and  transferred  crowns  and  kingdoms  at  his  pleasure. 
"  Take  heed,"  said  he,  addressing  James,  "  that  yoa 
do  not  set  up  those  who  shall  cast  you  or  your  succes- 
sors down." 

The  second  question  which  was  brought  forward  re- 
lated to  the  duration  of  the  office.  The  court  party 
were  anxious  that  the  clerical  voter  should  hold  his 
place  ad  vitam  aid  culpam  .•  their  opponents  insisted 
that  the  place  should  be  filled  by  annual  election. 
The  former  argued,  that  no  man  would  submit  to  the 
trouble  and  expense  that  must  be  incurred,  if  his  con- 
tinuance in  office  was  precarious,  or  limited  to  a  single 
year  or  single  parliament ;  and  that  within  so  short  a 
period  persons  could  neither  acquire  the  knowledge  of 
law,  nor  bring  any  business  which  the  church  might 
entrust  to  them  to  a  termination.  It  was  replied  by 
the  latter,  that  they  were  at  present  deliberating  on 
what  was  for  the  good  of  the  church  and  common- 
wealth, and  not  on  what  might  be  agreeable  or  profit- 
able to  individuals  ;  that  by  continuing  in  the  employ- 
ment ministers  would  acquire  more  knowledge  of  the 
laws  of  men,  but  less  of  those  of  God,  more  acquain- 
tance with  the  wiles  of  worldly  policy,  and  less  with 
the  sincerity  of  the  wisdom  which  is  from  above;  and 
that  the  General  Assembly  was  more  capable  of  attend- 
ing to  the  real  interests  of  the  church  than  a  ksn  men, 
who,  if  a  judgment  might  be  formed  from  experience, 
would  be  chiefly  occupied  in  securing  their  own  wealth 
and  aggrandizement.  The  hurtful  consequences  of  their 
continuing  in  office  during  life  or  good  behaviour  were 
insisted  on  at  great  length.  It  would  secularize  their 
minds  ;  it  would  induce  a  habitual  neglect  of  the  du- 
ties of  their  spiritual  function  ;  it  would,  in  spito  of  all 
checks  which  might  be  imposed,  gradually  raise  them 
to  superiority  over  their  brethren,  and  make  them  in- 
dependent of  the  ecclesiastical  courts;  although  the 
church  should  depose  them  for  improper  conduct,  yet 
if  they  happened  to  please  his  Majesty,  he  would  main- 
tain them  in  their  place  by  his  royal  authority  or  by 
his  influence  in  the  General  Assembly;  and  being  se- 
cured in  their  lordships  end  livings  they  would  seek 
to  revenge  their  quarrel,  by  injuring  the  church,  or 
such  of  their  brethren  as  curbed  their  ambition  and 
complained  of  their  misconduct.  "  There  is  no  fear," 
said  the  King,  "but  you  will  all  prove  true  enough  to 
your  craft."  "  God  make  us  all  true  enough  to  Christ," 
replied  Melville.  "  There  is  nothing  so  good  but  it 
may  be  suspected,  and  thus  you  will  be  content  with 
nothing."     "We  doubt  the   goodness   of  the  thing. 


304 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


and  have  but  too  much  reason  to  suspect  its  evil." 
"  His  Majesty  and  the  parliament  will  not  admit  the 
voters  otherwise  than  for  life;  and  if  j'ou  do  not  agree 
to  this,  yoQ  will  lose  the  benefit."  "The  loss  will 
be  small."  "Ministers  then  will  lie  in  contempt  and 
poverty."  "  It  was  their  Master's  case  before  them  : 
better  poverty  with  sincerity,  than  promotion  with  cor- 
ruption." "  Others  will  be  promoted  to  the  place  who 
•will  oppress  and  ruin  the  church  ;  for  his  Majesty  will 
not  want  his  third  estate."  "Then  let  Christ,  the 
King  of  the  church,  avenge  her  wrongs  :  he  has  done 
so  before." 

The  title  to  be  given  to  the  voter  in  Parliament  form- 
ed the  next  topic  of  debate.  Those  who  spoke  the 
language  of  the  court  insisted  that  he  should  have  the 
name  of  bishop.  "  If  we  are  agreed  in  the  substance," 
said  they,  "  the  name  is  of  little  consequence  ;  and  as 
the  parliament  has  restored  the  title  of  bishop,  and 
may  refuse  to  admit  the  representative  of  the  church 
under  any  other  designation,  it  would  be  a  pity  to  lose 
a  privilege  which  his  Majesty  has  procured  with  such 
great  pains  and  difficulty,  through  scrupulosity  about 
a  name,  which,  after  all,  is  scriptural."'  To  this 
Melville  replied  ironically  :  "No  doubt  the  name  epis- 
copos  or  bishop  is  scriptural ;  and  why  should  it  not  be 
given  ?  But  as  something  additional  to  the  office  of 
the  scripture-bishop  is  to  be  allotted  to  our  new  parlia- 
ment-men, I  would  propose  to  eke  a  little  to  the  name, 
and  this  shall  be  scriptural  also.  Let  us  baptize  them 
by  the  name  which  the  apostle  Peter  gives  to  such  of- 
ficers, and  call  them  allotrio-episcopoi,  busy-bishops, 
who  meddle  with  matters  foreign  to  their  calling." 
In  earnest  he  replied,  that  the  word  bishop  was  ap- 
plied in  the  scriptures  indiscriminately  to  all  ministers 
of  the  gospel ;  that  in  common  speech  it  was  now  un- 
derstood as  the  discriminative  appellation  of  those  who 
claimed  a  superiority  of  office  and  power,  as  in  the 
churches  of  Rome  and  England ;  that  for  good  reasons 
the  use  of  it  had  been  laid  aside  and  prohibited  in  the 
church  of  Scotland ;  that  those  to  whom  it  was  now 
proposed  to  give  it  were  to  occupy  the  places  to  which 
ecclesiastical  pre-eminence  had  been  attached  ;  the  title 
was  calculated  to  feed  their  vanity  and  lust  of  power ; 
and  being  accustomed  to  be  saluted  as  lords  at  court 
and  in  parliament,  they  would  soon  begin  to  look  sour 
on  such  as  refused  to  give  them  their  honorary  titles  in 
the  church. 

Night  put  an  end  to  the  debate.  Next  morning 
Lindsay,  who  acted  as  moderator,  recapitulated  what 
had  been  done  on  the  preceding  day  in  such  a  way  as 
to  insinuate  that  the  heads  which  had  been  under  con- 
sideration were  settled  agreeably  to  the  wishes  of 
the  court.  A  murmur  of  disapprobation  spread  through 
the  assembly ;  and  several  members  rose  and  declared 
that  their  scruples  against  the  main  proposal,  so  far 
from  being  weakened,  were  greatly  strengthened  by 
the  discussion  of  j'esterday.  Melville  make  an  ear- 
nest and  solemn  appeal  to  the  moderator.  He  remind- 
ed him,  that  he  was  one  of  the  oldest  ministers  of  the 
church,  and  had  been  present  at  many  assemblies  in 
which  these  very  points  had,  after  the  most  grave  and 
deliberate  discussion,  been  unanimously  decided.  And 
he  asked  him,  how  he  could  for  a  moment  imagine, 
that  any  one  who  was  settled  in  his  judgment  could  be 
moved  to  alter  it  by  so  slight  a  conference  as  the  pres- 
ent, in  which  scripture  might  be  said  to  have  been  pro- 
faned rather  than  solidly  and  reverently  handled.  His 
Majesty  took  offence  at  this  last  expression,  and  court- 
eously gave  tlie  speaker  the  lie.  Melville  replied, 
that  he  had  included  himself  in  the  censure,  and  did 
not  mean  to  confine  it  to  one  side  of  the  house.  Pind- 
ing  that  he  had  gained  nothing,  James  broke  off  the 
conference  in  a  fret.  In  dismissing  the  members,  he 
said  he  had  bean  induced  by  the  commissioners  of  the 
church  to  call  this  meeting  for  the  satisfaction  of  such 
as  had  scruples,  in  the  hopes  that  matters  would  pro- 
ceed peaceably  and  harmoniously;  but  he  perceived 


men  to  he  so  full  of  their  own  conceits,  and  so  pre-oc- 
cupied  in  their  judgments,  as  not  to  yield  to  reason, 
and  would  therefore  leave  the  matter  to  be  determined 
by  the  General  Assembly.  If  they  received  the  favour 
offered  them,  he  would  ratify  their  conclusions  with 
his  civil  sanction,  and  none  should  be  allowed  to 
speak  against  them :  if  they  refused  it,  they  W'ould 
have  themselves  to  blame  lor  sinking  still  deeper  and 
deeper  into  poverty.  As  for  himself,  he  could  not 
want  one  of  his  estates,  but  would  use  his  authority 
in  putting  into  the  vacant  bishoprics  persons  who 
would  accept  of  them,  and  who  would  do  their  duty 
to  him  and  to  his  kingdom.* 

The  General  Assembly  which  met  at  Montrose  on 
the  28th  of  March,  1600,  excited  greater  interest  than 
had  been  felt  at  any  meeting  of  the  supreme  ecclesi- 
astical judicatory  for  man}'  years.f  All  were  convinc- 
ed that  upon  its  decision  it  depended  whether  the  pres- 
byterian  constitution  should  stand,  or  should  yield  to 
the  gradual  encroachments  of  prelacy  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  royal  supremacy.  The  attendance  of 
members  was  full,  and  sanguine  hopes  of  success  were 
entertained  by  both  parties.  The  defenders  of  the  es- 
tablishment confided  in  the  goodness  of  their  cause, 
and  in  the  evident  superiority  in  point  of  argument 
which  they  had  maintained  at  the  last  conference. 
Their  opponents  were  equally  confident  that  they 
would  prevail  by  address  and  the  powerful  interest  of 
the  crown. 

The  pn^sbytery  of  St.  Andrews  having  chosen  him 
as  one  of  their  representatives,  Melville  determined 
again  to  assert  his  right  to  a  seat  in  the  General  As- 
sembly. It  was  no  sooner  known  that  he  had  come 
to  Montrose  than  he  was  sent  for  by  the  King.  His 
Majesty  asked  him  why  he  was  so  troublesome,  by 
persisting  to  attend  on  assemblies  after  he  had  prohib- 
ited him.  He  replied,  that  he  had  a  commission  from 
the  church,  and  behoved  to  discharge  it  under  the  pain 
of  incurring  the  displeasure  of  one  who  was  greater 
than  any  earthly  monarch.  Recourse  was  then  had  to 
menaces,  but  they  served  only  to  rouse  Melville's 
spirit.  On  quitting  the  royal  apartment,  he  put  his 
hand  to  his  throat,  and  said,  "  Sir,  is  it  this  you 
would  have?  You  shall  have  it  before  I  betray 
the  cause  of  Christ."  He  was  not  allowed  to  take 
his  seat  in  the  judicatory  ;  but  it  was  judged  unadvis- 
able  to  order  him  out  of  the  town,  as  had  been  done 
on  a  former  occasion.  He  accordingly  remained,  and 
assisted  his  brethren  with  his  advice  during  the  sitting 
of  the  assembly.:}: 

The  debate  on  the  propriety  of  ministers  voting  in 
Parliament  was  resumed ;  and  a  formidable  train  of 
arguments  including  those  which  had  been  used  in  the 
conference  at  Holyroodhouse,  was  brought  forward 
against  the  measure.  In  support  of  these  a  paper  was 
given  in,  consisting  of  extracts  from  the  writings  of 
reformed  divines  and  of  the  fathers,  with  the  decis- 
ions of  the  most  ancient  and  renowned  General  Coun- 
cils. Unable  to  reply  to  these  arguments  and  author- 
ities, the  advocates  of  the  measure  were  forced  to 
abandon  the  ground  which  they  had  taken  up  during 
the  late  conferences.  They  granted  the  force  of  the 
general  reasoning  used  by  their  opponents,  but  in- 
sisted that  it  was  not  applicable  to  the  case.     They 

*  Melville's  Diary,  p.  333 — 344.  James  Melville  ronioiitted 
the  reasoning?  at  this  conference  to  writing  while  bis  recollec- 
tion of  them  was  fresh.  The  whole  of  his  account  is  copied 
into  Calderwood's  MSi  and  large  extracts  iroin  it  may  be  seen 
in  Printed  Calderwood,  p.  428 — 434. 

t  Row  mentions,  that  this  assembly  was  "  notified  only  be 
sound  of  trumpet  att  the  crosse  of  Ed'  and  other  neidful  places 
whereat  many  good  Christians  wondered  att,  seing  y'  was 
never  the  lyke  before."  (Hist.  p.  78.) — It  was  appointed  at 
this  time  that  the  beginning  of  the  year  should  henceforth 
be  reckoned  from  the  Isl  of  January,  instead  of  the  25th  of 
March.     (Reconl  of  Privy  Council,  Dec.  17,  1599.]) 

{  Malville's  Diarj-,  p.  362.  Hist,  of  the  Declining  State  of 
the  charch,  p.  24,  25. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


305 


affected  now  to  condemn  the  union  of  sacred  and  civil 
offices ;  and  pleaded  that  the  ministers  who  were  to 
sit  in  Parliament  would  have  no  civil  charge,  but  were 
merely  to  be  present  in  that  high  court  to  watch  over 
the  interests  of  the  church,  and  give  their  advice  in 
matters  of  importance.  When  it  was  urged  by  their 
opponents  that  the  ecclesiastical  voter  must  be  em- 
ployed in  making  laws  for  the  whole  kingdom,  they 
took  refuge  under  one  of  the  weakest  and  worst  of 
James's  political  maxims,  that  it  is  the  King  alone 
who  makes  laws,  and  the  estates  merely  give  him 
their  advice.  In  answer  to  the  appeal  which  the  de- 
fenders of  Presbytery  made  to  the  words  of  the  act  of 
parliament  restoring  the  "  office,  estate,  and  dignity  of 
bishops,"  they  asserted  that  the  objectionable  lan- 
guage had  been  purposely  introduced  into  the  act  by 
those  who  wished  to  keep  the  church  in  poverty,  in 
the  hopes  that  it  would  induce  the  ministers  to  reject 
the  favour  which  his  Majesty  had  procured  for  them. 
This  plea  could  not  bear  examination ;  and  therefore 
a  stop  was  put  to  the  dangerous  discussion  by  a  mes- 
sage from  the  king,  stating  that  the  last  General  As- 
sembly had  already  decided  this  point,  and  its  decis- 
ion behoved  to  stand.  Had  it  been  allowed  to  put  the 
general  question  to  the  vote,  there  is  reason  to  think 
that  the  whole  scheme  would  have  been  negatived. 
For  on  the  question,  whether  the  parliamentary  voters 
should  retain  their  place  for  life  or  be  annually  elected, 
it  was  carried,  in  spite  of  all  the  influence  of  the  court, 
by  a  majority  of  three  in  favour  of  annual  election. 
Yet,  by  collusion  between  the  clerk  and  the  King,  the 
minute  was  so  drawn  up  as  to  express  a  resolution  ma- 
terially eversive  of  that  which  had  passed,  and  in  this 
altered  form  an  approbation  of  it  was  procured  at  the 
close  of  the  assembly. 

To  induce  the  members  to  acquiesce  in  the  unpopu- 
lar measure,  the  court  party  agreed  to  the  ratification 
of  all  the  articles  and  cautions  which  had  been  pro- 
posed in  conference  at  Falkland,  with  the  view  of  pro- 
tecting the  liberties  of  the  church,  and  guarding  against 
the  introduction  of  episcopacy.  They  did  not  even 
object  to  the  addition  of  others  still  more  strict.  The 
voters  were  to  have  the  name,  not  of  Bishops,  but 
Commissioners  of  the  church  in  Parliament.  As  to 
their  election,  it  was  agreed,  that  the  General  Assem- 
bly, with  the  advice  of  synods  and  presbyteries,  should 
nominate  six  individuals  in  each  province,  from  which 
number  his  Majesty  should  choose  one  as  the  eccle- 
siastical representative  of  that  province.  For  his 
emoluments  he  was  to  be  allowed  the  rents  of  the  ben- 
efice to  which  he  should  be  presented,  after  the  church- 
es, colleges,  and  schools,  had  been  provided  for  out  of 
them.  The  following  cautions,  or  "  caveats,"  as  they 
were  called,  m  ere  enacted  to  prevent  him  from  abusing 
his  power :  That  he  should  not  presume  to  propose 
any  thing  to  parliament,  convention,  or  council,  in  the 
name  of  the  church,  without  her  express  warrant  and 
.direction  ;  nor  consent  to  the  passing  of  any  act  preju- 
dicial to  tire  church,  under  the  pain  of  deposition  from 
his  office  :  That,  at  each  General  Asseml)ly  he  should 
give  an  account  of  the  manner  in  which  he  had  dis- 
charged his  commission,  and  submit,  without  appeal, 
to  the  censure  of  the  assembly,  under  the  pain  of  in- 
famy and  excommunication  :  That  he  should  rest  sat- 
isfied with  the  part  of  the  benefice  allotted  to  him, 
without  encroaching  upon  what  was  assigned  to  other 
ministers  vv^ithin  his  province  :  That  he  should  not  di- 
lapidate his  benefice,  nor  dispose  of  any  part  of  its 
rents  without  the  consent  of  the  General  Assembly  : 
That  he  should  perform  all  the  duties  of  the  pastoral 
office  within  his  own  particular  congregation,  subject  to 
the  censure  of  the  presbytery  and  provincial  synod  to 
whicii  he  belonged  :  That  in  the  exercise  of  discipline, 
the  collation  of  benefices,  the  visitation  of  churches,  and 
all  other  parts  of  ecclesiastical  government,  he  should 
claim  no  more  power  or  jurisdiction  than  what  belonged 
to  other  ministers,  under  the  pain  of  deprivation  :  That 
2  O 


in  meetings  of  presbytery  and  of  other  church  courts, 
he  should  behave  himself  in  all  things,  and  be  sub- 
ject to  censure,  in  the  same  manner  as  his  brethren : 
That  he  should  have  no  right  to  sit  in  the  General  As- 
sembly without  a  commission  from  his  presbytery  : 
That,  if  deposed  from  the  office  of  the  ministry,  he 
should  lose  his  vote  in  parliament,  and  his  benefice 
should  become  vacant :  And  that  he  should  incur  the 
same  loss  upon  being  convicted  of  having  solicited 
the  office.  It  was  ordained,  that  these  "caveats" 
should  be  inserted,  "  as  most  necessary  and  substan- 
tial points,"  in  the  body  of  an  act  of  parliament  to  be 
made  for  confirming  the  church's  vote;  and  that  every 
commissioner  should  subscribe  and  swear  to  observe 
them  when  he  was  admitted  to  his  function.* 

It  is  scarcely  possible  to  conceive  regulations  better 
adapted  to  prevent  the  evils  which  were  dreaded. 
But  the  strictest  cautions,  sanctioned  by  the  most  sa- 
cred promises,  were  feeble  ties  on  an  unprincipled 
court,  and  perfidious  churchmen,  who  were  ready  to 
sacrifice  both  honour  and  conscience  to  the  gratification 
of  their  avarice  and  ambition. 

Mille  adde  catenas, 
Effugiet  tamen  haec  sceleratus  vincula  Proteus. 

An  early  proof  of  this  was  given.  A  meeting  of  the 
commissioners  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  delegates 
from  synods,  was  lield  in  the  month  of  October  follow- 
ing, in  consequence  of  a  letter  from  the  King  desiring 
their  advice  respecting  the  settlement  of  ministers  in 
Edinburgh,  and  "  such  other  things  as  shall  bethought 
good  to  be  proposed  in  the  name  of  the  church  for  the 
weal  of  our  and  their  estate  at  our  first  parliament." 
Dreading  the  opposition  of  James  Melville  and  two 
other  ministers,  his  Majesty  got  them  appointed  on  a 
committee  to  transact  some  business;  and  during  their 
absence,  he,  with  the  consent  of  those  present,  summa- 
rily nominated  David  Lindsay,  Peter  Blackburn,  and 
George  Gladstanes,  to  the  vacant  bishoprics  of  Ross, 
Aberdeen,  and  Caithness.  This  transaction  was  care- 
fully concealed  from  the  absent  members  until  the 
meeting  was  dissolved.  And  the  bishops  appointed  in 
this  clandestine  manner  sat  and  voted  in  the  ensuing 
parliament,  in  direct  violation  of  the  cautions  to  which 
they  had  so  lately  given  their  consent.| 

Archbishop  Spotswood  was  under  the  necessity  of 
inserting  the  cautions  in  his  History,  and  he  was  forced 
to  acknowledge,  what  was  then  notorious  to  all  the 
world,  that  "it  was  neither  the  King's  intention,  nor 
the  mind  of  the  wiser  sort,  to  have  these  cautions  stand 
in  force;  hut  to  have  matters  peaceably  ended,  and  the 
reformation  of  the  policy"  (that  is,  the  introduction  of 
episcopacy)  "  made  without  any  noise,  the  King  gave 
way  to  these  conceits.":^  The  archbishop  calls  the 
ministers  who  acted  this  part  "  the  wiser  sort ;"  forget- 
ting, perhaps,  that  this  species  of  wisdom,  however 
much  it  may  be  "esteemed  among  men,  is  abomina- 
tion with  God."  They  were  suffered  to  triumph  for  a 
while  in  the  success  of  their  knavery  ;  but  he  who 
"  taketh  the  wise  in  their  own  craftiness,"  visited  them 
at  length  with  merited  retribution ;  and  the  violation  of 
these  very  cautions,  which  had  been  ratified  by  the 
King,  sworn  to  by  the  bishops,||  and  never  repealed  by 


*  Bulk  of  the  Universal!  Kirk,  ff.  193,  194.  Cald.  v.  414— 
440.  Melville's  Diary,  p.  349—362.  Hist,  of  the  Decl.  Age, 
p.  19—25.  Forbes's  History,  p.  23—26.  Spotswood,  453, 
457,  458. 

f  Their  presentations  were  dated  the  5th  Nov.  1600.  (Reg. 
of  Present,  to  Benef.  vol.  iii.  f.  30.)  On  the  30th  Dec.  1600, 
David  Lindsay,  bishop  of  Ross,  was  admitted  to  be  "ane  of  the 
counsail;"  and  on  the  24th  Nov.  1602,  Mr.  George  Gladstanes, 
bishop  of  Caithness,  was  adntiitted,  "  be  his  Maiestie's  direction 
and  command."     (Record  of  Privy  Council.) 

X  Hist.  p.  454. 

11  "  It  Was  layed  to  the  charge  of  Mr.  Joha  Spottiswood,  ap- 
ponited  Bishop  of  Glasgow  thcrea-fter  irn  Anno  1605,  before  his 
Maj.  be  the  lord  Balmerinocb,  President,  that  he  had  sworn  to 
observe  the  Gaveats,  and  had  obliged  himself  to  subscryve  them. 
Neither  eonid  his  Maj.  be  well  satisfied  with  him  in  that  matter 
20 


306 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


any  ecclesiastical  authority,  formed  one  of  the  chief 
grounds  upon  which  the  archbishop  and  his  colleagues 
were  afterwards  deposed  and  excommunicated  by  the 
General  Assembly.* 

His  Majesty  was  present  at  all  the  assemblies  in 
which  this  affair  was  discussed,  and  g^ave  the  most  re- 
ligious attendance  on  every  session.  He  did  not  even 
miss  a  single  meeting  of  the  privy  conference.  During 
the  sitting  of  the  General  Assembly,  affairs  of  state 
were  entirely  neglected,  and  the  court  was  converted 
into  a  clerical  levee.  The  privy  counsellors  complain- 
ed, that  they  could  not  have  access  to  their  master  on 
account  of  the  crowd  of  preachers  which  continually 
thronged  his  cabinet.  In  the  public  deliberations  and 
debates  he  directed  and  decided  every  thing  in  his  dou- 
ble capacity  of  disputant  and  umpire.  Those  who 
wish  to  perceive  the  glory  of  James's  reign  must  care- 
fully attend  to  this  part  of  its  history.  It  was  at  this 
time  that  he  found  a  stage  on  which  he  could  exert  his 
distinguishing  talent,  and  "stick  the  doctor's  chair 
into  the  tlirone."  It  was  at  this  time  that  he  acquired 
that  skill  in  points  of  diviuity,  and  in  the  management 
of  ecclesiastical  meetings,  which  afterwards  filled  the 
English  bishops  with  both  "  admiration  and  shame," 
and  made  them  cry  out  that  they  verily  thought  he  was 
"  inspired."  Never  did  this  wise  monarch  appear  to 
such  great  advantage,  as  when,  surrounded  with  "  his 
own  northern  men,"  he  canvassed  for  votes  with  all 
the  ardour  and  address  of  a  candidate  for  a  borough  ;  or 
when,  presiding  in  the  debates  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly, he  kept  the  members  to  the  question,  regaled  them 
with  royal  wit,  calling  one  "a  seditious  knave,"  and 
another,  "  a  liar ;"  saying  to  one  speaker,  "that's  witch- 
like," and  to  another,  "  that's  anabaptistical,"  instruct- 
ed the  clerk  in  the  true  geographical  mode  of  calling 
the  roll,  or  taking  him  home  to  his  closet,  helped  him 
to  correct  the  minutes. f 

Daring  these  transactions  several  occurrences  of  a 
subordinate  kind  took  place,  to  which  it  may  be  proper 
to  advert.  The  church  suffered  a  severe  loss  by  the 
death  of  a  number  of  her  distinguished  ministers.  The 
end  of  the  year  1598  proved  fatal  to  David  Ferguson, 
minister  of  Dunfermline,  whose  integrity,  united  with 
an  uncommon  vein  of  good-humoured  wit,  made  him  a 
favourite  with  all  classes.:|:     Thomas  Buchanan,  Pro- 

untill  he  had  procured  an  Act  of  the  Presbyterie  of  Glasgow 
testifj-ing  that  he  had  not  subscryved  them,  vvhilk  he  presented 
to  his  Maj.  for  his  defence;  as  though  his  oath  had  been  nothing 
as  long  aa  he  did  not  subscryve."     (Forbes's  History,  p.  27.) 

*  Acts  of  the  General  Assembly,  Anno  1638,  Sess.  20. 

t  Cald.  V.  320,  399,  571.  At  the  General  Assembly  in  May, 
1597,  an  ordinance  was  made,  (says  James  Melville)  "that  at 
the  penning  of  everie  act  thcr  sould  be  certean  brether  w^  the 
dark,  whereof  I  was  an  and  Mr.  James  Nicolsone  an  uther. 
But  wbill  as  I  cam  till  attend,  thay  war  comniandit  to  com  to 
the  king  with  the  minutes:  and  sa  I  gat  na  access."  (Diary, 
312.)  James  Melville  (lb.  p.  362.)  subjoins  the  following  verse, 
probably  from  an  old  poem,  to  his  account  of  the  proceedings 
at  this  time: 

The  Dron,  the  Doungeoun  and  the  Draught 

Did  mak  their  cannon  of  the  King: 
Syn  feirfully  with  ws  they  faught^ 
And  doun  to  dirt  they  did  ws  ding. 

I  He  died  at  •' the  age  of  65."  (Spotswood,  p.  455.)  John 
Jonston  fixes  his  death  on  the  23d  oi  August,  1598.  (Life  of 
Knox,  p.  206.)  To  his  works  mentioned  in  the  Life  of  Knox 
(oote  sli.)  may  be  added  the  following:  "An  Ansuer  to 
ane  Epistle  written  by  Renat  Benedict,  the  French  Doctor  Pro- 
fessor of  Gods  word  (as  the  Translator  of  the  Epistle  calleth 
him)  to  John  Knox  &  the  rest  of  his  brethren  ministers  of  the 
word  of  God  made  by  David  Feargussonc  raiaistep  of  the  snuie 
word  at  this  present  in  Dunferniling — Imprinted  at  Edinburgh 
by  Robert  Ix:kprev|k,  1563."  Black  letter,  12rao.  43  leaves. 
The  running  title  is:  "  Ane  answer  to  Renat  Be.  Epistle."  In 
reply  to  the  accusation  that  the  object  of  the  reforming  minis- 
ters was  to  "get  anil  gather  ricnes,"  Ferguson  says:  "the 
greatest  nomber  of  vs  baue  liued  in  great  penurie,  without  all 
stiped  some  tuelf  moneth,  some  eight,  ana  some  half  a  year, 
hauing  nothing  in  the  mean  time  to  sustcane  our  selues  and  our 
familicH,  but  hat  which  we  haue  borrowed  of  charitable  prr- 
sones  vntil  God  send  it  to  ts  to  jcpay  them."  Foil.  6,  7.  This 
.  iMui  written  "  the  26th  April,  1562."    The  translation  of  Renat's 


vest  of  Kirkheuch,  and  minister  of  Ceres,  died  sudden- 
ly in  the  course  of  the  following  year,  lamented  by 
those  who  knew  his  worth  and  talents,  though  they 
disapproved  of  his  public  conduct  during  the  last  two 
years  of  his  life.*  But  the  death  most  deeply  deplored 
was  that  of  Robert  RoUock,  Principal  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Edinburgh,  who  was  prematurely  cut  off  in  the 
prime  of  life  and  in  the  midst  of  extensive  usefulness. 
His  piety,  his  suavity  of  temper,  his  benevolence,  and 
his  talents  as  a  writer  and  teacher  of  youth,  were  uni- 
versally admired  by  his  countrymen;  and  those  who 
were  offended  at  some  parts  of  his  public  conduct 
traced  them  to  his  guileless  simplicity  and  constitu- 
tional aversion  to  every  thing  that  wore  the  appearance 
of  strife  or  might  lead  to  confusion. |  About  the  same 
time  the  country  was  deprived  of  one  of  its  ablest 
statesmen,  John  Lindsay  of  Balearras,  "  for  natural 
judgenaent  and  learning  the  greatest  light  of  the  policy 
and  council  of  Scotland. ":J:  In  the  beginning  of  the 
year  1600,  the  zealous  and  upright  John  Dury,  minis- 
ter of  Montrose,  died  in  a  manner  becoming  the  life 
which  he  had  spent.  Having  held  an  interview  with 
the  magistrates  of  the  town  and  the  elders  of  his  ses- 
sion, and  left  advices  to  be  imparted  to  the  King  and 
ministers  at  the  approaching  General  Assembly,  he  in- 
quired after  the  day  of  the  month,  and  being  told  that 
it  was  the  last  of  February,  "  O  !  then,"  exclaimed  he, 
"the  last  day  of  my  wretched  pilgrimage!  and  the 
morrow  the  first  of  my  rest  and  glory  !"  And,  laying 
his  head  on  his  eldest  son's  breast,  placidly  expired. 
Melville,  who  entertained  a  high  esteem  of  Dury's 
honesty  and  goodness  of  heart,  honoured  the  memory 
of  his  friend  by  his  verses. ||  In  the  end  of  the  same 
year,  the  celebrated  John  Craig,  who  had  been  for  a 
considerable  time  incapacitated  for  any  public  service, 
terminated  his  days  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty- 
eight.§ 

Epistle  was  by  Winzet,  and  at  that  time,  probably,  was  only 
in  MS. 

*  Melrille's  Diary,  p.  328.  Spotswood  (Hist.  p.  455.)  fixes 
his  death,  incorrectly,  in  the  year  1598.—"  1599.  Apr.  12.  M. 
Thomas  Buchquhanan  diet."  (The  Laird  of  Carnbee's  Diary. 
Append,  to  Laniont's  Diary,  p.  383.)  That  this  is  the  true  date 
appeai-s  from  his  Testament.  "Item,  I  grant  and  confess  that 
the  haillbuiks  quhilk  are  presentlie  in  m}'  possessioiin  pertains 
to  Mr.  Ro*  Buchanan,  (my  brothers  son)  and  that  I  borrowed 
the  same  fra  him."  He  died  rich.  (Testament  Testamentar 
of  Mr.  Thomas  Buchanan,  in  Commissary  Records  of  Edin- 
burgh.) On  the  5ith  of  May,  1599,  '•  Euphame  Hay  relict  of 
um^'  Mr.  Thomas  Buchquhannane"  revoked  a  deed  which  she 
had  -made  during  her  husband's  sickness,  and  in  which  she  had 
renounced  the  "  conjunct  fie  of  sik  lands  or  annual  rents  as  bc- 
iangit  to  him."  On  the  20th  June,  "Jo.  Buchquhannan  (of 
Ballecraquhie)  &  Mr.  Ro'  Buchquhannan,  provost  of  Kirk- 
heuch," appeared  as  executors  of  his  testament.  (Book  of  Acts 
of  the  Commissariot  of  St.  Andrews.) 

+  Spotswood,  455.  Melville's  Diary.  320.  He  had  merely 
completed  the  43d  year  of  his  age  when  he  died,  •'  6  Idus  Febr. 
anno  1589."  (1598.)  Vit*  &  mortis  Roberti  Rolloci  Scoti  nar- 
ratio.  Scripta  per  Georgium  Robertsonum.  Edinburei  1589. 
(1598.)  C  in  eights.  Among  the  Epitaphs  published  by  Ro- 
bertson there  is  none  by  Melville,  but  an  elegy  by  him  is  pre- 
fixed to  a  Tife  of  Rollock  written  in  Latin  by  Henry  Chaiteris, 
who  succeeded  him  as  Principal.     (MS.  in  liibl.  Col.  Edin.) 

\  MeKille's  Diary,  328.  Lindsay  died  Sept.  3,  1598.  (Ap- 
pend, to  liamont's  Diar)\  p.  285.)  He  was  Secretary  of  State, 
and,  for  several  years  before  his  death,  Chancellor  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  St.  Andrews.  Melville  addressed  a  playful  poem  to 
him,  in  the  form  of  a  petition  from  the  university.  (Delitia* 
Poet.  Scot.  ii.  121.")  I  have  an  original  letter  from  Melville, 
"  To  my  verie  guid  Lord  my  lord  Secretar  L.  Chanceler  of  the 
Vniversitie  of  Senctandrois."  It  has  no  date,  but  appears  to 
have  been  written  some  years  before  Lindsay's  death.  Among 
other  things,  it  contains  observations  on  the  best  remedies  for 
the  stone,  the  disease  which  proved  fatal  to  his  lordship. 

II  One  of  his  epitaphs  on  him  is  printed  (Melvini  Musw,  p. 
11.:)  others  are  preserved  in  MS.  (Melville's  Diary,  p.  345—- 
347.)  The  account  which  James  Melville  has  given  of  his  fa- 
ther-in-law's dying  advice  to  the  ministers,  (Diary,  344,345.)  is 
completely  at  variance  with  that  of  Spotswood.  ^History  458.) 
He  died  on  the  25th  of  Feb.  1600.  Marion  Majoribanks  was 
his  relict,  and  John  and  Simeon,  his  sons.  (Test.  Testamentar, 
in  Commissary  Records  of  Edinburgh.) 

{  Spotswood,  462—464.     Jn  May,  1594,  the  King  caused  it 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE, 


307 


The  eager  desire  which  James  felt  to  secure  his  ac- 
cession to  the  English  throne  induced  him  to  adopt  mea- 
sures which  gave  much  offence  to  his  subjects.  With 
the  view  of  conciliating  the  Roman  Catholics,  he  sent 
a  secret  embassy  to  the  Pope.  The  odium  of  the  let- 
ter addressed  in  his  name  to  his  Holiness,  was  after- 
wards thrown  on  his  Secretary;  but  it  has  been  sus- 
pected, not  without  some  reason,  that  James  acted  the 
same  part  to  Lord  Balmerino  in  this  affair,  which 
Elizabeth  did  to  Secretary  Davidson  respecting  the  ex- 
ecution of  Queen  Mary.*  With  the  view  of  gratify- 
ing the  Pope,  and  procuring  his  support  to  the  King's 
title,  a  project  was  set  on  foot  to  grant  a  toleration  to 
the  Papists  of  Scotland."}"  And  Archbishop  Beaton 
was  not  only  appointed  ambassador  at  the  court  of 
France,  but  restored  to  the  temporalities  of  the  see  of 
Glasgow.:!^  These  steps,  though  taken  with  great  se- 
crecy and  caution,  did  not  escape  the  vigilance  of  the 
ministers. II 

The  literary  works  which  James  produced  at  this 
time  contributed  to  strengthen  the  opposition  to  his 
administration.  In  1598  he  published  his  True  Law 
of  Free  Monarchies.  We  must  not  imagine  that  by  a 
"free  monarchy"  was  meant  any  thing  like  what  the 
expression  suggests  to  us.  It  meant  a  government 
exercised  by  a  monarch  who  is  free  from  all  re- 
straint or  control,  or,  as  the  author  fitly  denominates 
him,  "a  free  and  absolute  monarch."  The  treatise  is, 
in  fact,  an  unvarnished  vindication  of  arbitrary  power 
in  the  prince,  and  of  passive  obedience  and  non-resist- 
ance on  the  part  of  the  people,  without  any  exception 
or  reservation  whatever.  The  royal  politician  gra- 
ciously allows,  that  princes  owe  a  duty  to  their  sub- 
jects, but  he  thinks  it  "  not  needing  to  be  long"  in  the 
declaration  of  it.  He  grants,  that  a  king  should  con- 
sider himself  as  ordained  for  the  good  of  his  people ; 
hut   then,   if  he   shall  think  and  act  otherwise,  and 


to  be  intimated  to  the  General  Assembly  that  "  Mr.  Jo"  Crag  is 
awaiting  w'  houre  it  sail  please  God  to  call  him  and  is  altogether 
vnable  to  serve  any  longer."  (Buik  of  Univ.  Kirk,  f.  176,  a.) 
He  died  on  the  12th  of  Dec.  1600;  and  left  Marion  Sniail,  his 
spouse,  and  Mr.  William  Craig,  his  son,  executors,  who  were 
appointed  to  take  the  advice  of  Mr.  Thomas  Craig,  advocate. 
He  requested  "bishaill  bairnes  to  remain  in  househald  with 
thair  mother  while  thair  marriage  with  parties  honest."  (Test. 
Testamentar,  in  Commissary  Records  or  Edinburgh.)  I  do  not 
know  whether  the  work  referred  to  in  the  followmg  minute  of 
Assembly,  (August  12,  1590,)  was  published:  "  Ordaines  ye 
brether  of  the  pbrie  of  Ed'  to  peruse  ye  ans""  sett  out  be  Mr. 
Craig  against  a  pernicious  wrytting  put  out  against  the  confes- 
sioun  of  faith,  together  with  the  preface  made  be  Mr.  Jon  david- 
sone,  and  if  they  find  meitt  the  samen  be  published  that  they 
may  be  committit  to  prent."  (Ibid.  f.  161.)  On  the  "penult 
Maij"  1592,  Craig's  Catechism,  "quhilk  now  is  allowit  and  ini- 

firintit,"  was  ordained  to  be  "  read  in  families,"  and  "  red  and 
eirnit  in  lecture  schooles  in  place  of  the  litle  catechisme." 
(Ibid.  f.  163,  b.) 

«  Printed  Cald.  p.  426,  427,  604.  Ambassades  de  M.  de  la 
Boderie,  torn.  iv.  p.  66. 

\  Cald.  V.  548.  It  would  seem  that  James  had  a  work  on 
this  subject  ready  for  the  press.  "  The  king  at  this  time  (June 
1601)  promised  to  Mr.  John  Hail,  that  the  book  called  a  decla- 
ration of  the  King's  minde  toward  the  catholicks  sould  never  be 
sett  furth."     (Ibid.  p.  591.) 

\  The  act  of  convention,  penult.  Junij.  1598,  was  ratified  by 
Parliament  in  1600.  (Act.  Pari.  Scot.  iv.  169,  256.)  Keith 
says,  that,  in  1588,  the  King  did,  by  Act  of  Parliament,  "  re- 
store the  old  exauctorate  and  forfeited  bishop  Beaton  to  the 
temporality  of  the  see  of  Glasgow,  which  he  did  enjoy  until 
his  death  on  the  —  April,  1603."  (Scottish  Bishops,  p.  156.) 
This  is  a  mistake.  It  is  true,  that  Beaton  was  not  excepted 
from  the  benefit  of  the  act  of  Parliament  1587,  rescinding  all 
forfeitures  from  1561.  But  this  "  restitutioun  reraainit  not 
lang  efifectuall  in  his  persoun,  be  reasone  he  failzeit  in  geving 
the  confessioun  of  his  faith  and  acknawlegeing  of  o'  souerane 
lordis  auctie,  as  was  ordainit  be  ye  said  restitutioun."  (Act. 
Pari.  Scot.  iii.  624.)  When  James  was  threatening  to  revenge 
his  mother's  death,  he  proposed  to  make  Beaton  his  ambassador. 
(Courcelles's  Dispatches,  March  8,  and  14,  1587.) 

II  The  Presbytery  of  Edinburgh  applied  for  a  copy  of  the 
act  respecting  Beaton;  but  were  referred  from  the  clerk  of 
council  to  the  clerk  of  register,  and  from  the  latter  to  Mr.  Alex- 
ander Hay.     (Record  of  Presb.  Julij  4,  11,  and  18,  1598.) 


choose,  as  too  many  kings  have  chosen,  to  run  the  risk 
of  divine  punishment,  the  people  are  not  permitted  to 
"  make  any  resistance  but  by  flight,"  as  we  may  see 
by  "the  example  of  brute  beasts  and  unreasonable 
creatures,"  among  whom  "  we  never  read  or  heard  of 
any  resistance"  to  their  parents,  "  except  among  the 
vipers."  A  free  monarch  can  make  statutes  as  he 
thinks  meet  without  asking  the  advice  of  parliaments 
or  states,  and  can  suspend  parliamentary  laws  for 
reasons  known  to  himself  only.  "  A  good  king  will 
frame  all  his  actions  according  to  the  law,  yet  is  he 
not  bound  thereto  but  of  his  good  will  :  although  he 
be  above  the  law,  he  will  subject  and  frame  his  actions 
thereto  for  example's  sake  to  his  subjects,  and  of  his 
own  free  will,  but  not  as  subject  or  bound  thereto." 
In  confirmation  of  this  doctrine,  James  appeals  to 
Samuel's  description  of  a  king,  and  quotes  and  ex- 
pounds, with  the  utmost  confidence  and  complacency, 
the  account  which  that  prophet  gave  the  Israelites  of 
the  oppressions  which  they  would  suffer  under  a  form 
of  government  on  which  they  fondly  doted. 

Such  was  "  the  true  pattern  of  divinity"  whick 
James  found  himself  constrained  in  duty  to  publish, 
for  the  correction  of  "  our  so  long  disordered  common- 
wealth," and  for  the  instruction  of  his  future  subjects 
in  that  which  it  was  most  necessary  for  them  to  know, 
"  next  to  the  knowledge  of  their  God."  He  at  least 
dealt  honestly  witli  the  people  of  England,  who  had 
already  begun  to  worship  the  rising  sun;  and  in  wel- 
coming him  so  cordially  and  unconditionally,  as  they 
afterwards  did,  when  he  had  plainly  told  them  before- 
hand that  they  were  to  be  governed  as  a  conquered 
kingdom,  they  might  fairly  be  considered  as  addressing 
him  in  the  language  which  he  puts  into  the  mouths  of 
the  Hebrews  :  "  All  your  speeches  and  hard  conditions 
will  not  skarre  us,  but  we  will  take  the  good  and  evil  of 
it  upon  us  ;  and  we  will  be  content  to  bear  whatsomever 
burden  it  shall  please  our  King  to  lay  upon  us,  as  well 
as  other  nations  do."  If  they  were  disappointed  of 
the  benefit  which  they  expected  to  "  get  of  him  in 
fighting  their  battles,"  they  had  themselves  to  blame, 
as  he  never  gave  large  promises  on  that  head.  But  he 
performed  for  them  services  of  a  more  valuable  kind, 
as  "  the  great  schoolmaster  of  the  whole  land,"  ac- 
cording to  his  own  description  of  his  office.  He  taught 
them  a  "  style  utterly  unknown  to  the  ancients ;"  ban- 
ished the  writings  of  Calvin,  Buchanan,  Ponet,  and 
such  like  "apologies  for  rebellions  and  treasons," 
which  had  obtained  too  great  authority  among  them  ;* 
and  furnished  orthodox  text-books,  from  which  the 
orators  of  "  Cam  and  Isis"  might  "preach  the  right 
divine  of  kings  to  govern  wrong.""}" 

The  presbyterians  of  Scotland  could  not  conceal  their 
disapprobation  of  the  political  principles  of  the  Law 
of  Free  Monarchies. :f:  This  was  one  reason  of  their 
being  treated  with  such  severity  in  the  celebrated 
BasUicon  Doron,  or  Instructions  of  the  King  to  his  son 
Prince  Henry,  which  came  to  light  in  the  course  of 
the  following  year.  Fond  of  seeing  this  work  in 
print,  and  yet  conscious  that  it  would  give  great  of- 
fence, James  was  anxious  to  keep  it  from  the  knowl- 
edge of  his  native  subjects,  until  circumstances  should 
enable  him  to  publish  it  with  safety.  With  this  view 
"  the  printer  being  first  sworn  to  secrecy,"  says  he, 
"  I  only  permitted  seven  of  them  to  be  printed,  and 
these  seven  I  dispersed   among  some   of  my  trustiest 


*  King  James's  Works,  p.  204,  205. 

f  "  Mr.  George  Herbert,  being  Prelector  in  the  Rhetorique 
School  in  Cambridg  anno  1618,  passed  by  those  fluent  orators 
that  domineered  in  the  pulpits  of  Athens  and  Rome,  and  in- 
sisted to  read  upon  an  oration  of  King  James,  whirJi  he  ana- 
lysed, shewed  the  concinnity  of  the  parts,  the  propriety  of  the 
phrase,  the  height  and  power  of  it  to  move  the  affections,  the 
style  utterly  unlknown  to  the  ancients,  who  could  not  conceive 
what  kingly  eloquence  was,  in  respect  of  which  these  noted 
demagogi  were  but  hirelings  and  triobolary  rhetoricians-" 
(Hacket's  Life  of  Archbishop  Williams,  Part  I.  p.  175.) 

\  Cald.  V.  365. 


308 


LIFE   OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


servants  to  be  kept  closely  by  them."*  Sir  James 
Sempill  of  Beltrees,  one  of  the  courtiers,  shewed  his 
copy  to  Melville,  with  whom  he  was  on  a  footing  of 
intimacy.  Having  extracted  some  of  the  principal 
propositions  in  the  work,  Melville  sent  them  to  his 
nephew,  whose  colleague,  John  Dykes,  laid  them  be- 
fore the  provincial  synod  of  Fife.  The  synod  judged 
them  to  be  of  the  most  pernicious  tendency,  and  not 
believing,  or  aflfecting  not  to  believe,  that  they  could 
proceed  from  the  high  authority  to  which  they  were 
attributed,  sent  them  to  his  Majesty.  An  order  was 
immediately  issued  for  the  apprehension  of  Dykes, 
who  absconded. f  The  propositions  laid  before  the 
synod  were  the  following  :  That  the  office  of  a  king 
is  of  a  mixed  kind,  partly  civil  and  partly  ecclesias- 
tical :  That  a  principal  part  of  his  function  consists  in 
ruling  the  church  :  That  it  belongs  to  him  to  judge 
when  preachers  wander  from  their  text,  and  that  such 
as  refuse  to  submit  to  his  judgment  in  such  cases 
ought  to  be  capitally  punished  :  That  no  ecclesiastical 
assemblies  ought  to  be  held  without  his  consent :  That 
no  man  is  more  to  be  hated  of  a  king  than  a  proud 
puritan  :  That  parity  among  ministers  is  irreconcilable 
with  monarchy,  inimical  to  order,  and  the  mother  of 
confusion  :  That  puritans  had  been  a  pest  to  the  com- 
monwealth and  church  of  Scotland,  wished  to  engross 
the  civil  government  as  tribunes  of  the  people,  sought 
the  introduction  of  democracy  into  the  state,  and  quar- 
relled with  the  King  because  he  was  a  king  :  That  the 
chief  persons  among  them  should  not  be  allowed  to  re- 
main in  the  land  :  in  fine,  That  parity  in  the  church 
should  be  banished,  episcopacy  set  up,  and  all  who 
preached  against  bishops  rigorously  punished.  Such 
were  the  sentiments  which  James  entertained,  and 
which  he  had  printed,  at  the  very  time  that  he  was 
giving  out  that  he  had  no  intention  of  altering  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  church,  or  of  introducing  episcopacy. 
It  is  easy  to  conceive  what  effect  this  discovery  must 
have  produced  on  the  minds  of  the  presbyterian  min- 
isters. And  were  it  not  that  we  know  that  a  sense  of 
shame  has  but  a  feeble  influence  on  princes  and  states- 
men, and  that  they  never  want  apologists  for  their  worst 
actions,  it  would  be  confounding  to  think  that  either 
the  King  or  his  agents  should  have  been  so  barefaced 
as  after  this  to  repeat  their  protestations. 

Finding  that  the  work  gave  great  offence,  James  af- 
terwards published  an  edition  of  the  Daron,  accompa- 
nied with  an  apologetical  preface.  His  apology,  as 
might  be  expected,  is  extremely  awkward  and  unsat- 
isfactory. Too  timid  to  avow  his  real  meaning,  and 
too  obstinate  to  retract  what  he  had  advanced,  he  has 
recourse  to  equivocation,  and  to  explanations  glaringly 
at  variance  with  the  text.  The  opprobrious  name  of 
puritans,  he  allows,  was  properly  applicable  only  to 
those  called  the  Family  of  Love,  who  arrogated  to  them- 
selves an  exclusive  and  sinless  purity.  To  gain  credit 
to  his  assertion  that  he  alluded  chiefly  to  such  persons, 
he  alleges  that  Brown,  Penry,  and  other  Englishmen 
had,  when  in  Scotland,  "  sown  their  popple,"  and  that 
certain  "  brainsick  and  heady  preachers"  had  imbibed 
their  spirit;  although  he  could  not  but  know  that  these 
rigid  sectaries  were  unanimously  opposed  by  the  Scot- 
tish ministers,  and  that  the  only  countenance  which 
they  received  was  from  himself  and  his  courtiers.^ 
The  following  acknowledgment  deserves  particular 
notice,  as  it  ascertains  an  important  fact,  and  enables 
us  to  judge  of  the  policy  of  the  course  which  James 
was  at  present  pursuing.  Speaking  of  the  ministers, 
he  says,  "  There  is  presently  a  sufficient  number  of 
good  men  of  them  in  this  kingdome;  and  yet  are  they 
ALL  known  to  be  against  the  form  of  the  English 
church."  And  again,  speaking  of  the  charge  of  puri- 
tanism,  ho  says,  "  I  protest  upon  mine  honour  that  I 

•  See  Note  C. 

t  Melville's  Diary,  331.    Cald.  337,  338.     SpoUwood,  457. 

t  See  before,  p.  259. 


mean  it  not  generally  of  all  preachers,  or  others,  that 
like  better  of  the  single  form  of  policj'  in  our  church 
than  of  the  many  ceremonies  of  the  church  of  England, 
that  are  persuaded  that  their  bishops  smell  of  a  papal 
supremacy,  that  the  surplice,  cornered  cap,  and  such 
like,  are  the  outward  badges  of  popish  errors.  No,  I 
am  so  far  from  being  contentious  in  these  things, 
(which  for  my  own  part  I  ever  esteemed  indifferent) 
as  I  do  equally  love  and  honour  the  learned  and  grave 
men  of  either  of  these  opinions.  It  can  no  ways  be- 
come me  to  pronounce  so  lightly  a  sentence  in  so  old  a 
controversy.  We  all  (God  be  praised)  do  agree  in  the 
grounds,  and  the  bitterness  of  men  upon  such  questions 
doth  but  trouble  the  peace  of  the  church,  and  gives  ad- 
vantage and  entry  to  the  papists  by  our  division."* 
Such  is  the  language  of  one  who  spent  a  great  part  of 
his  life  in  agitating  these  very  questions,  who  was  at 
that  time  employed  in  imposing  these  very  forms  upon 
a  church,  which,  according  to  his  own  acknowledg- 
ment, was  decidedly  and  unanimously  averse  to  them, 
and  who,  in  this  very  publication,  lays  injunctions  on 
his  son  to  prosecute  the  scheme  after  his  death  ! 

It  has  been  said,  that  this  work  contributed  more  to 
smoothen  his  accession  than  all  the  books  written  in 
defence  of  his  title  to  the  English  crown.  But  the 
facts  respecting  its  publication  do  not  accord  with  this 
theory. f  Though  an  impartial  examination  of  its  con- 
tents will  not  justify  the  high  encomiums  passed  upon 
it,:j:  yet  its  literary  merits  are  not  contemptible.  It  is 
more  free  from  childish  and  disgusting  pedantry  than 
any  other  of  James's  writings,  and  contains  many  good 
advices,  mingled,  however,  with  not  a  few  silly  preju- 
dices. 

A  careful  comparison  of  the  Law  of  Free  Monarchies 
and  the  Basilicon  Boron  throws  no  small  light  on  the 
history  of  the  time.  It  points  out  the  true  ground  of 
the  strong  antipathies  which  James  fi4t  to  the  presby- 
terian ministers,  and  ascertains  the  meaning  of  his  fa- 
vourite ecclesiastico-political  aphorism,  No  Bishop,  no 
King. 

The  affair  of  the  Gowrie  Conspiracy,  which  occurred 
in  the  first  year  of  the  seventeenth  century,  proved  in- 
jurious to  the  church,  as  well  as  vexatious  to  individ- 
ual ministers.  For  not  giving  thanks  for  his  Majesty's 
deliverance  in  the  very  words  which  the  court  dictated 
on  the  first  intimation  of  the  occurrence,  the  ministers 
of  Edinburgh  were  called  before  the  Privy  Council  ;|| 
and  having  acknowledged,  in  answer  to  the  inquisito- 
rial demands  put  to  them,  that  they  were  not  com- 
pletely convinced  of  the  treason  of  Gowrie,  although 
they  reverenced  the  King's  narrative,  five  of  them  were 
removed  from  the  capital,  and  prohibited  from  preach- 
ing in  Scotland.  Four  of  these  soon  after  submitted, 
and  each  was  enjoined  to  profess  his  belief  of  the  con- 
spiracy, and  his  sorrow  for  his  error  and  incredulity,  in 
several  churches,  according  to  the  penance  imposed 
upon  persons  who  were  chargeable  with  the  most  hei- 

•  Basilicon  Doron,  To  the  Reader,  A.  5,  6.  Lend.  1603, 
King  James's  Works,  p.  144.  What  truth  there  was  in  all  this, 
James  has  himself  told  us  in  another  of  his  writings:  "That 
Bishops  ought  to  be  in  the  church,  I  ever  maintained  as  an 
Apostolike  institution,  and  so  the  ordinance  of  God; — so  was  I 
ever  an  enemie  to  the  confused  anarchic  or  parity  of  the  puri- 
tans, as  well  appeareth  in  my  Basilicon  Doron. — I  that  in  my 
said  book  to  my  son  do  speak  tenn  times  more  bitterly  of  them 
(the  puritans)  nor  of  papists — I  that  for  the  space  of  six  years 
before  my  coming  into  England  laboured  nothing  so  much  as  to 
depresse  their  paritie,  and  re-erect  Bishops  againe."  (Premo 
nition  to  the  Apology  for  the  Oath  of  Allegeance,  p.  44,  45.) 

+  See  Note  C. 

i  Bishop  of  Winton's  Preface  to  King  James's  Works,  sig.  d. 
Spotswood,  p.  475.     Walton's  Lives,  Zouch's  edit.  p.  296. 

II  Spotswood  says  that  the  council  told  the  ministers,  when 
they  were  first  sent  for,  "  that  they  were  only  to  signifie  how 
the  kins  had  escaped  a  great  danger,  and  to  stir  un  the  people 
to  thanksgiving;"  but  "by  no  persuasion  they  could  be  moved 
to  perform  that  duty."  (Hist.  p.  461.)  According  to  every 
other  statement  which  I  have  examined,  the  ministers  declared 
their  readiness  to  do  this,  and  merely  declined  to  testify  that  his 
Majesty  had  been  delivered  "  from  a  vile  treason." 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


309^^ 


nous  oiFences.*  Bruce  alone  refused,  and  was  banish- 
ed/}" Being  subsequently  recalled  from  France,  he 
signified  that  his  doubts  were  in  a  great  measure  re- 
moved, but  still  refused  to  make  a  public  profession  of 
his  faith  in  the  words  of  the  court,  or  to  submit  to  the 
humiliating  penance  which  it  enjoined.  As  a  subject, 
he  said,  he  had  never  refused  to  do  the  duty  of  a  sub- 
ject ;  but  he  did  not  feel  himself  at  liberty  to  utter  in 
the  pulpit,  under  the  authority  of  his  office,  any  thing 
of  which  he  was  not  fully  persuaded.  "  I  have  a  body 
and  some  goods,"  continued  he,  "  let  his  Majesty  use 
them  as  God  shall  direct  him.  But  as  to  my  inward 
peace,  I  would  pray  his  Majesty  in  all  humility  to  suf- 
fer me  to  keep  it.  Place  me  where  God  placed  me, 
and  I  shall  teach  as  fruitful  and  wholesome  doctrine  to 
the  honour  of  the  magistrate  as  God  shall  give  me 
grace.  But  to  go  through  the  country,  and  make  proc- 
lamations here  and  there,  will  be  counted  either  a 
beastly  fear  or  a  beastly  flattery  ;  and  in  so  doing  I 
should  raise  greater  doubts,  and  do  more  harm  than 
good  to  the  cause ;  for  people  look  not  to  words  but 
grounds.  And  as  for  myself,  I  should  be  but  a  partial 
and  sparing  blazer  of  my  own  infirmities  :  others  will 
be  far  better  heralds  of  my  ignominy.":^ 

The  truth  is,  that  from  the  moment  that  Bruce  was 
removed  from  Edinburgh,  it  was  determined  that  he 
should  never  be  allowed  to  return.  He  was  tantalized 
for  years  with  the  hopes  of  being  restored  to  his  place. 
The  terms  proposed  to  him  were  either  such  as  it  was 
known  he  would  reject,  or  they  were  evaded  and  with- 
drawn when  he  was  ready  to  accede  to  them.  And  he 
was  afterwards  persecuted  till  his  death  by  the  mean 
jealousy  of  the  bishops,  who  set  spies  on  his  conduct, 
sent  informations  to  court  against  him,  and  procured 
orders  to  change  the  place  of  his  confinement  from  time 
to  time,  and  to  drag  him  from  one  corner  of  the  king- 
dom to  another.  The  whole  treatment  which  this  in- 
dependent minister  received  was  disgraceful  to  the 
government.  Granting  that  he  gave  way  to  scrupulos- 
ity— that  he  required  a  degree  of  evidence  as  to  the 
guilt  of  Gowrie,  which  was  not  necessary  to  justify 
the  part  which  he  was  required  to  take  in  announcing 
it — that  there  was  a  mixture  of  pride  in  his  motives, 
and  that  he  stood  too  much  on  the  point  of  honour, 
(concessions  that  some  will  not  be  disposed  to  make) 
— still  the  nice  and  high  sense  of  integrity  which  he 
uniformly  displayed,  his  great  talents,  and  the  eminent 
services  which  he  had  performed  to  church  and  state, 
not  to  speak  of  his  birth  and  connexions,  ought  to  have 
secured  him  very  different  treatment.  But  the  court 
hated  him  for  his  fidelity,  and  dreaded  his  influence  in 
counteracting  its  favourite  plans.  There  was  another 
consideration  which  rendered  his  pardon  hopeless. 
James  was  conscious  that  he  had  deeply  injured 
Bruce.ll  There  is  one  proof  of  this  which  I  shall 
state,  as  it  affords  a  striking  illustration  of  the  deplo- 
rable state  in  which  the  administration  of  justice  was 
at  that  time  in  the  nation. 

Bruce,  when  in  favour  with  the  court,  had  obtained 
a  gift  for  life  out  of  the  lands  of  the  abbey  of  Arbroath, 
which  he  had  enjoyed  for  a  number  of  years.§     In  the 


*  James  Balfour  was  appointed  to  make  his  confession  within 
the  towns  of  Dundee.  Arbroath,  Montrose,  and  Brechin.  (Re- 
cord of  Privy  Council,  Sept.  11,  1600.) 

+  Record  of  Privy  Council,  August  12,  31.  Sept.  10, 11,  1600. 
Cald.  V.  475, 492—495, 527—542.  The  minute  of  Council  bears, 
that  Bruce  "still  continewit  doubtful!  and  nocht  throwghlie 
resoluit  of  the  treasonabill  and  unnatural  conspiracie;"  and  that 
"  it  can  nawyse  stand  with  his  hienes  suirtie  and  honour  that 
ony  sic  distrustfull  personis  salbe  suflerit  to  remane  within  the 
cuntrey." 

t  Cald.  V.  599,  600.     Crawfurd,  i.  242. 

II  "  Chi  amende  non  pardonna;  et  si  jamais  Prince  a  ete  de 
cette  humeur,  celui-ci  Test;"  says  the  French  ambassador, 
in  representing  the  hopelessness  of  an  application  to  James  in 
behalf  of  the  son  of  the  Earl  of  Gowrie.  (Ambassades  de  M. 
de  la  Boderie,tom.  iii.  p.  108.) 

J  The  f^rant  itself,  which  passed  the  seals  on  the  15th  of  Oc- 
tober, 1589,  speaks  in  the  highest  terms  of  the  services  which 


year  1598,  the  King  privately  disposed  of  this  to  Lord 
Hamilton.  He  first  stirred  up  the  tenants  of  the  ab- 
bey to  resist  payment,*  aad  when  this  expedient  fail- 
ed, he  avowed  the  deed  by  which  he  had  alienated  the 
annuity.  Bruce  signified  his  willingness  to  renounce 
the  grant,  provided  the  King  retained  it  in  his  own 
hands  or  applied  it  to  the  use  of  the  church  ;  but  learn- 
ing that  it  was  to  be  bestowed  on  Lord  Hamilton,  he 
resolved  to  defend  his  right.  His  Majesty  called  down 
some  of  the  Lords  of  Session  to  the  palace,  and  sent 
his  ring  to  others,  and  by  threats  and  persuasions  en- 
deavoured to  induce  them  to  give  a  decision  in  favour 
of  the  crown.  Their  lordships,  however,  much  to  their 
credit,  found  Bruce's  title  to  be  valid  and  complete. | 
On  this  occasion  James  exhibited  all  the  violence  of  an 
imbecile  and  undisciplined  mind.  Being  in  court  when 
the  cause  was  heard,  and  perceiving  that  it  was  likely 
to  be  decided  contrary  to  his  wishes,  he  interrupted  the 
judges  while  they  were  delivering  their  opinions,  and 
challenged  them,  in  a  passionate  manner,  for  daring  to 
give  an  opinion  against  him.  Several  of  the  lords  rose, 
and  said,  that,  with  all  reverence  to  his  Majesty,  unless 
he  removed  them  from  their  office,  ihey  both  durst  and 
would  deliver  their  sentiments  according  to  justice; 
and,  with  the  exception  of  one  judge,  the  whole  bench 
voted  against  the  party  who  had  the  royal  support. 
James  threatened  the  advocates  who  pleaded  for 
Bruce. :t^  He  spoke  of  him  on  all  occasions  with  the 
utmost  asperity  ;  charging  him  with  stealing  the  hearts 
of  his  subjects,  and  saying,  that,  were  it  not  for  shame, 
he  would  "  throw  a  whinger  in  his  face."  Determined 
to  obtain  his  object,  he  "  wakened  the  process,"  by 
means  of  two  ministers  in  Angus  to  whom  he  transfer- 
red a  part  of  the  annuity.  At  a  private  interview,  in 
the  presence  of  Sir  George  Elphingston,  his  Majesty 
requested  Bruce  to  "  save  his  honour  and  he  would  not 
hurt  him  ;"  upon  which  a  compromise  was  made,  and 
sanctioned  by  the  Lords  of  Session.  But  the  King 
afterwards  set  this  aside  by  his  sole  authority,  altered 
the  minute  of  the  court,  and  threatened  to  hang  the 
clerk  if  he  gave  an  extract  of  it  in  its  original  and  au- 
thentic form.  Finding  that  he  was  to  be  deprived  of 
the  greater  part  of  his  annuity,  and  that  the  remainder 
was  to  be  given  him  only  during  the  royal  pleasure, 
Bruce  threw  up  the  gift  in  disdain. || 

The  eagerness  which  James  shewed  to  have  the  con- 
spiracy of  Gowrie  believed,  increased  instead  of  remo- 
ving the  public  incredulity.  He  issued  a  mandate  to 
change  the  weekly  sermon  in  all  towns  to  Tuesday,  the 
day  on  which  the  event  happened .§  Not  contented 
with  the  observance  of  a  national  thanksgiving  on  the 
occasion,  he  procured  an  act  of  parliament,  ordaining, 
that  the  fifth  day  of  August  should  be  kept  yearly  "  in 
all  times  and  ages  to  come,"  by  all  his  subjects,  as  a 
"  perpetual  monument  of  their  most  humble,  hearty, 
and  unfeigned  thanks  to  God"  for  his  "  miraculous  and 
extraordinary  deliverance  from  the  horrible  and  detest- 
able murder  and  parricide  attempted  against  his  Majes- 

Bruce  had  done  to  the  King,  and  to  the  whole  church,  "be  in- 
forming of  his  Ma*'«  and  counsall  of  sic  thingis  as  concerns  the 
Weill  therof  and  advancing  and  furthsetting  the  same  baith  in 
counsell  and  sessioun."  (Register  of  Privy  Seal,  vol.  ix.  fol.  68.) 
The  money  and  victual  contained  in  the  gift  are  regularly  en- 
tered as  his  stipend  in  the  Books  of  Assignation  and  Modifica- 
tion. One  chalder  of  wheat  and  one  of  bear  were  given  from 
it.  with  Bruce's  express  consent,  to  his  colleague,  Balcanquhal. 
(Book  of  Assignation  for  the  year  1591.) 

*  Register  of  Decreets  and  Acts  of  the  Commissariot  of  St. 
Andrews,  Aug.  21,  1598,  compared  with  Nov.  6,  1595. 

\  Action:  Gilbert  .\uchterlonie  in  Bonitoun,&c.  against  Lord 
Hamilton  and  Mr.  Robert  Bruce;  June  16, 1599.  (Register of 
Acts  and  Decreets  of  the  Court  of  Session,  vol.  clxxxiii.  fol. 
198.) 

t  Bruce's  counsel  were  Thomas  Craig,  John  Russel,  and  James 
Donaldson. 

It  Cald.  v.  363—367,  408—413. 

}  Record  of  Privy  Council,  Aug.  21,  1600.  Record  of  the 
Kirk  Session  of  St.  Andrews,  Aug.  24.  Extracts  from  Record 
of  Kirk  Session  of  Glasgow,  Sept.  25. 


310 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


ty's  most  noble  person.*  This  appointment  was  offen- 
sive on  different  g'rounds.  It  was  an  assumption  on 
the  part  of  the  parliament,  of  the  riorht  of  the  church- 
courts  to  judge  in  what  related  to  public  worship.  It 
was  at  variance  with  the  principles  of  the  church  of 
Scotland,  which,  ever  since  the  Reformation,  had  con- 
demned and  laid  aside  the  observance  of  religious  anni- 
versaries, and  of  all  recurring  holidays,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  weekly  rest.  The  appointment  in  ques- 
tion was  liable  to  peculiar  objections,  as  doubts  were 
very  generally  entertained  of  the  reality  of  the  conspi- 
racy to  which  it  related  ;  on  which  account  ministers 
and  people  were  annually  forced  either  to  offer  mock 
thanks  to  the  Almighty  or  to  incur  the  resentment  of 
the  government.  On  this  last  ground,  the  English,  ac- 
customed as  they  were  to  submit  to  such  encroach- 
ments on  their  natural  and  religious  liberty,  murmured 
at  the  introduction  of  this  new  holiday.^  Yet  such  in- 
fluence had  the  King  now  obtained  over  the  church- 
courts,  that  the  General  Assembly,  held  at  Holyrood- 
house  in  the  year  1602,  gave  its  sanction  to  the  ap- 
pointment; and  thus  exposed  the  church  of  Scotland  to 
just  reproach  from  her  adversaries,  as  agreeing  to  keep 
an  annual  festival  in  commemoration  of  the  deliverance 
of  an  earthly  prince,  while  she  refused  this  honour  to 
the  birth  and  death  of  her  divine  Saviour,  and  to  some 
of  the  most  interesting  events  in  the  history  of  Chris- 
tianity.:^ 

James  Melville  was  one  of  those  who  refused  to  obey 
this  act  of  parliament  and  assembly.  He  had  concur- 
ed  with  the  commissioners  of  the  church  and  the  synod 
of  Fife  in  appointing  a  public  thanksgiving  immedi- 
ately after  the  conspiracy.||  But  he  refused  to  keep  th^ 
anniversary.  The  King  summoned  him  and  several 
of  his  brethren  to  answer  for  their  disobedience,  and 
threatened  to  proceed  against  them  capitally  if  they  de- 
clined the  privy  council ;  but  having  ascertained  that 
they  were  determined  to  run  all  hazards,  he  satisfied 
himself  with  giving  them  a  royal  admonition  in  the 
presence  of  the  commissioners  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly. It  does  not  appear  that  the  ministers  were  after- 
wards put  to  trouble  on  this  head.§ 

It  would  seem  that  Melville  was  permitted  to  sit  in 
the  General  Assembly  which  met  at  Burntisland  in 
May,  1601.^  It  was  on  this  occasion  that  the  King 
became  again  a  covenanter,  by  publicly  renewing  his 
former  vows.  His  embassy  to  the  court  of  Rome  had 
not  been  well  received,  and  theRoman  Catholics  in  Eng- 
land had  shown  themselves  unfavourable  to  his  right  of 
succession  to  the  crown.  At  home  he  had  incurred  great 
odium  by  the  slaughter  of  the  Earl  of  Gowrie,  as  to 
whose  guilt  the  body  of  the  people  were  invincibly  in- 
credulous. After  the  assembly  had  been  occupied  for  a 
considerable  time  in  deliberating  on  the  "causes  of  the 


•  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  iv.  213,  214. 

t  "  Amonffst  a  number  of  other  novelties,  he  (James)  brought 
a  new  holy-day  into  the  church  of  England,  wherein  God  liad 
public  thanks  given  him  for  his  Majesties  deliverance  out  of  the 
hands  of  Earle  Gourie:  and  this  fell  out  upon  the  fifth  of  Au- 
gust, on  which  many  lies  were  told  either  at  home  or  abroad, 
m  the  quire  of  St.  Pauls  church  or  the  Long  Walk:  For  no 
Scotch  man  you  would  meet  beyond  the  sea  but  did  laugh  at  it, 
and  the  peripatetigue  politicians  said  the  relation  in  print  did 
murder  all  possibility  of  credit."  (Osborne's  Hist.  Memoirs: 
Secret  History  of  the  Court  of  James  the  First,  vol.  i.  p.  276.) 
"The  English  (says  Sir  Anthony  Welldon)  believe  as  little  the 
truth  of  tnat  story  as  the  Scots  themselves  did."  (Ibid.  p. 
32Q.) 

i  Buik  of  Univ.  Kirk,  f  204,  b. 

II  Melville's  Diary,  p.  36.3.  "  At  that  tyme,  (the  end  of  Au- 
gust 1600,)  being  in  Falkland,  I  saw  a  fuscanibulus  frenchman 
play  Strang  and  incredible  pratticks  upon  stented  takell  in  the 
palace  clos,  befor  the  king,  quein,  and  haill  court.  7Vuj  was 
politicklie  done  to  mitigat  the  Quein  and  peiple  Jbr  Gowriea 
slauchter.  Even  then  was  Hendersone  tryed  befor  ws,  and 
Gowries  pedagog  wha  haid  bein  buted."     (Ibid.) 

5  Rerord  of   Privy  Council,  Aug.  12,  1602.     Cald.  iv.  617. 

T  At  least,  Calderwood  (v.  570)  mentions  him  as  voting,  in 
the  privy  conference,  against  the  translation  of  the  minUters  of 
Exlinburgh. 


general  defections  from  the  purity,  zeal,  and  practice 
of  the  true  religion  in  all  estates  of  the  country,  and 
how  the  same  may  be  most  effectually  remedied," 
his  Majesty  rose  and  addressed  them  with  great  ap- 
pearance of  sincerity  and  pious  feeling.  He  confess- 
ed his  offences  and  mismanagements  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  kingdom  ;  and,  lifting  up  his  hand,  he 
vowed,  in  the  presence  of  God  and  of  the  assembly,  that 
he  would,  by  the  grace  of  God,  live  and  die  in  the  reli- 
gion presently  professed  in  the  realm  of  Scotland,  defend 
itaga,inst  all  its  adversaries,  minister  justice  faithfully 
to  his  subjects,  discountenance  those  who  attempted 
to  hinder  him  in  this  good  work,  reform  whatever  was 
amiss  in  his  person  or  family,  and  perform  all  the  du- 
ties of  a  good  and  Christian  king  better  than  he  had 
hitherto  performed  them.  At  his  request  the  members 
of  assembly  gave  a  similar  pledge  for  the  faithful  dis- 
charge of  their  duty;  and  it  was  ordained  that  this 
mutual  vow  should  be  intimated  from  the  pulpits  on 
the  following  Sabbath,  to  convince  the  people  of  his 
Majesty's  good  dispositions,  and  of  the  cordiality 
which  subsisted  between  him  and  the  church.* 

It  was  at  this  assembly  that  a  motion  was  made  to 
revise  the  common  translation  of  the  Bible,  and  the 
metrical  version  of  the  Psalms.  The  former  of  these 
was  the  only  piece  of  reform  which  James  exerted 
himself  in  effecting  after  his  accession  to  the  English 
throne.  On  the  present  occasion,  we  are  told,  he 
made  a  long  speech,  in  the  course  of  which  he  dwelt 
on  the  honour  which  such  a  work  would  reflect  on  the 
church  of  Scotland.  "  He  did  mention  (says  Arch- 
bishop Spotswood)  sundry  escapes  in  the  common 
translation,  and  made  it  seem  that  he  was  no  less 
conversant  in  the  Scriptures  than  they  whose  profes- 
sion it  was ;  and  when  he  came  to  speak  of  the 
Psalms,  did  recite  whole  verses  of  the  same,  shew- 
ing both  the  faults  of  the  metre  and  the  discrepance 
from  the  text.  It  was  the  joy  of  alLthat  were  present 
to  hear  it,  and  bred  not  little  admiration  in  the  whole 
assembly."!  But  ravished  as  they  were,  and  proud 
as  they  might  be,  of  having  for  a  king  so  great  a  di- 
vine, linguist,  and  poet,  the  Assembly  did  not  think 
it  fit  to  gratify  his  Majesty  by  naming  him  on  the  com- 
mittee ;  but  recommended  the  translation  of  the  Bible 
to  such  of  their  own  number  as  were  best  acquainted 
with  the  original  languages,  and  the  correction  of  the 
Psalmody  to  Pont.:}:  This  did  not,  however,  prevent 
James  from  employing  his  poetical  talents  on  a  new 
version  of  the  Psalms,  intended  to  be  sung  in  church- 
es. If  he  had  given  encouragement  to  the  ministers 
to  prosecute  such  works  as  these,  instead  of  irritating 
them,  and  embarrassing  himself,  by  the  agitation  of 
questions  respecting  forms  of  ecclesiastical  govern- 
ment, James  would  have  acted  like  a  wise  prince.  He 
would  have  gained  their  esteem,  diverted  them  from 
those  political  discussions  of  which  he  was  so  jeal- 
ous, and  essentially  promoted  the  interests  of  religion 
and  letters  in  his  native  kingdom. 

The  preposterous  and  baleful  policy  of  the  court 
distracted  the  ministers  from  other  undertakings  of 
great  moment  and  utility.  Among  these  was  the  in- 
troduction of  the  means  of  religious  knowledge  into 
the  Highlands  and  Islands  of  Scotland.  In  the  year 
1597,  the  General  Assembly  appointed  some  of  their 
number  to  visit  the  North  Highlands.  In  passing 
through  the  shires  of  Inverness,  Ross,  and  Murray, 
the  visitors  found  an  unexpected  avidity  for  religious 
instruction  in  the  people,  and  great  readiness  on 
the  part  of  the  principal  proprietors  to  make  provision 
for  it.  The  chief  of  the  clan  Mackintosh  subscribed 
obligations  for  the  payment  of  stipends  in  the  different 
parishes  on  his  estate;  and  observing  that  the  visitors 
were  surprised  at  his  alacrity,  he  said  to  them,  "  You 


*  Cald.  V.  577,  578.     Melville's  Diary,  p.  366.     Hist,  of  the 
Decl.  Age.  p.  25.  26.     Row's  Hist.  p.  62. 
f  Spotswood,  p.  466. 
t  Buik  of  th«  Univ.  Kirk,  f.  197,  b. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


311 


may  think  that  I  am  liberal,  because  no  minister  will 
venture  to  come  among  us.  But  get  me  the  men,  and 
I  will  find  sufficient  caution  for  safety  of  their  persons, 
obedience  to  their  doctrine  and  discipline,  and  good 
payment  of  their  stipends,  either  in  St.  Johnston,  Dun- 
dee, or  Aberdeen." — "  Indeed,"  says  James  Melville, 
who  was  one  of  the  visitors,  "  I  have  ever  since  re- 
gretted the  estate  of  our  Highlands,  and  am  sure  if 
Christ  were  preached  among  them,  they  would  shame 
many  Lowland  professors.  And  if  pains  were  taken 
but  as  willingly  by  prince  and  pastors  to  plant  their 
kirks  as  there  is  for  wracking  and  displanting  the  best 
constituted,  Christ  might  be  preached  and  believed 
both  in  Highlands  and  Borders."* — About  the  same 
time  a  scheme  was  planned  for  civilizing  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  Western  Isles,  who  were  in  a  state  of  com- 
plete barbarism,  and  scarcely  owned  even  a  nominal 
subjection  to  the  crown.  A  number  of  private  gentle- 
men, chiefly  belonging  to  Fife,  undertook  to  plant  a 
colony  in  Lewis,  and  the  adjacent  places,  which  form- 
ed the  lordship  of  the  Isles.  They  obtained  a  charter, 
confirmed  by  Parliament,  which  conferred  on  them 
various  privileges,  and  among  other  things  authorized 
them  to  erect  ten  parish  churches,  which  were  to 
be  endowed  from  the  revenues  of  the  bishopric  of  the 
Isles.f  The  presbytery  of  St.  Andrews  took  a  warm 
interest  in  this  undertaking;  and  at  their  appointment, 
Robert  Dury,  minister  of  Anstruther,  sailed  to  Lewis 
in  the  year  1601,  to  assist  the  gentlemen  of  the  society 
in  the  plantation  of  their  churches. :j:  The  next  account 
we  have  of  Dury  is  as  a  prisoner  in  Blackness,  for 
holding  a  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly. || 

While  James  remained  in  Scotland,  the  scheme  of 
introducing  episcopacy,  though  never  lost  sight  of, 
was  cautiously  prosecuted.  After  the  dissolution  of 
the  Assembly  held  at  Bruntisland,  the  commissioners 
of  the  church  addressed  a  circular  letter  to  the  minis- 
ters, intimating  that  the  Spanish  monarch  had  hostile 
intentions  against  Britain,  and  requesting  them  to  im- 
press their  people  with  a  sense  of  their  danger,  and  to 
assure  them  that  his  Majesty  was  resolved  to  hazard 
his  life  and  crown  in  the  defence  of  the  gospel. § 
Melville  wrote  upon  his  copy  of  the  letter,  Hanni- 
bal ad  porias!  He  was  convinced  that  the  fears  of  the 
commissioners  were  affected,  and  that  their  object  was 
to  raise  a  false  alarm,  with  the  view  of  turning  the 
public  attention  from  their  own  operations.  Accord- 
ingly, he  neglected  no  opportunity  of  rousing  his 
brethren  to  a  due  sense  of  the  real  danger  to  which 
they  were  exposed.  In  a  discourse  which  he  deliver- 
ed at  the  weekly  exercise  in  the  month  of  June,  1602, 
he  condemned  the  unfaithfulness  and  secular  spirit 
which  were  become  common  among  ministers  of  the 
gospel.  Gladstanes,  feeling  himself  galled  with  this  re- 
buke, sent  informations  against  him  to  court ;  and  the 
King  having  come  to  St.  Andrews,  issued  a /e/<rec?eca- 
cAe<  without  any  authority  from  the  Privy  Council,  con- 

*  Melville's  Diary,  p.  325. 

+  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  iv.  248—250.     Spotswood,  p.  468. 

i  Record  of  Kirk  Session  of  Anstruther  Wester,  April  30, 
1601. 

11  Among  the  means  used  for  the  reformation  of  the  High- 
lands, it  is  proper  to  mention  the  translation  of  Knox's  Liturgy, 
as  it  is  called,  into  Gaelic,  by  John  Carswell,  Superintendent  of 
the  West,  and  Bishop  of  the  Isles.  It  was  entitled  "  Foirm 
NA  NURRNUIDHEADH,"  i.  e.  Forms  of  Prayer  i  and  was  print- 
ed at  Edinburgh  by  Robert  Lekprevick,  24th  April,  1567.  An 
account  of  this  very  curious  and  rare  work,  and  interesting  ex- 
tracts from  it,  accompanied  with  an  English  translation,  may 
be  seen  in  Leyden's  Notes  to  Descriptive  Poems,  p.  214—227. 
See  also  Martin's  description  of  the  Western  Islands,  p.  127. 
I  have  but  little  doubt  that  the  Highlanders  had  the  Psalms  in 
their  own  language  during  the  16th  century.  A  Gaelic  transla- 
tion of  the  first  fifty  Psahns  was  published  by  the  synod  of  Ar- 
gyle  ill  the  year  1650;  most  probably  made  from  the  newly 
authorized  version  in  English. 

}  The  death  of  Philip  II.  in  the  year  1598,  was  fatal  to  the 
hopes  which  had  for  so  many  years  instigated  the  Roman  Cath- 
olics of  Scotland  to  disturb  the  peace  of  their  native  coun- 
try. 


fining  him  within  the  precincts  of  his  college.*  The  de- 
sign of  this  arbitrary  mandate  was  in  part  counteracted 
by  a  plan  which  was  adopted  by  the  members  of  pres- 
bytery, the  greater  part  of  whom  had  been  pupils  of 
Melville.  They  set  on  foot  an  exercise  in  the  New 
College,  in  which  they  alternately  treated  a  theological 
question.  This  was  attended  by  the  whole  university. 
The  questions  selected  were  chiefly  such  as  related  to 
the  papal  supremacy  and  hierarchy,  and  the  discussion 
was  managed  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  it  bear  on  the 
points  in  dispute  between  presbyterians  and  episcopa- 
lians. By  this  means  both  ministers  and  students 
were  confirmed  in  their  attachment  to  presbytery,  and 
qualified  for  defending  it  against  its  adversaries.  As 
the  exercise  was  performed  in  the  Latin  language,  as 
it  was  agreeable  to  the  directions  of  the  General  As- 
sembly, and  as  the  papists  were  the  only  opponents 
who  were  named,  the  court  could  find  no  plausible 
pretext  for  suppressing  it.f 

During  the  confinement  of  his  uncle,  James  Mel- 
ville exerted  himself  with  unusual  zeal,  and  display- 
ed a  resolution  and  courage  of  which  he  had  been  sup- 
posed incapable.  Perceiving  that  his  good  nature  had 
been  imposed  on  by  designing  and  faithless  brethren, 
that  his  silence  was  construed  into  consent,  and  that 
the  compliances  which  he  made,  with  a  view  to  peace 
and  harmony,  were  uniformly  followed  by  farther  en- 
croachments on  the  rights  of  the  church,  he  determin- 
ed, henceforward,  inflexibly  to  maintain  his  ground,  to 
act  invariably  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  own 
judgment,  and  to  lend  a  deaf  ear  to  the  fair  professions 
of  men  who  meant  only  to  deceive  and  overreach. :^: 
He  attended  the  assemblies  of  the  church  at  the  risk 
of  bis  life,  and  when  confined  by  a  lingering  disease 
he  wrote  them  from  his  sick-bed  letters  containing  the 
freest  advices  and  the  most  powerful  exhortations  to 
constancy.  With  the  view  of  preventing  his  opposi- 
tion to  the  court  measures  at  a  meeting  of  the  synod  of 
Fife,  intimation  was  sent  him  that  the  King  had  given 
one  of  his  letters  to  the  Lord  Advocate  for  the  purpose 
of  commencing  a  criminal  prosecution  against  him ; 
but  he  paid  so  little  regard  to  this  threatening,  that  Sir 
Robert  Murray,  in  reporting  the  proceedings  of  the 
synod,  informed  his  Majesty,  that  James  Melville  was 
become  more  fiery  and  intractable  than  his  uncle. || 

At  length  the  death  of  Elizabeth  put  James  in  pos- 
session of  the  new  kingdom  for  which  he  had  so  ar- 
dently longed.  In  the  speech  which  he  made  in  the 
High  Church  of  Edinburgh  before  setting  out  for  Eng- 

*  "  Apud  S.  Andrews  undecimo  die  mensis  JuIij,anno  domini 
1602.  The  kings  Ma.  for  certaine  causes  and  considerations 
moving  his  H.  ordaines  a  niacer  or  oy""  officer  of  armes,  to 
passe  &  in  his  name  and  authoritie  command  and  charge  Mr 
Andrew  Melvill  principall  of  the  new  Colledge  of  S.  AndreweS 
to  remaine  and  containe  himself  in  waird  within  the  precint  of 
said  Colledge,  and  in  noe  wise  to  resort  or  repaire  without  the 
said  precincts  while  he  be  lawfully  and  orderly  releeved,  and 
freed  be  his  Ma:  under  the  paine  of  rebellion  and  putting  of 
him  to  the  home,  with  certification  to  him,  if  he  faile  and  doe 
in  the  contrare  that  he  shall  be  incontinent  therafter  denounced 
rebell  and  putt  to  the  home,  and  all  his  moveables  goods 
escheat  to  his  H.  use,  for  his  contemption. 

(Cald.  VI.  615.)  Thomas  Fentenn  messinger." 

t  Melville's  History  of  the  Declining  Age,  p.  27.  28. 

X  During  the  sitting  of  the  General  Assembly  in  the  year 
1602,  he  was  sent  for  to  the  palace.  As  he  came  out  of  the 
cabinet,  William  Row,  minister  of  Strathmiglo,  who  was 
waiting  for  access,  overheard  the  King  saying  to  one  of  his  at- 
tendants, "  This  is  a  good  simple  man.  I  have  streaked  cream 
in  his  mouth:  I'll  warrant  you  he  will  procure  a  number  of 
votes  for  me  to-morrow."  Row  communicated  to  James  Mel- 
ville what  he  had  heard,  and  the  latter  having  next  day  given 
his  vole  against  the  proposal  of  the  court,  his  Majesty  would 
not  believe  it,  and  made  the  clerk  call  his  name  a  second  time. 
(Livingston's  Characteristicks,  art.  William  Row.) 

II  Wodrow's  Life  of  Mr.  James  Melvil,  p.  96,  102:  vol.  xii. 
MSS.  in  Bibl.  Col.  Glasg.  Being  told  that  the  King  hated  him 
more  than  any  man  in  Scotland  for  crossing  his  plans,  he  coolly 
replied, 

Nee  speransaliquid,.  nec  extimcscens, 
Exarmaveris  iinpotentis  iram. 


312 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


land,  he  professed  his  satisfaction  that  he  left  the 
church  in  a  state  of  peace,  and  declared  that  he  had 
no  intention  of  making  any  farther  alteration  of  its 
government.  He  repeated  this  assurance  to  the  depu- 
ties of  the  synod  of  Lothian,  who  waited  on  hiin  as 
he  passed  through  Haddington.  In  answer  to  a  peti- 
tion which  they  ])resented  in  behalf  of  their  confined 
brethren,  he  said,  that  he  had  parted  on  the  best  terms 
with  Bruce,  that  he  had  expected  that  Davidson  would 
wait  on  him  as  he  came  through  Prestonpans,  and  that 
he  had  given  Melville  the  liberty  of  going  six  miles 
round  St.  Andrews.*  All  the  ministers  offered  their 
cordial  congratulations  to  James  on  this  occasion,  al- 
though they  could  not  but  be  aware  that  one  of  the  first 
uses  which  he  would  make  of  his  increased  power 
would  be  to  overthrow  their  liberties. f  The  severity 
with  which  Melville  had  been  treated  did  not  prevent 
him  from  employing  his  muse  in  celebrating  the  peace- 
able accession  of  his  sovereign  to  the  throne  of  Eng- 
land: 

Scotangle  Princeps,  optiine  principum, 
Scotangle  Princeps,  maxinie  principum, 
Scotobritan-niberne  Princeps: 
Orte  polo,  nate,  sate  princeps. 
In  reg-na  concors  te  vocat  Anglia; 
Te  Vallia  oninis;  te  omnis  lernia; 
Et  fata  Rouiae;  et  Gallicani 
Per  veteres  titulos  triumphi 
Addunt  avitis  imperils  novos 
Sceptri  decores;  Orcadum  et  insulis 
Hetlandicisque,  et  plus  trecentis 
Hebridibus  nemorosa  Tenipe: 
Qua  belluosus  cautibus  obstrepit 
Nereus  Britannis,  qua  Notus  inibrifer. 
Qua  Circius,  Vulturnus,  Eurus 
Quadrijuga  vehitur  procella: 
Cnjus  mentis  nauifrago  impetu 
Vim  sensit  atram  classis  Iberica, 
Allisa  flictu  confraginosis 
Rupibus,  et  scopulis  tremendis. 
*  «  *  * 

Tui  videndi  incensa  cupidine 
Plebs  flagrat  imnienso,  Eripe  te  mora 
Scotobritan-hiberne  Princeps. 
Vive  diu  populoque  foelix, 
Gratusque.     Votis  et  prece  supplies 
Rerum  parenteni  concilia:  et  refer 
Exorsa  regni  laeta,  sanctum 
Christus  imperium  ut  gubernet, 
Fraenans  proteruae  regna  licentiae, 
Laxans  raodestae  froena  decentise, 
Vt  vera  virtus  verticem  mox 
Coaspicuum  super  astra  tollat.^ 


CHAPTER  Vm. 

Melville's  Correspondence  with  Learned  Foreigners — His 
Apology  for  the  Nonconformist  Ministers  of  England — 
Hampton-Court  Conference — Proposed  Union  of  the  two 
Kingdoms — Death  of  John  Davidson — Plan  of  the  Court  for 
Superseding  the  General  Assembly — Ministers  imprisoned 
for  Holding  an  Assembly  at  Aberdeen — Convicted  of  High 
Treason — Melville  Protests  in  Parliament  against  Episcopacy 
— Extract  from  Reasons  of  Protest — He  is  called  to  London 
with  Seven  of  hig  Brethren — Their  Appearances  before  the 
Scottish  Privy  Council — Sermons  Preached  for  their  Con- 
version— They  are  Prohibited  from  Returning  to  Scotland 
— Melville's  Epigram  on  the  Royal  Altar — He  is  called  be- 
fore the  Privy  Council  of  England  for  it — Confined  to  the 
House  of  the  Dean  of  St.  Paul's — Convention  of  Ministers 
at  Linlithgow — Constant  Moderators  Appointe-d — The  Min- 
isters at  London  Ordered  to  Lodge  with  English  Bishtips — 
Interview  between  them  and  Archbishop  Bancroft — Melville 
called  a  Second  Time  before  the  Council"  of  England — Ini- 

gnsoned  in  the  Tower — Reflections  on  his  Treatment — His 
Irethren  Confined — Their  Dignified  Behaviour. 

•  Cald.  vi.  699—701.  Melville'g  Histonr  of  the  Declining 
Age,  p.  36.  Tho  Rising  and  Usurpatione  ofour  pretendit  Bish- 
opes,  MS.  p.  2L  The  relaxation  of  Melville's  confinement  was 
procured  by  the  Queen's  mediation.     (Cald.  vi.  615.) 

+  Row's  History,  p.  191,  192. 

\  Melvini  Musse,  p.  12 — 15.  There  are  three  poems  by  bim 
on  the  accession  of  James,  and  one  on  the  sickness  of  Eliza- 
beth. 


While  the  jealousy  of  the  government  led  them 
to  circumscribe  the  usefulness  of  Melville  in  every 
way  that  was  within  their  power,  his  reputation  contin- 
ued to  spread  on  the  Continent.  Some  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished of  the  foreign  literati  courted  his  friend- 
ship, and  corresponded  with  him  by  letters.  Among 
these  was  Isaac  Casaubon,  who,  after  teaching  in  the 
academies  of  Geneva  and  Montpellier,  had  taken  up 
his  residence,  and  was  prosecuting  his  critical  studies 
at  Paris,  where  he  enjoyed  an  honorary  salary  as 
Reader  to  Henry  IV.  and  Keeper  of  the  Royal  Li- 
brary. The  correspondence  between  them  began  ia 
the  year  1601,  when  Casaubon  addressed  a  letter  to 
Melville  couched  in  the  most  flattering  terms.  "The 
present  epistle,  learned  Melville,  is  dictated  by  the 
purest  and  most  sincere  affection.  Your  piety  and 
erudition  are  universally  known,  and  have  endeared 
your  name  to  every  good  man  and  lover  of  letters.  I 
became  first  acquainted  with  your  character  at  Geneva, 
through  the  conversation  of  those  great  men,  Beza,  the 
deceased  Stephanas,*  and  the  learned  Lectins,  all  of 
whom  with  many  others,  as  often  as  your  name  was 
introduced,  were  accustomed  to  speak  in  the  highest 
terms  of  your  worth,  probity,  and  genius.  You  know 
the  effect  of  splendid  virtues  on  the  minds  of  the  in- 
genuous;  and  I  have  always  admired  the  saying  of 
the  ancients,  that  all  good  men  are  linked  together  by 
a  sacred  friendship,  although  often  separated  'by  many 
a  mountain  and  many  a  town.'  Having  long  loved 
and  silently  revered  your  piety  and  learning,  (two 
things  in  which  I  have  always  been  ambitious  to  ex- 
cel,) I  have  at  length  resolved  to  send  this  letter  to 
you  as  an  expression  of  my  feelings.  Accept  of  it, 
learned  Sir,  as  a  small  but  sincere  testimony  of  that 
regard  which  your  reputation  has  excited  in  the  breast 
of  a  stranger.  Permit  me  at  the  same  time  to  make  a 
complaint,  which  is  common  to  me  with  all  the  lovers 
of  learning  who  are  acquainted  with  your  rare  erudi- 
tion. We  are  satisfied  that  you  have  beside  you  a 
number  of  writings,  especially  on  subjects  connected 
with  sacred  literature,  which,  if  communicated  to  the 
studious,  would  be  of  the  greatest  benefit  to  the  church 
of  God.  W^hy  do  you  suppress  them,  and  deny  us 
the  fruits  of  your  wakeful  hours  1  There  are  already 
too  many,  you  will  say,  who  burn  with  a  desire  to 
appear  before  the  public.  True,  my  learned  Sir;  we  have 
many  authors,  but  we  have  few  or  no  Molvilles.  Let  me 
entreat  you  to  make  your  appearance,  and  to  act  the 
part  which  providence  has  assigned  you  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  that  we  also  may  share  the  benefit  of  your  la- 
bours. Farewell,  learned  Melville;  and  henceforward 
reckon  me  in  the  number  of  your  friends."| 

Another  of  Melville's  foreign  correspondents  was 
Mornay  du  Plessis,  a  nobleman  who  united  in  his 
character  the  best  qualities  of  the  soldier,  the  states- 
man, the  scholar,  and  the  Christian.  The  correspon- 
dence between  them  appears  to  have  commenced  on 
the  occasion  of  a  controversy  excited  among  the  Pro- 
testants of  France,  by  a  peculiar  opinion  respecting  the 
doctrine  of  justification,  which  Piscator,  a  celebrated 
theologian  at  Herborn  in  the  Palatinate,  had  started. 
The  National  Synod  of  the  French  churches,  which 
met  at  Gap  in  the  year  1603,  passed  a  severe  censure 
on  the  novel  tenet,  and  wrote  to  other  reformed  churches 
and  universities  requesting  them  to  assist  in  its  sup- 
pression.:{:  Melville  and  his  colleague  Johnston  con- 
veyed their  sentiments  on  the  subject  in  a  letter  to  Du 
Plessis.  They  did  not  presume  to  judge  of  the  sen- 
tence of  the  Synod  of  Gap,  but  begged  leave  to  express 


*  Henr}'  Stephens,  the  learned  printer,  was  the  father-in- 

f  of  Casaubon. 
law  Casauboni  Epistolae,  p.  129,  edit.  Almeloveen.     There  is 
only  another  letter  to  Melville  in  that  collection,     (lb.  p.  254.) 
It  appears  from  this  that  he  had  received  letters  from  Melville. 
(Comp.  p.  143.) 

I  Qaick's  Svnodicon,  i.227.  Piscator  was  accused  of  hold- 
ing that  the  sutterings  only  of  Christ,  and  not  the  actions  of  his 
life,  are  imputed  to  believers  in  justification. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


313 


their  fears  that  strong  measures  would  inflame  the 
minds  of  the  disputants,  and  that  the  farther  agitation 
of  the  question  might  breed  a  dissension  very  injurious 
to  the  interests  of  Uie  evangelical  churches.  It  ap- 
peared to  them,  that  both  parties  held  the  protestant 
doctrine  of  justification,  and  only  differed  a  little  in 
their  mode  of  explaining  it.  They,  therefore,  in  the 
name  of  their  brethren,  entreated  Du  Plessis  to  employ 
the  authority  which  his  piety,  prudence,  learned  wri- 
tings, and  illustrious  services  in  the  cause  of  Christi- 
anity had  given  him  in  the  Galilean  church,  to  bring 
about  an  amicable  adjustment  of  the  controversy.!  In 
his  reply  to  this  letter,  Du  Plessis  expressed  his  ap- 
probation of  the  prudent  advice  which  they  had  given, 
and  informed  them  of  the  happy  effects  which  it  had 
produced. t  The  King  of  Great  Britain  reckoned  it  in- 
cumbent on  him,  in  his  new  character  oi  Defender  of 
the  Faith,  to  interfere  in  this  dispute,  as  he  afterwards 
did  very  warmly  in  the  controversies  excited  in  Hol- 
land by  Arminius  and  Vorstius.  The  synod  of  Gap 
had  given  him  umbrage  by  a  declaration  which  he 
considered  as  derogating  from  the  due  authority  of 
bishops.:]: 

The  ministers  of  Scotland  waited  with  anxiety  to  see 
how  James  would  act  towards  that  numerous  and  re- 
spectable body  of  his  new  subjects  who  had  all  along 
pleaded  for  a  farther  reformation  in  the  English  church. 
From  this  they  could  form  a  pretty  correct  estimate  of 
the  line  of  conduct  which  he  intended  to  pursue  with 
themselves.  Before  the  death  of  Elizabeth  he  had 
sounded  the  dispositions  of  the  puritans.  They  were 
universally  in  favour  of  his  title ;  and  tliere  is  no  rea- 
son to  doubt  that  he  gave  them  hopes  in  the  event  of 
his  accession.il  When  he  was  on  his  way  to  London 
they  presented  to  him  a  petition,  commonly  called, 
from  the  number  of  names  affixed  to  it,  the  Millenary 
I'etition  ,•  stating  their  grievances,  and  requesting  that 
measures  might  be  adopted  for  redressing  them,  and 
for  removing  corruptions  which  had  long  been  com- 
plained of  by  the  soundest  Protestants.  No  sooner 
was  this  petition  presented  than  the  two  universities 
took  the  alarm.  The  university  of  Cambridge  passed  a 
grace,  "  that  whosoever  opposed,  by  word  or  writing, 
or  any  other  way,  the  doctrine  or  discipline  of  the 
church  of  England,  or  any  part  of  it,  should  be  sus- 
pended, ipso  facto,  from  any  degree  already  taken,  and 
be  disabled  from  taking  any  degree  for  the  future." 
The  university  of  Oxford  published  a  formal  answer 
to  the  petition,  in  which  they  accused  those  who  sub- 
scribed it  of  a  spirit  of  faction  and  hostility  to  mon- 
archy, abused  the  Scottish  reformation,  lauded  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  church  of  England  as  the  great  support 
of  the  crown,  and  concluded  with  this  very  modest 
declaration,  "  there  are  at  this  day  more  learned  men 
in  this  kingdom  than  are  to  be  found  among  all  the 
ministers  of  religion  in  all  Europe  besides."!  These 
proceedings  were  not  only  injurious  to  several  respect- 


«  Epistola  ad  Morneinm,  MS.  in  Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.  M.  6.  9. 
num.  46.  &  Rob.  III.  2.  18.  num.  10. 

+  Vie  de  M.  du  Plessis,  p.  307.  Quick's  Synodicon,  i.  265, 
266. 

J  The  synod  declared  that  the  title  Superintendent,  in  their 
Confession,  did  not  imply  "  any  superiority  of  one  Pastor  above 
another."  (Quick,  i.  227.)  Ag'ainst  this  explication  James 
sent  a  remonstrance.  (Laval,  Hist.  vol.  v.  p.  415.)  Du  Plessis, 
in  a  letter  to  M.  de  la  Fontaine,  apologizes  for  the  declaration 
of  the  synod.  (Menioires  de  M.  du  Plessis,  torn.  iv.  p.  50.) — 
James  published  bis  Epicrisis  de  controversia  mota  de  Justifi- 
catione,  anno  1612.  It  begins  with  a  quotation  from  Solomon, 
and  ends  with  Jacobus. 

II  See  his  letter  to  Mr.  Wilcock  in  Cald.  vi.  698,  699,  and 
Jacob's  Attestation  of  learned,  arodly,  and  famous  Divines,  p.  14, 
313. 

§  Who  were  the  individuals  at  this  time  in  the  church  of 
England,  (those  inclined  to  nonconformity  excepted,)  who  were 
known  in  the  republic  of  letters  ?  To  the  names  eulogized  b)' 
Melville,  Herbert  opposes  the  apostles  Peter  and  Paul,  the  em- 
peror Constantine,  St.  Augustine,  St.  Ambrose,  Duns  Scotus, 
and  King  James  !  (Musae  Resp.  Epigr.  33.  De  Anthorum  Enu- 
nieratione.) 

2P 


able  members  of  both  universities,  who  were  known  to 
have  taken  part  in  the  petition,  but  disrespectful  to  the 
King,  who  had  received  it  and  promised  to  inquire  into 
the  abuses  of  which  it  complained.  Melville  felt  in- 
dignant at  this  prostitution  of  academical  authority, 
and  attacked  the  resolutions  of  the  English  universities 
in  a  satirical  poem  which  he  wrote  in  defence  of  the 
petitioners.*  The  poem  was  extensively  circulated  in 
England,  and  galled  the  ruling  party  in  the  church  no 
less  than  it  gratified  their  opponents.  Several  of  the 
English  academics  drew  their  pens  against  it,  but  their 
productions  were  confessedly  very  inferior  to  Melville's 
in  elegance  and  pungency. f 

The  proceedings  and  issue  of  the  mock  conference 
at  Hampton  Court  are  well  known.  On  that  occasion 
care  was  not  taken  to  preserve  even  the  appearances 
of  impartiality.  Every  thing  was  previously  settled 
in  private  between  the  King  and  the  bishops.  The  in- 
dividuals who  were  allowed  to  plead  for  reform  were 
few ;  they  were  not  chosen  by  those  in  whose  name 
they  appeared,  nor  did  they  express  their  sentiments; 
and,  althoutjh  men  of  talents  and  learning,  they  did  not 
possess  the  firmness  and  courage  which  the  situation 
required.  The  moderation  of  their  demands  was  con- 
verted into  a  proof  of  the  weakness  of  their  cause,  and 
the  unreasonableness  of  nonconformity.  The  modesty 
with  which  they  urged  them  served  only  to  draw  down 
upon  them  the  most  intemperate  and  insolent  abuse. 
They  were  browbeaten,  threatened,  taunted,  insulted, 
by  persons  who  were  every  way  their  inferiors  except 
in  rank.  The  Puritans  complained  of  the  unfairness 
of  the  account  of  the  conference  which  was  published 
by  Barlow;  but  whatever  injustice  the  bishop  may 
have  done  to  their  arguments,  and  whatever  intention 
he  may  have  had  to  injure  their  reputation,  they  ought 
to  have  applauded  his  performance.  Nothing,  in  fact, 
can  be  more  pitiable  than  the  disclosure  which  it  makes 
of  the  bigotry  and  servile  adulation  of  the  bishops,  and 
of  the  intolerable  conceit  and  grotesque  ribaldry  of  the 
King.  To  quote  it  is  to  expose  them  to  ridicule.  No 
modern  Episcopalian  can  read  it  without  reddening 
with  shame  at  the  figure  in  which  the  head  and  digni- 
fied members  of  his  church  are  represented.:!:     There 

f  Pro  suppHci  Euangelicorum  Ministrorum  in  Anglia  ad  Se- 
renissimiim  Regeni,  contra  larvatam  geminas  Academiae  Gorgo- 
nem  Apologia,  sive  Anti-Tami-Cami-Categoria.  Authore  A. 
Mclvino.  1604.  Sir  Robert  Sibbald  mentions  an  edition  of  this 
poem  in  1620.  (De  Scriptoribus  Scoticis,  MS.  p.  13.)  It  was 
reprinted  in  CaldeTwood'^AltareDamascenum. 

t  One  of  these  was  George  Herbert,  who,  in  forty  epigrams, 
analyzed  Melville's  poem,  and  answered  it  piece-meal.  His  ep- 
igrams were  added  by  Dr.  Duport  to  a  collection  of  Latin  poems 
by  himself  and  others,  entitled  "  Exclesiastes  Soloraonis  &c. 
Accedunt  Georgii  Hcrberti  Musae  Responsorire  ad  Andreas  Mel- 
vini  Anti-Tami-Cami-Categoriam.  Cantab.  1662."— Isaac  Wal- 
ton  savs,  "If  Andrew  Melville  died  before  him,  then  George 
Herbert  died  without  an  enemy."  Upon  which  Walton's  ed- 
itor remarks:  "  We  cannot  suppose  that  Andrew  Melville  could 
retain  the  least  personal  resentment  against  Mr.  Herbert;  whose 
verses  have  in  them  so  little  of  the  poignancy  of  satire,  that  it 
is  scarce  possible  to  consider  them  as  capable  of  exciting  the 
anger  of  him  to  whom  they  are  addressed."  (Walton's  Lives, 
Dr.  Zouch's  edit.  p.  342.)— Tiiomas  Atkinson,  B.  D.  of  St. 
John's  College,  Cambridge,  wrote  an  answer,  under  the  title 
of  "Melvinus  Delirans,  sive  Satyra  edentula  contra  ejusdem 
Anti-Tami-Cami-Categoriani— per  Thoniam  Atkinson.  Poema 
versibus  lambicis  scriptum."  (Harl.  MSS.  num.  3496.  2.)  It 
was  dedicated  to  William  Laud,  when  Dean  of  Gloucester  and 
President  of  St.  John's  College.  The  MS.  is  not  now  to  be 
found  in  the  British  Museum. 

I  The  Summe  and  Substance  of  the  Conference— at  Hamp- 
ton Court,  January  14,  1603.  Contracted  bj  William  Barlow, 
Doctour  of  Divinitie,  &c.  Lond.  1605.  It  is  reprinted  in  Phoe- 
nix, vol.  i.  Besides  Barlow,  and  the  other  authorities  referred 
to  by  Neal,  in  his  History  of  the  Puritans,  those  who  wish  fall 
information  of  the  conference  may  also  consult  Wilkins's  Con- 
cilia Mag.  Brit.  torn.  ii.  p.  373—375. 

Barlow's  Account  of  the  Conference,  with  the  Canons  agreed 
on  by  the  Convocation  in  the  course  of  the  same  year,  was  pub- 
lished at  Paris  in  French  by  the  Roman  Catholics.  Such  notes 
as  the  followinjj  were  added  on  the  margin:  King  James  ab- 
jures the  Scottish  chnrch—King  James  a  semi-catholic,  &c. 
(Ad  Sereniss.  Jacobum  Primvm— Ecclesix  Scoticanje  hbellus 


314 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE 


was  not  the  most  distant  idea  of  giving  relief  to  the 
complainers  by  this  conference.  The  object  of  it  was 
to  afford  James  an  opportunity  of  displaying  his  talents 
for  theological  controversy  before  his  new  subjects,  to 
give  him  a  plausible  excuse  for  evading  his  promises 
to  the  non-conformists,  and  to  smooth  the  way  for  the 
introduction  of  the  forms  of  the  English  church  into 
Scotland.*  The  liturgy  was  published  with  a  few 
trifling  alterations,  and  conformity  to  it  was  enjoined 
upon  all  ministers  under  the  severest  penalties. f  In 
his  speech  to  the  parliament  which  met  soon  after  at 
Westminster,  James  acknowledged  the  church  of  Rome 
to  be  his  "  mother  church,  though  defiled  with  some 
infirmities  and  corruptions" — spoke  with  the  greatest 
tenderness  of  her  adherents,  and  declared  his  readiness 
to  "  meet  them  in  the  mid-way  :"  but  "the  puritans  or 
novelists,  who  do  not  differ  from  us  so  much  in  points 
of  religion  as  in  their  confused  form  of  policy  and  par- 
ity," were  pronounced  by  his  Majesty  to  be  a  "  sect  in- 
sufferable in  any  well-governed  commonwealth.":!: 

Warned  by  these  facts,  the  ministers  of  Scotland 
were  awake  to  their  danger  when  the  union  of  the  king- 
doms was  proposed;  a  measure  of  which  James  was 
extremely  fond,  and  which  he  set  on  foot  immediately 
after  he  went  to  England.  Melville  was  friendly  to  a 
legislative  union,  and  joined  with  several  of  his  learn- 
ed countrymen  in  setting  forth  the  advantages  which 
would  accrue  from  it  to  both  kingdoms. ||  But  he  was 
convinced  at  the  same  time,  from  the  disposition  of  the 
court,  that  there  was  the  greatest  reason  to  fear  that 
the  presbyterian  establishment  would  be  sacrificed  to 
accomplish  it.  W^hen  the  parliament  of  Scotland  was 
called  to  deliberate  on  this  important  business,  the 
synod  of  Fife,  under  his  influence,  applied  for  liberty 
to  hold  a  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly.  They 
were  told  by  the  agents  of  the  court  that  this  was  alto- 
gether unnecessary,  as  the  commissioners  to  be  ap- 
pointed by  parliament  were  merely  to  advise  on  the 
terms  of  union,  and  to  report  to  their  constituents;  to 
which  the  deputies  of  the  synod  replied,  that  in  ordi- 
nary cases  the  resolutions  of  committees  were  adopted 
by  the  Estates,  and,  consequently,  the  selection  of  the 
commissioners  and  the  instructions,  given  to  them  were 
of  the  very  greatest  importance.  Having  failed  in  ob- 
taining this  object,  the  synod  addressed  a  spirited  ad- 
monition to  the  commissioners  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly. After  expressing  their  fervent  wishes  for  the  suc- 
cess of  the  proposed  union,  as  conducive  to  the  tempo- 
ral prosperity  of  both  kingdoms,  and  to  the  security  of 
the  protestant  religion  in  them,  they  admonished  the 
commissioners  to  crave  of  the  parliament  that  the  laws 
formerly  made  in  favour  of  the  church  should  be  con- 
finned,  and  that  nothing  should  be  done  tending  to 
hurt,  alter,  or  innovate  her  discipline  and  government, 
which  was  founded  on  the  word  of  God,  established  by 
the  laws  of  the  land,  and  sanctioned  by  solemn  prom- 
ises and  oaths.  They  required  them  to  protest,  that, 
if  any  step  was  taken  to  its  prejudice,  it  should  be  null 
and  void ;  and  to  charge  those  who  voted  in  the  name 
of  the  church,  to  confine  themselves  within  the  bounds 
of  their  commission,  and  to  defend  the  ecclesiastical 
constitution,  as  they  should  answer  to  Christ  and  his 
church.  And  in  fine  they  adjured  them,  before  God 
and  his  elect  angels,  to  inform  the  commissioners  for 
the  union,  and,  through  them,  his  Majesty,  that  the 
members  of  synod  were  fully  persuaded  that  the  es- 

•upplcx.  Auctore  Jacobo  Melvino.  P.  30.  Lond.1645.)  The 
French  Protestantg  complained  that  their  adversaries  endeav- 
oured to  render  them  odious  by  quoting  wliat  James  had  said 
of  the  Puritans  in  his  Basilicon  Doron.  (Lord  Hailes'g  Memo- 
rials and  Letters,  i.  73.) 

«  Neal's  History  of  the  Puritnns,  vol.  ii.  p.  8,20,Toulm.  edit. 
Compleat  Hist,  of  England,  ii.  6t)5. 

+  Wilkins's  Concilia,  toni.  ii.  p.  377,  406,  408. 

\  Journals  of  the  CommoDs,  vol.  i.  p.  142. 

II  Delitiae  Poet.  Scot.  ii.  118.  There  is  a  letter  of  Melville's 
prefixed  to  a  treatise  on  tlie  Union  by  Hume  of  Godscroft. 
(MS.  in  Bibl.  Col.  Edin.) 


sential  grounds  of  the  government  established  in  the 
chtirch  of  Scotland  were  not  indifferent  or  alterable, 
but  rested  on  divine  authority,  equally  as  the  other 
articles  of  religion  did,  and  that  they  would  part  with 
their  lives  sooner  than  renounce  them.  The  King  was 
very  desirous  that  the  commissioners  for  the  union 
should  be  invested  with  unlimited  powers  ;  but  the  par- 
liament, jealous  of  the  designs  of  the  court,  passed  an 
act,  declaring,  in  conformity  with  the  request  of  the 
synod  of  Fife,  that  they  should  have  no  power  to  treat 
of  any  thing  that  concerned  the  religion  and  ecclesias- 
tical discipline  of  Scotland.* 

In  the  course  of  the  year  1()04,  John  Davidson,  who 
had  taken  an  active  part  in  the  public  transactions  of 
his  time,  departed  this  life.f  On  his  return  from  ban- 
ishment after  the  death  of  the  Regent  Morton,  he  be- 
came minister  of  the  parish  of  Libberton.  The  tyranny 
of  Arran  drove  him  a  second  time  into  England.  Upon 
the  fall  of  Arran,  lie  declined  returning  to  Libberton, 
and  was  chosen  to  deliver  a  morning  lecture  in  one  of 
the  churches  of  Edinburgh.  In  this  situation  he  re- 
mained until  he  was  called  to  Prestonpans,  where  he 
officiated  till  his  death. :|:  Davidson  was  a  man  of  sin- 
cere and  warm  piety,  and  of  no  inconsiderable  portion 
of  learning,  united  with  a  large  share  of  that  blunt  and 
fearless  honesty  which  characterized  the  first  reform- 
ers. The  bodily  distress  under  which  he  laboured  du- 
ring the  last  years  of  his  life  was  aggravated  by  the 
persecution  which  he  suffered  from  the  government.|| 
He  left  behind  him  collections  relating  to  the  ecclesi- 
astical history  of  Scotland,  with  other  writings,  which 
the  court  was  eager  to  suppress.^ 

Some  time  before  this,  Gladstanes  was  nominated 


*  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  iv.  274.  Forbes's  MS.  History,  p.  34,  35. 
James  Melville's  Hist,  of  the  Decl.  Age,  .p.  37 — 41.  Printed 
Cald.  p.  479 — 481.  Calderwood  represents  the  admonition  to 
the  commissioners  of  the  General  Assembly  as  given  b)-  the 
synod  of  Fife:  James  Melville  ascribes  it  to  the  commissioners 
of  synods.  Forbes  states  that  the  King  sent  down  a  list  of  such 
persons  aa  he  wished  to  be  chosen  commissioners  for  the  union, 
consisting  chielly  of  bishops  and  newly-created  noblemen  ;  that 
the  ancient  nobility.  ofTended  at  this,  refused  to  bear  their  ex- 
penses; that  the  persons  nominated  by  the  King  offered  to  go 
at  their  own  charge;  and  that,  upon  this,  the  nobility  made  the 
act  exempting  ecclesiastical  matters  from  their  cognizance. 

+  Four  individuals  "  having  comissione  of  the  haill  parish 
of  Saltprestoun,  bot  especially  of  y<^  laird  of  Prestonc,  conipeirit 
lamenting  ye  death  of  C  father  Mr.  Jo"  Davidsone  j  "■  last  pastor." 
(Record  of  Presbytery  of  Haddington,  Sept.  5,  1604.) 

f  "  Mr.  John  Davidsoun  refusit  to  reenter  to  the  kirk  of  Lib- 
bertoun."  (Record  of  the  Presbytery  of  Edinburgh,  JVov.  5. 
1588.)  "  The  transportation  of  Mr.  Ar<i  Symsoun  from  Dal- 
keith till  Cranstoun,  and  Mr.  John  Davidsoun's  planting  at  Dal- 
keith," are  remitted  to  the  Prcsbvlery  of  Edinburgh.  (Rec.  of 
Synod  of  Lothian  and  Tweeddale',  Sept.  17,  1589.)  "  Mr.  John 
Davidsoun's  preiching  in  Edinburgh  quarrellit  and  approved." 
(Ibid.  Oct.  3.  1589.  Comp.  April  1,  1595.J  A  proposal  was 
made  for  having  him  settled  in  the  West  Kirk.  (Rec.  of  Presb. 
of  Edin.  Oct.  29,  1594,  March  18, 1595.) 

It  Cald.  v.  579,  608. 

9  His  papers,  after  his  death,  came  into  the  hands  of  John 
Jonston,  Melville's  colleague.  "  Item,  1  leaue  the  trunk  that 
lyes  under  the  bwirde  u'  Mr.  Johne  David,sones  papers  thairin 
to  Mr.  Rob''  Wallace  &  Mr.  Alex'  Hooine  at  Prcstounepannes." 
(Jonston's  Testament.)  At  Jonston's  death,  an  order  was  issued 
by  the  lords  of  privy  council,  (Nov.  21,  1611,)  to  the  rector  of 
the  university  and  provost  and  bailies  of  St.  Andrews,  to  "  cause 
his  coffers  to  be  closed" — as  it  was  understood  "that  he  had 
sundrie  paperis  writtis  and  books,  pairtlie  written  be  himselfe, 
and  pairtlie  be  utheris, — q"'  contcnis  sura  purposs  and  mater 
whairin  his  Ma"«  may  have  verrv  iust  caus  of  offens,  gif  the  same 
be  sufferit  to  come  to  licht."  (Collection  of  Letters  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  Earl  of  Haddington.)  An  account  of  the  pro- 
gress which  Davidson  had  made  in  his  historical  collections  is 
given  in  a  letter  wliich  he  wrote  to  the  King,  April  1,  1603. 
(Cald.  vi.  686 — 688.)  "  A  little  before  his  death  he  penned  a 
treatise,  De  Hoslibus  Ecclesia  Chriali,  wherein  he  aflirmes 
y'  the  erecting  of  bishops  in  this  kirk  is  the  most  subtile  thinge 
to  destroy  religione  j' ever  could  be  devised."  (Row's  Hist.  p. 
293.)  His  catechism,  entitled,  "  Some  Helpes  for  young  Schol- 
lers  in  Christianity,  Edinburgh  1602,"  was  reprinted  in  1708, 
with  a  very  curious  preface  by  Mr.  William  Jameson,  Professor 
of  Ecclesiastical  History  at  Glasgow,  iu  which  he  exposes  the 
forgery  of  Mr.  Robert  Calder,  wTio,  by  a  pretended  quotation 
from  this  catechism,  attempted  to  persuade  the  public  that  Da- 
vidson had  recanted  presbyterian  prinripbs  before  his  death. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


315 


to  the  archbishopric  of  St.  Andrews,  ana  Spotswood 
to  that  of  Glasgow,  as  a  reward  for  their  services  in 
forwarding  the  schemes  of  the  court,  and  an  encour- 
agement to  them  to  persevere  in  their  exertions  for  the 
overthrow  of  presbytery. 

During  the  years  1604  and  1605,  Melville  bore  an 
active  part  in  the  struggle  for  maintaining  the  General 
Assembly,  the  great  bulwark  of  the  liberties  of  the 
church  of  Scotland.  By  the  parliamentary  establish- 
ment of  Presbytery  in  the  year  1592,  it  was  secured 
that  the  supreme  judicatory  should  be  held  at  least 
once  a  year,  and  a  rule  was  laid  down  for  fixing  the 
particular  day  and  place  of  every  meeting.  Under  va- 
rious pretexts  James  had  infringed  this  rule  ;  and,  with 
the  assistance  of  the  commissioners  of  the  church,  had 
altered  the  times  and  places  of  assembling.  In  con- 
sequence of  a  complaint  from  the  synod  of  Fife,  the 
Assembly  held  at  Holyroodhouse  in  1603  came  to  the 
resolution,  that  General  Assemblies  should  hereafter 
be  regularly  kept  according  to  the  act  of  parliament.* 
His  Majesty  was  present  and  agreed  to  this  resolution  ; 
yet  when  the  time  approached  for  holding  an  Assem- 
bly at  Aberdeen  on  the  last  Tuesday  of  July,  1604,  he 
prorogued  it  until  the  conferences  respecting  the  union 
were  over.  As  all  classes  in  the  nation  were  eager  in 
securing  their  rights,  the  presbytery  of  St.  Andrews 
judged  it  incumbent  on  them  to  be  careful  of  the  rights 
of  the  church.  They  enjoined  their  representatives  to 
repair  to  Aberdeen;  who,  finding  none  present  to  join 
with  them  in  constituting  the  Assembly,  took  a  formal 
protest,  in  the  presence  of  witnesses,  that  they  had 
done  their  duty,  and  that  whatever  injury  might  arise 
to  the  liberties  of  the  church  from  the  desertion  of  that 
diet  should  not  be  imputed  to  them  or  to  their  constit- 
uents. 

This  faithful  step  aroused  the  zeal  of  the  other  pres- 
byteries. At  the  ensuing  meeting  of  the  synod  of 
Fife,  delegates  from  all  parts  of  the  church  attended  to 
consult  on  the  course  which  should  be  taken  to  assert 
their  rights.  At  this  meeting,  and  at  an  extraordinary 
one  subsequently  held  at  Perth,  the  parliamentary 
bishops  and  commissioners  of  the  church  were  severe- 
ly taken  to  task,  and  accused  of  clandestinely  hinder- 
ing the  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  prolonging  their  own  delegated  powers,  and 
evading  the  censures  which  they  had  incurred  by  trans- 
gressing the  cautions.  It  was  at  the  same  time  resolv- 
ed to  send  petitions  from  all  the  synods,  requesting  his 
Majesty  to  allow  the  supreme  ecclesiastical  judiciary 
to  meet  for  the  transacting  of  important  and  urgent  bu- 
siness. Gladstanes  conveyed  information  to  the  King 
of  the  activity  with  which  Melville  and  his  nephew  pro- 
moted these  measures;  in  consequence  of  which  an  or- 
der came  from  London  to  incarcerate  them.  But  the 
council,  either  offended  at  the  bishop's  officiousness,  or 
afraid  of  the  spirit  which  then  pervaded  the  nation,  ex- 
cused themselves  from  carrying  the  order  into  execu- 
tion.f 

Notwithstanding  the  numerous  petitions  transmitted 
to  court  from  presbyteries  and  synods,;^:  the  General 
Assembly  was  again  prorogued  in  1605  ;  and,  as  if  to 

»  Bulk  of  the  Univ.  Kirk,  ff.  201,  b;  203,  a.  At  the  Assem- 
bly in  May,  1597,  his  Majesty  declared  the  act  of  parliament 
regulating  the  meetings  ot  the  church  courts  to  be  "  the  most 
authentick  forme  of  consent  that  any  king  can  give."  (Ibid.  f. 
187,  a.) 

+  Apologetical  Narration  by  W.  S.  (William  Scot,  minister 
of  Cupar  m  Fife,)  p.  133—138:  MS.  in  Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin. 
Printed  Calderwood,  p.  482—484. 

J  On  the  25th  September,  1604,  the  presb3'tery  of  Hadding- 
ton appointed  commissioners  to  go  to  St.  Johnston  "  to  regrait 
the  delay  of  the  generall  assemblie."  Oct.  17,  1604,  they 
agreed  that  a  petition  should  be  presented  to  his  Majesty  on 
this  subject.  Sept.  11,  1605,  they  appointed  the  following 
clause  to  be  inserted  in  a  supplication:  "That  seing  we  un- 
derstand his  Ma*'«  hes  bein  abused  in  respect  no  sute  hath  bene 
delyverit  (as  ane  letter  direct  fro  his  Ma*'*  bearis)  craving  ane 
generall  asiemblie:  q'ag  the  Sinod  of  lawthiane  and  tueddell, 
convenit  at  traneut,  direct  ane  letter  to  his  Ma"e  craving  maist 


declare  that  the  King  had  assumed  the  whole  power  of 
calling  it  into  his  own  hands,  no  time  was  fixed  for  its 
meeting.  It  now  behoved  the  ministers  to  make  a  de- 
termined stand,  unless  they  meant  to  surrender  their 
rights  without  a  struggle  to  the  crown. 

The  election  of  the  members  of  Assembly  had  taken 
place  in  many  parts  of  the  country  before  its  proroga- 
tion was  known.  After  such  mutual  consultation  as 
the  shortness  of  the  time  permitted,  nine  presbyteries 
resolved  to  send  their  representatives  to  Aberdeen, 
with  instructions  to  constitute  the  Assembly,  and  ad- 
journ it  to  a  particular  day,  without  proceeding  to 
transact  any  business.  John  Forbes,  minister  of  Al- 
ford,  who  had  lately  had  an  interview  with  his  Ma- 
jesty at  London,  and  received  assurances  of  his  dis- 
position to  maintain  the  jurisdiction  of  the  church, 
was  employed  to  communicate  this  resolution  to  the 
Chancellor.  That  statesman  professed  himself  satis- 
fied with  the  moderation  of  the  proposal,  and  promis- 
ed to  refrain  from  interdicting  the  Assembly,  and  mere- 
ly to  address  a  letter  to  the  ministers  who  should  meet, 
desiring  them  to  separate.  On  the  2nd  of  July,  nine- 
teen ministers*  having  met,  after  sermon,  in  the  ses- 
sion-house of  Aberdeen,  Straiten  of  Lauriston,  the 
King's  Commissioner,  presented  to  them  a  letter  from 
the  Lords  of  Privy  Council.  As  it  was  addressed 
"  To  the  brethren  of  the  ministry  convened  at  their 
Assembly  in  Aberdeen,"  it  was  agreed,  before  reading 
it,  to  constitute  the  Assembly,  and  choose  a  modera- 
tor and  clerk.  While  they  were  employed  in  reading 
the  letter,  a  messenger  at  arms  entered,  and,  in  the 
King^s  name,  charged  them  to  dismiss  on  the  pain  of 
rebellion.  The  Assembly  declared  their  readiness  to 
comply  with  this  order,  and  only  requested  his  Majes- 
ty's Commissioner  to  name  a  day  and  place  for  next 
meeting.  Upon  his  refusal,  the  moderator  oppointed 
the  Assembly  to  meet  again  in  the  same  place  on  the 
last  Tuesday  of  September  ensuing,  and  then  dissolv- 
ed the  meeting  with  prayer.  Lauriston  afterwards 
gave  out  that  he  had  discharged  the  Assembly  by  open 
proclamation  at  the  market-cross  of  Aberdeen  on  the 
day  before  it  met;  but  no  person  heard  this,  and  it 
was  universally  believed  that  he  antedated  his  procla- 
mation, to  conciliate  the  King  and  the  court  ministers, 
who  were  highly  offended  at  him  for  the  countenance 
which  he  had  given  to  the  meeting.f 

This  is  a  summary  account  of  the  assembly  at 
Aberdeen,  which  afterwards  made  so  much  noise,  and 
which  the  King  resented  so  highly.  The  conduct  of 
the  ministers  who  kept  it,  instead  of  meriting  punish- 
ment, is  entitled  to  warm  and  unqualified  approbation. 
It  was  marked  at  once  by  firmness  and  moderation,  by 
zeal  for  the  rights  of  the  church  and  respect  for  the  au- 
thority of  their  sovereign.  Had  they  done  less  than 
they  did,  they  would  have  forfeited  the  honourable 
character  which  the  ministers  of  Scotland  had  acquired 
— disgraced  themselves,  and  discredited  those  to  whose 
places  they  had  succeeded.  They  would  have  crouch- 
ed to  the  usurped  claims  of  a  regal  supremacy,  which 


humblie  ane  generall  assemblie,  and  sent  [it]  to  his  J\fa'''  be 
Mr.  Jho.  Spottiswood."     (Record  of  Presbyterj'.) 

*  Ten  other  ministers  came  to  Aberdeen  after  the  Assembly 
was  dissolved,  and  by  their  subscriptions  approved  of  what 
their  brethren  had  done. — The  presbytery  of  Haddington  se- 
verely reprimanded  their  representative  for  not  repairing  to 
Aberdeen,  and  approved  of  the  procedure  of  the  Assembly. 
(Record,  July  17  and  24,  1605.) 

t  Melville's  Historv  of  the  Declining  Age,  ]).  52 — 55.  Sim- 
soni  Annal,  p.  90.  Rising  and  Usurpation  of  the  Pretendit 
Bishopes,  p.  22—24.  History  by  Mr.  John  Forbes,  p.  42—62. 
The  two  last  MSS.  are  in  my  possession.  John  Forbes,  who 
was  moderator  of  the  Assembly  at  Aberdeen,  was  a  brother  o. 
Patrick  Forbes  of  Corse,  who  afterwards  became  bishop  ot 
Aberdeen.  Spotswood's  account  is  entirely  taken  from  the  of- 
ficial Declaration  of  the  jttst  Causes  of  his  Maj.  Proceedings 
against  the  Ministers  who  are  now  lyiitg  in  Prison;  printed 
both  at  Edinburgh  and  London  in  1605.  A  counter-statement 
was  published  by  the  ministers  under  the  title  of  Faithful 
Report  of  the  Proceedings  anent  the  Assembly  ofMinisters 
at  Aberdeen:  printed  in  England  in  1606. 


316 


LIFE   OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


they  and  their  predecessors  had  uniformly  and  steadily 
resisted,  which  were  not  more  inconsistent  with  pres- 
byterian  principles  than  contrary  to  the  laws  of  the 
country,  and  which,  if  yielded  to,  would  have  con- 
verted the  free  and  independent  General  Assembly  of 
the  church  of  Scotland  into  a  Parisian  parliament  or 
an  English  convocation.  They  are  entitled  to  the 
gratitude  of  the  friends  of  civil  liberty.  The  question 
at  issue  between  the  court  and  them  amounted  to  this, 
whether  they  were  to  be  ruled  by  law,  or  by  the  arbi- 
trary will  of  the  prince — whether  royal  proclamations 
were  to  be  obeyed  when  they  suspended  statutes  enact- 
ed by  the  joint  authority  of  King  and  Parliament. 
This  question  came  afterwards  to  be  debated  in  Eng- 
land, and  was  ultimately  decided  by  the  establishment 
of  the  constitutional  doctrine  which  confines  the  exer- 
cise of  royal  authority  within  the  boundaries  of  law. 
But  it  cannot  be  denied,  and  it  ought  not  to  be  forgot- 
ten, that  the  ministers  of  Scotland  were  the  first  to 
avow  this  rational  doctrine,  at  the  expense  of  being 
denounced   and   punished  as  traitors ;  and   that  their 

ftleadings  and  sufferings  in  behalf  of  ecclesiastical 
iberty  set  an  example  to  the  friends  of  civil  liberty  in 
England.  In  this  respect  complete  justice  has  not 
yet  been  done  to  their  memory;  nor  has  expiation 
been  made  for  the  injuries  done  to  the  cause  which 
they  maintained,  by  the  slanderous  libels  against  these 
patriots  which  continue  to  stain  the  pages  of  English 
history. 

The  Privy  Coimcil  did  not  resent  the  proceedings  at 
Aberdeen.  But  no  sooner  was  his  Majesty  informed 
of  them  than  he  transmitted  orders  to  the  law-officers 
in  Scotland  to  proceed  with  the  utmost  rigour  against 
the  ministers  who  had  presumed  to  contravene  his 
command.*  They  were  accordingly  called  before  the 
privy  council,  and  fourteen  of  them  having  stood  to 
the  defence  of  their  conduct,  were  committed  to  dif- 
ferent prisons.  John  Forbes,  who  was  moderator  of 
the  Assembly,  and  John  Welch,  being  considered 
as  leaders,  were  treated  with  greater  severity  than 
the  rest;  being  confined  within  separate  cells  in  the 
castle  of  Blackness,  and  secluded  from  all  intercourse 
with  their  friends.  An  anecdote,  authenticated  by 
the  records  of  the  council,  affords  a  striking  illus- 
tration of  the  spirit  with  which  the  ministers  were 
actuated.  Robert  Youngson,  minister  of  Clatt,  had 
been  induced  to  make  an  acknowledgment  before  the 
privy  council,  and  was  dismissed.  But  on  the  day 
when  the  cause  of  his  brethren  came  to  be  tried 
he  voluntarily  presented  himself  along  with  them, 
professed  his  deep  sorrow  for  the  acknowledgment 
which  he  had  formerly  made,  avowed  the  lawfulness 
of  the  late  assembly,  and,  having  obtained  the  permis- 
sion of  the  council,  took  his  place  at  the  bar.f  Hav- 
ing declined  the  authority  of  the  privy  council  as  in- 
competent to  judge  in  a  cause  which  was  purely  ec- 
clesiastical, six  of  the  rainisters:|:  were  served  with  an 
indictment  to  stand  trial    for   hijjh    treason  before  the 


♦  His  Majesty's  letter  to  Secretary  Balmerino  is  dated  "  at 
Hauering  in  the  boure  the  xix  of  July  1605."  (Collection  of 
Letters  in  possession  of  the  Earl  of  Hadding^toa.)  The  njinis- 
ters  were  first  called  before  the  Privy  Council  on  the  23th  of 
July.  (Collection  of  Acts  of  Secret  Council,  by  Sir  John  Hay, 
Knight,  Clerk  of  Register.)  James  marked  with  his  own  hand 
Bach  parts  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Ministers  ag  in  his  opinion 
brought  them  "  within  the  compass  of  the  law."  Among  these 
the  following  merits  notice:  "In  the  said  Ire  [the  letter  of 
the  Assembly  to  the  Privy  Council]  thereafter  at  this  signe  -^, 
they  wald  raak  this  thair  appollogie  for  thair  proceeding,  that 
they  souldnot  be  the  first  oppenaris  ofane  gap  to  the  oppin  breache 
and  violatioitn  of  (he  latvis  and  slatulis  of  this  realme;  willing 
the  counsell  to  wey  and  considder  thairof;  as  gif  they  wald 
niak  ane  plane  accusatioun  of  sum  tyrannie  intendit  be  ws  to 
the  prejudice  of  the  lawis  of  our  kingdorae,  an  speiche  altogid- 
der  smelling  of  treasoun  and  lese  majestic."  (Collection  of  Let- 
ters, ut  supra.) 
+  ActofSecret  Council, Oct. 24, 1605.  (Sir  John  Hay's  Col.) 
i  John  Forbes,  minister  at  Alford,  John  Welch  at  Ayr,  Ro- 
bert Dury  at  Anstruther,  Andrew  Duncan  at  Crail,  John  Sharp 
at  Kihuany,  and  Alexander  Strachan  at  Creigh. 


Court  of  Justiciary  at  Linlithgow.  They  were  indict- 
ed solely  for  the  fact  of  their  having  declined  the  privy 
council ;  and  the  charge  of  treason  was  founded  on  a 
law  enacted  during  the  infamous  administration  of 
Arran,  which,  so  far  as  it  respected  ecclesiastical 
matters,  was  disabled  by  a  posterior  statute.  The  de- 
fence of  their  counsel  was  able  and  conclusive,  and 
the  speeches  of  Forbes  and  Welch  were  of  the  most 
impressive  kind.  But  of  what  avail  are  innocence 
and  eloquence  against  the  arts  of  corruption  and  ter- 
ror? The  Earl  of  Dunbar,  now  the  King's  favour- 
ite, was  sent  down  to  Scotland  for  the  express  purpose 
of  securing  the  condemnation  of  the  ministers.  Such 
of  the  privy  counsellors  as  the  court  could  depend  on 
were  appointed  assessors  to  the  judges  ;  the  jury  were 
packed  ;  after  they  had  retired,  the  most  illegal  inter- 
course took  place  between  them  and  the  crown  officers  ; 
and  by  such  disgraceful  methods  a  verdict  was  at  last 
obtained,  finding,  by  a  majority  of  three,  the  prisoners 
guilty  of  treason.  The  pronouncing  of  the  sentence 
was  deferred  until  his  Majesty's  pleasure  should  be 
known.* 

The  conduct  of  the  ministers,  during  their  imprison- 
ment and  on  their  trial,  gained  them  the  highest  esteem. 
Those  who  had  pronounced  them  guilty  were  ashamed 
of  their  own  conduct.  The  glaring  and  scandalous  per- 
version of  justice  struck  the  minds  of  all  men  with  hor- 
ror. In  vain  did  the  court  issue  proclainaiions,  prohib- 
iting, under  the  pain  of  death,  any  to  pray,  "  either 
generally  or  particularly,"  for  the  convicted  ministers, 
or  to  call  in  question  the  verdict  pronounced  against 
them,  or  to  arraign  any  of  the  proceedings  of  govern- 
ment. The  proclamations  were  disregarded  and  dis- 
obeyed. Insensible  to  the  feelings  of  the  nation,  the 
King  refused  to  exert  his  right  to  pardon.  He  would 
not  even  impart  to  his  counsellors  his  resolution  as  to 
"  the  punishment  of  the  traitors,  which  behoved,"  he 
said,  "  to  remain  for  some  time  in  his  own  breast  as  an 
arcanum  imperii.^''  And  he  ordered  them  to  proceed 
without  delay  with  the  trial  of  the  ministers  who  were 
still  in  prison,  and  whose  conviction  he  anticipated  as 
a  matter  of  course  after  the  decision  which  had  been 
given  against  their  brethren,  especially  if  "  more  wary 
election  was  made  of  the  next  assisors."|  Had  this 
insane  mandate  been  carried  into  execution,  it  must 
have  spread  dissatisfaction  and  discontent  through  the 
nation,  and  might  have  hastened  on  those  confusions 
which  broke  out  during  the  succeeding  reign.  Fortu- 
nately for  James  his  counsellors  were  endued  with 
more  wisdom  than  he  possessed.  They  wrote  him  in 
plain  terms,  that  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  procure 
the  conviction  of  the  remaining  prisoners ;  that  those 
who  sat  on  the  former  jury  would  not  consent  to  re-act 
the  same  part ;  that,  even  if  they  were  willing,  it  would 
disgrace  the  government  to  employ  them  ;  and  that  no 
others  could  be  found  to  undertake  a  task  which  would 
expose  them  to  universal  odium  and  execration.:^: 
James  reluctantly  yielded  ;  but  "  the  tender  mercies  of 
the  wicked  are  cruel."      The  eight  ministers  were  re- 


*  Forbes's  Hist.  p.  62—151.  Melville's  Decl.  Age,  p.  61 
— 92.  Spotswood,  p.  487 — 489.  Scot's  Apolog.  Narration,  p. 
143 — 163.  Of  the  illegalities  of  the  process  no  other  proof 
is  required  than  the  account  of  it  which  the  Lord  Advocate 
transmitted  to  the  King.  (Lord  Hailes's  Memorials,  vol.  i.  p. 
1 — 4.)  In  the  same  strain  is  the  letter  written  which  Secretary 
Balmerino  addressed  to  his  Majesty  "  by  direction  of  the  coun- 
sell." "To  dissemble  nothing,"  says  he,  "gif  the  Erie  of 
Durabar  had  not  bene  with  ws,  and  pairtlie  by  nis  dexteritie  in 
aduising  quhat  vves  fittest  to  be  done  in  eurie  thing,  and  pairtlie 
by  the  au"*  he  had  over  his  friends,  of  quhome  a  greit  many 
passed  upoun  the  assise,  and  pairtlie  for  that  sume  stood  aw  of 
his  presens,  knawing  that  he  wald  mak  fidell  relatioun  to  vour 
ma""  of  eurie  mans  pairt,  the  turne  had  not  frameil  so  well  as, 
hlessit  be  God,  it  has."  (Col.  of  Letters  belonging  to  Lord 
Haddington.) 

f  His  Majesty's  letter  to  the  Lords  of  Secret  Council,  Jan. 
22, 1606:  Col.  of  lyetters,  ut  sup. 

t  The  Counsellis  Ansr  to  his  Majesty's  Letter,  Januar— 1606: 
Col.  of  Letters,  ut  sup. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


3J7 


leased  from  prison  ;  but  they  were  banished  singly  to 
the  extremities  of  the  Highlands,  to  the  Western  Isles, 
Orkney,  and  Shetland  ;  and  in  these  inclement  and  then 
barbarous  abodes,  several  of  them  contracted  diseases 
which  hurried  them  to  a  premature  grave.  The  dread 
which  was  entertained  of  the  talents  of  the  six  convict- 
ed ministers  procured  for  them  a  milder  fate.  After 
being  imprisoned  fourteen  months  in  the  castle  of 
Blackness,  they  were  banished  into  France.* 

These  severities  increased  the  nation's  aversion  to 
episcopacy,  and  its  dislike  of  the  bishops,  who  were 
universally  believed  to  have  incensed  his  Majesty 
against  the  men  who  opposed  their  elevation.  If  the 
first  introduction  of  episcopacy  had  produced  such  per- 
secution, what  might  be  looked  for  when  it  obtained 
a  complete  ascendancy  and  establishment  If  The  peo- 
ple contrasted  the  harsh  treatment  of  their  ministers 
with  the  suspicious  lenity  shown  to  Roman  Catholics. 
It  was  observed,  that,  at  this  very  time,  Gilbert  Brown, 
abbot  of  Newabbey,  who  had  for  many  years  been  a 
busy  trafficker  for  Rome  and  Spain,  and  a  chief  instru- 
ment of  keeping  the  south  of  Scotland  under  ignorance 
and  superstition,  was  released  from  the  castle  of  Edin- 
burgh, where  he  had  been  liberally  entertained  at  the 
public  expense,  and  was  allowed  to  leave  the  kingdom, 
after  all  his  crucifixes,  agnus  deis,  relics,  chalices,  and 
sacred  vestments,  had  been  religiously  restored  to  him : 
while  John  Welch,  who  had  converted  multitudes  from 
the  errors  of  popery  by  his  pastoral  labours,  and  had 
published,  at  his  Majesty's  particular  request,  a  learn- 
ed confutation  of  the  abbot's  tenets,  was  detained  in 
vile  durance,  and  obliged  to  support  himself  in  prison 
on  his  own  charges.:):  "  Barabbas  (says  a  writer  of 
that  time)  was  released,  and  the  faithful  preachers  of 
the  word  of  God  were  retained  in  loathsome  dun- 
geons."||  Nor  did  it  escape  notice,  that  James  con- 
tinued unrelentingly  to  prosecute  the  imprisoned  min- 
isters after  his  almost  miraculous  escape  from  the  Gun- 
powder Plot,  and  rejected  all  intercessions  in  their  fa- 
vour, though  embodied  in  congratulatory  addresses 
which  were  transmitted  to  him  from  his  native  king- 
dom on  that  memorable  occasion.§ 

Melville  took  a  warm  interest  in  the  fate  of  his  per- 
secuted brethren.  He  avowed  his  approbation  of  their 
conduct  in  holding  the  assembly  at  Aberdeen  and  in 


*  Act  of  Secret  Council,  Oct.  23,  1606:  Sir  John  H«y's  Col- 
lection. Simsoni  Annales,  p.  91.     Cald.  549. 

f  Melville  expressed  the  general  feeling  in  these  Hues: 
Talia  si  teneri  producunt  ponia  stolones  ? 
Quid  longseva  arbos  ?  qualia  pofiia  feret  ? 
(Simsoni  Annales,  p.  91.) 

\  Forbes's  Hist.  p.  111.  Melville's  Decl.  A^e,  p.  82,  83. 
Welch's  book  is  entitled,  "  A  Reply  against  M.  Gilbert  Browne 
Priest.  Wherein  is  handled  many  of  the  Greatest  and  weight- 
iest pointes  of  controversie  between  vs  and  the  Papistes,  &c. 
By  M.  John  Welche,  Preacher  of  Christ's  Gospel!  at  Aire.  Ed- 
inburgh, Printed  by  Robert  Walde-grave,  1602."  P.  363.  Ded- 
icated to  James  VI.  It  was  reprinted  in  1672,  by  Matthew  Craw- 
ford, under  the  title  of  "Popery  Anatomized." 

It  would  appear  that  some  of  the  ministers  received  pecuni- 
ary aid  from  their  presbyteries  during  their  imprisonment. 
"■The  haill  bretheren  of  the  presbyterie  agreis  to  ane  cotribu- 
tioune  of  fourtie  marks  for  support  of  y'  bretheren  in  ward." 
(Record  of  the  Presbytery  of  Aberdeen,  Nov.  15,  1605.) 

!  Simsoni  Anna!,  p.  93. 
Printed  Calderwood,  p.  507.  A  poem  by  Melville  on  the 
Gunpowder  Plot  is  printed  in  Delit.  Poet.  Scot.  torn.  ii.  p.  100. 
In  the  speech  which  James  made  to  the  parliament  of  England 
after  the  discovery  of  the  plot,  while  he  shewed  great  anxiety 
to  distinguish  between  the  different  kinds  of  papists,  he  went 
out  of  his  way  to  declare  his  detestation  of  "  the  cruelty  of  the 
Puritanes,  worthy  of  fire,  that  will  admit  no  salvation  to  any 
Papist."  (Works,  p.  504.)  In  answer  to  the  petitions  in  behalf 
of  the  Scottish  ministers,  he  said,  that  "the  papists  were  seek- 
ing his  life  indeed,  but  the  ministers  were  seeking  his  crown, 
dearer  to  him  nor  his  life."  (Melville's  Decl.  Age,  p.  83.)  The 
truth  is,  James  abused  the  puritans  because  he  dreaded  no  harm 
from  them,  and  he  endeavoured  to  keep  fair  with  the  papists, 
because,  as  he  sometimes  phrased  it,  "  they  were  dexterous 
kin^-killers;"  just  as  some  Indians  are  said  to  worship  the  devil, 
for  Tear  he  should  do  them  a  mischief.  (Toplady's  Historic  Proof, 
ii.  215.) 


declining  the  judgment  of  the  privy  council.  He  zeal- 
ously promoted  petitions  to  the  government  in  their  fa- 
vour. He  was  present  in  Linlitiigow  on  the  day  of 
their  trial  to  give  them  his  advice,  and  to  make  a  final 
attempt  for  accommodation  with  the  privy  council.  . 
And,  after  their  conviction,  he  accompanied  them  to 
the  place  of  their  confinement.*  It  was  not  long  till 
he  was  called  to  make  a  more  open  appearance  in  be- 
half of  the  cause  for  which  they  suffered,  and  to  share 
in  the  hardships  which  he  now  sought  to  alleviate. 

Presuming  that  these  severe  proceedings  must  have 
intimidated  and  subdued  the  spirit  of  the  ministers,  the 
court  deemed  the  present  a  favourable  time  for  taking 
another  step  in  the  introduction  of  episcopacy.  The 
provincial  synods  were  assembled,  and  deputies  from 
his  Majesty  required  their  consent  to  five  articles,  in- 
tended to  secure  the  bishops  from  being  called  to  ac- 
count for  their  late  violations  of  the  cautions,  and  to  re- 
cognize the  power  which  the  King  claimed  over  the 
General  Assembly.  But  these  articles  were  decisively 
rejected  by  the  synod  of  Fife ;  and  the  other  synods, 
with  the  exception  of  that  of  Angus,  referred  the  deter- 
mination of  them  to  the  General  Assembly.! 

Melville  was  deputed  by  the  presbytery  of  St.  An- 
drews to  wait  on  the  parliament  which  met  at  Perth  in 
August,  1606;  and  was  instructed  to  co-operate  with 
his  brethren  of  other  presbyteries  in  seeing  that  the 
church  suffered  no  injury  at  that  assembly  of  the  Es- 
tates. Understanding  that  it  was  intended  to  repeal 
the  statute  which  had  annexed  the  temporalities  of 
bishoprics  to  the  crown,  and  to  restore  the  episcopal 
order  to  their  ancient  privileges,  they  gave  in  to  the 
Lords  of  Articles  a  representation  ;  stating,  that  the 
episcopal  office  stood  condemned  by  the  laws  of  the 
church,  and  that  the  bishops  were  restored  to  a  place 
in  parliament  without  prejudice  to  the  established  ec- 
clesiastical government ;  and  craving  that,  if  any  act 
were  to  be  passed  in  their  favour,  the  cautions  enacted 
by  the  General  Assembly,  with  the  concurrence  of  his 
Majesty,  should  be  embodied  in  it.  In  reply  to  this 
they  were  explicitly  told  by  the  Chancellor,  that  the 
bishops  would  be  restored  to  the  state  in  which  they 
were  a  hundred  years  ago.  Upon  this  they  prepared  a 
protest,  which  being  refused  by  the  Lords  of  Articles, 
they  gave  in  to  each  of  the  Estates.  Forty-two  names, 
of  which  Melville's  was  the  first,  were  affixed  to  this 
protest.  The  commissioners  of  shires  and  burghs  at 
first  promised  to  support  it,  but  most  of  them  were  in 
the  issue  gained  over  by  the  agents  of  the  court.  The 
chief  nobility  were  averse  to  the  restoration  of  episco- 
pacy;:!: but  since  James's  advancement  to  the  throne 
of  England,  it  was  become  a  matter  of  greater  conse- 
quence than  it  had  formerly  been  to  preserve  the  royal 
favour ;  and  he  employed  an  argument  with  them  which 
proved  irresistible.  The  gifts  which  they  had  obtain- 
ed from  church  lands  were  confirmed  to  them,  and  a 
great  many  new  temporal  lordships  were  erected  from 
the  same  fund.  The  bishops  did  not  scruple  to  violate 
the  "caveats"  by  consenting  to  this  alienation  of  the 
property  of  the  church,  and  to  the  reduction  of  the  num- 
ber of  her  voters  in  parliament  from  fifty-one  to  thir- 
teen. This  compromise  being  made,  the  parliament 
restored  the  bishops  to  all  their  ancient  and  accustom- 
ed honours,  dignities,  prerogatives,  privileges,  and  liv- 
ings, and  at  the  same  time  revived  the  chapters  which 
had  been  suppressed  by  the  General  Assembly.  The 
preamble  to  this  act  is  perfectly  appropriate.  It  recog- 
nizes his  Majesty  as  "  absolute  prince,  judge,  and  gov- 
ernor over  all  persons,  estates,  and  causes,  both  spirit- 
ual and  temporal."     By  another  act  the  royal  preroga- 


*  Printed  Calderwood,  p.  508.  516. 

+  Simsoni  Annal.  p.  98.  Melville's  Decl.  Age,  p.  92.  Forbes, 
p.  165, 166. 

X  "  En  Ecosse  la  plupart  des  Seigneurs  sont  non-seuleinent 
Puritains,  niais  mal-conten«  :  de  sorte  que  je  ne  scais  s'il  se 
pouri-a  faire  obeir."  (Letlre  a  M.  de  Villeroy,  31  May,  1606: 
Ambassades  de  M.  de  la  Boderie,  torn.  i.  p.  63.) 


318 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


tive  was  raised  to  the  highest  pitch,  accompanied  with 
the  most  extravagant  and  fulsome  adulation  of  the 
reigning  sovereign.*  The  greatest  precautions  were 
taken  to  prevent  the  ministers  from  protesting  against 
these  deeds.  Melville  had  been  appointed  by  his  breth- 
ren to  perform  this  task.  On  the  day  on  which  the 
acts  were  to  be  ratified,  he  gained  admission  into  the 
House;  but  no  sooner  did  he  stand  up  than  an  order 
was  given  to  remove  him.  Though  thus  prevented 
from  taking  a  protest  according  to  legal  forms,  he  did 
not  retire  until  he  had  made  his  errand  sufficiently 
known. f 

The  protest  was  conceived  in  language  respectful 
to  the  legislature,  but  expressive  of  the  most  deter- 
mined opposition  to  the  measure  under  their  considera- 
tion. It  reminded  the  members  of  parliament  that 
they  were  not  lords  over  the  church,  but  nursing  fa- 
tliers  to  her;  and  that,  instead  of  assuming  a  power 
to  mould  her  government  according  to  their  pleasure, 
it  was  their  duty  to  preserve  and  maintain  that  which 
had  been  given  her  by  her  divine  head.  It  warned 
them  that  the  measure  under  their  consideration  would, 
if  adopted,  overthrow  that  discipline  under  which  re- 
ligion had  flourished  for  so  many  years  in  Scotland. 
It  conjured  them  not  to  undo  all  that  they  had  done  in 
behalf  of  the  church  ;  nor  for  the  sake  of  gratifying  a 
few  aspiring  individuals,  to  erect  anew  a  hierarchy 
which  had  been  abjured  by  the  nation,  and  which  had 
uniformly  proved  the  source  of  "great  idleness,  palpa- 
ble ignorance,  insufferable  pride,  pitiless  tyranny,  and 
shameless  ambition."  And  it  concluded  with  declar- 
ing, that  the  protesters  were  ready  to  produce  reasons  at 
large  to  shew  that  the  power  and  dignity  which  it  was 
proposed  to  confer  on  bishops  were  contrary  to  Scrip- 
ture, the  opinions  of  the  fathers,  the  canons  of  the 
ancient  church,  the  writings  of  the  most  learned  and 
godly  divines  of  modern  times,  the  doctrine  and  con- 
stitution of  the  church  of  Scotland  since  the  beginning 
of  the  Reformation,  the  laws  of  the  realm,  and  the 
welfare  and  honour  of  the  King,  parliament,  and  sub- 
jects.:}: The  protest  was  drawn  up  by  Patrick  Simp- 
son, minister  of  Stirling ;  the  reasons  of  protest  were 
composed  by  James  Melville,  with  the  assistance  of 
his  uncle.JI  The  following  extracts  from  the  last- 
mentioned  paper  will  serve  as  a  proof  of  the  spirit  with 
which  it  was  written,  and  of  the  enlightened  zeal  for 
civil  liberty,  and  the  temporal  welfare  of  the  nation, 
with  which  the  ministers  were  at  this  time  actuated. 

"  Set  mee  up  these  Bishops  once,  (called  long  since 
the  Prince's  led-horse)  things,  if  they  were  never  so 
unlawful,  unjust,  ungodly  and  pernitious  to  kirk  and 
realme,  if  they  shall  be  borne  forth  by  the  counten- 
ance, authoritie,  care  and  endeavour  of  the  King, 
(supposing  such  a  one,  as  God  forbid,  come  in  the 
roome  of  our  most  renouned  Sovereign ;  for  to  the 
best  hath  oftentimes  succeeded  the  worst,)  they  shall 
be  carried  through  by  his  Bishops,  set  up  and  enter- 
tained by  him  for  that  effect;  and  the  rest  of  the 
estates  not  only  be  indeed  as  ciphers,  but  also  beare 
the  blame  thereof  to  their  great  evill  and  dishonour. 
If  one  will  aske.  How  shall  these  Bishops  be  more 
subject  to  be  carried   after   the   appetite   of  an  evill 


•  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  iv.  281,282.  The  last-mentioned  act  was 
concealed  at  the  time.  The  oath  of  supremacy  wa«  ordained 
by  act  of  Privy  Council  only.  (Record  of  Privy  Council,  June 
2,  1607.)  Calderwood  (MS.  vi.  1112)  says,  it  was  •*  printed  at 
Edinburgh  be  Robert  Charters,  anno  dom.  1607." 

t  Printed  Cald.  p.  521.  Siinsoni  Annal.  p.  100.  Melville's 
Decl.  Age,  p.  105. 

\  Informations,  or  a  Protestation,  and  a  Treatise  from  Scot- 
land. Imprinted  1608.  P.  94.  12mo.  It  appears  from  the 
epistle  to  the  reader,  that  this  treatise  was  printed  abroad  by 
an  Englishman  who  had  fled  from  Bancroft's  persecutions. 
The  Protestation  may  be  seen  in  the  printed  History  of  Calder- 
wood. p.  527—531. 

II  Printed  Cald.  p.  527,  536.  The  Reasons  of  Protest  are 
inserted  at  length  m  a  well-written  tract  by  Calderwood,  en- 
titled. The  Course  of  Conformity— Printed  in  the  yeare  1622; 
(p.  20—48.) 


prince  then  the  rest  of  the  estates?  The  answer  ana 
and  reason  is,  because  they  have  their  lordship  and 
living,  their  honour,  estimation,  profit  and  commoditie 
of  the  King.  The  King  may  set  them  up  and  cast 
them  down,  give  them  and  take  from  them,  put  them 
in  and  out  at  his  pleasure ;  and  therefore  they  must 
bee  at  his  direction  to  doe  what  liketh  him  :  and  in  a 
word,  he  may  doe  with  them  by  law,  because  they 
are  set  up  against  law.  But  with  other  estates  hee 
cannot  doe  so,  they  having  either  heritable  standing 
in  their  roomes  by  the  fundamental!  lawes,  or  then 
but  a  commission  from  the  estate  that  send  them,  as 
from  the  burgesses  or  barons.  Deprave  me  once  the 
Ecclesiastical  Estate,  which  have  the  gift  of  knowl- 
edge and  learning  beyond  others,  and  are  supposed 
(because  they  should  bee)  of  best  conscience,  the  rest 
will  easily  be  miscarried.  And  that  so  much  the  more, 
that  the  officers  of  Estate,  Lords  of  Session,  Judges, 
Lawyers  that  have  their  offices  of  the  King,  are  com- 
monly framed  after  the  court's  affection.  Yea,  let 
Chancellor,  Secretarie,  Treasurer,  President,  Con- 
troller, and  others  that  now  are,  take  heed  that  these 
new  Prelates  of  the  Kirk,  (as  covetous  and  ambitious 
as  ever  they  were  of  old,)  insinuating  themselves  by 
flatterie  and  obsequence  into  the  Prince's  favour,  at- 
taine  to  the  bearing  of  all  these  offices  of  estate  and 
crowne,  and  to  the  exercising  thereof,  as  craftily,  ava- 
ritiously,  proudly,  and  cruelly,  as  ever  the  Papisticall 
Prelates  did.  For  as  the  holiest,  best  and  wisest  an- 
gels of  light,  being  depraved,  became  most  wicked, 
craftie  and  cruell  divells,  so  the  learnedest  and  best 
pastor,  perverted  and  poysoned  by  that  old  serpent 
with  avarice  and  ambition,  becomes  the  falsest,  worst, 
and  most  cruell  man,  as  experience  in  all  ages  hath 
proved. 

"If  any  succeeding  Prince  please  to  play  the  tyrant, 
and  governe  all,  not  by  lawes,  but  by  his  will  and  pleas- 
ure, signified  by  missives,  articles,  and  directions,  these 
Bishops  shall  never  admonish  him  as  faithful  pastors 
and  messengers  of  God  :  but  as  they  are  made  up  by 
man,  they  must  and  will  flatter,  pleasure  and  obey  men. 
And  as  they  stand  by  affection  of  the  Prince,  so  will 
they  by  no  means  jeopard  their  standing,  but  be  the 
readiest  of  all  to  put  the  King's  will  and  pleasure  in 
execution ;  though  it  were  to  take  and  apprehend  the 
bodies  of  the  best,  and  such  namely  as  would  stand 
for  the  lawes  and  freedome  of  the  realme,  and  to  cast 
them  into  dark  and  stinking  prisons,  put  them  in  exile 
from  their  native  land,  &c.  The  pitifuU  experience  in 
times  past  makes  us  bold  to  give  the  warning  for  the 
time  to  come :  for  it  hath  been  seen  and  felt,  and  yet 
dayly  is,  in  this  Island.  And  finally,  if  the  Prince  be 
prodigall,  or  would  inrich  his  courtiers  by  taxations, 
imposts,  subsidies  and  exactions,  layd  upon  the  sub- 
jects of  the  realme,  who  have  been  or  shall  bee  so 
ready  to  conclude  and  impose  that  by  parliament,  as 
these  who  are  made  and  set  up  for  that  and  the  like 
service  ?"• 

These  were  not  the  representations  of  alarmists, 
who  wished  to  excite  prejudices  against  the  bishops 
from  mere  antipathy  to  their  spiritual  power.  Nor 
were  they  the  oflfspring  of  imaginations  disordered  by 
unreasonable  jealousy.  In  the  course  of  a  few  years 
the  strongest  of  these  predictions  were  fully  and  liter- 
ally verified,  to  the  conviction  of  those  who  had  treated 
them  as  visionary.  The  bishops,  who  owed  their  re- 
stitution solely  to  the  favour  of  the  King,  and  who 
depended  on  him  as  "  the  breath  of  their  nostrils," 
did  not  blush  to  acknowledge  themselves  to  be  his 
"  Majesty's  creatures,"  and  devoted  themselves  in  all 
things  to  the  pleasure   of  their   "earthly   creator ;"|- 


•  Cald.  vi.  1158—1162.    Course  of  Conformity,  p.  44—47. 

+  "  Most  Gratious  Soueraigne,  May  it  please  zour  most  ex- 
cellent Majestie,  As  of  all  vyces  Ingratitucle  is  most  detestable, 
I  fmdand  my  self  not  only  as  first  of  that  dead  estait  quhilk 
zour  M.  hath  recreate,  but  also  in  my  priuate  conditione  to 
ouerquhelmed  with  your  M.  princely  and  magnifick  benignitie 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


319 


they  exerted  all  their  influence  to  lay  the  liberties  of 
the  nation,  and  the  privileges  of  the  different  orders  in 
it,  at  his  feet ;  while  he,  in  return  for  their  services, 
loaded  them  with  honours,  and  advanced  them  to  the 
highest  oifices  of  state.  Owing  to  different  causes 
these  effects  were  more  sensibly  felt  in  Scotland, 
where,  if  episcopacy  had  been  suffered  to  remain  much 
longer,  the  government  would  have  settled  into  a  pure 
and  confirmed  despotism.  But  they  were  also  felt  in 
England.  From  the  time  that  Henry  VIII.  caused 
himself  to  be  declared  Head  of  the  English  Church, 
and  forced  the  bishops  to  take  out  licenses  from  him, 
and  to  acknowledge  that  all  the  jurisdiction  which 
they  exercised  flowed  from  the  royal  authority,  the 
episcopal  bench  and  clergy  became  dependent  on  the 
crown.  When  the  spirit  of  liberty  pervades  a  nation 
it  will  exert  an  influence  upon  all  orders  of  men ; 
and  there  have  been  instances  of  English  (I  cannot  say 
Scottish)  prelates,  who  have  nobly  withstood  the 
encroachments  of  arbitrary  power,  and  defended  the 
rights  of  the  people.  But  still  it  is  reasonable  to  sup- 
pose, (and  experience  justifies  the  supposition,)  that 
as  a  body  they  will  be  devoted  to  the  will  of  the  prince, 
to  whom  they  owe  their  places,  from  whom  they  look 
for  preferment,  and  by  whose  authority  they  perform  all 
acts  of  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction.  Candour  demands  the 
acknowledgment,  that  a  presbyterian  church  must  also 
fall  into  state-subserviency  in  proportion  to  the  power 
which  the  crown  obtains  in  the  appointment  of  its 
ministers ;  although  this  patronage  is  necessarily  lim- 
ited by  the  want  of  preferments  in  such  an  establish- 
ment, and  checked  by  the  freedom  of  discussion  which 
takes  place  in  its  several  assemblies.* 

In  giving  an  account  of  the  parliamentary  restoration 
of  prelacy,  it  would  be  unjust  to  omit  mentioning  Wil- 
liam Douglas,  Earl  of  Morton,  a  nobleman  who  inher- 
ited the  magnanimity  of  the  Douglasses,  tempered  by 
the  milder  virtues  of  his  illustrious  relative  the  Regent 
Murray.  While  he  maintained  all  the  hospitality  and 
even  magnificence  of  the  ancient  barons,  his  domestic 
arrangements  were  conducted,  and  his  fine  family  rear- 
ed up,  in  accordance  with  the  purity  of  his  morals,  and 
the  strict  regard  which  he  uniformly  shewed  to  the  du- 
ties of  religion.     The  public  conduct  of  this  peer  was 


could  not  hot  repaire  to  zour  M.  most  gratious  face,  that  so 
unworthie  an  creature  micht  both  see,  blisse  and  thanke  my 
earthly  Creator."  (Original  Letter  of  Archbishop  Giadstanes 
to  the  King,  Sept.  11,  1609:  MS.  in  Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.  M.  6.  9. 
num.  62.)  "  We  will  not  be  idle  in  the  meantime  (says  he,  in  a 
letter  to  his  Majesty,  Aug.  31,  1612)  to  prepare  such  as  have 
vote  to  incline  the  right  way.  Alt  men  do  follow  us  and  hunt 
for  our  favour,  upon  the  report  of  your  Maj,  good  acceptance 
of  me  and  the  Bishop  of  Cathness,  and  sending  for  my  Lord  of 
Glasgow,  and  the  procurement  of  this  parliament  without  the 
advice  of  the  Chancellor.  No  Estate  may  say  that  they  are 
your  Jilaj.  creatures,  as  we  may  say,  so  there  is  none  whose 
standing  is  so  slippery,  when  your  Maj.  shall  frown,  as  we: 
for  at  your  Maj.  nod  we  must  either  stand  or  fall."  (Printed 
Cald.  p.  645.)  The  same  servility,  though  not  expressed  in 
such  gross  terms,  runs  through  a  letter  to  the  King  by  the  bish- 
ops 01  St.  Andrews,  Glasgow,  and  Orkney;  and  a  separate  let- 
ter addressed  to  him  by  Archbishop  Spotswood.  (MSS.  in 
Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.  M.  6.  9.  nunis.  65  and  67.) 

*  "The  bishops,"  says  Lord  Karnes,  "were  universaHy  in 
the  interest  of  the  crown,  as  they  have  been  at  all  times,  and 
upon  all  occasions;  and  as  the  whole  bisho])s  were  for  the 
crown,  it  was  indifferent  which  eight  were  chosen."  (Essays 
concerning  British  Antiquities,  p.  53.)  This-  remark  unques- 
tionably requires  some  qualification.  But  the  instance  to  which 
Lord  Hailes  refers  disproves  it  in  part  only.  (Memorials,  vol. 
i.  p.  41.)  Though  all  the  bishops  were  "for  the  crown,"  they 
might  not  all  be  equally  able  to  maintain  its  "  interests  ;" 
and  in  this  respect  certainly  it  was  not  "  indifferent  which 
eight  were  chosen"  as  Lords  of  the  Articles.  But  the  reason 
why  the  King  in  1612  sent  a  list  of  bishops  was,  not  that  he 
doubted  of  the  attachment  of  any  of  them,  but  that  he  might 
assert  his  prerogative  to  nominate  them.  And  the  reason 
why  Lord  Burlie  wished  to  change  "  one  or  two"  on  the  court- 
list  wa.s,  not  that  he  objected  particularly  to  any  of  the  indi- 
viduals named,  but  that  he  luijjht  maintain  the  privilege  of  the 
nobility  in  election;  as  he  distinctly  states  in  his  defence. 
(Ibid.  p.  42.) 


marked  by  independence,  and  he  shewed  himself  a 
warm  and  steady  friend  to  the  presbyterian  church.  It 
was  chiefly  through  his  exertions  that  the  parliament 
had  formerly  passed  an  act  exempting  the  government 
of  the  church  from  the  cognizance  of  the  commissioners 
appointed  on  the  union.  The  sickness  which  sooo 
after  put  an  end  to  his  days  prevented  iiim  from  attend- 
ing in  his  place  at  Perth ;  but  he  expressed  his  strong 
disapprobation  of  the  act  restoring  episcopacy,  and 
with  his  dying  breath  predicted  the  evils  which  it 
would  entail  on  the  country.* 

Melville's  appearance  before  the  parliament  at  Perth 
was  the  last  which  he  was  permitted  to  make  in  his 
native  country.  His  removal  from  Scotland  had  been 
determined  on  as  a  necessary  preparative  to  the  execu- 
tion of  the  projects  of  the  court.  Episcopacy  still 
stood  condemned  by  the  church,  and  the  bishops  re- 
mained destitute  of  all  spiritual  power.  Such  was  the 
state  of  public  sentiment  and  feeling  in  the  country, 
that  any  attempt  to  confer  this  upon  them  by  the  mere 
exercise  of  civil  authority  would  have  been  nugatory, 
and  might  have  proved  dangerous.  The  only  way  in 
which  they  could  hope  to  succeed  was  by  obtaining 
the  consent  of  tiie  church-courts  to  their  assuming  one 
degree  of  episcopal  power  after  another,  under  false 
names  and  deceitful  pretexts.  Notwithstanding  the 
number  of  ministers  already  in  confinement,  they  judg- 
ed it  necessary  to  get  rid  of  others,  before  they  durst 
face  an  ecclesiastical  assembly,  or  bring  forward  their 
proposal  in  its  most  modified  shape.  This  was  accom- 
plished by  one  of  those  politic  stratagems  which  James 
was  so  fond  of  employing.  In  the  end  of  May,  1606, 
a  letter  from  the  King  was  delivered  to  Melville,  com- 
manding him,  "  all  excuses  set  aside,"  to  repair  to 
London  before  the  I5th  of  September  next,  that  his 
Majesty  might  treat  with  him  and  others,  his  brethren, 
of  good  learning,  judgment,  and  experience,  concerning 
such  things  as  would  tend  to  settle  the  peace  of  the 
church,  and  to  justify  to  the  world  the  measures  which 
his  Majesty,  after  such  extraordinary  condescension, 
might  find  it  necessary  to  adopt  for  repressing  the  ob- 
stinate and  turbulent.  Letters  expressed  in  the  same 
terms  were  addressed  to  his  nephew  James  Melville,  to 
William  Scot,  minister  of  Cupar,  John  Carmichael  of 
Kilconquhar,  William  Watson  of  Burntisland,  James 
Balfour  of  Edinburgh,  Adam  Colt  of  Musselburgh,  and 
Robert  Wallace  of  Tranent.| 

Having  met  to  consult  on  the  course  which  they 
should  take,  the  eight  ministers  deputed  one  of  their 
number  to  converse  with  the  Earl  of  Dunbar,  the  Scot- 
tish premier,  and  to  request  him  to  deal  with  his  Maj- 
esty to  excu-se  them  from  a  journey  which  they  were 
afraid  would  prove  fruitless,  and  which  would  be  op- 
pressive to  them,  on  account  of  the  ill  health  of  some 
of  their  number  and  the  engagements  of  all.  Under 
the  mask  of  great  friendship,  Dunbar  urged  them  to 
comply  with  his  Majesty's  desire;  assuring  them,  that 
it  would  turn  out  tlie  best  journey  that  ever  they  under- 
took, that  he  had  advised  the  measure  out  of  regard  to 
the  church,  and  that  the  bishops,  when  made  acquaint- 
ed with  the  design,  were  very  far  from  being  pleased 
with  it.ij:    Although  they  placed  little  confidence  in 


*  Simsoni  Annales,  p.  53,  112.     Printed  Cald.  p.  482. 

+  Printed  Calderwood,  p.  518.519. 

"June  1606.  Item  to  ane  boy  passand  of  Ed',  with  clos  Ire» 
that  come  from- his  ^la'i*  To  Mr.  James  Balfoure,  Mr.  Robert 
Wallace,  and  Mr.  Adame  Colt,  xiij'  iiij'^. 

"  Item,  To  ane  other  bey  passand  of  Ed^  with  clos  Ires  that 
come  from  his  Ma<'e  To  Mr.  Andro  Melvill,  Mr.  James  Melvill, 
Mr.  W"»  Scot,  Mr.  W"  Watson,  Mr.  Jo°  Carmichell  and  Mr. 
Henry  Philp,  xK" 

(Compot.  Thesaur.  in  Register  House,  Edinburgh.) 

}  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  bishops  both  knew  and 
had  advised  the  calling  of  the  ministers  to  London.  In  a  letter 
addressetl  to  his  Majesty,. "  19th  Juiiii,"  (A.  1606,)  Giadstanes 
testifies  his  impatience  for  Melville's  removal,  and  insinuates 
his  hopes  that  he  would  not  be  allowed  to  return  to  St.  An- 
drews.     "  Mr.  Andrew  Melvin  hath  begun  to  raise  new  storms. 


320 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


these  assurances,  the  ministers  resolved  to  go  to  Lon- 
don, after  they  had  waited  on  the  approaching  parlia- 
ment. Indeed,  they  were  sliut  up  to  this  course  ;  for 
had  they  acted  otherwise,  they  would  have  incurred 
the  charge  of  disobeying  the  royal  authority,  and  an 
order  for  their  incarceration  would  have  been  instantly 
issued.  Melville  acquainted  the  presbytery  of  St.  An- 
drews with  the  resolution  which  he  had  formed.  They 
declined  giving  him  any  commission  to  act  in  their 
name,  judging  it  safer  that  he  and  his  brethren  should 
appear  in  their  individual  character,  and  not  doubting 
that  they  would  prove  faithful  to  the  interest  of  the 
church.  But  they  authorized  him  to  receive  an  extract 
from  their  records,  containing  the  subscription  of  Glad- 
slanes  to  the  presbyterian  polity,  to  be  used  as  he 
should  find  necessary.  Having  put  the  affairs  of  the 
college  in  the  best  order  he  could,  Melville  sailed  from 
Anstruther,  in  company  with  his  nephew,  Scot,  and 
Carmichael,  on  the  15th  of  August,  and  reached  Lon- 
don on  the  25th  of  that  month.  A  few  days  after  they 
were  joined  by  their  four  brethren,  who  travelled  by 
land.* 

As  soon  as  it  was  known  that  they  were  come  to 
town,  ihey  were  visited  by  a  number  of  the  ministers 
and  citizens  of  London  who  favoured  their  cause.  The 
archbishops  of  Canterbury  and  York  sent  to  inquire 
for  them,  and  invited  them  to  their  houses ;  bat  they 
excused  themselves,  on  the  ground  that  they  could  pay 
no  visits  until  they  had  seen  his  Majesty, j-  James, 
who  was  absent  on  a  progress  through  the  kingdom, 
had  left  his  directions  for  them  with  Alexander  Hay, 
one  of  his  secretaries  for  Scotland,  and  Dr.  John  Gor- 
don, dean  of  Salisbury.  Gordon  was  one  of  their 
countrymen,  a  son  of  the  bishop  of  Galloway,  and  had 
himself  been  at  one  period  presented  to  that  bishopric. 
Soon  after  the  Reformation,  he  had  gone  to  France  for 
the  sake  of  his  education,  and  remained  in  that  country 
until  the  accession  of  James  to  the  English  throne. 
On  the  continent  he  had  attained  no  inconsiderable  de- 
gree of  literary  celebrity,  particularly  for  his  skill  in 
the  oriental  languages.:!^  This  talent  would  have  made 
him  an  agreeable  companion  to  Melville,  had  they  met 
on  another  occasion,  and  had  not  the  task  allotted  to 
Gordon,  along  with  the  dean  of  Westminster,  rendered 
them  a  kind  of  honorary  guard  on  the  ministers,  and 
polite  spies  on  their  conduct.      Notwithstanding  this, 

with  his  Eolick  blasts.  Sir,  you  are  my  Jupiter,  and  I,  under 
your  Highness,  Neptune.     I  must  say, 

Non  illi  imperiuni  pelagi,  sacruraque  tridentem, 
Sed  mihi  sorte  datum 

Your  Majesty  will  relegate  him  to  some  MoVia, 

ut  illic  vacua  se  jactet  in  aula." 

(Lord  Hailes's  Memorials,  i.  95.) 

♦  "1606,  Aug.  15,  M.  Andro  Melvil,  &c.  departit  fra  An- 
■tnither  towart  Lundon."  (Laird  of  Carnbee's  Diary,  in  Ap- 
pend, to  Lamont's  Diary,  p.  283.  Melville's  Hist,  of  the  De- 
clining Age,  p.  109—111.     Cald.  vi.  1089,  1190.) 

+  Melvdle's  Hist,  of  the  Decl.  Age,  p.  111. 

\  On  the  4th  of  January  1567,  "  Magister  Joannes  Gordon" 
obtained  a  gift  under  the  Great  Seal,  of  the  bishopric  of  Gal- 
loway and  abbacy  of  Tungland,  vacant  by  the_  resignation  of 
Alexander,  the  last  bishop.  "  Et  nos  informati  existentes  de 
qualificatione  singulari  dicti  Magistri  Joannis  Et  q'  in  hebraica, 
caldaica,  syriaca,  graeca  et  latina  Unguis  bene  eruditiis  est — pro 
fubditoruni  nostrorum  instructione,"  &c.  In  the  title  of  the 
charter  he  is  said  to  be  "  tunc  tenvporis  in  Gallia  studiis  theolog- 
icis  incumbente."  (MS.  in  Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.  Jac.  V.  i.  14.  num. 
92.)  I  must  leave  it  to  others  to  unravel  the  confusion  as  to 
the  titles  of  John,  Roger,  and  George  Gordons  to  the  bishopric 
of  Galloway.  (Consult  Register  of  Presentation  to  Benefices 
for  Sept.  16,  1578,  and  July  8,  1586.  Gordon's  Earldom  of 
Sutherland,  p.  181,  290—293.  Keith's  Scot.  Bishops,  p.  166. 
Printed  Cald.  p.  425,  426.)  There  is  a  letter  from  John  Gor- 
don to  the  Regent  Murray,  containing  political  intelligence. 
(Cotton  MSS.  Calia;.  C.  i.  70.)  And  another  to  John  Fox,  on 
literary  topics.  (Harl.  MSS.  416.)  A  poem  by  him  is  prefix- 
ed to  "  Plaidoye  ))Our  M.  Jean  Hamilton."  And  a  poem  in 
praise  of  him  is  inserted  in  Delitiae  Poet.  Scot.  ii.  174.  A  list 
of  his  works  may  be  formed  from  Wood's  Fasti,  Bliss's  edit.  p. 
131.  and  Charters's  Account  of  Scots  Dirinei,  p.  3,  (MS.  in 
Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin  ) 


Melville  and  Gordon  had  their  literary  hours,  in  which 
the  stiffness  and  reserve  of  their  more  formal  interviews 
were  banished.* 

The  two  Scottish  archbishops,  Gladstanes  and  Spots- 
wood,  with  others  of  the  court-party,  came  to  London, 
to  be  present  at  the  intended  conferences.  A  rumour 
prevailed  that  the  King  purposed  to  have  the  questions 
at  issue  publicly  disputed,  and  to  renew  the  scene  in 
which  he  had  himself  acted  so  conspicuous  a  part  at 
Hampton  Court  three  years  before.  Melville  and  his 
fellows  resolved  not  to  engage  in  any  such  foolish  con- 
test. They  had  no  authority  to  appear  as  champions 
for  the  Church  of  Scotland,  and  were  not  so  arrogant 
as  to  lake  this  character  upon  them.  The  English  di- 
vines had  no  right  to  interfere  with  their  controversies ; 
and  if  they  chose  to  dispute,  were  in  no  want  of  antag- 
onists among  their  own  countrymen.  And  as  for  those 
who  had  come  from  Scotland,  they  were  not  entitled 
to  reason  against  a  government  which  they  had  so  re- 
cently approved  by  their  subscriptions,  and  sworn  to 
maintain.  The  ministers  were  not,  however,  urged 
with  any  proposal  of  this  nature.  They  received  at 
this  time  a  letter  from  their  brethren  who  were  prison- 
ers in  Blackness,  expressing  the  confidence  which  they 
reposed  in  their  wisdom  and  constancy  ;  and  charging 
them  not  to  yield  up  any  part  of  the  liberties  of  the 
church  of  Scotland,  with  the  view  of  purchasing  for 
tke7n  either  a  pardon  or  a  mitigation  of  punishment.t 

The  King  shortened  his  progress,  and  rtturnea  to 
London  sooner  than  was  expected,  to  meet  with  the 
ministers.:^:  They  were  introduced  to  him  at  Hamp- 
ton Court  on  the  20th  of  September,  and  were  allow- 
ed to  kiss  his  hand.  His  Majesty  conversed  with 
them  familiarly  for  a  considerable  time  ;  inquired  after 
the  news  of  the  country  ;  and  jocularly  rallied  Balfour 
on  the  length  of  his  beard,  which,  he  alleged,  had 
grown  prodigiously  since  he  had  the  pleasure  of  see- 
ing it  in  Scotland,  and  would  give  him,  he  was  afraid, 
rather  a  Turk-like  look  in  London. || 

Two  days  after,  they  were  sent  for  to  Hampton 
Court.  On  their  arrival  from  their  lodgings  at  Kings- 
ton, they  were  courteously  received  by  Archbishop 
Bancroft,  who  left  the  room  as  soon  as  the  King  en- 
tered with  the  members  of  the  Scottish  privy  council. 
His  Majesty  stated  at  large  the  reasons  which  had  in- 
duced him  to  send  for  the  ministers,  and  concluded  by 
intimating  that  there  were  two  points  on  which  he  de- 
manded an  explicit  declaration  of  their  judgment:  the 
one  was,  the  late  pretended  assembly  at  Aberdeen,  in- 
cluding the  behaviour  of  those  who  had  held  it;  and 
the  other  was,  the  best  means  of  obtaining  a  peaceable 
meeting  of  that  judicatory  for  establishing  good  order 
and  tranquillity  in  the  church.  James  Melville,  after 
offering  the  compliments  and  congratulations  which 
were  suited  to  the  occasion,  requested,  in  the  name  of 
his  brethren,  that  they  might  have  time  allowed  them 
to  deliberate  on  the  answer  which  they  should  return 
to  his  Majesty's  questions.  They  were  required  to  be 
ready  with  their  answers  on  the  following  day. 

On  entering  the  presence-chamber  next  day,  they 
found  it  crowded  with  the  principal  persons  about 
court.  Melville  suggested  to  the  Earl  of  Dunbar  the 
impropriety  of  their  being  brought  before  such  a  pro- 
miscuous assembly  ;  as  his  Majesty  might  be  offended 


•  Melville's  Hist,  of  the  Decl.  Age,  p.  120.  Melvini  Mus», 
p,  24. 

t  Melville's  Hist,  of  the  Decl.  Age,  p.  113,  114. 

t  Anibassades  de  M.  de  la  Boderie,  i.  348. 

|l  I  have  taken  my  account  of  the  transactions  at  London 
nncl  Hampton  Court  chiefly  from  the  narratives  of  two  of  the 
ministers,  Jamej  Melville  and  William  Scot,  who  kept  regis- 
ters of  every  thing;  that  happened.  Calderwood  borrows  from 
James  Melville.  Some  important  particulars  are  supplied  by 
the  despatches  of  the  French  ambassador,  M.  de  la  Boderie, 
who  appears  to  have  taken  an  interest  in  the  aA'air,  and  had  ac- 
cess to  good  information  by  his  residence  at  court,  and  by  means 
of  M.  de  la  Fontaine,  one  of  the  ministers  of  the  French 
Church  at  London,  and  a  great  intelligencer.  Spotswood's  ac- 
count is  fi-eneral. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


^t 


at  their  uttering  their  sentiments,  before  the  English 
nobility,  according  to  the  free  manner  to  which  they 
were  accustomed  in  Scotland.  But  he  was  told  that 
the  arrangements  were  already  made,  and  cautioned  to 
be  on  his  guard  against  saying  any  thing  that  was  in- 
discreet or  disrespectful  in  the  presence  of  such  hon- 
ourable strangers.  The  King  took  his  seat,  with  the 
Prince  on  his  one  hand,  and  the  archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury on  the  other.  Around  hiin  were  placed  the 
Earls  of  Salisbury,  Suifolk,  Worcester,  Nottingham, 
and  Northampton,  Lords  Stanhope  and  Knolles,  with 
other  Englishmen  of  rank ;  besides  all  the  Scottish 
nobility  who  were  at  court.  Behind  the  tapestry  and 
at  the  doors  of  the  apartment  stood  several  English 
bishops  and  deans,  who  discovered  themselves  when 
the  conversation  became  animated.  The  ministers  had 
previously  agreed  to  return  a  common  answer  by  the 
mouth  of  Jeimes  Melville.  But  his  Majesty  intimated 
that  it  behoved  each  individual  to  speak  for  himself; 
and  beginning  with  the  Scottish  bishops  and  commis- 
sioners, he  asked  them  what  their  opinion  was  con- 
cerning the  assembly  at  Aberdeen.  They  all  answer- 
ed briefly,  in  their  turn,  that  they  condemned  it  as 
turbulent,  factious,  and  unlawful.  Then  addressing 
Melville,  his  Majesty  said:  "You  hear  that  your 
brethren  cannot  justify  these  men  nor  their  assembly. 
What  say  you,  Mr.  Andrew  ?  Think  you  that  a  small 
number  of  eight  or  nine,  met  without  any  warrant, 
wanting  the  chief  members,  the  moderator  and  scribe, 
convening  unmannerly  without  a  sermon,  being  also 
discharged  by  open  proclamation  ;  can  these  make  an 
Assembly,  or  not]"  To  this  Melville  replied  in  a 
speech  of  nearly  an  hour's  length,  delivered  with 
much  freedom  and  spirit,  and  at  the  same  time  with 
much  respect.  As  for  himself,  he  said,  he  had  for  a 
number  of  years  been  debarred  from  attending  on  gen- 
eral assemblies  and  all  public  meetings;  but,  as  it  was 
his  Majesty's  will,  he  would  endeavour  to  give  him 
satisfaction  on  the  diiferent  objections  which  he  had 
stated.  With  respect  to  the  paucity  of  members, 
there  was  no  rule  fixing  the  {)recise  number;  two  or 
three  met  in  the  name  of  Christ  had  the  promise  of 
his  presence  ;  an  ordinary  meeting  of  a  court  establish- 
ed by  law  could  not  be  declared  unlawful  on  account 
of  its  thinness ;  and  those  who  met  at  Aberdeen  were 
sufficiently  numerous  for  proroguing  the  assembly  to 
a  future  day,  which  was  all  that  they  did,  and  all 
that  they  had  proposed  to  do.  As  to  their  warrant,  it 
was  founded  on  Scripture,  his  Majesty's  laws,  and 
the  commissions  which  they  received  from  their  pres- 
byteries. The  presence  of  the  former  moderator  and 
clerk  was  not  essential  to  the  validity  of  the  assem- 
bly, which,  in  case  these  office-bearers  were  either  ne- 
cessarily or  wilfully  absent,  might  according  to  reason 
and  the  practice  of  the  church,  choose  others  in  their 
room.  His  Majesty  must  have  been  misinformed 
when  he  said  there  was  no  sermon  ;  for  one  of  the  min- 
isters of  Aberdeen  preached  at  the  opening  of  the 
meeting.  As  to  the  alleged  discharge  of  the  assem- 
bly on  the  day  before  it  met,  (turning  to  Lanriston, 
who  was  the  King's  Commissioner  on  that  occasion,) 
he  said,  in  a  tone  of  solemn  fervour,  "  I  charge  you. 
Sir,  in  the  name  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  as  you 
will  answer  before  the  great  God  at  the  appearance 
of  Jesus  Christ  to  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead,  to 
testify  the  truth,  and  tell  whether  there  was  any  such 
discharge  given  or  not." — He  paused  for  a  reply  ;  but 
Lauriston  remained  mute,  and  the  King,  fain  to  break 
the  painful  silence  which  ensued,  requested  Melville 
to  go  on  to  state  his  reasons  for  not  condemning  the 
conduct  of  the  ministers.  "  If  it  please  your  Majesty 
to  hear  me,  I  have  these  reasons.  First,  I  am  but  a 
private  man,  come  here  upon  your  Majesty's  letter, 
without  any  commission  from  the  church  of  Scotland  ; 
and  as  no  body  has  made  me  a  judge,  I  cannot  take 
upon  me  to  condemn  them.  Secondly,  your  Majesty 
hath,  by  your  proclamation  at  Hampton-Court,"  (here 
2  Q 


he  produced  and  read  the  proclamation,)  "  remitted 
their  trial  to  a  General  Assembly ;  expecting  there  a 
reparation  of  wrongs,  if  any  have  been  done.  J  can- 
not prejudge  the  church  and  assembly  of  my  vote, 
which  if  I  give  now,  I  shall  be  sure  to  have  my  mouth 
shut  then,  as  by  experience  I  and  others,  my  brethren, 
have  found  before.  Thirdly,  ^es  non  est  integra,  sed 
hactenus  judicata  by  your  Majesty's  council ;  whether 
rightly  or  not  I  remit  to  God,  before  whom  one  day 
they  must  appear  and  answer  for  that  sentence.  I  think 
your  Majesty  will  not  be  content  that  I  should  now 
contradict  your  council  and  their  proceedings.  Fourth- 
ly, how  can  I  condemn  my  brethren  indicta  causa,  not 
hearing  their  accusers  objecting  against  them,  and 
themselves  answering  ?" 

The  speeches  of  the  other  ministers  agreed  with 
that  of  Melville ;  and  what  was  omitted  by  one  was 
recollected  and  supplied  by  another.  The  King  ex- 
hibited evident  symptoms  of  uneasiness,  and  an  anx- 
iety to  bring  the  conference  to  a  close.  James  Mel- 
ville, at  the  conclusion  of  his  speech,  presented  a 
supplication  which  had  been  transmitted  to  him  from 
the  condemned  ministers.  His  Majesty  glanced  over 
it,  and  said  with  an  angry  smile,  "  I  am  glad  that 
this  has  been  given  in."  An  interruption  by  Sir 
Thomas  Hamilton,  the  Lord  Advocate,  led  to  a  legal 
argument  between  him  and  Scot  on  the  trial  of  the 
ministers  for  treason,  in  the  course  of  which,  the 
lawyer  was  thought  by  all  to  be  worsted  at  his  own 
weapons.*  Indignant  at  hearing  that  most  flagrant 
scene  of  iniquity  vindicated  in  the  presence  of  his 
Majesty  and  such  an  honourable  audience,  Melville 
fell  on  his  knees,  and  requested  permission  to  speak  a 
second  time.  Having  obtained  it,  he  gave  himself 
up  to  all  his  native  fire  and  vehemence,  and  astonished 
the  English  nobility  and  clergy  with  a  torrent  of  bold, 
impassioned,  impetuous  eloquence,  to  which  they  were 
altogether  strangers.  Throwing  aside  the  reserve 
which  he  had  studied  in  his  former  speech,  he  avowed 
his  belief  of  the  complete  innocence  of  his  brethren, 
and  justified  their  proceedings.  He  recounted  the 
wrongs  which  had  been  done  them  on  their  trial,  of 
which  he  was  an  eye  and  ear  witness.  Addressing 
the  Lord  Advocate,  he  charged  him  with  having  fa- 
voured trafficking  priests,  and  screened  from  punish- 
ment his  uncle,  John  Hamilton,  who  had  been  banished 
from  France,  and  branded  as  an  incendiary  by  the 
parliaments  of  that  kingdom  ;  while  he  employed  all 
his  craft  and  eloquence  to  convict  the  unoffending  and 
righteous  servants  of  Christ.  The  arch-enemy  him- 
self, he  said,  could  not  have  done  more  against  the 
saints  of  God,  than  he  had  done  against  these  good 
men  at  Linlithgow  ;  and  not  contented  with  the  part 
which  he  had  then  acted,  he  behoved  still  to  shew 
himself  '  o  KaT^j^cgof  tuv  Aa-iK<^aiv.]  At  this  expression 
the  King,  turning  to  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
exclaimed,  "  What's  that  he  said  ]  I  think  he  calls 
him  Antichrist.  Nay,  by  God;  it  is  the  devil's  name  in 
the  Revelation  of  the  well-beloved  John."  Then  rising 
hastily,  he  said,  "  God  be  with  you.  Sirs,"  But,  recol- 
lecting himself,  he  turned  round  to  the  ministers,  and 
asked  them,  what  advice  they  had  to  give  him  for 
pacifying  the  dissensions  raised  in  the  church  ;  to  which 
they  replied  with  one  voice,  A  free  General  Assembly. 

'Fhe  ministers  were  dismissed  with  unequivocal 
marks  of  approbation  on  the  part  of  those  who  were 
present.  The  English  nobility,  who  had  not  been  ac- 
customed to  see  the  King  addressed  with  such  free- 

*  Several  of  the  Enijlish  nobiiit)'  made  hamlsome  ofl'ers  to 
William  Scot,  provided  he  would  consent  to  remain  in  Eng- 
land.    (Life  of  Scot.  p.  7:  Wodrow's  MSS.  vol.  iv.) 

f  "  II  y  en  a  un  entr'autres,"  says  the  French  Ambassador  to 
Marquis  de  Sillery,  "qui  lui  a  parle  avec  un  etrange  liberte  en 
toutes  les  occasions;  &  sur  ce  que  I'Avocat  General  d'f'.cofse 
voulut  prendre  la  parole  dernierement  centre  iceiui  en  la  pre- 
sence du  Roi  nieine,  il  en  eut  la  tete  lavee  de  telle  facon.que  le 
Roi  &  lui  deraeurerent  sansr^plique."  (Anibassades  de  M.  da 
la  Boderie,  i.435.) 

21 


322 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


dom,  could  not  refrain  from  expressing  their  admiration 
at  the  boldness  with  which  Melville  and  his  associates 
delivered  their  sentiments  before  such  an  audience,  at 
the  harmony  of  views  which  appeared  in  all  their 
speeches,  and  the  readiness  and  pertinency  of  the  re- 
plies which  they  made  to  every  objection  with  which 
they  were  urged.  The  reports  of  the  conference  which 
were  circulated  through  the  city  made  a  strong  impres- 
sion in  their  favour.  They  had  the  effect  of  dispelling 
the  cloud  of  prejudice  which  had  been  raised  against 
them  and  their  brethren;  and  convinced  the  impartial, 
that,  instead  of  being  the  turbulent,  discontented,  and 
unreasonable  men  they  had  been  represented  to  be,  they 
were  only  claiming  their  undoubted  rights,  and  stand- 
ing up  for  the  ecclesiastical  liberties  of  their  country 
against  the  lawless  encroachments  of  arbitrary  power.* 
They  had  scarcely  reached  Kingston  when  they  were 
overtaken  by  Secretary  Hay,  who  read  to  them,  in  the 
court  before  their  lodging,  a  charge  not  to  return  to 
Scotland,  near  to  approach  the  court  of  the  King, 
Queen,  or  Prince,  without  special  license.  On  the 
28th  of  September,  they  were  sent  for  to  the  Scottish 
council  assembled  in  the  Earl  of  Dunbar's  lodgings. 
James  Melville  was  first  called  in,  and  was  ursred  by 
the  Lord  Advocate  with  certain  ensnaring  questions  re- 
lating to  his  opinions  and  conduct.  He  refused  to  an- 
swer them.  "  I  am  a  free  subject  (said  he)  of  the 
kingdom  of  Scotland,  which  hath  laws  and  privileges 
of  its  own  as  free  as  any  kingdom  in  the  world :  to 
them  I  will  stand.  There  hath  been  no  summonds  ex- 
ecuted against  me.  The  noblemen  here  sitting  and  I 
are  not  in  our  own  country.  The  charge  super  itiqui- 
rendis  was  abolished  and  declared  long  since  to  be  in- 
iquitous and  unjust.  I  am  bound  by  no  law  or  reason 
to  accuse  myself."  He  besought  the  noblemen  present 
to  remember  who  they  were,  and  to  deal  with  him 
(though  a  mean  man  yet  a  free-born  Scotchman)  as 
they  would  themselves  wish  to  be  used,  according  to 
the  laws  of  Scotland.  He  told  the  Lord  Advocate,  who 
endeavoured  to  entangle  him  with  legal  quibbling,  that, 
though  no  lawyer,  he  was  endued  with  some  portion 
of  natural  wit,  and  had  in  his  time  both  learned  and 
taught  logic.  "  Mr.  James,  (said  Dunbar)  will  ye  not 
deign  to  give  an  answer  for  his  Majesty's  satisfaction  1" 
"With  all  reverence,  my  lord,  I  will  (replied  he;) 
provided  the  questions  be  set  down,  and  I  may  have 
time  to  advise  on  the  answers."  Melville  was  called 
in  last.  He  told  the  members  of  the  council,  "  that 
tbey  knew  not  what  they  were  doing ;  and  that  they 
had  degenerated  from  the  ancient  nobility  of  Scotland, 
who  were  wont  to  hazard  their  lands  and  lives  for  the 
freedom  of  their  country  and  the  gospel,  which  their 
sons  were  now  betraying  and  seeking  to  overthrow."! 
If  they  were  at  all  capable  of  serious  reflection,  the 
Scottish  nobility  must  have  blushed  at  their  conduct 
on  the  present  occasion,  in  forgetting  so  far  what  was 
due  to  their  rank  and  place  as  to  consent  to  become  the 
instruments  of  the  court,  and  of  a  few  ambitious  church- 
men, to  circumvent  men  who  had  been  insidiously 
drawn  from  their  homes,  and  entrap  them  into  declara- 
tions which  were  afterwards  to  be  used  against  them 
as  criminal  charges.  They  ought  plainly  to  have  told 
their  master,  that  it  was  neither  for  his  own  honour 
nor  that  of  his  native  kingdom,  (which  his  new  sub- 
jects were  but  too  much  disposed  to  contemn,)  to  have 
men  of  such  character  detained  there  as  suspected  per- 
sons, and  his  differences  with  them  exposed  to  the  ob- 
servation of  English  peers  and  prelates;  and  that,  if 
they  were  to  be  held  as  criminals,  they  should  be  sent 
home  to  be  tried  by  their  own  laws  and  before  their 
proper  judges.  If  true  nobility  consists  in  that  high 
and  independent  spirit,  which,  whether  produced  by 

•  Melville'*  Hi«t.  of  the  Deri.  Age,  p.  121— 124, 141.  Scot's 
Ajjolog.  Narration,  p.  177—180.     Spotswood.p.  497,  498. 

t  iVfelville,  132— 134.  Scot,  180.  181.  Report  of  the  Con- 
ference* Sept.  1606.  MS.  iu  Bibl.  Jurtd.  Exiin.  M.  6.  9.  num. 
49. 


the  recollection  of  the  deeds  of  ancestry  or  by  other 
causes,  spurns  every  thing  which  is  dishonourable  to 
the  individual  or  to  his  country,  then  Melville  and  his 
companions  shewed  themselves  to  be,  at  this  time,  the 
nobles  of  Scotland. 

The  ministers  received  in  writing  the  following  ques- 
tions, to  which  they  were  required  to  return  answers. 
First,  whether  they  had  not  transgressed  their  duty  by 
praying  for  their  condemned  brethren,  and  whether  they 
were  willing  to  crave  his  Majesty's  pardon  for  this  of- 
fence. Second,  whether  they  acknowledged  that  his 
Majesty,  in  virtue  of  his  royal  prerogative,  had  full 
power  to  convocate,  prorogue,  and  dismiss  all  ecclesi- 
astical assemblies  within  his  dominions.  And,  third, 
whether  he  had  not  a  lawful  right,  by  his  royal  author- 
ity, to  call  before  him  and  his  council  all  persons, 
ecclesiastical  and  civil,  for  whatsoever  faults;  and 
whether  all  the  subjects  are  not  bound  to  appear,  an- 
swer, and  obey,  in  the  premises.  Each  of  the  eight 
ministers,  as  directed  by  the  council,  gave  in  answers 
to  the  questions.  They  expressed  themselves  guard- 
edly, so  as  not  to  give  the  court  any  advantage  against 
them,  but  without  sacrificing  their  own  convictions  or 
compromising  the  principles  of  the  church  of  Scotland. 
Along  with  the  answers  they  presented  a  joint  paper, 
containing  their  advice  as  to  the  best  mode  of  putting 
an  end  to  the  ecclesiastical  feuds  with  which  their  na- 
tive country  was  agitated.* 

They  were  now  entitled  to  expect  that  they  should 
obtain  liberty  to  return  to  their  homes.  They  had  tes- 
tified their  obedience  to  his  Majesty  by  coming  to  Lon- 
don. They  had  attended  all  the  conferences  which  he 
had  been  pleased  to  appoint.  They  had  returned  an- 
swers to  the  questions  which  hehad  proposed  to  them. 
They  had  given  him  their  best  advice  for  re-establish- 
ing the  peace  of  the  church.  If  this  was  not  accepta- 
ble to  his  Majesty,  and  if  he  chose  to  act  in  a  different 
manner,  it  was  at  least  incumbent  on  him,  in  point  of 
justice  and  of  good  faith,  to  dismiss  men  whom  he 
had  called  to  his  presence  in  the  character  of  advisers, 
and  not  of  criminals  or  suspected  persons.  But  no- 
thing was  less  intended  than  this.  Their  stay  was  ar- 
bitrarily and  indefinitely  prolonged  ;  and  all  the  arts  of 
the  court  were  put  in  practice  to  corrupt  and  disunite 
them.  Salisbury  and  Bancroft  held  interviews  with 
such  of  them  as  were  thought  most  complying,  and 
endeavoured  to  detach  them  from  their  brethren."}" 
When  this  method  failed,  spies  were  set  on  their  con- 
duct iX  ^"d  they  were  brought  into  situations  in  which 
they  might  be  tempted  to  say  or  do  something  which 
would  afford  a  pretext  for  committing  them  to  prison. 

His  Majesty  had  selected  such  of  the  English  dig- 
nitaries as  were  most  eminent  for  their  pulpit  talents, 
and  appointed  them  to  preach  in  the  Royal  Chapel, 
during  the  conferences,  on  the  leading  points  of  dif- 
ference between  the  episcopalian  and  presbyterian 
churches.  The  Scottish  ministers  received  orders  to 
attend  these  sermons,  and  were  regularly  conducted, 
like  penitentiaries,  to  a  se;it  prepared  for  them,  in  which 
they  might  devoutly  listen  to  the  instructions  of  their 
titled  converters.  Dr.  Barlow,  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  be- 
gan with  a  sermon  in  defence  of  the  antiquity  and  su- 
periority of  bishops,  which  the  ministers  characterized 
as  "  a  confutation  of  his  text."|)     Dr.  Buckridge,  Pres- 


*  MeWille,  136,  142.     Scot.  180—187. 

+  Melville,  p.  140.  Row,  p.  101.  Livingston,  Charact.  art. 
IVilliam  Scot.  "  Je  n'euwe  iainais  crus  (says  the  French  am- 
bassador) qu'ils  eussent  resiste  de  la  sorte;  car  il  n'y  a  eu  voie 
que  Ton  n'ait  teniie  pour  leg  gngner.  Les  disputes  y  ont  iti 
employees,  ou  ledit  Koi  a  deploye  tout  ce  qu"il  a  scu.  L'on  en 
est  venu  nux  ofTres  &  aux  promesses,  et  depuis  aux  ineiiaces  a 
bonescient;  mais  tout  a  ele  en  vain,  n'ayant  jamais  iceux  Min- 
istres  voulu  conscntir  a  aucune  des  propositions  que  ledit  Roi 
leur  a  fait;  tellenicnt  qu'il  est  constraint  de  les  laisscr  la." 
(Anibassades  de  M.  de  la  Boderie,  i.  435.) 

I  Melville's  Dccl.  Age,  p.  146. 

II  His  text  was  Acts  xx.28.  The  itennon  was  "written  and 
fynely  compacted  in  a  little  book,  whilk  lie  bad  alwayes  in  his 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


323 


ident  of  St.  John's  College,  preached  the  second  ser- 
mon, which  was  intended  to  prove  the  royal  supre- 
macy in  ecclesiastical  matters.  It  was  chiefly  bor- 
rowed from  Bilson's  book  on  that  subject,  with  this 
addition,  that  the  preacher  confounded  the  doctrine  of 
the  presljyterians  with  that  of  the  papists.  The  third 
sermon  was  preached  by  Dr.  Andrews,  Bishop  of  Chi- 
chester, on  the  silver  trumpets  which  were  blown  by 
the  priests  at  the  Jewish  convocations,  from  which  his 
lordship,  to  the  amazement  of  the  ministers,  undertook 
to  prove  that  the  convocating  of  ecclesiastical  councils 
and  synods  belongs  properly  to  Christian  emperors  and 
kings.*  Dr.  King,  Dean  of  Christ's  Church,  closed 
this  pulpit-shovir  by  an  attack  upon  the  lay  elders  of 
the  Church  of  Scotland.  Collier  says  that  the  ser- 
mon, "  tho'  somewhat  remote  from  the  words"  of  his 
text,  was  "  suitable  to  the  occasion."  But  the  truth 
is,  that  the  text  was  as  suitable  to  the  occasion  as  the 
sermon  was.  It  was  very  ingeniously  taken  from  the 
Canticles — "  Solomon  had  a  vineyard  at  Baalhamon  ;  he 
let  out  the  vineyard  unto  keepers  ;^''\  and  it  afforded  the 
preacher  an  excellent  opportunity  of  paying  due  com- 
pliments to  the  modern  Solomon,  the  grand  Lay  Elder 
of  the  Church  of  England,  who,  in  virtue  of  his  royal 
unction,  possessed  more  ecclesiastical  authority  than 
all  the  mitred  and  cassocked  clergy  in  his  kingdom. 
If  this  "king  of  preachers"  (as  his  Majesty  used  wit- 
tily to  call  him)  had  at  this  time  an  eye  to  that  rich 
spot  of  "the  vineyard"  which  was  afterwards  "let 
out"  to  him,  he  could  not  have  forwarded  his  object 
better  than  by  railing,  as  he  did  in  this  sermon,  against 
presbyteries,  and  crying  to  his  Majesty,  D&ivn,  down 
with  them.^  Lest  the  court-preachers  should  have 
failed  in  setting  forth  all  the  virtues  of  an  English 
monarch,  the  ministers,  on  leaving  the  chapel,  were 
conducted,  by  the  Dean  of  Sarum,  into  the  royal  clo- 
set, where  they  had  the  gratification  of  seeing  James 
touch  a  number  of  children  for  the  cure  of  the  king's 
evil.y 

Though  the  episcopal  orations  had  been  more  able 
and  more  convincing  than  they  really  were,  it  was  not 
to  be  expected  that  they  would  make  a  favourable  im* 
pression  on  those  for  whom  they  were  immediately  in- 
tended. The  circumstances  in  which  they  were  de- 
livered were  calculated  to  awaken  prejudices  which 
are  neither  weak  nor  dishonourable.  If  ever  the 
Church  of  England  had  her  days  of  chivalry,  they  had 
then  passed  by  ;  else  her  champions  would  have  deem- 
ed it  foul  scorn  to  attack  antagonists  who  were  not  at 
liberty  to  defend  themselves  or  to  return  the  blows 
which  they  received  ;  and  day  after  day  to  crow  like 
cravens  over  men  who  sat  bound  and  shackled  before 
them.  Considering  that  the  ministers  were  constrain- 
ed to  attend,  who  could  have  blamed  them  greatly,  if, 
forgetting  the  sacredness,  not  of  the  place,  (for  they 
had  no  such  silly  scruples,)  but  of  the  service  for 
which  they  were  professedly  met,  they  had  at  the  mo- 
ment given  expression  to  what  they  felt  at  hearing  the 


hand  for  help  of  his  memorie."  (Melville's  Decl.  Age,  \i.  120.) 
Melville  composed  a  satirical  epigram  on  it.  (Musae,  p.  23.) 
And  Barlow  retaliated  by  a  versified  pun  upon  his  satirist's 
name.     (Walton's  Lives,  Zouch's  edit.  p.  353.) 

*  Melvini  Mus»,  p.  23. 

+  Song  viii.  11,  12.  No  body  can  doubt  that  the  author  of 
Vitis  Palatina  was  capable  of  making  a  very  amusing  sermon 
on  this  text,  and  one  very  gratifying  to  his  royal  master, 

X  Melville's  Decl.  Age,  p.  135. 

|[  Melville.  134.  One  of  the  panegyrists  of  James  has  very 
seriously  alluded  to  this  royal  virtue  in  the  following  lines  : 

O  happy  Britaines,  that  thus  have  in  One 
A  just,  wise  Prince,  a  prompt  Philosopher, 
A  pregnant  Poet,  a  Phisition, 
A  deepe  Divine,  a  sweet  tongued  Orator; 

A  curer  both  of  Kings  and  poore  mansEvill; 

What  would  )'c  more  1  a  chaser  of  the  Devill. 

(The  Laudable  Life  and  Deplorable  Death  of  our  late  peer- 
les»e  Prince  Henry— By  J.  M,  [James  Maxwelll  Master  of  Artes, 
Lond.  1612.) 


church  to  which  they  belonged  so  indecently  assailed  1 
They  listened,  however,  with  the  most  respectful  at- 
tention :  they  even  took  down  notes  from  the  mouth  of 
the  preacher.  But  they  did  not  scruple  to  declare,  af- 
ter the  service  was  over,  that  they  thought  the  sermons 
were  lame  in  point  of  argument;  and  insisted  that  they 
should  be  printed,  that  they  might  have  an  opportunity 
of  answering  them.*  They  were  all  printed  ;  but  when 
the  ministers  were  preparing  to  reply,  they  were  or- 
dered to  separate,  and  to  take  up  their  lodgings  with 
the  bishops. t 

On  the  28th  of  September,  they  were  required  by  a 
message  from  his  Majesty  to  be  in  the  Royal  Chapel 
early  next  day  ;  and  Melville  and  his  nephew  received 
a  particular  charge  not  to  be  absent.  It  was  the  festi- 
val of  St.  Michael,  one  of  the  Bii  minorum  gentium 
of  the  English,  and  was  celebrated  with  much  super- 
stitious pomp.  Several  foreigners  of  distinction  were 
present,  among  whom  was  the  Prince  de  Vaudemont, 
son  to  the  Duke  of  Lorrain,  and  commander  of  the  Ve- 
netian army.  On  entering  the  chapel,  James  Melville 
whispered  to  his  uncle,  that  he  suspected  a  design  to 
ensnare  them  and  put  their  patience  to  the  test.  The 
chapel  resounded  with  all  kinds  of  music.  On  the 
altar  were  placed  two  shut  books,  two  empty  chalices, 
and  two  candlesticks  with  unlighted  candles.  And 
the  King  and  Queen  approached  it  with  great  cere- 
mony, and  presented  their  offerings.  When  the  ser- 
vice was  over  the  Prince  de  Vaudemont  said,  he  did 
not  see  what  should  hinder  the  churches  of  Rome  and 
England  to  unite  :  and  one  of  his  attendants  exclaimed, 
"  There  is  nothing  of  the  mass  wanting  here  btlt  the 
adoration  of  the  host.":}:  On  returning  to  his  lodg- 
ings, Melville  composed  the  following  verses  on  the 
scene  which  he  had  just  witnessed  : 

Cur  slant  clausi  Anglis  libri  duo  regia  in  ara, 
Lumina  caeca  duo,  pollubra  sicca  duo  ? 

Nura  sensum  cultumque  Dei  tenet  An^lia  claustiiD-, 
Lumine  caeca  suo,  sorde  sepulta  sua  7 

Romano  an  ritu  dum  regalem  instruit  aram, 
Purpuream  pingit  relligiosa  lupam  ^H 

By  means  of  some  of  the  court-spies,  who  frequented 
the  house  in  which  the  ministers  lodged,  a  copy  of 
these  verses  was  conveyed  to  his  Majesty,  who  was, 
or  affected  to  he,  highly  incensed  at  them.  And  it  was 
immediately  resolved  to  proceed  against  their  author. 
On  the  30th  of  November,  he  was  summoned  to 
Whitehall,  and  brought  before  the  Privy  Council  of 
England.  His  Majesty  did  not  attend,  but  one  or  two 
Scottish  noblemen  were  present.     Melville  frankly  ac- 

*  The  First  of  the  Foure  Sermons  preached — at  Hampton- 
Court  in  September  last — by  William  Lord  Bishop  of  Roches- 
ter. Lond.  1607.  In  the  prefatory  address,  "  To  the  Minis* 
ters  of  Scotland,  my  Fellow  Dispensers  of  Gods  Misteries,"  Bat- 
low  mentions  the  facts  stated  in  the  text. 

f  Melville's  Hist.  p.  147. 

I  Melville,  131,132.  Scot,  180.  Wodrow's  Life  of  Andrew 
Melville,  p.  82. 

II  For  the  sake  of  the  English  reader,  who  may  be  desirous  to 
know  the  treason  included  in  these  lines,  the  following  old 
translation  of  them,  which,  though  flat,  conveys  the  sense,  may 
be  added: 

Why  stand  there  on  the  Royal  Altar  hie 
Two  closed  books,  blind  lights,  two  basins  drie  1 
Doth  England  hold  God's  mind  and  worship  closs, 
Blind  of  her  sight,  and  buried  in  her  dross? 
Doth  she,  with  Chapel  put  in  Romish  dress. 
The  purple  whore  religiously  express  ? 

Melvini  Musae.  p.  24.  In  this  work  there  are,  besides  the 
verses  given  in  the  text,  a  poem  by  John  Gordon,  and  two  by- 
John  Barclay,  author  of  Argenis,  in  defence  of  the  Royal  Al- 
tar; and  five  by  Melville  in  reply.  It  may  admit  of  a  doubt 
whether  the  poems  which  bear  the  names  of  Gordon  and  Bar- 
clay were  really  written  by  them,  or  whether  the  whoie  were 
composed  by  Melville  in  the  form  of  a  poetical  jvif  or  mock  en- 
counter. The  noted  Poetical  Duellist.  Dr.  Eglisham,  attacked 
Melville's  Epigram  on  the  Altar.  The  edition  of  his  Dnellum 
Poeticum,  printed  in  1618,  bears  on  the  title,  "  Adjectis  pro- 
philacticis  adversus  Andreas  Melvini  Cavillum  in  Aram  Regiaoa, 
aliisque  Epigrammatis." 


3U 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


knowledged  tliat  he  had  made  an  epigram  of  which 
that  which  was  now  shewn  him  was  an  inaccurate 
copy.  He  had  composed  it,-  he  said,  under  feelings 
of  indignation  and  grief  at  seeing  such  superstitious 
vanity  m  a  reformed  church,  under  a  King  who  had 
been  brought  up  in  the  pure  light  of  the  Gospel,  and 
before  strangers  who  could  not  but  be  confirmed  in 
their  idolatry  by  what  they  witnessed  at  Hampton 
Court  on  the  occasion  referred  to.  It  was  his  inten- 
tion to  embrace  the  first  opportunity  of  speaking  to  his 
Majesty  on  the  suhject,  and  to  shew  him  the  verses. 
He  had  given  out  no  copy  of  them,  and  he  could  not 
conceive  how  they  had  been  conveyed  to  his  Majesty, 
He  was  not  conscious  of  any  crime  in  what  he  had 
done.  But  if  he  had  committed  an  offence,  he  ought 
to  be  tried  for  it  in  his  own  country :  as  a  Scotchman, 
he  was  not  bound  to  answer  before  the  council  of  Eng- 
land, particularly  as  the  King,  his  sovereign,  was  not 
present.  The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  addressing 
him,  began  to  aggravate  the  offence,  arguing  that  such 
a  libel  on  the  worship  of  the  church  of  England  was  a 
high  misdemeanour,  and  even  brought  the  offender 
within  the  laws  of  treason.  This  was  too  much  for 
Melville  to  bear  from  a  man  of  whom  he  had  so  unfa- 
vourable an  opinion  as  Bancroft.  He  interrupted  the 
primate.  "  My  lords,"  exclaimed  he,  "Andrew  Mel- 
ville was  never  a  traitor.  But,  my  lords,  there  was 
one  Richard  Bancroft,  (let  him  be  sought  for,)  who, 
during  the  life  of  the  late  Queen,  wrote  a  treatise 
against  his  Majesty's  title  to  the  crown  of  England  ; 
and  here,  (pulling  the  corpus  delicti  from  his  pocket,) 
here  is  the  book,  which  was  answered  by  my  brother 
John  Davidson."*  Bancroft  was  thrown  into  the  ut- 
most confusion  by  this  bold  and  unexpected  attack. 
In  the  mean  time,  Melville  went  on  to  charge  the 
archbishop  with  his  delinquencies.  He  accused  him 
of  profaning  the  Sabbath,  of  maintaining  an  antichris- 
tian  hierarchy,  and  vain,  foppish,  superstitious  cere- 
monies ;  and  of  silencing  and  imprisoning  the  true 
preachers  of  the  Gospel  for  scrupling  to  conform  to 
these.  Advancing  gradually,  as  he  spoke,  to  the  head 
of  the  table,  where  Bancroft  sat,  he  took  hold  of  the 
lawn-sleeves  of  the  primate,  and  shaking  them,  and 
calling  them  Romish  rags,  he  said,  "  If  you  are  the  au- 
thor of  the  book  called  '  English  Scottizing  for  Ge- 
neva Discipline,'  then  I  regard  you  as  the  capital  ene- 
my of  all  the  Reformed  Churches  in  Europe,  and  as 
such  I  will  profess  myself  an  enemy  to  you  and  to 
your  proceedings,  to  the  effusion  of  the  last  drop  cf 
my  blood :  and  it  grieves  me  that  such  a  man  should 
have  his  Majesty's  ear,  and  sit  so  high  in  this  honour- 
able council."  It  was  a  considerable  time  before  any 
of  the  council  recovered  from  their  astonishment  so 
far  as  to  think  of  interposing  between  the  poor  primate 
and  his  incensed  accuser.  Bishop  Barlow  at  last  step- 
ped in;  but  he  was  handled  in  the  same  unceremoni- 
ous way.  Melville  attacked  his  narrative  of  the 
Hampton-Court  Conference,  and  accused  him  of  rep- 
resenting the  King  as  of  no  religion,  by  making  him 
say  that,  "  though  he  was  in  the  church  of  Scotland  he 
was  not  of  it."|  He  then  proceeded  to  make  stric- 
tures on  the  sermon  which  he  had  heard  Barlow 
preach  in  the  Royal  Chapel.  "  Remember  where  you 
are,  and  to  whom  you  are  speaking,"  said  one  of  the 
Scottish  noblemen.  "  I  remember  it  very  well,  my 
lord,"  (replied  Melville,)  "and  am  sorry  that  your 
lordship,  by  sitting  here  and  countenancing  such  pro- 
ceedings against  me,  should  furnish  a  precedent 
which  may  yet  be  used  against  yourself  or  your  pos- 
terity." 

He  was  at  last  removed,  and  his  brethren  were  call- 


•  Row  repeatedly  refers  to  this  treatise  of  Bancroft,  and  Da- 
vidson'ft  answer  to  it.  (Hist.  p.  85,  347.)  Bancroft's  work  is 
also  mentioned  by  John  Forbes.     (Hist,  of  the  Ref.  p.  33.) 

t  An  Knglish  writer  has  used  much  stronger  language  in  an- 
imadverting on  this  expression.  (Toplady's  Hist.  Proof,  ii 
233." 


ed  in.  The  Lord  Chancellor,  apprehending  that  all 
the  Scottish  ministers  might  be  equally  fiery  as  the  in- 
dividual who  had  just  been  before  them,  addressed 
James  Melville  and  Wallace  in  the  mildest  and  most 
complimentary  style,*  and  took  the  task  of  interroga- 
ting them  from  the  primate,  that  he  might  conduct  it 
himself  in  a  less  offensive  manner.  They  confirmed 
the  testimony  of  Melville,  that  no  copy  of  the  verses 
had,  so  far  as  they  knew,  been  given  out.  After  the 
council  had  deliberated  for  some  time,  Melville  wa^ 
again  called  in  ;  and,  having  been  admonished  by  the 
Chancellor  to  add  modesty  and  discretion  to  his  learn- 
ing and  years,  was  told  that  he  had  been  found  guilty 
of  scandalum  magnaium,  and  was  to  be  committed  to 
the  custody  of  the  dean  of  St.  Paul's,  until  the  pleasure 
of  the  King,  as  to  his  farther  punishment,  should  be 
known.  A  warrant  was  immediately  issued  to  the 
dean.  Dr.  Overall,  to  receive  the  prisoner  into  his 
house,  to  suffer  none  to  have  access  to  him,  and  to 
confer  with  him  at  convenient  times  on  those  points  on 
which  he  differed  from  the  church  established  by  law, 
for  his  better  satisfaction  and  conformity. j" 

Having  got  the  man  of  whom  they  chiefly  stood  in 
awe  confined,  and  received  assurances  that  his  breth- 
ren would  be  detained  at  London,  the  Scottish  bishops 
posted  home  to  hold  a  packed  assembly.  After  all 
their  preparations  they  durst  not  allow  a  free  election 
of  representatives  of  the  church.  Missives  were  ad- 
dressed by  the  King  to  the  several  presbyteries,  desi- 
ring them  to  send  such  persons  as  he  named  to  Lin- 
lithgow on  the  10th  of  December,  to  consult  with  cer- 
tain noblemen  and  members  of  the  Privy  Council  on 
the  means  of  preventing  the  increase  of  popery  and 
curing  the  distractions  of  the  church.  In  some  pres- 
byteries three  and  in  others  six  individuals  were  pick- 
ed out,  according  as  each  had  a  smaller  or  greater 
number  of  members  favourable  to  the  measures  of  the 
court;  and  private  letters  were  addressed  to  them  com- 
manding their  attendance  at  Linlithgow,  whether  they 
received  a  commission  from  their  constituents  or  not. 
Feeling  this  to  be  an  insult  on  them,  as  well  as  an  in- 
vasion of  their  rights,  some  presbyteries  refused  to 
give  any  commission  to  the  nominees  of  the  court, 
while  others  positively  interdicted  them  from  taking 
part  in  the  judicial  decision  of  any  ecclesiastical  ques- 
tion.:}: The  pow-ers  of  a  General  Assembly  were, 
however,  assumed  by  this  illegitimate  body.  The 
commissioners  who  acted  on  the  part  of  his  Majesty 
presented  a  letter  from  him,  in  which  he  declared  it  to 
be  "  his  advice  and  pleasure,"  that  "  one  of  the  most 
godly  and  grave  and  meetest  for  government"  should 
presently  be  nominated  as  moderator  of  each  presby- 
tery, to  continue  in  that  oflice  until  the  jars  among  the 
ministers  were  removed,  and  the  popish  noblernen  re- 
claimed ;  and  that  the  bishops  should  be  moderators 
of  the  presbyteries  within  whose  bounds  they  resided. 
Inclined  as  most  of  the  members  were  to  gratify  the 
King,  this  proposal  met  at  first  with  considerable  op- 
position.    It  was  seen  that  the  new  office  was  a  mere 


*  "Fearing,"  savs  James  Melville,  "as  it  appeared  in  using 
suci>  charming',  that  force  of  spirit,  whilk  he  needed  not." 

t  Melville's  History  of  Declining  Age,  p.  147 — 151.  Scot's 
Apolog.  Narrat.  p.  188,  189.  Row's  History,  p.  103—105,346 
—348.  Ambassades  de  M.  de  la  Boderie,  i.  456,  458.  The 
warrant  to  Dr.  Overall  may  be  seen  in  Dr.  Zoucb's  edition  of 
Walton's  Live.s,  p.  351,  note. 

\  "We  the  presb""^  of  hadingtou  vnderstanding  that  our 
brethren  Mr  James  Carmicbael  Mr  David  Ogill  and  James  reid 
are  to  repair  at  his  hieneg  coniaund  upon  the  tenth  of  this  in- 
stant to  aiie  meting  of  the  nobilitic  in  linlilhgow,  and  consider- 
ing ^uoj  omn«*  tangii  debet  ab  onibus  cnrarj,  ut  quod  culpa 
non  car  eat,  qui  ret  se  miscel  ad  se  non  pertinenli  ;  Be  thir  pre- 
sents dischargis  j"  said  brethren  to  vote  conclude  or  determine 
of  onie  things  the  d<cision  qi'of  pertenis  to  anegenerall  assera- 
blie,  and  roinand  thame  in  our  name  w<  all  humilitie  to  requeist 
the  nobilitie  thair  convenit  to  be  suteris  to  his  ma''"  That  ane 
frie  general!  assemblie  may  be  convocatt  as  y"  only  remeid  of 
all  these  evillis  mentioned'^  in  his  bienes  letter."  (Record  of 
Presbytery  of  Haddington,  Dec.  8,  1606.) 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


325 


stalking-horse  to  enable  the  bishops  to  gain  that  pre- 
eminence whieh  they  durst  not  directly  assume;  or, 
in  the  language  of  some  of  those  who  opposed  the 
measure,  "  the  constant  moderates  were  the  little  thieves 
entering  at  the  narrow  windows  to  open  the  doors  to 
the  great  thieves."*  To  silence  these  objections  his 
Majesty's  commissioners  assured  the  Assembly  that 
he  had  no  intention  to  subvert  the  established  church- 
government.  The  bishops  repeated  their  deceitful 
protestations,  that  "  it  was  not  their  intention  to  usurp 
!any  tyrannous  and  unlawful  jurisdiction  over  their 
brethren,"  and  that  they  would  "  submit  to  the  cen- 
sure of  the  church."!  A  variety  of  cautions,  similar 
to  those  which  had  formerly  been  imposed  on  the  vo- 
ters in  parliament,  and  brought  forward  with  the  same 
fraudulent  design,  were  agreed  to.  The  zeal  of  his 
Majesty  against  popery  was  loudly  proclaimed  ;  and 
hopes  were  given  that  he  would  listen  to  the  interces- 
sions which  the  Assembly  had  agreed  to  make  in  be- 
half of  the  ministers  who  were  in  confinement.  By 
these  means  the  strength  of  the  opposition  was  broken, 
and  the  measure  carried  by  an  overwhelming  majority. 
When  the  act  of  Assembly  was  afterwards  published, 
it  bore  that  the  bishops  were  to  be  moderators  of  pro- 
vincial synods  as  well  as  of  presbyteries  ;  and  there  is 
great  probability  in  the  allegation,  that  this  clause  was 
interpolated  after  the  minutes  were  sent  to  London  and 
submitted  to  his  Majesty's  revision. :J: 

This  Assembly  was  opened  by  Law,  bishop  of  OrK- 
ney,  with  a  sermon  on  these  words.  Pray  for  the  peace 
of  Jerusalem ;  and  it  was  closed  with  the  warmest  ex- 
pressions of  thanksgiving  and  gratulation  on  account 
of  the  uncommon  spirit  of  union  and  harmony  which 
had  been  displayed  in  all  its  deliberations.  None  are 
so  loud  in  their  praises  of  peace  as  those  who  are  pur- 
suing courses  which  directly  tend  to  violate  it;  and  in 
their  dialect  those  are  the  men  of  peace  who  yield  a 
tame  submission  to  all  the  impositions  of  authority,  or 
who  obseqtiiously  follow  in  the  train  of  a  ruling  fac- 
tion, at  the  expense  of  abandoning  principle  and  sacri- 
ficing the  public  good.  No  sooner  was  the  Assembly 
over  than  the  different  synods  and  presbyteries  receiv- 
ed legal  charges  to  admit  the  constant  moderators. 
All  the  synods  but  one,  whose  name  I  need  not  repeat, 
refused  ;  and  their  refusal  was  imitated  by  a  number 
of  presbyteries.  Ministers  in  all  parts  of  the  country 
were  thrown  into  prison,  or  declared  rebels  and  forced 
to  abscond  for  a  time;  and  in  some  places  the  most 
disgraceful  scenes  were  exhibited,  in  consequence  of 
the  firmness  of  the  church-courts  and  the  violence  of 
the  agents  of  government. "|| 

There  is  not  a  more  pitiable  situation  than  that  of  a 
good  man  who  has  suffered  himself  to  become  the  tool 
of  an  unprincipled  faction,  and  who  has  not  courage  to 
break  through  the  toils  in  which  he  has  been  unwarily 
caught;  whose  character  is  used  to  sanctify  actions 
which  he  reprobates,  and  whose  services  are  demanded 
to  carry  into  execution  schemes  of  which  he  never  cor- 
dially approved,  and  which  he  every  day  sees  more 
and  more  reason  to  condemn.  Such  was  the  unhappy 
situation  of  James  Nicolson.  The  way  in  which  he 
was  led  to  desert  his  early  friends  has  been  already 
stated. §  From  that  time  he  had  taken  a  leading  part 
in  forwarding  the  designs  of  the  court  against  the  liber- 
ties of  the  church,  although  his  behaviour  occasionally 
gave  symptoms  that  "all  was  not  at  peace  within." 
After  long  hesitation  he  had  lately  been  prevailed  on 
to  accept  a  bishopric.  In  imposing  the  acts  of  the 
assembly  of  Linlithgow,  of  which  he  was  moderator, 
he  had  to  brook  mortifications  which  caused  him  to  be 

*  Course  of  Conformity,  p.  50. 

+  Bulk  of  the  Univ.  Kiik,  f.  219. 

X  Ibid.  218,  b,— 221.  CaJd.  vi.  1239—1266;  vii.  45—60. 
Melville,  Decl.  Age,  p.  151—154.  Scot,  p.  189—196.  Row, 
p.  105—110.     Spotswood,  p.  500—502. 

II  Printed  Calderwood,  p.  565—569. 

\  See  above,  p.  297. 


pitied  even  by  those  who  were  most  offended  at  his  de- 
fection from  the  Presbyterian  cause.  Soon  after  this 
he  sickened,  and  on  his  death-bed  expressed  the  keen- 
est regret  for  the  course  he  had  taken.  When  his 
friends  proposed  sending  for  a  physician,  he  exclaim- 
ed, "  Send  for  King  James  :  it  is  the  digesting  of  the 
bishopric  that  has  racked  my  stomach."  He  would 
not  allow  his  episcopal  titles  to  be  put  into  his  testa- 
ment; and  earnestly  exhorted  his  brother-in-law  to 
keep  aloof  from  the  court,  and  not  to  become  a  bishop ; 
"  for  if  you  do,"  said  he,  "  you  must  resolve  to  take 
the  will  of  your  sovereign  for  the  law  of  your  con- 
science." * 

Melville  remained  under  the  surveillance  of  the  dean 
of  St.  Paul's  until  the  9th  of  March,  1607,  when  he 
received  an  order  from  the  privy  council  to  remove  to 
the  house  of  the  bishop  of  Winchester.  The  messen- 
ger having  retired  without  insisting  on  accompanying 
him  immediately  to  the  dwelling  of  his  new  overseer, 
he  took  the  liberty  of  visiting  his  brethren  ;  and,  as  the 
court  was  then  entirely  occupied  in  managing  the 
House  of  Commons,  which  had  shown  symptoms  of 
refractoriness,  he  was  allowed  to  remain  with  them  for 
several  weeks. f  They  had  found  means  to  excuse 
themselves  from  taking  up  their  residence  in  the 
houses  of  the  bishops,  but  the  order  formerly  issued 
to  that  effect  was  now  renewed.  For  the  confinement 
of  Melville  some  pretext  had  been  found  in  the  charge 
brought  against  him,  and  the  legal  proceedings  found- 
ed on  it.  In  the  case  of  the  other  ministers  nothing 
of  this  kind  could  be  alleged.  Accordingly,  they 
hiably  resented  this  unprovoked  encroachment  on  their 
liberty.  They  wrote  to  Sir  Anthony  Ashley,  one  of 
the  clerks  of  council,  desiring  to  know  the  grounds  on 
which  it  proceeded  ;  but  he  could  assign  no  cause. 
They  waited  on  the  bishop  of  Durham,  who  received 
them  in  such  a  manner  as  was  not  calculated  to  give 
them  high  ideas  of  the  welcome  which  they  might  ex- 
pect from  their  episcopal  hosts.  %  They  then  addressed 
a  spirited  remonstrance  to  the  privy  council  of  Eng- 
land. They  complained  of  being  detained  in  that 
country,  to  the  impairinor  of  their  health,  the  wasting 
of  their  substance,  and  the  heavy  injury  of  their  fami- 
lies and  flocks.  They  protested  against  the  late  order 
of  council  as  a  violation  of  the  law  of  nations,  of  the 
privileges  of  their  native  country,  and  of  the  princi- 
ples of  justice,  which  forbid  any  man  to  be  deprived 
of  his  freedom  as  long  as  he  is  unaccused  and  uncon- 
demned.  It  could  be  considered  in  no  other  light, 
they  said,  than  as  a  punishment,  and  for  their  part  they 
would  sooner  submit  to  banishment  or  imprisonment 
in  a  common  jail.  They  were  pastors  of  the  church 
of  Scotland,  long  renowned  among  the  churches  of  the 
Reformation  ;  they  had  houses  and  incomes  of  iheir 
own  with  which  they  were  contented  ;  and  it  was  re- 
pugnant to  their  personal  feelings,  discreditable  to 
their  function  and  the  church  to  which  they  belonged, 
and  not  very  honourable  to  their  sovereign  and  native 
country,  for  them  to  "  feed  like  bdlly-gods  at  the  table 
of  strangers,"  exchange  the  character  of  masters  and 
teachers  for  that  of  bondmen  and  scholars,  and  appear 
to  the  world  to  approve  of  what  they  and  their  religi- 
ous connexions  had  always  condemned.     Wherein  had 

*  Scot,  p.  205.  Simson,  116.  Epist.  Philad.  Vind.  apud 
Altare  Daniasc.  p.  776.  Wodrow's  Life  of  Nicolson,  p.  3,  4: 
MSS.  vol.  ii.  His  Testament  runs  thus:  "  I  Mr  James  Nicol- 
son Minisf  at  Meg:ill  &c."  without  any  mention  of  his  episcopal 
office.  "  He  deceased  in  (he  moneth  of  August  1607,"  and  left 
a  widow,  Jane  Ramsay,  and  three  children,  James,  Margaret, 
and  Bessie.     (Commissary  Record  of  Edinburgh.) 

+  Melville's  Hist,  of  Decl.  Age,  p-  171. 

\  His  lordship  told  James  Melville,  who  was  appointed  to  be 
his  guest,  that,  in  order  to  receive  him,  it  would  be  necessary 
to  put  a  gentleman  out  of  his  chamber,  and  two  servants  into 
one  bed.  He  invited  two  of  the  ministers  to  dine  with  him, 
but  before  the  day  came  sent  a  message,  saying,  that  it  was  not 
convenient  for  him  to  receive  them.  Melville,  ut  supra,  p.  161 
-164.) 


326 


LIFE   OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


they  offended  t  Was  it  expected  that  they  should  do 
violence  to  their  judgment  and  conscience  to  give  his 
majesty  satisfaction  1  They  knew  of  ao  principles  held 
by  them  which  were  not  sanctioned  by  the  ecclesias- 
tical and  civil  laws  of  Scotland.  But  if  it  were  other- 
wise, they  craved  that  they  might  be  sent  home  to  be 
admonished  of  their  errors  by  their  own  church,  with- 
out putting  the  lord  bishops  of  England  to  trouble 
with  them.* 

The  council  referred  them  to  the  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury for  an  answer  to  their  petition  ;  in  consequence 
of  which  two  of  them  went  to  Lambeth.  His  Grace 
received  them  with  all  the  affability  of  a  courtier,  and 
conversed  on  the  subjects  which  gave  them  so  much 
pain  with  the  ease  and  sangfroid  of  a  politician  who 
knows  that  his  power  is  firmly  established,  and  that 
all  his  measures  will  be  carried  into  execution.  Judg- 
ing from  the  exterior  of  his  conduct  on  this  occasion, 
one  could  scarcely  suppose  that  he  was  the  same  indi- 
vidual who  had  persecuted  the  English  puritans,  and 
thrown  so  much  abuse  on  the  principles  and  proceed- 
ings of  the  presbyterian  church  in  Scotland.  When 
the  ministers  were  introduced,  he  ordered  his  attend- 
ants to  withdraw.  He  apologized  for  the  order  of 
council  of  which  they  complained,  by  alleging  that  it 
was  intended  to  provide  them  with  accommodation 
suitable  to  their  station,  seeing  it  was  not  the  King's 
pleasure  that  they  should  yet  return  to  their  own  coun- 
try. James  Melville  having  stated  their  reasons  for 
declining  this  compelled  courtesy,  the  primate  ac- 
knowledged their  force,  and  said,  that  the  bishops 
themselves  did  not  relish  the  proposal,  though  they 
acquiesced  in  it  to  please  his  Majesty:  "for  (added 
he)  our  custom  is,  after  serious  matters,  to  refresh  our- 
selves an  hour  or  two  with  cards  or  other  games  ;t  but 
ye  are  more  precise."  Changing  the  subject,  he  ask- 
ed them  if  it  would  not  be  desirable  to  have  the  two 
churches  united  under  the  same  government.  They 
replied  that  it  certainly  would,  provided  the  union  was 
accomplished  on  sound  and  scriptural  grounds ;  but 
there  was  great  danger  of  widening  the  breach  by  inju- 
dicious attempts  to  close  it.  "  We  will  not  reason 
upon  that  matter  now,"  said  the  archbishop  ;  "  but  I 
am  sure  we  both  hold  the  grounds  of  true  religion,  and 
are  brethren  in  Christ,  and  so  should  behave  ourselves 
toward  each  other.  We  differ  only  in  forms  of  gov- 
ernment in  the  church  and  some  ceremonies;  and,  as  I 
understand,  since  ye  came  from  Scotland,  your  church 
is  brought  almost  to  be  one  with  ours  in  that  also;  for 
I  am  certified  there  are  constant  moderators  appointed 
in  your  assemblies,  synods  and  presbyteries."  His 
Grace  went  on  for  a  long  time  in  this  strain  of  affected 
moderation,  but  real  insolence  ;  not  neglecting  to  say 
that  he  was  in  a  better  state  when  he  was  but  Richard 
Bancroft,  than  now  when  he  was  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury. Scot  thought  it  necessary  to  reply ;  and  began 
with  saying,  thai  they  could  not  relinquish  their  eccle- 
siastical discipline  with  a  good  conscience.  But  the 
primate  interrupted  him  with  a  gracious  smile;  and, 
tapping  him  kindly  on  the  shoulder,  said,  "Tush, 
man  ;  here,  take  a  cup  of  good  sack."  And  filling  the 
cup,  and  "  holding  the  napkin  himself,"  he  made  them 
drink. :^  So,  with  many  flattering  expressions,  and 
courtly  promises  to  intercede  with  his  Majesty  in  their 
behalf,  his  Grace  dismissed  them.|| 


*  The  order  of  Privy  Council  warranting  the  bishops  to  re- 
ceive the  ministers,  the  letter  of  the  ministers  to  Sir  Anthony 
Ashley,  with  his  answer,  and  their  petition  to  the  Council,  are 
all  inserted  in  Melville's  Hist,  of  the  Decl.  Age,  p.  157 — 167. 

t  It  seems  the  bishops  avowedly  violated  those  canons,  the 
transgression  of  which,  in  the  most  unimportant  circumstances, 
they  punished  so  severely  in  the  puritans.  See  the  Canons  of 
1603.  in  Wilkins's  Concilia,  torn.  ii.  p.  393. 

J  Osborne  says,  Bancroft  was  "  characteriied  for  a  jovial 
doctor."  (Secret  History  of  the  court  of  James  1.  vol.  i.  p. 
65.)  Warner  taxes  him  with  want  of  hospitality.  (Eccles. 
Hist.  vol.  ii.  p.  496.) 

II  Melville,  168—170.    Row.  101, 102.    Cald.  vii.  14— 16. 


The  unjust  judge  in  the  parable  was  induced  to  do 
the  widow  an  act  of  justice,  to  be  rid  of  her  trouble- 
some importunities.  The  privy  council  of  England 
adopted  an  opposite  course ;  and,  as  the  Scottish  min- 
isters persisted  in  demanding  that  they  should  either  be 
proved  criminal  or  treated  as  innocent,  they  resolved  to 
terminate  the  affair  by  one  act  of  summary  injustice. 

On  the  morning  of  the  26th  of  April,  a  servant  of  the 
Earl  of  Salisbury  came  to  the  house  in  the  Bow  where 
the  ministers  were  lodged,  and  delivered  a  message, 
requesting  Melville  to  speak  with  his  master  at  his 
chambers  in  Whitehall.  Viewing  the  message  in  a 
friendly  light,  Melville  made  himself  ready  and  set 
out  with  all  expedition.  His  nephew,  who  was  more 
suspicious,  followed  him,  as  soon  as  he  had  dressed 
himself,  to  the  palace,  accompanied  by  Scot  and  Wal- 
lace. Melville  came  to  the  inn  when  he  understood 
of  their  arrival,  and  told  them  that  he  had  waited  two 
hours  without  being  able  to  see  the  premier.  By  this 
time  he  had  been  informed  that  he  was  to  appear  be- 
fore the  English  council,  but  did  not  wish  to  alarm  his 
friends.  "  Why  do  you  ask  the  reason  of  his  lord- 
ship's message  ?"  said  he  :  "  no  doubt,  he  wishes  me 
to  dine  with  him.  But  I  shall  disappoint  him  ;  for  I 
mean  to  take  my  repast  with  you."  At  table  he  ex- 
erted himself  to  cheer  their  spirits ;  acquainted  them 
with  the  meditations  on  the  second  psalm  which  he 
had  indulged  during  his  walk  in  the  gallery  of  the 
palace ;  and  recited  the  verses  which  he  had  made  on 
St.  George,  the  tutelary  saint  of  England,  whose  fes- 
tival had  lately  been  celebrated  with  much  foolish 
pageantry.  James  Melville,  who  at  that  moment 
could  have  wished  that  his  uncle  had  never  composed 
a  couplet,  addressed  him  in  the  words  of  Ovid  : 
Si  saperem  doctas  odissem  jure  sorores, 
Numina  cultori  perniciosa  suo: 

To  which  he  replied,  with  his  usual  promptitude,  in 
the  next  words  of  the  poet : 

Sed  nunc  (tanta  meo  comes  est  insania  morbo) 
Saxa  (malum  !)  refero  rursus  ad  icta  pedera.* 

"  Well,"  said  his  nephew,  "eat  your  dinner,  and  be 
of  good  courage;  for  I  have  no  doubt  you  are  to  be 
called  before  the  council  for  your  altar-verses." — "My 
heart  is  full  and  swells,"  replied  he ;  "and  I  would  be 
glad  to  have  that  occasion  to  disburden  it,  and  to  speak 
all  my  mind  plainly  to  them,  for  their  dishonouring  of 
Christ  and  ruining  of  so  many  souls  by  bearing  down 
the  purity  of  the  gospel  and  maintaining  popish  super- 
stition and  corruptions." — "  I  warrand  you,"  said 
James  Melville,  who  was  anxious  to  repress  his  fer- 
vour, "they  know  you  will  speak  your  mind  freely; 
and  therefore  have  sent  for  you  that  they  may  find  a 
pretext  to  keep  you  from  going  home  to  Scotland." — 
"  If  God  have  any  service  for  me  there,  he  will  bring 
me  home :  if  not,  let  me  glorify  him  wherever  I  be. 
I  have  often  said  to  you,  cousin,  He  hath  some  part  to 
play  with  us  on  this  theatre."  As  he  said  this,  a  mes- 
senger entered,  and  acquainted  him  that  the  Earl  of 
Salisbury  wished  to  see  him.  "  I  have  waited  long 
upon  my  lord's  dinner,  (said  Melville)  pray  him  to 
suffer  me  now  to  take  a  little  of  my  own."  Within  a 
short  time  two  expresses  were  sent  to  inform  him  that 
the  council  was  sitting  and  waited  for  him ;  upon 
which  he  rose,  and,  having  joined  with  his  brethren  in 
a  short  prayer,  repaired  to  the  council-room. | 

His  Majesty  did  not  make  his  appearance;  but  he 
had  placed  himself  in  a  closet  adjoining  to  the  room 
in  which  the  council  was  met.  A  low  trick,  and  dis- 
graceful to  royalty,  by  which  the  prisoner  was  encour- 
aged to  use  liberties  which  he  might  not  otherwise 
have  taken,  and  which  were  overheard  by  the  person 
who  was  ultimately  to  decide  upon  his  fate.  The  only 
charge  which  the  council  had  to  bring  against  him  was 
the  epigram  for  which  he  had  formerly  been  question- 

»  OvidiiTristia,  lib.  ii.  od.  1. 

t  Melville's  Hist,  of  the  Decl.  Age,  p.  178—181. 


LIFE  OF  AXURKW  MELVILLE. 


nr 


ed.  Irritated  as  he  was  by  what  he  had  suffered  and 
by  what  he  had  seen,  he  was  not  prepared  to  make 
apologies  or  retractions.  "  The  Earl  of  Salisbury 
(says  the  French  ambassador,  to  whom  we  owe  the 
account  of  this  interview)  took  up  the  subject,  and  be- 
gan to  reprove  him  for  his  obstinacy  in  refusing  to  ac- 
knowledge the  primacy,  and  for  the  verses  which  he 
had  made  in  derision  of  the  royal  chapel.  Melville 
was  so  severe  in  his  reply,  both  in  what  related  to  the 
King,  and  to  the  I^arl  personally,  that  his  lordship 
was  completely  put  to  silence.  To  his  assistance 
came  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  then  the  Earl  of 
Northampton,  then  the  Lord  Treasurer;  all  of  whom 
he  rated  in  such  a  manner,  sparing  none  of  the  vices, 
public  or  private,  with  which  they  are  respectively 
taxed,  (and  none  of  them  are  angels)  that  they  would 
have  been  glad  that  he  had  been  in  Scotland.  In  the 
end,  not  being  able  to  induce  him  to  swear  to  the  pri- 
macy, and  not  knowing  any  other  way  to  revenge 
themselves  on  him,  they  agreed  to  send  him  prisoner 
to  the  Tower.  When  the  sentence  was  pronounced, 
he  exclaimed  :  "  To  this  comes  the  boasted  pride  of 
England  !  A  month  ago  yon  put  to  death  a  priest,  and 
to-morrow  you  will  do  the  same  to  a  minister."* 
Then  addressing  tiie  Duke  of  Lennox  and  the  f^arl  of 
Mar,  who  were  in  the  council,  he  said,  "  I  am  a 
Scotchman,  my  lords,  a  true  Scotchman;  and  if  you 
are  such,  take  heed  that  they  do  not  end  with  you  as 
they  have  begun  with  me."  The  King  was  more  irri- 
tated at  this  last  saying  than  at  all  which  had  passed. "f 

Being  prohibited  from  approaching  the  palace,  the 
other  ministers  had  employed  one  of  their  servants  to 
watch  the  issue,  who,  returning  at  the  end  of  three 
hours,  informed  them  that  Melville  was  conveyed  by 
water  to  the  Tower.  They  hastened  thither,  but  were 
refused  access  to  him.:!: 

It  is  difficult  to  say  which  is  most  glaring,  the  injus- 
tice or  the  ridiculousness  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
council,  first  and  last,  against  Melville.  He  was  no 
subject  of  Enffland,  and  no  member  of  the  English 
church  :  he  owed  no  fealty  or  subjection  to  the  author- 
ities of  either.  Called  into  that  country  by  the  letter, 
and  detained  in  it  by  the  will  of  his  sovereign,  he  was 
placed  under  the  protection  of  the  royal  authority ;  and 
he  was  entitled  to  claim  the  benefit  of  this,  especially 
at  a  time  when  conferences  were  holding  for  uniting 
the  two  kingdoms. II  What  had  he  done  to  forfeit  this 
protection  ?  Had  he  published  a  libel  against  the  con- 
stitution of  England  ?  Had  he  intruded  into  her  tem- 
ples, or  publicly  insulted  her  worship?  Had  heat- 
tacked  or  even  written  a  single  line  against  one  of  her 
established  rites  1  He  iiad  been  forced  to  listen  to  dis- 
courses which  he  disliked,  aid  to  witness  religious 
ceremonies  which  he  detested.  Was  he  also  to  be  re- 
strained from  relieving  his  mind  in  private,  by  indulg- 
ing in  a  literary  recreation  to  which  he  had  been  ad- 
dicted from  his  youth  1  Or,  was  it  a  crime  to  commu- 
nicate the  effusions  of  his  muse  to  his  brethren  who 
sympathised  with  all  his  feelings,  and  shared  in  all  his 
secrets  I  The  only  copy  of  the  epigram  which  had 
been  seen  was  taken  by  a  court-spy  who  haunted  his 
lodgings  for  the  base  purpose  of  informing  against 
him.      But  though  he  had  been  industrious  in  circula- 


*  In  the  end  of  1607,  a  minister  in  London  was  reprimanded 
for  some  freedoms  which  he  had  taken  from  the  pulpit  with  the 
estate  of  bishops.  Having  afterwards  given  out  some  copies 
of  his  sermon,  he  was  publicly  whipped,  made  to  stand  four 
hours  in  the  pillory,  and  had  one  of  his  ears  cut  off.  Two  days 
after  he  was  again"  brought  out,  stood  other  four  hours  in  the 
pillory,  lost  his  remaining  ear,  and  was  condemned  to  perpet- 
ual banishment.     (Ambassades  de  M.  de  la  Boderie,  ii.  489.) 

f  Ambassades  de  M.  de  la  Boderie,  torn,  ii,  p.  207 — 209. 

t  Melville's  Hist,  of  Decl.  Age,  p.  181.     Row's  Hist.  p.  105. 

||  Dr.  Zouch  candidly  allows  that  "the  behaviour  of  Mr. 
Melville  during  the  conference  afforded  no  pretext  for  detain- 
ing him  in  England,"  and  that  he  endured  "  much  persecution ;" 
adding,  "it  is  not  within  my  province  to  arraign  the  conduct 
of  James  for  his  great  severity  thus  exercised."  (Walton's 
Lives,  p.  350—353.) 


ting  it,  where  was  the  mighty  harm  1  Was  the  church 
of  England  in  such  a  feeble  and  tottering  condition  as 
to  be  in  danger  from  a  few  strokes  of  a  quill  1  Did 
she,  like  the  church  of  Rome,  tremble  at  the  report  of  a 
pasquinade  1  Were  there  none  of  all  the  learned  sons 
whom  she  had  brought  up,  and  of  whose  achievements 
she  was  wont  to  boast,  to  rise  up  and  defend  her  with 
the  weapons  with  which  she  had  been  assailed,  that 
she  was  obliged  to  call  in  the  secular  arm  for  her  pro- 
tection, and  to  silence  the  audacious  satirist  by  immur- 
ing him  iu  a  dungeon  1  The  council  were,  in  fact,  the 
authors  and  propagators  of  the  scandal  which  they 
punished  with  such  severity.  If  they  had  not  inter- 
fered, the  epigram  would  most  probably  have  remained 
among  the  papers  of  the  writer,  or  have  shared  the 
same  fate  with  similar  productions,  which  he  amused 
himself  with  for  the  moment  and  then  committed  to 
the  flames.  But,  b}'  their  injudicious  interference,  and 
in  consequence  of  their  having  made  it  the  ground  of  a 
criminal  prosecution,  it  was  circulated  through  Britain, 
was  despatched  by  couriers  to  the  different  parts  of  the 
continent,  formed  a  subject  of  merriment  at  the  courts 
of  Versailles,  Madrid,  and  even  of  the  Vatican,  and 
continues  to  this  day  to  be  read  and  relished  as  a  mer- 
ited castigation  of  a  church,  who,  while  she  professed 
to  have  broken  off  all  connexion  with  Rome,  shewed  a 
disposition  to  ape  its  manners,  and  to  practise  some  of 
its  silliest  and  most  senseless  ceremonies. 

My  Lord  Chancellor  Ellesmere  was  pleased  to  ad- 
monish Melville,  at  his  first  appearance,  to  join  grav- 
ity and  moderation  to  his  learning;  and  the  admonition 
was  good.  But  really  there  are  some  actions  so  gla- 
ringly unjust  as  to  provoke  the  meekest  of  men.  And 
there  are  some  scenes  so  truly  ridiculous  as  tn  baffle 
the  gravity  of  the  most  rigid  moralist  and  the  most  de- 
mure precisian.  What  shall  we  think  of  the  Chancel- 
lor of  all  England,  with  the  principal  peers  and  pre- 
lates of  the  realm,  assembled  in  close  conclave,  spend- 
ing two  solemn  sederunts  on  the  demerits  of  an  epi- 
gram, critically  scanning  six  Latin  lines,  endeavour- 
ing, like  school-boys,  to  construe  them  into  treason, 
and  in  the  end  gravely  finding  them  chargeable  with 
the  anomalous  and  barbarous  fault  of  scandalun  mag- 
natum  ? 

Spectatuni  admissi  risum  teneatis,  amici  ? 

Those  who  approve  of  these  proceedings,  will  be 
prepared  to  palliate  their  iniquity  by  quoting  prece- 
dents and  referring  to  examples  equally  arbitrary  and 
unjust;  and  they  will  be  loud  in  their  censures  of  the 
deportment  of  the  prisoner  on  this  occasion,  and  in 
their  declamations  against  the  indiscretion  and  vio- 
lence which  he  displayed  in  the  course  of  his  trial. 
Others,  who  are  not  disposed  to  join  in  tliis  condemna- 
tion, may  lament  that,  by  his  vehement  and  intem- 
perate language,  he  should  have  detracted  from  the 
dignity  of  his  defence,  given  his  enemies  an  advantage 
against  him,  and  subjected  himself  to  a  severer  pun- 
ishment than  he  would  have  suffered  if  he  had  acted 
with  more  moderation  and  prudence.  I  feel  as  little 
inclined  to  sympathize  with  the  regrets  of  this  last 
class  of  persons,  as  I  do  to  enter  into  serious  argu- 
ment with  the  first.  I  know  of  no  fixed  and  uniform 
standard  of  discretion  by  which  the  conduct  of  every 
individual  is  to  be  ruled  on  great  and  extraordinary 
occasions.  "There  is  a  spirit  in  man,  and  the  inspi- 
ration of  the  Almighty  giveth  him  understanding."  It 
is  the  voice  of  the  Deity  that  roars  in  the  thunder  and 
that  whispers  in  the  breeze.  There  are  virtues  whose 
mild  influence  is  grateful  and  refreshing  in  the  ordi- 
nary intercourse  of  life;  and  there  are  others  which 
are  salutary  in  purifying  the  social  atmosphere,  and  in 
relieving  it  from  those  oppressive  and  noxious  vapours 
by  which  it  is  apt  at  times  to  become  impregnated. 
Some  men  are  blessed  with  a  placidity  of  mind  and  a 
command  of  temper  which  nothing  can  ruffle  or  dis- 
compose. Others  are  gifted  with  a  keen  and  indig- 
nant sense  of  whatever  is  iniquitous  and  base,  with  the 


328 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


power  of  giving  expression  to  what  they  feel,  and  with 
courage  to  exert  that  power.  Let  each  use  the  gift 
which  he  has  received,  to  the  honour  of  Him  who  be- 
stowed it,  and  to  the  benefit  of  mankind  ;  subject  only 
to  those  general  laws  which  are  common  to  both. 
"  Quench  not  the  spirit"  of  holy  zeal  for  God  and  your 
country  by  the  cold  dictates  of  a  selfish  and  timorous 
prudence,  calculated  to  beget  a  temperance  which 
gives  smoothness  to  the  passion  of  the  hypocrite  who 
plays  his  part  on  the  world's  theatre.  "  If  my  anger 
go  downward,^^  (said  Melville  to  one  of  his  prudent 
advisers,)  "  set  your  foot  on  it,  and  put  it  out ;  but  if 
it  go  upward,  suffer  it  to  rise  to  its  place."* 

He  was  persecuted  for  what  was  no  crime,  and  ar- 
raigned before  a  court  which  had  no  legal  jurisdiction 
over  him.  He  was  under  no  obligation  to  defend  him- 
self; but  he  had  a  right  to  complain.  In  those  who 
assumed  the  power  to  judge  him  he  saw  men  of  high 
rank  and  honourable  station  indeed,  but  men  who  were 
chargeable  with  many  glaring  offences  and  acts  of  in- 
justice, and  whose  rank  and  station  had  precluded 
them  from  hitherto  hearing  the  voice  of  faithful  re- 
proof. If,  roused  by  the  unworthy  treatment  which 
he  met  with,  he  felt  it  incumbent  on  him  to  discharge 
this  dangerous  duty,  are  we  prepared  to  pronounce  his 
reprehensions  unwarranted,  or  to  say  that  they  were  j 
productive  of  no  salutary  and  beneficial  eflTect?  It  is 
a  vulgar  error  to  suppose  that  the  decisions  of  an  im- 
passioned mind  are  necessarily  blind  and  headlong. 
While  selfishness  contracts  and  cowardice  clouds  the 
understanding,  the  higher  emotions  impart  a  perspica- 
city and  an  expansion  to  the  mind  by  which  it  per- 
ceives instantaneously  and  at  one  glance  the  course 
which  it  ought  to  take.  Melville  knew  that  his  ene- 
mies sought  an  occasion  against  him,  and  that  an  ad- 
vantage would  be  taken  of  the  freedom  of  speech  in 
which  he  chose  to  indulge.  But  he  knew  also  that  he 
could  not  regain  his  personal  liberty  without  renoun- 
cing his  principles  and  abjuring  the  cause  to  which  he 
was  resolved  inviolably  to  adhere.  Provided  he  was 
not  permitted  to  return  to  his  native  country,  and  to  re- 
sume his  academical  function,  unfettered  by  sinful  or 
dishonourable  conditions,  the  degree  of  external  re- 
straint under  which  he  might  be  laid  was  to  him  a  mat- 
ter of  comparative  indifference.  Nay,  the  punishment 
to  which  he  had  for  some  time  been  subjected,  was,  in 
some  respects,  more  galling  than  any  which  the  coun- 
cil might  be  provoked  to  inflict.  And  as  it  was  more 
revolting  to  his  own  feelings,  so  was  it  also  less  cred- 
itable to  those  public  interests  which  in  his  breast 
were  ever  paramount  to  personal  considerations.  Had 
he  been  contented  to  "  wait  pinioned"  at  the  court  of 
England,  or  had  he  suffered  himself  to  be  quietly  re- 
moved out  of  the  way,  and  cooped  up  in  some  narrow 
and  remote  island,")"  his  name  and  the  reasons  of  his 
detention  would  have  been  little  heard  of  or  inquired 
after.  But  his  being  committed  to  the  Tower  as  a 
state  prisoner,  with  the  circumstances  which  led  to 
this,  excited  great  speculation ;  and  thus  the  cause  for 
which   he  was  imprisoned  came  to  be  talked  of  and 

fenerally  known. f  That  the  manner  in  which  he  con- 
ucted  himself  in  the  presence  of  the  English  council 
was  not,  as  has  been  alleged  by  some  of  his  enemies, 
disgracefully  violent,  may  be  inferred  from  the  report 
of  impartial  persons,  and  from  the  irritation  which  was 


*  Livingston's  Charact.  art.  Andrew  Melville. 

f  It  appears  from  a  letter  of  Welch  to  Boyd  of  Trochrig, 
that  it  was  proposed  that  Melville  should  be  sent  to  the  Isle  of 
Guernsey.     (MS.  in  Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.  Jac.  V.  1.  14.  num.  100.) 

I  The  French  ambassador,  after  giving  an  account  of  the  af- 
fair, and  desiring  that  it  should  be  communiraled  to  Henry, 
adds,  that  it  formed  the  only  topic  of  conversation  in  London: 
"  U  ne  se  parle  maintenant  ici  d'autre  chose,  et  en  sont  ceux  de 
la  Nation  en  grande  ruiiieur."  (Anibassades  de  M.  de  la  Bo- 
derie,  ii.  209.)  Along  with  Melville's  epigram,  the  ambassador 
transmitted  a  copy  of  verses  in  answer  to  it,  by  one  of  the  Royal 
Secretaries,  "  from  which  (says  he)  you  will  see  the  good  iiUcl- 
lirence  that  is  between  the  Puritans  and  those  who  are  about 
this  King."     (lb.  i.  458.) 


felt  by  those  whom  he  attacked.  But  granting  that  he 
gave  way  to  excess,  who  does  not  prefer  the  open,  ar- 
dent, impetuous,  independent,  irascible  spirit  of  a  Mel- 
ville, to  the  close,  cold,  sycophantish,  intriguing,  in- 
tolerant spirit  of  a  Barlow  or  a  Bancroft  t  Who  would 
not  have  taken  the  place  of  the  prisoner  at  the  bar, 
with  all  his  errors  on  his  head,  rather  than  have  been 
detected  as  a  crowned  sp}',  listening  at  the  door  of  a 
closet,  or  skulking  behind  its  tapestry?  The  minute 
of  council  committing  him  to  the  Tower  has,  it  seems, 
perished  ;  hut  History  has  put  the  transaction  on  her 
record,  more  durable  than  those  of  cabinet-councils, 
and  it  will  be  remembered  to  the  disgrace  of  its  au- 
thors, and  to  the  honour  of  the  individual  who  was  the 
victim  of  their  violent  but  impotent  revenge. 

Tell  them  the  men  that  placed  him  here 
Are  scandals  to  the  times, 
Are  at  a  loss  to  find  his  guilt. 
And  can't  commit  his  cnnies.* 

When  Melville  was  thrown  into  the  Tower,  the  fate 
of  his  brethren  was  also  fixed.  His  nephew  was  com- 
manded to  leave  London  within  six  days,  to  repair  to 
Newcastle  upon  Tyne,  and  not  to  go  beyond  ten  miles 
from  that  town  on  the  pain  of  rebellion.  The  rest  of 
the  ministers  were  confined  in  different  parts  of  Scot- 
land ;  and  such  of  them  as  were  allowed  to  reside 
within  their  own  parishes  were  prohibited  from  attend- 
ance on  church-courts,  and  bound  to  procure  a  certifi- 
cate of  their  good  behaviour  from  a  bishop,  or  else  to 
return  to  London  within  a  limited  time.f  The  allega- 
tion that  Melville's  restraint  was  owing  to  the  violence 
of  his  behaviour  is  refuted  by  the  treatment  which  his 
nephew  received.  He,  at  least,  had  given  no  offence 
during  his  residence  in  England.  On  the  contrary,  his 
conduct  procured  for  him  the  approbation  of  the  coun- 
cil, and  drew  the  most  flattering  commendations  from 
the  lips  of  the  Chancellor.  Yet  he  was  detained  as  a 
prisoner,  and  could  not  even  obtain  liberty  to  go  to 
Scotland  for  the  purpose  of  visiting  his  wife,  when  she 
was  lying  on  her  death-bed. :j: 

It  would  he  highly  improper  to  pass  over  one  part 
of  the  conduct  of  the  ministers.  Their  journey  to 
England  had  subjected  them  to  very  considerable  ex- 
pense. They  had  been  nine  months  absent  from  their 
own  country.  They  had  to  support  their  families  at 
home.  Each  of  them  was  attended  by  a  servant;  and 
they  had  kept  a  hospitable  table  for  such  of  their  ac- 
quaintance as  chose  to  visit  them  in  their  lodgings  at 
Kingston  and  in  London.  Soon  after  they  came  to 
court,  they  received  a  sum  of  money  to  defray  the  ex- 
penses of  their  journey  to  England. !|  But  when  his 
Majesty  found  that  there  was  no  hope  of  their  yielding 

*  Defoe's  Hymn  to  the  Pillory. 

t  Melville's  Hist,  of  the  Decl.  A»e.  p.  181—183.  Scots 
Apolog.  Nar.  p.  205.  Report  of  the  Confereiires:  MS.  in  Bibl. 
Jurid.  Edin.  M.  6.  9.  num.  49.  In  the  last  mentioned  MS.  are 
tivo  forms  of  licence  to  Balfour,  who,  it  would  appear,  had  ob- 
jected to  the  first.  After  being  allowed  to  remain  for  some 
time  at  Cockburnspath,  he  was  ordered  to  remove  to  J'razer- 
burgh  in  the  north  of  Scotland;  but  the  infirmities  of  old  age 
forced  him  to  stop  on  the  road,  and  he  was  released  from  his 
confinement  by  the  hand  of  death.     (Cald.  vii.  49.) 

\  After  her  death  he  was  allowed,  as  a  special  favour,  to  go 
to  Anstruther  to  put  his  family  affairs  in  order;  but  he  was  pro- 
hibited from  preaching,  or  attending  any  meeting  of  presbytery 
or  synod,  during  his  stay,  and  was  bound  to  return  to  the  place 
of  his  confinement  at  the  end  of  one  month.     (Cald.  vii.  49.) 

II  "  Upon  Wednesday  the  15th  of  October  the  erle  of  Dun- 
bar sent  Robert  Jowsie  to  their  lodging,  with  eight  sheets  of 
gray  paper  full  of  English  money  knit  up  in  form  ofsugar  loaves, 
containing  five  hundreth  nicrks  npcace  to  every  one  of  them 
forr  their  charges  and  expences  in  coming  to  court."  (Cald. 
vi.  1227.)  The  following  extract  is  a  proof  of  Calderwood'» 
accuracy,  and  shews  at  the  same  time  that  the  money  did  not 
come  from  the  English  Exchetjuer.  "July,  1606.  Item  be 
comandemet  of  the  lordis  of  counsall:  To  Nir.  James  Balfoure, 
Mr.  Robert  Wallace,  Mr.  Adam  Colt,  Mr.  Andro  Melvill,  Mr. 
James  Melvill,  Mr.  W""  Watsone,  Mr.  Win  Scot,  and  Mr 
Jo"  Carmichaell,  ministers,  for  thair  charges  &  ex pensis  in  thair 
journay  toward  his  Majestic,  ij"  vi<^  Uvi'*  xiij»  liij"*."  (Com 
pot.  Thesaur.  in  Register  House,  Edinburgh.) 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


329 


to  his  wishes,  he  withheld  all  further  supplies,  and 
directed  them  to  take  up  their  residence  with  the 
bishops.  Rather  than  submit  to  this,  tliey  chose  to 
live  at  their  own  cost.  When  they  were  preparing  to 
leave  London,  Bamford  and  Snape,  two  nonconformist 
ministers,  and  Croslay,  a  respectable  apothecary,  wait- 
ed on  them  with  a  considerable  sura  which  they  had 
collected  among  their  friends,  and  begged  them  to  ac- 
cept of  it,  to  assist  in  defraying  their  expenses  and 
supporting  their  friend  whom  they  were  to  leave  be- 
hind them  as  a  prisoner.  The  Scottish  ministers 
thanked  them  for  their  kindness,  but  declined  receiv- 
ing the  gift.  They  could  not  accept  of  it,  tliey  said, 
either  in  conscience  or  in  honour.  They  could  not 
conscientiously  take  it,  knowing  that  there  were  a 
great  many  ministers  in  England  imprisoned  or  si- 
lenced for  nonconformity,  who  stood  in  need  of  more 
relief  than  their  friends  could  afford.  Nor  could  they 
receive  it  without  dishonouring  their  sovereign,  at 
whose  desire  they  had  undertaken  this  journey,  and 
who  would  doubtless  reimburse  what  thry  had  ex- 
pended ;  and  without  disgracing  their  country,  which 
had  already  suffered  in  its  reputation,  in  consequence 
of  the  common  talk  of  the  people  of  England,  that 
the  Scots  came  among  them  to  beg  and  "purse  up 
the  money  of  the  land,"*  Those  who  are  minutely 
acquainted  with  the  liistory  of  these  times  are  aware 
that  the  complaints  of  the  English  on  this  head  were 
.oud,  and  uttered  in  the  most  contumelious  language. 
Jealousy  and  national  prejudice  might  lead  them  to  ex- 
aggerate ;  but  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  mean  and 
mercenary  behaviour  of  many  of  our  countrymen,  both 
of  the  higher  and  lower  orders,  who  flocked  to  Eng- 
land after  the  accession  of  James,  gave  too  much  occa- 
siotj  for  fixing  this  disgraceful  stigma  on  tlie  nation.} 


spare,  .Tames  Melville  embarked  for  Newcastle,  on  the 
2nd  of  July,  1607,  from  the  stairs  leading  to  the  Tow- 
er ;  and  continued,  as  the  vessel  sailed  down  the  river, 
to  fix  his  eyes,  streaming  with  tears,  on  the  Bastile 
which  enclosed  the  friend  for  whom  he  had  long  felt 
an  enthusiastic  attachment,  and  whose  face  he  was  not 
again  to  behold.* 


CHAPTER  IX.— 1607— 1611. 

Melville  deprived  of  the  Office  of  Principal  at  St.  Andrews 
—Succeeded  by  Robert  Howie— Rigour  of  his  Imprisonment 
in  the  Tower— Relaxed— College  ot  Rochell  ■  in  France  ap- 
plies for  him— He  is  Consulted  on  the  Arminian  Contioversy 
— Fruitless  Negociation  for  his  Liberty— His  Fortitude  and 
Cheerfulness— Encourages  his  Brethren  in  Scotland  by  his 
Letters— His  Majesty's  Literary  Employments— New  At- 
tfmpts  for  Melville's  Liberation— His  Design  of  going  to 
America— His  Literary  Recreations  in  the  Tower— His  pe- 
cuniary Misfortune— Death  of  his  Friends— Matrimonial  Af- 
fair—Ecclesiastical Proceedings  in  Scotland— Episcopacy  ap- 
proved by  General  Assembly  at  Glasgow— Reflections  on  this 
—Melville's  fellow-prisoners— He  is  Visited  by  Cameron  and 
Casaubon— Duke  of  Bouillon's  Application  for  Him— Oppo- 
sed by  the  Court  of  France- He  seeks  Admission  into  the 
Familv  of  Prince  Henry— His  Friends  at  Court— His  pecu- 
niary Embarrassments— Sickness— Release  from  the  Tower, 
and  "Departure  to  France. 

No  time  was  lost  in  depriving  Melville  of  his  situ- 
ation in  the  university.  For  this  purpose  a  royal  com- 
mission was  given  to  four  laymen  and  four  bishops, 
who  met  at  St.  Andrews  on  the  16th  of  June,  1607. 
They  found  Melville's  place,  as  principal  of  the  New 
College,  vacant,  simply  upon  his  Majesty's  letter,  de- 


On  this  ground  the  ministers  are  entitled  to  the  high-   daring  that  the  privy  council  of  England  had  commit 
est  praise  for  their  considerate  and  dignified  conduct. 
On    the  day  after  his  uncle's  incarceration   James 
Melville  received  a  note  from  him,  marked  by  the  hand 


of  the  Lieutenant  of  the  Tower,  requesting  that  furni- 
ture for  a  room  might  be   sent  him,  along  with   his 


ted  him  to  the  Tower  for  a  high  trespass,  and  that  lie 
was  not  to  be  allowed  to  return  to  St.  Andrews.}  The 
university  did  not  act  with  the  spirit  which  they  had 
displayed  on  a  former  occasion  of  a  similar  kind.  Iii- 
stead  of  remonstrating  against  the  infringement  of  their 


clothes  and  books.     The  strictest  injunctions  had  been  ;  jj„i,ts  by  the  act  of  a  foreign  jurisdiction,  they  did  not 
laid  on  the  Lieutenant  to  allow  none  to  have  access  to   ^^^^  intercede  with  his  Majesty  in  behalf  of  an  indi 


him;  but  his  nephew  contrived,  by  means  of  one  of  the 
keepers,  to  obtain  an  interview  with  him  at  the  win- 
dow of  his  apartment  once  a-day  as  long  as  he  remain- 
ed in  London.  Nothing  which  could  contribute  to  his 
comfort  (for  his  liberation  was  at  that  time  entirely 
hopeless)  was  neglected  by  this  amiable  man  and  af- 


vidual  who  reflected  so  much  honour  on  their  body. 
To  deter  the  members  of  the  New  College  from  oppo- 
sition, the  commissioners  instituted  a  strict  inquiry 
into  the  management  of  their  revenues ;  and  so  eager 
were  the  professors  to  escape  from  censure,  that  they 
not  only  acquiesced  in  the  removal  of  their  principal. 


feciionate  friend.  All  recollection  of  his  own  hard-  j|,„{  ^ere  willino-  to  impute  to  him,  in  his  absence,  the 
ships,  and  of  the  afflicted  state  of  his  family,  was  for  blame  of  irreo-ularities  to  which  they  had  at  least  been 
the  time  absorbed  in  the  deep  and  distressing  concern  I  aeeessory,  if^thev  were  not  the  chief  authors  of  them, 
which  he  felt  for  his  captive  uncle.  It  rent  his  tender  j  ^p^p  inoratitudeand  want  of  feeling  which  Patrick 
heart  to  think  of  leaving  him  in  his  old  age,  without  a    Melville  evinced  towards  his  uncle  at  this  time  exci- 


friend  to  relieve  the  tedious  hours  of  captivity,  and 
with  none  to  perform  the  common  offices  of  humanity 


ted  general  indignation  ;  and  the  commissioners  avail- 
ed themselves  of  it  to  deprive  him  of  a  considerable 


to  him  but  a  rude  and  unfeeling  gaoler.  He  exposed  |  p^^t  of  the  emoluments  to  which  he  laid  claim.}  The 
himself  to  the  risk  of  being  personally  apprehended  by  j  ^^]y  persons  who  had  the  courage  to  testify  their  at- 
prolonging  his  stay  for  a  fortnight  after  the  time  fixed  tachment  to  Melville  were  his  students,  who  presented 
for  his  departure;  and  employed  all  his  influence  with  ,  „  unanimous  petition  to  the  commissioners,  requesting 
his  friends  at  court  to  have  the  place  of  his  confine- 1  tj,at  their  revered  master  might  be  restored  to  them. 
ment  changed  from  Newcastle  to  London,  that  he  !  j^  jg  p^^t  to  the  credit  of  churchmen  that  they  often  dis- 
might  bo  near  his  uncle,  and  ready  to  embrace  any  op-  I  coygr  Jess  generosity  and  humane  feeling  in  their  pro- 
portunity  of  being  serviceable  to  him.  But  he  was  |  egedino-s  than  laymen.  Not  contented  with  divesting 
advised  to  desist  from  his  applications,  and  to  give  :  jyiejyji'i'e  ^f  , he  office  of  principal,  the  clerical  members 
immediate  obedience  to  the  royal  injunction,  unless  he  I  ^f  j^g  commission  would  have  deprived  him  of  his  sal- 
wished  orders  of  a  more  rigorous  kind  to  be  issued,  j  aj.y  f^j  ^i^g  current  year;  but  the  disgraceful  proposal 
The  only  favour  that  could  he  obtained  was  a  permis- ,  ^^.j^g  quashed  by  the  lay  commissioners,  who,  thoug:h 
sion  to  Melville's  servant  to  incarcerate  himself  along;  equally  disposed  to  gratify  the  King,  did  not  partici- 

with  his  master.  | 

Having  secured    this  arrangement  for   his  uncle's  j 
comfort,  and  supplied  him  with  all  the  money  he  could 

*  Melville's  Hist,  of  Decl.  Age,  p.  183,  184.     Row's  Hist, 
p.  106.     Simsoni  Annal.  p.  Ill 


*  Melville's  Hist,  of  Decl.  Age,  p.  183. 
+  Spotswood's  Hist.  p.  503. 


Cald.  vii.  35,  39. 


t  The  bishops  afterwarfls  employed  thetr  inffuence  with  the 
lurt  to  have  Patrirk  Melville  "restored  to  his  first  stipend, iw 
mrd  of  his  irood  affection  to  his  Majesty's  service"      (Let- 


court 
regard  of 


'  +  Secret  History  of  the  Court  of  James  I.  vol.  i.  p.  143,  172,  regard  of  his  ^ooaaj;ecnon  "  "^%-^"Xmes  Seniuill  Oc  12 
217.  369-371 .  VVinwood's  Memorials,  vol.  i.  p.  217.  De  la  ter  of  Archbishop  Spotswood  to  Sir  James  Sen^p.U  Oct.  1  i. 
BoJerie,tom.  ii.  p.  302,  492,  iii.  162.  1  1611:  MSTin  Bibl.  Jurid.  Ed.n.  Jac.  V.  i.  14.  num. 97.1 

2R 


330 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE 


pate  in  the  resentment  of  their  colleagues,  and  were 
guided  by  principles  of  honour.* 

It  was  easy  to  extrude  Melville,  but  not  so  easy  to 
find  one  who  was  capable  of  filling  his  place.  This 
consideration  created  no  small  embarrassment  to  the 
bishops  to  whom  the  arrangement  of  the  business  was 
committed.  They  were  aware  that  Melville's  talents 
and  fame  would  throw  into  the  shade  any  successor 
whom  they  might  nominate;  and  that  they  would  in- 
cur the  odium  of  having  sacrificed  the  interests  of 
literature  to  the  advancement  of  their  own  ambitious 
views.  In  respect  of  literary  qualifications,  and  of  the 
place  which  he  already  held  in  the  college,  Jonston  was 
entitled  to  be  advanced  to  the  office  of  principal.  But 
he  was  tainted  with  Melville's  principles.  This  was 
the  real  bar  to  his  preferment,  although  the  infirm  slate 
of  his  health  was  made  the  excuse  for  passing  liim  by. 
Robert  Howie  was  the  person  fixed  on  as  uniting  the 
greatest  portion  of  talent  with  the  indispensable  quality 
of  a  disposition  to  support  the  measures  of  the  court. 
The  claims  of  Jonston  being  set  aside  by  a  mandate 
firom  the  court,  Howie  was,  on  the  27th  of  July,  in- 
stalled in  the  office  of  principal  by  virtue  of  a  royal 
presentation,  without  regard  to  the  comparative  trial 
and  election  ordained  by  the  parliamentary  charter  of 
the  college.  But  conformable  as  he  was,  he  received 
his  appointment  during  the  King's  pleasure  only;  and 
when  he  scrupled  accepting  it  with  this  limitation,  he 
was  told  by  Gladstanes  that  the  royal  will  was  impe- 
rious, and  must  be  absolutely  obeyed.  Some  of  tlie 
members  of  the  university  bad  now  summoned  up  as 
much  courage  as  to  protest  against  his  admission,  on 
the  ground  that  no  process  of  deprivation  had  been  led 
against  Melville  :  but  the  objection  was  disregarded, 
and  those  who  brought  it  were  threatened  with  being 
shut  up  along  with  the  traitof  for  whom  they  presumed 
to  plead.f 

From  hostility  to  Melville  and  dread  of  his  being 
allowed  to  return  to  St.  Andrews,^  Gladstanes  was  ex- 
tremely officious  in  the  whole  of  this  affair.  Perceiv- 
ing his  forwardness,  the  other  commissioners  took  care 
to  devolve  on  him  the  most  invidious  and  ungrateful 
part  of  their  work.  In  his  correspondence  with  the 
court,  the  servile  bishop  makes  a  merit  of  his  attending 
in  person  at  the  breaking  open  of  Melville's  lodging 
to  give  possession  to  his  successor,  at  the  same  time 
that  he  states  that  this  task  was  imposed  on  him  to 
degrade  his  character  in  the  public  opinion.  If  we 
may  believe  the  primate,  the  new  principal  made  his 
debut  in  such  a  manner  as  totally  to  eclipse  the  reputa- 
tion of  his  predecessor.  "  Mr.  Robert  Howie  (says 
he)  has  been  entered  to  teach  in  the  New  College,  and 
that  with  so  much  rare  learning  as  not  only  breeds 
great  contentment  to  all  the  clergy  here,  but  also  ra- 
vishes them  with  admiration.  So  that  the  absence  of 
his  antecessor  is  not  missed,  while  they  find,  instead 
of  superficial,  feckkss  inventions,  profitable  and  substan- 
tious  theology.  What  difficulty  and  pains  I  have  had 
to  settle  him  here,  without  help  of  any  other  of  coun- 
cil or  clergy,  God  knoweth  !  It  was  thought  that  the 
gap  of  Mr.  Andrew  Mellville's  absence  should  have 
furnished  such  matter  of  discontent  to  the  kirk  and 
country  as  should  have  bred  no  small  mutinie,  and 
should  have  enforced  your  Highness  to  send  the  pri- 
soner back,  tanquam  sine  quo  non."j^  This  shows  how 
happy  the  bishop  felt  at  having  been  able  to  carry 
through  a  measure  which  he  had  despaired  of  accom- 
plishing, and  is  the  strongest  possible  testimony  in 

»  Letter.  John  Dykes  to  James  Melville:  Cald.  vii.  43 — 45. 
Epistola  Alexandri  Hume!  Andrea;  Melvino:  Melvini  Epistolae, 
p.  310.  Hume  expresses  bis  unwillingness  to  believe  the  rc- 
nort  that  Jonston  had  acted  an  unkind  part  to  Melville,  and 
Dears  his  testimony  to  the  friendly  conduct  o(  Robert  Wilkie, 
the  principal  of  St.  I<eonard'g. 

+  Wodrow's  Life  of  Robert  Howie,  p.  2. 

t  Tetter,  Gladstanes  to  the  King,  Oct.  28,  1607  :  MS.  in 
Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.  M.  6. 9.  num.  59. 


favour  of  those  talents  which  he  wished  to  disparage. 
The  lights  which  Melville's  genius  threw  over  the 
science  which  he  taught  are  here  characterized  as 
"superficial,  feckless  inventions,"  while  the  duller 
divinity  of  his  less  gifted  successor  is  dignified  with 
the  name  of  "  profitable  and  substantious  theology." 
We  know  from  other  quarters  that  Howie's  early  ex- 
hibitions, instead  of  being  received  with  applause, 
were  treated  with  disrespect  and  censure.  Having,  in 
his  lectures,  undertaken  the  defence  of  episcopal 
power,  his  arsfuments  were  refuted  by  his  own  stu- 
dents, and  he  was  subjected  to  a  rebuke  from  the  pres- 
bytery.* Indeed,  from  the  known  sentiments  of  the 
ministers,  and  the  partiality  of  the  students  to  a  favour- 
ite and  persecuted  teacher,  it  is  natural  to  suppose  that 
both  of  them  would  be  prepossessed  against  Howie, 
and  disposed  to  undervalue,  rather  than  to  overrate  and 
extol,  his  abilities  and  performances. 

Robert  Howie  was  born  in  Aberdeen  or  its  neigh- 
bourhood, and  educated  at  King's  College  there.  In 
company  with  John  Johnston,  his  countryman  and  pro- 
bably his  fellow-student,  he  went  to  the  continent  and 
spent  a  number  of  years  in  foreiorn  universities.  He 
studied  under  two  distinguished  divines,  Caspar  Ole- 
vian,  at  Herborn,|  and  John  James  Grynaeus,  at 
Basle;  ^  and  during  his  residence  at  the  last  of  these 
places  gave  a  specimen  of  his  theological  knowledge 
to  the  public.  |t  On  his  return  to  Scotland  he  became 
one  of  the  ministers  of  Aberdeen.  §  When  Marischal 
College  was  erected  he  was  appointed  principal  of  that 
academy,  in  which  situation  he  continued  until  the 
year  1598,  when  he  was  translated,  by  appointment 
of  the  General  Assembly,  to  be  minister  of  Dundee.  ^ 
He  incurred  the  displeasure  of  the  King  by  encouraging 
the  inhabitants  of  that  town  to  assert  their  rights  in 
the  election  of  their  magistrates.**  But  after  that 
period  he  showed  himself  conformable  to  the  court, 
and  was  one  of  those  who  appeared  on  the  side  of  the 
bishops  in  the  late  conferences  at  Hampton  Court.jl 
Howie's  literary  and  theological  acquirements  were 
respectable  ;  but  he  did  not  possess  the  genius,  the  ele- 
gant taste,  or  the  skill  in  sacred  languages,  by  which  his 
predecessor  was  distinguished.  Though  he  embarked 
warmly  in  the  episcopal  cause  at  his  first  coming  to  St. 
Andrews,  yet  his  zeal  seems  to  have  afterwards  cooled, 
and  he  not  only  favoured  those  who  refused  to  conform 
to  the  English  modes  of  worship,  but  was  in  danger 
of  being  ejected  from  his  place  as  a  non-conformist.:^:^ 


*  Row,  p.  218. 

+  The  Dedication  of  the  first  edition  of  Hurhanan's  Sphcera, 
"  Johaiini  Coniiti  a  Nassau,"  is  subscribed  "  Herboriine  ex  illus- 
tri  schola  Celsitudinis  tuie,  quinto  iVlartii,  1586.  C.  T.  Addic- 
tiss.     Roherlus  Hoiiaus  Scotiis." 

\  His  Thesis,  on  The  Freedom  of  the  Will,  which  he  dis- 
puted before  GrjnJBus,  was  printed  "  Basilfa;  Typis  Ofiorinia- 
nis  Anno  Chrisfi  M.  D.  I.XXXlX."  A  copy  of  it  in  the  posses- 
sion of  Mr.  David  Laing  has  the  following^  inscription  in 
Howie's  handwriting,  "  M.  Roberto  Rolloco  Hovaeus  niittit." 

II  "  De  Reconciliatiooe  Hoininis  cum  Deo,  Sev  de  Humani 
CJeneris  Redemptione,  Tractatio  Theologira.  Avthore  Roberto 
Hov.-eeo  Scoto.  Accessemnt  eiusdeni  anthoris  disputalionet 
j.dii^:  quarum  altera  est  de  Comniunione  fideliuin  cum  Christo: 
altera  de  Jiistificatior.e  hoininis  coram  Deo.  Basilese  per  Se- 
bastianum  Henripetri."  4to.  I'p.  157.  The  colophon  is,  "  Ba- 
silcce — Anno  CI3  id  XCI.  Mense  Aprili."  It  has  two  dedica- 
tions; the  one  to  Grynfcus,  and  the  other  "Joanni  Jonstono, 
Viro  doclissimo,  Populari  ef  fratri  suo  charissimo."  Sir  Robert 
Sibbald  nien'ions  dilTerent  Theses  by  Howie  at  Basle  1588 — 
1591.     (De  Script.  Scot.  p.  56:  conf.  ejus  Bibl.  Scot.  p.  116.) 

{  The  Charter  of  Erection  of  Marischal  College  (April  2, 
1593.)  is  subscribed  by  "  George  Earl  Marishall," — "coram  his 
tpslibus — Magistro  Petro  Blackburn,  Roberto  Howceo  Ministris 
Aberdoncn,"  &c. 

IT  Buik  of  the  Universal  Kirk,  ff.  192,  a,  198,  b. 

*»  Letter  from  the  King  to  the  Privy  Council,  Anent  the 
town  of  Dundee  and  M.  Robert  Howye,  Oct.  3,  1604.  (Lord 
Haddington's  Col .  of  letters.) 

+t  Scott's  Apolog.  Narrat.  p.  177.     Melville,  p.  126. 

\l  Diary  of  Mr.  Robert  Trail,  Minister  of  tne  Gravfriars, 
Edinburgh,  MS.  p.  9.  Cassandra  Scoticana  to  Cassan(fer  An- 
glicanus:  Ep.  Dedic.  Medelburgi  1618.  "Now  (my  dear  Mr. 
Howie)  my  labour*  are  particularlic  direclit  to  you,  1,  becaut 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


331 


He  survived  the  establishment  of  episcopacy,  and  re- 
mained at  the  head  of  the  theological  college  of  St. 
Andrews  for  some  time  after  the  restoration  of  pres- 
bytery.* 

The  injustice  of  Melville's  imprisonment  was 
heightened  by  the  unnecessary  severity  with  which  he 
was  treated  in  the  Tower.  A  pretext  was  found  for 
withdrawing  the  indulgence  of  having  a  servant  con- 
fined along  with  him.  No  creature  was  allowed  to  see 
him  but  the  person  who  brought  him  his  food.  He 
was  not  even  permitted  to  beguile  the  irksome  hours 
by  his  favourite  amusement  of  writing.  The  use  of 
pen,  ink,  and  paper,  was  strictly  prohibited  him.f  But 
tyrants,  though  they  can  fetter  and  torment  the  body, 
have  no  power  over  the  free  and  heaven-born  soul. 
Melville's  spirit  remained  unconfined  and  unbroken  In 
his  narrow  and  uncomfortable  cell ;  and  he  found 
means  of  expressing  the  sense  which  he  entertained  of 
his  unmerited  sufferings,  and  his  resolution  to  endure 
the  worst  which  his  persecutors  could  inflict.  When 
his  apartment  was  examined,  its  walls  were  found 
covered  with  verses,  which  he  had  engraved,  in  fair 
and  beautiful  characters,  with  the  tongue  of  his  shoe- 
buckle.  :^  In  this  situation  he  was  kept  for  about  ten 
months. 

James  Melville  was  under  great  uneasiness  lest  the 
health  of  his  uncle  should  suffer  by  such  rigorous  im- 
prisonment, during  a  winter  so  remarkable  for  severity 
that  the  Thames  continued  frozen  over  for  several 
months  together.  He  was  not  relieved  from  this  anx- 
iety until  the  month  of  May,  1608,  when  he  received 
a  letter  from  him  written  with  his  own  hand  in  Greek  ; 
thanking  him  for  the  money  which  he  had  sent  him, 
and  informing  him  that  his  health  remained  uninjured, 
and  that  his  imprisonment  was  now  less  severe  than  it 

peculiarlie  due  unto  3'ou  as  being  deryvet  from  you.  2.  heiring 
neir  abroad  that  for  crossing,  coping,  capping,  kneeling,  &c.  ye 
had  receavit  ane  sunimonds  of  this  new  necessitie  I  thoght  good 
to  yield  you  this  muche  consolation,  beseeching  God  to  inarnie 
j-Qu  ayir  to  divt  [defeat  ?]  thanie,  or  patience  and  humilitie  to 
indure  thame,  gif  thay  deale  in  regour  with  you."  (MS.  in 
Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.  probably  transcribed  from  a  printed  book.) 

*  It  may  be  proper  to  state,  that  throughout  the  confidential 
correspondence  between  Melville  and  his  nephew,  there  is  not 
an  invidious  hint  thrown  out  against  Howie.  James  Melville 
names  him  with  high  respect  in  a  letter  to  his  uncle,  (Novo- 
castr.  Apr.  penult.  1610:)  •'  Andream  meum,  rudimentis  Theo- 
logite  et  linguje  sanctae  initiatum  ut  hac  hyenie  potui,  in  Scotiani 
nunc  ablegavi,  cum  niandatis  ut  Hovii  nobilis  uxorem  ad  mari- 
tum  comitaretur;  id  enim  a  me  proximig  literis  petiit  Hovius 
noster."     (Melvini  Epist.  p.  161.^ 

T  De  ia  Boderie,  Alnbassades,  ii.  469. 

\  This  fact  has  been  preserved  by  a  foreign  writer.  (Gis- 
berti  Voetii  Politica  Ecclesiastica,  torn.  iii.  p.  52.)  The  verses 
from  which  he  quotes  are  to  be  found  in  Melvini  MiiscB,  p.  28. 

Cum  Balamitarum  sit  tanta  frequentia  vatum. 

Cur  loquitur  toto  nullus  in  orbe  asinus  ? 
Non  Genius  stat  contra,  asinus  non  cffiditur,  ora 

Non  reserat  muto,  qui  dedit  ora  Dcus. 

The  following  verses  were  also  composed  by  him  at  this  time. 

At  vati  infcelici  instat  tibi  carceris  umbra, 

Quin  Christi  illustri  lumine  liber  ego. 
Te  tristi  exilio,  aut  fato  mutabit  acerbo: 

Nee  triste  exilium,  mors  nee  acerba  mihi. 
Exilium  a  patria  patrio  me  inducit  Olympo: 

Mors  pro  Christo  atrox  vita  beata  mihi. 

Ibid.  p.  22. 

Si  venissem  ultro,  spectassem  singula  et  ultro, 
Et  quaesissem  ultro;  tunc  mea  culpa  levis  ? 

At  veni  jussus,  spectavi  et  singula  jussus, 
Qusesivi  et  jussus;  nunc  mea  culpa  gravis  ? 


Hoc  Belga,  hoc  Batavus,  Germanus,Gallus,  et  Anglus, 
Hoc  Liger,  hoc  Scotus  qunerit,  et  hostis  Iber 

Injussus,  quod  jussus  ego  Regique  Deoque 
Quaesivi,  officio  functus  utrique  meo. 

Solus  ego  plector,  solum  me  fulniina  tangunt, 
Solus  ego  vulgi  fabula  factus  agor. 

Ibid.  p.  23. 


had  been.*  He  was  removed  to  a  more  airy  and  com- 
modious apartment,  was  indulged  with  the  use  of 
writing  materials,  and  soon  after  was  allowed  to  see 
his  acquaintance.  This  favour  he  owed  to  the  interest 
and  exertions  of  his  friends  at  court,  and  particularly 
of  Sir  James  Sempiil  of  Beltrees.  "Through  the 
kind  offices  of  Sempiil,"  says  he,  in  a  letter  to  his  ne- 
phew, "  I  now  enjoy  more  healthful  air,  though  still 
confined  in  the  Tower.  I  am  put  in  hopes  that  I  shall 
have  greater  liberty  within  a  month  or  two  on  the  re- 
turn of  Sine  quo  nihil,-  you  know  whom  I  mean,  your 
friend,  forsooth,  who  did  not  even  deign  to  salute  you 
lately. f  Sure,  you  admire  the  prudence  and  caution 
of  the  hero  !  "  t 

In  the  end  of  the  year  1607,  and  before  he  had  ob- 
tained this  mitigation  of  his  confinement,  the  Protes- 
tants of  Rochelle  in  France  attempted  to  obtain  him  to 
their  college,  as  Professor  of  Divinity.  With  this 
view  they  gave  a  commission  to  Gilbert  Primrose,  a 
Scotchman,  who  had  been  for  some  time  minister  at 
Bourdeaux,  and  was  then  on  a  visit  to  Britain  ;  ||  author- 
izing him  to  deal  with  King  James  to  set  Melville  at 
liberty,  and  allow  him  to  come  to  tliem.  James  ex- 
cused himself  from  complying  with  this  request,  by 
alleging  that  he  had  not  yet  resolved  how  to  dispose 
of  the  prisoner.  This  negociation  gave  offence  to  the 
French  court.  Their  ambassador  at  London  received 
instructions  to  make  particular  inquiry  into  the  facts. 
Primrose,  on  returning  to  France,  was  called  before 
the  king,  and  questioned  strictly  as  to  the  nature  of 
his  commission  ;  and  the  Duke  of  Sully  was  ordered 
to  reprimand  the  inhabitants  of  Rochelle  for  carrying 
on  a  correspondence  with  a  foreign  power  without  the 
knowledge  and  permission  of  their  native  sovereign.  § 
Rochelle  was  one  of  the  fortified  cities  in  the  hands 
of  the  Protestants,  and  a  principal  key  of  the  kingdom. 
The  connexion  which  it  had  maintained  with  England 
during  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  and  the  weak  and  vacil- 
lating conduct  of  James,  might  justify  caution  on  the 
part  of  Henry ;  yet  it  must  be  confessed  that  this 
great  prince,  for  some  years  before  his  melancholy 
death,  evinced  a  jealousy  of  his  protestant  subjects, 
and  a  partiality  to  the  most  inveterate  of  their  enemies, 
which  it  is  difficult  to  defend  either  on  the  principles 
of  gratitude  or  policy.^ 

At  this  time  Melville  was  consulted  by  both  parties 
on  the  theological  disputes  which  agitated  the  church 
in  Holland.  These  were  occasioned  by  the  novel 
opinions  of  the  celebrated  Arminius  respecting  the  ori- 
gin of  moral  evil,  predestination,  free-will  and  grace; 
which  afterwards  spread  extensively  ia  all  the  reform- 
ed churches.  In  the  year  1607,  Melville  received  a 
letter  from  Sibrandus  Lubbertus,  Professor  of  Divinity 
at  Franeker,  giving  him  an  account  of  the  sentiments 


»  Melvini  Epistola,  p.  1,  329. 

f  The  person  here  meant  is  the  Earl  of  Dunbar,  the  Ki«g'« 
favourite,  who  professed  great  regard  for  James  Melville,  with 
whom  he  had  been  intimate  in  his  youth.  Melville  more  than 
once  rallies  his  nephew  on  his  trusting  to  the  empty  promises 
of  this  courtier — "  Heroe  vestro  collimitaneo." 

t  Melvini  Epistoloe,  p.  54. 

II  Quick's  Synodicon,  vol.  i.  p.  289. 

6  De  la  Boderie,  Ambassades,  ii.  386,  430,  433,  486;  iii.  26. 
Sully's  Memoirs,  v.  14.  Lond.  1778.  The  fact  is  also  alluded 
to  in  a  letter  by  James  Cleland  to  King  James.  (MS.  in  Bibl. 
Jurid.  Edin.  A.  3.  21.)  In  Sully's  Memoirs  it  is  said  that  James 
had  acceded  to  the  application  from  Rochelle;  but  this  is  con- 
tradicted by  De  la  Boderie. 

f  This  drew  from  Du  Plessis,  who  was  equally  distinguished 
for  loyalty  to  his  sovereign  and  attachment  to  his  religion,  the 
following  striking  remarks:  "We  do  not  envy  your  killing  the 
fatted  calf  for  the  prodigal  son,  provided  you  say  with  a  sin- 
cere heart  to  the  obedient  son,  Tnou  knoviest-,  my  son,  that  all 
I  have  is  thine,  or  rather,  provided  you  do  not  sacrifice  the 
obedient  son  to  make  the  better  entertainment  for  the  prodi- 
gal. In  fine,  I  am  pleased  with  whatever  is  done,  provided  it 
turns  out  well;  but  I  dread  those  treaties  in  which  things  are 
given  up  and  nothing  got  but  words,  and  these  the  words  of 
men  who  until  of  late  had  no  words."  (M^moires  tom.  ii.  p. 
398,  399.) 


332 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MKLVILLE. 


and  procedure  of  the  innovators,  and  requesting  his  j  shall  ensue.  Relying  on  divine  aid,  I  am  prepared  for 
opinion  on  the  subject.  This  was  followed  by  a  letter  whatever  the  event  may  be — to  remain  here,  to  return 
from  Arminius  himself,  in  which  he  complained  that  i  home,  or  to  go  into  exile.  I  am  well  in  body  and 
Lubbertus  had  misrepresented  him  to  foreign  divines,  soul,  thank  God. — Let  me  know  of  your  welfare,  and 
and  entered  at  considerable  length  into  a  defence  cf  yoor  news,  either  historical  or  conjectural,  if  not  pro- 
his  opinions  and  conduct.*     Arminius  possessed   an   phetical."* 

acute  and  perspicacious  mind,  and  was  well  skilled  in  |  During  the  whole  period  of  his  imprisonment,  Mel- 
the  controversies  of  the  age;  but  he  was  full  of  con-  ville's  courage  never  once  failed  him,  nor  did  his  spi- 
fidence  in  his  own   powers,  flattered  himself  that  lie   rits  snfTer  the  least  depression.     The  elation  of  his 


understood  all  mysterips,  and  cherished  the  idea  that 
he  was  raised  up  to  effect  a  revolution  in  religious  sen- 
timent, and  to  give  to  the  world  a  system  of  belief  en- 
tirely new  and  superior  to  any  thing  which  had  been 
hitherto  received  or  taught.  He  was  by  no  means 
scrupulous  in  stigmatizing  as  heretical  the  opinions  of 
his  opponents  who   hesitated  to  apply  this  invidious 


mind  was  displayed  in  a  poem  which  he  wrote  at  this 
time,  containing  an  apologetical  portrait  of  himself, 
and  which  he  tells  us,  was  "  extorted  from  him  by  the 
importunity  of  both  friends  and  foes."|  It  was  con- 
sidered as  betraying  vanity  ;  because  it  traced  his  de- 
scent in  the  royal  line,  and  recorded  the  services  which 
he  had  done  for  his  native  country.     But  may  not  a 


epithet  to  his  own.f  Had  his  life  been  spared,  he  j  modest  and  humble  man  be  placed  in  circumstances 
would  have  produced  a  much  greater  change  on  public  j  which  "  compel  him  to  glory  ]"  When  those  by 
opinion  than  he  did;  for  to  his  other  talents  he  added  {whom  he  onght  to  have  been  honoured  and  rewarded 
the  most  consummate  self-command  and  address,  and  j  traduce  and  persecute  him,  and  when  the  credit  of  the 
kept  free  from  those  extravagances  and  that  disgusting  |  office  which  he  fills,  and  of  the  cause  which  he  has 
display  of  vanity  which  have  defeated  the  pretensions  espoused,  is  in  danger  of  suffering  tiirough  him,  he 
of  others  who  had  the  same  lofty  idea  of  their  powers  may  warrantably  overstep  the  ordinary  bounds  ofmod- 
and  destiny.  Melville  did  not  entertain  the  same  i  esty,  and  employ  expressions,  in  speaking  of  himself, 
favourable  opinion  of  this  bold  speculator  which  he  which  in  other  circumstances  would  be  sufficient  to 
had  formerly  expressed  concerning  Piscator;  ^  and  we   convict  him  of  ostentation  and  folly. 


shall  find  him  opposing  his  sentiments  at  a  subsequent 
period. 

In  the  end  of  the  year  1C08,  he  was  visited  by  sev- 
eral persons  of  rank,  who  put  him  in  hopes  of  obtain- 
ing a  release  from  prison.  At  their  desire  he  address- 
ed a  copy  of  verses  to  the  King,  which  Secretary  Hay 
undertook  to  present.])       We  are  told  that  James  once 


In  a  letter  to  his  nephew,  enclosing  this  poem  and 
the  couplets  addressed  to  his  Majesty,  he  writes  thus  : 
"  These,  you  know,  are  only  light  recreations  in  which 
I  indulge  for  the  purpose  of  recruiting  my  mind  in  the 
interval  of  severer  studies  and  anxious  cares.  But  I 
am  preparing  for  a  greater  undertaking :  join  with  me 
in  wishinor  it  success.     I  shall  execute  it,  if  not  ac- 


pardoned  a  poet  who  had  satirized  him,  for  the  sake  i  cording  to  the  importance  of  the  subject,  yet,  to  the 
of  two  humorous  lines  with  which  he  concluded  his  i  utmost  of  my  ability,  royally;  and  shall  not  dishonour 
lampoon  ;  saying,  he  was  "  a  bitter  but  a  witty  knave."  I  myself    or   you,    to   say   nothing  of  others,  whether 


But  the  elegant  appeal  which  was  now  made  to  his 
generosity  had  no  effect  on  him.  By  the  advice  of 
archbishop  Spotswood,  Melville  also  wrote  a  submis- 
sive letter  to  the  Privy  Council  of  Enq-land,  in  which, 
after  mentioning  the  occasion  and  motives  of  his  wri- 
ting the  poem  which  had  given  them  offence,  and  for 
which  he  had  suffered  an  imprisonment  of  nearly  two 
years,  he  beggred  their  forgiveness  for  any  expressions 
in  it  which  might  be  deemed  indecorous  or  inconsis- 
tent with  English  feelings.  This  apology,  without 
containing  any  thing  dishonourable  to  the  writer,  af- 
forded the  court  a  fair  opportunity  to  relieve  him  from 
prison.  But  no  such  thing  was  intended.  What  sin- 
cerity there  was  in  the  archbishop's  professions  of 
friendship  we  shall  soon  see;  and  what  reliance  Mel 


friends  or  foes,  w^ose  expectations,  through  divine  as- 
sistance, I  shall  endeavour  not  to  disappoint.  Not 
that  I  wish  to  hurt  any  one :  that  is  contrary  to  my 
natural  disposition.  But  I  must  prepare  to  defend  the 
cause  in  the  best  manner  I  can.  Shall  I  fly  hope  1 
shall  I  court  fear  1  or  shall  I  waste  the  flower  of  my 
mind  in  a  state  of  dubiety  between  hope  and  fear? 
Thus  was  I  wont  formerly  to  jest  with  the  muses,  and 
thus  am  I  now  forced  seriously  to  discourse  with  you 
about  our  affairs,  public  and  private.  But  away  with 
fears  !  I  will  cherish  the  hope  of  every  thing  that  is 
cheering  and  joyous.  Meanwhile  I  bid  you  farewell 
in  Christ.  Give  me  frequent  and  early  intelligence  of 
every  thing  you  hear  as  to  our  affairs.  Again  fare- 
well, and  take  care  of  your  health."     In  another  letter 


ville  placed  on  them  appears  from  the  account  of  the  '  to  the  same  correspondent,  he  says:  "My  mind  is 
affair  which  he  wrote  to  his  nephew.  "I  have  sent  frosh  and  vigorous,  nor  is  my  bodily  strength  in  the 
you  a  copy  cf  my  submission,  which  Glasgow,  your  '.  least  impaired.  I  am  preparing  for  the  combat,  and 
scholar,  has  taken  with  him  to  the  King.  For  the  shall  wonder  if  things  pass  over  thus.  I  am  persua- 
archbishop  has  been  thrice  or  four  times  with  me,  ded  that  N.  (the  King)  remains  unaltered  in  his  inten- 
shewing  me  that  the  kirk  laments  my  absence,  and  tions,  and  that  it  will  not  be  easy  to  drive  him  from 
that  his  earnest  desire  is  to  have  me  at  home.  5erf  7i«r»  j  them.  The  saying.  Front i  nulla  Jidcs,  often  comes 
ego  credulus  illis.  Dunbar  must  have  the  honour  of  I  into  my  mind.  But,  leaving  events  to  providence,  let 
my  deliverance:  you  may  conjecture  all  the  rest  tliat  |  us  do  our  duty,  and  not  hesitate  to  act  a  courageous 

part  in  the  cause,  and  under  the  auspices  of  Him  who 


»  Epistolae  Eccles.  et  Theolop.  p.  187, 190.  Lnbbf  rt's,  letter  is 
addressed  "  Reverendo  et  Clansgimo  viro  D.  IV.  M(  Ivino,  Sa- 
crae  Theolopiae  Doctori  et  Profegsori  io  inclyto  Sanctandra-ano." 
The  other  i?  addressed,  "  W.  Melvino."  In  both  instances  the 
transcriber  hag,  by  mistake,  put  fV.  for  A.  Melvino.  This  an- 
pears  from  comparing  Kpist.  Eccl.  et  Theol.  p.  220,  with  Brandt, 
Vita  Arminii,  p.  322. 

*  Those  who  would  ascertain  the  real  views  and  spirit  of 
Arminius  must  consult  the  letters  which  he  wrote  to  his  confi- 
dential friends.  "  Demersa  est  Veritas  (says  he)  etiam  theolo- 
gica — in  puteo  profundo,  unde  non  sine  roagno  labore  erui  po- 
*«**• — ^•^  mirare,  Uytenbogardo;  puto  enim  paucns  e««e  qui 
istum  artirulum  (the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity)  intellig^mt.— Fa- 
tebitur  Helniichius  nullam  esse  hsresin  in  ista  mea  doctrina: 
at  «g-o  dico  in  Helmichii  et  aliorum  doctrina  non  unam  h»re- 
»ini.  et  non  cxi^uani,  sed  fundanientalem,  tic. — Ilia  proferani 
qna  put-dbo  vcrilati,  paci  e<  tempori  serviri  posse,"  &c.  (Kpist. 
V.ic\(m.  et  Theol.  p.  39,  87,  139,  147.) 

t  iMelvii.i  Kpi,t.  p.  6:— 96.  ||  Ibid.  p.  24. 


rules  in  the  midst  of  his  enemies.  Though  we  have 
endured  contradiction,  we  have  not  yet  resisted  unto 
blood,  striving  against  sin  ;  but  this  also  will  we  do 
when  called  to  it  by  the  master  of  the  combat.  I  am 
at  present  engaged  in  a  work  which  will  let  our  adver- 
saries see  how  they  will  be  able  to  keep  their  feet  on 


«  Melvini  Epist.  p.  29—31. 

+  It  is  entithd  Prosooopeia  Apologctica.     (Ibid.  p.  22,  23.) 
Among  the  writings  of  Melville,  Dempster  (Hist.  Eccl.  Scot.  p. 
497.)  mentions  "  JVelviniana  siiperbia,  lib.  i.  cui  exordium, 
Scotoruui,  An^lorum,  Gallorunn,a  sanguine  Regent, 
llle  ego  Mclvinus." 
He  evidently  refers  to  the  Prosopopeia,  which  contains  some- 
thing similar  to  what  he  quotes,  altltough  not  in  the  exordium. 
This  is  one  proof  among  many  that  Dempster's  mistakes  were 
of^en  owing  to  (he  circumstance  of  hit  quoting  from  memory. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


333 


the  slippery  ground  of  human  authority,  after  they 
have  been  driven  from  the  solid  and  firm  footing  of  di- 
vine right."* 

These  extracts  evidently  refer  to  a  work  on  the  epis- 
copal controversy  which  he  had  planned.  In  the 
course  of  the  year  1608,  copies  of  a  sermon  published 
by  Dr.  Dovvnham  in  defence  of  the  government  of  the 
Church  of  England  were  sent  down  to  Scotland,  and 
distributed  gratis  among  the  ministers,  with  the  view  of 
promoting  their  conversion  to  episcopacy.  Melville 
had  sent  his  nephew  a  hurried  review  of  this  sermon 
when  it  was  first  printed. f  He  now  srnt  him  two 
large  letters,  containing  a  luminous,  rapid  and  spirited 
refutation  of  the  principal  arguments  for  prelacy  drawn 
from  scripture  and  antiquity.  These  were  immediately 
transmitted  to  Scotland  by  James  Melville,  along  with 
a  letter  from  himself,  W'hich  shews  that  they  had  ope- 
rated as  a  cordial  in  reviving  his  drooping  spirits. 
•'  When  I  reflect  (says  he  to  Patrick  Symson)  on  the 
fortitude  and  constancy  of  my  banished  brethren ; 
when  I  consider  that  you  have  been  miraculously 
plucked  from  the  jaws  of  the  grave  and  restored  to  the 
church ;  when  I  muse  on  the  premature  death  of  my 
friend  Nicolson,  by  which  he  who  possessed  such  rare 
gifts  was  snatched  from  the  current  which  threatened 
to  carry  him  completely  away,  and  along  with  him  to 
wreck  the  interest  of  religion  among  us;  when  I  think 
of  the  good  health  of  my  revered  uncle,  and  the  excel- 
lent spirits  which  he  enjoys  at  the  close  of  his  climac- 
teric year,  and  after  being  shut  up  in  a  strait  prison 
during  two  severe  winters  and  as  many  scorching  sum- 
mers ;  and  when  I  perceive  that  royal  authority,  bri- 
bery, and  the  most  consummate  craft  and  subtilty  have 
hitherto  been  employed  against  us  with  so  little  suc- 
cess; — I  am  wonderfully  encouraged,  and  at  intervals 
my  breast  heaves  witli  the  hope  that  the  captives  shall 
yet  return,  and  that  the  city  and  temple  of  our  Jerusa- 
lem shall  again  be  built. 

Hue  ine  raptat  amor  dulcis,  et  impotriis 
Ardor  ferre  moras.     O  niveuin  diem 
Qui  templo  reducem  mestatuat  tuo  ! 
O  lucis  jubar  aureum  !  \ 

Nothing  less  however  appears  as  yet : 

sed  cui  inops  fidit  Deus 


Spes  et  vota  bonos  ducat  ad  exitu«.|| 
In  the  mean  time,  my  beloved  and  upright  brethren, 
on  whom  the  defence  of  the  cause  at  home  is  devolved, 
and  whom  Jesus,  our  leader  and  commander,  has  pla- 
ced i;i  the  front  of  the  battle,  rouse  up,  fight,  stand, 
shew  yourselves  men,  be  strong,  aiul  you  shall  be  more 
than  conquerors.  O  that  we  who  are  removed  to  a  dis- 
tance from  you  were  employed  like  Mnses,  Aaron  and 
Hur,  on  the  mountain  !  Swayed  by  the  opinion  of  my 
dear  brother  M.  W.  C.,§  I  was  once  inclined  to  think 
that  we  might  tolerate  at  this  time  many  things  whicii 
we  cannot  approve;  but  when  I  considfr  all  circum- 
stances, I  am  much  afraid  that  sucli  forbearance  would 
prove  highly  injurious,  and  de|)rive  us  of  the  sim- 
plicity, sincerity,  liberty  and  power  of  the  gospel. 
Read,  I  beseech  you,  again  and  again  and  again,  these 
pages  of  Andrew  Melville,  written  hastily  on  the  spur 
of  the  occasion,  but  fraught  with  divine  truth  and 
learning,  and  apparently  intended  for  you  and  your  fel- 
low combatants  against  intruding  bishops.  When 
you  have  perused  them,  with  his  petition  to  the  King, 


«  Melvini  Epist.  p.  24—28. 

f  Ibid.  p.  1 — 8.  He  concludes  the  review  by  saying:  "  Such 
tautologies  and  vain  babbling  I  wald  never  have  looked  for  at 
this  tynie  to  have  proceidit  from  the  man,  who  is  a  Logicioner. 
»ior  to  be  directed  toward  the  north  for  co'.ivincing  our  breth- 
ren, who,  if  they  be  not  corrupted  more  with  the  14000  lib. 
Sterling,  sent  thither  (as  they  say)  tanquam  aureus  hamus,  than 
with  the  evidence  of  this  book,  they  will  never  be  persuaded  to 
leave  the  truth  embraced,  &c.  MuUos  ego  vidi  ineptos  homi- 
nes, at  Phormione  neminem.     Bilson  is  more  dangerous." 

X   Buchanani  Psalm,  xlii. 

li  lb.  Psalm,  xiv.  a  quotation  from  memory. 

j  Probably  Mr.  William  Cowpcr  of  Perth. 


return  the  whole  to  the  bearer,  that  he  may  take  a  copy 
of  them  for  the  use  of  other  brethren."* 

Melville  was  not  a  little  amused  in  his  prison  with 
the  accounts  which  he  received  of  the  literary  contest 
in  which  his  Majesty  was  involved,  in  consequence 
of  his  Apology  for  the  Oath  of  Allt^giance.  The  cock- 
fighting,  and  "  the  admirable  pastime,  lately  taken  up, 
of  iiunting  or  daring  of  dotterells  and  other  of  that  na- 
ture," in  which  James  had  been  lately  spending  the 
greater  part  of  his  tin  e,  and  at  which  the  people  of 
liOndon  were  so  indignant,^  were  now  laid  aside,  and 
his  Majesty  was  continually  closeted  with  a  select 
number  of  the  most  learned  of  his  clergy.  One  was 
employed  in  writing  an  answer  to  Cardinal  Bellarmine, 
and  another  to  the  Jesuit  Parsons,  while  a  third  super- 
intended the  impression  of  Barclay  De  Potestate  Papse. 
As  James  was  "  never  the  man  that  could  think  a  Car- 
dinal a  meet  match  f(.r  a  King,"  he  chose  to  call  the 
book  which  was  to  appear  under  his  own  name,  A 
Premonition  to  all  Christian  Monarchs.  The  bishop 
who  made  the  first  draught  of  this  work,  and  to  whom 
the  correction  of  it  was  afterwards  submitted,  found 
that  he  had  got  Penelope's  web  to  weave  ;  for  what  he 
finished  at  night  his  Majesty  undid  in  the  morning; 
and  when  the  work  came  at  last  from  the  press,  it  was 
found  necessary  to  have  some  parts  of  it  still  farther 
altered,  and  the  poor  printer  was  sent  to  prison  for 
having  given  out  copies  of  it  before  this  operation  was 
performed.  It  was  immediately  translated  into  the 
different  modern  languages  by  the  clerks  in  waiting, 
and  sent  by  special  ambassadors  to  all  Christian  States, 
except  the  Swiss  Cantons.  But  the  Premonition 
pleased  nobody  hut  those  against  whom  it  was  direct- 
ed, who,  having  started  a  royal  stag,  were  resolved  to 
have  sport  of  him.  It  was  attacked  from  various  quar- 
ters, and  with  great  keenness,  in  replies  both  serious 
and  satirical.  "In  the  mean  time,  (says  Melville)  his 
Majesty  chafes,  and  every  body  else  chuckles.  Rox 
ringilur ;  alii  rident,''^\ 

Melville  was  again  tantalized  with  the  prospect  of 
obtaining  his  liberty.  At  a  convention  held  in  Scot- 
land it  had  been  agreed  to  petition  the  King  to  allow 
the  exiled  ministers  to  return  home.  On  this  occasion 
the  bishops  acted  with  great  duplicity.  They  agreed 
to  the  petition  ;  and  yet  they  gave  the  agent  whom 
they  sent  to  London  written  instructions  to  apologize 
to  his  Majesty  for  what  they  had  done,  and  to  request 
him  not  to  set  the  ministers  at  liberty. ||  Spotswood, 
on  going  to  court,  promised  to  bring  Melville  along 
with  him,  to  be  placed  as  principal  in  the  University 
of  Glasgow;  and  he  expressed  much  regret  at  his  re- 
turn that  he  had  not  been  able  to  effect  his  purpose. § 
But  we  learn  from  a  letter  of  the  archbishop's,  that  ia 
all  this  he  acted  a  hypocritical  part.  "  For  these  mat- 
ters of  the  ministers,  (says  he)  please  your  Majesty, 
we  are  here  quiet;  and  their  absence  will  even  breed  a 
forgetfulness.  The  bishop  of  St.  Andrews  has  peace 
at  will,  whereby  your  Majesty  can  take  up  the  instru- 
ments of  his  trouble. "If  It  would  appear  that  arch- 
bishop  Gladstanes  had  been   less   cautious  than  his 


»  Melvini  Epist.  p.  44—47. 

+  Winwood's  Memor.  vol.  i.  p.  217.  The  people  threatened, 
if  he  did  not  desist  from  his  unkingly  sports,  to  poison  his  dogs 
and  other  game-companions,  and  to  send  liimself  to  the  hills 
whence  he  came.  The  subject  was  introduced  on  the  stage, 
and  all  the  players  were  for  a  lime  banished  from  the  capital  by 
an  order  from  court.     (De  la  Boderie,  Ambassades,  i.  56,310.) 

t  De  la  BoHerie,  Ambassades,  torn.  iv.  p.  271,  301,  318,  324, 
372.     Melvini  Epist.  p.  51,  79. 

II  Printed  Calderwood,  p.  602.  Scot's  Apolog.  Narrat.  p. 
219. 

{  Cald.  vii.  323. 

il  Letter  to  the  King,  Nov.  1609:  MS.  in  Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin. 
M.  6.  9.  num  65.  In  this  letter  Spotswood  professes  that  it 
was  his  design  to  yield  un  his  bishopric,  and  retire  from  public 
life,  to  shew  the  world  that  he  was  not  actuated  by  ambition. 
Yet,  only  two  months  after  this,  he  accepted  the  office  of  an 
Extraordinary  Lord  of  Session,  in  addition  to  those  burdens 
which  he  had  pronounced  "  insupportable  !" 


334 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


brother  of  Glasgow  in  expressing  his  real  sentinaeiits 
on  this  subject.  His  words  had  come  to  the  ears  of 
Melville,  who,  in  one  of  his  letters  to  his  nephew, 
speaks  of  the  Scottish  Primate  in  the  following  severe 
terms:  "  Vertumnus,  you  know  whom  I  mean,  the  ra- 
pacious Gled*  that  nestles  in  the  old  ruins  of  the  mer- 
etricious Babylon,  boasts  that  he  has  received  the 
King's  hand  and  promise  that  I  shall  not  see  my  na- 
tive country  while  he  lives.  Lortpes  (whom  it  is  easy 
to  reprove  but  impossible  to  reform)  has  not  forgotten 
certain  words  which  I  addressed  to  him  jocularly  when 
he  was  dining  with  me  before  we  left  Scotland."!  On 
the  subject  of  their  liberation  we  find  James  Melville 
writing  thus  to  his  uncle  :  "  I  waited  on  the  Chancel- 
lor, as  he  passed  through  this  town  on  his  return  to 
Scotland,  and  thanked  him  for  the  concern  which  he 
had  taken  in  your  affair.  He  repeated  to  me  what 
passed  between  his  Majesty  and  him,  and  a  long  con- 
versation which  he  had  with  the  primate  (to  whom  his 
Majesty  referred  him)  in  the  porch  of  the  palace  of 
Whitehall.  His  Grace  finally  promised  that  he  would 
use  all  his  influence  in  your  behalf  with  the  King,  and 
with  the  bishops  of  Scotland,  who  would  not  stand  in 
the  way  of  your  returning  to  your  college,  provided  it 
did  not  endanger  the  peace  of  the  church.  '  Leave  him 
to  me ;  I  will  pledge  myself  that  he  shall  not  take  part 
in  any  plots  against  you,'  said  the  Chancellor.  I  took 
the  opportunity  of  laying  my  own  case  before  his  lord- 
ship. I  complained  that  I  was  detained  here,  and  de- 
prived of  my  stipend,  though  innocent,  uncondemned, 
unjudged,  unaccused,  without  even  the  shadow  of  a 
crime  laid  to  my  charge.  I  begged  that  I  might  be 
permitted  to  return  home  and  resume  the  oversight  of 
my  poor  sea-faring  people ;  or,  if  this  could  not  be 
granted,  that  liberty  should  be  given  me  to  go  to 
France,  or  at  least  that  ray  expences  here  should  be 
borne.  With  many  expressions  of  regard  lie  promised 
to  take  an  early  opportunity  of  writing  the  Earl  of 
Dunbar  in  our  behalf,  adding  that  it  would  give  him 
the  greatest  pleasure  to  be  of  any  service  to  us.":^ 

Despairing  of  being  permitted  to  return  to  his  native 
country,  Melville  entertained  at  this  time  a  serious  in- 
tention of  going  to  the  New  World,  and  in  pursuance 
of  it  had  several  interviews  with  a  person  who  had 
embarked  in  an  extensive  colonial  expedition.  It  does 
not  certainly  appear  to  what  part  of  America  he  pur- 
posed to  retire,  but  it  was  most  probably  Virginia. 
"  My  friend  (he  writes  to  his  nephew)  has  prepared  a 
fleet;  he  has  raised  two  thousand  soldiers  and  four 
hundred  supernumeraries;  and  is  in  daily  expectation 
of  the  return  of  a  servant  whom  he  has  sent  before 
him.  With  a  slender  fortune  and  involved  in  debt,  he 
cherishes  sanguine  hopes  of  ultimate  success,  and 
omits  no  part  of  the  duty  of  a  good  and  prudent  com- 
mander. I  had  a  visit  from  him  to-day  along  with  his 
son-in-law.  What  expectations  I  should  entertain,  I 
know  not ;  but  of  one  thing  I  am  sure  that  he  is  a  good 
and  worthy  man,  and  wants  the  means,  not  the  inclina- 
tion, to  do  well.  I  betake  myself  to  my  sacred  an- 
chor: "seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his' 
righteousness,  and  all  other  things  shall  be  added  to  I 
you."  II — We  can  scarcely  suppose  that  the  court  I 
would  hinder  his  emigration  to  such  a  distant  quarter  I 
of  the  globe;  it  is,  therefore,  most  likely  that  some- 
thing occurred  to  divert  his  mind  from  the  project. 


•  Gltd,  in  the  Scottish  langtiag-e,  is  the  name  of  the  Kite. 
This  play  on  the.  primate's  name  (incluciine:  an  allusion  to  the 
intemperance  with  which  he  was  charged)  occurs  in  ciifTerent 
«pirrams  written  on  him.  (Simsoni  Annates,  p.  129, 130.  Mel- 
vmi  MussE.p.  18—20) 

t  Melvini  F.pist.  p.  48.  J  Ibid.  p.  121—123. 

II  Ibid.  p.  55.  The  English  were  at  this  time  veir  eager  in 
forming  settlements  in  America.  (De  la  Boderie,  Anih.  torn. 
i».  p.  263,  264.)  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  who  was  then  in  the 
Tower,  had  projected  the  expedition  to  Guiana  which  after- 
wards cost  him  his  life;  and  Melville,  in  one  of  his  letters, 
speaks  of  one  of  his  grand-nefihews,  who  wa*  with  him,  wish- 
ing to  visit  that  country.     (Epbt.  p.  143.) 


His  solitary  hours  were  relieved  by  the  company  of 
two  of  his  name-sons,  who  successively  resided  with 
him,  and  whom  he  instructed  in  languages  and  philos- 
ophy. The  one  was  a  son  of  James  Melville  and  the 
other  a  son  of  one  of  his  brothers,  who  had  left  a  large 
family  unprovided  for.*  This  last  young  man  was  of 
a  romantic  and  unsettled  turn  of  mind,  and  appears  to 
have  insinuated  himself  into  the  affections  of  his  grand- 
uncle,  who  was  induced  to  advance  him,  at  different 
times,  sums  which  his  limited  finances  could  not  well 
bear.f  But  the  principal  recreation  which  Melville 
found  was  in  the  cultivation  of  his  favourite  muse. 
Every  packet  which  he  sent  to  his  nephew  contained 
one,  and  some  of  them  three  or  four  of  his  poetical  pro- 
ductions. "  I  have  added  to  this  (says  he)  the  second 
and  sixteenth  psalms,  both  of  them  warm  from  the  an- 
vil, and  the  last  hastily  struck  off  this  morning,  so  that 
I  have  not  had  time  to  apply  the  file  to  it.  I  wish  you 
to  consider  this  remark  as  applying  also  to  the  first 
psalm,  which  I  sent  you  some  time  ago,  both  as  to  the 
translation  and  to  the  numbers  and  poetical  ornaments. 
If  you  compare  them  with  Buchanan's,  you  will  ob- 
serve a  considerable  difference.  The  first  psalm  al- 
most pleases  me.":|:  Men  of  real  genius  often  defraud 
the  public  by  the  desultory  nature  of  their  studies,  or 
by  the  injudicious  choice  which  they  make  of  subjects 
on  which  to  exert  their  talents.  This  was  one  of  Mel- 
ville's faults,  of  which  his  nephew  frequently  admon- 
ished him.  "  Why  do  you  require  my  judgment  of 
your  verses,  when  you  know  that  I  am  disposed  to 
form  too  favourable  an  opinion  of  all  that  you  do? 
However,  I  will  tell  you  what  others  say  of  them. 
They  say  that  you  are  doing  what  has  been  already 
well  done,  contending  in  vain  with  the  great  Buchan 
an,  and  neglecting  what  you  ought  to  do.  Notwith- 
standing, I  doubt  not  that,  in  the  course  of  providence, 
better  things  may  be  produced  than  have  yet  been  ex- 
ecuted ;  and  I  am  persuaded  that  you  have  not  forgot- 
ten the  work  which  you  promised."||  This  drew  from 
Melville  a  defence  of  his  conduct.  "  I  send  you  cer- 
tain psalms  which  I  have  translated  into  Latin  verse: 
an  Iliad  after  Homer,  forsooth  !  But  I  am  not  like  the 
prince  of  Latin  poets,  who  says  : 

Etsi  me  vario  jactatiim  laudisamore, 
Irritaque  expertum  faliacis  premia  vulgi. 

By  such  trivial  performances  I  do  not  seek  for  glory 
or  popular  applause,  nor  do  I  court  the  bounty  of  kings 
and  princes;  but  I  yield  to  the  power,  whatever  it  is, 
that  inspires  me  ;  and  do  not  so  much  seek  to  escape 
from  private  vexations,  as  obey  my  ruling  passion  and 
indulge  my  genius.  I  indulge  it  the  more  willingly 
that  I  derive  advantage  mixed  with  the  purest  plea- 
sure from  such  studies,  and  think  that  I  sometimes 
elicit  the  hidden  meaning  of  the  prophet  which  had 
escaped  others.  And  I  employ  poetic  numbers,  that  I 
may  make  a  shew  of  contending  with  those  champions 
who  have  deservedly  carried  away  the  palm  in  this 
field  of  literature.  It  becomes  me  to  think  modestly 
of  my  own  works  ;  we  are  all  ready  to  flatter  ourselves ; 
and  where  is  the  individual  who  does  not  sometimes 
slip  a  foot  on  this  dangerous  ground  !  But  I  trust  to 
the  keepinor  of  the  great  Ruler  of  heaven  and  earth,  to 
whom  I  have  dedicated  and  devoted  myall,  and  whose 
glory  I  wish  I  could  advance  with  a  willingness  and 

•  James  Melville's  son,  after  leaving  the  Tower,  resided  for 
some  time  with  a  Scotchman  named  Guthrie,  who  taugV.t  an 
academy  in  the  neighbourhood  of  London.  He  was  brother  to 
Alexander  Guthrie  of  Kdinbiirgh,  and  a  relation  of  James  Law- 
son,  the  minister.  He  died  in  the  year  1609.  (Melvini  Epist. 
p.  56,  64,  100.)  His  school  was  at  Hoddesdon  in  the  year 
1584.  (Life  prefixed  to  Bishop  Cowper's  Works.)  "  De  filio 
Andrea  quani  gratum  !"  savs  James  Melville.  "Guthriei,  ami- 
cissimi  viri,  Lucubratiunculam  ubi  perlegero,  testimonio  qnali 
author  meretur  ornabo.  Ego  ad  eos  literas  dedi.  (Melvini 
Epist.  p.  98  ) 

+  Ibid.  p.  143,  153,  170,  305, 306,  324.  Letter  from  A.  Mel- 
ville to  Boyd  of  Trochrig,  in  Wodrow's  Life  of  Bojrd,  p.  49. 

t  Melvini  Epitt.  p.  87.  ||  Ibid.  p.  93. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


335 


alacrity  somewhat  answerable  to  the  great  and  mani- 
fold proofs  of  his  kindness  and  beneficence  conferred 
on  me."* — Notwithstanding  the  dissuasions  of  his  ju- 
dicious friend,  Melville  continued  his  labours  on  the 
psalms,  and  a  specimen  of  them  was  committed  to  the 
press  during  the  time  that  he  lay  in  the  Tower.f 

A  misfortune  which  befel  him  at  this  time  gave  him 
no  small  uneasiness.  His  purse,  containing  all  the 
money  which  he  possessed,  and  on  which  he  depended 
for  his  support  during  the  approaching  winter,  was 
stolen.  It  is  probable  that  this  act  of  theft  was  com- 
mitted by  one  of  the  keepers  of  the  prison  ;  and  in  his 
circumstances  it  would  have  been  useless  and  even 
dangerous  to  complain  or  to  take  steps  for  recovering 
his  lost  property.  He  was  under  the  necessity,  there- 
fore, of  applying  to  James  Melville,  to  whom  he  con- 
veyed information  of  the  unpleasant  occurrence  in  the 
following  delicate  allegory.  "  I  had  lately  in  my  pos- 
session upwards  of  twenty  birds  of  the  Seraphic  spe- 
cies, kept  with  no  small  care,  and  cherished  in  a  warm 
nest  under  the  shade  of  my  wings.  Whether  they 
were  tired  of  their  confinement  and  seized  with  a  de- 
sire for  liberty,  or  what  was  the  cause,  I  am  not  pre- 
pared to  say  ;  but  without  bidding  their  unsuspicious 
host  farewell,  poising  their  airy  wings,  they  flied,  not 
to  return,  and  have  left  me  to  deplore  their  absence. 
I  soothe  my  grief  by  meditating  on  that  beautiful  dis- 
course on  providence  contained  in  the  sixth  chapter  of 
Matthew,  and  by  the  consciousness  that  I  was  not  defi- 
cient in  at  least  ordinary  care.  The  saying.  The  Lord 
will  provide,  often  comes  to  my  mind.  I  have  expe- 
rienced the  truth  of  it  through  the  whole  course  of  my 
life;  my  indulgent  Father,  out  of  regard  to  my  infirm- 
ity, having  prevented  me  hitherto  from  ever  feeling  ex- 
treme want.  Such  an  accident  as  this  I  never  before 
met  with,  but  it  is  one  common  to  men  : 

Qualia  niulta  mari  nautoe  patiuiifur  in  alto. 

Be  not  inquisitive  as  to  the  particulars,  of  which  I  am 
neither  altogether  certain  nor  altogether  ignorant;  and 
I  have  vowed  silence. 

Desine  meque  tuis  incendere  teque  querelis. 

The  loss  could  not  have  been  foreseen  or  provided 
against,  and  it  is  counterbalanced  by  another  unex- 
pected event,  the  friendly  treaty  respecting  the  affairs 
of  our  church  which  is  in  prospect;  so  that  it  would 
seem  that  the  master  of  the  feast  and  supreme  disposer 
of  all  events  has  seen  meet  to  mingle  for  me  a  bitter- 
sweet cup.  Our  excellent  friend  Traill  has  visited  me 
and  delivered  Lindsay's  token  of  remembrance,  which 
I  received  as  a  pledge  of  my  restoration  to  the  col- 
lege.:!: I  am  afraid  lest  the  approaching  winter  should 
prevent  sailing,  and  put  a  stop  to  all  communication 
between  us.  Wherefore,  if  you  have  any  thing  that 
can  be  of  use  to  me,  transmit  it  as  expeditiously' as 
possible. "II 

This  call  was  instantly  obeyed.  Indeed  the  purse 
of  James  Melville  was  always  at  his  uncle's  command, 
and  his  remittances  were  uniformly  conveyed  with 
such  readiness  and  delicacy  as  made  them  appear 
rather  as  the  performance  of  a  filial  duty  or  the  dis- 
charge of  a  debt  of  gratitude,  than  as  gratuitous  fa- 
vours and  acts  of  generosity  to  a  distressed  friend. 
"Riches,"  says  he  in  the  letter  which  he  sent  along 
with  the  money,  "take  to  themselves  eagles'  wings, 
and  fly  away.  But  there  is  enough  in  the  sacred  pro- 
mises to  which  you  refer.  He  who  has  such  securi- 
ties may  surely  rest  satisfied.     Be  of  good  courage. 


*  Melvlrii  Epist.  p.  100—102. 

f  The  only  notice  of  this  publication  which  I  have  seen  is  in 
one  of  his  letters  to  James  Melville,  dated  "  Ex  Tiirri,  Jan.  8, 
1610."  ■  "Mitto  ad  te  versus  aliquot  meos  t)  pis  excuses,  ut 
scias  nie  non  temere  in  Psalmos  incurrisse,  ex  quibus  pedeiu 
retraho  vel  invitus."     (Melvini  Epist.  p.  144.) 

\  This  refers,  probably,  to  a  legacy  from  Secretary  Lindsay, 
who  had  been  Chancellor  of  the  University  of  St.  Andrews. 

II  Melvini  Epist.  p.  91,  92. 


therefore,  my  father:  the  Good  Shepherd  will  supply 
you  abundantly  with  all  good  things.  I  shall  send  you 
money,  and  you  will  send  me  songs, 
Jucundiora  mtUe  et  auro, 
Kt  nitidis  potioia  geniniis. 
Let  us  continue  this  mutual  intercourse;  and  I  have 
Dfood  hope  that  you  will  run  short  of  verses  for  my  use, 
before  I  run  short  of  gold  f^r  yours."*  Melville's  an- 
swer affords  a  beautiful  example  of  the  union  of  piety 
and  gratitude.  "  Your  succedaneum  for  the  fugitive 
gold  came  most  seasonably  to  my  relief.  So  profusely 
beneficent  has  my  divine  and  indulgent  Father  been 
towards  me  as  even  to  exceed  my  wishes.  O  that  I 
may  be  found  grateful  and  mindful  of  the  benefits  be- 
stowed on  me  by  him  who  has  accepted  me  gratui- 
tously in  his  Son  !  O  that  I  may  love  him,  who  first 
loved  me,  with  all  my  rnind,  soul,  and  strength  !  and 
that  I  may  bring  forth  the  fruits  of  this  love,  by  pro- 
moting the  good  of  his  church  in  these  difficult  times, 
and  amidst  all  the  ingratitude  that  abounds  ! — I  re- 
ceived the  Spanish  and  British  angels,  equalling  in 
number  the  Apostles,  the  Graces,  and  the  Elements, 
with  a  supernumerary  one  of  the  Seraphic  order  :  aurum 
contra  caro.  I  do  not  rejoice  so  much  in  them,  (al- 
though these  commutable  pieces  of  money  are  at  pre- 
sent very  useful  to  me)  as  I  do  at  the  renewing  of  the 
memory  of  my  deceased  friends,  and  the  prospect  of 
our  friendship  being  perpetuated  in  their  posterity, 
who  have  given  such  a  favourable  presage  of  future 
virtue  and  genuine  piety  ;  for  what  else  could  have  in- 
duced them  to  take  such  an  interest  in  my  affairs  at 
this  time  ?  Wherefore  I  congratulate  them,  and  I  re- 
joice that  this  favourable  opportunity  of  transmitting 
friendship  inviolate  from  father  to  son  and  grandson 
has  been  aflTorded.f  So  you  have  the  confidence  to 
say,  that  the  fountain  of  the  muses  from  which  I  draw 
will  be  exhausted  sooner  than  the  vein  of  that  gold 
mine,  whence  you  extract  the  treasures  with  which 
you  supply  me  so  liberally.  Hold,  prithee !  Take 
care  what  you  say,  especially  to  poets  like  me,  who 
when  I  do  sing,  sing  at  the  invitation  of  the  muses  and 
under  their  inspiration.  This  makes  me  more  regard- 
less of  the  capricious  judgment  of  critics ;  for  in  wri- 
ting verses  I  do  not  aim  at  vain  glory  or  any  human  re- 
ward, but  yield  a  free  homage  to  the  muses  and  seek  a 
liberal  recreation  to  my  own  mind.  About  any  thing 
beyond  this,  I  am  quite  indifferent;  only  I  reckon  all 
the  time  gained  which  is  spent  in  tliese  sacred  lucu- 
brations, as  they  help  to  recal  my  mind  from  sensible 
things  to  divine  contemplation,  and  fit  me  for  the  better 
discharge  of  the  duties  of  my  station.  Nor  do  I  con- 
tend with  any  individual  so  much  as  with  myself,  over 
whom  if  I  gain  an  advantage  I  consider  myself  as  hav- 
ing carried  off  the  prize."4i 

In  the  course  of  this  year  he  had  to  mourn  the  loss 
of  several  of  his  relations  and  acquaintance.  His 
feelings  on  receiving  these  melancholy  tidings,  are 
expressed  in  tiie  letters  he  wrote  to  his  favourite 
and  constant  correspondent.  "  I  am  just  come  from 
reading  in  the  second  epistle  to  Timothy,  which  has 
allayed  the  tumult  raised  in  my  breast  by  the  tidings 
I  have  received.  Yet  I  cannot  but  feel.  See  that  the 
funeral  obsequies  be  duly  performed.  Let  no  mark  of 
respect  and  friendship  be  wanting  to  the  memory  of 
two  brethren — brethren  both  of  them  by  the  bonds  of 
piety,  grace,  and  celestial  parentage,  and  one  of  them 
by  the  additional  tie  of  nature,  and  still  more  nearly 


»  Melvini  Epist.  p.  92.  93. 

t  This  refers  to  the  family  of  George  Greir,  from  whom 
Jan)es  Melville  had  received  part  of  the  money  which  he  sent 
to  his  uncle.  (Melvini  Epist.  p.  117.)  Greir  was  second  min- 
ister of  Haddington,  (Record  of  Presb.  of  Hadd.  Jan.  26, 1603.) 
and  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  James  Lawson,  minister  of 
Edinburgh.  (Testament  of  Elizabeth  Lawsone,  in  Commissary 
Record  of  Edin.  April  5,  1615.  Corap.  Inquia.  Retorn.  Gen. 
num.  142.) 

\  Melvini  Epist.  p.  108— 111. 


336 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


allied  to  me  than  to  you.  Act,  I  pray  yon,  a  pious 
and  becoming  part.  Discharge  the  debt  due  to  grace 
and  friendship,  to  nature  and  propinquity.  Discharge 
it  with  tears,  but  let  them  be  the  tears  of  Abraham, 
the  fatlier  of  us  all,  '  who  rose  up  from  weeping  for 
his  wife.'  These  are  temporary  things :  we  mind 
things  that  are  eternal.  '  Put  the  brethren  in  remem- 
brance,' and  exhort  them  to  constancy. — What  a  loss, 
in  respect  of  piety  and  erudition,  has  the  church  sus- 
tained by  the  death  of  my  friend  the  great  Scaliger, 
who,  about  the  end  of  January,  exchanged  an  earthly 
for  a  heavenly  country  !  How  can  I  but  be  touched 
and  deeply  affected  for  the  loss  of  such  a  person,  and 
of  others  whom  I  loved  in  this  world,  and  who  have 
gone  before  me  !  Of  such  there  are  not  a  few  known 
to  you  who  belonged  to  our  church,  and  were  allied  to 
us  either  by  natural  or  spiritual  consanguinity.  Need 
I  name  them!  Knox,  Arbuthnot,  Smeton,  Lawson, 
Row,  the  two  Melvilles,  my  dearest  brothers  and  your 
father  and  uncle,  the  two  brothers,  George  and  Andrew 
Hay,  Pont,  Craig,  RoUock,  Ferguson,  Christison, 
Davidson,  your  father-in-law  Dury,  and  many  others, 
after  whose  example,  and  in  whose  footsteps  we  ought 
to  press  through  all  impediments,  seeking  the  crown 
of  glory  in  that  new  and  straight  path  which  the  author 
and  finisher  of  our  faith  hath  trodden  before  us,  and 
paved  and  consecrated  for  us  by  his  own  blood. 

Cur  tam  sollicitis  vitara  congumimus  annis, 
Torquemurque  metu,  coecaque  cupidiiie  rerum, 
^ternisque  senes  curis  ? 

HuDiana  cuncta  fumus,  umbra,  vanitas, 

£t  scenae  iiuago,  et,  verbo  at  absolvam,  nihil. 

I  am  an  old  man  and  garrulous ;  for  there  is  nothing 
in  which  old  men  take  greater  pleasure  than  talking. 
Love  also  prattles.  What  do  I  say  1  You  know  it 
was  formerly  rumoured  that  I  was  in  love  ;  and  why 
should  I  not  be  seriously  so  now,  seeing  I  began  this 
last  spring  to  grow  young  again,  and  to  play  the  boy — 
perhaps,  that  I  might  imitate  you  as  closely  as  possi- 
ble.    You  know  what  I  mean.     Dictum  sapientt."  * 

In  Melville's  letters  to  his  nephew  there  is  often 
much  playfulness,  proceeding  from  the  vivacity  of  his 
imagination,  and  the  kindness  of  his  heart,  which 
showed  that  the  writer  possessed  a  great  flow  of  spirits, 
and  a  mind  which,  though  not  always  exempt  from 
distress,  was  always  at  peace  with  itself,  and  at  ease 
and  in  love  with  the  person  to  whom  it  imparted  with- 
out reserve  its  thoughts  and  its  feelings.  He  delight- 
ed in  the  seria  mixta  joeis ;  and  in  discoursing  on  the 
gravest  and  most  momentous  subjects  was  wont  to  re- 
lieve his  own  mind  and  that  of  his  correspondent  by 
throwing  out  some  pleasant  repartee,  or  snggesting 
some  agreeable  and  j.yous  reminiscence.  But  all  this 
will  not  account  or  apologize  for  the  appearance  of  in- 
congruity and  even  levity  that  there  is  in  the  conclud- 
ing part  of  the  last  extract — in  the  sudden  transition 
from  lamenting  over  the  dead  to  jesting  on  love  and 
matrimony.  The  following  explanation  will,  however, 
show  that  the  writer  was  never  more  deeply  in  earnest 
than  on  this  occasion.  The  reader  must  by  this  time 
be  aware,  although  he  has  not  been  expressly  told,  that 
Melville  was  a  bachelor,  and  consequently  that  he  was 
now  an  old  one.  He  will  therefore  be  surprised  to 
have  a  correspondence  upon  a  matriinonial  affair  laid 
before  them ;  and  will  find  that  it  is  not  chargeable 
with  that  total  absence  of  every  thing  worldly  which 
made  the  love-letters  of  John  Knox  so  unattractive. 
To  prevent  disappointment,  however,  I  must  state, 
that  Melville  was  not  the  lover;  he  was  only  his 
friend  and  counsellor.  James  Melville,  who  was  ten 
years  younger  than  his  uncle,  had  now  been  upwards 
of  two  years  a  widower.  During  his  residence  at  New- 
castle he  had  become  acquainted  with  a  young  woman, 

•  Melvini  Epiit.  p.  76—78. 


the  daughter  of  a  deceased  clergyman  in  Berwick  upon 
Tweed.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  the  accomplishments 
of  this  young  lady  had  made  a  conquest  of  his  heart, 
and  there  was  every  reason  to  think  that  he  would 
marry  her.  Some  of  his  friends  in  Scotland,  who  were 
of  opinion  that  it  was  imprudent  for  liim  to  marry  at 
all,  or  at  any  rate  to  marry  one  who  was  so  very  much 
younger  than  himself,  communicated  the  intelligence 
to  his  uncle,  who,  they  knew,  had  greater  influence 
with  him  than  any  other  individual.  Melville  was  of 
the  same  opinion  with  his  friends,  and  he  made  the 
transition  alluded  to,  that  he  might  draw  on  a  corres- 
pondence on  the  subject,  and  suggest  to  his  nephew 
the  impropriety  and  unseasonalileness  of  the  step 
which  he  was  meditating. 

He  had  scarcely  sent  off  his  letter,  when  he  received 
one  from  James  Melville,  in  which,  after  modestly  in- 
troducing the  affair  "  beneath  well-sounding  Greek," 
he  gave  him  a  description  of  the  object  of  his  attach- 
ment, who  had  every  recommendation  hut  a  fortune, 
stated  the  reasons  for  and  against  the  step  which  he 
proposed  to  take,  and  earnestly  begrged  his  uncle's  ad- 
vice. Melville  immediately  replied.  "  On  the  sub- 
ject of  matrimony  (says  he)  I  am  at  a  loss  what  to 
write ;  as  I  have  no  experience  of  that  happy  state. 
With  you  I  bow  with  reverence  to  the  declarations  in 
favour  of  it  which  you  quote  from  the  sacred  oracles, 
though  my  years  place  me  beyond  the  reach  of  their 
application.  You  state  the  arguments  on  both  sides 
with  great  accuracy ;  but  it  is  not  difficult  to  perceive 
to  what  side  you  incline.  You  entirely  pass  over  the 
widow,*  and  launch  out  in  praises  of  the  young  wo- 
man. This  gives  ground  for  susptniting  your  judg- 
ment, and  for  thinking  that  affection  and  not  reason  has 
the  dominion.  Love  has  got  admittance  and  keeps  the 
door  fast  bolted  on  reason.  Perhaps  this  is  cum  ratione 
insanire.  I  know  you  have  sharp  eyes,  but  in  this 
business  it  is  proper  to  make  use  of  the  ears  also." 
Having  suggested  some  considerations,  all  in  favour  of 
the  widow,  he  adds :  "  but  you  know  these  things  much 
better  than  I  do;  and  it  becomes  mc  to  remember  the 
adage  Tkcivka;  w  Afl»»ctc,  or  rather,  Sus  Mincrvam."  After 
some  ingenious  remarks  on  the  different  seasons  of 
human  life,  backed  with  the  authority  of  Solon,  Sen- 
eca, Varro,  and  Virgil,  he  concludes  :  "  Thus,  my  dear 
James,  do  I  address  you  with  the  same  freedom  which 
the  elder  Africanus  used  with  the  younger.  Act  a  part 
becoming  your  extraction,  your  judgment,  and  your 
prudence.  With  respect  to  what  I  hinted  about  the 
age  at  which  your  father  died,  may  heaven  avert  the 
omen  from  you,  and  turn  it  rather  on  your  friend.  'JTu 
vero  serus  in  caelum  redeas.  You  see  what  a  prolix  let- 
ter I  have  written  you,  and  without  a  spice  of  wit  in  it. 
Advise  well.  Time,  under  God,  will  direct  you.  The 
bearer  is  a-going,  and  yet  I  cannot  leave  off  prating  to 
you.  Love  is  fond  of  prating." — "  I  congratulate  my- 
self, (says  James  Melville  in  his  reply,)  that,  by  start- 
ing the  subject  of  marriage,  I  have  drawn  from  you 
three  golden  pages,  filled  with  proofs  of  the  greatest 
love  to  me  and  of  profound  learning  and  prudence. 
They  shall  lie  in  my  bosom,  in  place  of  a  wife,  during 
the  winter  months,  until  I  have  taken  that  time  for  deli- 
beration which  the  affair  and  my  circumstances  require. 
Nevertheless  I  am  resolved  to  end  my  days,  sooner  or 
later,  in  honourable  wedlock : 

Nubila  inr^ns  est, 
VIoclaque  frenis, 
Hsec  niii  regnct." 

Having  assigned  his  reasons  for  thinking  that  the 
widow  whom  his  friends  recommended  would  be  aa 
unsuitable  partner  for  him,  he  adds  :  "  I  have  not  for- 
gotten the  saying  of  an  ancient  sage, '  A  man  cannot 

•  The  lady  with  whom  James  Melville  lodged  at  Newcastle, 
and  whom  his  friends  thought  a  filter  match  for  him  than  the 
object  of  his  choice. 


JJI'E  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


337 


be  wise  and  in  love  at  the  same  time;'  and  I  recollect 
the  words  of  the  Italian  writer,  '  Senza  mojriie,  ben  che 
non  senza  donna,  avens^e  che  le  cose  che  superano 
le  force  nostre  sono  piu  in  desiderio  che  in  magisterio.' 
To  the  instance  of  my  father  you  might  have  added 
that  of  my  brotlier;  for  both  of  them  died  in  their 
fifty-third  year,  a  circumstance  which  occurred  to  my 
own  mind,  and  which  has  affected  me  not  a  little 
since  you  objected  it.  But  is  it  not  eligible  to  have  a 
faithful  and  affectionate  wife,  if  it  were  only  to  watch 
by  one's  death-bed  and  to  close  one's  eyes'?  and  is  it 
not  allowed  us  to  enjoy  the  comforts  of  life  while  we 
live?  I  thank  God  I  never  enjoyed  better  health. 
Perhaps  it  is  the  last  effort  of  nature,  as  in  the  case 
of  my  father.  Be  it  so :  I  will  rejoice  in  it  as  the  first 
step  of  my  entrance  into  true  life;  and  much  rather 
would  I  meet  a  premature  grave  than  suffer  the  grief 
which  I  would  feel  at  witnessing  your  death  or  the 
ruin  of  the  good  cause."  * 

His  uncle  was  still  afraid  that  the  step  was  an  im- 

f>rudent  one ;  and  therefore  resolved  to  use  stronger 
anguage  than  he  had  employed  in  his  former  letter, 
with  the  view  of  making  him  pause,  although  at  the 
risk  of  offending  him.  This  was  a  proof  of  the  truest 
friendship;  for  he  was  at  this  time  deeply  in  debt  to 
his  nephew,  and  had  the  prospect  of  yet  needing  to 
make  additional  dranghts  on  his  kindness  and  liberali- 
ty. Having  made  some  remarks  on  the  intelligence 
which  James  Melville  had  sent  him  as  to  the  stale  of 
church  matters  in  Scotland,  and  the  prospect  of  their 
speedily  coming  to  a  crisis,  he  t!ius  addresses  him  : 
"  Therefore  I  cannot  but  exhort  you  to  be  vigilant,  and 
prepared  with  renovated  vigour  to  fight  this  glorious 
battle,  for  which  you  have  been  restored  to  health  and 
reserved  to  this  day.  All  effeminacy  of  mind  must  be 
laid  aside ;  the  old  man  must  be  put  off;  and  we  must 
behave  ourselves  stoutly  and  resolutely,  lest  in  the 
last  scene  of  the  conflict  we  fail  through  error  or  fear, 
not  to  say  dotage,  to  which  every  slip  of  old  men  is 
commonly  imputed.  Your  son,  Andrew,  has,  I  hope, 
been  with  yon  for  several  weeks.  He,  with  John, 
Elizabeth,  and  Anne,  (whose  names  must  renew  the 
memory  of  your  dearest  wife,)  will  prevent  you  from 
being  fascinated  and  lulled  asleep  by  the  charms  of 
this  young  woman  so  distinguished  for  taciturnity  and 
prudence.  The  very  arguments  you  adduce  to  prove 
that  you  are  guided  in  this  affair  by  judgment  more 
than  affection,  hetray  affection  ;  not  to  recur  to  the  age 
which  proved  fatal  to  your  relations.    I  dare  not  say. 


Otium,  Melvine,  tilii  molestum  est: 
Otio  exultas  niiiiiumque  gesti«; 
Otium  Reges  simul  et  beatas 
Perdidit  urbes. 

But  what  shall  I  say  of  your  discourse  on  sepulchral 
wedlock,  and  so  forth  1  It  is  really  quite  extravagant, 
and  only  shows  how  much  you  are  carried  away  by 
your  affections.  The  plain  case  is  this:  You  are  the 
father  of  five  children,  four  of  whom  are  at  a  very  cri- 
tical age,  and  two  of  them  daughters,  well-born,  libe- 
rally educated,  and  approaching  to  maturity.  They 
need  your  paternal  solicitude  and  watchfulness.  Your 
brother's  children  are  dependent  on  you,  and  require 
much  of  your  attention.     And,  in  these  circumstances, 

you Conceive  that  you  hear  your  friend  Dykes, 

with  severe  brow  and  ardent  eyes*  with  an  impassion- 
ed but  affectionate  tone,  urging  these  and  similar  con- 
siderations upon  you.  I  merely  suggest  them,  and  am 
forced  to  break  off.  May  the  author  of  all  good  coun- 
sel give  you  direction.  Farewell,  and  live  in  the 
Lord,  my  dear  James,  by  far  the  best  beloved  of  all 
my  friends.  Take  time  to  deliberate.  Festina  lente." 

It  must  be  confessed  that  there  are  in  this  letter 
some  severe  things,  and  that  it  contains  insinuations 
which  the  conduct  of  James  Melville  had  not  merited, 


and  which  could  not  fail  to  hurt  his  feelings.  It  drew 
from  him  a  spirited  reply,  in  which  respect  for  his 
uncle,  and  a  conviction  of  his  friendly  intentions, 
though  they  restrained,  could  not  altogether  suppress 
the  irritation  which  he  felt.  "  It  would  seem  that  I 
have  used  too  great  freedom  in  writing  to  you  on  the 
subject  of  marriage.  To  what  but  this  can  I  trace 
your  unfavourable,  not  to  say  injurious,  suspicions  of 
me — that  I  have  fallen  into  dotage,  am  playing  the 
fool,  idling,  slumbering,  and  giving  myself  up  to^love. 
Good  words,  prithee !  I  am  constrained  to  answer, 
lest  forbearance  should  injure  my  reputation  and  the 
cause  for  which  I  appear.  In  answer  to  the  charge 
of  dotage,  I  might,  as  Sophocles  says,  repeat  such 
things  as  could  not  proceed  from  a  fool  or  a  dotard.  I 
am  not  conscious  that  I  have  turned  a  hair's-hreadth 
from  the  straight  course  which  I  have  been  all  along 
pursuing,  or  that  there  is  any  change  in  my  conduct, 
except  that,  as  I  draw  nearer  the  goal,  I  feci  my  mind, 
through  the  grace  of  Christ,  more  propense  to  piety 
and  holiness.  I  live  here  daily  under  the  eyes  of  very 
acute  censors,  and  yet  I  have  not  heard  that  I  have 
been  charged  with  any  thing  foolish  either  in  speech 
or  behaviour.  It  is  true  that  I  at  present  enjoy  greater 
ease  than  I  could  wish  ;  but  I  can  say  with  Virgil's 
shepherd, 

O  Meliboee,  Deus  nobis  haec  otia  fecit. 


«  Melvini  Epist.  p.  fil- 
2  S 


-90,  93—96. 


And  perhaps  I  was  never  less  idle  than  I  now  am ;  so 
that  I  could  give  such  an  account,  not  only  of  my  for- 
mer active  life,  but  also  of  my  present  repose,  as  a 
wise  and  good  man  ought  to  be  prepared   to  give.     I 
certainly  do  not  mean  to  deny  that  I  take  my  rest  in 
the  night,  and  enjoy  sound  sleep  ;  God  having  blessed 
me  with  health,  and  a  mind  free  from  corroding  solici- 
tude.    Nor  do  I  deny  that  I  am  in  love ;  but  it  is  legi- 
timate, holy,  chaste,  sober  love.     But  I  think  of  a  se- 
cond marriage  !  I  do  ;  and  I  wish  I  had  thought  of  it 
two  years   ago.     It  is  surely  very  unreasonable   that 
what  is  '  honourable  in  all'  should  be  turned  to  my 
disgrace.    Do  not,  my  chaste  father,  measure  all  others 
by  yourself,  who,  inflamed  with  the  sacred  love  of  the 
Muses,  and  reposing  in  the  embraces  of  Minerva,  look 
with  severe  indifference  on  conjugal  felicity,  and  have 
all  your  days  abstained  from  it  for  the  sake  of  purer 
and  more  refined  delights.     But  I  restrain  myself.     1 
do  not  pretend  that  I  am  not  under  the  influence  of  the 
affections,  for  how  then  could  I  be  in  love?     All  that 
T  profess  is  that  they  are  kept  under  the  restraints  of 
reason  and  religion. — Your  friend  Dykes  talks  scof- 
fingly  in  what  he  says  about  sepulchral  wedlock.     It 
is  a  crude  cavil,  and  savours  too  much  of  choler.     In- 
deed, I  can  perceive  nothing  of  any  weight  in  what 
you  adduce,  except  it  be  the  incongruity  of  an  old  man 
marrying  a  young  woman.     But  I  am  not  an  old  man, 
I  am  only  elderly.     She  indeed  is  in  the  flower  of  life, 
being  only  nineteen   years  of  age.     And  who  that  is 
wise  would  not  prefer  for  a  partner  one  who  is  sound 
in  mind  and   body,  modest,  yielding,  humble,  affec- 
tionate, open-hearted,  sweet-tempered,  and  thus  every 
way  qualified  for  rendering  life  agreeable  ?    A  widow, 
or  one  of  more  advanced  age,  who  possesses  thes<r 
properties,  is  rara  avis  in  terns.     At  least  I  can  meet 
with  none  such  here.     If  therefore  you  concede  to  nie 
the  liberty  of  taking  a  wife,  and  do  not  forbid  matrfmo- 
ny  entirely,  (w-hich  I  hope  you  will  not  do,)  you  must 
allow  me  to  choose  a  fit  partner  for  myself.     I  have 
many  reasons  for  not  taking  a  widow,  and   more  for 
taking  a  young  woman ;  nor  do  I  want  examples  of  the 
best  men  who  have  acted  as  I  mean  to  do ;  snch  aS 
Knox,  Craig,  Pont,  Dalgleish,  and  others  in  our  own 
church.     But,  that  you  may  know  how  differently  my 
real  friend   Dykes  *  thinks  from  your  fictitious  friend 

*  John  Dykes  was  James  Melville's   brotlier-Jn-Iaw,  as  well 
as  colleague.     He  tHarried  a  daug-hter  of  John  Dury.     (Testa- 
ment Testamentar  of  John  Dury,  in  Commissary  Rec.  of  Edin. 
2cl  July,  1600.     See  also  above,  p.  277.) 
32 


338 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


of  that  name,  I  beg  leave  to  inform  you  that  I  have 
just  received  a  letter  from  him,  in  which  he  congratu- 
lates me  on  my  attachment  to  an  excellent  young 
woman  who  entertains  for  me  a  reciprocal  affection, 
will  take  care  of  me  in  my  declining  years,  and  be  a 
solace  to  me  during  my  exile.  I  have  only  to  request 
of  you,  my  loving  father,  that  you  will  form  an  equally 
favourable  opinion  of  my  intentions,  or  that  at  least 
you  will  pardon  in  me  what  you  may  not  be  able  en- 
tirely to  approve."  * 

This  letter  convinced  Melville  that  his  nephew's  re- 
solution was  fixed,  and  that  he  had  proceeded  too  far 
in  opposing  his  inclinations.  He  therefore  yielded 
with  as  good  a  grace  as  possible.  "  Our  friend  Bam- 
ford"  has  delivered  me  your  very  serious  and  long,  but 
not  prolix,  letter.  The  longer  the  more  agreeable ; 
although  it  contained  some  things  which  I  could  not 
read  without  tears. — Your  apology,  like  the  garden 
of  Adonis,  planted  with  the  most  delicious  flowers, 
and  adorned  with  bovver-work,  exhales  nothing  but 
pure  and  sacred  loves,  which,  although  of  the  most 
delicate  kind,  might  captivate  Minerva  instead  of 
Venus : 

Illam  dulcis  amor  tinctis  in  Nectare  tetit 
Imbuit:  6que  suis  proprias  attexujt  alas^ 
Inque  meas  quibus  acta  loanus  perque  ora  volaret. 

It  has  penetrated  my  heart,  not  to  say  wounded  it ; 
and  almost  made  me  sigh  after  such  happiness.  But, 
alzis !  it  is  too  late  at  my  advanced  age.  What  re- 
mains, therefore,  but  that  I  congratulate  you,  and  en- 
courage you  to  go  on  in  your  virtuous  course  ?  You 
do  injustice  to  my  Dykes  and  me  when  you  accuse  us 
of  bantering;  a  fault  which  is  not  more  foreign  to  his 
disposition  than  it  was  to  the  design  of  my  letter.  What, 
my  son  !  would  1  mock  you  on  so  serious  and  sacred  a 
subject]  Far  be  this  from  one  who  strives  against 
every  thing  that  is  unaraiahle  about  him,  or  which 
merits  the  dislike  of  good  men.  May  your  love  suc- 
ceed and  be  crowned  with  the  most  fortunate  and 
auspicious  issue  to  you  and  yours !  If  I  seemed  to 
oppose  it,  impute  this  to  yourself  and  your  urgent  re- 
quest for  my  opinion.  Nor  could  I  prevail  on  myself 
to  conceal  from  you  what  I  heard  from  others  or  sus- 
pected they  would  say,  that  I  might  excite  you  to  look 
narrowly  to  yourself  and  your  affairs  at  this  crisis.  I 
now  congratulate  and  give  joy  to  Melissa  as  the  succes- 
sor of  Eliza.  It  is  my  prayer  that  she  may  spend  many 
happy  years  in  your  company,  and,  what  is  more,  that 
she  may  make  you  the  father  of  a  fair  offspring."  | 

The  marriage  took  place  accordingly,  and  appears 
to  have  been  attended  with  happy  effects.  Melville 
never  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  his  fair  young  niece, 
but  he  sent  his  affectionate  salutations  to  "  the  honied 
Melissa"  in  every  letter  which  he  wrote  to  his  nephew, 
who  took  particular  pleasure  in  acknowledging  the 
compliment.  Whatever  may  be  thought  as  t^the  pru- 
dence of  his  second  marriage,  it  isbut  justice  to  James 
Melville  to  say,  that  it  had  no  influence  in  enervating 
his  mind,  or  in  making  him  indifferent  or  remiss  in  his 
exertions  in  behalf  of  the  caitee  for  which  he  was  a 
sufferer.  He  rejected  the  oflfer  of  a  bishopric,  which 
Sir  John  Anstruther  made  hrm  in  the  name  of  the 
King;  he  refused  to  purchase  his  liberty  by  accedino- 
to  conditions  inconsistent  with  his  principles;*  he  con- 
tinued to  counsel  and  encourage  his  brethren  in  Scot- 
land by  his  letters;  and  he  drew  up  several  writings, 
historical  and  apologetical,  relating  to  the  church  "of 
Scotland,  which  he  only  waited  the  consent  of  his 
brethren  and  a  fit  opportunity  to  publish  to  the  world. 
In  this  last  respect  he  had  some  ground  for  retaliating 
on  his  uncle,  whom  he  urged  to  perform  his  promises, 
by  putting  the  finishing  hand  as  speedily  as  possible 
to  his  work  on  the  episcopal  controversy.     This  work. 


»  Mclvini  Epistola;,  p.  114—116, 126—133 
+  Ibid.  p.  134,  141.  142,143. 
\  Cald.  vii.  72,  208. 


though  not  laid  aside,  proceeded  slowly,  and  was  often 
interrupted  by  studies  more  congenial  to  the  taste  and 
dispositions  of  the  author.  To  tlie  friendly  remon- 
strances of  his  nephew,  Melville  replied:  "By  the 
paraphrases  of  which  I  send  you  a  specimen,  I  sustain 
the  imbecility  of  my  spirit,  which  hitherto  has  not 
been  left  destitute  of  Christian  confidence,  or  of  any 
kind  of  consolation,  by  him  who  in  his  mercy  has  hon- 
oured m«  to  favour  his  cause,  if  not  by  actual  services, 
at  least  by  sincere,  though  many  ways  imperfect,  pur- 
poses and  endeavours.  It  grieves  me  that  I  cannot  be 
present  to  assist  its  defenders,  and  that  I  can  do  so  lit- 
tle for  it  in  my  absence.  But  why  do  I  say,  it  grieves 
me  1  No  ;  I  do  not  grieve,  though  I  once  grieved  that 
I  had  been  so  unprofitable  to  the  church  of  Christ. 
Without  my  assistance  the  supreme  Judge  hath  plead- 
ed his  own  cause,  and  he  will  still  plead  it.* — In  re- 
minding me  of  my  promise,  j'ou  act  a  friendly  and  a 
prudent  part,  knowing,  as  you  do,  my  habitual  indo- 
lence and  supineness.  Yet  I  can  redeem  my  pledge 
with  no  great  expense  or  labour.  The  controversial- 
ists to  whom  you  refer,  torture  the  passages  of  scrip- 
ture which  they  allege  for  pseudo-episcopacy ;  and 
their  arguments  have  been  already  refuted  by  others. 
Nor  do  they  place  their  chief  confidence  in  argument, 
but  in  the  mask  of  antiquity,  and  the  pretext  of  royal 
authority,  which  they  boastingly  represent  as  absolute 
and  omnipotent.  They  dare  not  come  out  into  the 
open  field,  nor  will  they  commit  themselves  in  any 
contest  which  is  not  to  be  finally  decided  by  the  arbi- 
trary will  of  an  individual.  By  means  of  injunctions, 
proclamations,  edicts,  and  pretended  judicial  processes, 
they  break  through  every  barrier,  and  pervert  all  laws, 
human  and  divine.  Keep  yourself  easy  on  the  head 
of  my  '  thrasonic  boasting;'  for  I  measure  the  cause 
by  the  force  of  truth  and  not  my  own  abilities,  and 
look  for  victory  over  the  prostrate  audacity  of  our  ad- 
versaries through  the  divine  blessing.  In  so  good  a 
cause  I  do  not  despair  of  being  able  at  least  to  answer 
when  challenged;  but  instead  of  arrogating  any  thing 
to  myself,  I  am  disposed  to  place  great  confidence  in 
my  brethren,  whose  diligence  in  preparing  for  the 
combat  I  cannot  but  highly  applaud."| 

It  ia  proper  now  to  turn  to  Scotland,  and  take  a  view 
of  those  ecclesiastical  transactions  in  which  Melville 
felt  so  deep  an  interest.  The  same  arts  of  court  pol- 
icy which  had  been  put  in  practice  for  a  number  of 
years  continued  to  be  employed  for  the  overthrow  of 
Presbytery.  And  as  its  ablest  and  most  resolute  de- 
fenders were  either  exiled  or  imprisoned,  these  arts 
were  but  too  successful.  The  bishops  were  conscious 
that  there  were  still  great  difliculties  in  the  way  of 
their  accomplishing  their  object.  While  they  were  at 
work  in  removing  these,  they  contrived  to  lay  asleep 
the  jealousy  of  their  opponents,  and  to  bind  up  their 
hands,  by  engaging  them  in  a  treaty  for  peace  and  ac- 
commodation. At  a  eonference  held  at  Falkland  in 
June,  1G08,  and  at  a  packed  General  Assembly  con- 
vened at  Linlithgow  in  the  subsequent  month,  both 
parties,  with  professions  of  mutual  regard,  agreed  to 
leave  the  matters  in  dispute  to  be  settled  by  a  certain 
number  of  individuals,  and  promised  upon  oath  to  ab- 
stain in  the  mean  time  from  agitating  them,  or  saying 
any  thing  in  private  or  public  which  might  tend  to 
keep  alive  the  dissension.:^  At  a  meeting  held  in 
May,  160y,  they  renewed  this  engagement,  and  joined 
in  a  common  address  to  the  King,  in  which  they  gave 
him  thanks  for  his  exertions  to  settle  the  peace  of  the 
church. II  When  a  scheme  is  on  foot  for  overturning 
the  constitutional  liberties  of  a  society,  all  such  en- 
gagements to  silence  and  the  maintenance  of  peace  are 
ensnaring  and  dangerous.     In  the  present  instance,  the 


»  Melvini  Epi«tola»,  p.  107,  108.  +  Ibid.  p.  134,135. 

t  Cald.  vii.  146,  195—201.     Scot's  Apolor.  Narmt.  p.  211— 
217.     Mflville'*  Hist,  of  Deri.  Age,  p.  22.i,  240—243. 

jl  Cald.  vii.  237-310.     Scot.  p.  222—227.     Melville,  p.  252 


UFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


839 


engagement  was  a  Tirtual  retractation  of  the  opposition 
hitherto  managed  against  episcopacy.  It  implied  an 
acknowledgment  on  the  part  of  the  Presbyterians,  that 
the  point  in  dispute  was  indifferent,  and  consequently 
might  be  yielded  out  of  regard  to  peace,  and  in  obedi- 
ence to  the  royal  authority.  It  shut  the  mouths  of  such 
as  feared  an  oath,  and  exposed  them  to  censure  as  vio- 
lators of  their  promise  if  they  resisted  any  step  which 
their  opponents  might  take ;  while  it  imposed  no  re- 
straint on  those  who  bad  the  power  in  their  hands,  and 
had  shown  by  their  former  conduct  that  they  could 
trample  on  the  most  sacred  engagements.* 

It  was  during  this  deceitful  truce,  accordingly,  that 
the  ecclesiastical  leaders  took  a  step  which  they  had 
hitherto  carefully  avoided.  They  had  all  along  denied 
that  there  was  any  intention  of  moulding  the  govern- 
ment of  the  church  after  the  English  form,  and  had 
vindicated  the  changes  which  had  been  successively 
introduced  on  the  ground  of  their  being  necessary  for 
recovering  the  ecclesiastical  property,  or  to  give  satis- 
faction to  the  King.  But  they  now  awowed  a  change 
of  sentiment.  A  new  light,  they  alleged,  had  sprung 
up  in  their  minds  during  their  late  studies  ;  they  were 
convinced  that  episcopacy  was  more  agreeable  to 
Scripture  than  that  form  of  government  which  had  been 
established  in  Scotland  ;  and  they  were  willing  to  im- 
part the  reasons  which  had  convinced  them  to  their 
brethren  who  were  of  a  different  mind.  With  this 
view  they  proposed  that  the  question  should  be  sub- 
mitted to  a  formal  dispute.  Considering  what  the 
conduct  of  the  bishops  had  been  for  a  course  of  years, 
their  professions  of  sudden  conversion  were  more  than 
suspicious,  and  it  was  not  difficult  to  trace  their  "  new 
light"  to  its  genutfle  source. f  However,  three  of 
the  ministers  of  Fife, — Scot,  Dykes,  and  Carmichael, 
accepted  their  challenge,  and  prepared  for  the  contest. 
But  it  was  enough  for  the  patrons  of  episcopacy  to 
have  called  in  question  the  received  discipline,  and 
they  found  excuses  for  putting  off  the  discussion  which 
they  had  provoked.  To  assist  them  in  the  dispute,  or 
rather  to  deter  their  opponents  from  agreeing  to  it,  Dr. 
Abbot  and  two  other  learned  divines  were  sent  down 
from  England.  Without  wishing  to  derogate  from 
the  talents  of  the  English  missionaries,  we  cannot 
help  saying  that  they  gave  but  slender  proofs  of  their 
prowess  on  this  occasion.  Had  they  come  to  Scot- 
land four  years  earlier,  when  the  ablest  defenders  of 
presbytery  were  in  the  country  and  at  liberty,  they 
would  have  had  an  opportunity  of  signalizioig  them- 
selves honourably  as  the  champions  of  the  hierarchy ; 
and,  notwithstanding  the  royal  insinuation  at  the 
Hampton-Court  conference,  we  will  venture  to  say  that 
they  would  have  run  no  risk  of  having  their  doctoral 
habiliments  torn,  although  the  sleeves  of  their  cas- 
socks might  perhaps  have  been  a  little  disordered  by 
the  rude  fervour  of  Scottish  eloquence.  But  their 
coming  at  the  present  time  and  traversing  the  country 
in  state,  bore  too  strong  a  resemblance  to  the  conduct 
of  a  bravo,  who  proudly  walks  the  stage,  when  he 
knows  that  his  antagonists  have  been  seized  by  the 
officers  of  justice  or  bound  over  to  keep  the  peace. 


»  In  a  letter  to  the  King,  dated  Linlithgow,  July  laat,  1608, 
the  bishops  say,  "So  now,  Sir,  as  we  hope  for  an  end  of  all  our 
contentions,  and  a  prevailing  in  your  Majesty's  service,"  &c. 
(MS.  in  Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.  M.  6.  9.  num.  61.) 

+  When  Cowper  was  made  Bishop  of  Galloway,  an  old  wo- 
man who  had  been  one  of  his  parishioners  at  Perth,  and  a  fa- 
vourite, could  not  be  persuaded  that  her  minister  had  deserted 
the  presbyterian  cause.  Resolved  to  satisfy  herself,  she  paid 
him  a  visit  in  the  Canong^te,  where  he  had  his  residence  as 
Dean  of  the  Chapel  Royal.  The  retinue  of  servants  through 
which  she  passed  staggered  the  good  woman's  confidence;  and 
on  being  ushered  into  the  room  where  the  bishop  sat  in  state, 
she  exclaimed,  "  Oh,  Sir  !  what's  this  ?  And  ye  hae  really 
left  the  guid  cause,  and  turned  prelate  !" — "Janet,  (said  the 
bishop)  I  have  got  new  light  upon  these  things." — "So  I  see. 
Sir  (replied  Janet;)  for  when  ye  was  at  Perth,  ye  had  but  ae 
candle,  and  now  ye've  got  twa  before  ye:  that's  a'  your  neu) 
light.'' 


The  English  doctors  were  content  with  insinuating 
themselves  into  the  good  opinion  of  the  ministers  in 
private,  and  pronouncing  eulogiums  on  their  church- 
polity  from  the  principal  pulpits  in  the  kingdom.  Dr. 
Abbot  preached  before  the  General  Assembly  at  Lin- 
lithgow, and  had  public  thanks  given  him  for  his  "ex- 
cellent sermon."*  Such  commendations  were  then 
less  complimentary  than  they  have  become  in  the  pre- 
sent charitable  age,  and  I  doubt  not  that  the  sermon 
was  excellent.  Indeed,  a  more  prudent  choice  of  a 
missionary  could  net  have  been  made.  The  amiable 
manners,  moderation,  and  zeal  for  the  reformed  reli- 
gion, by  which  Abbot  was  distinguished,  could  not 
fail  to  have  a  prepossessing  influence  in  favour  of  his 
opinions.  But  if  his  mission  contributed  to  the  over- 
throw of  the  presbyterian  church  of  Scotland,  she,  in 
her  fail,  took  a  severe  revenge  on  her  rival.  In  reward 
of  his  services  on  this  occasion,  Abbot  was  advanced 
to  the  archbishopric  of  Canterbury  ;|  and  we  are  as- 
sured, by  those  who  should  know  the  fact,  that  his 
serai-puritanical  principles  and  moderate  administra- 
tion were  a  principal  cause  of  the  subsequent  ruin  of 
the  hierarchy,  and  triumph  of  presbytery,  in  England.^: 
From  the  accounts  of  the  friendly  treaty  which  were 
brought  him  in  the  Tower,  Melville  was  at  first  in- 
clined to  form  a  favourable  opinion  of  that  measure. 
But  his  nephew,  whose  proximity  to  the  scene  of  ac- 
tion gave  him  a  bettor  opportunity  of  being  acquainted 
with  the  exact  state  of  matters,  and  the  real  intentions 
of  the  ruling  party,  disapproved  of  it  from  the  begin- 
ning, and  had  warned  his  brethren  against  agreeing  to 
it.||  *'  I  am  afraid  (says  he,  in  a  letter  to  his  uncle) 
that  your  solution  of  my  scruples  is  not  satisfactory. 
These  twenty  individuals  (who  met  at  Falkland)  were 
chosen  by  the  General  Assembly  to  determine  all  mat- 
ters that  were  in  controversy.  They  have  decided 
that  the  truce,  and  the  address  approving  of  the  royal 
measures,  shall  be  published  in  all  the  churches  of  the 
kingdom,  and  that  none  shall  speak  against  them. 
And  they  have  promised  to  use  their  influence  to  in- 
duce their  brethren  to  acquiesce  in  this  decision.  The 
bishops  boast  to  his  Majesty  of  their  success,  and  ap- 
peal to  the  letter  subscribed  by  all  the  delegates.  It 
is  true  that  our  excellent  brethren  who  have  been  pla- 
ced in  the  front  of  the  battle  were  far  from  intending 
this,  and  are  now  grieved  at  the  advantage  which  has 
been  taken  of  them.  But  through  their  over-confi- 
dence, the  whole  discipline  has  been  called  in  ques- 
tion. It  has  been  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that  I 
have  been  able  for  some  time  back  to  restrain  Car- 
michael, Dykes,  and  certain  others  from  disputation  ; 
so  secure  were  these  young  men  in  the  strength  of  the 
cause  (which  no  doubt  is  commendable)  and  in  their 
own  abilities.  But  who  does  not  perceive  the  danger 
of  disputing  before  such  a  judge  1  for  the  king  will  be 
the  judge.  Therefore  I  dread  the  worst — not  only  the 
overthrow  of  the  discipline,  but  also  the  thraldom  of 
conscience  under  the  mask  of  forbearance,  toleratitxn, 
and  bonds  of  peace.  For  what  will  not  episcopal 
men,  popish  or  protestant,  presume  to  do  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  their  schemes?  while  those  of  the  purer 
sort  will  not  dare  even  to  mutter.  N.§  has  long  ago 
finished  a  large  answer  to  Barlow  ;  but  unless  he  can 
secure  a  maintenance  for  his  family  in  exile  he  is  un- 
willing to  publish  it,  and  I  cannot  urge  him.  I  also 
have  many  things  in  my  Adversaria,  but  they  are  as  a 
sword  in  its  scabbard.  In  the  mean  time  the  Greeks 
are  masters  of  the  city,  which,  if  not  in  flames,  is  de- 
serted by  its  defenders."1[  Melville  could  not  deny 
the  force  of  these  reasons,  but  still  he  was  disposed  to 

*  MS.  in  Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.  M.  6.  9.  num.  61. 
f  Birch's  Hist.  View  of  Negociations,  p.  338. 
i  Hevlio's  Hist,  of  the  Presbyterians,  p.  383.     (Jlarendon's 
Hi.st.  vo'l.  i.  p.  88,  89.     1707.  8vo. 

II  Cald.  vii.  126,  202,  289.     Melville's  Decl.  Age,  p.  216. 
6  Probably  Mr.  John  Carmichael,  minister  of  Ely 
T  Melvini  Epistote,  p.  123—125, 


340 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


put  a  more  favourable  construction  on  the  conduct  of 
his  brethren.  "  If  they  have  erred  (says  he  in  his  re- 
ply) I  am  of  opinion  that  they  have  erred  more  through 
fear  than  self-confidence.  If  they  have  been  guilty  of 
any  oversight,  it  has  proceeded  from  dejection  rather 
than  elation  of  mind.  Nor  need  we  wonder  at  this, 
when  we  read  what  his  Majesty  has  lately  published, 
in  his  contest  with  Bellarmine,  the  crimes  which  he 
imputed  to  the  puritans,  and  the  violent  hostility  which 
he  shews  to  the  whole  of  that  party.  These  declara- 
tions might  make  our  brethren  dread  the  worst,  and 
induce  them  to  ratify  the  bond  of  peace."* 

Tiiis  was  one  of  the  amiable  traits  in  Melville's 
character.  He  was  himself  a  stranger  to  fear;  and  no 
man  was  less  disposed  to  make  concessions  hurtful  to 
truth,  or  to  give  way,  even  for  an  hour,  to  the  insidi- 
ous proposals  of  its  adversaries.  Yet  no  man  was 
more  ready  than  he  to  make  allowances  for  those  who 
failed  through  defect  of  courage  or  of  firmness ;  and 
provided  he  was  satisfied  of  their  integrity  and  good 
intentions,  he  censured  their  faults  with  the  utmost  re- 
luctance and  tenderness.  He  was  even  averse  to  form 
a  harsh  judgment  of  the  motives  of  those  individuals 
whose  conduct  he  most  decidedly  condemned.  "  Not- 
withstanding the  stormy  season,  (says  he,  in  a  letter  to 
a  friend  in  Scotland,)  I  have  felt  nothing  hitherto  but 
fair  and  pleasant  weather,  keepinsf  both  sou!  and  body 
in  a  cheerful  disposition.  Such  is  the  bountiful  grace 
of  our  merciful  heavenly  Father  toward  me  in  this  vale 
of  misery  and  shadow  of  death.  So  that  nothing  has 
come  against  my  heart  to  trouble  me,  but  the  affliction 
of  my  brethren,  and  the  bearing  down  of  the  cause  by 
the  ignorance  of  some  and  the  craft  of  others,  for  char- 
ity will  not  suflTer  me  to  suspect  malice  in  any."f- 

James  Melville's  predictions  were  soon  verified. 
During  the  time  agreed  on  for  a  cessation  of  hostili- 
ties, the  bishops  were  busily  employed  in  strengthen- 
ing their  influence,  and  in  ripening  their  plans  for  exe- 
cution. At  the  parliament  held  in  1609,  not  one  of  the 
ministers  was  present  to  oppose  any  measures  hostile 
to  the  church  which  might  be  proposed.  The  Com- 
missary-courts were  suppressed ;  and  the  power  of 
judging  in  matrimonial  and  testamentary  causes,  and 
in  all  others  of  a  mixed  kind,  was  transferred  to  the 
bishops  in  their  several  dioceses.:):  Large  sums  of 
money  were  expended  by  the  King  in  buying  back  the 
alienated  episcopal  lands  and  revenues,  that  the  bish- 
ops might  live  in  a  style  suitable  to  their  rank.||  Arch- 
bishop* Spotswood  was  made  an  Extraordinary  Lord 
of  Session,  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  restoration  of  the 
episcopal  order  to  the  place  which  they  had  formerly 
held  in  that  court.§  But  nothing  contributed  more  to 
the  advancement  of  their  designs  than  the  power  which 
they  received  from  the  court  to  modify  or  fix  the  sti- 
pends of  the  ministers.  "  By  augmentation  they  al- 
lured, by  diminution  they  weakened,  a  number  of  the 
ministry ;  and  that  so  covertly,  that  one  cause  was 
pretended  publicly  and  another  alleged  in  secret."^ — 
"The  bishops  sit  at  the  helm  (says  James  Melville, 
in  a  letter  to  his  uncle  ;)  the  rest  of  the  commissioners 

»  Melvini  Epistolae,  p.  134.  f  <^ald.  vii.  210. 

t  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  iv.  430,  431.  The  bishops,  in  a  Memorial 
to  hit  Majesty,  had  requested  his  interposition  to  procure  this 
power  for  them,  (Scot's  Apolog.  Narrat.  p.  221.  Printed 
Cald.  p.  602.) 

II  James  Melville  says  that  this  cost  the  King  "  above  300.- 
000  lib.  Sterling."  (Hist,  of  the  Decl.  Age  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland,  p.  265,     Sinisoni  Annales,  p.  124.) 

{  This  was  one  of  the  requests  in  the  Memorial  referred  to 
in  the  last  note  but  one.  In  a  letter,  dated  Feb.  18,  1610, 
Gladstanes  says:  "Your  Majesty  may  look  for  uniform  and 
constant  service  from  all  my  brethren,  the  prelates,  whom  also 
your  Majesty  will  please  to  encourage,— jwirtly  when  places  in 
the  Session  shall  vaik  by  pronioting  some  moe  to  tne  same, 
whilk  will  both  repair  the  decay  of  our  living*  and  patrimony, 
and  procure  the  ocpendance  of"  the  rest  of  the  ministry,  who 
have  their  fortunes  and  estates  subject  to  the  pleasure  of  that 
judicatory."     (MS.  in  Bibl.  Jurid.  Kdin.  M.  6.  9.  num.  68  ) 

%  Printed  Cald.  p.  571,  578. 


being  either  removed  by  them,  or  withdrawing  of  their 
own  accord.  The  bishop  of  St.  Andrews  keeps  a 
splendid  establishment  at  Edinburgh,  consisting  of  his 
wife,  children,  and  a  great  retinue  of  servants;  and  os- 
tentatiously displays  his  silken  robes  every  Sabbath  in 
Bruce's  pulpit  before  the  magistrates  and  nobility. 
Crowds  of  poor  ministers,  mean  souls,  besiege  his 
door,  press  round  him  when  he  comes  abroad,  and  for 
the  sake  of  their  stipends  (the  modifying  of  which  is 
entirely  in  his  power)  do  every  thing  but  adore  him. 
What  say  you  to  this  ?"*  At  last,  the  power  of  the 
bishops  was  carried  to  the  highest  pitch  to  which  the 
King  could  raise  it,  by  the  introduction  of  the  Eng- 
lish Inquisition — the  court  of  High  Commission.  This 
detestable  court,  whose  procedure  was  regulated  by  no 
fixed  laws  or  forms  of  justice,  was  armed  with  the 
united  terrors  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical  despotism.  It 
had  the  power  of  receiving  appeals  from  any  ecclesi- 
astical judicatory,  of  calling  before  it  all  persons  ac- 
cused of  error  or  immorality,  and  all  preachers  and 
teachers  in  schools  or  colleges,  charged  with  speeches 
which  were  impertinent,  contrary  to  the  establishted 
order  of  the  church,  or  favourable  to  those  who  had 
been  confined  or  banished  for  ecclesiastical  oflfences ; 
and,  on  finding  them  guilty,  it  was  empowered  to  de- 
pose and  excommunicate,  to  fine  and  imprison  them. 
The  presence  of  an  archbishop  was  necessary  to  the 
validity  of  all  its  meetings,  and  it  was  easy  for  him  to 
summon  such  of  his  colleagues  as  he  knew  to  be  devo- 
ted to  his  will ;  so  that  it  was  to  all  intents  and  purpo- 
ses an  episcopal  court.  "  As  it  exalted  the  bishops 
far  above  any  prelate  that  ever  was  in  Scotland,  so  it 
put  the  King  in  possession  of  that  which  long  time  he 
had  desired  and  hunted  for,  to  wit,  the  royal  preroga- 
tive and  absolute  power  to  use  the  bodies  and  goods 
of  his  subjects  at  his  pleasure,  without  form  or  pro- 
cess of  the  common  law  :  so  that  our  bishops  were  fit 
instruments  of  the  overthrow  of  the  freedom  and  lib- 
erty both  of  the  church  and  realm  of  Scotland."! 

Being  thus  Lords  of  parliament,  privy  council,  ses- 
sion, exchequer,  and  regality.  Modifiers  of  stipends, 
Constant  Moderators  and  Visitors  of  presbyteries,  and 
Royal  High  Commissioners,  the  bishops  thought  they 
might  now  safely  submit  the  question  of  episcopacy  to 
the  determination  of  a  General  Assembly.  Accord- 
ingly, a  meeting  of  that  judicatory  was,  at  their  re- 
quest, appointed  to  be  held  at  Glasgow  in  the  month 
of  June,  1610;  royal  missives  were  sent  to  the  presby- 
teries, nominating  the  individuals  whom  they  should 
choose  as  their  representatives  to  it ;  and  the  Earl  of 
Dunbar  came  down  from  London  as  King's  Commis- 
sioner, to  be  present  at  its  deliberations,  and  to  pro- 
vide that  every  thing  should  be  done  according  to  the 
royal  will  and  pleasure.:}: 

In  his  letter  to  the  Assembly,  his  Majesty  told  the 
members,  that  he  had  expected,  that,  weary  of  the 
anarchy  which  reigned  among  them,  they  would  have 
solicited  him  before  that  time  to  restore  the  primitive 
government  of  the  church  ;  but  since  they  had  failed 
in  doing  this,  either  through  the  culpable  backward- 
ness of  the  bishops,  or  the  factious  singularity  of  the 
meaner  sort  of  ministers,  he  had  been  obliged  to  take 
up  the  affair  himself.  He  had  called  them  together, 
he  said,  to  testify  his  affection  to  the  church,  and  "  not 
because  their  consent  was  very  necessary,  for  "  it  was 
very  lawful  and  granted  to  him  by  God  "  to  have  done 
the  work  "  absolutely  out  of  his  own  royal  power  and 


*  Melvini  Epistolae,  p.  125. 

+  Melville's  Hist,  of  the  Decl.  Age,  p.  270—276. 

J  In  a  common  letter  sent  by  the  bishops  to  his  Matesty,  re- 
questing him  to  call  this  Assembly,  they  say:  "  We  shall  take, 
by  God's  help,  the  most  safe  and  sure  way:  and  what  we  under- 
take, we  shall  be  answerable  to  your  Majesty  for  performance. 
IVe  have  all  our  miniaUrs,  even  such  as  were  most  refractory, 
at  the  point  of  toleration.  They  will  suffer  things  to  proceed 
and  be  quiet,  because  they  cannot  longer  strive."  (MS.  in 
Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.  M.  6.  9.  num  66.) 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


941 


authority ;"  and  they  would  learn,  from  the  Earl  of 
Dunbar  and  the  Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews,  to  whom 
he  had  imparted  his  mind,  what  those  alterations  were 
which  he  was  determined  to  make  whether  they  con- 
sented to  them  or  not.  The  Assembly  was  not  of  a 
temper  either  to  resent  or  resist  these  magisterial  and 
haughty  orders.  A  committee  was  appointed  to  draw 
up  such  resolutions  as  would  prove  satisfactory  to  his 
Majesty,  or  rather  to  receive  what  had  already  been 
agreed  upon  between  him  and  the  bishops ;  and  their 
report  was  immediately  adopted  and  approved.  Tiie 
General  Assembly  held  at  Aberdeen  in  the  year  1605 
was  condemned,  and  the  right  of  calling  and  dismiss- 
ing Assemblies  was  declared  to  be  a  branch  of  the 
royal  prerogative.  The  bishops  were  declared  mode- 
rators of  Diocesan  Synods ;  all  presentations  to  bene- 
fices were  appointed  to  be  directed  to  them,  in  place 
of  presbyteries ;  and  the  power  of  excommunicating 
and  absolving  offenders,  of  ordaining  and  deposing 
ministers,  and  of  visiting  all  the  churclies  within  their 
respective  dioceses,  was  conferred  on  them.  In  ordi- 
nation and  deposition,  the  bishop  was  to  be  assisted 
by  the  "  ministers  of  the  bounds"  (for  the  name  of  a 
presbytery  was  insufferable  in  the  royal  ears ;)  and  if 
found  culpable  he  might  be  removed  by  the  General 
Assembly,  "  with  his  Majesty's  advice  and  consent."  * 
But  these  limitations  of  the  episcopal  power  were 
merely  a  blind  thrown  over  the  eyes  of  the  simple; 
and  accordingly  they  were  excluded  from  the  subse- 
quent ratification  of  the  acts  of  the  Assembly  by  Par- 
liament.! There  were  only  five  votes  against  the  re- 
solutions. Primrose,  and  some  other  ministers  in 
Ayrshire,  intended  to  protest  against  the  whole  pro- 
ceedings, but  means  were  found  to  prevent  them  from 
carrying  their  purpose  into  execution. 

Constituted  as  this  Assembly  was,  it  is  altogether 
unnecessary  to  enter  into  any  particular  account  of  the 
way  in  which  it  was  managed.  It  had  no  pretension 
to  be  regarded  as  a  regular  meeting  of  the  supreme 
judicatory  of  the  church  of  Scotland  ;  it  had  not  the 
semblance  of  that  freedom  which  belongs  to  a  lawful 
assembly;  and  as  it  would  have  been  less  insulting 
to  the  nation,  so  it  would  have  been  equally  good 
in  point  of  authority,  if  the  matters  enacted  by  it  had 
been  at  once  proclaimed  by  heralds  at  the  market- 
cross,  as  edicts  emanating  from  the  royal  will.  One 
fact  only  shall  be  stated.  The  Commissioner  pro- 
duced a  proclamation,  which  he  said  he  was  ap- 
pointed to  make,  abolishing  presbyteries,  and  prohi- 
biting them  to  meet  for  the  future.  While  alarm  and 
grief  at  this  intimation  sat  on  the  countenances  of 
the  members,  some  of  the  nobility,  who  were  in- 
structed to  act  their  part  in  the  farce,  rose  and  entreat- 
ed the  commissioner  to  keep  back  the  proclamation 
until  the  King  should  be  inforiued  of  their  present 
proceedino-s  ;  upon  which  his  lordship,  with  affected 
condescension,  acceded  to  their  proposal,  and  promised 
to  join  with  them  in  soliciting  his  Majesty  to  rest 
satisfied  with  what  the  Assembly  had  done,  and  to 
permit  the  presbyteries  to  continue.  This  transaction 
deterred  any  from  appearing  as  protesters,  and  it  was 
industriously  circulated  through  the  country,  to  induce 
ministers  and  people  to  submit  to  the  obnoxious  deci- 
sions.    Bribery,  as  well  as  artifice,  was  practised  on 


*  In  a  letter  vviitttn  to  his  Majest)-,  Marrh  14,  1610,  Spots- 
wood  says;  "  Tfiey  have  at  this  tune  a  strong  apprehension  of 
the  dischai'g-e  of  presbvteries  ;  and,  for  the  standing;  thereof  in 
nny  tolerable  sort,  will  refuse  no  conditions:  so  it  were  good  to 
use  the  opportunity,  and  cut  them  short  of  their  poiver,  and 
leave  them  a  bare  name,  whichjhr  the  present  inay  please,  but 
in  a  little  time  shall  vanish."  (MS.  in  Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.  Jac. 
V.  1.  12.  num.44.) 

f  In  the  preamble  of  the  act  of  parliament,  the  conclusions 
of  the  General  Assembly  are  thus  introduced:  "In  manner, 
substance,  and  effect  following;  with  the  explanation  maid  be 
the  estaitis  of  parliament  presentlie  convenit  of  some  of  these 
articles  resolued  vpoun  in  foirsaid  asseniblie  of  Glasgow." 
(Act.  Pari.  Scot.  iv.  469.) 


the  members  of  this  assembly,  which  obtained  the 
name  of  the  angelical  assembly,  in  allusion  to  the 
name  of  the  coins  distributed  on  the  occasion.*  Those 
who  voted  with  the  court  endeavoured  to  excuse  their 
receiving  these  '-wages  of  unrighteousness,"  by  al- 
leging that  they  were  given  them  to  defray  their  tra- 
velling expenses.!  Two  years  were  allowed  to  elapse 
before  the  acts  of  this  Assembly  were  ratified,  and 
the  laws  in  favour  of  presbytery  rescinded,  by  par- 
liament. -^ 

Thus,  after  a  struggle  of  more  than  ten  years,  was 
Episcopacy  established  in  Scotland.  The  way  in 
which  it  was  introduced  exhibits  a  complete  contrast 
to  the  introduction  of  the  ecclesiastical  polity  which  it 
supplanted.  Presbytery  made  its  way  by  the  weapons 
of  argument  and  persuasion,  without  the  aid  of  the 
civil  power,  which  viewed  its  progress  with  a  jealous 
eye,  and  raised  its  arm  repeatedly  to  crush  it.  Its  pa- 
trons avowed  from  the  beginning  all  that  they  intend- 
ed, and  never  had  recourse  to  falsehood  or  fraud  to  ac- 
complish their  favourite  object.  And  it  liad  been 
rooted  in  the  opinions  and  affections  of  the  nation  long 
before  it  obtained  a  legal  establishment.  Episcopacy, 
on  the  contrary,  was  the  creature  of  the  state.  It  had 
the  whole  weight  of  the  authority  and  influence  of  the 
crown  all  along  on  its  side ;  and  even  with  this  it  could 
not  have  prevailed,  or  maintained  its  ground,  without 
the  aid  of  those  arts  to  which  government  has  recourse 
for  carrying  its  worst  and  most  unpopular  measures. 
Deceit  and  perfidy  and  bribery  were  .joined  to  fines, 
and  imprisonments,  and  banishments,  and  the  terrors 
of  the  gibbet.  Dissimulation  was  the  grand  engine 
by  which  the  presbyterian  constitution  was  over- 
thrown. While  the  court  disgraced  itself  by  a  series 
of  low  and  over-reaching  tricks,  the  aspiring  clergy 
plunged  themselves  into  the  deepest  and  most  profli- 
gate perjury.  They  refused  no  pledge  which  the  jeal- 
ousy of  the  church-courts,  awakened  by  the  measures 
of  government  required  of  them.  When  engaged  in  a 
scheme  for  overthrowing  the  established  discipline, 
they  renewed  the  assurances  of  their  inviolable  attach- 
ment and  adherence  to  it.  |     With  the  most  solemn 

*  Sir  James  Balfour  says,  the  Earl  of  Dunbar  distributed 
among  the  niiin'sters  "40,000  merks  to  facilitate  the  matter  and 
obtain  their  sufl'rages."  (Crawfurd's  Officers  of  State,  p.  398.) 
Nothing,  it  was  said,  was  to  be  seen  about  Glasgow,  fo'r  some 
time  aUer  the  assembly,  but  angels.  A  travelling  pauper, 
named  James  Read,  who  had  been  there  in  the  course  of  his 
profession,  having  heard  what  a  country  minister  got  for  his 
vote,  railed  on  him  as  a  fool  for  selling  his  Master  for  two  an- 
gels, when  he  (the  pauper)  had  got  three  for  nothing.  (Sini- 
soni  Annales,  p.  124.  Row's  Hist.  p.  160.  Proceedings  of  the 
Asseniblie  holden  at  Glasgow  in  1638:   MS. penes  me,  p.  66.) 

t  Cald.vii.389— 406.  Row,  147— 155.  Melville's  Decl.  Ag^', 
277—284.  Scot,  233— 240.  Wodrow's  Life  of  Law,  p.  9. 

t  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  iv.  469,  470. 

(l  On  the  2d  of  August,  1604,  all  the  members  of  the  presby- 
tery of  St.  Andrews,  including  Gladstanes,  renewed  their  sub- 
scription of  the  National  Covenant,  and  at  the  same  time  sub- 
scribed the  act  of  parliament,  1592,  which  ratified  presbytery, 
as  an  authentic  explanation  of  the  discipline  which  they  swore 
to  maintain, — "  to  testify  their  harmony  and  hearty  agreement 
in  all  things  both  concerning  doctrine  and  discipline;  promis- 
ing solemnly  to  defend  the  same  always,  according-  to  their 
callings,  and  never  to  come  in  the  contrary  according  to  the 
great  oath  set  down  in  the  foresaid  Confession  of  Faith."  And 
what  was  the  form  of  this  oath?  "  Promising  and  swearing  by 
the  great  name  of  the  Lord  our  God,  that  we  shall  continue  in 
the  obedience  of  the  doctrine  and  discipline  of  this  kirk,  and 
shall  defend  the  same,  according  to  our  vocation  and  power, 
all  the  days  of  our  lives,  under  the  pains  contained  in  the  law, 
and  danger  both  of  body  anal  soul  in  the  day  of  God's  fearful 
judgment.  And  seeing  that  many  are  stirred  up, — to  promise, 
swear,  and  subscribe  deceitfully, — we  therefore,  willing  to  take 
away  all  suspicion  of  hypocrisy,  and  of  such  double  dealing 
with  God  and  his  kirk,  protest  and  call  the  searcher  of  hearts 
for  witness,  that  our  minds  and  hearts  do  fully  agree  with  this 
uur  confession,  promise,  oath,  and  subscription,"  &c.  To  this 
engagement,  sanctioned  by  this  awful  appeal  and  protestation, 
did  Gladstanes  set  his  hand  immediately  after  the  moderator 
of  the  presbytery.  (Extract  from  the  Record  of  Presb.  of  St. 
And.  in  Melville's  Decl.  Age,  p.  109— 111.)  Spotswood  and 
Law  subscribed  the  Book  of  Policy,  among  the  members  of  the 


342 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


asseverations  and  execrations,  they  disclaimed  all  inten- 
tion of  bringing  prelacy  into  the  church,  and  swore  to 
observe  the  cautions  enacted  to  guard  against  its  admis- 
sion. Every  change  which  was  made  was  declared  to 
be  the  only  one  intended ;  but  no  sooner  had  the  alarm 
excited  by  it  been  allayed  than  it  was  followed  by  ano- 
ther, until  at  last  the  whole  system  of  the  hierarchy  was 
introduced  and  established  by  the  exertions  of  those 
who  had  so  frequently  disowned  and  abjured  it.  No 
expressions  can  be  too  strong  in  reprobating  a  scene  of 
deliberate,  systematic,  and  persevering  prevarication 
and  perfidy,  to  which  it  will  not  be  easy  to  find  a  pa- 
rallel in  the  whole  history  of  political  intrigue,  and 
which,  as  practised  by  churchmen,  must  have  had  the 
most  pernicious  influence  on  religion,  by  debasing  the 
character  of  its  ministers,  especially  in  the  estimation 
of  the  higher  ranks,  whom  they  now  vied  with  in 
honours,  and  sought  to  supplant  in  the  highest  offices 
of  the  state.  A  victory  gained  by  such  arts  was  more 
dishonourable  than  many  defeats.  It  required  only 
another  triumph  of  a  similar  kind  to  secure  the  perpe- 
tual proscription  of  episcopacy  from  this  country,  and 
to  fix  a  stigma  upon  it  which  must  induce  its  warmest 
admirers  to  wish  that  every  trace  of  its  existence  were 
erased  from  the  annals  of  Scotland. 

A  Scottish  gentleman  of  the  name  of  Colville  com- 
municated the  result  of  the  assembly  at  Glasgow  to 
Melville.  He  was  deeply  affected  by  the  intelligence  ; 
and  continued  for  a  considerable  time  in  a  state  of  pro- 
found and  distressing  silence.  When  his  grief  at  last 
found  utterance,  it  vented  itself  in  a  vehement  denun- 
ciation against  the  Commissioner,  Dunbar,  whom  he 
regarded,  and  justly,  as  the  prime  agent  in  overturning 
the  ecclesiastical  liberties  of  his  native  country.*  Not 
that  he  wanted  considerations  to  alleviate  the  distress 
which  he  felt  on  this  occasion.  His  conscience  ac- 
quitted him  of  having  wilfully  failed  in  any  part  of  his 
duty  during  the  long  and  painful  struggle  ;  and  he  had 
the  satisfaction  to  reflect,  that  though  the  cause  was 
unsuccessful,  its  honour  remained  untarnished.  Until 
he  and  his  associates  were  removed  out  of  the  way  by 
fraudulent  and  forcible  means,  the  enemy  gained  no 
real  advantage,  and  durst  not  attack  the  citadel,  not- 
withstanding their  knowledge  of  the  treachery  and 
feebleness  of  many  of  its  defenders.  With  all  his 
vanity  and  boastfulness,  Gladstanes  acknowledged 
that  they  would  have  been  unable  to  execute  their  de- 
signs, if  Andrew  Melville  had  remained  in  the  country 
and  been  at  liberty.  The  firm  and  independent,  though 
oppressed  and  overborne,  opponents  of  episcopacy 
were  the  real  victors ;  and  it  was  not  without  reason 
that  Melville  applied  the  elegant  description  of  an  an- 
cient historian  to  himself  and  his  fellow-combatants; 
"  Cerlalim  glortosa  in  certamina  ruebatur ;  multoque 
avidius  turn  martyria  gloriosis  moriibtis  quserebantur, 
quam  nunc  episcopaius  pravts  ambitionibus  appetuniur. 
— Neque  majore  unquam  triumpho  vicimus,  quam  quum 
decern  annorum  stragibus  vinci  non  potuimug."^ 

The  overthrow  of  presbytery  afllicted  James  Mel- 
ville as  acutely  as  his  uncle;  but  it  did  not  surprise 
him  so  much,  as  he  was  less  sanguine  in  his  hopes  of 

presbytery  of  Linlithgow.  (Rec.  of  Synod  of  Lothian  and 
Tweeddale,  Oct.  6.  159L)  And,  in  the  year  1604,  they  re- 
newed their  pledges.  (Siinsoni  Annal.  p.  89,  107.  Printed 
Calderwood,  p.  484, 485.) 

•  Scot  reports  Melville's  words  to  have  been  "  that  man 
(Dunbar)  that  hath  overthrown  that  kirk  and  the  liberties  of 
Christ's  kingdoine  there  shall  never  have  the  grace  to  set  his 
foot  in  that  kingdonie  agalne."  (Apolog.  Narrat.  p.  248.)  And 
the  sanie  account  is  given  by  Row.  (Hist.  |>.  158.)  But  in 
the  confidential  corrcs{)«ndence  between  Melville  and  his 
■ephew,  there  is  not  the  most  distant  allusion  to  any  prophecy, 
altnough  Dunbar's  death  is  repeatedly  mentioned.  It  is  mo'st 
probable  that  a  pro])hetiral  turn  was  given  to  Melville's  words 
after  the  sudden  death  oftbe  premier;  and  this  remark  may  be 
extcndad  to  many  of  those  sayings  which  have  been  recorded 
«■  prophecies  ia  the  lives  of  good  men. 

f  Mel  - 


cap.  33 


Ivini  Epist.  p.  27:  ex  Sulpitii  Scvcri  Hist.  Sacr.  lib.  i. 


a  successful  resistance,  from  the  knowledge  which  he 
possessed  of  the  actual  state  of  matters  in  Scotland. 
Before  the  late  General  Assembly  sat  down,  his  fears 
had  anticipated  the  issue,  and  he  had  bewailed  it  in 
the  most  tender  strains  in  his  letters  to  his  brethren.* 
Jealous  of  the  personal  interviews  and  epistolary  cor- 
respondence which  he  held  with  his  brethren  in  Scot- 
land, the  bishops  procured  an  order  to  remove  him 
from  Newcastle  to  Carlisle,  where  he  would  have  it 
less  in  his  power  to  counteract  their  plans.  The  only 
consolation  which  he  had  in  the  prospect  of  this 
change  of  abode  was  the  opportunity  that  it  would 
give  him  of  meeting  with  his  much  esteemed  friend 
and  fellow-sufferer,  John  Murray. f  But  by  means  of 
his  friends  at  court  he  obtained  a  revocation  of  the  or- 
der, and  was  permitted  to  take  up  his  residence  at  Ber- 
wick.:^:  If  he  was  indebted  for  this  favour  to  the  in- 
terest of  the  Earl  of  Dunbar,  he  met  at  the  same  time 
with  an  injury  from  that  nobleman,  which  cured  him 
of  any  inclination  which  he  still  felt  to  rely  on  his  pa- 
tronage, and  which  may  be  added  to  the  numerous 
proofs  of  the  good  faith  of  courtiers.  "  I  cannot  con- 
ceal from  you  (says  he,  in  a  letter  to  his  uncle)  the  af- 
front which  I  have  received  from  my  lord  of  Dunbar. 
On  passing  through  this  place  to  Glasgow,  he  charged 
me  once  and  again  and  a  third  time — ultroneously 
charged  me,  when  I  was  asking  no  such  favour  of 
him,  to  send  for  my  son  Andrew,  and  have  him  in 
readiness  to  accompany  him  when  he  returned  to  the 
south;  as  he  intended  to  place  him  in  one  of  the  Eng- 
lish universities,  and  would  supply  him  with  every 
thing  that  he  needed.  At  considerable  expense  I  re- 
called the  young  man  from  France,  and,  placing  him 
before  his  lordship  on  his  return,  I  told  him  that  my 
son  waited  his  orders.  He  took  no  notice  of  him  ;  but 
mounting  his  horse  and  contracting  his  brows,  stretch- 
ed out  his  hand  to  me,  and  departed  without  uttering  a 
word. "II  This  proud  man  was  soon  after  brought 
down  from  his  elevation,  and  laid  where  "  the  kings 
and  counsellors  of  the  earth  rest  with  the  prisoners, 
who  no  longer  hear  the  voice  of  the  oppressor." 

Melville  was  visited  in  the  Tower  by  several  of  the 
supporters  of  episcopacy,  whom  ho  received  in  such  a 
way  as  to  testify  his  sense  of  their  courtesy,  at  the 
same  time  that  he  told  them  his  opinion  of  their  con- 
duct with  his  characterislical  frankness  and  warmth. 
"Two  of  my  old  scholars  (says  he)  called  on  me 
when  they  were  lately  here.  The  sight  of  them  made 
my  mouth  water;  and  I  poured  forth  my  indignation 
on  them  in  my  usual  manner.  I  did  not  dissemble  the 
injury  done  to  the  brethren  through  their  fault.  I  ex- 
horted them  to  return  to  their  duty  and  not  to  go  on  to 
'fight  against  God.'  The  injuries  done  to  myself  I 
forgave  the  commonwealth  and  church.  I  shewed 
them  that  the  arms  of  all  ought  to  be  turned  against 
the  common  enemy,  unanimity  and  fraternal  concord 
cultivated,  and  the  exiled  brethren  recalled.  They 
agreed  with  me  on  these  points,  but  pleaded  that  the 
King  is  bent  on  maintaining  order,  and  he  must  be 
obeyed  in  all  things  : 

Et  veterem  in  limo  ranae  cecinere  querelam. 

I  parted  with  these  civil  gentlemen  on  the  most  civil 


*  See  hii  letter  to  William  Scot  in  Printed  Calderwood,  p. 
«4. 

t  John  Murray,  minister  of  Leith,  was  at  this  time  confined 
in  Dumfries-shire.  He  was  prosecuted  for  a  sermon  contain- 
ing some  free  remarks  on  the  conduct  of  the  bishops,  which  had 
been  printed  without  his  knowledge.  The  Privy  Council  sus- 
tained his  defence,  but  the  bishops  procured  a  letter  from  the 
King,  reprimanding  the  Council,  and  ordering  Murray  into  con- 
finement. (Regist.  Secret.  Concil.  Royal  Letters,  &c.  20th 
March,  and  30th  April,  1608;  and  5lh  March,  1609.  Printed 
Cald.  p.  580—582.)  llis  sermon  was  printed  along  with  "In- 
formations or  a  Protestation,  A.  1608;"  but  it  is  rarely  to  be 
found  in  the  copies  of  that  tract. 

t  Melvini  Epistol«,  p.  150, 166. 

II  Ibid.p.  183, 184 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


343 


terms ;  and  they  of  course  will  trumpet  everywhere  the  ]  During  his  imprisonment  he  received  marks  of  civil- 
praises  of  your  friend's  profound  erudition."*  '  ityand  friendship  from  several  of  the  episcopal  divines 
Among  his  visitants  was  his  countryman,  John  Cam- j  in  England;  among  whom  was  Joseph  Hall,  after- 
eron,  who  had  come  over  at  this  time  from  France.  '■  wards  bishop  of  Norwich,  and  well  known  by  his 
As  he  was  favourable  to  the  ecclesiastical  plans  of  the   pious  and  ingenious  writings.* 

court,  a  dispute  soon  ensued  between  them.  Cameron  I  By  Sir  William  Wade,  the  Governor  of  the  Tower, 
was  dogmatical  and  loquacious,  and  Melville  was  not  ihe  appears  to  have  been  treated  with  every  indulgence 
disposed  to  allow  him  to  run  away  with  the  argument.  !  which  was  consistent  with  his  safe  custody. +  Among 
When  they  were  hotly  engaged,  the  Tower  bell  gave  his  fellow-prisoners  were  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  and  the 
warning  that  all  visitors  should  retire,  and  the  com-  |  favourite  Magi  of  the  Duke  of  Northumberland.:}: 
batants  were  reluctantly  separated.      At  parting,  Mel-  j  There  were   also   in   the   Tower  at   this  time  three 


ville  admonished  Cameron,  that  being  a  young  man, 
he  should  beware  of"  being  lifted  up  with  pride,"  and 
of  disparaging  that  discipline,  which,  from  the  time 
of  the  Reformation,  had  formed  an  integral  part  of  reli- 
gion in  his  native  country,  and  had  hitherto  resisted 
the  attacks  of  all  its  adversaries,  both  domestic  and 
foreign.j 

He  had  at  this  time  an  opportunity  of  becoming  per- 
sonally acquainted  with  Isaac  Casaubon  ;  but  he  found 
the  sentiments  of  that  great  scholar  much  altered  from 
what  they  were  when  his  epistolary  correspondence 
with  him  commenced.  During  his  residence  at  the 
French  court,  Casaubon's  attachment  to  the  reformed 
religion  had  been  shaken,  and  the  Roman  Catholics 
entertained  confident  hopes  of  making  him  a  convert, 
when  his  patron,  Henry  the  Great,  was  assassinated.:}: 
On  that  tragical  event  he  retired  into  England,  and 
was  warmly  received  by  James  and  the  bishops.  But 
though  he  obtained  a  dispensation  to  hold  two  pre- 
bends without  entering  into  holy  orders,  the  tasks  al- 
lotted to  him  were  neither  creditable  to  his  talents  nor 
congenial  to  his  feelings. ||  He  who  had  devoted  his 
life  to  the  cultivation  of  Grecian  and  Oriental  litera- 
ture, and  who  had  edited  and  illustrated  Straho,  Athe- 
naeus,  Dionysius  of  Halicarnassus,  Polya;nus,  and 
Polybius,  was  now  condemned  to  drudge  in  replying 
to  the  Jesuit  Fronto  le  Due,  correcting  his  Majesty's 
answer  to  Cardinal  Du  Perron,  refuting  the  Annals  of 
Cardinal  Baronius,  and,  what  was  still  more  degra- 
ding, writing  letters  to  induce  his  illustrious  friend  De 
Thou  to  substitute  King  James's  narrative  of  the  trou- 
bles of  Scotland  in  the  room  of  that  which  he  had  al- 
ready published  on  the  authority  of  Buchanan.  Mel- 
ville is  mentioned  as  one  of  three  individuals  in  whose 
learned  society  he  found  relief  from  these  irksome  and 
ungrateful  occupations.§  The  warm  approbation  of 
the  constitution  of  the  church  of  England  which  Cas- 
aubon expressed,  and  the  countenance  which  he  gave 
to  the  consecration  of  the  Scottish  prelates  at  Lam- 
beth, were  by  no  means  agreeable  to  Melville.^  But 
notwithstanding  this,  he  received  frequent  visits  from 
him  in  the  Tower;  and  on  these  occasions  they  enter- 
tained and  instructed  one  another  with  critical  remarks 
on  ancient  authors,  and  especially  on  the  Scriptures.** 

»  Melvini  Epistolre,  p.  54. 

t  Ibid.  p.  112,113. 

\  When  Rosweid  afterwards  published  that  Casaubon  had 
intended  to  profess  himself  a  Roman  Catholic,  the  statement 
wag  strongly  contradicted  by  his  son  Meric,  and  by  Jacobus 
Cappellus.  But  it  is  evident  from  his  own  letters,  that  Casau- 
bon, although  he  could  not  easily  digest  some  of  the  grosser 
articles  of  the  Popish  creed,  whs  seriously  deliberating  on  the 
change;  and  his  son  has  kept  back  a  part  of  one  of  his  letters 
which  contains  strong  evidence  to  that  purpose.  (Merici  Cas- 
auboni  Epistoire,  p.  S5,  89,  coll.  cum  Episl.  Isaaci  Casauboni,  p. 
607.  Epist.  Eccles.  et  Theol.  p.  250.)  Du  Moulin  wrote  to 
the  Bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells  advising  him  by  all  means  to 
detain  Casaubon  in  England;  as  there  was  every  reason  to  fear 
his  recantation  if  he  returned  to  France:  (Casauboni  Vita,  ab 
Almelov.  p.  55.) 

II  Birch's  Hist.  View  of  Negociations,  p.  340. 

}  Casauboni  Vita,  p.  54. 

IT  In  a  letter  to  Boyd  of  Trochrig,  Melville  mentions  this 
last  circumstance  with  regret.  (Wodrow's  Life  of  Boyd,  p. 
210.)  6  ^  .»    .  i 

**  Casaubon  has  preserved,  in  his  Ephemerides,  a  critical 
emendation  of  the  common  text  of  1  Timothy  iii.  15, 16,  which 
Melville  suggested  to  him  at  one  of  these  interviews.  He  pro- 
posed to  read  the  passage  thus:  "These  things  write  I  unto  thee 


Scotchmen  of  the  popish  persuasion ;  the  noted  John 
Hamilton,  Paterson,  a  priest,  and  Campbell,  a  Capu- 
chin friar,  who  were  kept  under  an  easy  restraint,  and 
sumptuously  provided  for.||  Melville  had  several  in- 
terviews with  them  ;  and  waited  on  the  death-bed  of 
Hamilton,  whom  he  exhorted,  though  without  success, 
to  rest  his  hopes  of  final  acceptance  on  the  atonement 
and  advocacy  of  Christ,  instead  of  the  merits  and  in- 
tercession of  creatures.§  In  the  year  1610,  Sir  Wil- 
liam Seymour,  afterwards  Duke  of  Hertford,  was  sent 
to  the  Tower  for  clandestinely  marrying  the  Lady  Ara- 
bella, who  was  nearly  allied  to  the  royal  family.  On 
this  occasion  Melville  composed  the  following  coup- 
let, expressive  of  the  similarity  of  the  cause  of  Sey- 
mour's imprisonment  to  his  own,  founded  on  an  allu- 
sion to  the  lady's  name,  which  in  Latin  signifies  a  fair 
altar. 

Communis  tecum  niihi  causa  est  carceris,  Ara- 
bella tibi  causa  est;  Araque  sacra  niihi.T 

These  lines  he  sent  to  the  noble  prisoner  on  his  enter- 
ing the  Tower,  and  the  witty  distich  of  "  the  poetical 
minister"  was  much  talked  of  at  court.** 

In  the  month  of  November,  IfilO,  upon  the  return  of 
Lord  Wolton,  the  Enolish  ambassador,  from  France, 
the  Duke  of  Bouillon  sent  an  application  by  him  to 
King  James,  requesting  him  to  release  Melville  from 
the  Tower,  and  allow  him  to  come  to  his  university  at 
Sedan.  It  is  probable  that  Melville  owed  this  inter- 
position in  his  favour  to  his  friend  Aaron  Capel,  one 

— that  thou  niayest  know  how  thou  oughtest  to  behave  thyself  in 
the  house  of  God,  which  is  the  church  of  the  living  God.  The 
pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth,  and  great  without  controversy, 
is  the  mystery  of  godliness,  God  was  manifest  in  the  flesh,"  &c. 
(Casauboniana,  p.  92,  292.)  "  Mira  novitas  !"  exclaims  Casau- 
bon. But,  with  all  deference  to  the  learned  critic,  the  proposed 
reading  was  not  a  novelty.  It  is  to  be  found  in  ihe  Basil  edi- 
tions of  the  Greek  Testament,  annis  1540  and  1545;  and  has 
been  adopted  by  sevei-al  modern  critics  of  great  authoritj'. 

*  "  Literas  a  D.Josepho  Hallo  christianae  amoris  et  humani- 
tatis  plenissimas  accepi;  pro  quibus  non  potui  non  agere  gratia*. 
Ejus  in  Salanjonem  opella,  nuper  edita,  bene  placet."  (Melvini 
Epktoltt,  p.  99.) 

+  Melvini  Epistolre,  p.  318,  321,  323. 

I  Biographia  Brit.  art.  Harriot,  Thomas. 

II  Melvini  Epist.  p.  137.  In  the  year  1608,  James  sent  a  let 
ter  to  the  Privy  Council  of  Scotland,  reprimanding  them  for 
overlooking  "  Mr.  Johne  Hamiltoune."  (Letter  from  the  Coun- 
sall  to  his  Maiestie:  Lord  Haddington's  Collect.)  About  the 
same  time  Mr.  Alexander  Campbell  and  Mr.  John  Young  apol- 
ogize to  his  Majesty  "for  the  resetting  of  one  Johne  Canibell  a 
Capuchin  frier."  (MS.  in  Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.  Jac.  V.  1.  12.) 
They  were  not  apprehended  until  the  year  1609. 

^  "Rob.  Johnston,  Hist.  Rer.  Brit.  p.  460. 
IT  The  following  translation  of  the  lines  is  given  in  the  £io- 
graphia  Britannica  : 

From  the  same  cause  my  woe  proceeds  and  thine. 
Your  ALTjiR  lovely  is,  ana  sacred  mine. 

For  the  imperfection  of  the  translation,  the  apologj'  of  the 
learned  compiler  may  be  sustained,  that  it  is  "almost  impossi- 
ble to  translate  these  lines  into  English  without  injuring  either 
the  sense  or  the  spirit."  But  he  has  gone  farther  wrong  in  his 
commentary,  in  consequence  of  bis  being  ignorant  of  the  fact, 
that  the  poet  was  confined  for  verses  written  on  the  Royal  Al- 
tar. "The  wit  (says  he)  consists  in  the  allusion,  grounded  on 
the  lady's  name,  signifying  in  Latin  a  fair  Altar,  and  Melvin's 
being  committed  for  the  cause  of  God's  altar,  at  least  in  his 
own  opinion."  (Biog.  Brit.  art.  Arabella  Sliiart.)  This  woulJ 
have  been  but  dull  wit,  however  sound  "his  own  opinion"  had 
been. 

**  Sir  Ralph  Winwood's  Memorials,  vol.  iii.  p.  20l.  Row's 
His*,  p.  173. 


344 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


of  the  ministers  of  the  French  church  in  London,  who 
had  a  brother  in  the  University  of  Sedan.     As    tlie 
Duke  was  one  of  the  grandees  of  France,  and  at  the 
head  of  the  proteslants  in  that  kingdom,  James  was 
pleased  at  having  an  opportunity  to  gratify  him  by 
granting  the  request.*     But  when  Melville  had  the 
prospect  of  immediately  obtaining  his  liberty,  a  formi- 
dable opposition  was  made  to  it  from  an  unexpected 
quarter.     The  French  ambassador  at  London  thought 
it  proper  to  acquaint  his  court  with   the   transaction 
which  was  going  on  between  the  Duke  of  Bouillon 
and  James.     The  Queen  Regent  instantly  wrote,  that 
she  did  not  judge  it  safe  that  a  person  of  Melville's 
qualities  should  come  into  her  kingdom,  where  there 
was  already  a  sufficient  number  of  turbulent  and  rest- 
less spirits  ;  and  therefore  charged   her  ambassador  to 
■oppose  the  measure,  by  representing  to  James  that  it 
was  not  reasonable  to  send  to  France  an  individual 
whom  he  had  found  it  necessary  to  lay  under  restraint 
at  home  on  account  of  his  seditions  behaviour.f      At 
an  interview  with  his  Majesty,  the  ambassador  laid 
this  representation  before  him.     James  professed  him- 
self greatly  embarrassed  in  consequence  of  his  promise 
to  Bouillon.     The  request,  he  said,  had  been  publicly 
presented  by  Lord  Wotton  ;  and,  not  suspecting  that  a 
Marshal  of  France,  and  one  of  the  principal  counsel- 
lors of  her  Majesty,  had  not  made  her  acquainted  with 
the  application,  he  had  readily  acceded  to  it,  on  condi- 
tion that  the  prisoner  should   not  be  allowed  either  to 
preach  or  publish,  but  should  confine  himself  to  read- 
ing and  teaching  in  Sedan.     At  the  same  time,  he  pro- 
fessed his  desire  to  oblige  the  Queen  in  this  and  all 
other  matters  ;  and  only  requested,  that,  with  the  view 
of  disengaging  him  from  his  promise,  she  should  speak 
to  the  Duke  in  such  a  manner  as  to  prevent  him  from 
insisting  on  his  request.     In  the  course  of  the  conver- 
sation with  the  French  ambassador,  his  Majesty  dis- 
covered his  strong  antipathy  to  Melville;  and  gave  a 
short  narrative  of  his  life,  in  which  he  appears  to  have 
been  guided  not  so  much  by  a  regard  to  truth,  as  by  a 
desire  to  increase  the  fears  expressed  by  the  French 
queen.     The  Duke  of  Bouillon,  he  said,  would  not  be 
so  urgent  in  his  request,  if  he  were  acquainted  with 
the  fierce  and  contentious  humour  of  the  man.      After 
he  returned  from  Geneva,  where  he  was  educated,  he 
had  been  placed  in  one  of  the  universities  of  Scotland, 
which  he  kept  in  continual  broils  during  the  four  years 
that  he  remained  in  it:  on  that  account  his  Majesty 
was  obliged  to  remove  him  to  another  university,  into 
which  he  also  carried  the  torch  of  discord  :  and,  finally, 
being  called  up  to  London  to  answer  for  his  disorderly 
conduct,  he  was  no  sooner  there  than  he  fell  upon  his 
Majesty  and  his  principal  counsellors,  whom  he  treat- 
ed so  abusively,  that  it  became  necessary,  in  order  to 
prevent  something  worse,  to  shut  him  up  in  the  Tower, 
where  he   still  remained. :{:      The  Queen  Regent  ad- 
dressed a  second  despatch  to  her  ambassador,  instruct- 
ing him  to  persevere  in  his  opposition  to  Melville's 
journey.ll     The  secret,  however,  was,  that  the  French 
court  was  not  so  much  afraid  of  the  seditious  spirit  of 
the  Scottish  Professor,  as  offended  at  Bouillon  for  pre 


count  of  pseudo-episcopacy  —  no  hope  of  my  being 
allowed  to  revisit  my  native  country.  Our  bishops 
return  home  after  being  anointed  with  the  waters  of  the 
Thames.  Alas,  liberty  is  fled  !  religion  is  banished  ! — 
I  have  nothing  new  to  write  to  you,  except  my  hesi- 
tation about  my  banishmei.t.  I  reflect  upon  the  ac- 
tive life  which  I  spent  in  my  native  country  during 
the  space  of  thirty-six  years,  the  idle  life  which  I 
have  been  condemned  to  spend  in  prison,  the  reward 
which  I  have  received  from  men  for  my  labours,  the 
inconveniences  of  old  age,  and  other  things  of  a  simi- 
lar kind,  taken  in  connexion  with  the  disgraceful  bon- 
dage of  the  church  and  the  base  perfidy  of  men.  But 
in  vain  :  I  am  still  irresolute.  Shall  I  desert  my  sta- 
tion ]  shall  I  fly  from  my  native  country,  from  my  na- 
tive church,  from  my  very  self?  Or,  shall  I  deliver 
myself  up,  like  a  bound  quadruped,  to  the  will  and 
pleasure  of  men  ?  No  :  sooner  than  do  this,  I  am  re- 
solved, by  the  grace  of  God,  to  endure  the  greatest 
extremity:  But  until  my  fate  is  fixed,  I  cannot  be  free 
from  anxiety.  Be  assured,  however,  that  nothing 
earthly  affects  me  so  deeply  as  the  treachery  of  men 
to  God,  and  the  defection  of  our  church  in  this  critical 
conjuncture.  Yet  our  adversaries  have  not  all  the  suc- 
cess whic-h  they  could  wish — but  I  dare  not  write  all 
that  I  could  tell  you  by  word  of  mouth.  Our  affairs 
are  in  a  bad  state,  but  there  is  still  some  ground  of 
hope.  Take  care  of  your  health,  and  send  me  your 
advice,  as  quickly  as  possible,  and  in  one  word.  Shall 
I  go,  or,  shall  I  remain  1  "  * 

It  is  evident  from  this  letter  that  he  felt  reluctant  to 
go  abroad.  He  was  become  attached  to  his  native 
country  by  a  long  residence  in  it.  Though  he  had  no 
family  of  his  own,  he  had  formed  attachments  which 
were  nearly  as  close  and  endearing  as  those  which  are 
strictly  domestic.  His  health  and  spirits  were  still  un- 
commonly good  ;  but  he  had  arrived  at  that  period  of 
life  when  the  mind  loses  its  elastic  spring  and  its 
power  of  accommodating  itself  to  external  circum- 
stances; and  he  felt  averse  to  enter  upon  a  new  scene 
of  action  in  a  country  where  the  people  and  the  man- 
ners had  undergone  a  complete  change  since  he  had 
known  them.  There  were,  therefore,  no  sacrifices, 
those  of  conscience  and  honour  excepted,  which  he 
was  not  prepared  to  make,  in  order  to  obtain  permis- 
sion to  remain  in  Scotland. 

James  Melville  knew  that  all  hopes  of  this  kind 
were  vain,  and  therefore  advised  him  to  embrace  the 
offer  which  was  in  his  power.  "  Summon  up  your 
courage,  and  prepare  to  obey  the  call  of  providence. 
Perhaps  this  is  '  a  man  of  Macedonia' — a  messenger 
from  God  to  invite  you  to  the  help  of  the  inhabitants 
of  Burgundy  and  Lorrain.  Like  the  apostle,  let  none 
of.these  things  move  you,  neither  count  your  life  dear, 
that  you  may  finish  yonr  course  with  joy,  and  the 
ministry  which  you  have  received  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
to  testify  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God.' 

Te  si  fata  tuis  paterentur  ducere  vitaiii 
Auspiciig,  et  sponte  tua  coiiipoiiere  curag, 

Urbem  Trojaiiaiii  priniuiii 

Sed  nunc  Italiani 


seating  such  a  request  without  its  knowledge,  and  i  Seeing  you  are  bound  like  Jeremiah,  you  must  go 
jealous  of  his  intercourse  with  the  court  of  London.§  j  whither  you  are  led,  though  not  in  obedience  to  the 
Accordingly,  the  Duke  having  made  a  satisfactory  i  will  of  men,  yet  in  cheerful  submission  to  the  will  of 
apology  for  the  step  which  he  had  taken,  the  Queen    '^"^   "'"  ■"  "  '  "       "  ^'"  '^~  ' * 


Regent  withdrew  her  opposition 

Melville  had  sent  the  earliest  information  of  the 
change  in  his  prospects  to  his  nephew.  "  The  Duke 
of  Bouillon  has  applied  to  the  King,  by  the  ambassa- 
dor Wotton  and  by  letters,  for  liberty  to  me  to  go  to 
France.  His  Majesty  is  said  to  have  yielded.  I  am 
in  a  state  of  suspense  as  to  the  course  which  I  ought 
to  take.    There  is  no  room  for  me  in  Britain  on  ac- 

•  Melvini  Epistolae,  p.  173. 

+  De  la  Boderie,  Ambassadet,  torn.  v.  p.  513 — 515. 

t  Ibic).  p.  530—533.        II  Ibid.  p.  541.  }  Ibid.  p.  517. 


God,  who  will  keep  you  in  all  his  ways.  So  far  as  I 
can  see,  there  is  no  choice  left,  but  a  hard  necessity 
is  imposed  on  you.  I  may  add,  that  those  who  are 
joined  with  you  in  the  same  cause,  and  I  in  particular, 
would  esteem  it  the  greatest  favour  to  have  it  in  our 
power  to  accompany  yon.  For  what  can  I  look  for 
but  continued  distress  of  mind,  whether  here  or  at 
home?  Take  this  then  as  my  answer  to  your  ques- 
tion. Either  I  must  go  abroad,  or  death  will  soon  be 
the  consequence.  I  entreat  you  tu  act  the  part  of 
Joseph,  and  procure  for  me  an  invitation  from  the  illus- 


•  Melrini  Epi»t.  p.  173—175. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE 


345 


trious  Duke,  to  serve  in  the  church  or  schools  of 
France.  I  know  the  kin^r  will  readily  accede  to  his 
request;  but  if  I  leave  the  country  without  the  royal 
license,  I  will  incur  proscription  and  confiscation. 
Melissa  is  as  desirous  of  being  with  you  as  I  am,  and 
is  ready  to  accompany  me  wherever  providence  may 
direct  my  course.  She  lately  sent  you,  as  a  mark  of 
her  regard,  a  small  present,  consisting  of  an  embroid- 
ered cloak,  a  ncck-kerchief,  and  some  other  articles, 
trimmed  with  her  own  hands.  Have  you  received 
them? — I  know  not  how  it  is,  but  my  soul  fails  and 
melts  within  me,  and  the  tears  rush  into  my  eyes  at 
the  thought,  of  which  I  cannot  get  rid,  that  I  shall  see 
your  face  no  more.  While  I  write,  my  sweet  Melissa, 
my  only  earthly  solace  in  my  solitude  and  exile,  over- 
come with  womanly  grief,  wets  my  bosom  with  her 
tears,  and  desires  me  to  bid  you,  in  her  name,  a  long 
farewell.  And  I — Would  to  God  you  had  long  ago 
closed  ray  eyes  at  Montrose,  I  can  write  no  more. 
Eternal  blessings  rest  upon  you."  * 

While  Melville  remained  in  a  state  of  suspense,  he 
resolved  to  m.ike  an  attempt  to  regain  his  liberty  on 
terms  less  hard  than  banishment.  He  addressed  a 
letter  to  Sir  James  Sempill,  in  which,  after  modestly 
stating  his  claims,  "at  least,  to  an  honest  retreat  from 
warfare,  with  the  hope  of  burial  with  his  ancestors," 
he  offered  his  services  to  prince  Henry,  who  was  .then 
in  the  seventeenth  year  of  his  age.j-  The  prince, 
whose  character  was  in  every  respect  the  reverse  of 
his  father's,  would  have  received  him  into  his  family 
wiih  the  utmost  pleasure,  if  he  had  been  left  to  his 
own  choice.  But  there  was  no  ground  to  hope  that 
the  King  would  permit  such  an  instructor  to  be  placed 
about  the  person  of  his  son,  of  whose  active  spirit  and 
popularity  he  was  already  become  jealous.  Melville 
wisely  committed  the  affair  wholly  to  the  discretion  of 
Sir  James  Sempill,  Sir  James  FuUerton,  and  Thomas 
Murray  ;  :j;  on  whom  he  placed  a  more  entire  depend- 
ence than  on  any  other  of  his  acquaintance  about  the 
court.  In  his  letters  he  often  expresses  a  grateful 
sense  of  the  kindness  which  they  had  shown  him 
during  his  imprisonment.  Of  Sempill  in  particular  he 
writes  in  the  following  terms  to  his  nephew  :  "  Did 
my  friend  Sempill,  tiie  assertor  of  my  liberty,  visit  ynu 
m  passing?  If  he  did,  as  he  promised  he  would,  why 
have  you  not  said  a  word  about  him?  All  my  friends 
owe  much  to  him  on  my  account.  He  takes  a  warm 
interest  in  my  studies  as  well  as  in  the  welfare  of  my 
person  ;  and,  what  is  more,  I  am  persuaded  that  he 
takes  a  warm  interest  in  the  cause.  The  court  does 
not  contain  a  more  religious  man,  one  who  unites  in  a 
greater  degree  modesty  with  genius,  and  a  sound  judg- 
ment with  elegant  accomplishments.  In  procuring  for 
me  a  mitigation  of  my  imprisonment,  he  has  shown, 
both  by  words  and  deeds,  a  constancy  truly  worthy  of 
a  Christian.  If  you  meet  with  him  on  his  return  (for 
he  means  to  return  with  your  hero)  thank  him  on  my 


*  Melvini  Epistolfe,  p.  176,  184. 

+  Original  Lftter  to  Sir  James  Sempill  of  Beltrees:  MS.  in 
Archiv.  Eccl.  Scot.  vol.  xxviii.  num.  6. 

X  Thomas  Murray  was  tutor  and  secretary  to  Prinze  Charles, 
and   afterwards  provost  of  Eton  Coilepje.     He  was  the  son  of 

— Murray  of  Woodend.     (Douglas's  Baronage,  p.  286.) 

His  Latin  Poems,  which  were  published  separately,  are  includ- 
ed in  the  Delitim  Poetarum  Scotorum.  Various  tributes  were 
paid  to  him  by  the  poets  of  the  age.  (Leoohsei  Epigraniuiata, 
p.  38,44,  87.  "  Dumbari  Epigr.  p.  114.  Arc'..  Jonsloni  Poem.  p. 
281.  Middelb.  1642.)  In  the  year  1615,  an  attempt  was  made 
by  Archbishop  Gladstanes,  to  have  him  removed  from  the 
Prince,  "as  ill-affected  to  the  estate  of  the  kirk."  (Letters 
from  Archbishop  Spotswood,  to  Mr.  Murray  of  the  Bedcham- 
ber, January  30,  and  February  6,  1615.  Wodrow's  Life  of 
Spotswood,  p.  51,  52.)  His  appointment  to  be  Provost  of 
Eton  College,  in  the  year  1621,  was  opposed,  partly  on  sus- 
picions of  his  purltanism.  (Cabala,  p,  289,  290.)  He  died 
;'  anno  set.  59.  A.  D.  1623,  April  9;"  (Le  Neve,  Mon.  Ang.  vol. 
).  p.  86:)  and  left  behind  him  five  sons  and  two  daughters. 
(Latter  will,  extracted  from  Registry  of  the  Prerogative  Court 
of  Canterbury.) 

2T 


account;  for  he  will  not  rest  satisfied  until  he  has 
effected  my  liberation  completely."  * 

In  the  month  of  February,  1611,  Melville  received  a 
letter  from  the  Duke  of  Bouillon,  stating  that  he  had 
procured  his  release  from  the  Tower,  and  inviting  him 
to  Sedan, -j"  On  this  occasion  he  felt  great  embarrass- 
ment as  to  pecuniary  matters.  The  government  was 
so  illiberal  as  to  make  him  no  allowance  for  bearing 
his  expenses.  He  had  been  obliged  to  support  him- 
self in  the  Tower,  where  every  individual  who  per- 
formed the  smallest  service  expected  to  be  rewarded 
according  to  the  rank  of  the  prisoner.  His  finances 
were  so  much  exhausted  that  he  could  not  fit  himself 
out  for  making  an  appearance  in  a  foreign  country 
suited  to  his  station  and  connexions.  And  his  nephew, 
on  account  of  certain  extraordinary  expenses  which  he 
had  lately  incurred,  felt  himself  unable  to  relieve  him. 
The  urgency  of  his  necessities  and  the  delicacy  of  his 
feelings,  are  well  described  in  a  letter  written  by  him 
at  this  time  to  James  Melville,  relating  to  a  collection 
which  his  friends  in  Scotland  proposed  to  make  for 
him.  "  Our  friend  of  Ely  (says  he)  writes  to  me  that 
I  owe  much  to  our  brother  at  Stirling;  referring,  I 
suppose,  to  the  collection  which  has  been  so  much 
talked  of,  and  which,  I  am  afraid,  must  be  viewed  in 
the  light  of  an  exaction  rather  than  a  voluntary  offer- 
ing, and  a  gift  to  men  rather  than  God.  I  know  that 
lam  under  great  obligations  to  Patrick,:|:  both  on  pub- 
lic and  private  grounds.  But  my  nature  will  not  suf- 
fer me,  as  the  orator  says,  to  enrich  myself  from  the 
spoils  of  others,  and  especially  of  strangers  on  whom 
I  have  no  claims.  I  acknowledge  that  it  is  not  unrea- 
sonable that  my  necessities  should  be  relieved  by  such 
of  my  brethren  as  are  able  and  willing,  considering 
that  [  am  reduced  to  these  straits  not  for  any  evil  that 
I  have  done,  but  for  the  public  cause  of  Christ  which 
they  profess  in  common  with  me.  '  It  is  more  blessed 
to  give  than  to  receive'  is  an  apostolical  saying,  which 
it  is  easier  to  use  and  act  upon  when  fortune  flows  than 
when  it  ebbs.  As  it  is  the  mark  of  a  haughty  mind 
to  spurn  the  benevolence  of  brethren,  so,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  does  not  suit  my  disposition  to  grasp  at  mo- 
ney which  has  been  wheedled  from  a  miscuous  multi- 
tude by  fair  and  flattering  speeches.  Necessity,  you 
will  say,  has  no  law.  But  what  necessity  can  be  so 
great  as  to  warrant  one  to  compromise  the  character 
of  a  good  man,  or  to  sacrifice  one's  reputation  ?  To 
sound  a  trumpet  in  bestowing  a  favour  betrays  osten- 
tation ;  and  an  ingenuous  and  modest  person  will  not 
be  fond  of  having  a  noise  made  at  the  rectivrng  &f  a 
favour.  It  was  always  my  desire  to  be  concealed  in 
the  crowd,  even  when  the  field  of  honour  appeared  to 
ripen  before  me.  But  I  act  a  foolish  part  in  reasoning 
so  stoically  about  gifts  of  which  nothing  has  yet 
reached  me  but  the  sound.  I  will  not  purchase  hope; 
nor  will  I  ever,  on  my  own  account,  extort  money  hj 
eucharistical  letters.  What  I  am  requested  to  do  is, 
to  give  thanks  to  Simpson  and  Gillespie,  (both  of  them 
most  deserving  men,)  and  to  their  flocks,  with  the 
view  of  stimulating  them  to  the  makingf  of  a  collec- 
tion. This,  if  not  a  preposterous,  is  certainly  not  a 
very  honourable  course.  I  could  do  many  tilings  for 
others  which  I  would  blush  to  do  for  myself.  Advise 
me  how  to  act,  or  rather  take  the  management  of  the 
business  into  your  own  hands.  You  know  how  utterly 
unpractised  I  am  in  such  affairs."  ||'     The   collection 

*  Melvini  Epistolae,  p.  78.  Three  epigrams  by  Melville  are 
prefixed  to  a  work  against  Selden  by  Sir  James  Sempill,  entitled, 
"  Sacriledge  sacredly  handled — Lond.  1619."  4to.  Sir  James 
was  the  author  of  "^Cassandra  Scoticana  to  Cassander  Anglira- 
nus;"  (see  above,  p.  195;)  and,  in  part,  at  least,  of  a  satirical 
poem  against  the  church  of  Rome,  called,  the  Packman's  Pater 
Noster." — Robert  Boyd  of  Trochrig,  in  mentioning  Sempill's 
death,  February  1S25,  extols  his  character  and  his  friendship 
for  Melville.  (Wodrow's  Life  of  Boyd,  p.  148.) 

+  Cald.  vii.  466. 

t  Patrick  Symson,  minister  of  Stirling. 

II  Melvini  Epist.  p.  167— 170.        --^       -i 


346 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


was  made  and  remitted  to  him  ;  but  it  came  so  late  as 
almost  to  prove,  as  he  expresses  it,  moutarde  apres 
diner.  * 

His  health  had  hitherto  remained  uncommonly 
good  ;  but  it  began  at  last  to  suffer  from  confinement, 
and  he  was  seized  with  a  fever.  On  the  certificate  of 
the  physicians  he  was  permitted  to  leave  the  Tower, 
and  to  enjoy  the  free  air  for  a  few  days  within  ten 
miles  of  London.  But  he  was  prohibited  from  coming 
near  the  court  of  the  King,  Queen,  or  Prince.f  During 
this  interval  he  was  visited  by  the  Earl  of  Cassilis, 
who  insisted  on  making  another  attempt  to  procure 
liberty  for  him  to  return  to  his  native  country.  But 
although  his  lordship  exerted  all  his  influence,  the 
terms  dictated  by  the  court  were  so  hard  that  Melville 
rejected  them  at  once.  %  Some  of  the  Scottish  bishops 
who  happened  to  be  in  London  joined  in  the  Earl's 
application  ;  and  Spots  wood  went  so  far  as  to  request, 
publicly  on  his  knees,  that  Melville  might  be  sent  to 
the  University  of  Glasgow.  His  Majesty  humoured 
the  farce,  by  turning  to  his  courtiers,  and  extolling  the 
Christian  spirit  which  the  archbishop  displayed  in 
interceding  for  the  capital  enemy  of  his  order.  || 

Having  recovered  his  health,  Melville  sailed  for 
France,  after  having  been  a  prisoner  in  the  Tower  for 
the  space  of  four  years.  Before  going  aboard  the  ves- 
sel he  wrote  the  following  hasty  lines  to  his  affectionate 
nephew : 

"  My  dear  son,  my  dear  James,  farewell,  farewell  in 
the  Lord,  with  your  sweet  Melissa.  I  must  now  go  to 
other  climes.  Such  is  the  pleasure  of  my  divine  and 
heavenly  Father;  and  I  look  upon  it  as  a  fruit  of  his 
paternal  love  towards  me.  Why  should  I  not,  when 
he  has  recovered  rne  from  a  sudtlen  and  heavy  distem- 
per, and  animates  me  to  the  journey  by  so  many  tokens 
of  his  favour  1  Now  at  length  I  feel  the  truth  of  the 
presage  which  I  have  frequently  pronounced,  That  it 
behoved  rne  to  confess  Christ  on  a  larger  theatre; 
which,  so  far  as  it  may  yet  be  un&lfilled,  shall  soon,  I 
auffur,  receive  a  complete  verification.  In  the  mean 
time  I  retain  you  in  my  heart,  nor  shall  any  thing  in 
this  life  be  dearer  to  me,  after  &od,  than  you.  The 
excellent  Capel  has  in  the  most  friendly  manner  re- 
commended you  by  letter  to  the  Duke  of  Bouillon,  but 
has  as  yet  received  no  answer.  To-day  I  set  out  on 
my  journey  under  the  auspices  of  Heaven  :  May  God 
in  his  mercy  give  it  a  prosperous  issue.  Join  with  me 
in  supplicating  that  it  may  turn  out  to  his  glory  and  the 
profit  of  his  church.  Although  I  have  no  uneasiness 
about  my  library,  yet  I  must  request  you  to  charge 
those  who  are  intrusted  with  its  keeping  to  be  carefiil 
of  it,  both  for  my  sake,  and  for  the  sake  of  the  church, 
to  which  I  have  dedicated  myself  and  all  my  property. 
Who  knows  but  we  may  yet  meet  again  to  give  thanks 
publicly  to  God  for  all  his  benefits  to  us  1  Why  should 
we  not  cherish  the  hope  of  better  daiys ;  seeing  the 
fraud  and  pride  of  our  enemies  have  brought  us  to  a 
condition  which  appears  to  prognosticate  the  ruin  of 
the  lately-reared  fabric?  Our  thrae  pretended  bishops 
affirm  that  they  urged,  and  on  their  knees  supplicated 
his  Majesty  to  restore  me  to  my  native  country ;  but 
you  know  the  disposition  of  the  men,  and  what  was 
the  drift  of  their  request.  In  the  mean  time  write  to 
me  freqipntly  by  Capel  concerning  every  thing,  and 
especial^  wkat  is  doing  respecting  the  ecclesiastical 
history.  I  am  much  grieved  at  the  imprisonment  of 
my  young  friend  Balfour,  your  sister's  son  ;  if  I  can 
procure  his  liberty,  by  the  assistance  of  foreigners,  T 
shall  look  upon  it  as  a  favour  conferred  on  myself. 
The  vessel  is  under  weigh,  and  I  am  called  aboard. 
My  salutations  to  all  friends.  The  grace  of  God  be 
with  you  always.     From  the  Tower  of  London — just 


embarking— on  the  day  after  the  funeral  of  your  M«- 
cenas,  the  19th  of  April,  1611. 

Yours  as  his  own,  in  the  Lord, 
ANDREW  MELVILLE."* 


•  Mclvini  Epistolae,  p.  1T6, 185.  f  Cald.  vii.  p.  466. 

J  Melvini  Epistolae,  p.  295. 

11  Row's  Hiit.  p.  348,  349.  We  can  be  at  no  los«  in  judging 
of  Spotswood'g  sincerity  on  this  occagion,  after  reading  what 
be  bsi  laid  of  Melville's  banishment,  in  his  History,  p.  499, 500. 


CHAPTER  X 1611—1622. 

Melville's  Reception  in  France — Scotchmen  in  the  Protest- 
ant Universities  there — University  of  Sedan — Melville's  Em- 
plovnient  in  it — His  Correspondence  with  his  Kephew — 
Death  of  Robert  W'ilkie  and  John  Jonston — Melville  leaves 
Sedan  for  a  short  time — Intelligence  from  Scotland — Con- 
stancy of  Forbes  and  other  banished  Ministers — Death  of 
James  Melville — Scottish  Students  at  Sedan — Melville  op- 
poses the  Arminian  Sentiments  of  Tilenus — His  Opinion  of 
the  Articles  of  Perth  Assembly — Changes  on  University  of 
St.  Andrews — Defence  of  the  Scottish  Church  against  'file- 
nijs — Melville's  Health  declines — His  Death — Character  and 
Writings. 

On  landing  in  France,  Melville  stopped  for  a  short 
time  at  Rouen.  At  Paris  he  was  affectionately  re- 
ceived by  one  of  his  scholars,  George  Sibbald  of  Ran- 
keillor-Lover  and  Giblistoun,  who  was  then  prosecuting 
his  studies  in  the  French  capital,  and  who,  after  ta- 
king the  degree  of  doctor  in  medicine  at  Padua,  spent 
his  time  and  fortune  in  promoting  hterature  and  sci- 
ence in  his  native  country. f  He  was  also  hospitably 
entertained  by  Du  Moulin,  the  well-known  protestant 
minister  of  Paris,  who  was  greatly  pleased  with  the 
learning  which  he  displayed  in  conversation.  The 
Frenchman  had  heard  that  lie  was  un  peu  cokre,  and 
therefore  was  afraid  to  enter  with  him  on  a  controversy 
which  was  then  keenly  agitated  among  the  Protestants 
of  France.  These  fears  were  however  groundless; 
for  Melville's  sentiments  on  that  subject  were  very 
moderate.  After  remaining  a  few  days  in  Paris,  he 
repaired  to  Sedan,  and  was  admitted  to  the  place  des- 
tined for  him  in  the  university. :f: 

The  protestants  of  France  had  at  this  time  six  uni- 
versities ;  Montauban,  Saumur,  Nismes,  Montpellier, 
Die,  and  Sedan. ||  Besides  these,  they  had  fifteen  col- 
leges, erected  in  other  parts  of  the  kingdom,  in  which 
languages,  philosophy,  and  belles  lettres  were  taught.§ 
The  number  of  Scotchmen  who  taught  in  these  semi- 
naries was  great.  They  were  to  be  found  in  all  the 
universities  and  colleges;  in  several  of  them  they  held 
the  honorary  situation  of  Principal ;  and  in  others  they 
amounted  to  a  third  part  of  the  Professors.  Most  of 
them  had  been  educated  under  Melville  at  St.  An- 
drews.f^ 

Th€  territory  of  Sedan  and  Raucourt  had  long  form- 
ed a  separate  principality,  governed  by  its  own  laws, 
under  the  Dukes  of  Bouillon,  who  were  petty  sov- 
ereigns, but  subject  to  the  crown  of  France.  About 
the  year  1578,  a  university  was  erected  in  the  town  of 


«  Melvini  Epistolae.  n.  188—190. 

t  Sibbald  expresses  his  eagerness  to  see  Melville,  after  his 
long  imprisonment,  in  the  beautiful  wonls  of  Horace,  IH  maitr 
Juvenem,  &c.  (Letter  to  Boyd  of  Trochrig,  May  14,  1611: 
Wodrow's  Life  of  Boyd.  p.  53.)  Dr.  George  Sibbald  is  men- 
tioned in  Inquis.  Retornat.  Spec.  Fife,  num.  118.  Comp.  num. 
123.  Vita  Arct.  Johnstoni:  Poet.  Scot.  Musae  Sacrae,  torn.  i.  p. 
XXX.  xlix.  Ixiv.  Dumbari  Epigram,  p.  183.  There  are  a  num- 
ber of  his  MSS.  in  the  Advocate?  Library  at  Edinburgh.  His 
only  printed  work,  as  far  as  I  know,  besides  his  academical 
theses,  is  "  Rcgulae  bene  et  salubriter  virendi — Edinb.  1701;" 
published  by  his  nephew,  Sir  Robert  Sibbald.  He  married 
.4nna  de  Maliverne,  a  French  lady,  ard  the  relict  of  Robert 
Boyd  of  Trochrig.  (General  Register  of  Deeds,  vol.  DLV.  f. 
39,  b;  and  vol.  dlxxxl  12th  April,  1653.) 

}  Letter  from  Du  Moulin  to  Boyd  of  Trochrig,  May  29, 
1611 :  Wodrow's  Life  of  Robert  Boyd,  p.  56. 

II  Quick's  Synodicon,  vol.  i.  p.  330.  382,  387,  388.  This  is 
exclusive  of  those  of  Pau,  Orthes  and  Lescar  (the  two  last  were 
united)  in  the  king<lom  of  Navarre  and  Beam. 

J  Quick's  Synodicon,  vol.  i.  p.  275,  380,  388. 

\  It  was  my  intention  to  subjoin,  in  the  notes,  an  account  of 
•uch  Scotchmen  as  were  teachers  in  the  protestant  academies 
of  France;  but  I  find  that  there  is  not  room  for  it 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


847 


Sedan  by  Robert  de  la  Marck,  Duke  of  Bouillon.*  By 
marrying  his  only  child,  Henry  de  la  Tour,  Viscount 
of  Turenne,  had  succeeded  to  his  titles  and  domains. | 
He  proved  a  great  patron  to  the  university,  which  was 
supported  partly  by  his  munificence,  and  partly  by  a 
sum  of  money  annually  allotted  to  it  from  the  funds  of 
the  National  Synod.  It  had  professorships  of  Theol- 
ogy, Hebrew,  Greek,  Law,  Philosophy,  and  Human- 
ity.|;  Walter  Donaldson,  a  native  of  Aberdeen,  and 
known  as  the  author  of  several  learned  works,  was 
Principal  and  Professor  of  Natural  and  Moral  Philoso- 
phy, during  all  the  time  that  Melville  was  in  the  Uni- 
versity. [|  Another  of  his  countrymen,  John  Smith, 
was  also  a  Professor  of  Philosophy. §  James  Capel- 
lus,  one  of  the  ministers  of  Sedan,  taught  the  Hebrew 
class.  Though  not  so  acute  and  bold  a  critic  as  his 
brother  Lewis,  he  was  possessed  of  extensive  learning, 
and  lived  on  terms  of  great  intimacy  with  Melville-Tf 
The  Professor  of  Divinity  was  Daniel  Tilenus,  a  na- 
tive of  Silesia,  who,  having  come  to  France  in  his 
youth,  recommended  himself  to  the  chief  persons 
among  the  Protestants  by  his  conduct  as  tutor  to  the 
Lord  of  Laval,  and  as  a  writer  in  defence  of  the  re- 
formed cause.**  The  profession  of  Divinity,  which 
Tilenus  had  hitherto  sustained  alone.  Was  now  divided 
between  him  and  Melville.  The  former  taught  the 
system  while  the  latter  prelected  on  the  Scriptures, 
Each  delivered  three  lectures  in  the  week,  and  they 
presided  alternately  in  the  theological  disputations. f| 
In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1612,  Melville  was 
gratified  by  receiving  an  affectionate  letter  from  his 
nephew.  "Ah,  my  dear  father  !  Are  you  well  1  where 
are  you?  what  are  you  doing?  do  you  still  remember 
me?  I  have  almost  forgotten  you  for  some  months, 
so  much  has  my  attention  been  occupied  with  my  pe- 
tition to  the  King.  I  have  received  for  answer,  that 
I  can  have  no  hopes  but  in  the  way  of  yielding  an  ab- 
solute submission  to  the  decrees  of  the  late  assembly 
at  Glasgow  :  so  that  I  despair  of  returning  to  my  na- 
tive country."     Before  he  had  an  opportunity  of  an- 


*  Emanuel  Tremellius  was  professor  of  Hebrew  at  Sedan 
when  he  died  in  1580.  (Melch.  Adami  Vi<ae  Exter.  Theol.  p. 
143.     Teissier,  Eloges,  in.  179.) 

t  Marsollier,  Histoire  de  Henry  de  la  Totir>  Due  d«  Bouillon, 
p.  139,  167,  173.  Vie  de  Mornay  du  Plessis,  p.  153,219.  La- 
val, Hist,  of  the  Reform,  in  France,  vi.  879. 

I  Quick,  i.  330,  342.  Bayle,  Diet.  art.  Petrol,  J^icole. 
Bayle  had  been  a  professor  at  Sedan.  Henry  IV.  allotted 
45,000  crowns  annually  to  the  National  Synod ;  and  Lewis  XIII. 
added  45,000  livres.  In  1609,  the  Synocl  granted  to  the  Uni- 
versity of  Sedan  1500Z.,  of  which  ^Wil.  was  to  be  given  to  the 
Professor  of  Divinity.  The  annual  sum  g;iven  to  it  from  1612 
to  1620  was  4000L  (Aymons,  Synodes,  Nationaux  des  Eglises 
Reform,  de  France,  torn,  i,  p.  378.) 

II  Donaldsoni  Synopsis  (Economica,  Praefat.  Paris.  1620.  Two 
other  works  of  his  are  mentioned  in  Bayle.  Diet.  art.  Donald- 
son, Gualter.  He  is  called  "  Poeta  Laureatus,"  (Leochaei  Epi- 
gram, p.  21,)  that  is,  one  who  had  taken  a  degree  in  grammar 
and  rhetoric.  "Walterus  Donaldson  armiger,  utriusque  juris 
doctor  apud  Rupellam  in  Gallia,  natus  in  abredonia — fuit  filins 
legitinius  Alexandri  Donaldson  arniigeri  (ex  nobilissima  et  an- 
tiquissima  faniilia  donaldorum  in  regno  nostro  Scofiie  oriund.) 
et  Elizabethas  Lamb  quae  fuit  filia  legitima  Davidis  Lamb,  Ba- 
ronis  de  Dunkenny."  (Lkene  Prosapiae  Alexri  Donaldson 
Medicinfe  Docloris,  dat.  Edin.  Nov.  15.  1642:  MS.  in  Bibl. 
Jurid.  Edin.  W.  6.  26.  p.  21.  Conf.  A.  3. 19.  num.  116.) 

}  Steph.  Morinus,  Vita  Sam.  Bocharti,  p.  2;  apud  Bocharti 
Opera,  torn.  i. 

IT  Colomesii  Gallia  Orientalis,  p.  157,223.  Colomies  says: 
"  Ludovicus  Capellus,  Jacobi  unicus  frater."  But  in  a  letter 
lo  Boyd  of  Trochrig,  Ludovicus  calls  Aaron  Capel  of  London 
his  brother.  Wodrow's  Life  of  Boyd,  p.  80.)  There  are  two 
poems  by  Melville  prefixed  to  a  work  of  James  Capellus,  enti- 
tled "  Historia  Sacra  et  Exotica— Sedani  1613."  Capellus  in- 
troduces Melville's  opinion  on  a  question  which  he  discusses  in 
the  course  of  that  work,  calling  him  "  vir  doctissimus  et  col- 
lega  charissimus."  (Hist.  Sacr.  p.  236.  Wolfii  Curse  Crit.  in 
Nov.  Test.  torn.  iii.  p. 657.) 

**  Memoires  de  Mornay  du  Plessis,  torn.  ii.  p.  455,  456. 
Quick's  Synod,  vol.  i.  p.  187.  Epistres  Francaises  a  Mens,  de 
la  Scala,  p.  420. 

++  Mons.  de  Laune  to  Trochrig;  Sedan,  Nov.  20,  1611: 
Wodrow's  Life  of  Boyd,  p.  58. 


swering  this  letter,  Melville  received  two  letters  from 
the  same  quarter,  expressing  great  distress  at  not  hav- 
ing heard  from  him,  and  communicating  ample  intelli- 
gence respecting  the  state  of  matters  in  Scotland. 
The  bishops  were  triumphing  in  the  exercise  of  their 
newly-acquired  pre-eminence,  and  daily  received  fresh 
proofs  of  the  royal  favour.  A  remark  of  Chancellor 
Seaton  was  much  talked  of:  "  If  our  bishops  get  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  they  must  be  happy  men ;  for  they 
already  reign  on  earth."  Not  satisfied  with  ruling 
the  church-courts,  they  claimed  an  extensive  civil 
authority  within  their  dioceses.  The  burghs  were  de- 
prived of  their  privileges,  and  forced  to  receive  such 
magistrates  as  their  episcopal  superiors,  in  concert 
with  the  court,  were  pleased  to  nominate.*  No  oppo- 
sition was  at  this  time  made  to  them.  The  nation  had 
not  yet  recovered  from  the  terror  inspired  by  the 
threatening  proclamations  of  the  King,  and  the  des- 
potical  powers  of  the  High  Commission.  "  How 
shall  I  mention  the  state  of  our  church !  "  says  James 
Melville.  "  It  overwhelms  me  with  grief,  shame,  and 
confusion.  All  those  whose  duty  it  is  to  care  for  it 
have  laid  aside  their  concern.  The  pulpits  are  silent. 
A  deep  sleep  has  fallen  down  upon  our  prophets.  The 
hands  of  all  are  bound.  Issachar  crouches,  like  an 
ass  under  his  two  burdens.  The  pangs  of  death  are 
come  upon  mei  fear  and  trembling  have  seized  me: 
horror  covers  me.  O  that  I  had  the  wings  of  a  dove, 
that  I  might  fly,  that  I  might  wander  far  away,  and 
lodge  in  the  desert!  " 

James  Melville  informed  his  uncle  of  the  decease  of 
two  of  his  most  intimate  acquaintance  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  St.  Andrews.  "  The  father  of  St.  Leonard's 
College,  our  steady  friend  Wilkie,  has  happily  ended 
his  days.  He  has  left  all  his  property  to  the  college, 
and  nominated  our  acquaintance  Bruce  for  his  succes- 
sor, to  whom  he  kindly  commended  the  care  of  my 
John.  I  hope  your  muse  will  not  be  forgetful  of  that 
good  man  and  sincere  friend.  How  much  more  happy 
is  he  than  I !  But  I  trust  I  shall  not  be  long  in  fol- 
lowing him.  Indeed,  unless  you  had  survived  to  ani- 
mate me,  and  my  Melissa  had  watched  over  my  health, 
my  poor  soul,  pierced  with  wounds,  would  ere  now 
have  quitted  its  prison.  But  I  endure  by  the  strength 
of  God,  and  comfort  myself  with  your  words,  '  Who 
knows  but  we  may  yet  meet  again  ? '  Ah  !  when  will 
that  day  arrive  !  "  f — "  Your  colleague,  John  Jonston 
(says  he,  in  his  letter  of  the  25lh  November)  closed 
his  life  last  month.  He  sent  for  the  members  of  the 
university  and  presbytery,  'before  whom  he  made  a 
confession  of  his  faith,  and  professed  his  sincere  at- 
tachment to  the  doctrine  and  discipline  of  our  church, 
in  which  he  desired  to  die.  He  did  not  conceal  his 
dislike  of  the  late-erected  tyranny,  and  his  detestation 
of  the  pride,  temerity,  fraud,  and  whole  conduct  of  the 
bishops.  He  pronounced  a  grave  and  ample  eulogium 
on  your  instructions,  admonitions,  and  example;  crav- 
ing pardon  of  God  and  you  for  having  offended  you  in 
any  instance,  and  for  not  having  borne  more  meekly 


*  In  the  year  1609,  Archbishop  Spotswood  put  a  stop  to  the 
election  of  the  magistrates  of  Glasgow;  and  wrote  to  the  King 
in  the  following  terms:  "  In  all  humblenes  I  present  niy  opin- 
ion to  your  most  sacred  Majesty  that  it  may  be  your  Higroies 
gracions  pleasure  to  command  them  of  new  to  elect  the  Bail- 
lies  that  were  nominate  by  your  Majesty  in  j'our  first  letter,  and 
to  signify  that  it  is  your  Highnes  mind  that  they  have  no  Pro- 
vost at  this  time."  (MS.  in  Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.  M.  6.  9.  num.  65.) 
Two  years  after  he  treated  the  town  of  Ayr  in  the  same  man- 
ner. (Letter,  Spotswood  to  Beltrees,  Oct.  12, 1611 :  Wodrow's 
Life  of  Spotswood,  p.  36.)  Archbishop  Gladstanes,  in  a  letter 
to  the  King,  June  9,  1611,  says:  "  It  was  your  pleasure  and  di- 
rection,— that  I  should  be  possessed  with  the  like  privileges  in 
the  election  of  the  magistrats  there  (in  St.  Andrews,)  as  my 
lord  of  Glasgow  is  endued  with  in  that  his  city. — Sir,  whereas 
they  are  troublesome,  I  will  be  answerable  to  your  majesty  and 
Counsell  for  them,  after  that  I  be  possessed  of  my  right." 
(MS.  in  Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.  M.  6.  9.  num.  72.) 

+  This  letter  is  dated  July  15, 1611.  (Melvini  Epistolae,  p, 
193-196.) 


848 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


with  your  wholesome  and  friendly  anger.  As  a  me- 
morial, he  has  left  you  a  gilt  velvet  cap,  a  gold  coin, 
and  one  of  his  best  books.*  His  death  would  have 
been  a  most  mournful  event  to  the  church,  university, 
and  all  good  men,  had  it  not  been  that  he  has  for  seve- 
ral years  laboured  under  an  incurable  disejise,  and  that 
the  ruin  of  the  church  has  swallowed  up  all  lesser 
sorrows,  and  exhausted  our  tears."  f 

The  answers  which  Melville  returned  to  these  let- 
ters were  calculated  so  che^r  the  spirits  of  his  tender- 
hearted nephew.  "  Your  letter,  my  dear  James,  gave 
me  as  much  pleasure  as  it  is  possible  for  one  to  receive 
in  these  gloomy  and  evil  days.  We  must  not  forget 
the  apostolical  injunction,  '  Rejoice  always  :  rejoice  in 
hope.'  JVon  si  male  nunc,  et  ohm  erit.  Providence  is 
often  pleased  to  grant  prosperity  and  long  impunity  to 
those  whom  it  intends  to  punish  for  their  crimes,  in 
order  that  they  may  feel  more  severely  from  the  reverse. 

No  oracular  response  pronounced  from  the  tripod  of 
Apollo  was  ever  truer  than  this  couplet  of  Pindar.:}: 
It  is  easy  for  a  wicked  man  to  throw  a  commonwealth 
into  disorder:  God  only  can  restore  it.  Empires 
which  have  been  procured  by  fraud  cannot  be  stable 
or  permanent.  Pride  and  cruelty  will  meet  with  a  se- 
vere, though  it  may  be  a  late,  retribution;  and,  accord- 
ing to  the  Hebrew  proverb,  '  when  the  tale  of  bricks 
is  doubled,  Moses  comes.'  The  result  of  past  events 
is  oracular  of  the  future.  '  In  the  mount  of  the  Lord 
it  shall  be  seen.'  Why  then  exert  our  ingenuity  and 
labour  in  adding  to  our  vexation  ?  Away  with  fearful 
apprehensions  !"  The  following  quotation  is  a  speci- 
men of  the  familiar  and  classic  pleasantry  which  he 
was  accustomed  to  use  with  his  friends.  "  What  is 
the  profound  Dreamer  ||  (so  I  was  accustomed  to  call 
him  when  we  travelled  together  in  1584) — what  is 
our  Corydon  of  Haddington  about?  I  know  he  can- 
not be  idle  :  has  he  not  brought  forth  or  perfected  any 
thing  yet,  after  so  many  decades  of  years  ?  Tempus 
Atla  veniet  tua  quo  spoliahitur  arbos.  Let  me  know  if 
our  old  friend  Wallace  has  at  last  become  the  father 
of  books  and  bairns?  Menalcas  of  Cupar  on  the 
Eden§  is,  I  hear,  constant:  and  I  hope  he  will  prove 
vigilant  in  discharging  all  the  duties  of  a  pastor,  and 
not  mutable  in  his  friendships,  as  'too  many  discover 
themselves  to  be  in  these  cloudy  days.  Salute  him  in 
my  name;  as  also  Damoetas  of  Elie,  ^  and  our  friend 
Dykes,  with  such  others  as  you  know  to  'hold  the  be- 
ginning of  their  confidence  and  the  rejoicing  of  their 
hope  firm  to  the  end.'  And,  pray,  do  not  forget  my 
venerable  old  cousin,  who  must  now,  I  fear,  be  on  the 
brink  of  the  grave,  and  who  has  long  been  afflicted 
with  gout,  gravel,  and  colic.  When  I  came  to  this 
country  I  was  the  means  of  releasing  his  son  from 


*  "  Item,  I  leave  in  taikin  of  my  sinceir  lore  and  affectioun 
to  Mr.  Andre  Melvill  ane  fyne  new  Duche  cap  of  fyne  blak 
velvet,  lynit  wt  fyne  niartrik  skinneg."  (Testament  of  John 
Jonston.)     He  died  Oct.  20, 1611. 

t  Melvini  Kpist.  p.  196.  281.  There  are  five  of  Jonston's 
letters  printed  in  Camdeni  Epist.  p.  41,  75,95, 123, 127;  and  a 
number  of  his  poems  are  to  be  found  in  Canibden's  Britannia. 
In  Wodrow's  Life  of  Robert  Boyd  (p.  43, 47.  53,)  are  several  of 
his  letters,  and  particularly  one  containing  an  account  of  certain 
of  his  MSS.  which  he  sent  to  be  printed  at  Saumur.  He  mar- 
ried Catherine  Melville,  of  the  house  of  Carnbee.  (Appendix  to 
Lamont's  Diary,  p.  285.)  In  his  Consolatio  Christiana  (p.101-2) 
are  epitaphs  which  he  wrote  on  her  and  two  of  her  children. 
An  attempt  was  made  to  obtain  him  for  second  minister  of  Had- 
dington (Record  of  Presb.  of  Haddington,  Oct.  24,  1599; 
June  11,  and  18,  and  July  2,  1600.) 

t  Ari-^lotle  quotes  the'lines  as  from  a  poet  unknown.  (Rht- 
toric.  lib.  ii.  c.  24.  ed.  Goulstoni.)  They  are  included  in  the 
Pragmenta  of  Euripides.     (Eurip.  a  Beck,  torn.  ii.  p.  496.) 

II  •'  B«9u?f  >.i.  songecreux."  The  person  referred  to  is  James 
Carmichael,  mini.ster  of  Hadding;ton. 

{  William  Scot,  niinititer  of  Cupar  in  Fife. 

IT  John  Cannicliacl,  minister  of  Eiie. 


prison ;  and  1  still  look  for  his  letter  of  thanks.  It 
will  give  me  the  greatest  pleasure,  in  this  retirement 
of  mine,  to  hear  from  him  or  any  of  his  friends,  and  to 
be  informed  of  every  thing  about  them.  I  must  not 
forget  the  laird  of  Dysart,  the  present  chief  of  our 
family;  nor  the  baron  of  Rossie,  our  kinsman.  We 
old  men  daily  grow  children  again,  and  are  ever  and 
anon  turning  our  thoughts  back  on  our  cradles.  We 
praise  the  past  days  because  we  can  take  little  plea- 
sure in  the  present.  Suffer  me  then  to  dote  ;  for  1  am 
now  become  pleased  with  old  age,  although 'I  have 
lived  so  long  as  to  see  some  things  which  I  could  wish 
never  to  have  seen.'  I  try  daily  to  learn  something 
new,  and  thus  to  prevent  my  old  age  from  becoming 
listless  and  inert.  I  am  always  doing,  or  at  least  at- 
tempting to  do,  something  in  those  studies  to  which 
I  devoted  myself  in  the  younger  part  of  my  life.  Ac- 
cept this  long  epistle  from  a  talkative  old  man.  Loqui 
senibus  res  est  gratissima,  says  your  favourite  Palinge- 
nius,  the  very  mention  of  whose  name  gives  me  new 
life;  for  the  rege?ieraiion  *  forms  almost  the  sole  topic 
of  my  meditations,  and  in  this  do  I  exercise  myself 
that  I  may  have  my  conversation  in  heaven." — "  Your 
account  of  the  happy  death  of  my  colleague  Jonston 
filled  me  with  both  grief  and  joy.  He  was  a  man  of 
real  piety,  attached  to  the  purity  of  religion,  and  of  a 
most  courteous  disposition.  The  university  has  lost  a 
teacher,  the  church  a  member,  and  I  a  f.aeiid,  to  whom 
there  are  few  equal." — "  I  cannot  refrain  from  bewail- 
ing the  death  of  my  friend  Myrrha,  and  the  loss  which 
I,  in  common  with  all  good  men,  have  sustained  by  the 
removal  of  that  most  pious  woman,  t  How  dearly  I 
loved  her  you  know,  and  our  friend  Godscroft  knows 
better  than  any  other  man.  Remember  me  kindly  to 
him,  and  say  that  his  letter  and  poems  have  at  last 
reached  me.  Often  has  the  decease  of  that  choice 
woman  drawn  tears  from  my  eyes  since  I  received  the 
afflicting  tidings.  And  at  this  moment  my  grief  breaks 
out  afresh — but  I  restrain  myself."  X 

One  of  the  first  things  which  he  did  after  his  settle- 
ment at  Sedan  was  to  look  out  for  an  eligible  situation 
for  his  nephew.  But,  however  desirous  of  his  com- 
pany, he  was  obliged  to  discourage  him  from  coming 
to  the  continent.  "  I  know  (says  he)  you  will  do 
nothing  rashly  in  your  own  affair.  At  present  there  is 
no  room  for  you  here  either  in  the  church  or  academy. 
And  I  am  afraid  that  the  variableness  and  humidity  of 
the  climate  in  the  Low  Countries  would  be  injurious  to 
your  health.  Will  Mar  do  nothing  for  you  or  for  the  pub- 
lic cause?  Will  Lennox  do  nothing?  Nor  the  other 
noblemen  who  are  in  favour  with  his  Majesty  ?  What 
crime  have  you  committed  ?  What  has  the  Monarch 
now  to  dread  ?  Does  not  the  Primate  sit  in  triumph, 
traxitque  sub  asira  furorem  ?  What  is  there  then  to  hin- 
der you,  and  me  also,  (now  approaching  my  seventieth 
year,  and  consequently  emeritus,)  from  breathing  our 
native  air,  and,  as  a  reward  of  our  toils,  being  received 
into  the  Prytaneum,  to  spend  the  remainder  of  our 
lives,  without  seeking  to  share  the  honours  and  afflu- 
ence which  we  do  not  envy  the  pretended  bishops? 
We  have  not  been  a  dishonour  to  the  kingdom,  and  we 
are  allied  to  the  royal  family.  But  let  envy  do  its 
worst,  no  prison,  no  exile  shall  prevent  us  from  confi- 
dently expecting  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  || 

When  Melville  first  went  to  Sedan,  his  friends  in 
France  were  apprehensive  that  he  would  not  find  his 
situation  quite  comfortable. §     He  had  every  reason  to 


»   PaHngenesia. 

f  It  appears  from  a  letter  of  James  Melville  that  tbe  lady 
here  referred  to  was  a  sister  of  John  Murray,  minister  of  Leith. 
"Joannes  Murmus,  triumphantis  tuae  Myrrhac  frater,  et  Joannes 
Carus  Fndonsidius,  Johnsfoni  tui  nunc  in  coelo  ovantis,  gener: 
quiviri!"  (Melvini  EpistoUv,  p.  303.)  John  Murray  had  two 
sisters  married,  the  one  lo  Sir  Robert  Douglas  of  Spot,  and  the 
other  to  Sir  William  Moncrieff  of  that  Ilk.  (Douglas's  Ba- 
ronage, p.  45, 102.) 

t  Melvini  Kpistolae.  p.  290—295. 

II  Ibid .  p.  296.  \  Wodrow's  Life  of  Boyd,  p.  56. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


849 


be  satisfied  with  the  polite  and  munificent  behaviour 
of  the  Duke  of  Bouillon.*  But  the  number  of  students 
in  the  university  was  small.  His  colleanrne  Tilenus 
was  a  man  of  talents,  but  haughty  and  morose.  He 
•was  a  keen  stickler  for  the  peculiar  tenet  of  Piscator, 
and  some  other  opinions  which  were  generally  disliked 
by  the  French  ministers.  Melville  did  not  enter  into 
these  disputes,  and  treated  all  the  students,  whatever 
were  their  sentiments  respecting  them,  with  equal  ci- 
vility and  attention.  But  Tilenus  could  not  conceal 
his  antipathy  to  such  young  men  as  thought  differently 
from  himself,  or  who  came  from  academies  in  which 
his  opinions  were  rejected  ;  and  in  consequence  of  this 
many  of  them  left  Sedan  and  went  to  Saumur.f  In 
these  circumstances,  Melville  was  induced  to  listen  to 
the  proposals  of  Monsieur  de  Barsack,  Treasurer  of 
the  Parliament  of  Dauphiny,  who  wished  him  to  su- 
perintend the  education  of  his  three  sons.  An  annual 
salary  of  five  hundred  crowns  was  promised  him,  and 
he  was  to  be  allowed  either  to  reside  with  the  young 
men  at  Grenoble,  or  to  take  them  along  with  him  to  Die, 
provided  he  obtained  a  professorship  in  the  university 
which  was  established  in  that  town.  He  went  to 
Grenoble,  in  the  month  of  November,  1612,  to  make  a 
trial  of  the  situation  ;  but,  not  finding  it  agreeable,  he 
returned  within  a  short  time  to  Sedan,  j;. 

The  intelligence  which  he  received  on  returning 
from  Grenoble  was  not  of  a  cheering  description.  A 
letter  from  his  old  colleague  Welwood,  who  was  then 
at  London,  conveyed  to  him  the  melancholy  tidings  of 
the  death  of  Prince  Henry,  by  which  the  hopes  of  all 
good  men  in  Britain  and  on  the  continent  were  blast- 
ed. ||  Letters  from  his  nephew  at  Berwick  and  from 
Alexander  Hume  at  Prestonpans  informed  him,  that 
the  Parliament  of  Scotland  had,  in  compliance  with  a 
royal  injunction,  conferred  on  the  bishops  spiritual 
powers  more  extensive  than  those  which  they  had  pre- 
sumed to  ask  from  the  corrupt  and  servile  assembly  at 
Glasgow.  "  The  bishops  (says  Hume)  fret  because 
they  have  failed  in  procuring  for  his  Majesty  as  large 
a  subsidy  as  they  had  promised  him.  Their  employ- 
ment now  is  not  to  preach  Christ  but  the  King.  On 
the  Sabbath  before  the  meeting  of  Parliament  the 
bishops  of  Galloway  and  Brechin  told  the  people,  that 
the  King  had  a  right  not  only  to  their  property  but 
also  to  their  lives,  and  that  they  should  grudoe  no  sac- 
rifice for  one  who  was  the  defender  of  their  faith,  a 
confessor  and  a  semi-martyr.  Brechin  farther  exhort- 
ed the  women  to  retrench  their  superfluous  expenses  in 
dress,  and  the  men  to  avoid  excess  in  the  use  of  wine, 
that  they  might  have  it  in  their  power  to  give  the  more 
to  the  King.  Such  is  the  doctrine  of  our  episcopal 
church.  We  are  to  abstain  from  vice  not  as  vice,  but 
in  order  to  fill  the  royal  coflfers  !"§ 

The  reader  may  wish  to  learn  something  concerning 
Melville's  companions  in  exile — the  six  ministers  who 
were  banished  for  holding  the  assembly  at  Aberdeen. 
Strachan  sickened  and  died  at  Middleburg,  soon  after 
they  landed  on  the  continent.^  Welsh,  after  remain- 
ing for  some  time  at  Bourdeaux,  became  minister  of 
Jonsack,  in  the  province  of  Angoumois  ;  Duncan  was 
received  into  the  College  of  Rochelle  ;  Sharp  was  made 
professor  of  divinity  in  the  University  of  Die,  in  Dau- 


»  Melvini  P'.pistolEe,  p.  292. 

t  Melvini  Epistolae,  p.  293.  Letter  from  Mens,  de  Laune,  a 
student  at  Sedan:  in  Wodrow's  Life  of  Boyd,  p.  57,  58.  In 
the  year  1612  the  students  of  Sedan  did  not  amount  to  a  third 
of  those  of  Saumur,  who,  in  the  year  1606,  were  upwards  of 
400.     (Life  of  Boyd,  p.  28, 58.) 

I  Letter  from  G.  Sibbald  :  in  Wodrow's  Life  of  Boyd,  p.  .59. 

II  On  the  18th  of  February,  1613,  a  funeral  oration  on  Prince 
Henry,  by  Principal  Donaldson,  was  pronounced  in  the  hall  of 
the  College  of  Sedan,  before  a  great  assembly.  (Lacrynise 
Tvmulo  nvnqvani  satis  Lavdati  Herois  Henrici  Friderici  Stvarti 
— a  Gvaltero  Donaldsono  Scoto-Britanno — Sedani,  1613.    8vo.) 

{    Melvini    F.pist.    p.   312,  317—320.   Comp.  Lord  Hailes's 
Memor.  of  Brita'i',  vol.  i.  p.  40 — 48. 
If  Cald.  vii.  78. 


r 


phine.*  Forbes  and  Dury  settled  in  Holland  :  the 
former  was  preacher  to  the  English  merchants  at  Mid- 
dleburg, from  which  he  removed  to  Delft;  the  latter 
obtained  a  Scotch  congregation  in  Leyden.f  Melville 
kept  up  a  close  correspondence  with  the  two  last;  and, 
in  the  course  of  the  year  1612,  was  gratified  with  a 
visit  from  Forbes,  who  spent  several  weeks  at  Sedan, 
along  with  his  brother  Arthur,  an  oificer  in  the  Swe- 
dish service. :|: 

In  the  course  of  the  year  1613,  the  report  reached 
Melville  that  his  nephew  and  Bruce  had  made  their 
peace  with  the  King,  and  submitted  to  the  bishops. 
Strong  as  his  confidence  in  the  integrity  and  firmness 
of  both  of  these  individuals  was,  he  could  not  help 
feeling  uneasy  at  tliis  intelligence.  "  If  Bruce  and 
you  are  to  be  restored,  (says  he  in  a  letter  to  James 
Melville,)  what  is  to  be  done  with  me  1  What  is  to 
be  done  with  my  brethren,  who,  though  innocent,  suf- 
fered two  years  imprisonment,  and  have  lived  six  years 
in  this  country  as  exiles'?  I  know  not  what  persecu- 
tion is,  if  this  is  not. — Give  my  salutations  to  Bruce, 
and  tell  him  that  I  would  rather  hear  of  his  base  servi- 
tude than  see  it."||  His  apprehensions  were  removed 
by  letters  from  his  nephew.  Some  occasion  had  been 
given  for  the  report  which  he  had  heard.  The  peti- 
tions which  the  congregations  and  friends  of  the  ban- 
ished ministers  had  from  time  to  time  presented  in 
their  behalf,  were  now  supported  by  the  Chancellor 
and  several  of  the  nobility,  who  were  disgusted  with 
the  pride  of  the  upstart  prelates,  and  desirous  of  impo- 
sing a  check  on  their  ambition.  The  bishops  found  it 
necessary  to  join  in  these  petitions,  and  hoped  to  turn 
the  measure  to  their  own  account,  by  procuring  at  least 
a  partial  approbation  of  their  authority  from  some  of 
those  who  had  been  its  greatest  opponents.  Proposals 
were,  accordingly,  made  to  all  of  them,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  Melville.  Powerful  considerations  were 
not  wanting  to  induce  them  to  comply,  at  the  expense 
of  making  some  sacrifice  of  principle.  Several  of  them 
had  lost  their  health  abroad;  they  were  all  advanced 
in  life ;  they  had  families  ;  and  felt  passionately  at- 
tached to  their  native  country.  The  commutation  of 
capital  punishment  into  exile  is  regarded  as  an  act  of 
clemency;  and  if  obliged  to  choose  banishment  or 
death,  there  is  probably  none  who  would  not  prefer 
the  former.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  many  who  would 
willingly  have  laid  their  necks  on  the  block  rather 
than  comply  with  what  they  deemed  sinful,  have  had 
their  resolution  subdued  by  the  mitigated  but  slow  and 
exhausting  pains  of  imprisonment  or  exile. 

In  the  present  instance,  however,  all  the  ministers 
rejected  the  terms  offered  them.  The  sentiments  by 
which  they  were  actuated  in  coming  to  this  resolution, 
are  forcibly  expressed  by  Forbes  in  a  letter  to  James 
Melville.  "I  always  expected  (says  he)  some  pro- 
posal of  this  kind,  and  indeed  I  wonder  that  the  bish- 
ops have  deferred  making  it  so  long  after  the  estab- 
lishment of  their  tyranny.  The  only  way  of  account- 
ing for  the  delay  is,  by  supposing  that,  like  all  who 
are  conscious  of  being  embarked  in  a  bad  course,  they 
can  never  think  themselves  sufficiently  secured  against 
danger.  How  wretched  the  condition  of  these  men, 
who,  harassed  by  continual  fear  and  anxiety,  can  nei- 
ther do  well  without  us,  nor  yet  enjoy  our  company 
with  safety  !  What  wise  man  would  court  these  un- 
satisfactory and  precarious  honours,  which,  instead  of 
giving  peace  to  the  possessor,  torment  him  with  inces- 
sant apprehensions  !     Shall  we  then  confirm  what  they 

*  Melvini  Epist.  p.  16L  Wodrow's  Life  of  Robert  Boyd,  p. 
28,160,  173. 

f  Melvini  Epist.  p.  286,  329.  Forbesii  Comment,  in  Apoc. 
Pref.  Interp. 

t  Melvini  Epist.  p  306.  Sir  Arthur  Forbes  of  Castle  Forbes 
in  Ireland,  the  fourth  son  of  William  Forbes  of  Corse,  was  the 
ancestor  of  Earl  Grannard.  (Garden,  Vita  prefix.  Oper.  Joan- 
nis  Forbesii.  Lumsden's  (Jeiicaloeie  of  the  Family  of  Forbes, 
p.  21—23.)  II  Melvini  Epist.  p.  308  309. 


350 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


feel  to  be  so  vain,  by  a  single  word,  or  the  slightest 
mark  of  our  approbation  1  God  forbid  that  a  cause 
which  is  destitute  of  intrinsic  strength,  and  the  innate 
excellence  of  virtue,  should  receive  from  us  a  prop  to 
its  weakness,  or  a  covering  to  its  turpitude  !  Suffer 
the  self-convicted  rogues  to  walk  on  their  own  feet, 
and  we  shall  soon  see  them  fall  by  their  own  act.  Let 
us  not  fear  their  wiles,  but  turn  our  eyes  to  Him  who, 
sitting  above,  governs  all  things,  and  overrules  them 
to  the  good  of  those  who  love  him.  He  that  shall 
come  will  come  witiiout  delay,  and  will  cleanse  his 
floor,  and  consume  the  chaff  and  rubbish  with  the  fire 
of  his  wrath.  I  have  been  grieved,  but  not  staggered 
at  the  weakness  of  A.  D.*  who  has  '  suffered  so  many 
things  in  vain.'  He  will  not  add  to  the  strength  of 
those  to  whom  he  has  gone  over,  nor  will  he  weaken 
us  whom  he  has  deserted.  The  crown  which  he  has 
taken  from  his  own  head  he  has  placed  on  ours.  I 
am  not  moved  by  the  foolish  judgment  of  vain  court- 
iers, nor  by  the  empty  triumphs  of  the  bishops  :  such 
winds  cannot  shake  the  foundation  on  which  we  rest. 
If  they  appear  for  a  time  to  be  victorious,  they  shall 
feel  at  last  that  those  who  vanquish  in  a  bad  cause, 
vanquish  to  their  ruin.  At  the  same  time  we  ought 
not  rashly  to  contemn  the  peace  and  liberty  offered  us 
in  the  name  of  the  prince.  But  if,  under  the  external 
mask  of  liberty,  they  seek  to  draw  us  into  a  slavery 
worse  not  only  than  imprisonment  and  exile,  but  than 
the  loss  of  life  itself,  we  are  not  to  purchase  the  liberty 
of  our  bodies  by  the  enthralling  of  our  souls.  I  had 
rather  remain  the  captive  of  a  legitimate  sovereign  than 
become  the  servant  of  illegitimate  lords.  I  esteem  it 
more  honourable  to  carry  the  chains  of  a  lawful  king 
than  to  wear  the  insignia  of  usurping  prelates.  In  the 
former  easel  am  a  witness  with  Christ  in  the  hope  of 
his  glory  :  in  the  latter,  perjured  and  an  associate  with 
wicked  men,  I  would  be  found  attempting  to  rebuild 
the  city  which  had  been  thrown  down  and  laid  under  a 
curse,  would  share  of  her  plagues,  and  be  involved  in 
her  ruin.  Pardon  my  boldness.  It  would  have  be- 
come a  son  to  be  more  modest  in  writing  to  a  father. 
But  grief  and  indignation  at  the  present  deplorable  state 
of  affairs,  and  at  the  hard  condition  of  good  men  who 
cannot  obtain  corporal  liberty  without  submitting  to 
spiritual  bondage,  have  unconsciously  drawn  these  re- 
flections from  my  pen."t 

Melville  must  have  been  gratified  with  the  spirit 
which  breathed  in  this  letter.  He  could  not  despair 
of  the  liberties  of  his  country  as  long  as  they  had  such 
friends  as  Forbes.  Under  the  mortifications  which  he 
felt  at  the  ingralfltude  of  the  public,  and  the  defection 
of  the  greater  part  of  those  who  had  received  their  edu- 
cation under  him,  he  could  not  say  that  he  "  spent  his 
strength  for  nought  and  in  vain,"  when  he  had  been 
the  means  of  training  up  a  few  individuals  of  such  rare 
virtue  and  constancy.  The  next  letter  which  he  wrote 
t«  his  nephew,  shews  how  much  the  late  intelligence 
from  Scotland  had  cheered  him.  "  I  cannot  but  hope 
for  every  thing  good  from  Bruce.  The  court-rumours 
are  vain  and  calumnious,  especially  with  respect  to  he- 
roes like  him,  adorned  with  every  virtue.  I  am  anx- 
ious to  hear  good  accounts  of  Patrick  Simson,  the 
faithful  bishop  of  Stirling,  and  a  few  others  of  the 
same  stamp  with  him.  Godscroft  has  written  to  me 
once  and  again,  ardently,  vehemently.  I  love  the  sin- 
cere zeal  and  undaunted  spirit  of  that  excellent  man 
and  most  upright  friend.  Would  to  God  that  the 
equestrian,  not  to  say  the  ecclesiastical,  order  could 
boast  of  many  Godscrofts  !^     Our  friend  Welwood  has 


*  This  probably  refers  to  Andrew  Duncan,  who  had  been 
latelj  allowed  to  return  from  banishment  in  consequence  of  his 
making  some  acknowledgments  to  the  King  respecting  the  As- 
sembly held  at  Aberdeen.  (Cald.  vii.  500^503.)  He  was  af- 
terwards prosecuted  before  the  Hij^h  Conmiission,  and  impris- 
oned for  nonconformity  to  the  Articles  of  Perth.  (Wodrow's 
Life  of  Andrew  Duncan,  p.  4 — 1 1.      Printed  Cald.  p.  730,  764.) 

t  Melvini  Epist.  p.  326—329. 

t  This  refers  to  the  letters  which  David  Hume  of  Godscroft 


also  written  to  me  ;  but  at  present  it  is  not  in  my  pow- 
er, nor  do  I  reckon  it  prudent  to  reply  to  them  accord- 
ing to  their  desire.  You  know  my  disposition  long 
ago.  I  am  unwilling,  for  the  mere  purpose  of  making 
a  shew  of  good-will,  to  gratify  my  friends  in  such  a 
way  as  may  involve  them  in  trouble,  even  although 
they  request  it  of  me.  The  Lord,  on  whom,  and  not 
on  the  pleasure  or  wishes  of  men,  I  depend  wholly, 
has  his  own  times.  I  keep  all  my  friends  in  my  eye: 
I  carry  them  in  my  bosom  :  I  commend  them  to  the 
God  of  mercy  in  my  daily  prayers.  What  comes  to 
my  hand  I  do  :  I  fill  up  my  station  to  the  best  of  my 
ability  :  my  conversation  is  in  heaven  :  I  neither  im- 
portune nor  deprecate  the  day  of  my  death  :  I  maintain 
my  post :  I  aspire  after  things  divine:  about  those 
which  are  human  I  give  myself  little  trouble.  In  fine, 
I  live  to  God  and  the  church  :  I  do  not  sink  under  ad- 
versity :  I  reserve  myself  for  better  days.  My  mind  is 
prepared  by  the  grace  of  God,  and  strong  in  the  Lord, 
for  who.«e  sake  I  am  not  afraid  to  meet  death  in  that 
new  and  living  way  which  he  hath  consecrated,  and 
which  leads  to  heaven  alike  from  every  quarter  of  the 
globe."* 

A  letter  from  Sir  James  Fullerton,  which  he  received 
in  the  month  of  April,  1614,  gave  a  shock  to  his  feel- 
ings which  it  required  all  his  fortitude  to  bear.  His 
dearest  friend,  and  most  affectionate  and  dutiful  ne- 
phew, James  Melville,  was  no  more.  His  health  had 
for  some  time  been  in  a  state  of  decline,  which  was 
accelerated  by  grief  at  the  issue  of  public  affairs  in 
Scotland,  which  his  extreme  sensibility  disposed  him 
to  brood  over  with  too  intense  and  exclusive  an  inter- 
est. In  consequence  of  the  importunity  of  his  friends 
and  an  apparently  earnest  invitation  from  archbishop 
Gladstanes,  he  set  out  for  Edinburgh,  in  the  beginning 
of  the  year  1614,  to  arrange  matters  for  his  return  to 
Kilrinny,  or,  if  this  was  found  impracticable,  to  resign 
his  charge  and  make  permanent  provision  for  that  par- 
ish. But  he  had  not  gone  far  when  he  was  taken  so 
ill  as  to  be  unable  to  proceed  on  the  journey,  and  with 
difficulty  returned  to  Berwick.  The  medicines  pre- 
scribed by  the  physicians  failed  in  arresting  the  pro- 
gress of  the  distemper,  which  soon  exhibited  alarming 
symptoms.  He  received  the  intimation  of  his  danger 
with  the  most  perfect  composure,  and  told  his  friends 
that  he  was  not  only  resigned  to  the  will  of  God,  but 
satisfied  that  he  could  not  die  at  a  more  proper  season. 
On  Wednesday  the  19th  of  January,  he  "  set  his  house 
in  order;"  and  all  his  children  being  present,  except 
his  son  Andrew,  (who  was  prosecuting  his  theological 
studies  at  Sedan,)  he  gave  them  his  dying  charge  and 
parental  blessing.  His  friend  Joshua  Dury,  minister 
of  St.  Andrews,  and  Patrick  Hume  of  Ayton,  a  gentle- 
man who  had  shown  him  great  kindness  during  his 
residence  at  Berwick,  waited  by  his  bed-side.  The 
greater  part  of  his  time  was  spent  in  prayer.  When 
he  mentioned  the  Church  of  Scotland,  he  prayed  for 
repentance  and  forgiveness  to  those  who  had  caused 
a  schism  in  it  by  overturning  its  reformed  discipline; 
and,  addressing  those  around  him,  he  said  :  "  In  my 
life  I  ever  detested  and  resisted  the  hierarchy,  as  a 
thing  unlawful  and  antichristian,  for  which  I  am  an 
exile,  and  I  take  you  all  to  witness  that  I  die  in  the 
same  judgment."  He  made  particular  mention  of  his 
uncle  at  Sedan ;  gave  him  a  high  commendation  for 
learning,  but  still  more  for  courage  and  constancy  in 
the  cause  of  Christ;  and  prayed  that  God  would  con- 
tinue and  increase  the  gifts  bestowed  on  him.  In  the 
midst  of  the  acute  pain  which  he  endured  during  that 
night  and  the  succeeding  morning,  he  expressed  his 


had  written  to  bishops  Law  and  Cowper  in  defence  of  Presby- 
tery. Wodrow  has  collected  a  number  of  them  in  his  Life  of 
Hume,  p.  18—40,  and  in  his  Appendix  to  the  Life  of  Cowper. 
'•  I  wish  they  were  printed,  (says  James  Melville,)  one  would 
scarcely  desire  to  see  any  thing  better  on  the  subject."  (Mel- 
vini Epist.  p.  194.) 
•  Melvini  Epist.  p.  325. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE 


351 


resignation  and  confidence  chiefly  in  the  language  of 
Scripture,  and  often  repeated  favourite  sentences  from 
the  Psalms  in  Hebrew.  Being  reminded  by  some  of 
his  attendants  of  the  Christian  assurance  which  the 
apostle  Paul  had  expressed  in  the  prospect  of  his 
death,  he  replied  :  "  Every  one  is  not  a  Paul;  yet  I 
have  a  desire  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ,  and  I  am 
assured  that  I  shall  enter  into  glory." — "Do  you  not 
wish  to  be  restored  to  health  ?"  said  one  of  the  attend- 
ants. "  No  ;  not  for  twenty  worlds."  Perceiving  na- 
ture to  be  nearly  exhausted,  his  friends  requested  him 
to  give  them  a  token  that  he  departed  in  peace ;  upon 
which  he  repeated  the  last  words  of  the  martyr  Ste- 
phen, and  breathed  gently  away.* 

He  died  in  the  fifty-ninth  year  of  his  age,  and  in  the 
eighth  year  of  his  banishment.  From  the  account 
given  of  him,  and  the  extracts  produced  from  his  let- 
ters, in  the  preceding  part  of  this  work,  the  reader  will 
be  able  to  form  a  correct  idea  of  his  character.  The 
presbyterian  ministers  of  that  age  were  in  general 
characterized  by  piety,  assiduity  in  the  discharge  of 
parochial  duties,  disinterestedness,  public  spirit,  and 
the  love  of  freedom.  In  James  Melville  these  quali- 
ties were  combined  with  the  amiable  dispositions  of 
the  man,  and  the  courteous  manners  of  the  gentleman. 
Though  of  a  mild  temper,  and  not  easily  provoked,  he 
possessed  great  sensibility ;  could  vindicate  himself 
with  spirit  when  unjustly  attacked  ;  and  testified,  on 
all  occasions,  an  honest  indignation  at  whatever  was 
base  and  unprincipled,  especially  in  the  conduct  of 
men  of  his  own  profession.  He  felt  a  high  veneration 
for  the  talents  and  character  of  his  uncle ;  but  he  was 
a  confidential  friend  and  able  coadjutor,  not  a  humble 
dependent  or  sycophantish  admirer;  and  his  conduct 
during  the  last  years  of  his  life,  when  he  was  thrown 
on  the  resources  of  his  own  mind,  served  to  display 
the  soundness  of  his  judgment,  and  to  unfold  the  en- 
ergy of  his  character  J-  "  He  was  one  of  the  wisest 
directors  of  church-affairs  in  his  time,"  says  Calder- 
wood  "  For  that  cause  he  was  ever  employed  by  the 
General  Assemblies  and  other  public  meetings  ;  and 
acted  his  part  so  gravely,  so  wisely,  and  so  calmly, 
that  the  adversaries  could  get  no  advantage."  Besides 
what  he  had  published  at  an  early  period  of  his  life, 
he  prepared  several  treatises  for  the  press  a  short  time 
before  his  death.  His  Supplication  to  the  King,  in 
the  name'of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  a  work  on  which 
he  bestowed  great  pains,  is  composed  in  an  elegant 
and  impressive  style.  Possessing  less  fancy  than  feel- 
ing, his  poems,  which  are  all  written  in  the  Scottish 
dialect,  do  not  rise  above  mediocrity ;  but  from  this 
censure,  some  parts  of  his  Lamentation  over  the  over- 
throw of  the  Church  of  Scotland  deserve  to  be  ex- 
em  pted.ij: 

The  distress  which  Melville  felt  at  receiving  the  ti- 
dings of  his  nephew's  death  was  calm  and  silent,  be- 
cause it  was  deep.  It  is  expressed  with  a  tender  sim- 
plicity in  the  epitaph  which  he  wrote  for  him.  |1  In  a 
letter  to  his  friend  Dury  at  Leyden,  he  says  :  "  The 
Lord  hath  taken  to  himself  the  faithful  brother,  my 
dearly  beloved  son,  Mr.  James  Melville,  in  January; 
as  1  am  informed  by  Mr.  James  Fullerton.  I  fear  mel- 
ancholy to  have  abridged  his  days.  He  was  in  great 
perplexity  and  doubt  what  to  do,  as  ye  know  and  as 
Mr.  Bamford  wrote  me;  and  I  answered  by  these  let- 
ters which  I  sent  to  you.  I  cannot  tell  if  they  be  yet 
beside  you  ;  but  I  persuade  myself  he  has  never  seen 

*  Cald.  MS.  vii.  505—513. 

+  When  some  urged  that  James  Melville  might  be  allowed 
to  return  home,  although  it  was  dangerous  to  set  his  uncle  at 
liberty,  archbishop  Spotswood  is  said  to  have  replied:  "Mr. 
Andrew  is  but  a  blast,  but  Mr.  James  is  a  crafty  byding  man, 
and  more  to  be  feared  than  his  uncle."  (Wo'drow's  Life  of 
James  Melville,  p.  146.) 

t  See  Note  OO. 

IThis  epitaph  is  printed  at  the  end  of  the  Libelhis  Svpplex 
ames  Melville.     (See  Note  00.) 


them.  He  was  resolved  to  accept  no  restitution  with- 
out you  and  Mr.  Forbes.  Now  he  is  out  of  all  doubt 
and  fashrie,*  enjoying  the  fruits  of  his  suffering  here: 
God  forgive  the  instruments  of  his  withholding  from 
his  flock.  I  cannot  write  more  at  this  time.  If  ye 
I  have  received  the  particulars  of  his  sickness  and  his 
I  death,  I  pray  you  let  me  know  the  circumstances  at 
large."f 

Besides  the  civilities  which  he  showed  to  all  the 
students,  Melville  paid  particular  attention  to  such  of 
his  countrymen  as  came  to  the  university  of  Sedan. 
Among  these  were  John  Dury,  afterwards  well  known 
for  the  persevering  exertions  which  he  made  to  accom- 
plish a  union  between  the  Lutheran  and  Reformed 
Churches,:}:  and  the  learned  Dr.  John  Forbes,  son  to  the 
bishop  of  Aberdeen. 11  Dr.  Arthur  Jonston,  the  poet,  also 
spent  a  considerable  part  of  his  early  life  in  the  universi- 
ty of  Sedan.  His  juvenile  eff'usions  prove  that  he  lived 
on  a  footing  of  intimacy  with  Melviiie,  who  treated  tiim 
with  kindness  as  the  nephew  of  his  former  colleague, 
and  could  not  fail  to  be  pleased  with  a  young  man 
whose  literary  taste  was  so  congenial  to  his  own,  and 
who  had  already  (jiven  flattering  presages  of  those  ta- 
lents which  entitle  him  to  rank,  as  a  sacred  poet,  next 
to  Buchanan.  § — During  his  residence  at  Sedan,  Mel- 
ville kept  up  a  correspondence  with  different  literary 
characters  on  the  continent,  of  whom  Heinsius,  Go- 
marus,  and  Du  Plessis  were  the  principal.^ 

In  addition  to  his  ordinary  academical  employment, 
he  was  involved  at  this  time  in  a  controversy,  which 
was  peculiarly  delicate  from  the  connexion  in  which  he 
was  placed  with  the  individual  who  was  his  principal 
j  opponent.  At  his  first  coming  to  Sedan,  he  found  seve- 
ral of  the  students  infected  with  Arminianism.**  His 
colleague  Tilenus,  after  publishing  against  this  system 
of  faith,  became  a  convert  to  it.ff  But  instead  of 
avowing  the  change,  he  exerted  himself  covertly,  and 
contrary  to  his  subscription,  in  instilling  his  new 
opinions  into  the  minds  of  the  students.:}::):  Melville 
had  an  instinctive  abhorrence  of  every  thing  like  du- 
plicity and  breach  of  trust.  He  accordingly  concurred 
with  some  of  his  colleagues  in  exposing  an  insidious 
attempt  to  pervert  the  sentiments  of  the  young  men 
under  his  charge,  and  to  ruin  the  university.  In  con- 
sequence of  this  Tilenus  left  Sedan,  and  became  an 
open  and  virulent  adversary  of  Calvinism. |||| 


*  Trouble. 

+  Letters  from  Melville  to  Robert  Durie,  num.  5:  M.S.  in 
Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.  M.  6.  9.  num.  42.  These  letters  are  written 
in  English. 

i  He  was  the  son  of  Robert  Dury  at  Leyden.  (Melville's 
Letters  to  Durie,  num.  4.) 

II  See  the  Preface  and  Letters  prefixed  to  his  Latin  transla- 
tion of  his  father's  Commentary  on  the  Revelation,  Anist.  1646. 
He  is  known  by  his  learned  work,  Jnstnictiones  HisioricO' 
TheologiccR,  in  2  vols,  folio. 

\  Vita  Arct.  Jonstoni,  in  Poet.  Scot.  Mus.  Sac.  p.  xxxi.  xxxv. 
In  the  works  of  Jonston,  besides  an  encomiastic  poem  on  Mel- 
ville, are  Z,i/»i/*  .^wiafcei,  consisting  of  a  poetical  correspond- 
ence supposed  to  have  passed  between  the  author  and  Tilenus 
and  Melville,  at  Sedan.  Tilenus  is  rallied  on  the  long-delayed 
birth  of  a  daughter,  and  Melville  on  his  being  childless  and  an 
old  bachelor.  fArturi  Jonstoni  Poen)ata,  p.  371,  387 — 397. 
Middelb.  1642.)' 

H  Letters  to  Robert  T)aY\e,  passim.  Wodrow's  Lifs  of  Boyd, 
p.  53,  58. 

**   Melvini's  Letter's  to  Robert  Durie,  num.  1. 

ft  Walchii  Bibliotheca  Theologica,  torn.  ii.  p.  544,  558, 

tt  Letter  from  Rivet  to  Boyd  of  Trochrig,  Dec.  5,  1617;  in 
Wodrow's  Life  of  Boyd,  p.  194. 

nil  Scoti  TO.  TuxovTOf  Paraclesis,  p.  34,  35.  Epistolae  Eccles. 
et  Theolog.  p.  17,  616,  619.  770.  Le  Vassor,  Histoire  de  Lotis 
XHI.tom.  iv.p.606. 

Tilenus  showed  himself  so  violent  and  unfair  in  his  represen 
tations  of  the  opinions  of  his  old  friends  that  the  more  judicious 
Remonstrants  were  ashamed  of  his  conduct.  Yet  a  late  con- 
troversial writer  against  Calvinism,  in  stating  the  opinions  of 
his  opponents,  has  given  the  propositions  of  the  Synod  of  Dort, 
not  in  the  words  of  the  Synod  itself,  but  of  its  adversary 
Tilenus,  as  "  the  most  moderate  and  impartial  account  of  their 
proceedings!"  (Copleston's  Enquiry  into  the  Doctrines  of 
Necessity  and  Predestination,  p.  217,318.)    But  this  is  not  all: 


353 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


Spotswood  betrays  his  ignorance,  as  well  as  his 
spleen,  in  the  short  account  whicli  he  gives  of  Mel- 
ville after  he  was  released  from  the  Tower.  "  He  was 
sent  to  Sedan,  (says  he,)  where  he  lived  in  no  great 
lespect,  and  contractinor  the  gout  lay  almost  bedfast  to 
his  death."  *  Considering  his  advanced  age  when  he 
was  banished  to  France,  it  would  not  have  excited 
surprise  if  he  had  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days  in 
inactivity,  or  without  performing  any  thing  which  at- 
tracted the  public  attention.  But  the  facts  which  we 
have  stated  testify  the  contrary.  Nor  durst  the  bishops 
of  Scot'and  grant  permission  to  this  same  unrespecied 
and  bedfast  invalid  to  return  to  his  native  country,  al- 
though they  knew  that  the  act  would  have  gained  them 
the  greatest  credit.  The  archbishop  ouglit  to  have 
avoided  any  allusion  to  his  disorder,  considering  that 
it  was  contracted  in  the  prison  to  which  the  bishops 
had  been  the  instruments  of  dooming  him.  He  had, 
indeed,  begun  to  feel  the  infirmities  of  old  age,  but  not 
to  such  a  degree  as  to  prevent  him  from  performing  his 
professional  duties,  to  subdue  the  undaunted  spirit  of 
which  his  adversaries  stood  in  so  much  awe,  or  even 
to  mar  his  wonted  cheerfulness.!  In  a  letter  written 
in  the  year  1612,  he  says,  as  if  in  answer  to  the  above 
insinuation:  "Am  I  not  threescore  and  eight  years 
old  ;  unto  the  which  age  none  of  my  fourteen  brethren 
came  ?  And  yet,  I  thank  God,  I  eat,  I  drink,  I  sleep  as 
well  as  I  did  these  thirty  years  bygone,  and  better  than 
when  I  w£is  younger — in  ipso  Jlore  adolesceniiss.  Only 
the  gravel  now  and  then  seasons  my  mirth  with  some 
little  pain,  which  I  have  felt  only  since  the  beginning 
of  March  the  last  year,  a  month  before  my  deliverance 
from  prison.  I  feel,  thank  God,  no  abatement  of  the 
alacrity  and  ardour  of  my  mind  for  the  propagation  of 
the  truth.  Neither  use  I  spectacles  now  more  than 
ever;  yea,  I  use  none  at  all,  nor  ever  did,  and  see  now 
to  read  Hebrew  without  points,  and  in  the  smallest 
characters.  Why  may  I  not  live  to  see  a  changement 
to  the  better,  when  the  prince  shall  be  informed  truly 
by  honest  men,  or  God  open  his  eyes  and  move  his 
heart  to  see  the  pride  of  stately  prelates  1"  :f:  In  a  let- 
ter written  to  the  same  correspondent  in  the  course  of 
the  following  year,  he  says :  "  I  thank  you,  loving 
brother,  for  your  care  of  us ;  but  I  fear  I  put  you  to 
over  great  charge  in  paying  for  my  letters,  which  I 
would  not  do  if  I  were  sure  that  my  letters  would  be 
delivered  in  case  I  would  pay  for  them  ;  such  is  either 
the  negligence  or  greediness  of  this  age.    I  know  your 


the  quotation  is  purely  apocryphal.  The  propositions  are  not 
those  of  Tilenus,  nor  are  they  taken  from  a  work  of  bis,  but 
fronn  a  satirical  dialog^ue  or  mock-trial,  published  by  an  anony- 
mous sectary  during  the  Croniwellian  Protectorate,  info  which 
the  name  of  Tilenus  w&s  JictHiously  introduced.  The  work  is 
entitled  "  The  Examination  of  Tilenus  before  the  Triers,  in  or- 
der to  his  intended  settlement  in  the  Office  of  a  Public  Preacher 
in  the  Commonwealth  of  Utopia."  The  following  are  the  names 
of  some  of  the  Triers:  Dr.  Absolute,  Mr.  Fatatitie,  Mr.  Narrow- 

frace,  alias  Stint-grace,  and  Dr.  Dam-man.  Now,  if  it  had  so 
appened  that  the  propositions  of  the  Synod  of  Dort  had  been 
put  into  the  mouth  of  this  last  personage  instead  of  Tilenus, 
we  should  no  doubt  have  been  told  by  the  learned  Provoit  of 
Oriel  College,  that  this  said  Dr.  Damn-man  was  a  "  most  mo- 
derate and  mipartial"  writer,  and  left  to  seek  for  him  and  his 
works  in  the  land  of  Utopia  ;  where  also,  if  anywhere,  we 
might  have  found  "  the  Landgrave  of  Turing  !  a  patron  of  the 
reformed  doctrines,"  who  justified  his  vicious  life  by  the  doc- 
trine of  predestination!  (Enquir)',  p.  31.)  A  modern  writer 
who  could  trust  Heylin  as  an  authority,  deserved  to  fall  into 
•uch  ridiculous  blunders. — As  the  subject  has  been  introduced, 
I  must  be  allowed  to  add,  that  the  publications  against  Cal- 
vinism which  have  lately  appeared  in  England  are,  in  their 
statement  of  the  question,  unfair;  in  their  reasoning,  shallow; 
■nd,  in  respect  of  the  knowledge  which  they  display  of  the 
history  of  theological  opinions,  contemptible. 
»  Hist.  p.  500. 

t  Speaking  of  Spotswood's  behaviour  in  the  General  Assem- 
bly held  in  1617,  Simson  gays:  "  Necnon  furere  et  debacch-iri 
in  Andre.am  Melvinuni,  viruni  optimum,  et  foedissimis  caluinniis 
absentem  niordere  qui  presentem  nisi  tremulus  vidcre  vix  po- 
tuerit."     (^Annales,  p.  137.) 

t  f-efler»  to  Robert  Durie,  nam.  1. 


loving  heart;  but  it  is  indiscretion  on  my  part  to  bur- 
den you  too  much.  Take  this  English  word  in  good, 
part — it  fell  out  of  the  pen.  My  heart  is  a  Scotch  heart, 
and  as  good  or  better  nor  ever  it  was,  both  toward  God 
and  man.  The  Lord  only  be  praised  thereof,  to  whom 
belongs  all  glory.  Who  can  tell  when  out  of  this  con- 
fusion it  may  please  him  to  draw  out  some  good  order, 
to  the  comfort  of  his  children  and  relief  of  his  servants? 
Couratje,  courage,  brother  !  Judicahimus  angelos;  quan- 
ta magis  mortales ! ''''  And  in  the  year  1616,  he  writes 
again  to  Dury  :  "  Let  the  bishops  be  mowdewarps  :  * 
we  will  lay  up  our  tn-asures  in  heaven,  where  they  be 
safe.  My  colic,  gravel,  and  gout  be  messengers  (but 
not  importune)  to  spoil  my  patience,  but  to  e.xercise 
my  faith.  My  health  is  better  nor  I  would  look  for 
at  this  age:  praised  be  the  true  Mediator,  to  whose 
glory  may  it  serve,  and  to  the  benefit  of  his  church. t 

After  his  settlement  at  Sedan,  he  requested  his 
friends  in  London  to  embrace  any  favourable  oppor- 
tunity that  misfht  offer  for  procuring  his  restoration. 
But  this  he  did  not  so  much  from  any  hopes  of  sui-cess 
which  he  entertained,  as  to  show  "that  he  had  not 
thrown  oflT  all  regard  to  the  church  and  land  of  his 
fathers,  and  did  not  contemn  the  favour  of  his  sove- 
reign,"^ In  the  year  1616,  Forbes  went  to  England, 
and,  after  wailing  six  months,  was  admitted  to  kiss  his 
Majesty's  hand,  and  obtained  a  proiTii.-=e  (which  was 
never  realized)  that  he  and  Dury  would  be  relieved 
from  banishment.  In  a  letter  which  Melville  wrote  to 
Dury,  he  says,  after  some  satirical  reflections  on  the 
hand  which  Spotswood  had  in  that  affair :  "  This  I 
write  not  to  hinder  you  to  accept  of  your  liberty  ob- 
tained already  at  the  king's  hands,  as  I  am  informed 
by  .Mr.  Forbes's  letters.  You  are  wise  and  resolute 
in  the  Lord,  whose  Spirit  hath  guided  you  hitherto  in 
your  wanderinofs  through  the  wilderness  of  this  crooked 
age.  lam  rejoiced  to  hear  both  of  your  coming  home, 
and  replanting  in  the  ministry  at  home. — As  for  me,  I 
know  their  double  dealing  from  the  beginning,  and  how 
I  am  both  hated  and  feared  by  them  ;  and  so  was  my 
cousin  Mr.  James.  The  Metropolitan,  I  ween,  was 
minded  to  deal  for  me;  but  my  late-written  verses 
offended  both  King  and  bishops.  Yet  they  be  gene- 
ral, and  such  as  none  but  a  wan-shapen  bishop  can  be 
offended  with — Trayov^ym  »*t  iuvo^  avSgawrtc.  I  am  not 
weary  of  this  sejour,  grace  and  hospitality  in  Sedan."  J 

He  lost  this  correspondent,  who  died  at  Leyden  in 
the  course  of  this  year.§  Of" all  his  friends,  next  to 
his  nephew,  he  felt  most  attached  to  Dury,  and  his  let- 
ters to  him  are  written  in  the  most  confidential  strain, 
mingled  with  kind-hearted  and  familiar  pleasantry.^ 
John  Forbes  surviv^ed  his  fellow-exile  many  years,  and 
died  in  Holland  about  the  year  1634,  after  he  had  been 
removed  from  bis  charge  at  Delft  by  the  jealous  inter- 
ference of  the  English  government.** 

In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1619,  the  town  of  Se- 
dan was  a  scene  of  festivity,  in  consequence  of  the 
marriage  of  Marie  de  la  Tour,  the  eldest  daughter  of 
the  Duke  of  Bouillon,  to  the  Duke  de  la  Tremouille.j  f 
On  that  occasion  Melville  resolved  not  to  be  behind 


*  moles.  f  Letters  to  Robert  Durie,  num.  3  and  4. 
t  Melvini  Epist.  p.  293. 

[l  Letters  to  Robert  Durie,  num.6. 

}  Wodrow'sLife  of  Robert  Boyd,  p.  145. 

T  In  one  of  his  letters  to  him,  he  says:  "  Faill  not  to  send 
Arminius  against  Perkins  De  Predestinatione,  yvhatever  it  cost, 
with  the  contra-poison  done  be  Gomarus,  quern  singulariter 
amo  $t  %v(iie.  When  our  dame  bakes  you  shall  have  a  sconne 
[cake.]  Conmiend  me  to  my  good  cummer,  and  to  my  god- 
son, and  the  rest  of  the  bairns — I  may  sec  them  once  er  I  die, 
now  entering  my  seventie  year."  And  in  another  letter  :  "To 
be  short.  I  have  been  these  eight  days  cxercsed  with  a  rheum, 
and  this  day  have  ta'en  a  sirope;  so  that  er  it  be  long  1  hope  to 
drink  to  yuu.  My  cummer  and  all  the  bairns  be  locked  up  in 
my  heart." 

•  •  Preface  to  his  "Four  Sermons  on  1  Tim.  vi.  13 — 16. 
Published  by  S.  O.  Anno  1635."  Forbes  is  the  author  of  sev- 
eral  other  treatises,  and  lived  greatly  respected  in  Holland. 

tt  Mteioircs  de  .Mornay  da  Plcsui:,  torn.  iv.  p.  105, 156. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


353 


the  most  juvenile  of  his  colleagues  in  testifying  his 
respect  for  the  family  of  his  noble  patron  ;  and  he  pro- 
duced an  EpUhalamium.  A  marriage-song  by  a  Pro- 
fessor of  Divinity,  in  the  sevent3'-fourth  year  of  his 
age,  may  be  regarded  as  a  literary  curiosity ;  and  it 
proves  that  old  age,  though  it  could  not  fail  to  have 
cooled,  had  not  been  able  to  quench  his  genius.  The 
theme  which  he  chose  was  not,  however,  unbecoming 
his  character  and  years ;  and  probably  thinking  that, 
in  his  circumstances,  it  was  enough  to  have  shown  his 
good  will,  he  did  not  finish  the  poem.* 

To  the  latest  period  of  his  life,  he  continued  alive  to 
the  general  welfare  of  the  reformed  church,  and  the 
private  welfare  of  his  particular  friends.  But  he  felt 
peculiarly  interested  in  the  affairs  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland,  which,  before  his  death,  was  again  converted 
into  a  scene  of  contention,  in  prosecution  of  the  pre- 
posterous scheme  of  bringing  it  to  a  complete  conform- 
ity to  the  Church  of  England.  When  episcopal  gov- 
ernment was  forced  on  Scotland,  if  any  person  had  as- 
serted that  this  was  only  a  prelude  to  the  obtrusion  of 
the  English  forms  of  worship,  he  would  have  run  the 
risk  of  being  prosecuted  for  "  lese-making."  Yet 
there  can  be  now  no  doubt  that  this  formed  from  the 
beginning  an  essential  part  of  the  plan  of  the  court. 
The  bishops  were  aware  tliat  the  nation  was  averse  to 
it,  and  afraid  that  it  might  excite  such  discontent  as 
would  prove  hazardous  to  their  precarious  pre-emi- 
nence. They  accordingly  made  an  attempt  to  divert 
his  Majesty  from  pushing  the  projected  change.  But 
a  manly  opposition  to  any  measure  which  was  sanc- 
tioned by  the  royal  pleasure,  however  impolitic,  was 
not  to  be  expected  from  those  who  had  declared  them- 
selves the  creatures  of  the  court;  and  having  received 
a  magisterial  reprimand  for  their  ignorant  scruples  and 
impertinent  interference,  they  consented  to  become  ser- 
vile instruments  in  executing  the  will  of  the  monarch, 
and  in  forcing  the  obnoxious  ceremonies  on  a  reclaim- 
ing and  insulted  nation. f  After  an  ineffectual  attempt 
at  St.  Andrews  in  1617,  they  succeeded  in  accomplish- 
ing their  object  in  a  General  Assembly  held  at  Perth 
in  the  course  of  the  following  year.  By  flatteries, 
falsehoods,  and  threatenings,  a  majority  of  votes  was 
procured  in  favour  of  such  of  the  English  rites  as  it 
pleased  the  court  at  that  time  to  select.  The  Five  Ar- 
ticles of  Perth,  as  the  acts  of  this  assembly  are  usually 
called,  enjoined  kneeling  in  the  act  of  receiving  the 
sacramental  elements  of  bread  and  wine,  the  observ- 
ance of  holidays,  episcopal  confirmation,  private  bap- 
tism, and  private  communicating.  These  were  ratified 
by  Parliament  in  the  year  1621,  and  enforced  by  the 
High  Commission  ;  but  they  met  with  great  resistance, 
and  were  never  universally  obeyed. :|: 

About  this  time  also  certain  changes  on  the  univer- 


*  Delitiae  Poet.  Scot.  toni.  ii.  p.  66—81. 

t  Lord  Hailes,  Menior.  and  Letters,  vol.  i.  p.  79—83.  The 
bishops  pleaded  that  his  Majesty  was  determined  at  all  events 
to  impose  the  ceremonies,  and  that,  if  tliey  did  not  yield,  he 
would  overthrow  the  church.  This  might  be  the  impression 
on  the  minds  of  some  of  them;  but  it  is  evident,  at  least,  that 
there  was  a  collusion  between  the  court  and  the  primate.  Be- 
fore the  General  Assembly  had  agreed  to  the  innovations, 
Spotsvvood  writes:  "  We  are  here  to  communicate,  God  will- 
ing, on  Easter-day,  when  I  shall  have  every  thing  in  that  man- 
ner performed  as  your  Majesty  desires.  All  of  our  number  are 
advertised  to  do  the  like  in  their  places;  and  the  most  I  know 
will  observe  the  samine.  Our  adversaries  will  call  this  a  trans- 
gression of  the  received  custom;  bxit  T do  not  yet  see  thai  any 
thing  tvill  effect  their  obedience,  save  your  Majesty's  author- 
ity." (Letter  to  the  King,  March  29,  1618:  Wodrow's  Life  of 
Spots,  p.  74.) 

t  Printed  Cald.  p.  698—715.  Spotswood,  p.  537—540. 
Course  of  Conformity,  p.  58 — 103.  Scoti  too  tu^ovto?  Paracle- 
sis,  p.  179—181.  Perth  Assembly,  n.  7— 10,  14.  Printed  anno 
16l9.  The  account,  given  in  the  last-mentioned  tract,  of  the 
threats  employed  in  the  Assembly,  is  not  materially  contradict- 
ed by  the  episcopal  advocate.  Bishop  Lyndsay,  in  his  True 
Narrative  of  Proceedings  in  the  Assembly  at  Perth,  p.  87 — 89; 
and  it  is  confirmed  by  the  official  account  of  the  King's  Com- 
missioner, published  by  Lord  Hailes.  (Memor.  i.  87 — 91.) 
2  U 


sity  of  St.  Andrews  were  completed.  Soon  after  arch- 
bishop Gladstanes  obtained  the  direction  of  its  affairs, 
he  revived  the  professorship  of  canon  law,  to  which  he 
nominated  his  son-in-law ;  "  as  the  ready  way  to  bring 
out  the  presbyterian  discipline  from  the  hearts  of  the 
young  ones,  and  to  acquaint  even  the  eldest  with  the 
ancient  church  government  whereof  they  are  igno- 
rant."* In  commemorating  the  obligations  which  the 
literature  of  Scotland  is  under  to  the  archbishop,  we 
must  not  forget  his  exertions  for  the  revival  of  aca- 
demical degrees  in  divinity.  Upon  the  expulsion  of 
Melville,  he  expressed  much  anxiety  to  have  his  suc- 
cessor invested  with  "  Insignia  Doctoratus,"  and  re- 
quested his  Majesty,  in  his  "incomparable  wisdom," 
to  send  him  "  the  form  and  order  of  making  Bachelors 
and  Doctors  of  Divinity,"  that  he  might  "  create  one  or 
two  Doctors,  to  incite  others  to  the  same  honour,  and 
to  encourage  our  ignorant  clergy  to  learning.  And  the 
primate  proposed  that  such  graduates  should,  "  in  pre- 
sentation to  benefices,  be  preferred  to  others. "f  This 
object  was  not,  however,  gained  until  the  year  1616, 
after  the  death  of  Gladstanes,  when  Dr.  .Tohn  Young, 
Dean  of  Winchester,  came  to  St.  Andrews  with  the 
royal  instructions,  and  presided  in  the  first  act.  His 
Majesty  directed  that  those  who  were  found  qualified 
for  degrees  should  "  preach  a  sermon  before  the  Lords 
at  Edinburgh,  in  a  hood  agreeing  to  their  degree,  that 
so  they  might  be  known"  (by  the  hood  or  by  the  ser- 
mon ?)  "  to  be  men  fitte  for  the  prime  places  of  the 
church. ":J:  Previously  to  the  introduction  of  this  im- 
portant improvement,  the  divines  who  came  from  Eng- 
land for  the  purpose  of  forwarding  the  conformity  be- 
tween the  two  churches,  were  exceedingly  struck  with 
the  literary  sterility  of  our  country.  Like  a  celebrated 
traveller  who  could  scarcely  observe  a  tree  above  the 
size  of  a  bush  between  Berwick  and  St.  Andrews,  the 
English  Doctors  could  not  hear  of  above  one  of  their 
own  species  in  the  whole  kingdom :  so  that  if  prompt 
measures  had  not  been  taken  to  have  the  race  propaga- 
ted by  help  from  England,  it  must  inevitably,  within 
a  short  time,  have  become  wholly  extinct, ||  The  pres- 
byterians,  indeed,  had  doctors,  but  then  they  were  no 
more  than  teachers  ;  and  in  their  church  calendar  were 
placed  below  the  pastors  of  parishes.  It  cannot  be 
denied  that  "  our  ignorant  clergy"  exerted  themselves 
in  promoting  literature  ;  but  then  their  exertions  were 
confined  to  the  task  of  making  men. learned,  and  they 
neglected  the  work  of  calling  them  so.  They  pre- 
scribed, it  is  true,  an  extensive  course  of  theological 
instruction,  and  enacted  that  none  should  be  admitted 
to  the  ministry  who  had  not  completed  this  course,  and 
could  not  procure  testimonials  of  his  diligence  and  pro- 
ficiency from  the  professors  under  whom  he  had  stud- 
ied; but  then  they  were  completely  ignorant  of  the  art 
of  creating  divines  by  certain  mystic  words  and  sym- 
bols. The  truth  is,  that  they  did  not  object  to  aca- 
demical graduation,  so  far  as  it  was  necessary  to  mark 
the  progress  which  young  men  had  made  in  their  the- 
ological studies.§     But  they  did  not  admit  that  it  be- 


»  Letter  to  the  King,  Mav  3, 1611.  MS.  in  Bibl.  Jurid.  Edhi. 
Jac.  V.  1.  12.  num.  17. 

t  Letter  and  Memoires  to  his  Sacred  Majesty,  Sept.  8, 1607: 
MS.  ibid.  M.  6.  9.  num.  58,  59. 

I  His  Majesty's  Letter  and  Articles  for  the  University.  In 
the  Articles  it  is  appointed  that  five  holidays  shall  be  annually 
celebrated  in  the  University,  with  suitable  prayers  and  sermons. 

II  "The  name  of  a  School  Doctor  was  grown  out  of  date: 
only  one  Graduat  (that  I  did  hear  of)  at  St.  Andrews  did  out- 
live that  injury  of  times.  Now  comes  his  Majesty  (as  one  born 
to  the  honour  of  learning)  and  restores  the  sctiools  to  their  for- 
mer glories."  (Letter  of  Dr.  Joseph  Hall  to  Mr.  William 
Struthers;  in  Wodrow's  Life  of  Struthers,  p.  3:  MSS.  vol.  ii.) 

}  "  Anent  preceding  be  degrees  in  Schools  to  the  degree  of 
a  Doctor  of  Divinity,  it  was  ordained  ihy  the  General  Assem- 
bly, Anno  1569)  that  the  brethren  of  Sanct  Andrews  convene 
and  form  such  ordor  as  they  sail  think  meit,  and  that  they  pre- 
sent the  same  to  the  next  Assembly  to  be  revised  and  consid- 
ered, that  the  Assembly  may  eik  or  diminish  as  thej'  sail  think 
good,  and  that  thereafter  the  order  allowed  be  established." 
23 


354 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


longed  to  universities  to  license  persons  to  teach  divin- 
ity ubicunque  terrarum  ,-  they  were  jealous  of  those 
titles  which,  in  the  English  church,  had  been  always 
associated  with  ideas  of  ecclesiastical  superiority ;  and 
they  knew  that,  considered  merely  as  badges  of  hon- 
our, instead  of  being  a  reward  to  merit  or  an  incentive 
to  diligence,  they  served  chiefly  to  tickle  the  vanity  of 
the  weak,  bolsler  up  the  pretensions  of  the  arrogant, 
and  induce  persons  to  sigh  after  the  name  instead  of 
the  reality  of  learning.     Lis  est  de  nomine  non  re. 

An  overweening  fondness  for  mere  forms  is  usually 
accompanied  with  indifference  to  the  substance,  in  lit- 
erature and  in  religion.  The  same  prelate  who  testi- 
fied such  eagerness  to  have  the  clergy  decorated  with 
empty  titles  and  silken  robes,  banished  the  man  who 
had  done  more  to  raise  their  character,  in  point  of  lite- 
rary and  theological  endowments,  than  all  the  gowned 
graduates  who  had  filled  the  academical  chairs  of  Scot- 
land for  two  hundred  years.  And  the  same  parliament 
which  ratified  the  Articles  of  Perth,  repealed  the  act 
of  1579,  which  reformed  the  University  of  St.  An- 
drews, and  thus  threw  education  back  to  the  state  in 
which  it  was  before  the  revival  of  letters.  The  apol- 
ogy made  for  this  disgraceful  act  of  the  legislature 
was,  "  that  it  is  equitable  that  the  will  of  the  original 
founders  should  take  effect  so  far  as  is  consistent  with 
the  religion  presently  professed.  But  if  a  deviation 
from  the  will  of  the  founders  in  such  an  important 
point  as  that  of  religi'n  was  warrantable  and  proper, 
what  reasonable  objection  could  be  urged  against  such 
a  change  on  the  mode  of  instruction  as  was  necessary 
to  accommodate  it  to  the  progress  which  the  age  had 
made  in  knowledge  and  literature  1  The  true  reasons 
for  the  repeal  of  the  act  of  1579  were,  on  the  part  of 
the  professors,  an  aversion  to  the  arduous  course  of  in- 
struction which  that  act  prescribed  ;  and,  on  the  part 
of  the  bishops,  aa  antipathy  to  the  men  who  had  re- 
commended it,  and  an  anxiety  to  remove  every  monu- 
ment of  the  existence  and  triumph  of  presbytery.  But, 
eager  as  they  were  to  accomplish  this  object,  the  util- 
ity of  the  New  College,  as  constituted  on  Melville's 
favourite  plan,  was  so  universally  acknowledged,  that 
they  durst  not  touch  it;  and,  accordingly,  an  express 
exception,  though  at  variance  with  the  principle  as- 
sumed in  the  act,  was  made  in  its  favour.* 

What  Melville's  feelings  on  receiving  information 
of  the  procedure  of  the  General  Assembly  at  Perth 
were,  we  learn  from  a  letter  written,  at  his  direction, 
by  one  of  his  students  to  a  friend  in  Scotland  who  had 
lately  been  at  Sedan.  He  was  not  prepared  to  expect 
that  the  rulers  would  push  matters  to  such  an  extreme. 
Cherishing  the  hope  that  the  corruptions  lately  estab- 
lished would  work  their  own  cure,  and  that  the  barons 
would  soon  grow  weary  of  a  tyranny  which  they  had 
unwarily  contributed  to  erect,  he  had  of  late  curbed, 
instead  of  stimulating,  the  zeal  of  such  ef  his  ac- 
quaintance as  returned  from  France  to  Scotland,  and 
whom  he  knew  to  be  ardently  attached  to  the  presby- 
terian  constitution  ;  but  now  he  judged  it  necessary  to 
rouse  his  brethren  to  a  vigorous  resistance  of  the  inno- 
vations which  it  was  attempted  to  impose.  He  felt 
deeply  concerned  for  them,  and  expressed  a  great  de- 
sire to  receive  the  earliest  intelligence  of  all  their  pro- 
ceedings.f  As  often  as  he  took  up  the  Basiltcon  Xhron 
(which  he  frequently  did)  he  could  not  refi-ain  from 
tears,  when  he  reflected  on  the  disclosure  which  it 
made  of  the  King's  designs  against  the  church,  and  on 


the  crooked  policy  wiith  which  they  had  been  carried 
into  execution. 

His  desire  to  assist  his  brethren  at  this  critical  pe- 
riod prompted  him  to  break  through  a  restraint  im- 
posed on  him  when  he  was  released  from  the  Tower, 
and  to  which  he  had  hitherto  submitted.  He  compo- 
sed a  small  treatise,  which  was  published  anony- 
mously, consisting  of  aphorisms  on  things  indiflferent 
in  religion,  and  bearing  upon  the  chief  argument  used 
by  the  advocates  for  conformity  to  the  obtruded  cere- 
monies. Another  work  commonly  ascribed  to  him  is 
an  answer  to  his  late  colleague,  Tilenus,  who,  disap- 
pointed in  his  scheme  of  raising  partisans  in  France, 
sought  to  ingratiate  himself  with  King  James  by  a  de- 
fence of  the  late  proceedings  in  Scotland,  and  by  an 
unprovoked  and  vituperative  attack  on  the  Scottish 
presbyterians.*  The  answer  to  Tilenus  is  written 
with  great  ability,  and  in  a  style  of  nervous  reasoning, 
seasoned  with  satire,  which  is,  upon  the  whole,  less 
severe  than  the  rudeness  of  the  attack  which  it  repels 
would  have  justified,  t  But  it  was  not  the  work  of 
Melville  ;  although  it  is  not  unlikely  that  he  furnished 
materials  to  his  friend,  Sir  James  Sempill,  who  Avas 
the  real  author.:^ 

The  sources  of  intelligence  have  now  failed  me,  and 
I  have  it  not  in  my  power  to  communicate  any  addi- 
tional information  relative  to  the  latter  period  of  Mel- 
ville's life.  In  1620  his  health  grew  worse;  ||  and  it 
is  probable  that  the  distempers  with  which  he  had 
been  occasionally  visited  ever  since  he  was  in  the 
Tower,  became  now  more  frequent  in  their  attacks,  and 
gradually  wasted  his  constitution.  He  died  at  Sedan 
in  the  course  of  the  year  1622,  at  the  advanced  age  of 
seventy-seven  years.§  At  that  time,  there  was  at  least 
one  of  his  countrymen  in  the  university,  Alexander 
Colville,  who  enjoyed  his  friendship,  and,  it  may  be 
believed,  would  not  fail  to  pay  every  attention  to  his 
venerable  master  i»  his  last  moments.^f     In  conse- 


(Cald.  ii.  123.)  '*  The  appellation  of  the  degries  appoyntit  be 
hig  Ma'"  to  be  heirefter  in  the  yierlie  course  of  theologie  wtin 
the  New  College  to  be  advvsed  be  the  counsell  [of  the  univer- 
sity! and  reported  to  hig  Ma''«  upon  the  forsaid  day."  (Visit, 
of  University  of  St.  Andrews,  anno  1599.) 

*  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vol.  iv.  p.  682,  6tt3. 

+  Letter,  John  Hume  to  Mr.  John  Adamson,  Sedan,  March  9, 
1620:  MS.  in  Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.  M.  6.  9.  num.  80.  It  appears 
from  this  letter  that  Adamson  was  then  «nipioyad  in  making  a 
collection  of  Melville's  poems. 


*  "  Paraenesis  ad  Scotos,  Geneuensis  Discipliiiae  Zelotas. 
Autore  Dan.  Tileno  Silesio.  Lond.  1620."  Canibden  says: 
"  Anno  1620,  Sept.  5.  Tilenus,  niagnus  Theologus,  venit  in 
Anglian*,  &  edit  librum  contra  Scotos,  zelotas  disciplinee  Gene- 
vensis."  (Annales^  p.  6-1.)  He  published  another  work  on  the 
same  subject,  but  written  writh  e»eater  moderation:  "  De  Dis- 
ciplina  Ecclesiastica  Brevis  &  Modcsfa  dissertatio,  ad  Eccle- 
siam  Scoticam.  Autore  Galfo  quodani  Theologo,  Verbi  Divini 
Ministro.  Abredonine,  Excudebat  Eduardus  Rabanus,  Impen- 
a\sDavidisJ\Ielvill,\6^." 

f  "  Scoti  Tou  T»x«vT05  Paraclesis  contra  Danielis  Tiieni  Silesii 
Partenesin. — Cuius  pars  prima  est.  De  Episcopali  Ecclesiae  Reg- 
imine.  Anno  1622."  At  tlie  close  of  the  work,  the  author  sig- 
nifies his  intention  of  publishing  two  other  parts,  on  Elders,  and 
on  the  Five  Ceremonies  obtruded  on  the  Church  of  Scotland. 
But  the  necessity  for  these  was  superseded  by  the  elaborate 
Altare  Damascenum  of  Calderwood,  which  appeared  in  the 
course  of  the  following  year. 

f  Metville  is  repeatedly  referred  to  in  that  work,  and  we 
cannot  suppose  that  he  would  have  spoken  of  himself,  even  for 
the  purpose  of  concealment,  in  such  terms  as  the  following: — 
"  in  quibus  priecipuus  erat  divinvs  poster  Mclvinus."  (P.  86. 
Conf.  p.  231.)  Add  to  this  the  testimony  of  Calderwood,  who 
had  the  best  opportunity  of  being  infomied  on  the  subject: 
"About  this  time  (1620)  Tilenus,  a  Silesian  by  birth,  a  profes- 
sor in  Sedan,  came  to  England,  looking  for  great  preferment 
and  benefit  for  a  pamphfet,  intituled  Partenesis  ad  Scotos  Gen- 
evensis  discipiinae  zelotas,  wherein  he  defended  the  state  of 
bishops  and  the  five  articles.  The  booke  was  confuted  sooue 
after  be  Sir  James  Sempill  of  Beltrisc,  and  be  the  author  of  the 
booke  intituled  Altare  Damascenum."      (Cald.  viii.  962,  963.) 

H  Hume's  Letter  to  Adamson,  vt  nipra. 

}  "Andreas  Melvinus,  vir  maximse  pietatis,  singularis  reli 
(zelus  domus  Dei  coniedit  eum,)  omnium  linguarum  et  scienti- 
anim  acumine  primus,  imo  solus;  Athenns  et  Solymam  in  Sco- 
tiam  induxit;  pseudo-episcopatus  et  papistarum  hostis  acerri- 
mus;  coelebs,  castus;  aavocatus  a  Rege,  Turri  conjicitur:  post 
Dux  Buloniae  in  Gailiam  ducit,  ubi  fortissimus  aiS>.i|T«,  jam  oc- 
togenarius  rooritur,  1622."  (Simsoni  Annales.  See  also  Wod- 
row's  Life  of  Andrew  Melville,  p.  112.) 

T  Hume's  Letter,  ut  simra.  Petri  Molinaei  Oratio — habitu 
Sedan!  viij.  Idus  Decemhres  1628,  ante  inaugarationem  viri 
doctissinii  Alcxandri  Colvini  in  gradum  Doctoratus  eiust];  ad- 
mlssionem  ad  Profcuioneni  Theologicani.  Sedani  1629.  From 
this  Oration  (p.  129,)  it  appears  that  Colville  bad  been  for  sev- 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


355 


quence  of  the  civil  war  which  raged  in  France,  it  was 
a  considerable  time  before  his  friends  in  Scotland  were 
apprized  of  the  fact  of  his  death  ;  and,  even  then,  they 
were  left  in  ignorance  of  the  circumstances  which  at- 
tended it.* 

It  is  natural  for  us  to  desire  minute  information  re- 
specting the  decease  of  any  individual  in  whose  life 
we  have  taken  a  deep  interest;  and  we  cannot  help 
feeling  disappointed  when  we  are  barely  told  that  "  he 
died."  But  laudable  as  this  curiosity  may  be,  and 
gratifying  and  useful  as  it  is  to  have  the  spiritual  por- 
trait of  a  great  and  good  man  drawn  on  his  death-bed 
and  at  the  hour  of  his  departure,  we  ought  not  to  for- 
get that  there  is  a  still  more  decisive  and  unequivocal 
test  of  character.  It  was  by  the  faith  which  he  evinced 
during  his  life  that  the  first  martyr  "  obtained  witness 
that  he  was  righteous ;  and  by  it  he,  being  dead,  yet 
speaketh."  We  have  no  reason  to  regret  being  left 
without  any  authentic  record  of  the  manner  in  which 
the  apostles  finished  their  course,  nor  are  we  under  any 
temptation  to  have  recourse  to  conjectures  and  apocry- 
phal traditions  in  order  to  supply  the  defect,  when  their 
writings  and  the  history  of  their  lives  enable  us  "  fully 
to  know  their  doctrine,  manner  of  life,  purpose,  long- 
suffering,  charity,  patience,  persecutions,  afflictions." 
I  have  met  with  no  account  of  the  last  sickness  of 
Melville;  but  I  have  no  doubt  that  he  died  as  he  lived. 
At  a  period  when  it  was  not  uncommon  to  circulate 
false  rumours  of  the  death-bed  recantations  of  men  who 
had  distinguished  themselves  in  public  controversies, 
it  was  never  whispered  that  he  had  retracted  his  sen- 
timents, or  that  he  signified  the  smallest  regret  for  the 
sufferings  which  he  had  endured  in  behalf  of  the  civil 
and  religious  liberties  of  his  country. 

It  is  not  an  easy  task  to  form  a  correct  and  impartial 
estimate  of  the  talents  and  character  of  those  who  have 
distinguished  themselves  in  great  national  struggles. 
If  their  contemporaries  were  unduly  biassed  by  the 
strength  of  their  attachments  and  antipathies,  we  who 
live  at  a  later  period  lose  in  correctness  of  views  what 
we  gain  in  impartiality  of  judging,  by  the  distance  at 
which  we  are  placed  from  the  men  whom  we  attempt 
to  describe,  and  by  want  of  sympathy  with  manners 
and  feelings  so  dissimilar  to  our  own.  In  forming  our 
opinion  of  them  from  contemporary  records,  we  are  as 
much  embarrassed  by  the  narrow  views  and  want  of 


eral  years  Professor  of  Hebrew  before  he  was  admitted  to  the 
theological  chair.  In  1642,  he  was  called  from  Sedan  to  be 
Professor  of  Divinity  in  the  New  College  of  St.  Andrews. 
(Baillie's  Letters,  vol.  i.  p.  305.  Index  to  Unprinted  Acts  of 
Assembly,  1642.) 

*  Robert  Boyd  of  Trochrig,  at  that  time  Principal  of  the 
University  of  Edinburgh,  has  the  following  notice  of  Melville's 
death  in  his  Obituary.  "  May  the  Lord  have  pity  upon  us, 
and  preserve  in  us  the  work  of  his  own  grace,  for  the  good  and 
salvation  of  our  soul,  and  the  destruction  of  this  body  of  death 
and  sin  !  As  to  the  death  of  that  venerable  father  of  our 
church,  the  ornament  of  his  nation,  and  great  light  of  this  age, 
in  all  virtue,  learning,  vivacity  of  spirit,  promptitude,  zeal,  holy 
freedom  and  boldness,  and  invincible  courage  in  a  good  cause, 
with  a  holy  course  of  life  and  resolution,  who  d3'ed  at  Sedan 
last  year,  1622,  aged  about  80  years.  He  was  rcjecttd  of  his 
native  countrj',  by  the  malice  of  the  times  and  men,  because  he 
had,  with  fortitude  and  firmness,  maintained  the  truth,  and 
given  testimony  to  it  before  the  princes  of  this  world.  He  had 
keeped  a  good  conscience,  without  changes,  either  out  of  fear, 
or  by  the  flattery  and  favour  of  men,  after  his  imprisomiient  in 
the  Tower  of  f^ondon,  and  his  living  an  exile  of  more  than  10 
years.  As  to  his  death,  I  say,  and  the  particular  circumstances 
of  it,  I  have  not  yet  received  distinct  and  certain  information, 
because  of  the  trouble  and  persecutions  arisen  in  the  church  of 
France  for  some  years.  May  the  Lord  conduct  us  by  the  strait 
gate  to  his  kingdom  of  everlasting  peace,  for  the  merits  of  his 
weel  beloved  Son  Jesus  Christ,  our  Saviour.  Amen."  (Wod- 
row's  Life  of  Robert  Boyd,  p.  146.) — Calderwood,  in  a  work 
which  he  published  in  Holland  in  the  year  1623,  says:  "De 
Melvino  autem  affirmare  nulla  assentatione  (nam  audio  paulo 
ante  fatis  cessisse)  melius  Regi  ab  infantia  voluisse,  quani  as- 
sentatores  istos."  (Altare  Damasc.  p.  741.)  And,  in  the  Pre- 
face to  that  work,  he  says:  "  Andreas  Melvinus,  qui  fere  octo- 
genarius  diem  supremum  clausit  in  cxilio,  vir  iindiquaque  doc- 
tus,  piuB.candidus,  et  strenuus  Christi  miles." 


discrimination  of  their  friends,  as  by  the  hostility  and 
misrepresentations  of  their  adversaries.  The  narra- 
tives of  public  transactions  transmitted  to  us  by  those 
who  lived  at  the  time,  often  resemble  the  description 
of  a  great  battle  by  a  spectator :  officers  and  men  are 
beheld  confusedly  mingled  together,  and  the  issue  ap- 
pears to  depend  on  the  exertion  of  brute  force,  aided 
by  insensibility  to  danger ;  while  the  military  skill 
and  presence  of  mind  by  which  the  whole  mass  is  dis- 
posed, put  in  motion,  and  governed,  are  disregarded 
and  left  out  of  view.  There  is  still  another  source  of 
error.  If  civil  history  is  chiefly  the  record  of  wars 
and  bloodshed,  the  pages  of  ecclesiastical  history  are 
too  often  filled  with  accounts  of  theological  contention ; 
and  accustomed  to  contemplate  the  principal  individu- 
als who  figure  in  these  scenes,  either  in  the  attitude  of 
eager  assault  or  of  stubborn  resistance,  we  are  ready  to 
form  an  unfavourable  opinion  of  their  moral  qualities 
and  private  dispositions.  Cooler  reflection  and  a  more 
minute  acquaintance  with  facts,  will  serve  to  correct 
our  over-hasty  conclusions.  When  we  follow  th* 
warrior  into  the  retreats  of  peace,  and  find  him  display- 
ing, in  the  social  and  domestic  circle,  all  the  gentle 
and  amiable  features  of  human  nature,  we  may  regret 
that  it  should  ever  have  been  necessary  for  him  to  en- 
ter on  a  scene  which  called  forth  the  sterner  feelings, 
but  we  will,  at  the  same  time,  be  convinced  that  he  is 
incapable  of  wanton  and  deliberate  cruelty,  and  it  will 
require  the  strongest  evidence  to  induce  us  to  believe 
that  he  was  in  any  instance  guilty  of  conduct  so  much 
at  variance  with  what  we  know  of  his  temper  and 
habits.  With  respect  to  those  who  lived  in  former 
times,  this  information  can  be  derived  only  from  pri- 
vate memoirs  and  letters.  When  such  documents  re- 
lating to  any  individual  exist,  and  when  they  have 
been  referred  to  as  authorities,  and  produced  as  illus- 
trations, with  fidelity  and  judgment,  the  outlines  of  his 
character  are  no  longer  left  to  be  filled  up  by  the  fancy 
or  the  prejudices  of  his  biographer.  If  I  have  suc- 
ceeded according  to  my  wish,  the  reader  already  ac- 
quainted with  the  person  whose  life  is  recorded  in  this 
work ;  and  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  attempt  an 
elaborate  delineation  of  his  character.  Nor  is  it  ne- 
cessary for  me  to  enter  into  a  formal  refutation  of  the 
erroneous  opinions  which  have  prevailed  concerning 
it.  The  facts  which  have  been  produced  will  best 
serve  to  correct  these  mistakes,  whether  they  have 
originated  in  ignorance  or  in  prejudice. 

Melville  possessed  great  intrepidity,  invincible  for- 
titude, and  unextinguisliable  ardour  of  mind.  His 
spirit  was  independent,  high,  fiery,  and  incapable  of 
being  tamed  by  threats  or  violence  ;  but  he  was  at  the 
same  time  open,  candid,  generous,  affectionate,  faith- 
ful. The  whole  tenor  of  his  life  bears  testimony  to 
the  sincerity  and  strength  of  his  religious  convictions. 
We  do  not  find  him  making  disclosures,  even  to  his 
most  confidential  correspondents,  of  the  secret  com- 
munings of  his  heart  with  its  God.  But  we  find, 
what  is  a  less  equivocal  proof  of  genuine  devotion,  a 
habitual  sense  of  divine  things,  a  subjection  of  mind 
to  the  divine  will,  and  a  uniform  aim  and  desire  to  ad- 
vance the  divine  glory,  pervading  and  intermingling 
with  all  that  he  did  or  said.  The  spirit  of  his  piety 
was  strikingly  contrasted  with  that  compound  of  indif- 
ference and  selfishness  which  is  so  often  lauded  under 
the  much  abused  names  of  moderation  and  charity. 
"  Thou  canst  not  bear  them  that  are  evil,  and  thou  hast 
tried  them  that  say  they  are  apostles  and  are  not,  and 
hast  found  them  liars,"  was  the  commendation  which 
he  coveted  and  which  he  merited.  He  felt,  and  he 
was  not  ashamed  to  avow,  an  ardent  attachment  to 
civil  liberty.  Possessing,  in  a  high  degree,  the  per- 
fervidum  ingenitim  of  his  countrymen,  sudden  and 
impetuous  in  his  feelings,  as  well  as  prompt  and  viva- 
cious in  his  conceptions,  he  poured  out  a  torrent  of 
vigorous,  vehement,  regardless,  resistless  indignation, 
mingled  at  times  with  defiance  and  scorn,  on  those 


356 


LIFE   OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


who  incurred  bis  displeasure.  But  his  anger,  even 
when  it  rose  to  its  greatest  height,  was  altogether  dif- 
ferent from  the  ebullitions  of  a  splenetic  or  rancorous 
mind.  On  no  occasion  was  it  ever  excited  by  a  sense 
of  personal  injuries,  which  he  meekly  bore  and  for- 
gave. It  was  called  forth  by  a  strong  feeling  of  the 
impropriety  of  the  conduct  which  he  resented,  and  of 
its  tendency  to  injure  those  public  interests  to  which 
he  was  devoted.  And  there  was  always  about  it  an 
honesty,  an  elevation,  a  freedom  from  personal  hate, 
malice,  and  revenge,  which  made  it  respected  even  by 
those  who  censured  its  violence,  or  who  smarted  under 
its  severity.  If  his  religious  and  patriotic  zeal  was 
sometimes  intemperate,  it  was  always  disinterested ; 
if,  by  giving  himself  up  to  its  influence,  he  was  occa- 
sionally carried  beyond  the  bounds  of  virtuous  mode- 
ration and  prudence,  it  is  also  true  that  he.  was  borne 
above  every  sordid  and  mercenary  aim,  and  escaped 
from  the  atmosphere  of  selfishness,  in  which  so  many 
who  have  set  out  well  in  a  public  career  have  had  their 
zeal  cooled  and  their  progress  arrested. 

Notwithstanding  the  heat  and  vehemence  displayed 
in  his  public  conduct,  he  was  an  agreeable  companion 
in  private.  Provided  those  who  were  about  him  could 
bear  with  his  "  wholesome  and  friendly  anger,"  and 
allow  him  freely  to  censure  what  he  tiiought  wrong  in 
their  conduct,  he  assumed  no  arrogant  airs  of  superi- 
ority, exacted  no  humiliating  marks  of  submission,  but 
lived  with  them  as  a  brother  among  brethren.  His 
heart  was  susceptible  of  all  the  humane  and  social 
affections.  Though  he  spent  the  greater  part  of  his 
life  in  a  college,  he  was  no  ascetic  or  morose  recluse ; 
and  though  "  his  book  was  his  bride  and  his  study  his 
bride-chamber,"  *  yet  he  felt  as  tender  a  sympathy 
with  his  friends  in  all  their  domestic  concerns,  as  if  he 
had  been  himself  a  husband  and  a  father.  The  gay, 
good-humoured,  hearty  pleasantry  which  appears  in  his 
familiar  letters,  evinces  a  cheerfulness  and  kindliness 
of  disposition,  which  continued,  to  the  latest  period  of 
his  life,  unsoured  by  the  harsh  treatment  which  he  met 
with,  and  uninjured  by  the  fretting  infirmities  of  old  age. 

His  intellectual  endowments  were  confessedly  su- 
perior. Possessing  a  vigorous  mind,  cultivated  by 
study,  he  excelled  all  his  countrymen  of  that  age  in 
the  acquirements  of  a  various  and  profound  erudition. 
He  was  the  first  Scotchman  who  added  a  taste  for  ele- 
gant literature  to  an  extensive  acquaintance  with  the- 
ology. In  all  the  important  public  transactions  of  his 
time,  he  sustained  a  conspicuous  part.  But  those  who 
have  represented  him  as  exercising,  or  affecting  to  ex- 
ercise, the  authority  of  the  leader  of  a  party,  in  the 
common  acceptation  of  that  term,  have  greatly  mista- 
ken his  character.  He  had  no  pretension  to  those  tal- 
ents which  qualify  one  for  this  task.  He  was  a  stran- 
ger to  the  smooth  arts  and  insinuating  address  by  which 
persons  whose  talents  were  not  of  t!ie  highest  order 
have  often  succeeded  in  managing  public  bodies.  He 
could  not  stoop  to  flatter  and  fawn  upon  the  multitude, 
nor  was  he  disposed  to  make  those  sacrifices  of  princi- 
ple and  personal  independence  which  are  required  from 
every  one  who  sets  up  for  the  head  of  a  party.  Ne- 
vertheless, his  reputation  for  learning  and  probity,  his 
extensive  acquaintance  with  the  subjects  in  debate,  his 
promptitude  of  mind,  his  ready,  fervid,  and  vehement 
eloquence,  and,  above  all,  the  heroic  courage  and  firm- 
ness which  he  uniformly  displayed  in  the  hour  of  dan- 
ger, gave  him  an  ascendancy  over  the  public  mind 
which  was  in  some  respects  greater  than  that  exerted 
by  any  acknowledged  leader.  In  the  church  courts 
there  were  others  better  qualified  for  moderating  in  a 
debate,  for  directing  the  mode  of  procedure,  or  con- 
ducting a  negociation  with  the  court ;  but  still  Melville 
was  regarded  by  the  nation  as  the  master-spirit  which 
animated  the  whole  body,  and  watched  over  the  rights 

•  An  exprcgsion  applied  to  Archbishop  Grinclal,  who  never 
nriBrried. 


and  liberties  of  the  church.  His  zeal  and  fearlessness 
led  him  sometimes,  in  the  heat  of  action,  to  leave  the 
ranks  of  his  brethren,  and  to  seize  a  position  which 
they  deemed  improper  or  hazardous;  but  still  their  eye 
was  fixed  on  him,  and  they  were  encouraged  by  his 
example  to  maintain  the  conflict  on  lower  and  less  dan- 
gerous ground. 

I  have  not  met  with  any  description  of  his  external 
appearance,  except  that  given  by  his  Majesty,  who  has 
informed  us  that  he  was  of  low  stature.*  Nor  do  1 
know  of  any  portrait  of  him.  His  bodily  constitution 
was  sound  ;  he  enjoyed  a  long  course  of  good  health; 
his  animal  spirits  were  lively;  and  he  was  a  stranger 
to  those  alternate  visitations  of  morbid  sensibility  and 
oppressive  languor  by  which  men  of  talents  and  studi 
ous  habits  are  often  tormented. 

The  greater  part  of  Melville's  writings  consists  of 
Latin  poems. f  These  display  the  vigour  of  his  imag- 
ination and  the  elegance  of  his  taste;  and  some  of 
them  will  bear  a  comparison  with  the  productions  of 
such  of  his  contemporaries  as  were  the  greatest  mas- 
ters of  that  species  of  writing.  But,  though  his  poems 
were  admired  at  the  time  when  they  appeared,  it  must 
be  confessed  that  they  have  not  transmitted  his  repu- 
tation to  posterity.  This  is  chiefly  to  be  ascribed  to 
the  change  which  has  taken  place  in  literary  taste,  and 
the  disrepute  into  which  such  compositions  have  fallen 
in  later  times.  It  has  been  also  owing  in  some  degree 
to  his  not  having  produced  a  work  of  any  great  extent, 
a  circumstance  which  has  no  small  influence  on  public 
opinion.  Had  Buchanan  not  published  his  Para- 
phrase of  the  Psalms,  the  merit  of  his  other  poetical 
pieces  would  probably  have  been  now  known  only  to 
a  few.  Melville  found  always  sufficient  active  em- 
ployment to  excuse  him  from  the  duty  of  writing  for 
the  public.  He  was  not  ambitious  of  literary  fame, 
and  was  quite  superior  to  mercenary  views;  nor  had 
the  art  of  converting  authorship  into  an  engine  for  ma- 
king a  fortune  been  discovered  in  that  age.  Another 
circumstance  which  has  proved  injurious  to  his  lite- 
rary fame  is,  that  a  great  number  of  his  poems  are 
satires  on  the  hierarchy.  This,  together  with  the 
firm  resistance  which  he  made  to  the  episcopal  polity, 
excited  a  strong  antipathy  against  him  among  the  de- 
fenders of  the  English  church,  wiio  have  either  dispar- 
aged his  talents  or  treated  his  writings  with  neglect.:^: 
Not  that  all  of  them  are  chargeable  with  this  injustice. 
Isaac  Walton,  though  displeased  with  the  freedoms 
which  Melville  had  taken  with  his  favourite  church, 
does  not  attempt  to  deny  or  conceal  his  talents.  ||     A 


*  See  above,  p.  287. 

+  A  list  of  his  works  will  be  fouiiil  in  Note  PP. 

J  See  Dr.  Duport's  verses  "  In  Andream  Melvinuni  Scotom, 
de  sua  Anti-Tauii-Canii-Categ-oria,  Saphicn  ver.su  conscripta;" 
added  to  his  edition  of  '■  Ecclesiastes  Salaaionis — 1662."  A 
striking  specimen  of  the  spirit  referred  to  in  the  text  is  given 
by  Bishop  Nicolson.  In  bis  account  of  treatises  left  by  Scotch- 
men '•  on  the  description  and  antiquities  of  their  country,"  he 
says:  "  1  have  not  seen  And.  Jilelvm's  Fragmentiim  de  Origine 
Gentis  Scotorum.  Nor  will  the  character  which  a  raouern 
writer  gives  of  the  author  tempt  any  man  to  enquire  after  it." 
(Scottish  Hist.  Library,  p.  15.  Lond.  1702.  8vo.)  Now,  the  work 
was  staring  the  worthy  bishop  in  the  face  all  ihe  time,  in  a  book 
which  he  had  repeatedly  quoted.  The  reader  may  be  curious 
to  see  the  character  which  made  an  Anlioxiarian  so  indifferent 
about  a  discourse  on  Antiquities ;  and  as  tnis  character  is  really 
a  curiosity  of  its  kind,  I  shall  subjoin  it.  "  Master  Andrew 
Melvil — was  a  Man,  by  Nature,  fierce  and  fiery,  confident  and 
])eremptory,  peevish  and  ungovernable:  Education  in  him,  had 
not  sweetened  Nature,  but  Nature  had  sowred  Education;  and 
both  conspiring  together  had  tiickt  him  up  into  a  true  Original; 
a  piece  compounded  of  pride  and  petulance,  of  jeer  and  jangle, 
of  Satyre  and  Sarcasm;  of  venome  and  vehemence:  He  hated 
the  Crown  as  much  as  the  Mitre,  the  Scepter  as  much  as  the 
Crosier,  and  could  have  made  as  bold  with  the  Purple  as  with 
the  Rochet:  His  prime  Talent  was  I^amnooning  and  writing 
Anti-Tami-Cami-Categorias.  In  a  word.  He  was  the  very  Ar- 
chetypal Bitter  Beard  of  the  Party."  (Sage's  Fundamental 
Charter  of  Presbytery  Examined,  p.  217, 218?) 

SHe  was,  says  he,  "  master  of  a  great  wit,  a  wit  full  of  knots 
clenches;  a  wit  kharp  and  satirical:  exceeded,  I  think,  by 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


367 


modern  English  divine,  who  is  a  much  better  judge 
than  Walton,  speaks  of  him  in  the  following  terms. 
"The  learning  and  abilities  of  Mr.  Melville  were 
equalled  only  by  the  purity  of  his  manners  and  the 
sanctity  of  his  life.  His  temper  was  warm  and  vio- 
lent;  his  carriage  and  zeal  perfectly  suited  to  the 
times  in  which  he  lived.  Archbishop  Spotswood  is 
uniformly  unfriendly  to  his  memory.  He  seems  to 
have  been  treated  by  his  adversaries  with  great  asperi- 
ty."— And,  having  quoted  Duport's  poem  against  him, 
he  adds  :  "  Let  it  not,  however,  be  inferred  from  these 
verses,  that  Andrew  Melville  always  sought  to  dip  his 
pen  in  gall ;  that  he  was  principally  delighted  with 
the  severity  of  satire  and  invective.  He  occasionally 
diverted  his  muse  to  the  subject  of  just  panegyric.  In 
many  of  his  epigrams  he  has  celebrated  the  literary 
attainments  of  his  contemporaries.  He  has  endeared 
his  name  to  posterity  by  his  encomium  on  the  profound 
learning  of  the  two  Scaligers,and  the  classic  elegance 
of  Buchanan,  his  preceptor,  and  the  parent  of  the 
Muses.  His  Latin  paraphrase  of  the  Song  of  Moses 
is  truly  excellent — exquisitely  beautiful."  * 

Melville's  reputation,  however,  does  not  rest  on  his 
writings.  It  is  founded  on  the  active  services  which 
he  performed  for  his  country — on  his  successful  exer- 
tions in  behalf  of  its  literature,  and  his  activity  in 
rearing  and  defending  that  ecclesiastical  polity  by 
which  it  has  long  been  distinguished.  There  may  be 
some  who  are  disposed  to  depreciate  the  last  of  these 
services,  and  to  represent  him  as  contending,  and  ex- 
posing himself  to  sufferings,  for  disputable  and  con- 
troverted points  of  small  moment,  relating  to  forms  of 
government  and  plans  of  discipline.  Such  language, 
though  sometimes  employed  by  good  and  well-meaning 
men,  proceeds  from  very  narrow  and  mistaken  views. 
If  applied  to  civil  government,  who  does  not  see  the 
sweeping  inferences  to  which  it  would  lead  ?  It  would 
discredit  the  most  meritorious  struggles  in  behalf  of 
liberty  and  law  which  mark  the  most  glorious  epochs 
in  our  history.  It  would  condemn  those  patriots  who 
nobly  bled  in  defence  of  this  sacred  cause  on  the  scaf- 
fold or  in  the  field,  and  represent  them  as  having 
*'  died  as  a  fool  dieth,"  if  not  as  rebels  and  ring- 
leaders of  revolt.  And  it  would  sink  and  degrade  the 
free  constitution  of  Britain  to  a  level  with  the  despoti- 
cal  autocracies  of  Turkey  and  Spain.  Who  that  has 
duly  reflected  on  the  subject  can  be  ignorant  that  forms 
of  government  exert  a  mighty  influence,  both  directly 
and  indirectly,  on  the  manners,  and  habits,  and  senti- 
ments of  the  people  who  live  under  them  ;  and  that 
some  of  these  forms  are  unspeakably  preferable  to 
others  1  That  they  are  better  adapted  to  impose  a 
check  on  ambitious  or  corrupt  rulers — prevent  or  cor- 
rect abuses  arising  from  mal-administration — provide 
for  the  impartial  distribution  of  justice  —  preserve 
the  spirit  and  perpetuate  the  enjoyment  of  liberty — 
promote  education,  virtue,  and  religion;  and,  in  fine, 
to  secure  to  the  people  at  large  all  that  happiness 
which  it  is  the  original  and  proper  design  of  govern- 
ment to  procure  and  bestow  1  The  opposite  sentiment 
is  so  palpably  absurd,  that  there  is  ground  to  suspect 
that  it  is  often  adopted  by  persons  as  an  excuse  for 
their  apathy  to  the  public  welfare,  or  an  apology  for 
maintaining  connexions  which  they  find  to  be  condu- 
cive to  the  advancement  of  their  secular  interests. 
These  remarks  apply  with  greater  force  to  ecclesiasti- 
cal than  to  political  government.  Setting  aside  en- 
tirely the  argument  from  scripture;  the  advancement 
of  the  interests  of  religion,  the  preservation  of  purity 
of  faith  and  morals,  the  regular  dispensing  of  religious 
instruction  and  of  all  divine  ordinances,  and,  in  gene- 


none  of  that  nation  but  their  Buchanan."  This  testimony  to 
Melville,  which  appeared  in  the  first  edition  of  the  Life  of 
George  Herbert,  was  suppressed  in  the  subsequent  editions. 
Dr.  Zouch  restored  it  in  his  edition  of  Walton's  Lives,  p.  295. 
*  Dr.  Zouch,  Walton's  Lives,  p.  354,  355. 


ral,  the  promoting  of  the  spiritual  improvement  and 
salvation  of  the  people,  have  always  depended,  and 
must  always  depend,  in  a  high  degree,  on  the  form  of 
government  established  in  a  church,  and  on  the  rules 
by  which  discipline  is  exercised  in  it.  Perfection  is 
not  to  be  expected  in  any  society  on  earth,  and  the  best 
system  of  laws  may  be  abused,  and  will  cease  to  ac- 
complish its  ends  when  the  vivific  spirit  has  been  suf- 
fered to  depart;  but  when  these  ends  are  habitually 
and  glaringly  counteracted  in  any  church,  it  will  gene- 
rally be  found,  on  examination,  that  some  check  or 
corrective  which  scripture,  reason,  and  the  circum- 
stances of  the  times  warranted  and  pointed  out,  has 
been  removed  or  was  avvanting.  The  ecclesiastical 
constitution  which  Melville  had  the  chief  hand  in 
establishing,  is  eminently  calculated  to  advance  these 
ends.  And  to  it,  joined  to  the  spirit  which  he  infused 
by  his  example  and  instructions,  Scotland  has  been 
indebted  for  other  blessings  of  a  collateral  kind,  and 
of  the  highest  importance.  To  it  she  owes  that  sys- 
tem of  education  which  has  extended  its  blessings  to 
the  lowest  class  in  the  community.  To  it  she  owes 
the  intelligence,  sobriety,  and  religious  principle  which 
distinguish  her  commonalty  from  those  of  other  coun- 
tries. To  it  she  owed  a  simple,  unambitious,  labori- 
ous, and  at  the  same  time  independent  order  of  minis- 
ters. And  to  it  she  was  indebted  for  the  public  spirit 
which  has  resisted  manifold  disadvantages  in  her  poli- 
tical situation  and  institutions; — disadvantages,  which 
otherwise  must  have  reduced  her  to  a  state  of  slavery, 
and  made  her  the  instrument  of  enslaving  the  nation 
with  w^hich  she  became  allied,  first  by  the  union  of  the 
crowns,  and  afterwards  by  the  union  of  the  kingdoms. 
It  is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose,  that  the  facts  which 
have  been  adduced  in  the  preceding  narrative,  refute 
the  supposition,  that  Melville  and  his  associates  were 
engaged  merely  in  resisting  the  imposition  of  certain 
ecclesiastical  forms.  The  object  of  the  contest  was 
far  more  extensive  and  momentous.  The  efficiency,  if 
not  the  existence,  of  that  discipline  which  had  long 
operated  as  a  powerful  check  on  irreligion  and  vice, 
was  at  stake.  The  independence,  and  consequently 
the  usefulness  of  the  ministers  was  struck  at.  The 
inferior  judicatories  might  be  allowed  to  meet,  but 
only  under  a  guard  of  episcopal  janizaries.  The  Gene- 
ral Assembly  might  be  occasionally  called  together, 
but  merely  for  the  purpose  of  recording  royal  edicts, 
and  becoming  an  instrument  of  greater  oppression  and 
tyranny  than  the  court  could  have  exercised  without 
its  aid.  The  immediate  object  of  the  King,  by  the 
changes  which  he  made  in  the  government  of  the 
church,  was  to  constitute  himself  Dictator  in  all  mat- 
ters of  religion  ;  and  his  ultimate  object  was,  by  means 
of  the  bishops,  to  overturn  the  civil  liberties  of  the 
nation,  and  to  become  absolute  master  of  the  con- 
sciences, properties,  and  lives  of  -all  his  subjects  in 
the  three  kingdoms.  It  was  a  contest  therefore  that 
involved  all  that  is  dear  to  men  and  Christians — all 
that  is  valuable  in  liberty  and  sacred  in  religion. 
Melville  was  the  first  to  discover  and  denounce  the 
scheme  which  was  planned  for  the  overthrow  of  these ; 
and  he  persisted  in  opposing  its  execution  at  the  ex- 
pense of  deprivation  of  office,  imprisonment,  and  per- 
petual banishment  from  his  native  country.  No  suf- 
ferings to  which  he  was  subjected  could  bring  him  to 
retract  the  opposition  which  he  had  made  to  it.  No 
offers  which  he  received  could  induce  him  to  give  it 
the  slightest  mark  of  his  approbation.  By  the  fortitude, 
constancy,  and  cheerfulness  with  which  he  bore  his 
exile,  he  continued  to  testify  against  it;  and,  by  ani- 
mating his  brethren  who  remained  at  home,  he  contri- 
buted materially  to  bring  about  a  revolution,  which, 
not  long  after  his  death,  levelled  with  the  ground  that 
ill-omened  fabric,  the  rearing  of  which  had  cost  the 
labour  of  so  many  years,  and  the  expense  of  so  much 
principle  and  conscience. 


358 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


CHAPTER   XL 

State  of  Literature  in  Scotland  when  Melville 
WAS  settled  at  St.  Andrews,  anno  1580. 

Erection  of  University  of  St.  Andrews — Its  Constitution — Col- 
leges founded  in  it — State  of  the  University  at  the  Reforma- 
tion— Mode  of  Teaching  and  Conferring  Degrees  in  the 
Faculty  of  Arts — and  of  Theology — New  Plan  of  the  Uni- 
versity in  the  First  Book  of  Discipline — by  Buchanan — bv 
Parliament — Sketch  of  the  New  Mode  of  Teaching — Mel- 
ville'* Share  in  Drawing  it  up — Reform  on  the  other  Uni- 
versities— Parochial  Schools — High  School  of  Glasg-ow — of 
Edinburgh — Scholastic  Philosophy — John  Rutherford — Civil 
Law — William  Skene— Edward  Henryson — Theology  and 
Poetry — Alexander  Arbuthnot — Thomas  Sraeton — Thomas 
Maitland — Patrick  Adamson — John  Davidson. 

We  have  had  repeated  occasion,  in  the  preceding 

Sages,  to  advert  to  the  state  of  literature  in  Scotland, 
lut  the  subject,  from  its  importance,  and  the  con- 
nexion in  which  it  stands  with  the  life  of  Melville,  is 
entitled  to  something  more  than  a  cursory  notice  and 
incidental  illustrations.  I  shall,  therefore,  endeavour, 
in  this  chapter,  to  throw  some  light  on  the  state  of  our 
literature  when  Melville  was  first  established  in  tlie 
university  of  St.  Andrews;  and,  in  the  following  chap- 
ter, shall  conclude  with  an  account  of  the  progress 
which  it  had  made  when  he  was  removed  from  that 
situation. 

The  literary  history  of  Scotland  at  the  first  of  these 
periods  embraces  the  universities,  the  parochial  schools, 
and  the  individuals  who  distinguished  themselves  by 
their  writings.  The  university  of  St.  Andrews  was 
the  earliest,  and  continued  long  to  be  the  most  cele- 
brated of  our  acadenoical  institutions.  For  two  centu- 
ries almost  all  the  eminent  men  who  appeared  in  this 
country  were  connected  with  it,  either  as  teachers  or 
pupils.  A  brief  description  of  its  constitution,  the 
mode  of  instruction  practised  in  it,  and  the  changes 
made  on  this,  will  convey  a  better  idea  of  the  state  of 
our  literature  than  any  sketch  which  I  could  propose  to 
give  of  the  history  of  all  the  universities. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  fifteenth  century,  no 
great  school  existed  in  Scotland  ;  and  the  youth  who 
were  desirous  of  a  liberal  education  were  under  the 
necessity  of  seelcing  it  abroad.  The  inconveniences 
arising  from  this  were  increased  by  the  dissensions 
which  the  conflictinsr  claims  of  the  rival  popes  excited 
on  the  continent.  To  remedy  the  evil,  Henry  Ward- 
law,  bishop  of  St.  Andrews,  with  the  consent  of  par- 
liament, erected,  in  the  year  1411,  a  General  Study,  or 
university,  in  the  chief  city  of  his  diocese ;  *  and,  two 
years  after,  the  charter  which  he  had  granted  was  con- 
firmed by  a  bull  from  Benedict  XIII.  whom  the  Scots 
then  acknowledged  as  sovereign  pontifF.f 

The  university  of  St.  Andrews  was  formed  on  the 
model  of  those  of  Paris  and  Bologna,  and  enjoyed  the 
same  privileges.  All  its  members,  or  supposts,  as 
they  were  called,  including  the  students  who  had  at- 
tained the  degree  of  bachelor  as  well  as  the  masters, 
were  divided  into  nations,  according  to  the  places  from 
which  they  came.  At  a  congregation  or  general  meet- 
ing, they  elected  four  procurators,  who  liad  a  right  to 
act  for  them  in  all  causes  in  which  their  interests  were 
concerned,  and  four  intrants  or  electors,  by  whom  the 
rector  was  chosen.  The  rector  was  the  chief  magis- 
trate, and  had  authority  to  judge  and  pronounce  sen- 
tence, with  the  advice  and  consent  of  his  assessors,^  in 
all  causes,  civil  and  criminal,  relating  to  members  of 
the  university,  with  the  exception  of  crimes  which  in- 
curred the  highest  punishment.  ||     He  had  a  right  to 


re-pledge  any  member  of  the  university  who  might  be 
called  before  any  other  judge,  civil  or  ecclesiastical ; 
and,  in  certain  cases,  those  who  did  not  belong  to  the 
university  might  be  called  before  the  rector's  court, 
upon  the  complaint  of  a  master  or  student.  It  is  natu- 
ral to  suppose  that  the  exercise  of  these  powers  would 
give  occasion  to  a  collision  of  authorities  ;  and,  accord- 
ingly, a  concordat  was  entered  into,  at  an  early  period, 
between  the  university  and  the  magistrates  of  the  city, 
by  which  the  limits  of  their  jurisdictions  were  defined 
and  adjusted.*  The  university  had  the  right  of  pur- 
chasing victuals  free  from  custom,  within  the  city  and 
the  regality  of  the  abbey.f  It  was  also  exempted 
from  paying  all  other  imposts  and  taxes,  even  those 
levied  by  tlie  Estates,  with  the  exception  of,  what  is 
called,  the  great  custom.  Its  members  enjoyed  immu- 
nity from  the  duties  exacted  for  confirming  testaments; 
and  such  of  them  as  were  clergymen,  and  possessed 
benefices  with  cure,  were  liberated  by  the  papal  bull 
from  obligation  to  personal  residence  as  long  as  they 
taught  in  the  university.  :f:  Besides  its  civil  and  cri- 
minal jurisdiction,  the  university  possessed  ecclesias- 
tical powers,  in  the  exercise  of  which  it  sometimes 
proceeded  to  excommunication.  ||  It  may  be  mentioned 
as  an  evidence  of  the  respect  paid  to  literature,  that,  in 
consequence  of  a  dispute  which  had  arisen,  it  was  de- 
termined that  the  Rector  of  the  University  should  take 
precedence  of  the  Prior  of  the  Abbey  in  all  public 
processions.  § 

For  the  direction  of  its  literary  affairs,  the  members 
of  the  university  were  divided  into  faculties,  according 
to  the  sciences  that  were  taught.  At  the  head  of  each 
of  these  was  a  dean,  who  presided  at  the  meetings  of 
the  masters  of  his  faculty  for  regulating  the  mode  of 
study,  and  for  examinations.  The  Chancellor  pre- 
sided at  meetings  of  the  university  for  the  conferring 
of  degrees.^  It  was  long  before  medicine  was  taught, 
as  a  separate  science,  in  our  universities,  and  it  does 
not  appear  that  they  were  accustomed  anciently  to  con- 
fer degrees  in  law.  The  branches  taught  were  the 
arts  or  philosophy,  canon  law,  and  divinity.** 

However  limited  this  course  of  education  was,  and 
however  rude  and  imperfect  the  mode  in  which  it  was 
conducted,  such  an  institution  could  not  fail  to  produce 
effects  favourable  to  the  progress  of  knowledge.  The 
erection  of  the  University  of  St.  Andrews  may  be  re- 


»  Forduni  Scoticliron  lib.  xv.  chap.  22.  Boethii  Hist.  Scot, 
lib.  xvl.  The  bishop  erected  the  university  "de  eonsilio,  con- 
•ensu,  et  comniuni  trartatu  trium  Statuum  personarum  regoi 
Scotiae."     (Bulla  Fundationin  Univ.  S.  Andr«a;.) 

+  Papers  of  the  University. 

\  In  general  the  university  elected  the  assessors,  and  em- 
powered the  Rector  to  appoint  his  deputies.  The  number  of 
usessors  was  twelve,  three  from  each  nation. 

P  "  dummodo  ad  atrocem  injuriam  non  sit  proce«»u»."  (Con- 


cession of  Privileges  by  Bishop  Wardlaw.")  There  is  one  in- 
stance of  capital  punishment  being  inflicted  by  the  sentence  of 
the  rector  of  the  university  of  Glasgow.  (Statist.  Account  of 
Scotland,  vol.  xxi.  Appena.]) 

*  Concordia  inita,  per  episcop.  Jac.  Kennedy,  inter  suppositat 
universitatis  et  cives  Sti.  Andrea,  A.  D.  1440. 

t  The  prior  joined  with  the  bishop  in  the  charter  of  Conces- 
sion of  Privileges. — The  abbey  of  St.  Andrews  had  a  jurisdic- 
tion of  its  own,  and  magistrates  independent  of  those  of  the 
city.  About  the  time  ofthe  Reformation,  the  Master  of  Lind- 
say was  "principall  baillie  of  the  priorie  of  Sanct-androis," 
and  Robert  Pont  was  "  procurator  phiscall  of  the  said  priorie." 
(Sumnionds— David  Monepenny  elder  of  Pitniilly  ag*  Mr. 
James  Wilkie,  &c.  March  6, 1577.) 

X  Bulla  CoRcess.  Privileg.  Univ.  S.  A. 

II  In  a  dispute  which  the  rector  and  professors  of  theology  in 
the  university  had  with  the  masters  of  St.  Salvator's  College 
about  the  jwwer  of  conferring  degrees,  the  former  threatened 
the  latter  with  ecclesiastical  censures.  The  matter  was  settled 
by  a  provincial  council  held  in  1470,  in  the  way  of  the  College 
consenting  to  renounce  the  right  which  they  had  acciiiired  by 
a  papal  bull.  (Hovei  Oratio  tie  Fundat.  Univ.  Andr.  MS.)  In 
the  reformation  of  the  university  of  St.  Andrews  in  1579,  it  is 
provided,  "  that  in  place  of  the  pane  of  cui-sing  vsit  of  befoir 
vpoun  oflendo"  and  inobedientis  They  be  now  decernit  be  de- 
creit  of  the  recto'  and  chief  membris  of  the  vni^silie  efter  the 
cognifioun  of  the  caus  to  be  debarrit  secludit  and  remouit  out 
of  the  vniu-iitie  And  to  tyne  and  foirfalt  the  priuilegis  and  ben- 
cfittis  yrof "  (Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vol.  iii.  p.  181.) 

i Hovei  Oratio.  .      .       ,      , 

Ibid.  The  mode  of  study,  and  of  examination  for  degrect 
in  the  arts  or  philosophy,  appears  to  have  been  regulated  soon 
after  the  erection  of  the  university.  James  of  Haddiston  wa» 
dean  of  the  faculty  of  theology  in  1432,  when  similar  regula- 
tions were  made  as  to  theological  study  and  graduation. 
»»  See  Note  QQ. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


359 


garded  as  marking  the  first  dawn  of  learning  in  Scot- 
land. Attracted  by  novelty,  or  animated  by  that  thirst 
for  knowledge  which  has  always  characterized  Scotch- 
men, students  came  to  St.  Andrews  from  every  part  of 
the  kingdom. 

The  university  appears  to  have  been  possessed  of 
Tery  slender  funds  until  the  erection  of  colleges  in  it. 
The  College  of  St.  Salvator  wns  founded  by  bishop  Ken- 
nedy in  the  year  1450 ;  that  of  St.  Leonard  was  founded 
by  John  Hepburn,  the  prior  of  the  abbey,  in  the  year 
1512  ;  and  the  erection  of  St.  Mary^s,  or  the  New  Col- 
lege, was  begun  by  archbishop  Beaton  in  the  year 
1532,  and  completed  by  Archbishop  Hamilton  in  the 
year  1552.  Each  of  these  was  endowed  with  funds 
for  the  support  of  a  certain  number  of  professors  and 
bursars.  In  the  regulations  of  St.  Mary's  College, 
we  may  observe  the  advancement  which  knowledge 
had  already  made,  and  the  influence  which  it  exerted 
over  the  minds  of  the  popish  prelates  or  their  advisers.* 

A  college  has  been  compared  to  an  incorporated 
trade  within  a  burgh ;  but  it  bears  a  still  more  striking 
resemblance  to  a  convent.  The  principal  difference 
between  them  is,  that  the  latter  was  an  association  en- 
tirely for  religious  purposes,  whereas  learning  was  the 
chief  object  of  the  former.  The  members  of  the  col- 
lege, like  the  monks,  were  bound  to  live,  eat,  and 
sleep  in  the  same  house,  they  were  supported  in  com- 
mon upon  the  goods  of  the  college,  and  were  astricted 
in  all  things  to  the  will  of  the  founder.  A  university, 
though  a  chartered  body,  was  not  under  the  same  re- 
gulations, nor  was  the  same  provision  made  for  its 
members.  The  college  was  within  the  university ; 
the  members  of  the  former  were  also  members  of  the 
latter,  partook  of  its  privileges,  and  were  subject  to 
its  government. 

Two  things  deserve  notice  as  to  the  college  of  St. 
Leonard.  In  the  first  place,  although  it  owed  its  erec- 
tion to  monks,  was  placed  under  their  immediate  su- 
perintendence, and  taught  constantly  by  persons  taken 
from  the  convent ;  and  although  its  original  foundation 
and  subsequent  endowments  were  highly  calculated  to 
foster  superstition,!  yet  the  reformed  opinions  obtained 
an  earlier  and  more  extensive  reception  in  this  college 
than  in  the  rest  of  the  university,  j^  In  the  second 
place,  this  seminary  had  at  first  to  struggle  with  great 
difficulties  on  account  of  the  slenderness  of  its  funds; 
but  by  the  vigilance  of  its  patrons,  and  the  diligence 
of  those  who  had  the  charge  of  education,  it  not  only 
surmounted  these,  but  attained  great  celebrity.  So 
many  of  the  sons  of  the  nobility  and  gentry  came  to 
study  at  St.  Leonard's,  that  the  name  of  the  College  of 
Poor  Clerks,  which  the  founder  had  originally  given  it, 
conveyed  a  very  erroneous  idea  of  those  who  resided 
within  its  walls.  || 

The  defence  and  increase  of  the  Catholic  faith  was 
one  declared  object  of  the  erection  of  all  the  colleges. 
This  is  more  particularly  expressed  in  the  deeds  foun- 
ding and  providing  for  the  College  of  St.  Mary.  It 
was  erected  "  for  defending  and  confirming  the  Catho- 
lic Faith,  that  the  Christian  religion  might  flourish, 
the  word  of  God  might  be  more  abundantly  sown  in 
the  hearts  of  the  faithful,  and  to  oppose  the  heresies  and 
schisms  of  the  pestiferous  hereticsand  heresiarchs  who. 


*  See  Note  RR. 

f  In  1525,  John  Archibald  founded  an  nltar  in  the  College 
of  Poor  Students,  to  the  honour  of  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary, 
"for  the  salvation  of  John  Hepburn,  prior  of  the  monastery  and 
all  the  canons,  also  for  the  souls  of  Mr.  Michael  Livingston, 
former  vicar  of  Wenus,  and  of  Sir  Robert  Wallis,  former  arch- 
deacon of  St.  Andrews;  also  of  the  souls  of  his  own  father 
and  his  mother,  and  his  spouse  Margret  Symsoun,  and  all  his 
benefactors  and  friends." — The  masters  appear  to  have  enter- 
tained notions  of  piety  somewhat  different  from  the  above, 
when,  in  1550,  they  ordained  that  the  fines  levied  from  absen- 
tees should,  after  growing  to  a  round  sum,  be  converted  "  in 
vinura,  ad  refociilandos  conversantium  animos,  et  in  alios  pios 
usus."  (Papers  of  University.) 

i  Life  of  John  Knox,  p.  27. 

ft  Hovei  Oratio.    Comp.  Cald,  MS.  vol.  ii.  p.  431. 


alas !  have  sprung  up  and  flourished  in  these  times,  in 
this  as  well  as  in  many  other  parts  of  the  world."*  Yet 
within  a  short  time  after  this  language  was  held,  these 
"  pestiferous  heretics"  prevailed  against  the  Catholic 
faith,  and  obtained  possession  of  the  very  places  and 
funds  which  were  destined  for  their  suppression  and 
extirpation.  The  protestant  sentiments  had  for  many 
years  been  secretly  spreading  in  all  the  colleges  of 
St.  Andrews,  and  they  were  now  embraced  by  the 
greater  part  of  the  professors,  with  perhaps  the  excep- 
tion of  those  of  St.  Salvator's. 

During  the  agitation  of  the  religious  controversy, 
the  academical  exercises  were  interrupted,  and  the 
number  of  students  diminished.  In  the  year  1559,  the 
faculty  of  arts  was  under  the  necessity  of  superceding 
the  public  exhibitions  usual  at  graduation.!  Several 
of  the  masters  in  St.  Salvator's,  including  William 
Cranston,  the  principal,  adhered  to  the  ancient  religion, 
and  left  their  places ;  but  the  greater  part,  if  not  the 
whole,  of  those  belonging  to  the  two  other  colleges, 
embraced  the  Reformation,  and  consequently  retained 
their  situations.  John  Douglas,  afterwards  archbishop 
of  St.  Andrews,  was  at  this  time  principal  of  St.  Ma- 
ry's College, !:  and  John  Duncanson  was  principal  of 
St.  Leonard's.  || 

Every  thing  connected  with  the  Roman  Catholic 
faith  and  worship,  which  was  interwoven  with  the 
laws  and  practice  of  the  university  and  of  the  colleges 
belonging  to  it,  was  removed  at  the  establishment  of 
the  Reformation.  Other  alterations  were  at  the  same 
time  contemplated  by  the  reformers,  but  various  causes 
prevented  them  from  being  carried  into  eflfect.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  mode  of  teaching,  and  the  academical 
exercises,  so  far  as  related  to  philosophy  or  the  arts, 
continued  nearly  on  their  former  footing. 

All  the  scholars  who  entered  at  one  time  into  a  col- 
lege, formed  a  class,  which  was  put  under  the  govern- 
ment of  a  regent,  with  whom  they  continued  four 
years.  The  regents  had  not,  like  the  professors,  per- 
manent situations  in  the  college.  It  would  appear, 
that  originally  every  master  of  arts  was  bound  to  teach 
a  class,  and  came  under  an  engagement  to  this  purpose 
at  his  laureation.  Afterwards  it  became  customary  to 
grant  dispensations  from  this  duty.  When  the  num- 
ber of  graduated  persons  had  increased,  and  it  became 
in  other  respects  an  object  of  importance  to  obtain  a 
regency,  those  who  were  desirous  of  it  presented  a 
petition  to  the  faculty,  in  which  they  professed  their 
knowledge  of  the  text  of  Aristotle,  and  requested  per- 
mission to  explain  it,  or,  in  other  words,  to  govern  a 
class.  They  were  ordinarily  bound  to  continue  until 
they  had  taught  two  classes;  but  at  St.  Andrews,  the 
greater  part  of  the  regents  retained  their  situations,  to 
which  the  profits  arising  from  altarages  or  chaplanries 
were  attached,  until  they  obtained  a  living  in  the 
church  or  an  oflSce  in  the  state. 

Though  the  regular  time  of  the  course  was  four 


*  Donatio  de  Conveth,  Jun,  26, 1550;  et  Donatio  de  Tarvet, 
Mart.  31, 1558. 

f  "  Nonus  Rectoratus  Magri  Joannis  Douglasii  praepositi 
novi  collegii  Mariani,  1558.  Hoc  anno  propter  tumultus  reli- 
gionis  ergo  exertos,  paucissimi  scholastic!  ad  hanc  universita- 
tem  venermit,"  (Only  three  names  of  Incorporati  are  inserted.) 
— "Consiliis  habitis  15  Maii  a"  59  de  promovendis  discipulis 
statuit  acadeniia  oes  laureMos  hujus  anni  pro  laureatis  haberi, 
quod  universa  refp.  perturbaone  et  religionis  reformatione  vete- 
res  ritus  seruare  inipediretur." 

}  Keith  (Scottish  Bishops,.p.  25,)  has  confounded  the  Arch- 
bishop with  a  preacher  named  Douglas,  who  was  chaplain  to 
the  Earl  of  Argyte  in  1558.  The  description  given  of  the  lat- 
ter will  not  answer  to  the  former,,  who  was  provost  of  St.  Ma- 
ry's College  from  1547,  till  his  death  in  1574  and  was  always 
resident  in  the  university. 

{{  Duncanson  demitted  in  1566.  In  a  donation  of  books,  and 
other  valuable  articles,  subscribed  by  his  own  hand,  he  styles 
himself  "umqle  Maister  principal!  of  Sanctleonardis  College, — 
and  Mr.  James  Wilkye  Principall  regent  and  maister  of  the 
samyn  in  name  of  the  College  askit  instrument."  Wilkie  ap- 
pears to  have  considered  the  succession  to  the  principality  aa 
rhis  due,  but  it  was  conferred  on  Buchanan, 


360 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


years,  it  was  usually  finished  in  three  years  and  a  half. 
The  session  began  on  the  first  of  October,  and  conti- 
nued through  the  whole  year,  except  the  months  of 
August  and  September,  which  were  allowed  as  a  vaca- 
tion. The  regent  assembled  his  class  three  hours 
every  day,  and  read  and  explained  the  books  of  Aris- 
totle, which  the  students  were  bound  to  bring  along 
with  them.  He  began  with  dialectics  or  logic,  then  pro- 
ceeded to  ethics,  next  to  physics,  and  concluded  with 
metaphysics,  which  was  called  prima  philosophia  or 
the  highest  branch  of  philosophy,  and  mathematics, 
which  included  arithmetic.  During  their  course,  the 
students  were  frequently  employed  in  disputations  and 
declamations,  both  privately  in  their  class,  and  pub- 
licly before  the  college  and  the  university.  Besides 
seeing  that  the  regents  and  students  did  their  duty,  the 
principal  usually  read  public  lectures  on  what  were 
then  reckoned  the  higher  branches  of  philosophy, 
which  were  attended  by  all  the  students  in  college, 
except  those  of  the  first  year.* 

In  the  middle  of  the  third  year  of  their  course,  such 
of  the  students  as  obtained  an  attestation  of  regular 
attendance  and  good  behaviour  from  their  regent  and 
the  principal  of  their  college,  were  admitted  to  enter 
on  trials  for  the  degree  of  bachelor.  For  this  purpose 
the  faculty  chose  every  year  three  regents,  one  from 
each  college,  as  examinators.  In  the  presence  of  these 
the  candidates  determined  f  a  question,  in  logic  or  mo- 
rals, in  a  continued  discourse,  and  answered  such  ques- 
tions as  were  proposed  to  them  on  any  of  the  branches 
which  they  had  studied  under  their  respective  agents. 
The  examinators  made  their  report  to  the  faculty,  when 
such  as  had  given  satisfaction  were  confirmed  as  ba- 
chelors by  the  Dean,  and  the  rest  were  sent  to  a  lower 
class. — The  act  of  laureation  at  the  end  of  the  course 
was  conducted  in  a  similar  manner.  But  on  this  oc- 
casion the  candidates  were  examined  on  the  whole  cir- 
cle of  the  arts,  and  bound  to  defend  a  thesis,  which 
had  been  previously  affixed  to  the  gates  of  the  differ- 
ent colleges.  They  were  divided  into  circles,  and 
their  names  arranged  according  to  their  merit,  with  a 
certain  preference,  however,  to  persons  of  rank. :{:  And 
the  degree  of  master  of  arts  was  solemnly  conferred 
on  them  by  the  Chancellor  of  the  university,  ifi  nomine 
Patris,  Filii  et  Spiritus  Sancti.  The  intermediate  de- 
gree of  licentiate  of  arts  is  recognised  by  the  laws, 
but  it  was  not  separately  conferred,  at  least  in  later 
times.  Both  at  the  receiving  the  degree  of  bachelor 
and  master,  the  graduates  paid  certain  sums  of  money, 
according  to  their  rank,  to  the  pnrse  of  the  university 
and  of  the  faculty,  to  the  dean,  and  to  the  other  offi- 
cers ;  and  those  who  were  poor  obliged  themselves  to 
give  what  was  due  to  the  public  funds  as  soon  as  they 


*  James  Melville  has  left  an  account  of  the  course  of  study 
followed  by  William  Collace,  who  was  his  regent  in  St.  Leo- 
nard's between  1570  and  1574.  After  stating  that  he  began 
with  teaching  "  Cassander's  Rhetoric,"  he  adds:  "We  hard 
the  Oration  pro  rege  Deitaro.  Than  he  gaifl'  w»  a  conipend  of 
his  awin  of  Philosopi  and  the  partes  y'of — We  enterit  in  the 
organ  of  Arist.  y' year,  and  leirnit  to  the  Demonstrations. — The 
gecund  year  of  my  course  we  hard  the  Demonstrations,  the 
Topiks,  and  the  Sophist  captiones.  And  the  Primarius  Mr. 
James  Wilkie,  a  g^iid  peacabic  sweet  auld  man  wha  luifTed  me 
Weill,  tcached  the  four  species  of  the  arithmetik  and  sum  thing 
of  the  sphere. — The  third  yeir  of  our  course  we  hard  the  fyve 
buiks  of  the  Ethiks,  wt  the  aught  buiks  of  the  Physiks,  and  de 
ortu  et  interitu.  The  yeir  we  had  our  Bachelar  act  according 
to  the  solemnities  then  vsed  of  Declamations,  banqueting  and 
niayes. — The  fourt  and  last  yeir  of  our  course,  quhdk  was  the 
i7yeir  of  my  age  outpast  and  18  rinning,  we  learned  the  buiks 
de  ccelo  and  meteors,  also  the  cphere  more  exactly  teachit  by 
our  awin  regent,  and  maid  ws  for  our  vicces  and  blackstons, 
and  had  at  race  our  promotion  and  finishing  of  our  course."' 
(Dian-,  p.  22—24.) 

t  From  this  act  they  were  called  Determinantes. 

i  "  Examinatos  secundum  scientiae  et  morum  eminentiara 
principalitcrlocent  et  ordinent.  Ex  prteclara  tamen  domo  pa- 
terna  nobilitatem  sanguinis  Irahentes,  nee  non  cum  Rcgentibus 
honeste  et  commensaliter  viventes,  modo  in  literis  aliqualiter 
emditi  et  morlbus  probi,  nonnihil  pensitantet."  (Statuta  anni 
1570.) 


were  in  ability.  By  an  old  law,  each  student,  includ- 
ing those  who  held  bursaries,  was  bound  to  give  to  his 
regent  annually,  for  three  years,  a  Scots  noble,  which 
in  later  times  was  interpreted  as  answering  to  a  pound 
Scots,  "  salva  cujuscunque  uberiore  Hberalifate.^^  * 

We  cannot  form  such  an  exact  judgment  respecting 
the  ancient  mode  of  teaching  theology,  as  the  Refor- 
mation necessarily  made  a  greater  change  on  this  de- 
partment of  instruction.  Many  of  the  ancient  forms, 
however,  were  still  retained  and  observed.  There 
continued  to  be  a  theological  faculty,  consisting  of  the 
doctors,  licentiates,  and  bachelors  of  divinity,  who  re- 
sided within  the  university. f  They  assembled,  along 
with  the  students  of  divinity,  annually  on  the  first  of 
October,  when  a  sermon  or  oration,  intended  to  excite 
the  hearers  to  diligence  in  sacred  studies,  was  deliver- 
ed. The  masters  and  bachelors  then  met  apart,  and 
arranged  the  subjects  on  which  each  should  read  lec- 
tures during  the  year,  and  the  times  at  which  they 
should  read  them.  The  lectures  were  delivered  on  the 
Scriptures,  which  were  divided  into  five  parts  ;  the 
Pentateuch  or  legal  books,  the  historical  books,  the 
sapiential,  the  prophetical,  and  those  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament, j^  "  Formerly,  under  papacy,  the  students 
ascended  to  degrees  in  theology,  by  reading  the  Sen- 
tences of  Peter  Lombard  ;  but  now,  since  the  reforma- 
tion of  religion  and  the  burial  of  popery,  this  practice 
is  altered  and  reformed."  From  the  beginning  of  July 
to  the  end  of  September  there  was  an  intermission  of 
the  lectures ;  and  during  this  interval  the  students 
were  exercised  once  a-weck  in  theological  disputa- 
tions, at  which  one  of  the  masters  presided,  and  the 
rest  were  present  and  took  a  share  in  the  debate.  The 
disputants  were  exhorted  to  avoid  the  altercation  usu- 
ally practised  in  the  schools,  "  and  not  to  bite  and  de- 
vour one  another  like  dogs,  but  to  behave  as  men  de- 
sirous of  mutual  instruction,  and  as  the  servants  of 
Christ,  who  ought  not  to  strive  but  to  be  gentle  to  all." 

The  lectures  were  chiefly  delivered  by  those  who 
were  proceeding  in  their  theological  degrees.  Before 
entering  on  this  duty,  it  behoved  them  to  have  been 
students  of  divinity  for  three  years,  to  have  sustained 
the  part  of  a  respondent  twice  in  the  public  disputes 
during  the  vacancies,  to  have  given  proof  of  their 
talents  twice  in  the  weekly  exercise,  and  to  have 
preached  once  in  the  vulgar  language  before  the  peo- 
ple and  in  Latin  before  the  university.  After  this, 
being  admitted  by  the  faculty,  they  taught  for  four  years 
in  the  public  schools,  by  expounding  the  Scriptures, 
according  to  the  arrangement  formerly  mentioned.  The 
probationary  lecture  which  they  delivered  at  the  com- 
mencement of  each  part  of  the  course,  may  be  viewed 
as  a  specimen  of  the  mode  of  teaching  then  practised. 
The  lecturer  began  with  pronouncing  a  panegyric  on 
the  books  of  Scripture  which  he  proposed  to  expound  ; 
he  next  gave  a  summary  of  their  contents ;  and,  in  the 
third  place,  having  selected  a  particular  passage,  he 
started  a  question  from  it,  stated  the  opinions  held  on 
the  affirmative  and  negative  sides,  laid  down  certain 

*  Statuta  17  Mart.  1583.  By  the  Statutes  of  1561,  the  stu- 
dent was  bound  to  give  thirty  shillings,  "  unless  he  be  poor." 

The  designation  pawper  does  not  appear  to  have  been  always 
used  in  the  same  sense.  In  Feb.  1579,  it  was  declared  "Solos 
bursarios  et  niendicos  pauperes  esse  censendos."  But  from 
other  documents  it  appears  that  all  the  students  of  philosophy 
were  divided  into  three  classes:  "  Primars  or  f>o/«n/tor«»,  Se- 
condars  or  votentes,  and  ternars  or  minus  potentes,  oliui  pavr 
peres;"  anu  the  latter  paid  dues,  although  pro|)ortionallj 
smaller  than  the  two  former. 

f  Baron  speaks  of  John  Winram  as  dean  of  the  faculty  of 
theology  about  1574.     (MS.  Orat.  super  Jac.  Martinio.) 

\  The  particular  books  included  under  each  of  these  divi- 
sions are  specified ;  and  it  is  a  curious  circumstance,  that  most 
of  the  Apocryphal  books  are  among  them.  Thus,  among  the 
historical  books  are,  "  duo  Esdre,  duo  Tobic,  Judith,  quibus  et 
duo  Macabeorum  libri  adjungi  possiint."  Among  the  sapiential 
books  we  find  "  Librum  Sapientinc  et  Ecclesiasticum;"  and 
"  Baruch"  is  enumerated  along  with  the  books  of  the  prophets. 
'Statut.  Theol.  Reform.  A.  1570.) 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


361 


propositions  for  clearing  the  truth,  confirmed  it  by  tes- 
timonies of  Scripture,  and  solved  the  difficulties  that 
might  be  urged  against  it.  Before  the  students  in  the 
public  schools,  the  lecturers  were  bound  to  confine 
themselves  to  a  single  chapter  at  a  time,  and  were  di- 
rected to  explain  the  text  distinctly  and  methodically, 
by  comparing  it  with  other  passages  of  Scripture,  or 
by  producing  the  judgment  of  the  most  approved  and 
skilful  interpreters,  "  provided  nothing  was  brought 
forward  that  could  not  stand  the  test  of  Scripture." — 
It  would  seem  that  this  was  nearly  the  method  which 
the  professors  followed  in  their  theological  lectures.* 

When  the  student  commenced  lecturing  on  the  legal 
books,  he  was  declared  by  the  faculty  a  cursory  bache- 
lor of  divinity;  on  commencing  the  prophetical  books, 
he  became  a  formed  bachelor  ;  and,  on  entering  on  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament,  he  was  pronounced  a 
confirmed  bachelor.  On  finishing  his  course  of  teach- 
ing, he  proceeded  to  take  his  degrees  of  licentiate  and 
doctor.  The  statutes  describe  at  length  the  disputa- 
tions which  were  maintained,  and  the  ceremonies  which 
were  used  on  both  these  occasions.! 

Such  was  the  plan  of  study  agreed  upon  by  the 
theological  professors  about  the  time  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. But  there  is  no  good  reason  to  think  that  it  was 
reduced  to  practice ;  and  though  this  had  been  the 
case,  it  has  little  claim  to  our  commendation.  The 
lectures  read  by  young  men  who  had  studied  divinity 
for  so  short  a  period  as  three  years,  must  have  been 
extremely  jejune  and  superficial ;  and  it  does  not  ap- 
pear that  any  effectual  provision  was  made  to  secure 
their  diligence  in  these  exhibitions.  Yet  their  lec- 
tures, such  as  they  were,  served  as  a  pretext  for  the 
regular  professors  neglecting  the  duty  of  theological 
instruction.  In  these  circumstances,  we  need  not  be 
surprised  to  find  that  the  study  of  divinity  in  the  uni- 
versity was  nearly  nominal,  and  that  scholastic  philo- 
sophy engrossed  the  attention  of  both  masters  and 
scholars.  X 

The  First  Book  of  Discipline  proposed  a  plan  for 
re-modelling  the  three  universities,  which  contained 
the  following  arrangements  for  St.  Andrews.  Tlie 
first  college  was  to  contain  classes  for  dialectics,  ma- 
thematics, natural  philosophy,  and  medicine.  In  the 
second  college,  a  lecturer  on  ethics,  economics,  and 
politics,  and  two  lecturers  on  law,  Roman  and  muni- 
cipal, were  to  be  established.  And  the  third  college 
was  to  be  provided  with  two  teachers  of  languages, 
one  of  Greek  and  another  of  Hebrew,  and  two  teachers 
of  divinity,  the  one  of  the  Old  and  the  other  of  the  New 
Testament.  None  were  to  be  graduated  in  their  re- 
spective faculties  unless  they  had  attended  the  regular 
course,  which,  for  students  of  philosophy,  was  three 
years,  of  law  four  years,  and  of  medicine  and  divinity, 
five  years.  This  plan  was  unquestionably  an  improve- 
ment on  the  original  constitution,  according  to  which 
the  three  colleges  were  completely  independent,  and 
exactly  the  same  branches  were  taught  in  each.  And 
in  other  respects  it  was  favourable  to  the  advancement 
of  literature  and  science.  But  it  was  not  adopted.  In 
vain  did  the  authors  recommend  it  to  the  nobility, 
along  with  a  proposal  to  erect  parochial  schools,  as  con- 
tributing to  "  the  most  high  advancement  of  the  com- 
monwealth." In  vain  they  urged,  "  If  God  shall  give 
your  wisdoms  grace  to  set  forward  letters  in  the  sort 
prescribed,  ye  shall  leave  wisdom  and  learning  to  your 
posterity,  a  treasure  more  to  be  esteemed  than  any 
earthly  treasures  ye  are  able  to  amass  for  them,  which, 
without  wisdom,  are  more  able  to  be  their  ruin  and 
confusion    than   help   and    comfort."  ||      Prejudice  is 


»   Melville's  Diary,  p.  24. 

+  Statuta  Fac.  Theology,  olim  condita,  et  jam  abolito  papismo 
ct  reformata  religione,  circa  A.  D.  1560,  in  parte  niutata,  et 
juxta  nomiam  verbi  Dei  in  melius  reformata. 

t  Melville's  Diary,  p.  92. 

II  First  Book  of  Discipline:  Art.  Of  the  Erection  of  Uni- 
versilies. 

3\ 


blind,  and  avarice  deaf,  to  all  considerations  of  public 
good  ;  but  the  plan  will  remain  a  lasting  monument  of 
the  enlightened  and  patriotic  views  of  its  compilers. 

In  the  year  1563,  a  petition  was  presented  to  the 
Queen  and  Lords  of  Articles,  "in  the  name  of  all  that 
within  this  realm  ar  desyrous  that  leirning  and  letters 
floreis,"*  stating  that  the  patrimony  of  some  of  the 
foundations  in  the  colleges,  particularly  at  St.  An- 
drews, was  wasted,  and  that  several  sciences,  and  es- 
pecially those  which  were  most  necessary,  the  tongues 
and  humanity,  were  very  imperfectly  taught  in  them, 
to  the  great  detriment  of  the  whole  lieges,  their  chil- 
dren and  posterity;  and  praying  that  measures  should 
be  taken  to  remedy  these  evils.  In  consequence  of 
this  representation,  the  parliament  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  visit  the  colleges,  and  to  report  their  opinion 
as  to  the  best  mode  of  improving  the  state  of  educa- 
tion.f  No  report  from  the  committee  is  on  record  ;  but 
there  has  been  preserved  a  plan  for  the  colleges  of  St. 
Andrews,  which  appears  to  have  been  drawn  up,  in 
virtue  of  this  appointment,  by  Buchanan,  who  was  one 
of  the  commissioners.  The  arrangements  which  it 
proposes  differ  in  detail  from  those  of  the  First  Book 
of  Discipline,  though  they  proceed  on  the  same  gene- 
ral principle.  The  first  college  was  to  be  entirely  con- 
fined to  the  teaching  of  languages,  and  regulated  in 
a  great  measure  as  a  grammar  school.  :j:  The  sec- 
ond, called  the  college  of  philosophy,  was  to  have 
four  regents  in  the  arts,  and  a  lecturer  on  medicine. 
The  third,  named  the  college  of  divinity,  was  most 
poorly  provided  for :  it  was  only  to  have  a  principal, 
to  be  reader  in  Hebrew,  and  a  lawyer.  ||  The  author 
of  this  draught  had  his  attention  too  exclusively  di- 
rected to  the  cultivation  of  languages  and  humanity. 

The  civil  war  which  raged  between  the  adherents  of 
the  king  and  queen  put  a  stop  to  these  measures  of 
academical  reform,  but  no  sooner  was  peace  establish- 
ed than  the  design  was  resumed  by  the  friends  of  liter- 
ature. In  April,  1576,  the  General  Assembly  appoint- 
ed commissioners  to  visit  and  consider  the  state  of  the 
university  of  St.  Andrews  ;  §  and  in  1578,  the  parlia- 
ment made  a  similar  appointment  as  to  all  the  univer- 
sities in  the  kingdom.^  Nothing  having  been  done  in 
consequence  of  this  appointment,  the  General  Assem- 
bly which  met  in  Jul}',  1579,  presented  a  petition  to 
the  king  and  council,  urging  the  necessity  of  a  change 
on  the  university  of  St.  Andrews  ;  and  nominated  com- 
missioners to  co-operate  in  that  business  with  such  as 
the  council  might  be  pleased  to  appoint.**  The  coun- 
cil immediately  appointed  commissioners,  to  whom 
they  gave  ample  powers.  They  were  authorised  to 
consider  the  foundations  in  the  university,  and  not  only 
to  remove  superstition  and  displace  unqualified  per- 
sons, but  also  to  change  the  form  of  study  and  the 
number  of  professors,  to  join  or  divide  the  faculties,  to 
annex  each  faculty  to  such   college  as  they  thought 


*  This  petition  continued  to  lie  before  the  Parliament;  and 
in  1567,  and  again  in  1531,  it  was  referred  by  them  to  the  con- 
sideration of  commissioners.  It  must,  therefore,  have  contain- 
ed proposals  additional  to  those  which  were  sanctioned  by  the 
act  of  1579.  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vol.  iii.  p.  30.  214. 

t  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vol.  ii.  p.  544. 

\  It  seems  to  have  been  formed  on  the  model  of  the  college 
or  school  of  Geneva.  (Les  Ordonnances  Ecclesiastiques  de 
I'Eglise  de  Geneve:  Item  I'Ordre  des  Escoles,  p.  83 — 87.) 

|[  The  plan  is  published  in  Dr.  Irving's  Mem.  of  Buchanan, 
App.  No.  iii.  2d  edit.  According  to  the  old  plan  of  teaching  in 
universities,  mathematics  formed,  rather  preposterously,  the 
last  part  of  the  course.  The  First  Book  of  Discipline  appoint- 
ed them  to  be  taught  before  physics.  But  Buchanan's  plan 
reverts  to  the  ancient  arrangement — "  the  naturell  philosophic, 
metaphisicks,  and  principis  of  mathematicks." 

5  Buik  of  Universall  Kirk,  p.  65. 

IT  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  iii.  98.  Melville  was  one  of  the  commis- 
sioners nominated  by  Parliament  to  visit  the  University  of  St. 
Andrews.  They  were  authorised  to  examine  the  foundations 
of  the  colleges,  to  reform  what  tended  to  superstition,  to  re- 
move unquaRfied  and  plant  qualified  persons;  but  not  to  make 
alterations  on  the  mode  of  teaching. 

»*  Buik  of  Univ.  Kirk,  p.  93. 


863 


LfFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


most  proper  for  it,  and  in  general  to  establish  such  or- 
der in  the  university  as  should  tend  most  to  the  glory 
of  God,  profit  of  the  commonwealth,  and  good  up- 
bringing of  the  youth  in  sciences  needful  for  continu- 
ance of  the  true  religion.  The  commissioners  found, 
that  all  the  colleges  had  departed  from  their  originaj 
foundations,  and  that  these  foundations  disagreed  in 
many  things  with  the  true  religion,  and  were  far  from 
"  that  perfection  of  teaching  which  this  learned  age 
craves  ;"  and  they  agreed  upon  a  new  form  of  instruc- 
tion to  be  observed  in  the  university.  This  was  laid 
before  the  ensuing  meeting  of  parliament,  by  which 
it  was  ratified  on  the  11th  of  November,  1579.  The 
following  is  an  outline  of  the  provisions  made  by  the 
new  establishment. 

In  the  college  of  St.  Salvator,  a  principal,  and  four 
ordinary  professors  or  regents  of  humanity  and  philos- 
ophy, were  established.  The  first  regent  was  to 
teach  the  Greek  Grammar,  and  to  exercise  the  students 
in  Latin  composition  during  the  first,  and  in  Greek 
during  the  second  half  year.  The  second  regent  was 
to  teach  the  principles  of  invention,  disposition,  and 
elocution;  or,  in  other  words,  of  rhetoric,  in  the  short- 
est, easiest,  and  most  accurate  manner,  with  the  prac- 
tice of  them  in  the  best  authors,  Roman  and  Greek. 
The  students  of  this  class  were  to  spend  an  hour  at 
least  every  day  in  composition,  and  during  the  last 
half  year  they  were  to  declaim  or  pronounce  an  oration 
once  every  month,  in  Latin  and  Greek  alternately.  It 
was  the  duty  of  the  third  regent  to  teach  the  most 
profitable  and  needful  parts  of  the  logics  of  Aristotle, 
with  his  ethics  and  politics,  all  in  Greek,  and  the  Offices 
of  Cicero  in  Latin.  The  fourth  regent  was  to  teach 
so  much  of  the  physics  as  was  needful,  and  the  doc- 
trine of  the  sphere.  Rach  regent  was  to  retain  his 
own  profession.  On  Sunday  a  lesson  in  the  Greek 
New  Testament  was  to  be  read  in  all  the  four  classes. 
Professors  of  mathematics  and  law,  who  were  to  lec- 
ture on  four  days  of  every  week^were  also  established 
in  this  college.  The  lectures  on  law  were  to  be  at- 
tended by  all  the  advocates  and  writers  in  the  commis- 
sary court ;  and  none  were  to  be  admitted  for  the  fu- 
ture to  act  as  procurators  before  the  lords  or  other 
judges,  until  they  gave  a  specimen  of  their  learning 
before  the  university,  and  produced  a  testimoo-ial  of 
their  diligent  attendance  and  the  degree  of  their  pro- 
gress. The  principal  of  St.  Salvator's  was  to  act  as 
professor  of  medicine. — The  same  arrangements  were 
made  as  to  the  college  of  St.  Leonard  ;  with  this  dif- 
ference, that  there  were  no  classes  fbr  mathematics 
and  law  established  in  it;  and  the  principal,  instead 
of  teaching  medicine,  was  to  explain  the  philosophy 
of  Plato. — St.  Mary's,  or  the  New  College,  was  ap- 

firopriated  entirely  to  the  study  of  theology  and  the 
anguages  connected  with  it.  The  course  of  study  in 
it  was  to  be  completed  in  four  years,  under  the  tuition 
of  five  professors.  The  first  professor  was  to  teach 
the  elements  of  Hebrew  during  six  months,  and  of 
Chaldee  and  Syriac  during  the  remainder  of  the  first 
year.  During  the  subsequent  eighteen  months,  the 
students  were  to  prosecute  the  study  of  these  lan- 
guages under  the  second  professor,  who  was  to  ex- 
plain the  pentateuch  and  historical  books  of  the  Qld 
Testament  critically,  by  comparing  the  original  text 
with  the  Chaldee  paraphrases,  the  Septuagint,  and 
other  ancient  versions.  The  third  professor  was  to 
explain  the  prophetical  books  of  the  Old  Testament 
after  the  same  manner,  during  the  last  eighteen  months 
of  the  course.  During  the  whole  four  years,  the  fourth 
professor  was  to  explain  the  New  Testament  by  com- 
paring the  original  with  the  Syriac  version.  And  the 
fifth  professor,  who  was  Principal  of  the  College,  was 
to  lecture,  during  the  same  period,  on  the  common 
places  or  system  of  divinity.  All  the  students  were 
bound  to  attend  the  lectures  of  three  professors  every 
day  during  the  continuance  of  their  theological  course ; 
by  which   it  was  expected  that  they  would,  "  with 


meane  diligence,  became  perfite  theologians."  Public 
disputations  were  to  be  held  every  week,  declama- 
tions once  a  month,  end  at  three  periods  during  the 
course,  a  solemn  examination  was  to  take  place,  at 
which,  "  every  learned  man  shall  be  free  to  dispute." 
Eight  bursars  of  theology  were  to  reside  with  the 
professors,  and  to  be  supported  on  the  rents  of  the 
college.  It  was  ordained,  that  after  four  years  had 
elapsed  from  the  date  of  this  new  erection,  none  should 
be  admitted  ministers  of  the  church  who  had  not  com- 
pleted their  course  of  theology,  or  who  should  not  be 
found  worthy  and  qualified  to  receive  all  their  degrees 
in  it  after  a  "rigorous  examination  "  by  the  faculty. 
The  persons  at  present  occupying  the  place  of  masters 
in  the  New  College,  were  ordered  to  remove  from  it 
without  delay.*  From  the  "great  variety  at  this 
present  of  learned  in  the  knowledge  of  the  tongues 
and  other  things  needful,"  the  parliamentary  commis- 
sioners had  selected  such  as  they  thought  most  quali- 
fied for  teaching  in  the  New  College ;  and  it  was  or- 
dained, that,  upon  any  future  vacancy,  the  place  should 
be  filled  by  open  comparative  trial  before  the  archbish- 
op of  St.  Andrews,  the  conservator  of  the  privileges 
of  the  university,  the  rector,  deans  of  faculty,  and 
theological  professors.  Vacancies  in  the  two  other 
colleges  were  to  be  supplied  in  a  similar  manner.  As 
the  youth  had  lost  much  time  by  long  vacations,  it  was 
ordained,  that  for  the  future  the  classes  should  sit  dur- 
ing the  whole  year,  except  the  month  of  September.! 
Rales  were  laid  down  for  preventing  the  revenues  of 
the  colleges  from  being  wasted  or  diverted  to  improper 
uses.  And  at  the  end  of  every  period  of  four  years,  a 
royal  visitation  of  the  university  was  to  take  place,  to 
inquire  into  the  effects  of  this  reformation,  and  to  see 
that  its  regulations  were  observed. f 

It  would  be  affronting  the  learned  reader  to  enter 
into  a  statement  of  the  superiority  of  this  plan  of  edu- 
cation to  that  which  it  was  intended  to  supersede.  It 
was  the  most  liberal  and  enlightened  plan  of  study 
which  had  yet  been  established,  as  far  as  I  know,  in 
any  European  university.  In  comparing  it  with  mod- 
ern institutions,  great  allowance  must  be  made  for  the 
imperfect  state  in  which  many  of  the  sciences  were  at 
that  period.  But  even  as  to  these  we  may  observe  an 
evident  tendency  to  improvement  in  the  new  regulations. 
The  "  most  profitable  and  needful  parts  "  only  of  the 
Aristotelian  logic  and  physics  were  to  be  taught ;  and 
the  lectures  on  Platonic  philosophy  served  as  a  coun- 
terpoise to  the  Peripatetic,  which  had  hitherto  posses- 
sed an  exclusive  and  uncontrolled  authority  in  the  uni- 
versity. The  method  of  study  prescribed  for  the  theo- 
logical college  was  well  calculated  to  realize  the  hopes 
expressed  in  the  act.  It  appointed  a  greater  number 
of  teachers  of  the  Old  Testament  than  either  was  ne- 
cessary or  could  easily  be  obtained  ;  and  one  of  them 
might  have  been  employed  with  more  advantage  in 
reading  lectures  on  Ecclesiastical  History,  according 
to  an  arrangement  which  was  subsequently  introduced. 
But  the  attention  paid  to  the  sacred  languages,  and 
especially  to  the  oriental  tongues,  is  entitled  to  the 
highest  commendation,  and  shews  that  the  authors  of 
the  plan  had  conceived  correct  ideas  of  the  importance 
of  this  branch  of  literature  for  forming  able  and  judi- 
cious interpreters  of  Scripture.  Indeed,  it  proceeds 
upon  the  very  principles  which  have  since  been  laid 
down  and  recommended  by  the  best  writers  on  Biblical 
Interpretation.  I  would  not,  however,  be  understood 
as  intimating  that  the  benefits  which  actually  resulted 
from  this  change  on  the  university  were  proportioned 
to  its  merits.  The  wisest  plans,  and  the  most  saluta- 
ry enactments,  will  prove  nugatory,  if  proper  measures 


*  See  Note  SS. 

f  So  early  as  the  days  of  Augustine,  it  appears  that  the 
month  of  September,  as  the  season  of  the  vintage,  was  allowed 
as  a  vacation  in  schools.     (Valesiane,  p.  65.) 

{  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vol.  iii.  178-182. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


863 


are  not  taken  to  carry  them  into  execution,  or  even  if 
they  go  much  beyond  the  degree  of  illumination  which 
the  age  has  reached.  There  is  reason  to  think  that  in 
the  present  instance  this  was  the  case  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent. The  new  mode  of  study  was  very  partially  act- 
ed upon  in  the  colleges  of  St.  Salvator  and  St.  Leon- 
ard ;  nor  was  the  act  of  parliament  carried  into  effect 
as  to  the  number  of  professors  in  the  New  College. 

The  reformation  of  the  university  of  St.  Andrews 
has,  by  mistake,  been  ascribed  to  Buchanan.  This 
has  arisen  partly  from  confounding  it  with  another 
scheme  of  academical  instruction  which  he  drew  up 
at  an  earlier  period,*  and  partly  from  his  being  one  of 
the  commissioners  who  subscribed  the  plan  that  was 
actually  adopted.  That  he  assisted  in  correcting  it, 
and  in  procuring  for  it  a  parliamentary  sanction,  is 
highly  probable.  But  there  is  no  reason  for  supposing 
that  the  plan  was  of  his  construction.  The  course  of 
his  studies  and  the  nature  of  his  acquirements  did  not 
qualify  him  for  entering  into  the  arrangements  which 
are  most  minutely  detailed  in  it.  We  have  direct  ev- 
idence that  Melville  had  the  principal  hand  in  drawing 
it  up  ;|  and  though  this  had  been  awanting,  we  should 
have  been  warranted  in  forming  this  opinion,  from  the 
striking  resemblance  that  it  bears  ig  the  mode  of  study 
previously  introduced  by  him  into  the  university  of 
Glasgow.:}: 

It  is  difficult  to  ascertain  the  precise  number  of  stu- 
dents who  attended  the  university  at  one  time.  In  or- 
dinary cases  it  does  not  appear  that  it  exceeded  two 
hundred,  and  it  did  not  fall  much  short  of  that  number, 
during  the  latter  half  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Fewer 
had  attended  it  during  the  first  half,  and  still  fewer 
previously  to  that  period. 

An  account  of  the  university  of  Glasgow,  and  of  the 
improvements  made  on  it,  has  already  been  given  in 
the  narrative  of  what  took  place  when  Melville  held 
the  situation  of  principal  there.||  The  University 
and  King's  College  of  Aberdeen,  founded  by  bishop 
Elphingston,  at  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
provided  for  an  extensive  education. §  But  notwith- 
standing this,  and  although  some  of  its  early  teachers 
excelled  any  that  were  to  be  found  in  the  other  acade- 
mies, it  seems  never  to  have  attracted  many  students.lf 
This  may  be  accounted  for,  partly  at  least,  from  its 
situation,  and  the  comparatively  rude  state  of  the  sur- 
rounding country.  At  the  establishment  of  the  Re- 
formation, Anderson,  the  principal,  and  the  greater 
part  of  the  professors,  adhered  to  the  old  religion,  and 
being  supported  by  the  neighbouring  noblemen,  who 
were  addicted  to  popery,  kept  their  places  for  several 
years.  When  they  were  at  last  extruded,  the  college 
was  found  to  be  impoverished  by  the  alienation  of  its 
revenues.  In  the  year  1578,  when  great  exertions 
were  made  in  behalf  of  all  the  seminaries  of  education, 
means  were  used  for  restoring  its  dilapidated  funds; 
and  at  the  same  time  a  new  plan  of  instruction  was 
drawn  up  for  it,  similar  to  those  introduced  at  Glasgow 
and  St.  Andrews.**  The  plan  met  with  opposition 
from  dilferent  quarters,  and  its  formal  ratification  by 
the  legislature  was  evaded,  but  it  was  introduced  into 
the  university  and  acted  upon  for  a  considerable 
period.  If 

To  ascertain  the  state  of  learning  in  the  country,  it 
is  necessary  to  attend  to  the  inferior  schools,  in  which 


»  See  above,  p.  361.  +  Melville's  Diarj-,  p.  58,  64. 

X  See  above,  p. 226.  f|  See  above,  p.  225-27. 

}  Provision  was  made  for  four  professors,  consisting  of  a  doc- 
tor of  divinity,  of  canon  law,  of  civil  law,  and  of  medicine  ; 
ten  bachelors,  who  were  to  instruct  fourteen  bursars  in  philoso- 
phy, while  they  prosecuted  their  own  studies  lender  the  doc- 
tors ;  and  a  teacher  of  humanity,  whose  office  it  was  to  initiate 
the  young  men  into  grammar  before  entering  on  their  philo- 
sophical course.     (Boethii  Aberdon.  Episcop.  Vitae,  f.  xxix.b.) 

IT  Hector  Boece  (Boethius)  the  celebrated  historian  of 
Scotland,  was  the  first  principal,  and  John  Vaus,  author  of  a 
Latin  grammar,  was  the  first  professor  of  humanity,  at  Aberdeen. 

••  Melville's  Diary,  p.  43.  tt  See  Note  TT. 


the  youth  were  prepared  for  entering  the  university ; 
and  multitudes,  who  never  proceeded  that  length,  had 
access  to  the  means  of  common  education.  Long  be- 
fore the  Reformation  all  the  principal  towns  had  gram- 
mar schools  in  which  the  Latin  language  was  taught.* 
They  had  also  "  lecture  schools,"  as  they  were  called, 
in  which  ciiildren  were  instructed  to  read  the  vernacu- 
lar language.  Subsequently  to  the  establishment  of 
the  Reformation,  the  means  of  education  were  extend- 
ed to  other  parts  of  the  country;  and,  where  regular 
schools  were  not  founded,  the  readers  in  churches  gen- 
erally supplied  the  deficiency,  by  teaching  the  youth 
to  read  the  catechism  and  the  scriptures. 

There  was  a  grammar  school  in  Glasgow  at  an  early 
period  of  the  fourteenth  century.  It  depended  imme- 
diately on  the  cathedral  church,  and  the  chancellor  of 
the  diocese  had  not  only  the  appointment  of  the  mas- 
ters, but  also  the  superintendence  of  whatever  related 
to  education  in  the  cily.f  The  grammar  school  con- 
tinued to  be  a  distinct  establishment  after  the  erection 
of  the  university,  and  considerable  care  appears  to 
have  been  taken  to  supply  it  with  good  teachers. 
Thomas  Jack,  who  resigned  the  charge  of  this  institu- 
tion when  Melville  came  to  Glasgow,  was  well  quali- 
fied for  the  situation.  This  is  evident  from  his  OnO' 
masticon  Foelicuin,  containing  an  explanation  of  the 
proper  names  which  occur  in  the  writings  of  the  ancient 
poeis,  composed  in  Latin  verse,  with  the  view  of  being 
committed  to  memory  by  the  boys,  and  published  by 
him  at  the  recommendation  of  Buchanan  and  Melville. 
On  leaving  the  school  of  Glasgow,  Jack  became  min- 
ister of  the  neighbouring  parish  of  Eastwood,  but  con- 
tinued to  maintain  a  close  correspondence  with  the 
masters  of  the  College,  and  particularly  with  Melville, 
of  whose  services  to  the  literature  of  Scotland  he  en- 
tertained the  highest  idea.:}:  He  was  succeeded  in  the 
school  by  a  connexion  of  his  own,  Patrick  Sharp, 
whose  literary  obligations  to  Melville  have  already 
been  noticed. 

The  grammar  school  of  Edinburgh  was  originally 
connected  with  the  Abbey  of  Holyroodhouse,  and  the 
appointment  of  the  teachers  was  transferred  from  the 
abbots  to  the  magistrates  of  the  city.  William  Rob- 
ertson, who  was  head  master  of  the  school  at  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  Reformation,  remained  attached  to 
the  popish  religion,  and  appears  to  have  been  in  other 
respects  very  unqualified  for  the  situation.  The  Town 
Council  were  anxious  to  have  him  removed,  that  they 
might  place  the  seminary  on  a  footing  more  worthy  of 
the  metropolis  ;  but  they  were  unable  to  accomplish 
this,  owing  partly  to  the  support  which  Robertson  re- 
ceived from  the  Queen,  and  partly  to  his  having  been 
provided  to  the  place  for  life.  In  these  circumstances 
they  had  recourse  to  a  provisional  arrangement ;  and 
in  the  year  1568,  they  entered  into  terms  with  Thomas 
Buchanan,  a  nephew  of  the  poet,  who  was  then  teach- 
ing as  a  regent  at  St.  Andrews,  in  the  College  of  St. 
Salvator,  and  engaged  him  to  take  the  management  of 
their  school.  Buchanan  was  well  qualified  for  bring- 
ing the  seminary  into  repute  ;  but  he  remained  only  a 
short  time  in  Edinburgh.  Differences  having  arisen 
between  him  and  the  magistrates  as  to  the  terms  of 
their  agreement,  he  was  induced  to  leave  them  in  1571, 
and  to  become  master  of  the  grammar  school  of  Stir- 
ling, where  his  uncle  was  residing.||     In  consequence 


♦  Life  of  Knox,  p.  21.  John  Kerde  gives  a  tenement  of 
land  to  the  grammar  school  of  Dunbarton,  8  March,  1486. 
And  the  burgh  of  Dunbarton  gives  four  marks  from  the  com- 
mon mill,  "6"°  Jhoi  Kerde  pbro  Magistro  Scolae  Grammatica- 
lis  eiusd."     20  Apr.  1486.     (Charters  of  the  burgh.) 

+  See  Note  UU.  t  See  under  Note  UU. 

II  G.  Robertson,  Vita  Roberti  Rolloci,  A  3.  Edin.  1599.  Rol- 
loci  Comment,  in  Epist.  ad  Thessalon.  Dedie.  Epist.  Melville's 
Diary,  p.  38,  91.  James  Melville  calls  Thomas  Buchanan 
the  causing  oi  George  Buchanan  ;  David  Buchanan  calls  him 
his  brother -german;  (De  Scriptoribus  Scotis  Illust.  num.  61, 
MS.  in  Advocates  Library;)  but  Robert  RoUock,  who  had  the 
best  means  of  information,  informs  us  that  he  was  his  nephevL 


364 


LIFE   OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


of  his  removal,  the  grammar  school  of  Edinburgh  fell 
back  to  its  former  state  of  insignificance.  But  the 
friends  of  learning  in  the  city  continued  to  urge  its 
claims  on  the  public ;  and  a  commodious  house  for 
teaching  having  been  finished,  in  the  year  1579,  vn  the 
spot  still  occupied  by  the  High  School  buildings, 
Robertson  was  soon  after  prevailed  upon  to  retire  on  a 
pension,  and  a  new  and  improved  plan  of  education, 
to  which  we  shall  afterwards  advert,  was  organized.* 
John  Rutherfurd  was  at  this  time  the  most  celebrat- 
ed master  of  scholastic  philosophy  in  Scotland.  He 
was  a  native  of  Jedburgh  in  Roxburghshire,  and  hav- 
ing gone  to  France,  entered  the  College  of  Guienne  at 
Bourdeaux.  There  he  prosecuted  his  studies  under 
Nicolaus  Gruchius,f  equally  distinguished  for  his 
knowledge  of  Roman  Antiquities,  and  his  skill  in  the 
Aristotelian  Philosopliy.:^:  He  appears  to  have  accom- 
panied his  teacher,  and  his  countryman  Buchanan,  on 
their  literary  expedition  to  Portugal,  from  which  he 
came  to  the  university  of  Paris. j|  His  reputation 
reached  archbishop  Hamilton,  who  invited  him  home 
to  occupy  a  chair  in  the  College  of  St.  Mary,  which 
he  had  recently  organized  at  St.  Andrews  ;§  and  after 
teaching  in  it  for  some  years  as  Professor  of  Humani- 
ty, Rutherfurd  was  translated  to  be  Principal  of  St. 
Salvator's  College  in  the  same  University.  In  such 
estimation  was  he  held,  that,  soon  after  his  admission 
into  the  University,  he  was  raised  to  the  honourable 
situation  of  Dean  of  the  Faculty  of  Arts,  although 
not  qualified  for  holding  it  according  to  the  strict  im- 
port of  the  statutes.^  He  had  embraced  the  reformed 
doctrines  before  their  establishment  in  Scotland,  and 

— Mr.  Thomas  Duiicansone  was  "  school-master  and  reidar  in 
Striveling-,"  in   1563.     (Keith's  Hist.  p.  531.) 

*  See  Note  VV. 

+  Rhetorfortis,  De  Arte  Disserendi,  p.  10. 

i  Teissier,  Eloges,  ii.  425—437. 

II  Dempster,  Hist.  Eccl.  Scot.  p.  565.  Dr.  Irving  is  disposed 
to  question  this  statement.  (Memoirs  of  Buchanan,  p.  70,  2d 
edit.)  The  silence  of  Buchanan,  who,  in  his  life,  does  not 
speak  of  any  of  his  countrymen,  except  his  own  brother,  ac- 
comoanying  him,  certainly  throws  a  degree  of  doubt  over  the 
subject  ;  but  still  I  am  rather  inclined  to  admit  the  testimony 
of  Dempster.  It  is  most  probable  that  Rutherfurd  studied  un- 
der Gruchius  before  that  professor  went  to  Portugal  ;  and  in 
this  case  it  is  not  unlikely  that  he  should  have  been  induced  to 
accompany  him.  Dempster  mentions,  in  a  very  particular  man- 
ner, a  work  of  Rutherfurd's,  containing  discourses  which  he 
had  delivered  at  Coimbra:  "  Fraefationes  solemnes  Parisiia  et 
Conimbrife  habitas,  lib.  i.  Extant  typis  TVechelianis."  And 
he  seems  to  have  been  at  pains  to  ascertain  the  circumstances 
of  Rutherfurd's  life,  for  we  find  him  referring  to  the  records 
of  the  University  of  Paris.  "  Venit  Lutetiam  anno  1552.  Acta 
nationis  Germanicm  ad  D.  Cosm." — In  the  matriculation  list 
of  the  University  of  St.  Andrews  for  the  year  1551  is  found. 
"  Ex  Collegio  Mariano,  Joannes  Ruderfurd,  nutio.  Brita."  If  this 
was  the  person  afterwards  principal  of  St.  Salvator's,  and  if  he 
fceg-an  his  studies  in  1551,  he  could  not  have  belonged  to  the 
Portugueze  colony:  but  there  is  reason  to  think  that  they  were 
different  individuals. — There  are  two  letters  of  Joannes  Gelida 
to  John  Rutherfurd  and  Filibert  Lodonet,  (dated  Decimo  Cal. 
Nov.  1555,  &  Non.  Febr.  1555)  inviting  them  to  teach  in  the 
school  of  Bourdeaux.  (Joan.  Gelida;  Epist.  et  Carm.  in  Clar. 
Hispanoruni  Opuscula  Select,  et  Rar.  collecta  a  FV.  Cerdano 
et  Rico  Valentino,  vol.  i.  p.  151,  152.  Madriti,  1781.)  In  the 
same  collection,  (i.  149,)  is  a  letter  of  Gelida  to  George  Buch- 
anan, congratulating  him  on  his  safe  return  to  France  from 
Portugal  :  "  Burdigalfe,  Idibus  Novembris,  1552." 

J  Hovei  Oratio;  MS.  in  Archiv.  Univ.  S.  Andr.  '*  Coniadis 
me  to  agre  w'  Maisteris  Edward  Henrison  and  Johne  Ruder- 
furde  to  be  Regents  in  his  1.  College  :  12  Decembris,  1553." 

SAccompt  of  receipts  and  disbursements  by  the  agent  at  Rome, 
or  the  Earl  of  Arran,  John,  Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews,  &c. 
p.  320:  MS.  in  possession  of  Thomas  Thomson,  Esq.) 

T  It  was  objected  against  his  eligibilitv,  that  he  was  not  in 
priest's  orders,  and  that  he  was  a  regent,  that  is,  (as  I  suppose,) 
that  he  was  not  a  professor  or  permanent  teacher — "  prinmm  q 
nh  fuit  Sacerdos,  secundum  quod  fuit  regens,  ut  loquuntur, 
actu."  This  was  in  November,  1557.  (Act.  Fac.  Art.  S.  Andr. 
ff.  18,  b;  181,  a.) — The  first  time  he  is  mentioned  in  the  records 
is  as  one  of  the  electors  of  the  Rector,  in  1556,  when  he  is 
designed,  "  Ex  Britannia,  Mr.  Jo.  Rutherfurde,  philosophus 
doctissinius  Collegii  Mariani," — and  again,  "philosophus  exi- 
mius."  He  appears  to  have  been  translated  to  St.  Salvator's 
\n  1560. 


was  declared  qualified  "  for  ministering  and  teaching" 
by  the  first  General  Assembly.*  By  the  authority  of 
a  subsequent  Assembly  he  was  admitted  minister  of 
Cults,  a  parish  in  the  neighbourhood  of  St.  Andrews, 
of  which  the  principals  of  St.  Salvator's  were,  by  the 
foundation  of  that  college,  constituted  rectors. |  It 
was  also  part  of  his  duty,  as  principal,  to  lecture  on 
theology.  But  Rutherfurd  was  more  celebrated  as  a 
philosopher  than  as  a  divine.  Considered  in  the  for- 
mer character,  his  labours  were  unquestionably  of 
benefit  to  the  university  and  the  nation.  The  publica- 
tion of  his  treatise  on  the  Art  of  Reasoning  may  be 
considered  as  marking  a  stage  in  the  progress  of  phi- 
losophy in  Scotland.  It  is  formed,  indeed,  strictly 
upon  Aristotelian  principles,  of  which  he  was  a  great 
admirer;  but  still  it  differs  widely  from  the  systems 
which  had  long  maintained  an  exclusive  place  in  the 
schools.  Treading  in  the  steps  of  his  master,  De 
Grouchi,  Rutherfurd  rejected  the  errors  into  which  the 
ancient  commentators  upon  Aristotle  had  fallen,  and 
discarded  many  of  the  frivolous  questions,  which  the 
modern  dialecticians  took  so  much  delight  in  discuss- 
ing. His  work  contains  a  perspicuous  view  of  that 
branch  of  the  Peripatetic  philosophy  of  which  it  pro- 
fesses to  treat.  He  had  caught  a  portion  of  the  clas- 
sical spirit  of  the  age ;  and  the  simplicity  and  com- 
parative purity  of  his  Latin  style,  exhibit  a  striking 
contrast  to  the  barbarous  and  unintelligible  jargon 
which  had  become  hereditary  in  the  tribe  of  school- 
men and  sophists.:}:  It  appears  from  a  curious  docu- 
ment, that  Rutherfurd,  like  some  other  philosophers, 
did  not  always  display  his  philosophy  in  the  govern- 
ment of  his  temper.  In  consequence  of  complaints 
against  him  by  his  colleagues,  a  visitation  of  the  Col- 
lege of  St.  Salvator  took  place  in  1563,  when  it  was 
found  that  the  principal  had  shown  himself  "  too  hasty 
and  impatient;"  and  he  was  admonished  "  not  to  let 
the  sun  go  down  upon  his  wrath,  and  to  study  to  bri- 
dle his  tongue  and  conduct  himself  with  greater  hu- 
manity and  mildness."|| 

William  Ramsay  deserves  to  be  mentioned  among- 
those  who  cultivated  polite  letters  along  with  philoso- 
phy and  divinity,  and  who,  at  the  establishment  of  the 
Reformation  in  Scotland,  left  the  foreign  academies  of 
which  they  were  members,  that  they  might  take  the 
charge  of  the  public  instruction  in  their  native  coun- 
try. §  He  had  been  Rutherford's  companion  on  the 
continent,  and  became  his  colleague  at  St.  Andrews. 
Ramsay  taught  in  St.  Salvator's  when  Melville  attend- 
ed the  University,  but  was  dead  before  the  latter  re- 
turned to  Scotland.^f 


»  Keith's  Hist.  p.  522.  f  Buik  of  the  Univ.  Kirk,  f.  7. 

\  "  Coramentariorvm  de  Arte  Disserendi  libri  qvatvor  Joanne 
Retorforti  Jedburgrco  Scoto  authore.  Et  nunc  deniura  ab 
eodem  diligenter  recognili  et  emendati.  Edinburgi  apud  Hen- 
ricum  Charteris  1577.  Cum  Priuilegio  Regali."  4to.  Pp.  78. 
The  author  informs  us  that  his  work  had  been  at  first  printed 
without  his  knowledge,  and  very  incorrectly,  from  a  manu- 
script furnished  by  one  of  his  scholars.  Pp.  3.  9. — His  "  Com- 
ment, in.  Libr.  Arist.  de  arte  Metrica,  Edinb.  1557,"  mentioned 
by  Mackenzie,  I  have  not  seen. 

II  Charter  of  Regress  by  Mr.  John  Douglas,  Rector,  &c. 
Sent.  15,  1563.     Comp.  Cald.  MS.  vol.  ii.  p.  432,  439. 

^  I  think  it  highly  probable  that  he  is  the  individual  referred 
to  in  a  letter  of  Obertus  Gifanius.  (Buchanan!  Episl.  p.7.)  His 
name  does  not  appear  in  the  records  of  the  University  of  St. 
Andrews  from  1537,  when  he  was  made  Master  of  Arts,  till 
1560,  when  he  became  a  Professor;  from  which  it  is  highly 
probable  that  he  was  abroad  during  the  interval. 

^  Dempster,  Hist.  Eccl.  Scot.  p.  564;  where  a  book  concern- 
ing the  Portugueze  is  ascribed  to  Ramsay.  On  the  17th  of 
January,  1558,  a  yearly  pension  of  100/.  was  given  to  "Mr. 
Will"""  Ramsay."  (Re'g.  of  Privy  Seal,  vol.  xxix.  fol.  67.)  In 
1564,  the  General  Assembly  appomted  a  committee  to  examine 
Mr.  William  Ramsay's  Answer  to  Bullinger's  book  on  the  hab- 
its of  Preachers.  Keith,  568.  Ramsay  was  nn'nister  of  Kem- 
back,  a  church  held  by  the  second  master  of  St.  Salvator's 
College.  In  consequence  of  a  dispute  in  which  he  was  in- 
volved, which  came  before  the  General  Assembly,  he  obtained 
a  testimonial  from  the  kirk  seuion  of  Si.  Andrews,  June  21, 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLfi. 


365 


In  the  year  1556,  a  pension  was  granted  to  Alexan- 
der Syme,  to  enable  him  to  wait  on  the  Queen  Regent, 
and  be  her  Reader  in  the  Laws  or  other  sciences,  at 
Edinburgh  or  any  other  place  that  she  might  appoint.* 
But  the  teaching  of  Civil  Law,  properly  speaking, 
commenced  in  Scotland  at  the  establishment  of  the 
Reformation.  Previously  to  that  era  the  canons  were 
the  great  object  of  study,  and  those  who  occasionally 
delivered  lectures  on  civil  law  were  generally,  if  not 
always,  in  priest's  orders.  It  was  by  an  innovation  on 
the  original  constitution  of  St.  Mary's  College,  similar 
to  that  which  had  been  made  on  religious  instruction, 
that  William  Skene  was  first  authorized  to  teach  as  a 
civilian  at  St.  Andrews,  and  to  substitute  the  Insti- 
tutes and  Pandects  in  the  room  of  the  Sacred  Canons 
and  Decretals. 

Though  less  known  than  his  brother,  the  clerk  re- 
gister, and  though  not  eminent  for  talents,  William 
Skene  deserves  to  be  remembered  for  his  private  worth, 
and  his  usefulness  as  a  teacher  and  a  judge.     He  ap- 

f»ears  to  have  studied,  and  to  have  taken  the  degree  of 
icentiate  utriusque juris,  in  a  foreign  university;  and 
upon  his  return  to  his  native  country  was  made  canon- 
ist in  St.  Mary's  College.f  After  the  Reformation,  he 
explained  Cicero's  Treatise  on  Laws  and  the  Institutes 
of  Justinian ;  and  as  this  was  the  only  class  of  the 
kind  in  the  University,  such  of  the  students  of  the 
other  colleges  as  chose  were  at  liberty  to  attend  his 
lectures.  He  gained  the  affection  of  his  scholars  by 
the  condescending  manner  in  which  he  explained  to 
them  in  private  what  he  had  taught  in  the  class,  and 
showed  them  the  practice  of  law  in  the  Commissary 
Court,  of  which  he  was  the  chief  judge. :J:  John  Skene 
taught  for  some  years,  as  a  regent,  in  the  same  college 
with  his  brother.  || 

Edward  Henryson  was  a  man  of  greater  talents  and 
learning  than  Skene.  He  received  the  degree  of  doc- 
tor of  laws  from  the  University  of  Bourges  in  France, 
where  he  studied  under  Eguinar  Baro,  one  of  the  first 
civilians  who  had  recourse  to  the  pure  sources  of  an- 
cient jurisprudence,  and  who  blended  polite  literature 

1570,  and  died  in  the  course  of  that  year.  (Record  of  Kirk 
Session.  Buik  of  Univ.  Kirk,  p.  49,  50.  Bannatyne'a  Journal, 
p.  379.) 

*  See  Note  WW. 

t  Among  the  "  No'a  Incorp.  1556,  in  Novo  Collegio,"  the 
first  name  is  "Mag'  Gulielmus  Skene  in  utroque  jure  licentia- 
tus."  (Liber  Rectoris  Univ.  S.  Andr.)  This  entry  shows  that 
he  had  not  studied  at  St.  Andrews;  nor  do  1  think  that  any  of 
the  Scottish  Universities  were  at  that  period  in  the  habit  of 
conferrine  degrees  in  law.  On  the  31st  of  March,  1558,  the 
right  to  the  church  of  Tarvet  was  conveyed  to  St.  Mary's  Col- 
lege, by  putting  the  archbishop's  signet  "  digito  discreti  viri 
Ma'g"  Wiiliehni  Skeyne,  juris  licentiati,  et  ejusdetn  CoUegii 
Canonistm,"  as  procurator  for  his  colleagues.  (Papers  of  St. 
Mary's  College.)  In  the  Rector's  Book,  lie  is  repeatedly  said 
to  be  "  ex  Aiigusia."  He  was  Conservator  of  the  Privileges  of 
the  University,  and  elected  Dean  of  the  Faculty  of  Arts,  Nov. 
3,  1565.  (Act.  Fac.Art.) 

t  Melville's  Diary,  p.  24.  Sir  John  Skene  frequently  refers 
to  a  book  of  his  brother  William,  most  probably  in  manuscript. 
(De  Verborum  Significatione,  sig.  I  4,  K  2,  O  3.)  In  an  inven- 
tory of  the  books  and  papers  of  Mr.  William  Skene,  Commis- 
sary of  St.  Andrews,  taken  Dec.  11, 1583,  after  his  decease,  by 
an  order  of  the  Lords  of  Session,  the  following  articles  occur: 
"Certane  wreittis  upon  the  lawis  wreittin  and  penlt  be  y« 
Commissar:" — "Maister  William  Skeynis  prottocol  w'  certane 
shrowles  and  wyeris  vreittis  lyand  lowse  w'in  ye  same."  (Pa- 
pers of  St.  Salvator's  College.)  The  titles  of  the  books  in  this 
list  have  been  very  imperfectly  and  incorrectly  taken. — Sir 
John  also  refers  to  a  book  of  his  brother  Alexander,  an  advo- 
cate. (De  Verb.  Signif  I  4.  Comp.  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vol.  ii.  p. 
105.)  Alexander  Skene  signs  a  deed,  as  Notary  Public,  at 
Paris,  Sept.  13,  1552.  (Keith's  Scotish  Bishops,  p.  74.)  In 
1561,  "  Maister  Alex.  Skyne  advocate,"  was  warded  by  the 
madstrates  of  Edinburgh  for  attending  mass, but  "  at  ye  desyre 
andrequeist  of  Maister  William  Skene,"  was  set  at  libertie  on 
certain  conditions.  (Register  of  Town  Council,  vol.  iv.  f.  9,  a; 
10,  b.) 

y  His  name  appears  as  a  regent  in  the  years  1564  and  1565. 
(Lib.  Rect.  et  Fac.  Art.)  This  must  have  been  previous  to  his 
travelling  on  the  continent,  which  he  mentions  repeatedly  in 
his  treatise  De  Verborum  Significatione.  ■>  -  Cr, 


with  the  pursuits  of  their  immediate  profession.  Hav- 
ing finished  his  studies,  Henryson  resided  for  some 
time  with  Ulrich  Fugger,  and  enjoyed  a  pension  from 
that  munificent  patron  of  learned  men.  Both  at  that 
time,  and  afterwards  while  he  read  lectures  on  law  at 
Bourges,  he  published  several  works  which  made  his 
name  known  in  the  learned  world.  By  his  translations 
from  the  Greek  he  co-operated  with  some  of  the  most 
enlightened  men  of  that  age  in  diffusing  polite  letters. 
And  his  law  tracts  are  allowed  to  be  not  unworthy  of 
the  distinguished  school  in  which  he  received  his  edu- 
cation. Upon  his  return  to  Scotland,  at  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Reformation,  he  was  appointed  one  of  the 
Commissaries  of  Edinburgh,  and  justified  the  charac- 
ter he  had  gained  abroad  by  the  uniform  encourage- 
ment which  he  gave  to  literature  in  his  native  country.* 
Of  the  state  of  theological  learning  we  shall  speak 
more  particularly  in  the  next  chapter.  But  it  is  pro- 
per to  give  an  account  in  this  place  of  some  individu- 
als who  joined  the  study  of  polite  letters  with  that  of 
theology.  One  of  the  most  distinguished  of  these,  in 
point  of  talents  and  station,  was  Alexander  Arbuthnot. 
He  was  descended  from  an  ancient  family  in  the  shire 
of  Kincardine,!  ^"^  after  finishing  his  philosophical 
course,  and  teaching  for  some  time  in  the  University 
of  St.  Andrews,  went  to  France,  and  prosecuted  his 
studies  under  Cujas.  Being  declared  licentiate  of 
laws,  he  came  home  in  1566,  with  the  view  of  follow- 
ing that  profession,  but  was  induced  to  devote  himself 
to  the  service  of  the  church.  In  1568,  he  was  made 
principal  of  the  University  of  Aberdeen.  Writers  of 
every  party  speak  in  high  terms  of  the  talents  and 
virtues  of  Arbuthnot.  He  was  skilled  in  mathematics 
and  medicine  as  well  as  in  law  and  theology.  Though 
decided  in  his  religious  and  political  creed,  the  up- 
rightness of  his  character  and  the  amiableness  of  his 
manners  disarmed  the  resentment  of  his  opponents, 
and  procured  him  their  respect  and  esteem. :(:  Few  in- 
dividuals could  have  maintained  themselves  in  the 
situation  in  which  he  was  placed.  When  he  went  to 
Aberdeen,  the  greater  part  of  the  gentlemen  in  the 
neighbourhood  were  strongly  addicted  to  the  popish 
religion,  and  his  predecessor,  from  hostility  to  the  pro- 
testant  establishment,  had  reduced  the  university  to 
absolute  poverty.  In  these  circumstances  he  had  to 
struggle  with  the  greatest  difiiculties,  especially  du- 
ring the  civil  war,  when  the  government  was  destitute 
of  authority  in  the  north,  and  the  interests  of  learning 
were  forgotten.  To  this  he  feelingly  alludes  in  one  of 
his  poems  : 

I  wald  travel,  and  ydlenes  I  hait, 
Gif  I  culd  find  sum  gude  vocatioun. 

But  all  for  nocht:  in  vain  lang  may  I  wait 
Or  I  get  honest  occupatioun. 
Letters  are  lichtliet  in  our  natioun; 

For  lernying  now  is  nother  lyf  nor  rent: 

Quhat  marvel  is  thoch  I  murne  and  lament.  || 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  fifteenth,  and  first  half  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  Scottish  poetry  had  been  much 
cultivated ;  and  Henryson,  Dunbar,  Douglas,  and 
Lyndsay,  had  attained  great  excellence  in  it,  consider- 
ing the  rude  state  in  which  they  found  their  native 
language.  But  this  species  of  composition  had  fallen 
into  neglect.  It  has  been  alleged  that  the  reformers 
discouraged  it,  or  that  the  confusions  in  which  the 
country  was  involved  by  the  Reformation  banished  the 
study  of  poetry.  The  former  allegation  is  evidently 
unfounded,  and  the  latter  accounts  for  the  fact  but 
partially.     The  chief  reason  is  to  be  found  in  the  new 


*   See  Note  XX. 

+  He  was  not  the  son,  as  M,ackenzie  erroneously  states, 
(Lives,  iii.  p.  186,)  but  the  grandson  of  the  baron  of  Arbuthnot. 
His  father  was  Andrew  Arbuthnot  of  Futhes,  fourth  son  of  Sir 
Robert  Arbuthnot  of  that  Ilk.  (Nisbet's  Heraldry,  vol.  ii.  App. 
p.  84.  2nd  edit. 

X  Snotswood's  History,  p.  335.  Wodrovv's  Life  of  Alexander 
Arbuthnot:  MSS.  vol.  i. 

11  Pinkerton's  Ancient  Scottish  Poems,  vol.  i.  p.  165. 


366 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


direction  which  had  been  given  to  literary  parsuits  in 
consequence  of  the  great  numbers  of  our  countrymen 
who  studied  abroad,  and  acquired  that  taste  for  Latin 
poetry  which  had  become  so  general  in  all  parts  of  the 
continent.  From  the  time  that  Buchanan  returned  to 
Scotland,  his  learned  countrymen  were  ambitious  of 
paying  their  court  to  the  muse  in  the  language  of  an- 
cient Rome,  while  they  left  their  native  tongue  to  be 
used  by  writers  of  inferior  talent  and  education.  Alex- 
ander Arbuthnot  did  not,  however,  follow  their  exam- 
ple in  this  respect.  His  poems  were  all  composed  in 
the  Scottish  language.  Had  he  cultivated  this  species 
of  composition,  he  possessed  talents  for  it  which  would 
have  attracted  notice.  But  he  indulged  in  poetry  mere- 
ly as  an  elegant  amusement,  by  which  he  relieved  his 
mind,  when  fatigued  by  the  laborious  duties  of  his 
office,  or  harassed  with  cares  and  disappointments. 
And  he  appears  to  have  been  cautious  of  detracting 
from  the  grave  character  of  the  professor,  by  associat- 
ing it  with  one  of  a  less  dignified  description. 

In  poetrie  I  preis  to  pas  the  lyme, 

When  cairfull  thochts  with  sorrow  sailyes  me: 

Bot  gif  I  niell  with  meeteror  with  ryme. 
With  rascal  rjniours  I  shall  rakint  be.* 

Though  his  genius  could  sport  in  the  gayer  and  more 
sprightly  scenes  of  fancy,  Arbuthnot  confined  himself 
chiefly  to  productions  of  a  thoughtful  and  serious  cast ; 
and  in  some  of  these  we  perceive  a  very  pleasing  air 
of  moral  melancholy  diffused  over  great  goodness  of 
heart.  I 

The  only  work  which  Alexander  Arbuthnot  is 
known  to  have  published,  is  a  treatise  on  the  origin 
and  dignity  of  Law.  It  probably  consisted  of  acade- 
mical orations  or  theses ;  but  the  only  authentic  infor- 
mation we  have  concerning  it  is  contained  in  the  en- 
comiastic verses  of  Thomas  Maitland.:|: 

Next  to  Arbuthnot,  and   resembling  him   in   many 

Eoints,  was  Thomas  Smeton.  When  he  had  finished 
is  academical  education,  and  was  teaching  as  a  regent 
in  the  college  of  St.  Salvator,  the  controversy  about 
religion  was  warmly  agitated  at  St.  Andrews  ;  and  so 
zealous  was  he  in  favour  of  the  old  system,  that  leav- 
ing the  university  and  his  native  country,  he  retired  to 
France,  at  the  triumph  of  the  Reformation.  He  con- 
tinued for  some  time  an  eager  though  candid  champion 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  faith ;  but  at  last,  in  conse- 
quence of  conversations  which  he  held  with  Melville, 
Thomas  Maitland,  Gilbert  Moncrieflf,  and  others  of  his 


*  Pinkerton,  ut  supra. 

f  The  following  lines  from  one  of  his  unpublished  poemg, 
though  not  distinguished  in  other  respects,  may  be  given  as  a 
specimen  of  this  quality,  in  addition  to  his  poem  on  the  Mise- 
ries of  a  poor  scholar,  which  is  already  printed.  The  Fainyeit 
Jalset  and  unihankfulness  of  a  friend  gave  occasion  to  them: 

The  simple  wit  and  scharpnes  of  Ingyn, 
Quhilk  quhillonie  vves,  now  quyt  is  tain  away: 
The  steiring  spirit  quhilk  noets  call  devyn 
Into  my  febill  breist  I  find  decay: 
I  neither  courage  halve  to  sing  nor  say, 
Quhen  I  behalu  this  warldis  wickednes; 
And  quhen  I  find  (  am  so  far  thame  fray 
Quha  was  my  onlie  comfort  and  gieidnes. 

My  fais  fall,  and  friendis  gude  succes, 
Sumtym  my  pen  wes  bissie  to  indyte: 
Of  nobill  men  the  valiant  prowes 
Somtym  my  courage  yairnit  for  to  wreit: 
The  laud,  honour,  and  the  praises  great 
Of  thame  sumtym  I  wissed  till  advance 
Quhom  now  oi  neid  my  hairt  has  in  degpyt. 
And  quhom  I  wyt  of  this  wanhappie  chance. 

Then,  mistress,  luik  na  mair  for  onie  fruit, 
Or  ony  wark  to  com  of  my  Ingyne; 
For  now  I  nather  cair  for  fame  nor  bruit: 
I  halve  sa  tint  that  I  na  mair  can  tyne. 

(Maitland  MS.) 

\  "  Alexandri  Arbuthnaei  Orationibus  de  origine  et  dignitate 
juris  praefixa:"  Delitiae  Poet.  Scot.  torn.  ii.  p.  153.  Macken- 
zie (Lives,  iii.  194,)  says  that  the  Omtionet  vitte  printed  at 
Edinburgh  in  1572. 


countrymen  whom  he  met  with  at  Paris,  disagreeable 
doubts  arose  in  his  mind  as  to  the  religion  in  which 
he  had  been  educated.  He  did  not,  however,  give  way 
to  these,  but  attaching  himself  to  the  society  of  the 
Jesuits,  the  most  zealous  and  able  defenders  of  the 
church  of  Rome,  he  resolved  to  examine  the  subjects 
in  dispute  deliberately,  and,  if  he  found  his  doubts  re- 
main at  the  end  of  his  period  of  probation,  to  decline 
the  vow,  and  act  according  to  his  convictions.*  With 
the  view  of  obtaining  the  fullest  information,  he  under- 
took a  journey  to  Italy,  and,  passing  through  Geneva, 
conferred  with  Melville,  who  wished  him  success  in 
his  great  object,  though  he  could  not  approve  of  his 
measures.  During  eighteen  months  that  he  spent  in 
Rome,  under  the  tuition  of  the  Jesuits  in  that  city,  he 
had  frequent  opportunities  of  visiting  the  prisons  of 
the  Inquisition,  and  of  conversing  with  the  persons 
confined  for  heresy.  His  conversation  on  these  occa- 
sions excited  the  suspicions  of  his  vigilant  guardians, 
and  he  was  remitted  to  Paris  through  the  different  col- 
leges that  were  on  the  road.  On  his  return  to  the 
French  capital,  he  candidly  disclosed  his  mind  to  his 
countryman  Edmund  Hay,"}"  from  whom  he  had  already 
experienced  much  kindness.  The  discovery  of  his  at- 
tachment to  the  reformed  tenets  grieved  Hay,  who  had 
formed  great  expectations  from  Smeton's  talents,  but 
it  did  not  induce  him  to  withdraw  his  friendship.  Af- 
ter several  unsuccessful  attempts  to  recover  him  from 
his  errors,  the  good  father  warned  Smeton  of  the  dan- 
ger to  which  he  would  expose  himself  by  avowing  his 
sentiments  in  France,  and  gave  him  his  best  advice; 
which  was,  to  return  home,  to  marry,  to  read  the  fathers 
and  doctors  of  the  church,  and  not  to  give  ear  to  the 
ministers.  It  is  gratifying  to  meet  with  such  an  hon- 
ourable exception  to  the  bigotry  and  violence  which 
then  reigned  in  France,  and  by  which  many  of  our 
countrymen  who  had  taken  up  their  residence  in  it  were 
deeply  infected.  It  is  also  a  pleasing  circumstance, 
that  this  piece  of  information  has  come  to  us  from  the 
grateful  pen  of  Smeton,  who,  not  satisfied  with  relating 
the  facts  to  his  acquaintance,  publicly  acknowledgea 
the  kindness  with  which  he  had  been  treated  by  this 
mild  and  affectionate  Jesuit.:}:  The  neglect  of  one 
part  of  Hay's  advice  had  nearly  cost  Smeton  his  life, 
which  was  saved,  during  the  Bartholomew  massacre, 
by  his  taking  refuge  in  the  house  of  Walsingham,  the 
English  ambassador,  whom  he  accompanied  to  Lon- 
don. After  teaching  a  school  for  some  time  at  Col- 
chester in  Essex,  he  returned,  in  the  year  1577,  to  his 
native  country,  and  accepted  of  the  church  of  Paisley, 
chiefly  for  the  sake  of  enjoying  Melville's  society.  || 

At  Melville's  recommendation,  Smeton  undertook  to 
answer  the  virulent  dialogue  lately  published  by  Archi- 
bald Hamilton ;  a  task  which  he  executed  with  much 
ability.  §  He  was  well  acquainted  with  the  writings 
of  the  ancients,  and  with  the  mode  of  controversial 


•  Dempster  says  that  Smeton  taught  Humanity  at  Paris  (in 
the  University),  and  afterward  in  tne  College  of  Clermont, 
with  great  applause.     (Hist.  Eccl.  Scot.  p.  586.) 

f  See  above,  p.  218. 

X  "  Vera  haec  esse  testabitur  Edmundus  Haius,  I^iolans  in 
Gallia  sectae  prtefectus.  Quem  cum  non  pauris  ingenii  dotibui 
ornaritqui  omnia  in  omnibus  pro  arbitrio  operatur,  vtinam  vera 
etiam  dignetur  Evangelii  sui  cognitione.  Hoc  illi  et  aliis  om- 
nibus ex  animo  precor:  sed  ilii  imprimis,  ob  plurima  priuatim 
officia  ab  illius  in  me  humanitate,  cum  dubius  fluctuarem,  pro- 
fecta:  Quae,  vt  refercndfe  gratite  facultas  desit,  gratissima  certe 
memoria  colam."  (Smetoni  Responsio  ad  Hamiltouii  Dialogum, 
p.  16.) 

II  To  avail  themselves  as  far  as  possible  of  his  services,  th« 
University  of  Glasgow,  in  1578,  chose  Smeton  Dean  of  Faculty. 
(Acta  Univ.  Glasg.) 

\  Dr.  Edward  Bulkely,  in  a  letter  to  Buchanan,  dated  Ches- 
ter, 28th  Nov.  1580,  says:  "  Legi  Smythonii  librum  adversus 
Hamiltonum  Apostatam.  Vestne  Scotiae,  nunc  vera  Christ! 
cognitione  ac  Uteris  illustratae,  gratulor  quod  tales  prsestantes 
assertores  habeat."  (Buchanani  Epistoix,  p.  31,  edit.  Ruddim.) 
Dempster  describes  this  work  as  "  oiius  verborum  ornatu  non 
inelegans,  sed  doctrine  vacuum."  (Hist.  Eccl.  Scot.  p.  586.)  He 
ucribet  to  Smeton,  "  Epitaphium  Metellani.  lib.  i."  (Ibid.) 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


367 


warfare  which  the  defenders  of  the  church  of  Rome, 
and  especially  the  Jesuits,  had  lately  adopted.  Being 
privy  to  their  designs  against  Scotland,  he  excited  the 
ministers  to  vigilance,  gave  directions  to  the  young 
men  how  to  conduct  their  studies,  and  dissuaded  the 
nobility  and  gentry  from  sending  their  sons  to  those 
foreign  seminaries,  in  which  their  minds  would  be  in 
the  greatest  hazard  of  being  corrupted.  That  they 
might  be  under  the  less  temptation  to  this,  he  zealous- 
ly concurred  with  Melville  in  his  plan  for  re-modelling 
the  Colleges  of  St.  Andrews,  of  which  we  have  al- 
ready had  occasion  to  speak.*  Smeton  was  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  learned  languages,  wrote  Latin  with 
great  purity,  and  had  not,  like  many  of  his  countrymen 
who  had  been  abroad,  neglected  his  native  tongue,  in 
which  he  composed  with  great  propriety. f  In  private 
life  he  was  distinguished  for  his  retired  and  temperate 
habits  ;  encroaching  upon  the  hours  usually  devoted  to 
diet  and  sleep,  that  he  might  devote  more  time  to  his 
studies.  Yet  his  temper  was  sweet,  and  his  manners 
affable  and  remote  from  every  thing  like  rusticity  or 
moroseness.  His  premature  death,  soon  after  he  suc- 
ceeded Melville  as  principal  of  the  university  of  Glas- 
gow, was  an  unspeakable  loss  to  that  seminary. 

Another  individual  who  makes  a  prominent  figure  in 
the  history  of  the  period  is  Patrick  Adamson,  known 
at  first  by  the  name  of  Constyne  or  Constant! ne.  He 
had  received  his  elementary  education  under  his  broth- 
er-in-law, Andrew  Simson,  and,  having  finished  his 
philosophical  course  at  St.  Andrews,  in  the  College  of 
St.  Mary,  taught  for  some  years  in  it,  most  probably 
as  grammarian.  After  the  establishment  of  the  Re- 
formation, he  became  minister  of  Ceres,  a  parish  in 
the  vicinity  of  St.  Andrews.  This  charge  he  left  to 
accompany  the  eldest  son  of  Sir  James  Mackgill, 
Clerk-Register,  on  his  travels  to  France;  and  during 
his  residence  in  that  country  he  applied  himself  to  the 
study  of  law  at  the  university  of  Bourges.  Upon  his 
return  to  Scotland,  in  the  year  1570,  he  fluctuated  as 
to  the  profession  which  he  should  choose.  Declining 
the  office  of  principal  of  St.  Leonard's  College,  which 
Buchanan  had  demitted  in  his  favour,:}:  he  began  to 
practise  at  the  bar;  and  relinquishing  this  employment 
he  resumed  his  former  vocation  as  a  preacher.  He 
officiated  some  )'-ears  as  minister  of  Paisley,  from  which 
he  removed  to  become  chaplain  to  the  Regent,  who 
promoted  him  to  the  archiepiscopal  see  of  St.  An- 
drews. j|  Before  his  advancement  to  the  primacy  in 
1576,  Adamson  had  given  proofs  of  his  talents  by  the 
publication  of  several  works.  They  consist  chiefly 
of  Latin  poems.  Though  inferior  to  Melville  in  eru- 
dition and  in  vivacity  of  genius,  he  was  nevertheless  a 
polite  scholar,  an  elegant  poet,  and  a  most  persuasive 
and  attracting  preacher.  But  he  was  inordinately  am- 
bitious, and  not  over-scrupulous  as  to  the  measures 

*  Smefoni  Respons.  ad  Dialog.  Haniiltonii;  Prmfat.  et  p.  15, 
16.  Melville's  Diary,  p.  55 — 58.  Spolswood,  p.  336.  James 
Melville,  whom  I  have  chiefly  followed,  received  the  particu- 
lars which  he  records  from  Smetoii's  own  mouth.  His  account 
varies  from  that  of  Spotswood  in  some  minute  particulars.  He 
does  not  speak  of  Thomas  Maitland's  accompanying  him  to  Italy. 
_t  James  Melville  says,  that  Smeton  was  usually  employed  by 
his  brethren  in  drawing  up  important  papers,  as  he  "  excellit 
baith  in  language  and  form  of  letter."  (Diary,  p.  58.)  Besides 
the  answer  to  Hamilton,  Smeton  was  concerned  in  another 
work,  of  which  the  only  account  I  can  give  is  contained  in  the 
following  extracts.  "  Ane  method  of  preaching  to  be  printed 
and  put  m  Scots  be  Mr.  Tho'  Smetoun."  (Buik  of  Universall 
Kirk,  f.  112,  a.)  April  1581.  "  Anent  the  printing  the  method 
of  preaching  and  prophesieing  set  out  be 

and  shewed  and  read  in  the  Assembly, 
the  Assemblie  hath  thoght  meet  that  the  samine  may  be  com- 
mittit  to  Irons,  and  printed  as  necessary  for  the  forme  of  teach- 
ing, and  to  be  put  in  Scottish  be  their  brother  Mr.  Thomas 
Smetone."  (Cald.  iii.43.) — The  author's  name  does  not  appear. 
— "  Hyperius  de  formandis  concionibus"  was  printed  at  Basil 
in  1563.  "  Hyperius  Practice  of  Preaching,"  translated  into 
English  by  Ludham,  was  printed  in  1577. 

t  Ruddimanni  Procfat.  in.  Oper.  Buchanan!. 

H  See  Note  YY. 


which  he  employed  for  gratifying  his  ruling  passion; 
by  which  means  he  tarnished  his  reputation,  and  de- 
feated the  influence  of  the  great  abilities  which  he  un- 
questionably possessed. 

Though  Thomas  Maitland  had  died  before  Melville 
returned  to  Scotland,  yet  he  deserves  to  be  mentioned 
here  as  one  of  his  class-fellows  at  college,  and  as  the 
intimate  friend  of  Arbuthnot  and  Smeton.  He  belong- 
ed to  a  family,  all  the  members  of  which,  not  except- 
ing the  females,  were  addicted  to  literary  pursuits.* 
His  father,  Sir  Richard  Maitland  of  Lethington,  one 
of  the  Lords  of  Session,  is  well  known  as  a  writer  of 
Scottish  poetry ;  and  both  his  brothers,  William  and 
John,f  were  distinguished  for  their  elegant  taste  as  well 
as  the  political  eminence  to  which  they  rose.  Thomas 
Maitland  had  given  various  proofs  of  his  poetical  tal- 
ents before  his  premature  death.  If  they  do  not  dis- 
play a  vigorous  imagination,  his  poems  at  least  evince 
great  command  of  the  Latin  language,  and  are  written 
with  ease  and  spirit.:^  His  political  conduct  partook 
in  a  considerable  degree  of  that  versatility  by  which 
his- elder  brother's  was  characterized.  After  eulogiz- 
ing the  character  and  administration  of  the  Regent 
Murray,  he  exulted  over  his  fall.||  Maitland  is  better 
known  from  Buchanan's  having  made  him  his  inter- 
locutor in  his  dialogue  on  the  Law  of  the  Scottish 
Monarchy,  than  from  his  own  poems.  When  he  join- 
ed the  party  who  sought  to  restore  Queen  Mary,  Mait- 
land disclaimed  the  principles  contained  in  that  trea- 
tise, and  insisted  that  the  author  had  no  other  reason 
for  coupling  his  name  with  them  than  his  own  fancy. § 
Buchanan  did  not  wish  to  insinuate  that  the  conversa- 
tion which  he  describes  was  actually  held,  but  he  cer- 
tainly meant  it  to  be  understood  that  the  sentiments 
which  he  puts  into  the  mouth  of  his  interlocutor  were 
entertained  by  Maitland.  And  it  was  vain  for  the  lat- 
ter to  deny  this,  seeing  he  had  recommended  in  verse 
the  most  obnoxious  of  the  tenets  which  the  writer 
of  the  dialogue  inculcates  in  prose.  In  his  poem  on 
the  coronation  of  Jantes  VI.  he  holds  up  arbitrary  go- 
vernment to  reprobation,  and  celebrates  the  resistance 
made  by  the  people  to  tyrants.  Having  given  exam- 
ples of  this  from  ancient  history,  and  shown 

How  Rome,  impatient,  spurned  proud  Tarquin's  yoke, 

How  ages  after  Brutus'  spirit  v\oke. 

And  hurled  at  Cassar's  breast  the  patriot  stroke; 

Maitland  comes  to  Scotland,  places  before  the  eyes  of 
the  young  king  the  fate  of  such  of  his  ancestors  as 
had  arrogated  a  power  superior  to  the  laws,  and  de- 
scribes the  sudden  and  overwhelming  resistance  which 
his  impetuous  countrymen  were  wont  to  oppose  to  en- 
croachments on  their  rights,  in  language  which  no 
courtly  poet,  however  chivalrous  his  ideas,  would  dare 
to  employ,  and  which  proves  that  he  was  then  no  be- 
liever in  the  divine  right  and  sacred  inviolability  of 
despots.^ 


*  Pinkerton's  Scottish  Poems,  Introd. 

t  John  Maitland,  Lord  Thirlstane,  was  successively  Lord 
Privy  Seal,  Secretary  of  State,  and  Lord  Chancellor  of  Scot- 
land. 

J  He  appears  to  have  written  a  treatise  on  undertaking  war 
against  the  Turks.     (Delitiae  Poet.  Scot.  torn.  ii.  p.  171.) 

11  Comp.  Delitiee  Poet.  Scot.  torn.  ii.  p.  163,  with  Life  of 
Knox,   p.  119. 

}  Innes's  Critical  Essay  on  the  Ancient  Inhabitants  of  Scot- 
land, vol.  i.  p.  359.  Buchanan's  Dialogue  was  not  published 
for  several  years  after  the  death  of  Maitland  ;  but  there  is 
reason  to  think,  as  Innes  says,  that  copies  of  it  were  handed 
about  as  early  as  1570. — There  is  in  the  College  Library  of 
Edinburgh  a  MS.  (the  gift  of  William  Drummona  of  Hathorn- 
den)  entitled,  "  Thomse  Melelani  ad  Serenissimam  principem 
Elizabethani  Anglorum  Reginam  Epistola."  It  consists  of  41 
pages  4to. ;  and  is  properly  a  discourse  or  oration,  composed  in 
a  very  rhetorical  style,  urging  the  propriety  of  setting  Queen 
Mary  at  liberty,  and  restoring  her  to  her  dominions.  There  is 
no  date  to  it,  but  from  internal  evidence  it  appears  to  have 
been  written  in  the  year  1570  or  1571.  It  bears  every  mark  of 
having  been  intended  for  publication. 
f  Gens  inclyta  Scotae 
Progenies,,  quse  sponte  sua  tibi  jura  ferenti 


368 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


John  Davidson,  who  was  Melville's  predecessor  at 
Glasgow,  was  a  clergyman  before  the  Reformation, 
and  had  studied  at  Paris  along  with  Quintin  Kennedy, 
abbot  of  Crossraguel.  Having  returned  to  Scotland, 
he  was  placed  in  1557,  at  the  head  of  the  College  of 
Glasgow.  When  the  controversy  concerning  religion 
first  arose,  Davidson  adhered  to  the  established  church, 
but  he  afterwards  changed  his  views  and  joined  the  re- 
formers. His  answer  to  Kennedy  shews  him  to  have 
been  a  modest  and  candid  man,  although  not  possessed 
of  great  learning.  He  testifies  much  respect  for  his 
old  college  companion,  notwithstanding  the  diversity 
of  their  sentiments,  and  acknowledges  the  kindness 
with  which  he  had  formerly  been  treated  by  Arch- 
bishop Beaton.* 

We  have  repeatedly  had  occasion  to  speak  of  John 
Davidson,  who  was  minister  at  Libberton,  and  after- 
wards at  Prestonpans.  But  it  may  be  proper  to  take 
notice  here  of  two  curious  poems  composed  by  him, 
which  throw  considerable  light  on  the  manners  and 
transactions  of  his  time.  The  Regent  Morton,  with 
the  view  of  securing  for  the  use  of  the  court  a  larger 
proportion  of  the  thirds  of  benefices,  had  obtained,  in 
1573,  an  order  of  the  Privy  Council  for  uniting  two, 
three,  and  even  four  parishes,  and  putting  them  under 
the  care  of  one  minister.  As  pluralities  had  always 
been  condemned  by  the  reformed  ministers,  and  con- 
sidered as  one  of  the  worst  abuses  in  the  popish 
church,  this  act  excited  great  dissatisfaction.  John 
Davidson,  who  was  then  a  regent  in  St.  Leonard's 
College,!  and  a  young  man  of  great  zeal,  expressed 
the  general  sentiment  in  a  metrical  dialogue,  in  which 
he  exposed  the  evil  of  the  practice,  and  taxed,  in 
terms  more  homely  than  pleasant,  the  motives  in 
which  it  evidently  originated.  His  poem  was  printed 
without  his  knowledge,  upon  which  he  was  summoned 
to  a  justice-air  at  Haddington,  and  sentence  of  impris- 
onment was  pronounced  against  him.  He  was  libera- 
ted upon  bail,  in  the  hopes  that  he  might  be  prevailed 
upon  to  retract  what  he  had  written,  or  that  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  might  be  induced  to  condemn  it.  A 
number  of  his  colleagues  in  the  University,  who  were 
desirous  of  pleasing  the  court,  shewed  themselves  un- 
favourable to  him  ;  Rutherfurd,  the  principal  of  St. 
Salvator's  College,  who  imagined  that  he  was  disre- 
spectfully alluded  to  in  the  dialogue,  had  written  an 
answer  to  it  ;:j:  and  the  greater  part  of  the  Assembly 
were  so  much  afraid  of  the  Regent's  resentment,  that, 
although  they  were  of  the  same  sentiments  with   Da- 


Ohsequitur,  consueta  bonos  defendere  regeg 
Oppositu  laterum,  nullis  cessura  periclis, 
DuiD  sancto  regis  depellat  corporc  ferruin  : 
Ilia  eadem,  si  quando  ferox,  (litiensque  cruoris 
Exurgat,  forteiii  trepida  cum  plebe  Senatum 
Qui  vincirc  velit,  patriseque  infriagere  leges  : 
Non  tolerat.  std  fama  voiat,  subitoque  turuuitu 
Accensi  heroes  virtusqtie  annata  popelli 
Sceptra  rapit,  mox  dejectum  de  sede  tyrannum, 
Nunc  morte  horrifica,  saevo  nunc  carccre  frsenat. 

(Delitiae  Poetarum  Scotorum,  torn.  ii.  p.  162.) 
»  See  Note  ZZ. 

+  He  is  the  author  of  the  poem  in  Commendatioun  of  Up- 
richtties  republished  in  the  Life  of  John  Knox,  Supplement. 

{  "The  Moderator  inioyned  them  silence,  and  desired  Mr. 
John  Rutherford  yet  again  to  produce  his  book;  but  be  vet  still 
refused,  and  said,  '  that  Mr.  John  (Davidson)  had  called  him 
cruaed  goose  in  his  book,  that  he  had  little  Latin  in  his  book, 
and  that  was  false,'  with  many  other  brawling  words. — Mr. 
Alexander  Arbuthnot  said,  you  take  that  to  you  which  do  man 
speaks  against  you."     (Cald.  MS.  vol.  ii.  p.  432,  439. 

The  following  is  the  passage  in  the  poem  which  gave  offence 
to  Rutherfurd  : 

Thair  is  sum  Collages  we  ken, 
Weill  found  it  to  uphald  Icarnit  men: 
Amang  the  rest  foundit  we  se 
Theteiching  of  theologie. 
Lat  anis  the  Counsell  send  and  ae, 
Gif  thir  places  weill  g)dit  be; 
And  not  abusil  with  waist  rudis, 
That  does  nathing  bot  spendis  yai  g^dis 
That  was  maid  for  that  haly  nse, 
And- not  to  feid  ane  crusit  giue. 


vidson,  they  declined  approving  of  his  book,  and  left 
him  to  the  vengeance  of  his  powerful  prosecutor.  In- 
terest was  made  in  his  behalf  by  some  of  the  princi- 
pal gentlemen  in  the  country,  but  Morton  was  inflexi- 
ble; and  finding  that  nothing  short  of  recantation 
would  save  him  from  punishment,  Davidson,  after 
lurking  for  a  while  in  the  west  of  Scotland,  retired 
into  England,  from  which  he  was  not  permitted  to  re- 
turn during  the  life-time  of  the  Regent.*  Lekprevick, 
the  printer  of  the  poem,  was  also  prosecuted,  and  con- 
fined for  some  time  in  the  Castle  of  Edinburgh. f 

The  prosecution  of  Davidson  does  little  honour  to 
the  administration  of  Morton.  There  is  nothing  in  the 
book  which  could  give  ground  of  offence  or  alarm  to 
any  good  government.  It  is  a  temperate  discussion  of 
a  measure  which  was  at  least  controvertible.  The 
reasons  urged  in  its  support  are  candidly  and  fairly 
stated,  and  they  are  examined  and  refuted  in  a  fair  and 
dispassionate  manner.  The  evils  which  the  act  of 
council  was  calculated  to  produce  are  indeed  exposed 
with  faithfulness  and  spirit;  but  without  any  thing 
disrespectful  to  authority,  or  tending  in  the  slightest 
degree  to  excite  "  sedition  and  uproar." 

In  a  literary  point  of  view,  the  merits  of  the  Dialogue 
are  far  from  contemptible.  It  is  superior  to  most  of 
the  fugitive  pieces  of  the  time.  Without  pretensions 
to  fine  poetry,  the  versification  is  easy  and  smooth,  and 
the  conversation  is  carried  on  in  a  very  natural  and 
spirited  manner.  The  introduction  to  the  poem  may 
amuse  such  readers  as  are  wearied  with  the  dryness 
of  some  of  the  preceding  details  : 

Unto  Dundee  as  I  maid  way, 
Nocht  long  afoir  Sanctandrois  day, 
At  Kiiighorne  ferrie  passand  ouir 
Into  ye  Boit  was  thre  or  four 
Of  gentill  men,  as  did  appeir. 
I  said,  Schirs,  is  thair  ony  heir 
Quhais  Jornay  lyis  unto  Dundie  1 
Twa  of  thanic  answerit  courtaslie. 
We  purpose  noct  for  to  ga  thidder, 
Bot  yit  our  gait  will  lie  togidder 
Quhill  I  we  be  passit  Kennewie.  • 

Than  1  sail  beir  yow  companie, 
Said  I;  and  with  that  we  did  land. 
Syne  lap  upon  our  horse  fra  hand, 
And  on  our  Jornay  rudelie  raid. 
Thir  twa  unto  Sanctandrois  maid: 
The  tane  of  thame  appearit  to  be 
Ane  cunning  Clerk  of  greit  clergie. 
Of  visage  graue  and  nianneris  sage. 
His  tongue  weiU  taucht,  but  ||  all  outrage, 
Men  niicht  haue  kend  that  he  had  bene 
■  Qubair  gude  Instructioun  he  had  sene. 
The  utherdid  appeir  to  me 
Ane  cunilie  Courteour  to  be, 
Quba  was  perfyt  and  weill  besene 
In  thingis  that  to  this  land  pertene. 
Be  }  we  had  riddin  half  ane  myle. 
With  niyrrie  mowis  passing  the  quhyle, 
Thir  twa  of  quhome  befoir  I  spak 
Of  sindrie  purposis  did  rrak. 
And  enterit  amang  the  rest 
To  speik  how  that  the  kirk  was  drest. 

And  this  began  the  Courteour: 
Quhat  think  ve  of  this  new  ordour  ? 
Ye  that  ar  Clerkis  and  men  of  wit, 
I  wat  weill  ye  will  speik  of  it 
Amangis  your  selfis  quhen  ye  conuene: 
I  pray  you  tell  me  quhat  ye  mene. 
And  gif  this  ordour  ye  allow, 
Or  alwa\'is  how  it  plesis  yow. 

The  Clerk  said ;  Sir,  the  treuth  to  tell, 
With  Princes  maters  for  to  mell 
I  think  it  lyis  nocht  in  our  gait: 
Lat  Courteouris  of  sic  thingis  trait. 

The  Courteour  maid  answering: 
Yit  men  will  speik,  Sir,  of  the  king; 


*  During  his  exile  Davidson  visited  the  continent.  (Cald. 
MS.  vol.  iii.  p.  248. 

+  Proceedings  against  Davidson  and  Lekprevick.  in  Record 
of  Privy  Council.  Lckprevick's  summons  is  inserted  in  Cald. 
MS.  vol.  ii.  p.  442.  The  prosecution  was  founded  on  the  act 
of  parliament  1551,  "  against  blasphemous  rjnies  or  tragedies." 

\  Until.  II  Without.  §  Before.    . 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


369 


Bot  this  new  ordour  that  is  tane 
Wes  nocht  maid  be  the  Court  allane: 
The  Kirkis  Coramissionars  wes  thare, 
And  did  aggrie  to  les  and  raair. 
Yit  men  may  speik  as  they  haue  feill, 
Quhidder  it  lykis  thame  euill  or  weill. 

The  Clerk  said:  haue  thay  condescendit, 
1  think  our  speiking  can  nocht  mend  it; 
Bot  ane  thing  I  dar  tak  on  me, 
Gif  as  ye  say  the  mater  be 
That  thay  of  Kirk  thairto  assentit, 
Thay  sail  be  first  that  sail  repent  it; 
Thocht  for  thair  tyme  sum  wylie  wynkit, 
The  ages  after  will  forthink  it. 

The  poem  concludes  with  the  following  lines,  which 
show  that  the  author  was  by  no  means  pleased  with 
the  conduct  of  the  greater  part  of  the  ministers  of  the 
church : 

Forsuith,  Schir,  (said  the  Courleour) 

I  am  assurit  had  ilk  Preichour 

Unto  the  mater  bene  als  frak 

As  ye  haue  bene  heir  sen  ye  spak, 

It  had  not  cum  to  sic  ane  held 

As  this  day  we  se  it  proceid. 

Bot  I  can  se  few  men  amang  thame, 

Thocht  all  the  warfd  suld  cTene  ouirgang  thame, 

That  hes  ane  face  to  speik  agane 

Sic  as  the  Kirk  of  Christ  prophane. 

Had  gude  John  Knox  not  yit  been  deid, 

It  had  not  cum  unto  this  hei'd: 

Had  thay  myntit  till  sic  ane  steir, 

He  had  maid  heuin  and  eirth  to  heir.* 

Davidson  also  composed  at  this  time  a  poem  to  the 
memory  of  Robert  Campbell  of  Kinyeancleugh,  a 
gentleman  who  had  distinguished  himself  by  his  early 
attachment  to  the  reformed  religion,  and  his  disinte- 
rested and  invariable  friendship  for  our  national  Re- 
former. Campbell  died  while  actively  employed  in 
screening  Davidson  from  the  effects  of  persecution ; 
and  the  latter  has  gratefully  commemorated  the  virtues 
of  his  protector.  This  poem  is  inferior  to  the  former 
in  point  of  composition  ;  but  it  preserves  a  number  of 
curious  and  interesting  facts  relating  to  the  history  of 
'•hose  times. t 


CHAPTER  XII. 

State  of  Litehatuke  in  Scotland  when  Melville 
WAS  removed  from  his  Situation  at  St.  An- 
drews.    Anno  1611. 

Erection  of  New  Universities  and  Colleges — ^Resort  of  Foreign 
Students  to  Scotland — Literary  Labours  of  Scotchmen  in 
Dublin — Parochial  Schools  and  Grammatical  Education  in 
Scotland  —  Hercules  Rollocft — Alexander  Hume  —  Ramean 
Philosophy — Theology  and  Collateral  Branches  of  Study — 
Principal  Rollock — Bruce — Pont — The  Sitosons — Cowper— 
Civil  and  Scots  Law — John  Skene — Craig — ■  Welwood — 
Other  Studies — Napier  of  Merchiston — Hume  of  Godscroft 
— Vernacular  Poetry — Extent  to  which  Latin  Poetry  was 
Cultivated — Advantages  and  Disadvantages  of  this — General 
Estimate  of  the  Progress  of  Learning  and  of  the  Influence 
which  Melville  had  in  Promoting  it. 

In  tracing  the  progress  of  literature  in  this  country 
during  Melville's  residence  at  St.  Andrews,  the  first 
thing  which  claims  our  notice  is  the  additions  made  to 
the  number  of  our  universities. 


*  There  is  a  copy  of  this  rare  poem  ii>  the  Advocates  Libra- 
ry. It  is  complete,  with  the  exception  of  the  title-page,  which 
is  much  wasted.  The  following  title  is  made  up  from  that  copy 
and  other  documents. 

"Ane  Dialog  or  [Mu]tual  ta[lking]  betwix  a  [clerk]  and 
[ane  cour]teour,  Concerning  [four  kirks]  till  ane  INlinister, 
C[ollectit  out  of  thair]  mouthis,  and  put  [in  verse  by  a]  young 
man  gufha  did]  forgather  v/\jih  tliamej  in  his  Jor[nay,  as] 
efter  foll[owis.] 

The  book  is  printed  in  bfack  letter,  and  consists  of  16  leaves 
in  12mo.  It  has  no  imprint,  but  we  learn  from  the  summons 
to  Robert  Lekpreuk.  that  it  was  printed  by  him  ia  January, 
1573;  i.  e.  1574,  according  to  modern  reckoning-.  (Cald.  MS. 
vol.  ii.  p.  442.) 

t  See  Note  AAA. 

2  W 


We  have  seen  that  the  early  institutions  for  promot- 
ing literature  were  generally  attached  to  cathedral 
churches  or  monasteries.  The  universities  of  St.  An- 
drews, Glasgow,  and  Aberdeen  having  been  founded 
by  bishops,  it  was  natural  for  their  founders  to  erect 
them  in  the  chief  cities  of  their  respective  sees. 
Edinburgh  was  not  an  episcopal  seat,  and,  conse- 
quently, was  unprovided  with  a  university  or  great 
school ;  although  it  had  long  been  considered  as  the 
capital  of  the  kingdom.  As  soon  as  the  Reformation 
was  established,  the  magistrates,  in  concert  with  the 
ministers  of  the  capital,  attempted  to  have  this  defect 
supplied  ;*  but  their  endeavours  were  thwarted  by  the 
bishops,  who  were  jealous  of  the  reputation  and  pros- 
perity of  the  seminaries  placed  under  their  own  imme- 
diate and  official  protection, f  The  University  of  Edin- 
burgh, which  has  since  risen  to  such  eminence,  owed 
its  erection  to  the  fall  of  episcopacy.  In  the  year 
1579,  when  the  General  Assembly  had  attacked  the 
episcopal  office  and  drawn  up  the  model  of  presbytery, 
the  design  of  founding  a  college  in  Edinburgh  was  re- 
vived.:!: Encouraged  by  the  ministers  and  other  pub- 
lic-spirited individuals  of  the  city,  the  magistrates 
immediately  commenced  building  apartments  for  the 
accommodation  of  professors  and  students ;  and  in  the 
end  of  the  year  1583  the  classes  were  opened,  under 
the  patronage  of  tlie  town-council,  and  the  sanction  of 
a  royal  charter.  ||  By  donations  from  individuals  and 
public  bodies,  and  by  obtaining  part  of  a  legacy  which 
Robert  Reid,  bishop  of  Orkney,  had  bequeathed  for  a 
similar  purpose,  §  the  patrons  were  enabled  to  extend 
the  benefits  of  the  institution.  From  the  number  of 
students  who  resorted  to  the  new  college,  it  was  appa- 
rent that  it  would  soon  rival  the  most  frequented  of  the 
older  establishments ;  and  although  it  suffisred  a  great 
loss  by  the  premature  death  of  Rollock,  its  excellent 
principal,  yet  was  it  in  a  prosperous  condition  when 
Melville  was  removed  from  Scotland.T[ 

Transferred  from  one  sovereign  to  another,  and  lying 
at  a  distance  from  the  seats  of  the  governments  ta 
which  they  at  different  times  became  subject,  the  in- 
habitants of  the  Orkney  Islands  had  been  neglected, 
and  allowed  to  remain  in  ignorance  and  barbarism. 
Bishop  Reid,  whose  attention  to  the  interests  of  learn- 
ing deserves  great  praise,  endeavoured  to  remedy  this 
evil  by  providing  means  of  education  for  his  clergy 
and  the  youth  of  his  diocese.  Having  given  a  new 
foundation  to  his  cathedral  church  of  Kirkwall  in  1544,. 
he  appointed  the  person  who  held  the  office  of  Chan- 
cellor to  read  publicly,  once  a  week,  a  lecture  on  the 
canon  law ;  and  the  chaplain  of  St.  Peter's  to  act  as 
master  of  a  grammar  school.**    After  the  reformation 

*  Record  of  Town  Council  of  Edinburgh,  April  23,  1561, 
and  April  8,  1562.     See  under  Note  FFF. 

t  Crawfurd's  Hist,  of  University  of  Edinburgh,  p.  19.  Mait- 
land's  Hist,  of  Edin.  p.  356. 

I  Record  of  Town  Council,  April' 24,  and  Nov.  25,  1579. 

H  Though  tlie  name  of  a  University  is  not  applied  to  the 
institution  either  in  the  RoyaT  Charter  of  1582,  or  in  the  Act 
of  Parliament  of  1621,  yet  in  the  latter,  it  is  declared  to  be 
"aneColledge — of  humane  letteris  and  toungis.  of  phiiosophie, 
theologie,  medicine,  the  lawis,  and  all  uther  libemll  sciences," 
and  is  endowed  with  "all  liberties,  fredomes,  immunities  and 
priviledgis  appertening  to  ane  free  Colledge,  and  that  in  als 
ample  forme  and  lairge  raaner  as  anye  Colledge  hes  or  bruikis 
w'in  this  his  M»ties  realme."  (Act.  Pari.  Scot.  iv.  670,  671.) 

}  See  Note  BBB. 

IT  Crawford's  Hist,  of  the  Univ.  of  Edinburgh,  p.  67. 

**  "  Hie  Cancellarius,  qui  pro  tempore  fuerit,  tertium  locum 
post  prepositum  occupabit,  qui  semel  in  septimana,  nisi  aliunde 
legitime  inipedietur,  tenebitur  publice  in  Jure  pontificio  legere 
in  Capitulo  omnibus  canonicis,  prebendariis,  capellanis,  et  aliis 
interesse  volentibus." — Ordcenamus  preterea  capellaniam  beati 
Petri  primum  omnium  tresdecim  incompatibi^em  cum  alio  ben- 
eficio,  alterasfio  seu  servitio  perpetuo,  cujus  saceHanus  erit  Ma- 
gister  artium  et  peritus  grammaticus,  Scole  grammaticalis  erit 
magister.  (Nova  Erectio  ad  decorem  et  augnientationem  divini 
cultus  in  Ecclesia  Cathedral!  Orchadensi.  Oct.  28,  1544.  in 
Arch.  Civit.  Edin.)  This  deed  was  confirmed  Ijy  Cardinal 
Beaton  "  pridie  kal.  Julii,  1545."  (Bulla  Nove  Erectionis  Ec- 
clesiae  et  Capituli  Orchadensis:  ibid.)  Macken7,ie,  in  his  Life 
24 


370 


LIFE   OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


the  emoluments  of  the  chaplainry  continued  to  be 
applied  to  the  support  of  the  master  of  the  grammar 
school  of  Kirkwall.*  In  the  year  1581,  a  proposal 
to  erect  a  College  in  Orkney  was  laid  before  par- 
liament, by  which  it  was  referred,  along  with  other 
plans  for  promoting  education,  to  certain  commission- 
ers.f  It  is  probable  that  the  scheme  was  defeated  by 
the  interest  of  those  who  had  got  possession  of  the  ec- 
clesiastical revenues  of  that  diocese,  which  formed  the 
only  fund  from  which  the  seminary  could  have  been 
erected  and  endowed. 

In  1592,  the  year  in  which  presbytery  obtained  a 
legal  establishment,  Sir  Alexander  Fraser  of  Phillorth 
laid  the  foundation  of  a  university  and  college  within 
the  town  of  Fraserburgh  in  Aberdeenshire.:]:  It  was 
intended  for  the  ornament  of  a  town  on  which  he  had 
conferred  many  privileges,  and  for  the  instruction  of 
the  j'outh  in  the  northern  part  of  the  kingdom.  The 
parliament  ratified  the  institution  in  1597,  with  high 
commendations  of  the  liberality  and  patriotism  of  the 
founder.||  Charles  Ferine,  who  had  taught  for  several 
years  as  a  regent  at  Edinburgh,  was  chosen  principal 
of  the  new  college  ;  and  in  the  year  1600,  the  General 
Assembly  authorized  him  to  undertake  this  office, 
along  with  that  of  minister  of  the  parish  of  Fraser- 
burgh.§  His  labours  were  much  interrupted  by  the 
Earl  of  Huntly  ;  and  an  end  was  put  to  them  by  his 
confinement,  first  in  the  castle  of  Down  and  after- 
wards in  the  island  of  Bute,  for  assisting  at  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly  at  Aberdeen.^  It  does  not  appear  that 
he  had  any  successor  in  the  college,  which  was  most 

of  Bishop  Reid,  says:  "  He  built  St.  Olau's  Church  in  Kirk- 
wail,  and  a  large  court  of  buildiiig-s,  to  be  a  college  for  instruct- 
ing of  the  youth  in  these  and  the  adjacent  isles,  in  grammar, 
philosophy,  and  niatheniatics."  (Lives,  iii.  47.) 

*  There  is  extant  an  original  Gift  and  Presentation  by  Patrick 
Earl  of  Orkney  (dated  Feb.  26, 1595.)  of  the  "  Prebendarie  of 
St.  Peter  lyand  within  the  diocie  of  Orkney — conforme  to  the 
erection  thereof."  The  presentee  is  "  to  make  actual  residence 
for  serving  of  the  gram»r  school  at  Kirkwall  as  Master  princi- 
pal thereunto — utherways  this  gift  to  expyre  ipso  facto.'"  This 
was  followed  by  a  decreet  of  the  Court  of  Session,  May  22, 
1601,  confirming  the  gift.  (Communication  from  Alexander 
Peterkin,  Esq.  Sheriff-Substitute  of  Orkney.) 

t  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  iii.  214. 

I  The  grant  confirming  to  him  the  lands  and  barony  of  Phil- 
lorth (July  1,  1592.)  contains  the  following  clause:  "Dedinius 
ct  concessimus  tenoreque  presencium  damus  et  concedimus 
plenariani  potestateiu  et  libertatem  prefato  Alexandre  Fraser 
neredibus  suis  iiiascvlis  et  assignatis  Collegium  seu  Collegia 
infra  dictum  burgum  de  Fraser  edificandi,  Universitatem  eri- 
gendi,  omnia  genera  officialium  eisdem  convenie"  et  correspon- 
den  elegendi  locandi  et  deprivandi,  fundationes  pro  eorum  sus- 
tentatione  et  omnia  privilegia  quecunque  necessaria  faciendi  et 
dotandi,  Rectoreg  principales  et  subprincipales  et  alia  membra 
necessaria  ad  voluntatem  et  optionem  dicti  Alexri  ejusque  here- 
dara  niasculorum  et  assignatorum  antedict.  faciendi  eligendi 
mutandiet  deponendi,  leges  acta  et  statuta  pro  boni  ordinis 
observatione  faciendi  et  custodire  causandi.  (Register  of  Privy 
Seal,vol.  Ixiv.  f.46.) 

IJ  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  iv.  147, 148. 

\  Bulk  of  the  Universall  Kirk,  f.  194,  b.  Crawfurd's  Hist, 
of  Univ.  of  Edin.  p.  31,  33,  37,  39,  42.  Fermsei  Analysis  in 
Epist.  ad  Romanos,  Epist.  Dedic.  et  Epist.  ad  Lect.  Edinb.  1651. 

T  In  1608,  Ferme  wrote,  from  the  place  of  his  coniinement, 
to  Robert  Bruce:  "  I  have  to  this  hour  been  releaved  be  the 
comfort  of  no  creature;  neither  have  I  heard  to  whom  I  may 
go.  A  thousand  deaths  hathe  my  soul  tasted  of;  but  still  the 
truth  and  mercie  of  the  Lord  hath  succoured  me."  (Cald.  vii. 
98,  99.)  He  wag  restored  to  his  parish  before  his  death,  which 
happened  on  the  24th  of  September,  1617.  Verses  to  his 
memory  were  composed  by  Archibald  Simson,  (Annal.  p.  138.) 
and  by  Principal  Adarason  of  F-dinburgh,  who,  in  the  75th  year 
of  his  age,  published  a  work  of  Ferme,  who  had  been  his  re- 
gent at  college.  (I'refix.  ad  Fermaei  Analys.  ut  supra.)  "  Mr. 
Charles  Fairme,"  was  called  to  be  "  second  minister  of  Had- 
dington." (Record  of  Presbytery  of  Haddington,  July  28,  and 
Aug.  25,  1596,  and  Sept.  28,  1597.)  At  the  '^desyre  of  patrik 
cohren  and  Georg  heriot,  cotnmissionares  direct  from  the  ses- 
sion of  the  kirk  of  the  north-west  quarter  of  Ed',"  the  presby- 
tery "tollerat  Mr.  Charles  ferum  to  preach  in  the  Kirk  of  that 
quarter,  at  sic  tynies  and  necessary  occasiones  as  he  sal  be  im- 
ployit  be  said  session."  (Rec.  of  Presb.  of  Edinburgh,  Sept. 
12, 1598.)  He  "  wag  gane  to  the  north  Parts,  in  Dec.  12, 1598. 
(Ibid.) 


probably  allowed  to  fall  into  decay  amidst  the  distrac- 
tions produced  by  the  alteration  of  church-government. 

The  College  of  Fraserburgh  might  have  succeeded 
better,  had  it  not  been  for  a  similar  establishment 
erected  about  the  same  time  by  George  Earl  Marischal 
in  the  town  of  New  Aberdeen.*  Marischal  College 
was  originally  endowed  only  for  a  principal,  three  re- 
gents, and  six  bursars ;  but  its  situation  in  a  flourish- 
ing town  furnished  it  with  students,  its  proximity  to 
King's  College  excited  emulation,  and  the  gratitude  or 
the  pride  of  individuals  who  received  their  education 
at  it  soon  increased  the  number  of  its  professorships 
and  bursaries,  as  well  as  the  small  stock  of  books 
with  which  it  was  originally  provided. f 

Whatever  may  be  thought  as  to  the  expediency  of 
some  of  these  collegial  institutions,  there  can  be  but 
one  opinion  as  to  the  zeal  which  they  evinced  in  behalf 
of  the  interests  of  literature.  Whether  the  founders 
acted  from  the  impulse  of  their  own  minds,  or  were 
guided  by  the  deference  which  they  paid  to  the  opin- 
ions of  others,  the  fact  of  so  many  academies  rising 
up  at  the  same  time,  shews  that  the  public  attention 
had  been  awakened  to  the  importance  of  education, 
and  that  a  general  and  strong  passion  for  literary  pur- 
suits was  felt  through  the  nation.  It  may  also  be  ob- 
served that  the  improvements  in  the  mode  of  teaching 
which  had  been  introduced  into  the  universities  of  St. 
Andrews  and  Glasgow  were  adopted  in  one  degree  or 
another  in  the  newly-erected  colleges.  At  Edinburgh, 
indeed,  each  regent  conducted  his  students  through 
the  whole  course  of  their  studies,  either  because  Rol- 
lock  had  been  accustomed  to  this  method  at  St.  An- 
drews, or  because  he  could  not  find  a  sufficient  number 
of  teachers.  But  at  Aberdeen,  in  Marischal  College 
from  the  beginning  the  regents  had  particular  profes- 
sions assigned  to  them  -yX  ^"d  the  same  arrangement 
was  prescribed  by  the  new  foundation  of  King's  Col- 
lege.ll  When  Melville  returned  from  Geneva,  although 
more  than  thirty  years  had  elapsed  from  the  first  intro- 
duction of  the  Greek  language  into  Scotland,  the  stu- 
dents at  St.  Andrews  did  not  acquire  any  knowledge 
of  it  beyond  the  regular  declensions.  But  now  the 
most  difficult  Greek  authors  were  read  and  explained 
in  all  our  universities.  The  knowledge  of  Hebrew 
was  brought  to  the  country  by  a  deserving  individual 
at  the  establishment  of  the  Reformation  ;  and  3'et,  four- 
teen years  after  that  period,  not  one  of  the  professors 
in  the  first  university  of  the  kingdom  could  teach  its 
alphabet.§  But  now  the  Hebrew  language  was  accu- 
rately taught  in  each  of  the  universities,  along  with 
the  cognate  tongues  which  had  hitherto  been  utterly 
unknown  in  Scotland.  The  scientific  lectures  first 
read  by  Melville  at  Glasgow,  and  afterwards  adopted 
in  the  other  universities,  included  several  useful 
branches  of  knowledge,  not  formerly  taught  in  the  es- 
tablished course  of  study,  or  treated  in  the  most  su- 
perficial manner ;  as  geography,  chronology,  civil  and 
natural  history,  geometry  and  the  system  of  the  sphere, 
according  to  the  discoveries  of  recent  astronomers. 

The  resort  of  foreign  students  to  Scotland  at  this 


*  The  Charter  of  the  College  was  signed  by  "  George  Erie 
Marshall,"  on  the  2nd  of  April,  1593.  It  was  approved  of  by 
the  General  Assembly  at  Dundee  on  the  24th  of  the  same 
month,  "after  being  examined  by  a  Committee  of  their  num- 
ber." (Memorial  by  Principal  Blackwell.)  And  it  was  ratified 
by  Parliament  on  the  21st  of  July  following.  (Act.  Pari.  Scot, 
iv.  35. 

f  Memorial  for  Marischal  College  by  Principal  Blackwell. 

\  "JVohinius  auteni  Academias  nostra  prseceptores  ad  novas 
Professiones  transilire,  ged  ut  in  eadem  professione  se  exerceant, 
ut  adolescentes  qui  gradatim  ascendant,  dignum  suis  studiis  cl 
ingeniis  nanciscantur  Praeceptorem."  (Novae  AcademiaE;  Abre- 
donensis  per  Comitcm  Manschallum  Regia  Autoritate,  Erectio 
et  Instructio.)  The  Greek,  Hebrew,  and  Syriac  languages, 
Physiology  (Natural  History)  Geometry,  Geography,  Chronol- 
ogy, and  Astronomy,  were  to  be  taught  by  the  Principal  and 
Masters  of  Marischal  College. 

II  See  under  Note  TT. 

{  Life  of  John  Knoi,  p.  22,  88.    MelTJlle't  Diary,  p.26. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


371 


period  is  another  interesting  fact  in  the  history  of  our 
national  literature.  Formerly  no  instance  of  this  kind 
had  occurred.  On  the  contrary,  it  was  a  common 
practice  for  the  youth  of  this  country,  upon  finishing 
their  course  of  education  at  one  of  our  colleges,  to  go 
abroad,  and  prosecute  their  studies  at  one  or  more  of 
the  universities  on  the  continent.  Nor  did  any  one 
think  himself  entitled  to  the  honourable  appellation  of 
a  learned  man  who  had  not  added  the  advantages  of  a 
foreign  to  those  of  a  domestic  education.  But  after 
the  reformation  of  the  universities  of  St.  Andrews  and 
Glasgow,  and  the  erection  of  the  College  of  Edin- 
burgh, this  practice  became  gradually  less  frequent, 
until  it  ceased  entirely,  except  with  those  who  wished 
to  attain  proficiency  in  law  or  in  medicine.  If  stu- 
dents in  languages,  the  arts,  or  divinity,  now  left  Scot- 
land, it  was  generally  to  teach,  and  not  to  be  taught, 
in  foreign  seminaries.  The  same  cause  which  pro- 
duced this  change  attracted  students  from  abroad  to 
this  country.  A  few  years  after  Melville  went  to  the 
university  of  St.  Andrews,  the  names  of  foreigners 
appear  for  the  first  time  on  its  records.  The  number 
of  these  rapidly  increased;  and  Scotland  continued  to 
be  frequented  by  students  from  the  continent  for  a  con- 
siderable time  after  the  original  cause  of  attraction 
had  been  removed.  Though  St.  Andrews  was  the 
chief  place  to  which  they  resorted,  yet  they  studied 
also  in  the  universities  of  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow. 
Some  of  them  were  persons  of  noble  birth,  but  the 
greater  part  were  young  men  engaged  in  the  cultiva- 
tion of  theology  and  the  branches  of  learning  connect- 
ed with  it.  No  adequate  cause  of  the  fact  under  con- 
sideration can  be  assigned  but  the  report  which  had 
gone  abroad  of  the  flourishing  state  of  education  in 
Scotland.  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  foreign 
students  were  for  the  most  part  Danes,  who  were  in- 
duced to  visit  this  country  in  consequence  of  the  con- 
nexion established  between  it  and  Denmark  by  the 
marriage  of  James.  Some  of  them  were  Danes  ;  but 
a  still  greater  number  were  French,  besides  Belgians, 
Germans,  and  Poles.* 

The  number  of  Scotchmen  who  at  this  time  distin- 
guished themselves  as  teachers  in  foreign  universi- 
ties and  schools  was  great.  I  have  had  occasion  to 
speak  of  some  of  those  who  taught  in  the  protestant 
academies  of  France;  but  to  give  any  thing  like  a 
proper  account  of  them  would  lead  me  into  a  digres- 
sion disproportionately  large.  I  cannot  however  omit 
mentioning  here  a  literary  undertaking  in  Ireland  by 
two  of  our  countrymen.  The  state  of  education  in 
that  country  had  fallen  so  low  that  it  was  with  difficul- 
ty that  an  individual  capable  of  teaching  the  learned 
languages  could  be  found  even  in  the  capital.  In  the 
year  1587,  James  Fullerton  and  James  Hamilton  es- 
tablished a  school  in  Dublin.  The  talents  of  the  two 
Scotchmen,  joined  with  the  most  engaging  manners, 
soon  procured  them  scholars.  After  they  had  taught 
privately  for  five  years,  they  were  admitted  to  profes- 
sorships in  Trinity  Colleare,  the  fabric  of  which  had 
been  recently  complet(Hl  ;  and  they  contributed  to  bring 
the  University  of  Dublin  into  that  reputation  which  it 
quickly  acquired.  Their  labours  would  have  deserved 
commemoration  if  they  had  done  no  more  than  edu- 
cated the  celebrated  James  Usher,  afterwards  arch- 
bishop of  Armagh,  the  great  ornament  of  the  church 
of  Ireland,  and  one  of  the  most  learned  men  of  his 
age.  He  was  one  of  their  first  pupils  in  the  gram- 
mar school,  was  conducted  through  the  course  of  phi- 
losophy at  the  university  by  Hamilton,  and  was  accus- 
tomed to  mention  it  as  an  instance  of  the  kindness  of 
Providence  that  he  received  his  education  under  the 
two  Scotchmen,  "  who  came  hither  by  chance,  and  yet 
proved  so  happily  useful  to  himself  and  others." 
Whether  the  primate  was  initiated  by  them  into  the 
principles  of  the  Hebrew  language,  in  which  he  after- 


»  See  Note  CCC. 


wards  attained  great  proficiency,  we  are  not  informed  , 
but  they  introduced  him  to  the  beauties  of  the  classic 
poets  and  orators,  with  which  he  was  captivated  in  his 
youth  to  a  degree  which  we  could  scarcely  have  sup- 
posed from  the  tenor  of  his  subsequent  studies.  *  It 
has  been  said  that  Hamilton  and  Fullerton  concealed 
a  political  design  under  their  literary  undertaking ;  and 
that  they  were  sent  to  Dublin  by  the  Scottish  court  as 
secret  agents  to  obtain  the  consent  of  the  Irish  nobility 
and  gentry  to  James's  right  of  succession  to  Elizabeth. 
This  is  not  at  all  likely.  It  is  much  more  probable, 
that  the  enterprise  was  entirely  literary,  and  underta- 
ken from  the  same  motives  which  induced  so  many  of 
their  learned  countrymen  at  that  time  to  seek  a  foreign 
field  for  the  exertion  of  their  talents.  At  a  subsequent 
period  James  availed  himself  of  the  credit  which  they 
had  gained,  and  they  were  employed  by  him  in  secret 
negociations,  which  they  conducted  with  much  ability 
and  success,  f  The  services  of  both  were  rewarded. 
Fullerton  was  knighted,  admitted  a  gentleman  of  the 
Bed-chamber,  and  resided  at  court  after  the  accession. 
Hamilton  was  created  Viscount  Claneboy,  and  after- 
wards Earl  of  Clanbrissel ;  :};  was  entrusted  with 
great  authority  in  Ireland  ;  and  in  concert  with  his  pu- 
pil, the  primate,  and  his  countryman,  the  bishop  of 
Raphoe,  shewed  favour  to  such  ministers  as  took  shel- 
ter in  that  country  from  the  persecution  of  the  Scottish 
prelates,  ||  Fullerton  and  Hamilton  were  early  ac- 
quaintances of  Melville,  §  and  the  former  was  one  of 
his  most  intimate  and  steady  friends.  ^  He  retained 
his  love  of  letters,  and  a  partiality  for  his  early  studies, 
after  he  had  exchanged  the  life  of  the  scholar  for  that 
of  the  courtier.  ** 

In  the  preceding  chapter  some  account  has  been  giv- 
en of  the  state  of  the  inferior  order  of  seminaries  in 
Scotland  when  Melville  came  to  St.  Andrews. ff    Since 


*  Parr's  life  of  Usher,  p.  3.  Smith,  Vita  Usserii,  p.  16.  Dil- 
linghain,  Vita  Laur.  Chadertoni,  p.  55,  There  is  a  letter  iroiu 
Hamilton  to  Sir  James  Sempill,  (Dublin,  May  4,  1612.)  in  re- 
commendation of  Usher,  when  he  went  to  London  to  publish 
his  first  work.  "  Clear  them  (Dr.  Chaloner  and  Mr.  Usher)  to 
his  Ma''«  that  they  ar  not  puritants;  for  they  have  dignitarie- 
ships  and  prebends  in  the  Cathedral  churches  here."  (MS.  in 
Archiv.  Eccl.  Scot.  vol.  xxviii,  num.  18.) 

t  This  is  confirmed  by  the  account  which  Dr.  Birch  gives; 
although  he  speaks  immediately  of  negociations  with  the  Eng- 
lish nobility.  (Life  of  Henry,  Prince  of  Wales,  p.  232.)  The 
letter  from  King  James  inserted  in  the  Appendix  to  Strype's 
Annals,  vol.  iv.  and  which  Strype  supposes  to  have  been  writ- 
ten to  Lord  Hamilton,  was  addressed,  I  have  no  doubt,  to  James 
Hamilton,  afterwards  Viscount  Claneboy. 

I  Lodge's  Peerage  of  Ireland,  vol.  iii.  p.  257.  According 
to  Lodge,  he  was  the  eldest  son  of  Hans  Hamilton,  of  Dun- 
lop.  Crawford  says  that  Hans  Hamilton,  vicar  of  Dunlop,  was 
son  of  Archibald  Hamilton  of  Raploch.  (MS.  Baronage,  p. 
265—267:  in  Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.  Jac.  V.  5.  30.) 

P  Life  of  Mr.  Robert  Blair,  p.  47—52,  64,  80.  Life  of  Mr. 
John  Livingston. 

{  In  the  year  1585  James  Hamilton  was  made  Master  of 
Arts  at  St.  Andrews,  and  in  1586,  one  of  the  same  name  was 
laureated  at  Glasgow.  I  have  stated  (p.  226.)  that  Sir  James 
Fullerton  was  educated  under  Melville  at  Glasgow.  But  it  may 
be  added,  that  in  the  list  of  Melville's  class-fellows  are  the 
names  "  Jacobus  Hamyltoun,"  and  "  Jacobus  FuUartoun."  (See 
above,  p.  384.) 

IT  Letter  from  Melville  to  Sir  James  Sempill  of  Beltrees,  in 
Appendix. 

**  Hoc  saxum  (a  grammatical  difficulty)  cum  diu  volvisscm, 
tandem  incidi  in  .Jacobum  Fullertonum,  virum  doctum,  et  in 
omni  disciplina  satis  exercitatum.  Cum  eo  rem  disceptavi,  &c." 
(Humii  Grammatica  Nova,  Part.  ii.  p.  15.)  See  also  Leochaei 
Epigram,  p.  23.  48.  In  1611,  Sir  James  Fullerton  was,  by  the 
favour  of  Prince  Henry,  appointed  Gentleman  of  the  Bed-cnam- 
ber,  and  Master  of  the  Privy  Purse  to  the  Duke  of  York, 
(Bii-ch's  Life  of  Henry,  Prince  of  Wales,  p.  232—235.)  His 
Testament  is  dated  Dec.  28,  1630,  and  was  proved  Feb.  5, 
1630,  O.  S.  He  left  no  issue,  and  bequeathed  "  the  estate  and 
interest  of  the  manor  of  Bifleete,"  with  his  leases  of  the  Lead 
Mines,  &c.  after  paying  his  debts,  to  his  "  deare  and  well  be- 
loved wife,  the  Lady  Bruce,"  "  The  Right  Honourable  Thom- 
as Lord  Bruce,  Baron  of  Kinlosse"  was  his  sole  executor, 
(Will,  extracted  from  the  Registry  of  the  Prerogative  Court 
of  Canterbury.) 

ft  See  above,  p.  363.    Comp.  p.  382. 


372 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


that  time  the  number  of  parochial  schools  had  increas- 
ed, although  in  many  places  they  were  still  wanting, 
and  in  others  the  teachers  enjoyed  a  very  inadequate 
and  precarious  support.  There  was  as  yet  no  law 
which  compelled  the  landholders  or  parishioners  to 
provide  them  with  accommodations  or  salaries.  The 
persuasions  of  the  ministers  and  the  authority  of  the 
church-courts  were,  however,  exerted  in  supplying  this 
defect.  As  every  minister  was  bound  regularly  to  ex- 
amine his  people,  it  became  his  interest  to  have  a 
schoolmaster  for  the  instruction  of  the  youth.  At  the 
annual  visitation  of  parishes  by  presbyteries  and  pro- 
vincial synods,  the  stale  of  the  schools  formed  one 
subject  of  uniform  inquiry;  the  qualifications  of  the 
teachers  were  tried  ;  and  where  there  was  no  school, 
means  were  used  for  having  one  established.  A 
"common  order"  as  to  the  rate  of  contribution  to  be 
raised  for  the  salary  of  the  teacher,  and  as  to  the  fees 
to  be  paid  by  the  scholars,  was  laid  down  and  put  in 
practice,  long  before  the  act  of  council  in  1616  which 
was  ratified  by  parliament  in  1633.  It  is  a  mistake  to 
suppose  that  the  parochial  schools  of  Scotland  owed 
their  origin  to  these  enactments.  The  parliamentary 
statute  has,  indeed,  been  eventually  of  great  benefit. 
But  it  would  have  remained  a  dead  letter  but  for  the 
exertions  of  the  church-courts;  and,  owing  to  the 
vague  nature  of  its  provisions,  it  continued  long  to  be 
evaded  by  those  who  were  insensible  to  the  benefits  of 
education,  or  who  grudged  the  smallest  expense  for 
the  sake  of  promoting  it.  The  reader  will  find  in  the 
notes  some  facts  which  throw  light  on  the  state  of  pa- 
rochial instruction  at  this  period.* 

The  classical  schools  had  also  increased  in  number, 
and  improvements  were  introduced  into  those  which 
had  existed  from  ancient  times.  Two  individuals, 
who  were  successively  at  the  head  of  the  High  School 
of  Edinburgh,  are  entitled  to  our  notice  here,  from  the 
services  which  they  rendered  to  the  literature  of  their 
country,  as  well  as  the  connexion  which  they  had  with 
Melville.  Hercules  Rollock  had  received  a  complete 
education,  and  was  an  excellent  classical  scholar.  Af- 
ter finishing  his  studies  at  St.  Andrews,  and  teaching 
for  some  time  in  King's  College,  Aberdeen,  f  he  went 
abroad,  and  studied  at  Poitiers  in  France.:^  On  his 
return  to  Scotland,  he  was  warmly  recommended  to  the 
young  King  by  Buchanan  ;  |j  and  it  seems  to  have  been 
in  consequence  of  this  recommendation  that  he  was 
appointed  Commissary  of  Angus  and  the  Carse  of 
Gowrie,  which  were  disjoined  from  the  Commissariot 
of  St.  Andrews  in  the  year  1580,  and  erected  into  a 
separate  jurisdiction.  But  the  new  court  was  soon 
suppressed,  in  consequence  of  the  opposition  made  to 
it  by  the  commissary  and  magistrates  of  St.  Andrews. § 
In  1584,R(511ock  was  brought  from  Dundee,^  and  con- 
tinued head  master  of  the  High  School  of  Edinburgh 
for  eleven  years,  at  the  end  of  which  he  was  displaced 
in  consequence  of  some  offence  which  was  taken  at  his 
conduct.**     On  his  removal  from  the  High  School  he 


•  See  Note  DDD. 

+  Oretn's  Description  of  Old  Aberdeen,  p.  159. 

J  Delitise  Poet.  Scot,  ii.  350,  351.  Conip.  Buchaiiani  Epist. 
p.  13,  21.  In  a  MS.  Catalogue  of  Scottish  writers,  (to  be 
found  in  the  Advocates  Library,  in  the  same  volume  with  Char- 
ters's  Account  of  Scottish  divines)  Hercules  Rollock  is  said  to 
have  published  "  Panegyrim  de  Pace  in  Gallia  coiistituenda. 
Pictavi  1576."  He  had  also  been  some  time  in  England. 
(Delit.  ut  supra,  n.  361.) 

I!  Buchanani  Epist.  p.  29. 

X  Record  of  Privy  Council,  January  12,  1580. 

t  May  29,  1584.  Record  of  Town  Council  of  Edin.  vol.  vii. 
f.  90.  On  the  17th  of  April,  1588,  his  salary  was  augmented 
"  from  50  to  100  pundis."  In  his  petition  for  an  augmentation, 
he  tells  the  council,  that  "  upoun  informatioun  of  Mr.  James 
latasonn  and  other  favoreris  of  lerning  he  was  employet  to  un- 
dertak  ye  chairge  of  thair  hie  schole."  (lb.  vol.  viii.  f.  149,  b. 
150.) 

»•  Record  of  Town  Council,  vol.  x.  f.  71.  Rollock  imputes 
his  dismissal  to  the  ignorance  of  the  citizen*,  who  were  incapa- 
ble of  appreciating  the  excellence  of  his  instructions,  so  supe- 


obtained  an  office  in  the  Court  of  Session,  and  was  pa- 
tronised by  the  King.  *  He  was  suspected  of  being 
the  author  of  a  lampoon  against  Bruce  and  the  other 
ministers  who  were  banished  at  the  time  of  the  tumult 
which  happened  in  the  capital ;  on  which  account  Mel- 
ville attacked  him,  in  several  stinging  epigrams,  as  a 
mercenary  poet,  and  a  starved  schoolmaster  turned 
lawyer.  Poets  are  not  disposed  to  brook  an  affront. 
Rollock  replied;  and  in  a  poem,  more  distinguished 
for  its  length  than  its  vigour,  denied  the  charge,  and 
vindicated  his  character,  f  Whatever  might  be  his 
imprudences  or  personal  foibles,  he  certainly  contrib- 
uted to  raise  the  character  of  the  useful  seminary  over 
which  he  had  presided.  ^ 

Alexander  Hume,  who  succeeded  to  the  rectorship 
of  the  High  School,  if  not  so  good  a  poet  as  Rollock, 
was  a  superior  grammarian,  and  a  more  acceptable 
teacher.  (|  He  has  himself  informed  us,  that  he  was 
descended  of  the  ancient  family  of  the  Humes,  acquired 
the  knowledge  of  the  Latin  language  under  the  well- 
known  Andrew  Simson  at  Dunbar,  went  through  "the 
course  of  philosophy  at  St.  Andrews,  and  afterwards 
spent  sixteen  years  in  England,  partly  in  studying  at 
the  University  of  Oxford,  and  partly  in  teaching.  His 
theological  works  shall  be  mentioned  afterwards. 
While  he  taught  at  Edinburgh,  his  attention  was 
turned  to  the  elementary  hooks  which  were  at  that 
time  used  in  grammar  schools,  and  he  was  ambitious 
of  improving  on  the  labours  of  foreigners,  as  well  as 
of  his  countrymen,  Simson,  Carmichael,  and  Duncan.  § 
His  Latin  Grammar,  on  which  he  had  spent  many 
years,  and  which  he  published,  after  submitting  it  to 
the  correction  of  Melville  and  other  learned  friends, 
did  not  give  the  satisfaction  which  he  expected.  This 
was  partly  owing  to  prejudice  against  innovation,  and 
partly  to  the  author's  having  sacrificed  ease  and  per- 
spicuity to  logical  precision  in  his  arrangement  and 
definitions.  But,  although  less  adapted  for  youth,  the 
work  displays  considerable  knowledge  of  the  princi- 
ples of  grammar,  and  might  be  useful  to  teachers  and 
advanced  scholars.  The  privy  council,  in  pursuance 
of  an  act  of  parliament,  enjoined  it  to  be  used  in  all 
the  schools  of  the  kingdom  ;  an  injunction  which  was 
defeated  by  the  interest  of  the  bishops,  whose  dis- 
pleasure the  author  had  incurred,  and  by  the  perseve- 
ring opposition  of  Ray,  who  succeeded  to  his  place  in 
the  High  School.  % 

It  was  during  the  incumbency  of  Hume,  that  the 
High  School  of  Edinburgh  received  that  form  which 
it  has  preserved,  with  little  alteration,  to  the  present 
day.  In  the  year  1598,  a  code  of  laws,  drawn  up  by 
a  committee  of  learned  men,  and  intended  to  regulate 
the  mode  of  teaching  and  the  government  of  the  youth, 
received  the  sanction  of  the  town-council.  The  school 
was  divided  into  four  classes,  to  be  taught  separately 
by  four  masters,  including  the  principal.  The  boys 
passed  from  one  master  to  another  at  the  end  of  each 


rior  to  those  of  ordinary  pedagogues;  and  he  represents  the 
school  as  sinking,  at  bis  removal,  into  the  bari>ari$m  from  which 
he  had  recovered  it.     (Delit.  Poet.  Scot.  ii.  389.) 

*  Delit.  ut  supra. 

t  Ibid.  p.  117.  Comp.  p.  337.  In  the  catalogue  of  booln 
presented  lo  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  by  Drummond  of 
Hawthornden,  (p.  24,)  is  the  following  article:  "Ad  Herculem 
Rollocum  responsio  Andreae  Melvini.  MS  autogr."  But  the 
MS.  is  not  now  to  be  found. 

J  The  magistrates  appear  to  have  been  sensible  of  this;  for 
on  the  20th  of  February,  1600,  thev  gave  an  allowance  to  "  the 
relict  and  bairns  of  Mr.  Hercules  Iflollock."  (Council  Regii- 
ter,  vol.  X.  f.  270.) 

II  Crawfurd's  Hist,  of  the  Univ.  of  Edin.  p.  64.  His  appoint- 
ment was  on  the  23d  of  April,  1596.  (Council  Register,  vol.  x. 
ffi  75,  76.) 

}  "  Grammaticse  LatinsR,  de  Etymologia,  liber  secundus. 
Cantab.  1587."  James  Carmichael,  minister  of  Haddington, 
was  the  author  of  this  work.  Andrew  Duncan,  the  author  of 
various  grammatical  pieces,  (Ames,  by  Herbert,  iii.  1515,  1516, 
1518.)  was  minister  of  Crail,  and  one  of  those  who  were  ban- 
ished to   France  for  holding  the  Assembly  at  Aberdeen. 

If  See  Note  EEE 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


373 


year ;  a  plan  which  has  not  the  same  recommendations 
when  applied  to  the  teaching  of  a  single  language  that 
it  has  when  applied  to  different  languages  or  branches 
of  science.  By  the  same  laws,  the  Humanity  class  in 
the  College  was  also  regulated,  and  Greek  was  ap- 
pointed to  be  taught  in  it  as  well  as  Latin.  In  the 
year  1614,  a  fifth  class  was  established  in  the  High 
School,  and  during  their  attendance  on  it  the  boys  were 
initiated  into  Greek  grammar.* 

In  the  year  1606,  Hume  relinquished  his  situation  in 
Edinburgh,  and  became  principal  master  of  the  gram- 
mar school  at  Prestonpans,  which  had  been  recently 
founded  by  John  Davidson.  The  exertions  which 
Davidson  made  to  provide  for  the  religious  and  litera- 
ry instruction  of  his  parish  entitle  him  to  the  most 
grateful  remembrance.  At  his  own  expense  he  built  a 
church  and  a  manse,  a  school-house  and  a  dwelling- 
house  for  the  master.  The  school  was  erected  for 
teaching  the  three  learned  languages,  Latin,  Greek, 
and  Hebrew ;  and  the  founder  destined  all  his  herita- 
ble and  moveable  property,  including  his  books,  to  the 
support  and  ornament  of  this  trilingual  academy.f 
Similar  endowments  were  made  by  others  ;  ij:  and  there 
is  reason  to  think  that,  in  not  a  few  instances,  the  funds 
which  benevolent  individuals  bequeathed  for  the  pro- 
motion of  learning  were  clandestinely  retained,  or  ille- 
gally alienated  from  their  original  destination,  by  the 
infidelity  and  avarice  of  executors  and  trustees.  Se- 
veral acts  of  the  legislature  were  made  to  prevent 
such  abuses. II 

In  investigating  the  progress  which  science  made 
in  Scotland  during  this  period,  the  first  thing  which 
strikes  us  is  the  introduction  of  the  Ramean  philoso- 
phy, and  its  general  substitution  in  the  room  of  the 
Aristotelian.  The  influence  which  Ramus  had  in  the 
advancement  of  philosophy  has  not,  in  my  opinion, 
had  that  importance  attached  to  it  by  modern  writers 
which  it  deserves.  In  forming  an  estimate  of  the  de- 
gree in  which  any  individual  has  contributed  to  the 
illumination  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  take  into  account  something  more  than  the 
character  of  his  opinions  viewed  in  themselves :  we 
must  inquire  if  they  were  brought  fairly  and  fully  into 
contact  with  the  public  mind,  and  attend  to  the  circum- 
stances which  combined  to  aid  or  to  neutralize  their 
effect.  By  a  careful  examination  of  the  writings  of 
such  men  as  Bruno  and  Cardan,  we  may  discover  here 
and  there  a  sentiment  akin  to  a  truer  philosophy;  but 
these  sentiments  appear  to  have  struck  their  minds 
during  certain  lucid  intervals  and  are  buried  in  a  far- 
rago of  fantastic,  extravagant,  and  unintelligible  no- 
tions, which  at  that  period  must  have  had  the  tendency 
to  discredit  them  completely  with  persons  of  sober 
thinking.  They  are  to  be  viewed  rather  as  curious 
phenomena  in  the  history  of  individuals  than  as  indi- 
cations of  the  progress  made  by  the  human  mind. 
There  are  three  grand  events  in  the  modern  history 
of  philosophy.  The  first  is  the  revival  of  literature, 
which,  by  promoting  the  study  of  the  original  writings 
of  the  ancients,  rescued  the  Aristotelian  philosophy 
from  the  barbarism  and  corruption  which  it  had  con- 
tracted during  the  middle  ages.  The  second  is  the 
emancipation  of  the  human  mind  from  that  slavish 
subjection  to  authority  under  which  it  had  been  long 
held  by  a  superstitious  veneration  for  the  name  of  Aris- 
totle. The  third  is  the  introduction  of,  what  is  com- 
monly called,  the  inductive  philosophy.  The  two 
former  preceded,  and  made  way  for  the  latter.  In 
bringing  about  the  first  a  multitude  of  persons  in  all 


•  See  Note  FFF.  f  See  Note  GGG. 

i  John  Howieson,  minister  of  Cambuslang,  endowed  a  school, 
and  made  provision  for  the  poor,  within  his  parish.  Letter 
from  hiin  to  the  General  Assembly,  Nov.  16,  1602:  (MS.  in 
Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.  Rob.  III.  2.  17.  f  156.)  "The  King's  Scole 
of  Dunkeld,"  founded  Feb.  22,  1567,  (Reg.  of  Presentations, 
vol.  I.  p.  5.)  was  ratified  by  Parliament  in  1606.  (Act.  Pari.  Scot. 
IV.  313.)  II  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vol.  iv.  p.  94;  vol.  v.  p.  22. 


parts  of  Europe  had  co-operated  with  nearly  equal 
zeal.  The  merit  of  effecting  the  second  is  in  a  great 
measure  due  to  one  individual.  The  Platonic  school 
which  was  founded  in  the  fifteenth  century  did  not 
produce  any  extensive  or  permanent  eflfects  on  the 
mode  of  study  and  philosophizing.  It  originated  in 
literary  enthusiasm ;  its  disciples  were  chiefly  con- 
fined to  Italy ;  and  they  contented  themselves  with 
pronouncing  extravagant  and  rapturous  panegyrics  on 
the  divine  Plato.  Valla,  Agricola,*  Vives,  and  Nizo- 
lius  had  pointed  out  various  defects  in  the  reigning 
philosophy,  and  recommended  a  mode  of  investigating 
truth  more  rational  than  that  which  was  pursued  in  the 
schools.  But  they  had  not  succeeded  in  fixing  the  at- 
tention of  the  public  on  the  subject.  The  attack  which 
Ramus  made  on  the  Peripatetic  philosophy  was  direct, 
avowed,  persevering,  and  irresistible.  He  possessed 
an  acute  mind,  a  competent  acquaintance  with  ancient 
learning,  an  ardent  love  of  truth,  and  invincible  courage 
in  maintaining  it.  He  had  applied  with  avidity  to  the 
study  of  the  logic  of  Aristotle  ;  and  the  result  was  a 
conviction,  that  it  was  an  instrument  utterly  unfit  for 
discovering  truth  in  any  of  the  sciences,  and  answering 
no  other  purpose  than  that  of  scholastic  wrangling  and 
digladiation.  This  conviction  he  communicated  to  the 
public  ;  and,  in  spite  of  all  the  resistance  which  he  en- 
countered from  ignorance  and  prejudice,  he  succeeded 
in  bringing  over  a  great  part  of  the  learned  world  to 
his  views.  What  Luther  was  in  the  church,  Ramus 
was  in  the  schools.  He  overthrew  the  infallibility  of 
the  Stagyrite,  and  proclaimed  the  right  of  mankind  to 
think  for  themselves  in  matters  of  philosophy  ;  a  right 
which  he  maintained  with  the  most  undaunted  forti- 
tude, and  to  which  he  may  be  said  to  have  died  a  inar- 
tyr.f  If  Ramus  had  not  shaken  the  authority  of  the 
long-venerated  Organon  of  Aristotle,  the  world  might 
not  have  seen  the  Novum  Organum  of  Bacon.  The 
faults  of  the  Ramean  system  of  Dialectics  have  long 
been  acknowledged.  It  proceeded  upon  the  radical 
principles  of  the  logic  of  Aristotle;  its  distinctions 
often  turned  more  upon  words  than  things ;  and  the 
artificial  method  and  uniform  partitions  which  it  pre- 
scribed in  treating  every  subject,  were  unnatural,  and 
calculated  to  fetter,  instead  of  forwarding,  the  mind  in 
the  discovery  of  truth.  But  it  discarded  many  of  the 
useless  speculations,  and  much  of  the  unmeaning  jar- 
gon respecting  topics,  predicables,  and  predicaments, 
which  made  so  great  a  figure  in  the  ancient  logic.  It 
inculcated  upon  its  disciples  the  necessity  of  accuracy 
and  order  in  arranging  their  own  ideas  and  in  analyzing 
those  of  others.:}:     And,  as  it  advanced  no  claims  to 


*  Ramus  acknowledges  that  be  was  indebted  for  more  accu- 
rate views  of  Logic  to  Rudolphus  Agricola,  and  that  he  learned 
them  from  Sturriiius,  one  of  Agricola's  scholars.  (Prasfat.  in 
Schol.  Graramat.) 

t  "  Easdem  in  religionis  restitutione  judiciorum  remoras  aetas 
nostra  experta  est.  Quapropter  per  Deum  optimum  maximum, 
LogicEe  artis  professores  exhortor,  ut  philosophise  veritatem 
pluris  quam  philosophi  uUius  authoritatem  faciant. — Tales  de- 
nique  sint  in  Aristotele  cognoscendo  et  interpretando,  quails 
Aristoteles  in  Platone  fuit.  Ununi  enim  id  illis  exopto,  nt 
Aristoteles  ipsi  sibi  sint,  vel  Aristotele  etiani  prsestantiores  nia- 
gistri:  sicut  Aristoteles  nimirum  Plato  alter  esse,  aut  etiam  Pla- 
tone prasstantior  esse  voluit."  (Rami  Animad.  in  Organ.  Aris- 
totelis,  lib.  ii.  cap.  ix.p.  66.  edit.  Francof.  1594.)  Those  who 
wish  to  understand  the  spirit  of  Ramus,  and  the  motives  which 
induced  him  to  embark  in  the  cause  of  philosophical  reform, 
should  read  the  whole  of  the  13th  chapter  of  the  4th  book  of 
his  Animadversiones.  Brucker  has  given  extracts  from  it. 
(Philos.  lorn.  v.  p.  566—568.) 

t  Bacon  was  anxious  to  disclaim  connexion  with  Ramus, 
whom  he  calls  the  "neoteric  rebel  against  Aristotle."  Cuta- 
lirta  Cethegum  ?  But  he  acknowledges  the  merits  of  Ramus 
on  the  head  of  method.  "  Methodus  veluti  scienfiarum  archi- 
tectura  est:  atque  hac  in  parte  melius  meruit  Ramus,"  &c.  (De 
Augin.  Scient.  lib.  vl.  cap.  ii.)  Hooker  refers  to  the  system  of 
Ramus  in  the  following  passage.  Having  spoken  of  the  utility 
of  art  iu  advancing  knowledge,  and  of  the  little  progress  which 
had  been  made  in  all  parts  of  natural  knowledge  since  the  days 
of  Aristotle,  he  adds:  "In  the  poverty  of  that  other  new- 
devised  aid,  two  things  are,  notwithstancling,  singular.   Of  mar- 


374 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


infallibility,  submitted  all  its  rules  to  the  lest  of  practi- 
cal utility,  and  set  this  constantly  before  the  eye  of  the 
student  as  the  only  legitimate  end  of  the  whole  logical 
apparatus,  its  faults  were  soon  discovered,  and  yielded 
readily  to  a  more  natural  method  of  reasoning  and  in- 
vestigation. 

The  eloquence  of  Ramus,  added  to  the  novelty  of 
his  opinions,  and  the  ardour  and  boldness  with  which 
he  maintained  them,  had  a  fascinating  influence  on  his 
students.  Foreigners,  who  attended  his  lectures  in 
the  university  of  Paris,  carried  his  peculiar  sentiments 
along  with  them  to  their  respective  countries.  Within 
a  few  years  after  his  death  his  writings  were  known 
through  Europe;  and,  before  the  conclusion  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  Ramism,  as  the  new  mode  of  phil- 
osophizing was  called,  was  publicly  taught  in  some 
of  the  principal  universities  of  Germany,  Switzerland, 
Denmark,  Holland,  and  Britain.*  I  formerly  stated 
that  Melville  studied  under  him,  and  that  on  his  return 
to  his  native  country,  he  introduced  his  master's  sys- 
tem of  logic  into  the  university  of  Glasgow. f  It  con- 
tinued to  be  taught  there  under  his  successor,  Patrick 
Sharp.:!:  At  St.  Andrews,  however,  it  met  with  the 
most  determined  resistance.  It  is  a  striking  proof  of 
the  ascendancy  which  the  name  of  Aristotle  had  gained 
over  the  human  mind,  that  his  philosophy  continued 
long  to  maintain  its  ground  in  the  greater  part  of  the 
protestant  schools.  When  Luther  had  attacked  it  with 
his  usual  vehemence,  his  colleague  Melanchthon  inter- 
posed for  its  protection.  From  attachment  to  it,  the 
members  of  the  Academy  of  Geneva  refused  to  admit 
Ramus  into  their  number,  during  the  time  that  Mel- 
ville resided  in  that  city.||  It  was  not  until  the  year 
1583,  that  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland  gave  public  warning  against  sentiments  sub- 
versive of  religion  contained  in  books  which  were  put 
into  the  hands  of  all  the  youth. §  And  twenty  years 
after  every  vestige  of  papal  authority  had  been  abol- 
ished in  the  university  of  St.  Andrews,  Melville  had 
almost  excited  a  tumult  in  it  by  calling  in  question  the 
infallibility  of  a  heathen  philosopher.  But  he  ulti- 
mately succeeded  in  effecting  a  reform  on  the  philoso- 
phical creed  at  St.  Andrews.lf  Rollock,  who  became 
a  convert  to  the  new  philosophy,  introduced  it  into  the 
College  of  Edinburgh,  in  which  it  continued  long  to 
be  taught.**  The  writings  of  Aristotle  were  not,  how- 
ever, banished  from  onr  universities,  and  his  authority 
appears  to  have  revived  at  St.  Andrews  after  Melville's 
removal. tf 


velloas  qaick  despatch  it  is,  and  doth  show  them  that  have  it 
aa  much  almost  in  three  days,  as  if  it  had  dwelt  threescore 
years  with  them.  Again,  because  the  curiosity  of  man's  wit 
doth  many  times  with  peril  wade  farther  in  the  search  of  things 
than  were  convenient,  the  same  is  thereby  restrained  unto  such 
generalitic<i,  as,  everywhere  offering  themselves,  are  apparent 
unto  men  of  the  weakest  conceit  that  need  be."  (Eccles.  Polity, 
book  i.  }  6  ) 

«  Brucker,  Hist.  Philos.  torn.  v.  p.  576—581.  Bayle,  Diet, 
art.  De  la  Ramfee,  Note  O.  Melch.  Adaiii  Vitee  Germ.  Philos. 
p.  509.  Casp.  Brantius,  Vita  Jac.  Arminii,  p.  16.  Scaligerana, 
Thuana,  &c.  torn.  ii.  352,  527.  Ramus's  Logic  was  prelected 
on  at  Cambridge  in  1590.  (Dillingham,  Vita  Chadertoni  et 
Usserii,  p.  15.)  And  various  editions  of  his  works  were  pub- 
lished in  England  before  the  year  1600.  (Ames,  by  Herbert, 
passim.) 

+  Seeabove,  p.217,  226. 

t  Riveti  Opera,  torn.  iii.  p.  897. 

II  Beza:  Epistolie,  epp.  34,  36.  Brantius,  Vita  Arminii,  p. 
21,22. 

8  Petrie,  P.  ii.  p.  439. 

T  See  above,  p,  246. 

••  Adamsoni  Prsefat.  in  Fermaei  Annal.  Cpist.  ad  Romanes. 
Crawfurd's  Hist  of  Univ.  of  Edin.  p.  58 — 60.  Bower's  Hist, 
vol.  i.  Append.  No.  iii.  Sir  Robert  Sibbald  mentions  an  early 
edition  of  Ramus's  Logic  by  one  of  our  countrymen:  "  Rolan- 
duf  Mackilnienieus  Scotm,  P.  Rami  Dialectictc  libri  duo.  Lond. 
1576,  8vo."  (De  Script.  Scot.  p.  152.)  "  Rollandus  Makilmane 
Novi  Collegii"  was  laureated  at  St.  Andrews,  Feb.  10,  1569. 
Editions  of  the  Dialectica  were  i)rinted  at  Edinburgh  as  late  as 
1637  and  1640. 

ft  William  Forbes  ^afterwards  Bishop  of  Edinburgh)  who 


Theological  learning  made  great  advancement  during^ 
this  period.  Formerly  no  commentary  on  scripture, 
and  no  collection  of  sermons,  had  appeared  in  Scot- 
land. This  defect  was  now  supplied  by  the  writings 
of  Rollock  and  Bruce.  The  former  published  com- 
mentaries on  most  of  the  books  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  on  some  parts  of  the  Old,  which  were  speed- 
ily reprinted  on  the  continent,  with  warm  recommen- 
dations by  foreign  divines.*  Though  they  contain 
occasional  remarks  on  the  original,  Rollock's  commen- 
taries are  not  distinguished  for  critical  learning,  nor  do 
they  discover  deep  research;  but  they  are  perspicuous, 
succinct,  and  judicious.  His  treatise  on  Effectual 
Calling  is  a  compendious  system  of  divinity,  and  af- 
fords a  favourable  specimen  of  the  manner  in  which 
he  executed  this  part  of  his  academical  lectures.  It 
shows,  among  other  things,  that  his  understanding  was 
not  led  astray  by  admiration  of  the  Ramean  logic,  and 
that  he  did  not  suffer  a  superstitious  or  pedantic  regard 
to  methodistic  rules  to  usurp  the  place  of  good  sense 
in  the  arrangement  and  communication  of  his  ideas. 
His  sermons,  which  were  published  from  notes  taken 
by  some  of  his  hearers,  exhibit  him  in  a  very  amiable 
light,  as  "  condescending  to  men  of  low  estate,"  and 
keeping  sacredly  in  view  the  proper  end  of  preaching, 
the  instruction  and  salvation  of  the  people,  and  not  the 
display  of  the  learning,  ingenuity,  or  eloquence  of  the 
preacher.f  Bruce  was  a  man  of  a  stronger  mind  than 
Rollock.  His  sermons,  particularly  those  on  the  sa- 
craments, are  more  elaborately  composed,  more  doc- 
trinal and  argumentative,  more  calculated  to  lead  "  on 
to  perfection"  those  who  are  already  grounded  in  the 
principles  of  religion,  and  whose  spiritual  senses  are 
"  exercised  to  discern  between  good  and  evil."  He 
possessed  at  the  same  time  the  faculty  of  making  him- 
self understood  on  the  most  intricate  subjects,  and  his 
sermons  discover  the  same  unction  which  recommend- 
ed those  of  his  pious  colleague.:|:  Rollock's  manner 
in  the  pulpit  was  mild,  affectionate,  and  winning : 
Bruce's  was  solemn,  impressive,  and  commanding* 
and,  to  apply  to  his  sermons  the  reverse  of  the  figure 
by  which  one  of  his  hearers  described  his  prayers, 


taught  as  a  regent  in  King's  College  at  the  beginning  of  the 
17th  century,  was  a  strenuous  advocate  for  the  Aristotelian 
philosophy.     (Bayle,  Diet.  art.  Forbes,  Guil.) 

*  Beza's  recommendation  was  conveyed  in  a  letter  to  John 
Johnston,  and  is  prefixed  to  "  Tractatus  de  Vocatione — Authore 
Roberto  Rolloco  Scoto.     Edinburgi  1597." 

f  "  Certaine  Sermons  vpon  severall  places  of  the  Epistles 
of  Paul.  Preached  by  M.  Robert  Rollock— Edinb.  1599."  The 
epistle  "  To  the  Christiane  Reader,"  prefixed  to  these  Sermons, 
was  probably  written  by  James  Melville,  who  subscribes  th« 
Scottish  Sonnets  which  follow  it: 

Thy  diuine  Doctor  deirest  now  is  deid. 
Thy  peirles  Preicher  now  hes  plaide  his  part. 
Thy  painfull  Pastor,  qnha  in  love  did  leid 
Thy  little  larabes  with  swcit  and  tender  hart, 
Hes  dreed  his  dayes  with  sair  and  bitter  smart. 
To  purchase  jileasand  profit  unto  thee. 
His  words,  his  warks.  his  wayes,  his  vertues  gart 
Thee  get  this  gaine  of  great  felicitie. 

By  his  testament,  Rollock  appointed  such  of  his  manuscripts 
as  should  be  thought  worthy  of  publication  to  be  dedicated  to 
his  friend  Sir  William  Scot  of  Elie,  Director  of  the  Chancery. 
Scot  wrote  to  Boyd  of  Trochrig  at  Sauraur:  (Edin.  Mar.  3, 
1609.)  "  Please  to  receive  RoUocus  prayers  as  he  utterit  them 
in  pulpit  before  and  after  sermons. — I  am  presently  in  hand 
with  Rollocos  sermons  on  John's  Evangel. — I  will  earnestly 
request  you  to  cause  print  in  one  great  volume  all  RoUocus 
Latine  works."  Speaking  of  Boyd's  works,  he  adds:  "If  they 
were  in  this  country,  as  I  did  to  RoUocus,  their  printino;  should 
be  no  charge  to  you."  (Letter,  in  Wodrow's  Life  of  Robert 
Boyd,  p.  42:  MSS.  vol.v.) 

\  Bruce's  Five  Sermons  on  the  Sacrament  were  printed  at 
Edinburgh  by  Robert  Waldegrave  in  1590;  and  his  miscella- 
neous sermons  came  from  the  same  press  in  1591.  Both  vo- 
lumes, as  well  as  a  number  of  Rollock's  treatises,  were  after- 
wards translated  into  English.  In  their  original  form  they  are 
carious  as  specimens  of  composition  in  the  Scottish  language, 
within  a  few  years  of  the  time  at  which  it  was  generally  laid 
aside  by  our  writers. 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


375 


"  every  sentence  was  like  a  bolt  sliot  from  heaven." 
It  is  commonly  supposed  that  the  public  discourses  of 
the  presbyterians  at  this  time  were  protracted  to  a 
tedious  length.  The  facts  which  have  come  to  my 
knowledge  lead  to  an  opposite  conclusion ;  and  I  have 
no  doubt  that  the  practice  referred  to  was  introduced 
at  a  later  period.* 

The  Hebrew  language  being  now  regularly  taught 
in  all  our  universities,  several  individuals  attained  to 
proficiency  in  it.f  Patrick  Symson  acquired  it  in  his 
old  age  ;%  and  his  brother,  William  Symson,  undertook 
to  explain  one  of  the  abstrusest  parts  of  its  philology, 
in  the  first  work  on  Hebrew  literature  which  appeared 
in  Scotland. II 

The  attention  paid  to  the  learned  languages  laid  the 
foundation  for  the  critical  study  of  the  Scriptures.  It 
is  to  be  lamented  that  the  disputes  in  which  the  minis- 
ters were  involved,  and  the  hardships  which  many  of 
them  suffered,  should  have  diverted  them  from  this 
study  at  a  time  when  individuals  had  begun  to  culti- 
vate it  with  enthusiasm.  Among  these  Robert  Wal- 
lace, minister  of  St.  Andrews  and  afterwards  of  Tra- 
nent, deserves  to  be  particularized.  §  The  only  work 
which  Patrick  Sharp,  principal  of  the  College  of  Glas- 
gow, left  behind  him,  does  not  afford  a  proof  of  those 
literary  acquirements  which  it  is  known  he  posses- 
sed.f  He  was  the  teacher  of  John  Cameron,  whose 
proficiency  in  Greek  literature  excited  astonishment  on 
the  continent,  and  whom  bishop  Hall  pronounced  "  the 
most  learned  man  ever  Scotland  produced."**     Cam- 


*  Burnet  says  that  Bishop  Forbes  of  Edinburgh  had  "a 
strange  faculty  of  preaching  five  or  six  hours  at  a  time."  (Hist, 
of  his  own  Times,  i.  27.)  But  the  following  extract  will  show 
that  Forbes's  tediousness,  even  when  not  carried  to  this  ex- 
treme, gave  offence  to  his  brethren  at  an  early  period.  "  Nov. 
1, 1605. — The  said  daye  Mr.  Willeanie  forbes  regent  exercesit, 
guha  was  c°mendecl.  but  censurit  becaus  he  techit  two  hours. 
Na  additione,  becaus  of  the  hour  was  past."  (Record  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Aberdeen .)  Speaking  of  Bruce,  Livingston  says : 
"  He  was  both  in  public  and  private  very  short  in  prayer  with 
others. — I  have  heard  him  say,  he  hath  wearried  when  others 
have  been  longsome  in  prayer."  (Charact.  art.  Jlfr.  Robert 
Bruce.) 

t  Wodrow's  Life  of  John  Scrimger,  p.  18;  and  Livingston's 
Charact.  art.  William  Aird.  In  the  Nova  Fundatio  of  King's 
College,  and  in  the  Charter  of  Marischal  College,  Aberdeen, 
great  anxiety  is  expressed  by  the  founders  that  the  Hebrew 
and  Syriac  tongues  should  be  carefully  taught  by  skilful  pro- 
fessors. 

I  Archibald  Siuison's  Life  of  Patrick  Simson,  MS.  in  the 
Advocates  Library. 

II  "  Gul.  Simpsonus  edidit  breves  et  perspicuas  Regulas  de 
Accentibus  Hebraicis.  12rao.  Londioj,  1617."  (Sibbald  De 
Script.  Scot.  p.  7.)  This  work  (which  I  have  not  seen)  is  also 
mentioned  in  the  Epistle  Dedicatory  to  "  The  Destruction  of 
inbred  corruption,  or  the  Christian's  warfare  against  his  bosome 
enemy — by  Mr.  Alexander  Symson  late  minister  of  God's  word 
at  Merton  in  Scotland,  Lond.  1644."  12n)o.  The  reader  may 
bepleased  to  see  the  following  extract  from  that  dedication. 
"The  Author  (Alexander  Symson)  was  the  last  branch  of  that 
goodly  vine  that  overspread  the  whole  land:  his  father.  Master 
Andrew  Symson,  minister  of  Dunbar,  being  one  of  the  first  that 
opposed  Popery,  (under  whom  some  of  the  ancient  Nobititie, 
and  many  of  the  Gentry  and  Clergy  of  Scotland  were  educat- 
ed, of  whom  not  a  few  proved  worthy  Instruments  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  God's  glory  in  Church  and  Common-wealth) :  As 
his  Brothers,  Master  Matthew  vvho  died  young;  Master  Patrick, 
Minister  of  Striveling,  who  wrote  The  History  of  the  Church, 
thrice  printed;  Master  William,  Minister  o(  Dumbarton,  who 
wrote  De  Hebraicis  Accentibus;  Master  Archibald,  Minister 
of  Dalkeith,  who  wrote  of  the  Creation,  Christs  seven  ivords 
on  the  Crosse,  Samsons  seven  locks  qfhaire,  The  seven  Peni- 
tentiall  Psalmes,  Hieroglyphia  animalium  terrestriiim.  Sfc. 
with  a  Chronicle  of  Scotland,  in  Latine,  not  yet  printed;  Mas- 
ter Abraham,  Minister  of  Norham." 

{  Casauboni  Epistoloe,  ab  Almel.  p.  669. 

IT  "  Doctrinae  Chrisfianae  brevis  explicatio,  Authore  Patricio 
Scharpio,Theologiffi  professore  in  Academia  Glascvense.  Edin- 
bvrgi  Excudebat  Robertvs  Walde-graue,  1599."  8vo.  Pp.  287. 
This  is  an  explication  of  the  first  three  chapters  of  Genesis,  the 
Apostles'  Creed,  Institution  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  Decalogue 
and  Lord's  Prayer. 

**  Capelli  Icon  Joan.  Cameronis,  praef.  Oper.  Cameronis. 
Genev.  1642.  In  1598,  Joannes  Cameroun  was  laureated  at 
Glasgow,  and  in  1599,  he  was  admitted  one  of  the  regents. 


eron  was  a  subtle  theologian,  and  displayed  much 
critical  acumen  in  the  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures. 
He  was  not  more  distinguished  by  his  writings,  than 
by  the  circumstance  of  his  having  formed  the  opinions 
of  Amyrauld,  who  divided  the  French  protestants  on 
the  point  of  universal  grace,  and  of  Capellus,  who  at- 
tained to  great  celebrity  as  the  founder  of  a  new  school 
in  Hebrew  philology  and  criticism.*  Robert  Boyd  of 
Trochrig  was  a  contemporary  of  Cameron,  and  like 
him  taught  in  the  academies  of  France  as  well  as  of 
his  native  country. j  His  Prelections  on  the  Epistle 
to  the  Ephesians  contain  some  good  critical  remarks, 
as  well  as  many  eloquent  passages  ;  and  it  is  to  be  re- 
gretted that  he  should  have  rendered  the  work  heavy 
and  repulsive  by  indulging,  according  to  a  practice 
then  common  among  the  continental  commentators,  in 
long  digressions,  for  the  sake  of  illustrating  general 
doctrines  and  deciding  the  controversies  of  the  time. 
The  HieroglyphicaX  of  Archibald  Symson,  which 
treat  of  the  different  branches  of  zoology  referred  to 
in  Scripture,  shew  the  learning  of  the  author  ;  but  his 
fancy  led  him,  in  this  as  well  as  in  his  other  works,  to 
expatiate  in  the  field  of  allegory.  ||  The  works  of 
Patrick  Symson  contain  a  succinct  History  of  the 
Christian  Church,  written  in  a  style  which,  though  not 
uniformly  correct,  is  spirited,  and  breathes  a  classical 
air.  Robert  Pont,  whose  learning  was  various,  had 
paid  particular  attention  to  Sacred  Chronology,  which 
he  illustrated  in  several  treatises.  §     Alexander  Hume, 


*  Lewis  Capel  to  Boyd  of  Trochrig,  Sept.  15.  1618  :  Wod- 
row's Life  of  Robert  Boyd,  p.  80.  Riveti  Opera,  torn.  iii.  p. 
896. 

t  "  Robertus  Boyd"  was  laureated  at  Edinburgh  in  1595. 
To  his  signature  in  the  Album  is  added,  in  another  hand, 
"  Min' vei-b,  in  Gallia  postea  prof,  theol.  et  primarius  Acad. 
Glasg.  dein  Edinb." 

\  "  Hieroglyphica  Animalivra  Terrestrivm,  Volatilium,  &c. 
quae  in  Scripturis  Sacris  invcniuntur. — Per  Archibaldum  Sim- 
sonuni  Dalkethensis  Ecclesia;  Pastorem.  Edin.  1622."  4to.  The 
first  part  is  confined  to  terrestrial  Animals.  The  second  and 
third  parts,  which  treat  of  Fowls  and  Fishes,  appeared  ia 
1623.  And  in  1624,  that  which  relates  to  Reptiles  and  Insects 
followed,  under  the  name  of  "  Tomvs  Secvndvs." 

II  Drummond,  the  poet,  appears  to  have  been  pleased  with 
the  allegorical  writings  of  Symson;  as  he  has  encomiastic  verses 
at  the  beginning  of  several  of  them.  The  following  are  pre- 
fixed to  "  Heptanieron.  The  Sevin  Dayes — by  M.  A.  Sym- 
son, Minister  at  Dalkeith.  Sanct-Andrews  Printed  by  Edward 
Raban,  Printer  to  the  Universitie.  1621."  am.  8vo. 

God  binding  with  hid  Tendons  this  great  ALL, 
Did  make  a  LVTE,  which  had  all  parts  it  giuen: 
This  LVTES  round  Bellie  was  the  azur'd  Heauen; 
The  Rose  those  Lights  which  He  did  there  install: 

The  Basses  were  the  Earth  and  Ocean : 
The  Treble  shrill  the  Aire:  the  other  Strings, 
The  vnlike  Bodies,  were  of  mixed  things  : 
And  then  His  Hand  to  breake  sweete  Notes  began. 

Those  loftie  Concords  did  so  farre  rebound. 
That  Floods,  Rocks,  Meadows,  Forrests  did  them  heare 
Birds,  B'ishes,  Beasts  danc'd  to  their  siluer  sound. 
Onlie  to  them  Man  had  a  deafned  Eare. 

Now  him  to  rouse  from  sleepe  so  deepe  and  long, 
God  wak'ned  hath  the  Eccho  of  this  Song. 

W.  D. 

5  "  A  Newe  Treatise  of  the  right  Reckoning  of  yeares  and 
ages  of  the  World  —  By  M.  Robert  Pont  an  aged  Pastour  of 
the  Kirk  of  Scotland. — Edin.  1599."  This  is  different  from 
his  work  "  De  Sabbaticorum  annorum  periodis.  Lond.  1619." 
Charters  also  ascribes  to  him  "  Chronologiam  de  Sabbatis. 
Lond.  1626."  His  son,  Timothy  Pont,  gave  great  assistance  in 
drawing  up  the  description  and  maps  of  Scotland  which  ap- 
peared in  Bleau's  Atlas.  (Menior.  Balfouriana,  p.  6,  36.) 
"  Mr.  Timothie  pont  rain'  of  Dwnet,"  and  "Mr.  Zacharie  pont 
minr  of  Bowar  Wattin,  in  Carthess."  occur  in  the  Books  of 
Assignation  and  Modification  of  Stipends  for  the  years  1601 — 
1608. 

I  find  that  it  was  not  Robert  Pont  who  married  a  daugh- 
ter of  John  Knox,  as  I  have  elsewhere  stated  by  mistake, 
(Life  of  Knox,  Note  LXIII.)  but  his  son,  Zachary.  This  ap- 
pears from  the  following  documents.  "  Junij  4,  1607,  The 
session  of  Sanct  Cuthbertis  kirk  contra  Margaret  Smith  anent 
the  throuche  of  Mr.  Robert  Pont  hir  husband."     (MS,  jr  ^ibl. 


376 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


of  whom  we  have  spoken  as  a  grammarian,  entered 
the  lists  as  a  polemical  writer  against  members  both 
of  the  Romish  and  English  Churches.*  And  John 
Howieson  composed  an  elaborate  answer  to  Bellar- 
mine,  the  redoubted  and  far-famed  champion  of  Rome.f 
The  most  learned  of  the  divines  who  embraced  epis- 
copacy received  their  education  during  this  period. 
Patrick  Forbes  of  Corse,  the  relation  and  scholar  of 
Melville,  :|:  and  who  afterwards  became  bishop  of  Ab- 
erdeen, wrote  an  able  defence  of  the  calling  of  the 
ministers  of  the  Reformed  Churches,  and  a  commenta- 
ry on  the  Revelation.  The  discourses  of  William 
Cowper,  minister  of  Perth,  and  afterwards  bishop  of 
Galloway,  are  perhaps  superior  to  any  sermons  of  that 
age.  A  vein  of  practical  piety  runs  through  all  his 
evangelical  instructions ;  the  style  is  remarkable  for 
ease  and  fluency ;  and  the  illustrations  are  often  stri- 
king and  happy.  His  residence  in  England,  during 
some  years  of  the  early  part  of  his  life,  may  have  giv- 
en him  that  command  of  the  English  language  by 
which  his  writings  are  distinguished.  ||  Archbishop 
Spotswood's  History  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  was 
composed  at  a  period  considerably  later;  but  as  I  have 
been  under  the  necessity  of  repeatedly  calling  in  ques- 
tion its  accuracy,  I  may  take  this  opportunity  of  say- 
ing, that,  as  a  composition,  it  is  highly  creditable  to 
the  talents  of  the  author,  and  is  as  much  superior  to 
the  historical  collections  of  Calderwood  in  point  of 
style  and  arrangement,  as  it  is  inferior  to  them  in  ac- 
curacy and  variety  of  materials. 

The  progress  of  our  literature  during  this  period  is 
very  discernible  in  the  department  of  jurisprudence. 
Besides  his  edition  of  the  acts  of  parliament  from  the 
reign  of  James  I.  Sir  John  Skene,  the  Clerk  Register, 
published  for  the  first  time,  in  Latin  and  in  English,  a 
collection  of  the  laws  and  constitutions  of  our  elder 
princes.  Whatever  opinion  may  be  entertained  as  to 
the  title  which  some  of  these  have  to  be  considered  as 
originally  belonging  to  the  Scottish  code,  or  as  to  the 
period  at  which  others  of  them  were  enacted,  it  must 
be  acknowledged  that  the  labours  of  the  publisher 
were  meritorious  and  valuable.  He  had  travelled  in 
Norway,  Denmark,  and  adjacent  countries  ;  §  and  the 
knowledge  which  he  acquired  of  the  northern  lan- 
guages and  customs  enabled  him  to  throw  light  on  the 
ancient  laws  and  legal  usages  of  Scotland,  both  in  his 

Jnrid.  Edin.  A,  4.  22.)  "  Marg^.  Knox  spous  to  Mr.  Zach,  Pont 
min""  at  boar  in  Cathnes,  w'  consent  of  Mr.  Jo"  Ker  min"'  at  Pres- 
ton, and  Mr.  Ja' Knox,  ane  of  the  regents  of  the  College  of 
Ed'',  receives  from  Andro  Lord  Stewart  of  Vchikrie  1300 
roerks."  (Gen.  Reg.  of  Decreets,  vol.  cvii.  28  Maj,  1605.) 
There  is  a  previous  deed  relating  to  the  same  subject,  which  is 
signed  by  "  Mr.  Jo"  Ker  sone  to  vinq"  Andro  Ker  of  fawdoun- 
»ide  witnes."     (Ibid.  vol.  civ.  13  Dec.  1604.) 

*  An  account  of  his  controversy  with  Dr.  Adam  Hill,  on  the 
article  of  the  Creed  concerning  Christ's  descent  into  Hell,  may 
be  seen  in  Wood's  Athenae,  by  Bliss,  i.  p.  622—624.  The  fol- 
lowing extracts  relate  to  his  Rejoinder,  or  second  book  against 
Hill.  "5  Fe^J,  1593.  The  pbrie  appoint  thair  brether  M. 
Ro'  and  M.  Jo"  Dauidsoun  to  sy*  the  book  writtin  be  M.  Alex' 
Home  concerning  that  part  o(  the  creit  He  discendit  to  hell, 
and  to  report  y'  judgement  y«  xii*  of  this  Instant."  "  IS*  Febr. 
1593.  Tne  said  brether  reporting  yr  judgements  of  the  suffi- 
cicncie  of  y«  wark  hes  approuit  ye  same,  and  finds  it  may  be 
prentit."  (Record  of  Presb.  of  Edinburgh.)  His  book  against 
the  Roman  Catholics  is  entitled,  "  A  Didvction  of  the  Trve  and 
Catholik  meaning  o(  our  Sauiour  his  words  this  is  my  bodie — 
by  Alexander  Hvme  Maisterof  the  high  Schoole  of  Edinburgh. 
Edin.  1602."  A  collection  of  practical  treatises  by  him  on 
Conscience,  &c.  was  printed  by  R.  Waldegravc,  Edin.  1594, 


12mo.    (See  also  Wood,  ut  sup.    Ames  by  Herbert,  p.  1515.) 
+  Buik  of  Univ.  Kirk,  f.  201.     He  is  tne  author  of  a  treatise 

on  conscience,  Edin.  1600.     Wood,  and  Charters.) 

J  Melville's  Diary,  p.  122.    Garden,  Vita  Joannis  Forbesii: 

prsefix.  Oper.  Forbesii.     Wodrow's  Life  of  Patrick  Forbes  of 

Corse,  p.  2:  MSS.  vol.  ii. 
^11  Life  of  Bishop  Cowper,  prefixed  to  his  works,  Lond.  1623, 

fol.     He  was  born  in  the  year  1568,  and  entered  the  university 

of  St.  Andrews  in  1580.     (Dikaiologie,  p.  108.)     He  was  ad- 

naitted   minister  of  Perth,  Oct.  5.  1695.     (Extracts  from  Rec. 

of  Kirk  Session  of  Perth,  by  Rev.  Mr.  Scott."! 
}  Sibbaldi  Bibl.  Scot.  p.  134. 


treatise  De  Verhorum  Significatione,  and  in  his  notes 
on  the  Regiam  Majestatem.  *  In  vigour  of  mind  and 
in  acquaintance  with  the  general  principles  of  law, 
Sir  Thomas  Craig  excelled  Skene,  as  much  as  he  fell 
behind  him  in  the  knowledge  of  the  ancient  statutory 
and  consuetudinary  laws  of  his  country. |  His  book 
De  Feudis  was  the  first  regular  treatise  on  law  com- 
posed in  Scotland.  It  is  written  with  elegance  and  in 
a  philosophical  spirit;  and  the  author  of  such  a  mas- 
terly performance  could  not  fail,  during  his  long  prac- 
tice at  the  bar,  to  raise  the  character  of  the  profession, 
and  to  diffuse  enlightened  and  liberal  views  among  his 
brethren.  William  Welwood,  who  was  prohibited 
from  continuing  his  lectures  on  law  at  St,  Andrews, 
published  several  useful  and  compendious  treatises, 
which  entitle  him  to  a  place  among  the  juridical  wri- 
ters of  the  age.  His  Parallel  exhibits  a  clear  but 
meagre  statement  of  the  points  of  resemblance  be- 
tween the  Jewish  and  Roman  codes  of  jurisprudence.^ 
His  tract  on  Ecclesiastical  Processps  may  be  viewed 
as  the  first  specimen  of  a  Form  of  Process,  which  the 
Church  of  Scotland  did  not  then  possess.  ||  His 
Abridgement  of  Sea  Laws  has  the  merit  of  being  the 
first  regular  treatise  on  maritime  jurisprudence  which 
appeared  in  Britain,  and  led  him  to  take  part  in  a  con- 
troversy which  called  forth  the  talents  and  erudition 
of  a  Grotius,  and  a  Selden.  § 

The  name  of  Welwood  is  also  connected  with  the 
progress  of  physics  and  the  arts.  He  possessed  an 
inquisitive  mind  ;  and  in  all  his  disquisitions  we  can 
trace  a  commendable  desire  to  convert  his  knowledge 
to  the  good  of  mankind.  ^  While  he  taught  mathe- 
matics at  St.  Andrews,  he  obtained  from  government  a 
patent  for  a  new  mode  of  raising  water  with  facility 
from  wells  and  low  grounds.  He  afterwards  publish- 
ed an  account  of  his  plan,  and  of  the  principles  upon 
which  he  calculated  that  it  would  produce  the  intend- 
ed effect.     This  publication  is  a  curious  specimen  of 


*  When  the  Regiam  Majestatem  v/At,  put  to  press,  "  finj^ing 
non  so  raeit  as  Mr.  James  Carmichaell,  minister  at  Hadding- 
toune — to  examine  and  espy  and  correct  such  errors  and  faults 
yria  as  vsuallle  occures  in  every  printing  that  first  cumis  from 
the  presse,"  the  Lords  of  Privy  Councilapplied  to  his  prcsby- 
terj'  to  excuse  his  absence  from  his  charge,  "  the  space  oftua 
monethis  or  thereby."  (Letter  to  the  presbvterie  of  hading- 
toune;  Oct.  13,  1608:  in  Lord  Haddington's  Col.)  There  is  a 
poem  by  Carmichaet  at  the  end  of  the  Scotch  translation  of 
that  work. 

t  Craig  has  certainly  failed  in  illustrating  the  jieculiar  form 
which  the  feudal  law  had  assumed  in  Scotland:  and  in  refer- 
ring to  ancient  laws,  and  to  decisions  anterior  to  his  own  prac- 
tice, he  proceeds  usually  on  the  information  of  his  older  breth- 
ren. But  perhaps  the  censures  which  a  late  writer  has  pro- 
nounced on  him  are  too  summary  and  indiscriminate.  The 
charge  of  ignorance  brought  against  him,  for  asserting  that  the 
civil  law  had  not  been  taught  in  this  country,  will,  I  appre- 
hend, turn  out  on  examination  to  be  unfounded.  (Ross's  Lec- 
tures on  the  Law  of  Scotland,  vol.  ii.  p.  9.) 

t  "  Ivris  Divini  Ivdieorum,  ac  Ivris  Civilis  Romanorvm  Par- 
allela.— Avthore  Gvilielmo  Velvod.  Lvgd.  Bat.  1594."  4to. 

11  Its  title  has  been  given  above.  (P.  299.)  It  was  intended 
to  distinguish  between  the  forms  of  procedure  used  in  civil 
courts  and  those  which  ought  to  be  used  in  church  courts — a« 
to  citations — the  mode  of  trial — and  appeals. 

{  An  Abridgment  of  all  Sea-lawes.— By  William  Welwood, 
professor  of  the  CiuiU  Lawe.  London  1613."  4to.  It  was  re. 
printed,  but  without  the  author's  name,  bv  Malynes,  in  his  Lex 
Mercatoria,  Lond.  1686.  The  Latin  edition  of  this  Abridg- 
ment, which  appears  to  have  been  published  before  1613,  I 
have  not  seen.  That  part  of  it  which  relates  to  the  contro- 
verted question  was  re-published  under  the  following  title: 
"De  Dominio  Maris,— Cosmopoli,  Excudebat  G.  Fontisiluiu* 
16.  Calend.  Januar.  1615."  4to.  An  edition  of  it  was  printed 
at  the  Hague  in  1663;  and  in  the  course  of  that  year  there  ap- 
peared an  answer  to  it  by  Theod.  J.  F.  Graswinckel,  a  Dutch 
lawyer,  who  wrote  also  agains*  the  Mare  Clausum  of  Selden. 

ir  He  was  the  author  of  a  treatise  of  practical  theology: 
"  Ars  Domandarvm  Pertvrbationvm  ex  solo  Dei  vcrbo  quasi 
transcri,)to  constructa.  Avthore  Gvilielmo  Velvod.  Middel- 
bvrgi,  1594."  8vo.  Pp.  62.  The  dedication  to  John,  Earl  of 
Cassilis,  "  Collegii  ad  Andreapolin,  quod  Saluatorianum  cog- 
nominant  Patrono,"  is  dated  "  Ex  Academia  Andreana,  Calen. 
Maijs.  1594." 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


377 


the  state  in  which  the  science  of  hydraulics  was  at  that 
time,  and  of  those  experiments  by  which  its  true  prin- 
ciples came  to  be  gradually  discovered  and  applied.* 
The  chronological  works  of  Robert  Pont  confirm  the 
testimonies  borne  to  his  skill  in  mathematics  and  as- 
tronomy.f  But  the  individual  who  left  all  his  con- 
temporaries far  behind  him  in  such  pursuits,  and  who 
reflected  the  highest  honour  on  his  country,  was  John 
Napier  of  Merchiston,  the  inventor  of  the  logarithmic 
calculation;  an  invention  which  has  contributed,  per- 
haps more  than  any  other,  to  extend  the  boundaries  of 
knowledge,  and  to  multiply  discoveries  in  all  branches 
of  natural  philosophy;  and  which  at  the  same  time 
that  it  establishes  the  author's  claim  to  genius,  proves 
that  he  had  devoted  himself  with  the  most  persevering 
ardour  to  the  study  of  mathematical  scit^nce.  Previ- 
ously, indeed,  to  his  making  his  great  discovery,  Na- 
pier was  well  known  to  his  countrymen  for  his  pro- 
found acquaintance  with  mathematics,  his  application 
of  them  to  the  improvement  of  the  arts,  and  the  curi- 
ous and  bold  experiments  which  his  active  and  inven- 
tive mind  was  continually  prompting  him  to  make.:}: 

When  the  elder  Scaliger  visited  Scotland  about  the 
middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  it  did  not  contain,  ac- 
cording to  his  statement,  more  than  one  regular  practi- 
tioner in  Medicine.  Tfweare  to  judge  by  this  rule, 
the  science  must  have  made  great  advancement  before 
the  close  of  that  century.  At  this  time,  however,  and 
down  to  a  much  later  period,  the  medical  men  of  Scot- 
laud  derived  their  professional  knowledge  almost  en- 
tirely from  foreign  schools.  Dr.  Peter  Lowe,  who, 
after  practising  in  various  parts  of  the  continent,  and 
being  honoured  with  the  appointment  of  Ordinary  Sur- 
geon to  Henry  IV.  of  France,  returned  to  his  native 
country  before  the  year  1598,  was  the  author  of  a  sys- 
tem of  Surgery,  which  exhibits  a  popular  view  of  the 
art  of  healing  in  his  time,  interspersed  with  descrip- 
tions of  cases  which  had  occurred  in  his  own  practice. || 
Dr.  Duncan  Liddel,  whose  treatises  on  various  sub- 
jects connected  with  medicine  were  well  received  on 
the  continent,  was  prematurely  cut  off  in  the  midst 
of  his  exertions  for  promoting  science  in  his  native 
country.§ 

Among  the  miscellaneous  writers  of  this  period, 
David  Hume  of  Godscroft,  one  of  Melville's  early  and 
most  intimate  friends,  deserves  to  be  particularly  men- 
tioned.^f     This  accomplished  and  patriotic  gentleman 

*  See  under  Note  HHH. 

+  Sibbaldi  Bibl.  Scot.  p.  224.  Pont  was  the  fntimate  friend 
of  the  Laird  (does  he  need  the  false  title  of  Lord,  or  the  equi- 
vocal oneof  ^aron?)  of  Merchiston:— "  honoratuni  et  apprime 
eruditum  amicuni  nostrum  fidelem  Christi  seruum  Joannern 
J^aperum."  (De  Sabbaticoruni  Annorum  Periodis,  per  Rober- 
tuin  Pontanum,  Caledonium  Britannuni,  p.  198.     A"  J619.) 

t  Skene,  De  Verboruni  Sig-nificatione,  voc  Particata.  Bir- 
rel's  Diary,  p.  47.  Tilloch's  Philosophical  Magazine,  vol.  xviii. 
p.  53;  where  Napier's  "  Secret  Inventions"  are  published,  ac- 
companied with  observations,  which  go  to  prove  that  none  of 
these  inventions  is  incredible.  Dempster  savs  that  Napier  dis- 
sipated his  fortune  livhis  experiments. 

11  "The  Whole  Course  of  Chyrvrgie— Compiled  bv  Peter 
Lowe  Scotchman.  Arellian  Doctor  in  the  Facultie  of  (Zlhirur- 
gie  in  Pans— Ao  1597."  In  the  dedication  of  the  2d  edition  to 
•' Gilbert  Primrose  Sergeant  Chirurgian  to  the  Kings  Majes- 
tic," &c.  (dated  "  from  my  house  in  Gfasgow  the  20  day  of 
December  1612,")  he  says:  "  It  pleased  his  Sacred  Majestic  to 
heare  my  complaint,  about  some  fourteene  years  agoe,  vpon 
certaine  abusers  of  our  Art— I  got  a  priuiledge  under  his  High- 
nesse  privie  seale,  to  try  and  examine  all  men  upon  the  Art  of 
Chirurgie,  to  discharge  &  allow  in  the  West  parts  of  Scotland 
which  were  worthy  or  unworthy  to  professe  the  same." 

}  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vol.  iv.  p.  577.  Principal  Blackwell's  Me- 
morial. Liddelii  Apotheosis:  Delit.  Poet.  Scot.  ii.  550.  His 
"  Disput.  deElementis"  was  printed  at  Helmstadt  in  1596;  and 
an  edition  of  his  works  was  published  by  L.  Serranus,  Lug-d. 
Bat.  1624.  ^  ^ 

IT  He  was  the  sou  of  Sir  David  Hume  of  Weddeiburn,  and 
proprietor  of  Godscroft  in  Lannnermuir.  In  one  of  his  Ec- 
logues, he  says: 

haud  frustra  tot,  docte  Menalca, 
Carniina  fusa  tibi:  Late  nemus  omne  resultat 
9X 


was  extensively  acquainted  with  ancient  and  modern 
languages,  theology,  politics,  and  history.  His  Apolo- 
gia Basilica  is  a  refutation  of  the  celebrated  Frinceps 
of  Machiavel,  and  shows  that  he  was  a  true  friend  to 
monarchy,  although  he  had  repeatedly  exerted  himself 
to  check  its  excesses  by  his  sword  and  by  his  pen. 
Besides  its  genealogical  information,  his  History  of  the 
Houses  of  Douglas  and  Angus  contains  many  useful 
illustrations  of  public  events,  and  striking  pictures  of 
the  manners  of  the  times.*  Though  often  incorrect 
and  loose  in  its  style,  it  is  written  with  much  spirit 
and  naivete,  and  abounds  with  reflections,  serious  and 
amusing,  political,  moral  and  religious,  which  place 
the  happy  temper  and  virtuous  dispositions  of  the  au- 
thor in  a  very  favourable  and  pleasing  light.  The  feu- 
dal ideas,  which  were  general  in  his  age,  and  the  aris- 
tocratic feeling  which  he  inherited  as  the  descendant 
of  an  ancient  family,  are  frequently  blended  with  the 
principles  of  the  reformer  and  advocate  of  political  lib- 
erty, in  a  way  which  is  both  curious  and  amusing. 

Poetry,  in  all  its  varieties,  was  zealously  cultivated 
by  our  countrymen  at  this  period.  In  richness  of  im- 
agery and  elegance  of  diction,  Montgomery  unques- 
tionably carried  away  the  palm  from  all  his  contempo- 
raries who  wrote  in  the  Scottish  dialect.  Among  those 
who  devoted  themselves  to  sacred  poetry,  Alexander 
Hume  possesses  the  greatest  merit.  Like  most  of  the 
poets  of  that  time  he  is  very  unequal  ;  but  his  versifi- 
cation is  often  fluent,  and  his  descriptions  'ively  and 
even  vigorous. f  The  Godly  Dream  of  Lady  Culros 
younger  is  not  destitute  of  fancy.  %  James  Cockburne 
is  the  author  of  two  scarce  pieces,  which  discover 
a  bold  but  unchastened  imagination.  ||  As  they  have 
not  been  noticed,  so  far  as  I  know,  by  any  of  our  wri- 
ters, the  reader  may  not  be  displeased  to  have  the  fol- 
lowing specimen  laid  before  him.  It  is  part  of  a  de- 
scription of  the  scene  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane. 

Now  had  darke  silent  night,  high  treasons  freend, 
Ouermantled  ail  the  earth  in  sable  hew: 
Wrapt  was  the  Moone  in  mist  that  latelie  shynde, 
The  fyrie  lampes  of  heauen  themselues  withdrew: 
Horror  and  darknesse  vyide  possest  the  skye. 
The  fittest  tyme  for  foullest  tragedye. 

Within  their  wings  sweete  birds  their  billes  they  hide 
Rockt  with  the  windes  on  toppes  of  troubled  trees: 
Feeld-feeding  flocks  to  cliftes  and  caues  they  slide, 

Laetitia:  nunc  upilio,  nunc  ipse  bibulcus 
Per  juga  Lamyrii,  vel  per  juga  montis  Ocelli. 
In  the  notes  he  subjoins  the  following  explanation.  "  Lamyrii 
montes  sunt  in  provincia  Marchia?,  ubi  villula  scribentis  Thca- 
ger,  vulgo  Godscroft.  Ocelli  montes  [Ochil  hills]  in  Jernia 
forthae  imminentes  ad  quorum  radices  est  Val-acquila  vulgo 
Gleneagles,  ipsius  nunc  habitaculum."  (Daphn-Aniaryllis, 
Authore  Davide  Humio  Theagrio  Wedderburnensi,  p.  17. 
Lond.  1605.)  John  Haldaue  of  Gleneagles  was  married  to  his 
sister.  (Hist,  of  Douglas  and  Angus,  li.  284.)  In  another  of 
his  works  are  poems  by  him  inscribed  "  David  Humius  Pater" 
— "  Maria  Jhonstona  Mater" — "  Jacobus  Jhonstonus,  Elphisto- 
nius,  Socer."  (Lvsvs  Poetici,  p.  50,  53.) 

*  Speaking  of  Hume,  Mr.  Pinkerton  says:  "This  writer, 
who  composed  his  work  about  the  year  1630,  has  often  origin- 
al and  authentic  information."  (Hist,  of  Scotland,  i.  216.)  It 
is  true  that  Hume  lived  nearly  to  the  year  1630,  and  might  fin- 
ish his  History  in  his  old  age,  but  he  was  born  between  1550 
and  1560.  Being  the  confidential  adviser  and  agent,  as  well  as 
the  kinsman  of  Archibald  (the  third  of  that  name)  Earl  of  An- 
gus, he  had  access  to  the  family  papers  of  that  nobleman,  and 
to  other  valuable  sources  of  intelligence. 

+  Hymnes  or  Sacred  Songs. — Edinburgh,  1599. 

\  Of  the  same  pious  cast  as  the  Dream,  but  inferior  to  it  in 
versification,  is  "The  Complaint  of  a  Christian  Sovle. — Printed 
at  Edinburgh  by  Robert  Charters,  1610."  4to.  C.2.  It  is  sub- 
scribed at  the  close:  "  M.  George  Muschet,  Minister  of  the 
Evangell  at  Dunning  " 

II  The  first  is  entitled,. "  Gabriel's  Salvtation  to  Marie.  Made 
by  James  Cockbvrne  :"  The  second,  "  Jvdas  Kisse  to  the  Sonne 
of  Marie.  The  imprint  of  each  is  "Edinbvrgh  Printed  by 
Robert  Charteris — An.  Dom.  mdcv."  4to.  The  Dedication  to 
"Jean  Hammiltone,  Ladie  Skirling,"  is  dated  "from  Cambus- 
nethane."  Prefixed  are  recommendatory  verses  by  "  W.  A. 
of  Menstrie,"  i.  e.  William  Alexander,  afterwards  created  Earl 
of  Stirling'. 


378 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


Such  was  the  raging  of  the  roaring seyes: 

No  sound  of  comfort  sweete  possest  the  eares, 
Saue  Serpents  hisse,  and  Crocodilishe  teares. 

In  this  sad  season  Jesus  did  attend 
His  Fathers  will,  and  those  did  him  persew, 
Brooke  Cedron  corst,  which  way  well  Judas  kend, 
As  was  his  vse  his  prayers  to  renew: 

And  to  the  Mount  of  Oliues  he  is  gone, 
With  aged  Peter,  James,  and  louing  Johne. 

O  gardene  gay,  greene  may  thou  euer  grow, 
Let  weeping  dew  refreshe  thy  withred  flowres: 
To  testifie  the  teares  did  ouerflow 
The  cheekes  of  him  refresht  the  hearts  of  ours. 
And  for  his  sake  thy  name  be  euer  neist 
In  name  to  that  sweet  garden  of  the  East. 

The  poets  of  Scotland  anticipated  their  sovereign's 
accession  to  the  throne  of  England,  by  adopting  the 
language  of  that  kingdom ;  and  their  early  efforts  of 
this  kind  were  very  flattering.  When  Melville  was 
removed  from  Scotland,  Drummond  of  Hawthornden 
had  but  recently  finished  his  academical  studies,*  and 
had  not  as  yet  discovered  those  talents  which  ranked 
him  among  the  first  of  English  lyric  poets.  But  Sir 
Robert  Ayton,  and  Sir  William  Alexander,  afterwards 
Earl  of  Stirling,  had  already  given  favourable  speci- 
mens of  their  poetical  talents.  Another  Scottish  knight 
and  courtier.  Sir  David  Murray  of  Gorthy,  deserves 
also  to  be  mentioned  for  the  success  with  which  he 
wrote  in  English  verse,  f 

But  perhaps  the  most  extraordinary  circumstance  in 
the  history  of  our  literature  at  this  period  is  the  enthu- 
siasm with  which  Latin  poetry  was  cultivated  by  our 
countrymen.  Divines,  lawyers,  physicians,  country- 
gentlemen,  courtiers  and  statesmen,  devoted  them- 
selves to  this  difBcult  species  of  composition,  and  con- 
tended with  each  other  in  the  various  strains  which 
the  ancient  masters  of  Roman  song  had  employed. 
The  principal  poems  in  the  collection  entitled  Deli- 
tias  Poeiarum  Scoiorum,  were  originally  published,  or 
at  least  written,  at  this  time.  They  are  of  course  pos- 
sessed of  very  different  degrees  of  merit,  but  of  the 
collection  in  general  we  may  say  that  it  is  equal  to  any 
of  the  collections  of  the  same  kind  which  appeared  in 
other  countries,  except  that  which  contains  the  Latin 
■'poems,  composed  by  natives  of  Italy.  If  this  was  not 
the  classic  age  of  Scotland,  it  was  at  least  the  age  of 
classical  literature  in  it;  and  at  no  subsequent  period 
of  our  history  have  the  languages  of  Greece  and  Rome 
been  so  successfully  cultivated,  or  the  beauties  of  their 


*  "Gviliclmvs  Drummond"  was  laureated  at  Edinburgh  in 
the  year  1605.  The  regent  of  his  class  wag  Mr.  James  Koox. 
(Record  of  the  Univ.  of  Edin.) 

+  "The  Tragical!  Death  of  Sophonisba.  Written  by  Da- 
vid Mvrray.  Scoto-Brittaine.  Lond.  1611."  8vo.— Along  with 
this  was  published,  "  Caslia,  containing  certain  sonnets." — "  A 
Paraphrase  of  the  civ.  Psalme,  by  David  Murray.  Edinburgh, 
Printed  by  Andro  Hart.  Anno  Dom.  1615."  4to.  Sir  David 
was  Governor  to  Prince  Henry.  He  was  a  son  of  Robert  Mur- 
ray of  Abercairny,  and  brother  of  John  Murray,  minister  of 
Lcith,  an  intimate  frientl  of  Melville's.  (Douglas's  Baroiiage, 
p,  102.     Melvini  Epist.  p.  151.)     His  Paraphrase  begins  thus: 

My  Soule  praise  thou  lehouat  holie  Name, 
For  he  is  great,  and  of  exceeding  Might, 
Who  cloth'd  with  Glorie,  niaiestie,  and  Fame, 
And  couered  with  the  garments  of  the  light. 

The  azure  Heauen  doth  like  a  Curtaine  sored, 
And  in  the  depths  his  chalmer  beams  hath  layd. 

The  clouds  he  makes  bis  chariot  to  be, 
On  them  he  wheeles  the  cbristall  Skies  aboutr 
And  on  the  wings  of  JEoIils,  doth  Hee 
At  pleasour  walke;  and  sends  bis  Angels  out, 
Sipift  Heraulds  that  do  execute  his  will: 
His  words  the  heauens  with  firie  lightnings  fill. 

The  Earths  foundation  he  did  Crmelie  place. 
And  layd  it  so  that  it  should  neuer  slyde. 
He  made  the  Depths  her  round  about  embrace. 
And  like  a  Robe  her  naked  shores  to  hide, 

Whose  waters  would  o'rflow  the  Mountains  high. 
But  that  thej  backe  at  his  rebuke  doe  (lie. 


'  poetry  so  deeply  felt  and  so  justly  imitated.  Besides 
Melville,  the  individuals  who  attained  the  greatest  ex- 
cellence in  this  branch  of  literature,  were  Sir  Thomas 
Craig,  Sir  Robert  Ayton,  Hume  of  Godscroft,  John 
Jonston,  and  Hercules  Rollock.  The  poems  of  Craiw 
do  honour  to  the  cultivated  taste  and  learning  of  their 
author.  Through  the  foreign  garb  in  which  Ayton 
chose  most  frequently  to  appear  before  the  public  as  a 
poet,  we  can  easily  trace  that  elegant  fancy  which  he 
has  displayed  in  his  English  compositions.  If  I  were 
not  afraid  of  appearing  to  detract  from  the  merit  of  one 
whose  early  productions  secured  the  approbation  of 
Buchanan,  I  would  say  that  Rollock  was  better  ac- 
quainted with  the  language  than  the  spirit  of  the  Ro- 
man poets.  His  description  of  the  miseries  of  Scot- 
land during  the  civil  war  is  his  most  poetical  perform- 
ance. *  John  Jonston  confined  himself  chiefly  to  the 
writing  of  epitaphs  and  short  pieces,  which  he  has 
executed  with  much  neatness  and  elegant  simplicity, 
although  he  falls  short,  even  in  this  species  of  compo- 
sition, of  his  kinsman,  Arthur  Jonston,  in  terseness 
and  in  classic  point,  f  Few  of  his  contemporaries 
shew  a  mind  more  deeply  imbued  with  the  genuine 
spirit  of  classical  poetry  than  Hume  of  Godscroft. 
The  easy  structure  cf  his  verse  reminds  us  continually 
of  the  ancient  models  on  which  it  has  been  formed  ; 
and,  if  deficient  in  vigour,  his  fancy  has  a  liveliness 
and  buoyancy  which  prevents  the  reader  from  weary- 
ing of  his  longest  descriptions.  X 

I  am  aware  that  many  entertain  a  very  contemptu- 
ous opinion  of  all  productions  of  the  kind  now  men- 
tioned. According  to  them  it  is  utterly  impracticable 
to  write  well,  or  at  least  to  compose  tolerable  poetry, 
in  a  foreign  or  dead  language.  They  are  therefore  dis- 
posed to  discard  the  whole  collection  of  modern  Latin 
poetry,  as  unworthy  of  the  name,  and  consisting  mere- 
ly of  shreds  from  the  classics  patched  into  centos. 
That  a  great  part  of  it  is  of  this  description  cannot  be 
denied.  But  those  who  are  inclined  to  pronounce  this 
censure  indiscriminately  upon  the  whole,  would  need 
to  be  sure  that  there  is  no  risk  of  their  being  placed  in 
the  same  awkward  situation  with  certain  scholars  of  no 
mean  acquirements  in  former  times,  who  had  a  modern 
poem  passed  on  them  for  a  genuine  production  of  an 
ancient  classic.  ||  After  the  writings  of  Sannazarius, 
Flamrnius,  Muretus,  Buchanan,  De  1'  Hopital,  Dou- 
za,  and  Balde,  not  to  mention  many  others  scarcely  in- 
ferior to  them,  it  seems  too  late  to  come  forward  with 


»  "  I  send  you  the  papers  of  the  late  M.  Hercules  Rollock 
which  you  desired.  And  because  I  am  not  acquaint  with  Mr. 
Anderson,  send  me  a  receipt  of  them,  either  from  you  or  him, 
Saumure,  March  5,  1619."  (Mark  Duncan  to  Boyd  of  Troch- 
rig:     Wodrow's  Life  of  Boyd,  p.  80.) 

t  Avery  beautiful  poem  by  John  Jonston,  entitled,  Jl/or* 
Piorum,  is  added,  aniong  others,  to  his  work  in  prose,  entitled, 
Consolatio  Christiana,  p.  103—106.     Lugd.  Bat.  1609. 

\  Hume  has  given  a  sptrimen  of  a  poem  which  he  composed 
at  fourteen  years  of  age.  (Daphn-Amaryllis,  p.  22 — 24.)  And 
he  refers  to  the  presages  which  Buchanan  formed  from  his 
early  effusions.  (Delit.  i.  381.)  His  poem,  entitled  Aselcaniu, 
is  dedicated  "Ad  Andraeam  Melvinvm." — Patri»  alteru  decu» 
Mehinc— dclictorum  vcniam  te  pcto  literarium  Dictatorem  el 
nominatim  v^i^Bxra  \]]\_ — Si  condonas,  condonata  putem  Musis 
et  Apollini. — Vides  quid  tibi  tribuam;  certe,  quantum  nee  Ro- 
mano pontifici  in  peccata,  jus."  (Lvsvs  Poetici,  p.  85.)  jQsel- 
cane  was  the  name  of  one  of  Hume's  sons,  (Record  of  the 
Kirk  Session  of  Prcstonpans.  Gen.  Reg.  of  Decreets,  voL 
cclx.  July  3, 1617;  and  vol.  cclxxxvii.  August  11, 1619.)  See 
nnder  Note  PP. 

II  D'AIembert  furnishes  an  instance  somewhat  different.  In 
the  course  of  his  argument  against  the  cultivation  of  ancient 
learning,  he  had  I'eeringly  repeated  the  exclamation  of  an  en- 
thusiast for  the  classics,  Jlh!  had  you  but  understood  Greek  ! 
But  not  contented  with  wielding  the  weapon  of  ridicule,  he 
rashly  ventured  upon  classical  ground,  and  mentioned  one  Ma- 
rinus,  a  modern  writer  in  Latin,  who,  in  his  opinion,  had  "ap- 
proached as  near  as  possible  to  Cicero."  One  of  D'Alem- 
bert's  opponents,  after  producingexamples  of  wretched  Latinity 
frou)  Marinus,  concludes  by  turning  the  philosopher's  sarcasm 
against  himself:  Ah!  Sir, had  you  but  untlenlood  Latin!  (Klot- 
zn  Acta  Literaria,  vol.  v.  part.  iv.  p.  446.) 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


379 


the  assertion,  that  it  is  impossible  to  produce  tolerable 
Latin  poetry  in  modern  times.  Indeed,  considering 
the  applause  which  these  productions  have  received 
from  the  best  judges,  the  assertion  amounts  to  this, 
that  we  cannot  now  perceive  the  beauties  of  the  clas- 
sical poetry  of  Rome.  I  have  no  doubt  that  if  even 
the  best  of  modern  Latin  poems  had  been  submitted  to 
the  judgment  of  Horace,  he  would  have  found  them 
chargeable  with  many  blemishes  which  oar  eye  can- 
not detect ;  but  I  have  as  little  doubt  that,  instead  of 
rejecting  them  with  the  fastidious  disdain  of  some  re- 
cent critics,  that  master  of  the  art  of  Poetry  would 
have  pronounced  them  wonderful  eflforts,  and  enlarged 
in  their  favour,  the  indulgence  which  he  was  disposed 
to  shew  to  the  compositions  of  his  contemporaries  : 

Veitiiu  ubi  plura  nitent  in  carmine,  non  ego  paucis 

Ofleiidar  maculis. 
There  is  one  thing  that  is  overlooked  in  the  reasonings 
of  many  on  this  subject.  They  are  not  aware  of  the 
degree  of  attention  which  was  paid  to  the  Latin  lan- 
guage, and  the  advantages  which  the  learned  had  for 
attaining  a  perfect  acquaintance  with  it,  in  the  six- 
teenth century.  The  use  of  the  vernacular  tongues 
was  strictly  prohibited  in  all  schools  and  colleges  ;  and 
from  the  age  of  six  to  sixteen  the  youth  spoke  and 
heard  nothing  but  Latin.  In  their  epistolary  corres- 
pondence, and  even  in  their  ordinary  conversation,  the 
learned  made  use  of  the  same  medium  of  communica- 
tion. They  cliose  to  write  in  it  in  preference  to  their 
native  language  ;  and,  judging  from  their  compositions 
in  both,  it  is  evident  they  had  a  greater  command  of 
the  former  than  of  the  latter. 

The  circumstance  last  mentioned  furnishes  one  of 
the  strongest  objections  against  the  practice  in  ques- 
tion. And  it  must  be  confessed,  that  it  is  much  easier 
to  prove  that  the  writers  of  the  sixteenth  century  at- 
tained to  excellence  in  Latin  composition,  than  it  is  to 
vindicate  that  engrossing  attention  to  the  language  by 
which  they  were  able  to  reach  that  excellence.  It  led 
them  to  neglect  the  cultivation  and  improvement  of 
the  vernacular  languages.  It  tended  to  produce  ser- 
vile imitation,  and  to  give  a  spiritless  uniformity  to 
literary  productions.  And  by  forming  men  of  letters 
into  a  separate  cast,  it  prevented  them  from  exerting  an 
influence  over  the  minds  of  the  people  at  large,  and 
deprived  literature  of  those  advantages  which  flow 
from  the  free  circulation  of  ideas  and  feelings  among 
all  classes  of  the  community.  But  whatever  disad- 
vantages might  result  from  this  practice,  we  must  not 
overlook  the  important  advantages  with  which  it  was 
attended.  We  never  ought  to  forget,  that  the  refine- 
ment, and  the  science,  secular  and  sacred,  with  which 
modern  Europe  is  enriched,  must  be  traced  to  the  re- 
vival of  ancient  literature ;  and  that  the  hid  treasures 
could  not  have  been  laid  open  and  rendered  available, 
but  for  that  enthusiasm  with  which  the  languages  of 
Greece  and  Rome  were  cultivated  in  the  fifteenth  and 
sixteenth  centuries.  The  passion  for  writing  in  these 
languages,  in  verse  as  well  as  in  prose,  is  to  be  viewed 
both  in  the  light  of  an  effect  and  a  cause  of  the  revi- 
val of  letters.  When  we  consider  the  rude  state  in 
which  the  differrnt  languages  of  Europe  then  were, 
and  that  the  number  of  readers  in  any  country  was 
extremely  small,  we  will  cease  to  wonder  that  men 
of  letters  should  have  chosen  so  generally  and  so  long 
to  make  use  of  a  highly  cultivated  tongue,  recpmmend- 
ed  to  them  by  so  many  powerful  associations,  and  in 
which  their  writings  could  be  read  and  understood  by 
all  the  learned  in  every  nation.  Besides,  the  great  at- 
tention paid  to  those  studies,  although  it  retarded  the 
improvement  of  modern  languages,  contributed  ulti- 
mately to  carry  them  to  a  higher  pitch  of  cultivation 
than  they  would  otherwise  have  attained.  The  accu- 
rate knowledge  of  the  general  principles  of  language 
which  was  thus  acquired  (and  which  cannot  be  so  well 
acquired  in  any  other  way  as  by  the  study  of  dead  or 
foreign  languages)  came  to  be  applied  to  the  vernacu- 


lar tongues,  which,  at  the  same  time  that  they  were 
polished  after  the  example,  were  enriched  from  the  re- 
sources of  the  most  refined  and  copious  languages  of 
antiquity.  The  writers  of  that  age  display  an  ele- 
gance of  taste  and  an  elevation  of  sentiment,  which 
give  them  an  unspeakable  superiority  over  their  prede- 
cessors, and  which  are  to  be  ascribed  in  a  great  meas- 
ure to  their  familiarity  with  the  works  of  the  ancients. 
Before  passing  a  severe  censure  on  the  avidity  with 
which  ancient  letters  were  then  prosecuted,  it  would 
be  but  justice  also  to  consider  the  important  discove- 
ries which  were  made  at  the  same  time,  and  the  stimu- 
lus which  was  given  to  the  human  mind  in  the  general 
search  after  truth.  Nor  should  it  be  forgotten,  that  the 
study  of  the  languages  of  Greece  and  Rome  was  com- 
bined with  the  study  of  the  eastern  tongues,  which,  in 
addition  to  its  throwing  much  light  on  the  sacred 
scriptures,  laid  open  an  entirely  new  field  of  taste  and 
inquiry,  has  proved  subservient  to  political  purposes 
of  the  greatest  magnitude,  and  promises  to  be  still 
more  extensively  useful  in  promoting  the  improvement 
and  regeneration  of  the  largest  and  most  populous  re- 
gions of  the  globe. 

The  general  question  respecting  the  advantages  of 
classical  learning  is  not  now  before  us.  Sufl5ce  it  to 
say  here,  that  the  fears  which  have  been  expressed  of 
its  tendency  to  injure  genius  by  checking  originality 
of  thought,  and  religion  by  begetting  a  spirit  and  ideas 
of  an  unchristian  complexion,  are  in  a  great  degree 
fanciful  and  exaggerated.  Its  principal  opponents 
have  not  been  found  in  the  first  ranks  of  genius,  nor 
have  they  been  distinguished  for  their  attachment  to 
Christianity.  On  the  other  hand,  the  greatest  and 
best  authors  whom  Britain  has  produced  have  been  fa- 
miliar with  it ;  and  although  novelty  and  accidental 
causes  may  give  a  temporary  fame  to  attempts  which 
proceed  on  an  avowed  disregard  of  the  works  of  the 
ancients,  our  fine  writers  will  find  it  necessary  at  last 
to  invigorate  their  genius,  and  purify  their  taste,  by 
dipping  in  those  fountains  which  helped  to  confer  im- 
mortality on  their  predecessors. 

The  facts  which  have  been  pointed  out  in  the  coarse 
of  this  brief  review,  will,  it  is  hoped,  assist  the  reader 
in  forming  an  idea  of  the  state  of  our  national  litera- 
ture at  this  period.  They  may  perhaps  convince  him, 
that  Scotland  was  not  so  late  in  entering  on  the  career 
of  literary  improvement  as  is  commonly  imagined  ; 
that  she  had  advanced  at  the  time  of  which  we  write, 
nearly  to  the  same  stage  as  the  other  nations  of  Eu- 
rope ;  and  that  if  she  did  not  afterwards  make  the 
progress  which  was  to  be  expected,  or  if  she  retro- 
graded, this  is  to  be  imputed  to  other  causes  than  to 
want  of  spirit  in  her  inhabitants,  or  to  the  genius  of 
her  ecclesiastical  constitution. 

In  asserting  that  Melville  had  the  chief  influence  in 
bringing  the  literature  of  Scotland  to  that  pitch  of  im- 
provement which  it  reached  at  this  time,  I  am  support- 
ed by  the  testimony  of  contemporary  writers  of  oppo- 
site parties,  as  well  as  by  facts  which  have  been 
brought  forward  in  the  course  of  this  work.  The 
study  of  letters  introduced  by  the  Reformation,  suf- 
fered a  severe  check  from  the  confusions  in  which  the 
country  was  involved  for  a  number  of  years.  Many 
of  those  who  had  the  charge  of  education  left  the  king- 
dom, and  such  as  remained,  being  discouraged  by 
want  of  support  and  patronage,  desisted  from  their  la- 
bours, or  contented  themselves  with  a  perfunctory  dis- 
charge of  their  duty,  without  making  the  exertions  ne- 
cessary for  their  own  improvement  and  the  advance- 
ment of  knowledge.  Attempts  to  effect  a  reform  on 
the  old  literary  establishments  had  repeatedly  failed 
from  want  of  zeal  in  the  patrons,  and  prejudice  or  aver- 
sion to  labour  on  the  part  of  the  teachers.  The  arrival 
of  Melville  imparted  a  new  impulse  to  the  public 
mind,  and  his  high  reputation  for  learning,  joined  to 
the  enthusiasm  with  which  he  pleaded  its  cause,  ena- 


380 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


bled  Jiim  to  introduce  an  improved  plan  of  study  into 
all  the  universities.  By  his  instructions  and  his  ex- 
ample, he  continued  and  increased  the  impulse  which 
he  had  at  first  given  to  the  minds  of  his  countrymen. 
In  languages,  in  theology,  and  in  that  species  of  po- 
etical composition  which  was  then  most  practised 
among  the  learned,  his  influence  was  direct  and  ac- 
knowledged. And  though  he  did  not  himself  culti- 
vate several  of  the  branches  of  study  which  are  in- 
cluded in  the  preceding  sketch,  yet  he  stimulated  oth- 
ers to  cultivate  them,  by  the  ardour  with  which  he  in- 
spired their  minds,  and  by  the  praises  which  he  was 


always  ready  to  bestow  on  their  exertions  and  per- 
formances. 

I  conclude  with  a  single  remark,  containing  the 
chief  reason  which  induced  me  to  undertake  this 
work,  and  to  devote  so  much  time  and  labour  to  its 
execution.  If  the  love  of  pure  religion,  rational  lib- 
erty, and  polite  letters,  forms  the  basis  of  national  vir- 
tue and  happiness,  I  know  no  individual,  after  her  Re- 
former, from  whom  Scotland  has  received  greater  bene- 
fits, and  to  whom  she  owes  a  deeper  debt  of  gratitude 
and  respect,  than  Andrew  Melville. 


NOTES 


TO  THK 


LIFE  OF  ANDREW  MELVILLE. 


Note  A.  p.  221. 

Of  the  family  of  the  Melvillea. — The  name  and  family 
of  JMelville  are  mentioned  in  Scottish  charters  as  early  as 
the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century.  It  is  agreed  on  all  hands 
that  they  were  of  foreign  extraction  ;  and  the  opinion  of  Mr. 
Chalmers,  that  they  were  of  "  Anglo-Norman  lineage,"  is 
the  most  probable  ;  although  he  does  not  appear  to  have  any 
good  authority  for  asserting  that  the  first  of  the  family  who 
came  to  Scotland  was  called  Male.  (Sibbald's  Fife,  390. 
edit.  1803.  Crawfurd's  Peerage,  324.  Nisbet's  Heraldry, 
edit.  2.     App.  p.  28.    Chalmers's  Caledonia,  i.  524.  ii.  806.) 

Next  to  the  principal  family  in  Mid-Lothian,  the  Mel- 
villes  of  Glenbervie,  hereditary  Sherifls  of  Kincardine,  figure 
the  earliest  on  record  of  any  of  that  name.  They  were 
mentioned  in  royal  charters,  now  missing,  by  David  II.  and 
Robert  III.  (Robertson's  Index  of  Charters,  p.  34, 141.  ) 
The  family  of  Dysart  were  either  among  the  earliest  cadets 
or  the  eventual  male  representatives  of  the  Glenbei-vies. 
"  Johannes  Malveyn  de  Disart"  is  mentioned  Feb.  6,  1457. 
(Chart,  of  Arbroath.)  David  IT.  on  the  6th  April  of  the 
30th  year  of  his  reign,  confirmed  a  charter,  by  which  "  Chris- 
tiana de  Mallavilla  domina  de  Glenbervy"  granted  "  Johanni 
de  Mallavilla  consanguineo  meo  et  haeredibus  suis  de  corpora 
■uo  legitime  procreatis  has  terras  in  baronia  de  Glenbervy 
videlicet  Liegevin,  &c."  (Regis.  Davidis  Secundi,  Lib.  i. 
No.  116.  )  On  the  20th  of  Jan.  1572,  a  Charter  of  Con- 
firmation was  ordained  to  be  made,  (which  passed  the  Great 
Seal  in  the  same  year,)  "  Ratefieand  ye  Charter  donation 
and  gift  in  it  contenit  maid  be  his  lovit  Thoitias  Melville  of 
Dysart  to  James  Melvill  oi  Liegavin  his  sone  and  apperandc 
air  his  airis  and  assignais  of  all  and  haill  ye  landis  and  bar- 
onie  of  Dysart,  &c. — lyand  wy'in  ye  Scherifdome  of  forfare, 
&c."  (Register  of  Signatures,  vol.  iii.  fol.  66.)  These  two 
charters  and  the  lands  of  Liegavin  connect  the  family 
of  Dysart  with  the  Melvilles  of  Glenbervy,  as  their  ancestors. 
It  also  appears  fi-om  these,  and  from  other  documents,  that 
the  lands  of  Dysart,  belonging  to  the  Melvilles  of  that 
title,  lay  in  Angus,  and  not  in  Fyfe,  as  I  was  at  first  in- 
clined to  think.  That  the  Melvilles  of  Baldovy  were  of 
the  family  of  Dysart  appears  from  a  Charter  of  Confirmation 
granted  Feb.  9,  1505  :  "  Joaimi  Melvill  de  Disart  hssredibus 
suis  et  assignatis  super  cartam  sibi  factam  per  Joannem 
Scrymgeor  de  Bawdovy  de  data  20  die  Januariil505  de  totis 
et  integris  terris  suis  de  Baiodovy  cum  tenentibus  jacentibus 
infi^  Vicecomitatum  de  Forfar,  &c."  (Great  Seal,  Lib.  xiv. 
No.  197 ;  comp.  Lib.  xv.  No.  170.) — For  these  ancient  noti- 
ces of  the  families  of  Glenbervy  and  Dysart  I  am  indebted 
to  John  Riddell,  Esq.  Advocate. 

I  have  said  in  the  text,  that  the  Melvilles  claimed  affinity 
to  the  royal  family.  The  subject  of  this  memoir  has  alluded 
to  this  claim  in  such  a  manner  as  to  leave  little  doubt  that  he 
believed  its  justice,  and  that  he  was  not  altogether  devoid  of 
the  feelings  of  family  pride.  Dr.  John  Forbes  of  Corse  has 
preserved  a  curious  extract  of  a  letter  which  Melville  wrote 


him  from  Sedan,  containing  a  copy  of  verses  which  he  had 
sent  to  King  James  from  the  Tower,  and  stating  that  both 
he  and  Forbes  derived  their  extraction  from  John  of  Gaunt. 
The  reader  must  excuse  me  from  tracing  his  genealogy  to  that 
redoubted  prince  ;  but  I  shall  give  the  passage,  as  it  stands 
in  a  note  to  the  dedication  of  Bishop  Forbes's  "  Tractatus 
Apologetieus  de  legitima  vocatione  Ministrorum  in  Ecclesiig 
Reformatis :  Comment,  in  Apocalyp.  p.  175,  Amstel.  1646," 
The  words  in  Italics  are  those  of  Dr.  Forbes. 

"  Cognationis  istius  via  est  per  m.  thom^  michaelib 
consanguinitatem  cum  clarissimo  illo  beatsi  memorix  d. 
ANDREA  MELViNO,  S.  Thcologix  quondam  Andreapoli  in 
Scotia,  &  postea  Sedani  ad  JMosam,  publico  professore, 
qui  mihi,  Heidelbergx  sacris  studiis  operant  danti,  anno 
Domini  1614.  suam  mecum  &  cum  nostra  familia,  &  cum 
Regia  etiam  domo  consanguinitatem,  his  epistolae  sux 
verbis  explicabat  ;  '  Sic  enim  magno  Britanni®  Regi  a 
nobis  e  Londinensi  &,  Cssarea  arce  transmissa  habet  his- 
torica  Veritas ; 

An  fraudi,  an  laudi,  quod  avito  sanguine  tangam 

Immortale  tuum,  Rex  lacobe,  genus : 
Quid  tecum  mihi,  Quinte,  atavus  communis  utrinque, 

Idem  abavi  proavus,  Sexte,  utriusque  tui, 
Deliciffi  humani  generis,  gentisque  Britannae  : 

Stirps  Regum,  &  radix  regni  utriusque  tui. 

Is  est  Johannes  Beaufort,  Johannis  Gandavensis,  qui 
natus  Grandavi,  filius,  Edvvardi  tertii  nepos,  Henrici  septimi 
&  Jacobi  tertii  proavus ;  Jacobi  quinti  tarn  palernus  quam 
maternus,  atque  aded  mens  itidem  atavus ;  Regibus  Gallis, 
Anglis,  Scotis  oriundus,  Scotorum  &  Anglorum  deincepa 
Regum  progenitor ;  unde  &  tu  etiam  per  proavum  tuum, 
avunculum  meum,  Patricium  Forbesium,  genus  paternum 
ducis.  Vides  igitur,  mi  Forbesi,  ut  genus  amborum  findat 
se  sanguine  ab  uno,  eoque  regio.  Sed  absit  mihi  gloriari, 
nisi  in  cruce  D.  N.  J.  C.  <fl  S  i/nc)  x^o-fAo;  iO-Teiv^airoii,  ncty^  TiZ 
K^irfxai^     Hxc  Andreas  Melvinus,  17.  Aug.  1614," 

Note  B.  p.  221. 

Of  the  Melvilles  of  Baldovy. — In  a  letter  to  his  nephew, 
Melville  mentions  the  laird  of  Dysart  (Diserti  comarchus) 
as  the  chief  of  their  branch  of  the  family.  (Melvini  Epist. 
294.)  "  Thomas  Lichtoun  of  UUischeon  with  consent  of 
Jhone  Lichtoun  my  son  settis  and  for  ferme  maill  lettis  to  an 
hon"  man  Tho''  Melvill  fear  of  Disart  and  to  Jonet  Scrimegeo' 
his  spouse  the  schadrw  [schadow  ?]  third  of  Disert  unwad- 
sett — Subscribed  at  Montrois  5  March  i^V^  fourty  and  twa 
yeirs  before  thir  witnes  hono"  men  Richard  Melvill  of  Bal- 
dovy Jhone  Ogilvy  provest  of  Montrois  Jhone  Panter  l)urges 
of  the  same  Maister  Walter  Melvill  and  Schir  Jhone  Gilbert 
notar  public."  (Reg.  of  Contracts  of  Commissariat  of 
Sanct  And.)  The  teinds  of  Baldovy  belonged  to  St.  Mary's 
College :  "  Baldivy  set  12  or  14  years  since  to  David  Melvill 
for  8  lb.  fis.  without  grassum."     (Royal  Visitation  of  Univ, 

381 


382 


NOTES. 


of  S.  Andrews,  A.  1599.)  David  Melville  having  fallen  un- 
der mental  derangement,  his  brother,  James  Melville,  minis- 
ter of  Kilrinny,  was  in  1592  appointed  tutor  to  him.  (In- 
quis.  de  Tutela,  num.  1239.)  "  Feb.  7.  1595.  Caus  perse- 
wit  be  David  Melville  burges  of  Dundie  ag'  David  Melville  of 
Baldovie  and  Mr.  Ja'  Melville  his  tutor — makand  mention 
that  upon  24  April  1586  the  said  David  Melvill  of  Baldovie 
became  obleist  to  have  payit  to  Thomas  Melvill  now  callit 
Mr.  Tho'  Melvill  lauchfuU  sone  to  umq'-^  Tho'  Melvill  of 
Dysart  100  or  an  annual  rent  of  10  merks  furlh  of  the  lands 
of  Baldovie,  «&c."  (Act  Bulk  of  the  Commissariat  of  S. 
Andrews.) 

About  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  Melville 
of  Baldovy  married  Helen,  daughter  of  Sir  David  Lindsay 
of  Edzell,  and  of  Lady  Helen  Lindsay  Crawford.  (Douglas's 
Peerage,  i.  165.)  Richard  Melville  was  succeeded  by  Mr. 
Andrew  Melville,  proprietor  of  Baldovy,  and  minister  of 
Maretoun,  who  died  in  1641.  His  brother,  Mr.  Patrick, 
was  served  heir  to  him  Dec.  6,  1642.  (Inquis.  Retorn. 
Forfar,  num.  275.)  In  1717  the  estate  became  the  proper- 
ty of  Colonel  Scott  of  Comiston.  (Charters  penea  Mr. 
Carnegie,  the  present  Proprietor.) 

Melville  always  wrote  his  name  JStelviniu  in  Latin, 
and  he  is  often  called  JMelvin  in  English.  Hence  some 
have  concluded  that  JMelvin,  and  not  JHelvine,  was  his  prop^ 
er  name.  But  they  are  merely  different  modes  of  pro- 
nouncing "iie  same  family  appellation.  (Rudd.  Index  Nom. 
Propr.  adj.  Buch.  Hist.  voc.  Malavinius.  Inquis.  De  Tutela, 
num.  714.)  Accordingly  we  find  Lord  Melville  repeatedly 
called  "  the  Lord  Melven,"  (Lamond's  Diary,  201-2.) 
The  same  was  corrupted  still  farther  into  jytelin ;  (lb. 
284-5.)  just  as  Colville  was  prononnccd  Colvcn  or  Colvine, 
(lb.  188,  197.  Inquis.  Gen.  num.  7392.)  which  in  some 
parts  of  the  country  is  corrupted  still  farther  into  Colin. 
This  variety  in  the  appellation  occurs  in  the  earliest  charters 
granted  by  the  family,  or  in  which  they  are  mentioned. 
"  Galafridus  de  JMailvyn"  grants  to  the  church  of  Dunferm- 
line "  ecclesiam  de  JVInilvyn"  with  common  pasture  "  in 
villa  de  JMailvyn."  In  another,  "  Galfrjdus  de  jyialvein" 
grants  "  ecclesiam  de  Malevill ;"  and  in  this  charter  occur 
the  names  of  "  Willi,  de  JMalevill"  and  "  Gregorius  de 
Malvill.'"  (Registrum  Coenobii  de  Dunfermline,  p.  516, 
619.  MS.  Bibl.  Fac.  Jur.  Edin.  See  also  Sibbald's  Fife, 
392.  edit.  1803.) 

Note  C.  p.  222. 

Grammar  Schools  and  Ulementary  Boohs. — "  About  tlie 
fyft  yeir  of  my  age  the  grace  buik  was  put  in  my  hand,  and 
when  I  was  seivine  lytle  y^of  haid  I  lernit  at  hame.  Ther- 
for  my  father  put  my  eldest  and  onlie  brother  Dauid  about 
a  yeir  and  a  half  in  age  abone  me  and  me  togidder  to  a 
kinsman  and  brother  in  the  ministerie  of  his  to  schoU,  a 
guid  lerned  kynd  man  whome  for  thankfulnes  I  name,  Mr. 
Wilya.  Gray  minister  at  Logic  Montrose. — There  wes  a 
guid  nomber  of  gentle  and  honest  mens  berns  in  the  cown- 
trey  about  weill  treaned  vp  bathe  in  letters  godlincs  and 
exercise  of  honest  geams.  Ther  we  learned  to  read  the 
catechisme  and  prayers  par  ceuralso  nottes  of  scripture  efter 
the  raiding  y''of. — We  lerned  ther  the  Rudiments  of  the 
Latin  Grammair,  with  the  Vocables  in  Latin  and  frenche, 
also  dyvers  speitches  in  frenche,  w'  the  reiding  and  right 
pronunciation  of  y'^toung.  We  proceidit  fordar  to  the  Ety- 
mologie  of  Lilius  and  his  Syntax,  as  also  a  lytle  of  the 
Syntax  of  Linacer,  therew'  was  ioyned  Hunters  Nomencla- 
tura,  the  minora  Colloquia  of  Erasmus  and  sum  of  the 
Eclogs  of  Virgin  and  Epist  of  Horace,  also  Cicero  his  epis- 
tles ad  Terentiam.  he  haid  a  verie  guid  and  profitable  form 
of  resoluing  the  authors  he  teached  grammaticallie  bathe 
according  to  the  Etymologic  and  Syntax,  bot  as  for  ine  the 
trewthe  was  my  ingyne  and  memorie  was  guid  aneuche,  bot 
my  iudgmet  and  vnderstanding  was  as  yit  smored  and  dark,  sa 
that  the  thing  qlk  I  gat  was  mair  by  rat  ryme  norknawlage. 
Ther  also  we  haid  the  air  guid  and  fields  reasonable  fear,  and 
be  our  maister  war  teached  to  handle  the  bow  for  archerie, 
the  glub  for  gofi)  the  batons  for  fencing,  also  to  rin,  to  Iccpc, 
to  swoum,  to  warsell,  to  proue  pratteiks,  cveric  ane  haifling 
bis  matche  and  andagonist,  bathe  in  our  lessons  and  play. 
A  happie  and  golden  tymc  indeed  gUT  our  negligence  and 


unthankfulness  haid  no'  moued  God  to  schortene  it,  partlie 
be  deceying  of  the  number  qlk  caused  the  maister  to  weirie, 
and  partlie  be  a  pest  qlk  the  Lord  for  sine  and  contempt  of 
his  Gospcll  send  vpon  Montrose  distant  from  o'  Logic  bot 
twa  myles,  so  y'  schoU  skalled,  and  we  war  all  send  for  and 
brought  hame.  I  was  at  that  scholl  the  space  of  almost  fy  ve 
yeirs."     (Melville's  Diary,  p.  15,16.) 

"  Sa  I  was  put  to  the  scholl  of  Montrose,  finding  of  God's 
guid  providence  my  auld  mother  Mariorie  gray,  wha  parting 
from  hir  brother  at  his  marriage  had  takin  vpe  hous  and 
scholl  for  lasses  in  Montrose,  to  hir  I  was  welcome  again  as 
her  awin  sone.  The  maister  of  the  scholl  a  learned  honest 
kynd  man  whom  also  for  thankfulness  I  name  Mr  Andro 
Miln  minister  at  sedness.  he  was  verie  skilfull  and  diligent, 
the  first  yeir  he  causit  ws  go  throw  the  Rudiments  againe, 
y'efter  enter  and  pass  throw  the  first  part  of  Grammer  of  Se- 
bastian, y''w'  we  hard  phormione  Terentii,  and  war  exerceisd 
in  composition.  Efter  y'  entered  to  the  secund  part  and  hard 
y'sA,  the  Georgics  of  Wirgill  and  dy  vers  ulher  things. — The 
lard  of  Done  mentioned  befor  dwelt  oft  in  the  town  and  of 
his  charitie  interteined  a  blind  man  wha  haid  a  singular  guid 
voice,  him  he  causit  the  doctor  of  our  scholl  teache  the 
wholl  Psalmes  in  miter  w'  the  tones  y^of  and  sing  them  in  the 
Kiik,  be  heiring  of  whome  I  was  sa  delyted  y'  I  lernit  manie 
of  the  Psalmes  and  toones  y'^of  in  miter,  qlk  I  haiff  thought 
euer  sensyne  a  grait  blessing  and  comfort."     (lb.  p.  19,  20.) 

The  following  paper  contains  information  as  to  the  early 
elementary  books  prepared  for  the  Scottish  youth. 

"Ane  letter  maid  to  maister  W"'  Nwdrye  hisfactouris  and 
assignaris  Mackand  mentioun,  That  quhair  ye  said  maister 
Will"  hes  set  furth,  for  ye  better  instructioun  of  young 
chyldrene  in  ye  art  of  grammer,  to  be  taucht  in  scholia, 
diuerse  volumes  following  That  is  to  say  Ane  schort  Intro- 
ductioun  Elementar  digestit  into  sevin  breve  taiblis  for  y« 
commodius  expedition  of  yame  yat  ar  desirous  to  read  and 
write  the  Scottis  toung,  Orthoepia  trilinguis,  compendiarite 
latinfe  linguiE  notae,  Calographis  index.  Tables  manuall 
brevelie  introducing  y'  vnioun  of  y'  partis  of  orisoun  in 
greik  and  latene  speichis  with  thair  accidencis,  Medita- 
tiones  in  grainaticam  dispauterianam,  Meditationes  in  pub- 
lium  memographum  et  sapientum  dicta,  Trilinguis  literaturs 
Syntaxis,  Trilinguis  grammaticae  qusestiones,  Ane  instruc- 
tioun for  baimis  to  be  lernit  in  Scottis  and  latene,  Ane 
regement  for  educatioun  of  zoung  gcntillmen  in  literature  et 
virtuous  exercitioun,  Ane  A  B  C  for  scottis  men  to  reid  the 
fi-enche  toung  with  ane  exhortatioun  to  y°  nobUs  of  Scotland 
to  favour  yair  aid  fi-iendis.  The  geneologie  of  Inglische 
Britonis,  Quotidiani  Sermonis  formulae,  E  Pub.  Terentii 
Afri  comediis  discerpla." — Special  licence  granted  to  him  for 
the  sole  printing  of  the  above  for  the  space  of  ten  years,  &c. 
At  Edinburgh,  August  26,  1559.  (Register  of  Privy  Seal, 
Vol.  XXX,  fol.  5.) 

Note  D.  p.  222. 

Ante'Reformation  in  Scotland. — Notwithstanding  the 
learned  and  useful  labours  of  several  foreign  writers,  justice 
has  not  yet  been  done  to  the  history  of,  what  may  be  called, 
the  ante-reformation.  Considering  the  honour  which  it  doea 
to  England,  it  is  surprising  that  no  individual  of  that  nation 
has  attempted  accurately  to  trace  the  progress  of  that  light 
which  was  struck  out  by  Wicliffe,  and  the  influence  which  his 
opinions  had  in  exposing  established  errors,  and  in  exciting 
and  maintaining  a  spirit  of  opposition  to  the  abuses  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  both  in  Britain  and  on  the  Continent 
What  a  meagre  and  uninteresting  life  have  we  of  the  Eng* 
lish  Proto-Reformer,  tlie  most  wonderful  main  of  his  age,  or 
who  had  appeared  in  the  world  for  many  centuries  !  And, 
since  the  meritorious  labours  of  the  martyrologist  Fox,  what 
has  been  done  to  connect  the  exertions  of  Wichffe  with 
those  of  Tindal  and  Cranmer  1  although  there  is  scarcely  a 
city  in  England,  I  am  persuaded,  whose  records  would  not 
furnish  an  accession  to  the  materials  for  such  a  work  already 
deposited  in  her  public  libraries. 

It  is  known,  from  our  common  histories,  that  the  senti- 
ments taught  by  WiclifTe  were  embraced  by  many  respecta- 
ble families  in  the  south-west  parts  of  Scotland.  (Knox, 
Hist.  2.  Spote.  60.)  Before  the  year  1500,  Murdoch  Nisbet, 
being  driven  from  his  native  country,  procured  a  copy  of  the 


NOTES. 


383 


New  Testament  in  manuscript  (of  Wicliffe's  translation,  no 
doubt)  which  on  his  return  he  concealed  in  a  vault,  and  read 
to  his  family  and  acquaintance  during  the  night.  This  was 
preserved  as  a  legacy  in  his  family  till  the  end  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  (Life  of  John  Nisbet  in  Hardhill,  p.  3.) 
Gordon  of  Earlstoun  was  an  early  favourer  of  the  disciples 
of  Wiclifie,  and  had  in  his  possession  a  copy  of  the  New 
Testament  in  the  vulgar  language,  which  was  read  at  meet- 
ings held  in  a  wood  near  to  Earlstoun  house.  (Wodrow,  ii. 
67.)  Some  additional  particulars  respecting  these  witnesses 
for  truth  are  contained  in  a  rare  poem,  by  John  Davidson  : 
A  Memorial  of  Robert  Campbell  of  Kinyeancleugh  and  his 
wife,  Elizabeth  Campbell.     (Edin.  1595.) 

But  to  be  plainer  is  no  skaith, 

Of  surname  they  were  Campbells  baith : 

Of  ancient  blood  of  the  Cuntrie 

They  were  baith  of  Genealogie  : 

He  of  the  Shirefs  house  of  Air 

Long  noble  famous  and  preclair  ; 

Scho  of  a  gude  and  godly  stock 

Came  of  the  old  house  of  Cesnok  : 

Quhais  Lard  of  many  yeares  bygane, 

Professed  Christs  religion  piaine  : 

Yea  eighty  yeares  sensyne  and  mare, 

As  I  heard  aged  men  declare  : 

And  als  a  cunning  Scottish  Clark, 

Called  Alisius  in  a  wark 

Written  to  James  the  fifth  our  king, 

Dois  this  man  for  his  purpose  bring  : 

Quha  being  to  the  scaffold  led 

In  Edinburgh  to  have  thold  dead, 

For  Christs  Evangell  quhilk  he  red. 

By  James  the  fourth  from  death  was  fred : 

Some  says  death  was  alswel  prepard 

For  Priest  and  Lady  as  the  Lard  : 

This  story  I  could  not  passe  by. 

Being  so  well  worth  memory  : 

"Whereby  most  clearlie  we  may  see. 

How  that  the  Papists  loudly  lie  : 

Who  our  religion  so  oft  cald 

A  faith  but  of  fiftie  yeare  aid  : 

When  euen  in  Scotland  we  may  see 

It  hes  bene  mair  than  thrise  fiftie  : 

As  by  the  storie  ye  may  knaw 

Of  Reshbt  burnt  before  Paul  Chaw 

The  thousand  yeare  four  hundredthe  five. 

In  Pehth,  while  Husse  was  yet  aliue. 

(A  Memorial,  &c.  sig.  a  6.) 

Spotswood  says,  that  John  Resby,  an  Englishman,  was 
"de  schola  Wicliffi."  Petrie,  by  mistake,  says  he  was 
"  burnt  at  Glancow."  (Hist.  557.)  Paul  Craw,  burnt  at 
St.  Andrews  in  the  year  1452,  was  a  native  of  Bohemia. 
(Spots.  56.)  At  a  Congregation  of  the  University  of  St. 
Andrews,  held  on  the  tenth  day  of  June  1416,  it  was  enacted 
that  all  who  commenced  masters  of  arts  should  swear,  among 
other  things,  that  they  would  resist  all  adherents  of  the  sect 
of  Lollards.  "  Item  Jurabitis  quod  ecclesiam  defendetis 
contra  insultum  lollardorum,  et  quibuseunque  eorum  secte 
adherentibus  pro  posse  vestro  resistetis,"  (Rec.  of  Univer- 
sity.) 

Some  interesting  particulars  respecting  the  early  state  of 
the  reformation  in  Fifeshire  are  given  in  the  second  edition 
of  the  Biographia  Britannica  from  a  MS.  in  the  possession 
of  the  family  to  whose  ancestor  they  relate.  John  Andrew 
Duncan,  a  son  of  the  laird  of  Airdrie,  in  Fife,  was  induced 
by  youthful  ardour  to  leave  the  University  of  St.  Andrews  in 
1513,  along  with  some  of  his  fellow-students,  and  to  join  the 
standard  of  James  IV.  at  the  head  of  a  few  of  his  father's 
tenants.  He  was  taken  prisoner  at  the  battle  of  Flowden. 
Being  a  young  man  of  gallant  appearance,  he  was  treated 
with  indulgence  by  the  Earl  of  Surrey,  and  when  carried 
into  Yorkshire  was  suffered  to  reside  at  large  in  the  town  of 
Beverley,  with  Mr.  Alexander  Burnet,  a  near  relation  of  his 
mother.  Burnet,  who  was  a  zealous  Wicliffite,  found  his 
young  kinsman  disposed  to  listen  to  his  religious  principles. 
A  spirit  of  inquiry,  with  a  passion  for  exposing  to  contempt 
the  abuse  of  reason  and  religion,  had  already  distinguished 


young  Duncan  at  St.  Andrews,  His  conversation  with 
Mr.  Burnet  raised  to  a  degree  of  enthusiasm  the  aversion 
he  had  before  conceived  against  some  of  the  absurdities  of 
the  Church  of  Rome.  Upon  the  termination  of  the  short 
contest  with  England,  he  returned  to  his  native  country  ; 
but,  having  joined  the  party  that  opposed  the  regency  of  the 
Duke  of  Albany,  he  was  soon  obliged  to  return  to  Bever- 
ley. His  friend  reproved  him  for  abetting  factions  in  which 
neither  the  religion  nor  liberties  of  his  country  had  any 
concern ;  and  having  exacted  from  him  a  promise  that  he 
would  reserve  his  activity  for  a  better  cause,  gave  him  his 
daughter  in  marriage.  When  Albany  took  his  final  depar- 
ture into  France,  Duncan  returned  to  Scotland,  and  passed 
about  ten  years  in  the  enjoyment  of  domestic  tranquillity  at 
Airdrie,  and  in  literary  intercourse  with  the  members  of  the 
neighbouring  University  of  St.  Andrews.  The  opinions 
and  spirit  of  the  reformers  were  now  more  openly  avowed, 
and  the  house  of  Airdrie  became  occasionally  the  resort  of 
the  chief  maintainers  of  the  new  doctrines.  This  led  him 
into  a  particular  intimacy  with  Patrick  Hamilton,  the  proto- 
martyr  of  the  Reformation  in  Scotland,  who  was  insidious- 
ly drawn  into  a  dispute  at  St.  Andrews  by  the  artificers  of 
Beaton,  and  in  1527  fell  a  sacrifice  to  the  malice  and  bigot- 
ry of  his  persecutors.  The  young  laird  of  Airdrie,  who 
suspected  the  event,  and  had  been  himself  threatened,  armed 
and  mounted  about  a  score  of  his  tenants  and  servants,  in- 
tending to  enter  St.  Andrews  by  night,  most  probably  with 
the  view  of  rescuing  his  friend,  and  carrying  him  off  to 
some  place  of  safety.  But  his  small  party  was  surrounded, 
and  himself  apprehended  by  a  troop  of  horsemen,  com- 
manded by  Patrick  Duncanson,  a  gentleman  of  Angus, 
who  had  married  his  sister.  It  is  doubtful  whether  Duncan- 
son  engaged  in  this  enterprise  from  a  desire  to  preserve  the 
life  of  his  brother-in-law,  or  to  obtain  his  property,  which 
Duncan,  being  forced  to  leave  the  country,  made  over  to  his 
sister's  children.     (Biog.  Brit.  v.  492.) 

Such  is  the  account  given  in  the  Biographia,  on  the  au- 
thority of  the  MS.  history  of  the  family,  I  have  reason  to 
think  that  some  of  the  particulars  are  not  correctly  stated. 
It  is  stated  that  Mark  Duncan,  doctor  of  medicine  and  pro- 
fessor of  philosophy  at  Saumur  in  the  beginning  of  the  17th 
century,  was  the  grandson  of  John  Andrew  Duncan,  and 
was  born  in  England.  But  the  truth  is,  that  this  learned 
man  was  a  native  of  Scotland.  This  appears  from  the 
verses  of  his  son,  Mark,  (known  in  France  as  a  wit  and  a 
soldier  by  the  name  of  De  Cerisaiites,)  prefixed  to  a  work 
of  bis  father's.  (Marci  Duncani  Institut.  Logicae,  3''*  Salm* 
1643.) 

Ecce  Caledoniis  Dvncanvs  natus  in  oris^ 
And  again,  addressing  the  book :' 

Scotia  cumprimis  pernice  adeunda  volatu", 
Namque  patrem  tellus  edidit  ilia  tuum. 

If  any  other  proof  of  this  fact  be  wanting,  it  is  supplied 
by  the  following  document.  "  Carolus,  &c.  Cerium  facimus 
et  testamur  prenominatum  Marcum  Duncanum  legitimum 
ex  legitimo  matrimonio  et  generosis  parentibus,  oriundum 
esse,  splendidisque  familiis  tarn  a  paterno  quam  a  materno- 
genere  descendisse,  patre  scilicet  generoso  viro  Thomae  Dun- 
cano  de  Maxpofle  infra  Vicecomitatum  nrum  de  Roxburgh, 
avo  etiam  generoso  viro  Joanne  Duncano  de  Logie  infra 
Vicecomitatum  nrum  de  Perth,"  &c.  &c,  (Litera  Prosapise 
Marci  Duncani  Medicina  Doctoris  in  inclyta  civitate  Sal- 
muriensis  in  Gallia,  Oct.  5.  1639.  MSS.  Diplom.  in  Bibl. 
Jurid.  Edin.  W.  6.  26.  p.  23.)  A  letter  from  Mark  Duncan 
("  A  Saumure  le  14  d'Aoust  1639")  requesting  this  attes- 
tation of  his  pedigree,  and  another  from  his  son,  Fr.  Duncan 
Sainte  Helene,  are  preserved  among  the  Scots-tarvet  Papers. 
(Ibid.  A.  3.  19,  Nos.  82,  87.) 

Note  E.  p,  223.- 

Of  JHelvitle's  academical  education. — The  following 
is  the  matriculation  list  for  the  year  in  which  he  entered  the 
university. 

Decimus  Rectoratus  Mgri  Joannis  Douglasii,  prsepositi 

Novi  CoIIegii  Mariani  1559.         >.      -  .    .     ,,      ^"^:\. 


384 


NOTES. 


Noia  Incoporatonim  sub  eodem  Anno  suprascripto,  scili- 
cet 1559. 


In  Novo  Collegio  Mariano 
Thomas  Maytlande 
Jacobus  Lundie 
Robertus  Lundie 
Michael  Wemis 
Joannes  Ramsay 
Andreas  Mailuile 
Joannes  Moncur 
Jacobus  Lowsone 
Jacobus  Hamyltoun 
Duncanus  Skeyne 
Jacobus  FuUartoun 


In  Collegio  LeonarJino 
Joannes  Gordoun 
David  Leirmonth 
Robertus  Leirmonth 
Valterus  Heclyng 
Gulielmus  Collace 
Andreas  Symsone 
Archibaldus  Hoige 
Gulielmus  Braidfute 
Thomas  Beggart 
Archibaldus  Bankheid 
David  Houesone 
Johannes  Roull 


"  None  (says  Dr.  Lee)  are  mentioned  as  having  entered 
St.  Salvator's  College  this  year,  but  in  1560  there  are  more 
in  that  seminary  than  in  both  the  others  ;  or  to  speak  more 
correctly,  in  1560  there  are  seveii  in  St.  Mary's,  four  in  St. 
Leonard's,  and  seventeen  in  St.  Sahator's. — There  is  a  red 
line  under  Jacobng  Loiosone.  I  have  reason  to  believe  that 
this  was  drawn  by  the  pen  of  Andrew  Melville,  as  there  are 
some  marginal  notes  throughout  the  volume,  which  appear  to 
me  to  be  in  his  handwriting,  all  in  red  ink.  Similar  lines 
are  drawn  under  such  names  as  RoberUis  Kilpont,  Johan- 
nes Rove,  and  Johannes  Robertsoun,  in  1545." 

That  Melville  took  his  degrees  at  St.  Andrews,  is  attested 
by  his  nephew.  (Diary,  p.  33.)  This  is  not  authenticated 
by  the  records  of  the  universitj',  which  are  defective  at  this 
period.  In  1562  there  are  only^i^e  bachelors,  and  in  1563 
eight  masters  of  arts.  In  1564  there  is  no  list  of  either 
bachelors  or  masters. 

Note  F.  p.  226. 

Civil  JLav)  prohibited  to  be  taught  in  the  University 
of  Paris, — The  author  of  "  Melanges  tires  d'une  g^rande 
Bibliotheque,"  (tom.  ix,  pp.  245 — 6.  a  Paris,  1 780,)  says, 
that  Roman  Law  was  taught  in  the  University  of  Paris 
from  the  first  discovery  of  the  Pandects,  and  that  Budseus 
was  appointed  professor  of  it  in  the  Royal  College  by  Fran- 
cis I.  I  suspect  that  Budseus  never  held  that  situation.  It 
is  true,  that  occasional  lectures  on  this  science  were  delivered 
at  Paris.  (Sec  above,  page  226.)  But  these  were  of  an 
extraordinary  kind,  similar  to  "  shagling  lectures"  in  Eng- 
land, (Wood's  Athenae,  by  Bliss,  vol.  i.  col.  43.)  which  were 
read  by  individuals  who  obtained  a  dispensation  to  this  pur- 
pose, in  consequence  of  the  celebrity  which  they  had  ob- 
tained in  their  profession.  The  writer  above  referred  to 
endeavours  to  explain  away  the  prohibition  of  Honorius  III. 
by  alleging  that  it  refers  only  to  ecclesiastics ;  but  it  is  suffi- 
cient to  read  the  papal  decree  to  be  satisfied  that  it  does  not 
admit  of  such  an  interpretation.  It  proceeded  not  only  on 
the  ground  of  the  University  of  Paris  being  properly  a  sem- 
inary of  theology,  but  also  upon  the  assumed  fact,  that 
causes  were  not  decided  in  that  part  of  France  upon  the 
principles  of  Roman  Law.  (Bulaeus,  Hist.  Univ.  Paris, 
tom.  iii.  96.)  In  1562,  a  request  was  presented,  in  behalf 
of  certain  students,  driven  by  the  civil  war,  from  the  other 
French  universities,  that  the  doctors  of  canon  law  should  be 
permitted  to  read  lectures  on  civil  law.  But  it  was  not 
granted.  In  1568,  a  permission  of  this  kind  was  granted, 
on  the  powerful  consideration,  that  young  men  were  in 
danger  of  imbibing  heretical  opinions  at  the  other  sem- 
inaries; but  in  1572,  the  universities  of  Orieans,  Poitiers, 
&c.  obtained  a  decree,  prohibiting  the  canonists  of  Paris  from 
granting  licenses  to  advocates.  This  decree,  though  super- 
seded for  some  time,  was  finally  confirmed  in  1579.  (lb. 
tom.  vi.  p.  552,  658,  662,  727.)  The  author  of  Melan- 
ges (ut  sup.  p.  248.)  insists,  but  without  good  reason,  that 
the  ordonnance  of  Blois  in  1579  merely  prohibited  the 
taking  of  a  degree  in  civil  law,  unless  the  person,  at  the 
same  time,  graduated  in  canon  law. 

The  following  facts  and  illustrations,  for  which  I  am  in- 
debted to  Dr.  David  Irving,  will  set  the  matter  in  a  clearer 
light.  In  the  year  1220,  Pope  Honorius  the  third  strictly 
prohibited  the  civil  law  from  being  taught  in  Paris,  or  any 
place  adjacent     "  Sane  licet  sancta  ccclesia  legum  seculari- 


nm  non  respuat  famulatum,  qus  squitatis  et  justitis  vestigia 
imitantur :  quia  tamen  in  Francia  et  nonnuUis  prnvinciis 
laici  Romanorum  imperatorum  legibus  non  utuntur,  et  oc- 
currunt  raro  ecclesiasticaj  causae  tales,  quse  non  possint  statu- 
tis  canonicis  expediri ;  ut  plenius  sacrae  paginae  insistatur: 
firmiter  inlerdicimus,  et  districtius  inhibemus,  ne  Parisiia, 
vel  civitatibus,  seu  aliis  locis  vicinis  quisquam  docere  vel 
audire  jus  civile  praesumal."  (Decret  Gregor.  ix.  lib.  v.  tit. 
xxxiii.  §  28.)  The  spirit  of  this  law  is  sufficiently  explain- 
ed in  an  ordonnance  of  Philippe  le  Bel,  issued  in  the  year 
1312.  "  Ut  autum  liberius  ibidem  studium  proficeret  theo- 
logiae,  primogenitores  nostri  non  permiserunt  legum  sscula- 
rium,  seu  juris  civilis,  studium  ibidem  institui,  quinimo  id 
etiam  interdici,  sub  excommunicationis  poena  per  sedem  apos- 
tolicam  procurarunt."  (Terrasson,  Hist,  de  la  Jurisprw 
dence  Romaine,  p.  442.) 

That  the  same  prohibition  continued  in  force  during  the 
sixteenth  century,  is  clearly  evinced  by  an  anecdote  of  the 
great  civilian  Cujacius.  The  civil  wars  having  obliged  him 
to  relinquish  his  station  in  the  university  of  Bourges,  he  re- 
tired to  Paris ;  where  he  could  not  be  permitted  to  read  lec- 
tures on  the  civil  law  without  a  special  dispensation.  By 
an  arrest  of  the  Parliament  of  Paris,  dated  on  the  second 
of  April  1576,  he  was  authorized  to  teach  in  the  university 
and  in  conjunction  with  the  professors  of  the  canon  law,  to 
confer  degrees  in  his  own  faculty.  "  Ladite  Cour,  attenda 
la  qualit^  du  tenis,  et  sans  tirer  a  consequence,  a  permis  et 
permet  audit  Cujas  faire  lectures  et  profession  en  droit  civil 
en  Tuniversite  de  Paris,  a  tels  jours  et  henres  qu'il  sera  pai 
lui  avise,  avec  les  docteurs-regens  en  droit  canon  en  cette 
ville  :  permettant  audit  Cujas  et  doctcurs  donncr  les  degres 
a  ceux  qu'ils  trouveront  avoir  fait  cours  le  tems  requis,  et 
selon  que  par  I'examen  ils  les  auront  trouves  capables  :  vali- 
dant  ce  qui  aura  ete  fait  en  cette  part,  comme  si  fait  avoit 
^t^  en  I'une  des  autres  universites  faraeuses  de  ce  royaume." 
This  arrest  may  be  found  at  the  end  of  Terrasson's  History 
of  Roman  Jurisprudence. 

The  prohibition  of  teaching  the  civil  law  at  Paris  was  soon 
aflerwards  renewed  by  the  ordonnance  of  Blois,  issued  in 
the  year  1579  ;  and  it  was  only  removed  by  an  edict  which 
the   Parliament  registered  on  the  eighth  of  May  1679. 

Note  G.  p.  228. 

Of  Henry  Scrimger. — It  has  been  stated  by  different 
writers  that  this  learned  man  was  allied  to  the  ancient  and 
honourable  house  of  Diddup.  His  gcnealogj'  may  be  more 
exactly  traced  from  the  diary  of  James  Melville.  That  writer, 
in  speaking  of  Scrimger,  calls  him  "  my  cam."  (Diary,  p.  35.) 
The  word  earn  or  eme  (from  the  French  amie,  a  friend  or 
relation,)  had  then  the  appropriate  meaning  of  uncle.  Thus, 
Alexander  Erskine  of  Gogar,  Master  of  Mar,  is  called  eme 
to  the  Earl  of  Mar,  and  in  the  same  document  he  is  called 
his  uncle.  (Act.  Pari.  Scot.  iii.  158,  159.  com  p.  101,  102.) 
Again,  James  Melville  calls  Alexander  Young  "  my  cousing ;" 
(lb.  p.  26.)  and  we  know  that  Young's  mother  was  sister  of 
Henry  Scrimger's.  (See  above,  p.  231.)  Now  James  Mel- 
ville's mother  was  "  Isabell  Scrymgeour,  sister  to  the  laird  of 
Glaswell  for  the  time."  (Diary,  p.  14.)  It  is  proper,  how- 
ever, to  state,  that  the  only  ground  which  I  have  for  saying 
that  H^alter  was  the  name  of  the  father  of  Henry  Scrimger, 
is  the  following  :  "  Oct.  1.  1549.  Jacobus  Scrymgeor  htcres 
Walteri  Scrymgeor  de  Glaswell  patris."  (fnquis.  Spec.  Re- 
torn.  Perth,  num  8.  comp.  num.  40.) 

Scrimger  distinguished  himself  at  the  university  of  St. 
Andrews.  In  the  register  of  graduations  for  the  year  1534, 
after  "  Rotulus  gracioeus,"  containing  the  names  of  three 
who  obtained  the  degree  of  master  "  propter  importunas 
supplicationes,"  there  follows  :  "  Rotulus  istorum  sequeciu 
rigorosus  secundum  rigorem  examinis  et  meritorum.  Hen. 
Scrimgeo'  pus :"  intimating  that  he  was  placed  at  the  head 
of  the  list,  not  in  virtue  of  his  rank,  but  in  consequence  of 
his  having  submitted  to  a  strict  examination.  In  1533,  when 
he  passed  bachelor,  he  is  marked  d.  or  dives,  and  of  St.  Sal- 
vator's college. 

It  appears  from  his  preface  to  the  Greek  text  of  Justinian's 
Novells,  that  Scrimger  intended  to  publish  a  Latin  version 
of  that  work,  as  well  as  annotations  on  it  His  edition  is 
mentioned  with  commendation  by  several  civilians.     Cuja« 


NOTES. 


385 


says  :  "  In  postrema  editione  Novellarum,  quam  Henricus 
Scrimgerus  vir  doctissimus  hoc  anno  procuravit,  qua  re  equi- 
dem  pro  mea  parte  ei  multum  me  debere  confiteor."  (Cuja- 
cii  Observ.  p.  167.     Col.  Agrip.  1591,  8vo.) 

The  only  other  work  which  he  appears  to  have  published, 
was  a  history  of  the  case  of  Spira.  It  was  printed  along  with 
the  narratives  of  the  same  case,  written  by  Petrus  Paulus  Ver- 
gerius,  Malthteus  Gribaldus,  and  Sigismundus  Gelous,  under 
the  following  title :  "  Francisci  Spierae,  qui  quod  susceptam 
semel  Euagelice  ueritatis  professione  abnegasset,  damnas- 
setq  ;  in  horrenda  incidit  desperationem,  Historia,  A  quatuor 
summis  uiris  summa  lide  conscripta,  cum  clariss :  uirorum 
Prefationibus,  CEelii  S.  C,  &  Jo.  Caluini,  &  Petri  Pauli  Ver- 
gerii  Apologia :  in  quibus  multa  hoc  tempore  scitu  digna 
grauissime  tractantur.  Accessit  quoq ;  Martini  Borrhai,  de 
usu  quern  Spicrse  turn  exemplum,  tum  doctrina  efferat,  indi- 
cium. 2  Petri  2.  Satius  fuisset  eis  non  cognouisse  uiam  ius- 
titite,"  &c.  12°  p.  200,  including  Index,  besides  seven  leaves 
at  beginning :  a  to  m  in  eights.  It  has  neither  name  of 
printer,  place,  nor  date,  but  was  probably  printed  at  Basil 
in  1550  or  1551.  At  p.  62,  Scrimger's  narrative  commen- 
ces:  "Exemplum  memorabile  desperationis  in  Francisco 
Spira  propter  abiuratam  fidei  confessionem  Henrico  Scoto 
autore."  And  extends  to  the  end  of  p.  95.  It  begins: 
"  Citadella  est  agri  Patauini  municipium  non  ignobile.  in 
eo  Franciscus  Spira  fuit,  homo,  cum  inter  suos  imprimis 
honestus  ac  locuples,"  &c.  Speaking  of  Scrimger's  narra- 
tive, Ccelius  Secundus  Curio  says,  in  his  preface;  "Alte- 
rius  explicator  et  scriptor  Henricus  est  natione  Scotus, 
homo  doctus,  disertus,  grauis,  et  quod  ad  historia  scribendam 
lequiritur  maxime  lidelis  et  bonus." 

Scrimger  left  his  library  to  his  nephew,  Peter  Young, 
whose  brother  Alexander  brought  it  to  Scotland.  (Smith, 
Vita  Petri  Junii,  p.  4.)  Buchanan,  at  Young's  desire,  offer- 
ed his  MSS.  to  Christopher  Plantin  to  print.  (Epist.  xii. 
xiii.)  Casaubon  obtained  the  use  of  his  notes  on  Strabo, 
and  applied  for  those  of  Polybius,  when  he  published  his 
editions  of  these  authors.  (Casaub.  Epist.  p.  182,  306. 
edit.  Almel.)  he  speaks  very  highly  of  them  in  his  letters  to 
Young,  but  has  been  accused  of  not  duly  acknowledging  his 
obligations  in  his  printed  works.  It  appears  from  Casaubon's 
letters  that  Scrimger  was  allied  to  Henry  Stephens  by 
marriage.  (Comp.  Maittaire,  Stephan,  Hist.  p.  238,  249.) 
A  letter  of  Scrimger's  is  inserted  in  that  work.  (P.  239.) 
The  following  is  the  most  particular  account  that  I  have  met 
with  of  the  ancient  authors  on  whom  he  left  notes,  and  of 
the  number  of  manuscripts  of  each  from  which  he  collected 
his  various  readings. 

Demosthcnem  cum  quinque  Manuscriptis  diversis 

Thucydidem  cum  duobus 

Herodotum  cum  2''"' 

Strabonum  cum  3*"" 

Gorgiam  Platonis  cum  1" 

Arrianum  de  gestis  Alexaudri  cum  2*" 

Xenophontem  cum  3'^"' 

Plutarchi  Opuscula  cum  S*""' 

Ejusdem  Vitas  cum  2"""' 

Phorniturn    et   Palefutum,    (Phornuthum    et    Palaepha- 

tum)   cum    antiquo   plane   diverso   ac  prope  alio   ab 

impresso. 
Harpocrationem  cum  1° 
Eusebii  historiam  Ecclesiasticam,  Theodoreti,  Socratis  et 

aliorum    2'""  multis  locis  non  solum  emendatam,   sed 

integris  fere  paginis  auctam 
Animadversiones  in  Diogenem :  in  Platonem  :  in   Laer- 

tium:  in  Euclidem  ;  in  Athenaeum :  in  Herodianum : 

in  Theonis   sophistae    progymnasmata:    in   Diodorum 

Siculum  :  in  Lysise  xoyr,v  i?riTA(fic :  in  Apollonium  gra- 

maticum :  Heliodori   Ethiopica. 
(Dav.   Buchananus    De  Scriptoribus   Scotis   Illustribus, 

num.  54.     MS.  in  Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.  W.  6.  34.) 

To  this  list  may  be  added  (from  Dempster,  587.)  "  Ba- 
silico  Ubros,"  and  (from  Tanner)  "  Ciceronis  Philo- 
sophica." 

The  following  verses  to  his  memory  are  by  an  unknown 
poet. 

Scrimgerus  vitam  exegit  ter  lustra  quaterna 
Tresque  annos,  testa;  fictilis  hospes  ovans, 
2  Y 


Scotia  cui  natale  solum,  fatale   Geneva, 
Gallia  Atheneum,  Roma  magisterium, 

Amphitheatrum  orbis  totus,  Germania  census, 
Doctnnarum  orbis  laus,  patria  alma  polus. 

(D.  Buch.  ut  supra,  num.  54.) 

Note  H.  p.  231. 

Of  a  suppressed  political  tract  of  Beza. — The  follow- 
ing extract  from  the  records  of  the  city  of  Geneva  relates  to 
this  tract.  "  30  dit  (Juillet,  1573.)  Livre  de  Monsieur  de 
Beze  defendu.  Monsieur  do  Beze  aiant  compose  et  fait  im- 
primer  un  livre,  intitule  Be  Jure  Magistratiium,  lequel 
aiant  ete  examin^  par  les  Seign"  Varro,  Bernard  et  Reset, 
il  fut  trouve  que  ledit  livre  n'etoit  pas  de  saison,  quoi  qu'il  ne 
contient  rien  que  de  vrai ;  mais  parce  qu'il  auroit  pu  causer 
des  troubles,  on  en  suprima  I'impression  de  meme  que  les  ex- 
emplaires  qui  en  avoient  ete  deja  faicts."  (Recueil  de  diver- 
ses  particularitez  concernant  Geneve,  p.  123.  MS.  Bibl. 
Jurid.  Edin.) 

Though  suppressed  by  order  of  the  senate,  copies  of  this 
work  got  abroad  ;  and  it  was  frequently  reprinted,  both  in 
Latin  and  French.  The  first  edition  is  sometimes  mentioned 
as  printed  in  1573,  and  sometimes  in  1574.  (General 
Dictionary.  His.  and  Crit.  vol.  x.  p.  311,  327.)  In  1576,  it 
was  printed  in  French  and  in  Latin.  In  1578,  a  French 
edition  appeared  with  the  following  title :  "  Du  droit  des 
Magistrats  sur  leur  subjcts.  Traicte  tres  nccessaire  en  cc 
temps,  pour  avertir  de  leur  devoir  tant  les  Magistrats  qyc  les 
subjets :  publii  par  ceux  de  Magdehourgh  Van  m.  d.  l.  : 
&  maintenant  reveu  &  angmente  des  plusieurs  raisons 
&  examples."  De  Thou  and  Baylc  were  both  deceived  by 
the  words  here  printed  in  Italics,  and  concluded  that  this  was 
a  new  edition,  with  additions,  of  a  book  published  in  1550. 
But  these  words  were  inserted  by  the  publisher  for  the  pur- 
pose of  concealment;  no  such  book  was  published  in  1550  ; 
and  this  is  merely  another  edition  of  the  treatise  De  Jure 
jyZagistratuum  in  stibditos,  et  officio  svhditorum  erga 
JUagistratus,  originally  printed  at  Geneva  in  1573.  (See 
the  Critique  on  Bayle's  Dissertation  on  the  Book  of  Stepha- 
nus  Junius  Brutus,  by  the  Parisian  Editor  of  his  Dictionary, 
§  xi.  xxxiii.)  It  is  inserted  in  a  collection  of  political  tracts 
by  Joan  Nicol.  Stupanus,  Professor  of  Medicine  at  Basil, 
printed  at  Montbelliard,  in  1599 ;  and  in  a  valuable  historical 
work,  entitled,  "  Memoires  de  I'Estat  de  France,  sous  Charles 
ix."  (tom,  ii.  p.  483—522.  Anno  1578.) 

The  learned  arc  now  agreed  in  ascribing  the  Vindicias' 
contra  Tyr annos  to  Hubert  Languet.  But  Beza  was  long 
suspected  of  being  the  author  of  that  work.  The  first  wri- 
ter, so  far  as  I  knov?,  who  named  him  as  the  author  of  the 
treatise  De  Jure  ^lagistratmim,  was  Sutcliffe,  in  one  of 
his  controversial  pieces  against  the  Presbyterians.  This  was 
denied  by  some  of  the  defenders  of  Beza.  John  Beccaria, 
who  wrote  a  refutation  of  it  in  1590,  supposes  it  to  be  the 
production  of  a  lawyer, — "versatum  in  Uteris  humanis,  prse- 
sertim  historiis,  atque  si  divinare  licet  Icguleium,  in  divinis 
haud  adeo  multum."  (Rcfut.  cujusdam  Libeili,  p.  9.)  The 
extract  which  I  have  given  at  the  beginning  of  this  note 
shows  that  SutcliiTe  was  right  in  his  conjecture. 

The  treatise  is  well  written  and  well  reasoned.  The  prin' 
ciples  which  it  maintains  are  the  same  with  those  of  the 
Vindicix :  indeed  Languet's  work  is  properly  an  enlarge." 
ment  of  Beza's.  But  the  latter  is  more  guarded  than  the 
former,  both  in  the  questions  which  it  agitates,  and  in  the 
language  which  it  holds  upon  them.  It  is  however  far  from 
being  undecided  or  evasive.  The  following  propositions, 
among  others,  are  advanced  and  confirmed  by  reason,  Scrip- 
ture, and  history  :  That  the  authority  of  God  only  is  abso- 
lute and  unlimited ;  that  when  irreligious  or  unjust  com- 
mands are  laid  on  us  we  are  not  merely  to  decline  obeying 
them,  but  also  to  act  in  such  a  manner  as  to  discharge  our 
duty  to  God  and  our  neighbour;  that  every  kind  of  resistance 
by  subjects  to  their  superiors  is  not  unlawful  and  seditious  ; 
that  rulers  are  created  for  the  people  and  not  the  people  for 
rulers;  that  a  just  resistance  by  arms  is  not  inconsistent 
with  christian  patience  and  prayer ;  ("  I  extol  Christian 
patience  as  a  distinguished  virtue;  I  detest  sedition  and  every 
kind  of  confusion ;  I  acknowledge  that  prayer  and  repentance 
are  proper  remedies  against  tyranny,  when  it  is  sent  by  God 
23 


386 


NOTES. 


as  a  judgment  and  a  scourge :  but  I  deny  that,  on  this  ac- 
count, it  is  unlawful  for  a  people  oppressed  by  manifest  tyran- 
ny to  use  other  just  remedies  along  with  prayer  and  repen- 
tance ;")  that  it  is  the  duty  of  all  to  oppose  those  who  en- 
deavour to  usurp  dominion  over  their  fellow-citizens  :  that  a 
usurper  may  become  a  lawful  magistrate,  by  obtaining  the 
consent  of  the  people ;  that  magistrates  may  be  resisted 
though  they  should  not  be  deposed  ;  that  inferior  magistrates, 
though  installed  by  the  sovereign,  do  not  depend  upon  him 
but  upon  the  sovereignty  of  the  state,  and  that  they,  and  the 
estates  or  Parliament  of  a  nation,  who  are  appointed  as  a  check 
on  the  supreme  magistrate,  may  and  ought  to  restrain  him 
when  he  violates  the  laws  and  becomes  tyrannical ;  that  ail 
kings  are  bound,  either  by  express  or  tacit  agreement,  to  rule 
justly  and  for  the  good  of  the  people  ;  that  the  public  good 
and  the  rights  of  the  people  are  paramount  to  those  of  any  in- 
dividual, however  exalted ;  that  though  private  persons  are  not 
warranted  in  ordinary  cases  to  resist  rulers  by  force,  yet  they 
may  apply  to  inferior  magistrates  for  redress,  and  concur  with 
the  estates  of  a  kingdom  in  imposing  restraints  upon  tyrants, 
or  in  emancipating  themselves  from  the  yoke  of  tyranny  ;  and 
that  although  religion  is  not  to  be  planted  or  propagated  by 
arms  or  force,  yet  when  the  true  religion  has  been  establish- 
ed in  any  nation  by  public  authority,  or  when  the  liberty  of 
professing  it  has  been  obtained,  it  is  lawful  to  maintain  and 
defend  it  by  force  against  manifest  tyranny,  and  so  much  the 
more  because  what  relates  to  conscience  and  the  souls  of  men 
is  of  greater  importance  than  mere  secular  concerns.  (Me- 
moires  de  I'Estat  de  France,  ut  supra.) 

This  appears  to  be  the  book  to  which  Hotoman  refers  in  a 
letter  to  Jaques  Capel  de  Tilloy,  (7th  Jan.  1575)  "  Nudius 
Octavus  a  Chamberi  tres  buccinatores  in  foro  Ducis  Saban- 
diae  et  Senatus  interdixerunt,  ne  qui  seum  libellum  (Franco- 
Galliam)  et  novum  alterutn  de  maffistratibus  et  veritate 
vendere  aut  domi  habere,  iegere,  contrectare  auderet."  (Ho- 
tomanorum  Epistolse,  p.  46,  47.  Amstel.  1700.)  In  another 
letter  he  mentions,  that  the  magistrates  of  Geneva  would  not 
permit  the  last  named  work,  nor  even  the  Life  of  the  Admi- 
ral, to  be  published  within  the  bounds  of  their  jurisdiction. 
Clbid.  D.  49.) 

Note  I.  p.  231. 

JHclville's  Panegyric  on  Geneva. — This  is  contained  in 
a  poem  entitled,  "  Epitaphium  Jacobi  Lindesii,  qui  obiit 
Genevae,  17.  Cal.  Jul.1580."     (Delitise  Poet.  Scot.  ii.  123.) 

Celtarum  crudele  solum,  crudelia  tandem 
Regna  dolis  Italorum  atris,  &  caede  recenii 
Carnificum  dirorum  infamia,   (Sequane  qua  se 
Obliquat  flexu  vario,  qua  Matrona  Bclgas 
Irrigat :  immitesque  Liger,  tristesque  Garumna 
Permutat  populos  :  &  gurgite  sanguinis  alti 
Qua  Rhodano  se  jungit  Arar,  sua  flumina  miscene 
Purpurea  :  exanimesque  artus  laniataque  membra 
Matrumque,  infantumque  sevi  discrimine  nuUo, 
Aut  sexus  teneri ;  vastum  protrudit  in  ajquor 
Piscibus  impastis  pastum  monstrisque  marinis) 
Exuperas  gressu  impavidus,  certusque  salutis : 
Jam  Genevam,  Genevam  ver^  pietatis  alumnam, 
Florentem  studiis  cselestibus  omine  magno 
Victor  ovans  subis :  ac  voti  jam  parte  potitus 
Jam  Bezae  dulci  alloquio  Suadsque  medulla, 
Et  succo  ambrosisB  coelesti,  &  nectaris  imbre 
Perfusus;  jam  Dancei*  immortalia  dicta, 
Cornelique  ■\  Palsestinas,  Portique  ^  Sorores 
Grajugenas:  jam  Serranal  cum  iampade,  Faii§ 
Pbcebaeas  artcs  geminas,  clarumque  Perotti  ^ 


*  Lambert  Dan6e,  Profesgor  of  Divinity  at  Geneva,  and  afterwards 
at  Onhee  in  Beam,  and  at  Leyden. 

t  Cornelius  Bonavoniura  Berlranius,  Professor  of  Hebrew  at  Geneva. 

t  Francisciis  Purtiis,  Professor  of  Greeli  there. 

II  Jean  de  Serrcs  (Serramis)  one  of  the  pastors  of  the  territory  of 
Geneva  in  1572,  and  Kecuirof  iliePr.t  "stant  College  of  Nismes  in  1578. 
He  was  dislinffuished  as  a  liislorian,  and  siispecleil,  but  8p{»rently 
with  injustice,  of  encasing  in  measures  hostile  to  the  protestant  interest 
by  erntjarking  with  those  who  were  called  Rerondlers. 

§  Antoine  de  la  Faye  (Falus)  Pastor  and  Professor  of  Tlieology  at 
Geneva.    He  was  Doctor  of  IVIediclne. 

II  Charles  Perrot,  Pastor  and  Hector  of  the  Academy  at  Geneva. 


Sidas,  Gulardique  jubar,*  lumcnque  Pinaldi,| 

Et  Stephanie  Musas  varias  operumque  labores, 

Nccnon  ingentis  Calvini  ingentia  fata, 

Et  magnum  atque  memor  Keithijl  magni,  atq  ;  sagacis 

Glaspaei  §  desiderium,  sanctique  Collessi  % 

Edoctus. 


Note  K.  p.  233. 

Specimen  of  Melville's  method  nf  private  tuition.— 
"  That  quarter  of  yeir  I  thought  I  gat  greitter  light  in  letters 
nor  all  my  time  befor  :  whowbeii  at  our  meitting  in  my  con- 
vent I  thought  I  could  haiff  taked  to  him  in  things  I  haid 
hard  as  he  did  to  me  as  a  master  of  arts,  bot  I  perceivit  at 
annes  y'  I  was  bot  an  ignorant  babble  and  wist  no'  what 
I  said  nether  could  schaw  anie  vse  y^of  bot  in  clattering 
and  crying,  he  fand  me  bauche  in  the  latin  toung, 
a  pratlcr  vpon  precepts  in  logick  w'out  anie  profit  for  the  right 
vse,  and  haiffing  soum  termes  of  art  in  Philosophic  w'out 
light  of  solid  knawledge.  yit  of  ingyne  and  capacite  guid 
aneuche  wherby  I  haid  cunned  my  dictata  and  haid  them 
ready  aneuche.  he  enterit  y^for  and  conferrit  w'  me  sum  of 
Bowchanans  Psalmes,  of  Virgill  and  Horace  qlk  twa  namlie 
Virgin  was  liis  cheiff  refreshment  efter  his  graue  studies,  wher- 
in  he  lut  me  sie  no'  onlie  the  proper  latin  langage  and  orna- 
ments of  {>oesie  bot  also  mair  guid  logik  and  philosophie 
than  ever  I  haid  hard  befor.  I  had  tean  delyt  at  the  gram- 
mar schole  to  heir  red  and  sung  the  verses  of  Virgill  takea 
wt  the  numbers  yof  (whowbeit  I  knew  no'  what  numbers 
was  till  he  tauld  me)  and  haid  mikle  of  him  par  ceur,  bot  I 
understud  never  a  lyne  of  him  till  then.  He  read  a  comedie 
of  Tyrence  w'  me  schawing  me  that  ther  was  bathe  fyne 
latin  langage  and  wit  to  be  lernit.  y'  of  langage  I  thought 
Weill  bot  for  wit  I  merveld  and  haid  no'  knawin  befor.  He 
put  in  my  hand  the  Comentares  of  Caesar  comending  him 
for  the  simple  purilie  of  the  latin  toung.  also  Salust  and 
read  W  me  the  coniuration  of  Catelinc  He  had  gottin  in 
Paris  at  his  by  coming  Bodin  his  method  of  historic  qlk  he 
read  ower  him  selff  thryse  or  four  tymes  y'  quarter,  annes 
w'  me  the  rest  whill  I  was  occupied  in  the  Greik  Grammar, 
qlk  he  put  in  hand  of  Clenard  causing  me  vnderstand  the 
precepts  onlie  and  lear  the  7rd^n^uyfxa.TaL  exactlie ;  the  prac- 
tise wherof  he  schew  me  in  my  buik  going  throw  w'  me  that 
Epistle  of  Basilius  and  causing  me  lern  it  be  hart  bothe  for 
the  langage  and  the  mater,  y'^efter  to  the  new  Testament  and 
ged  throw  sum  chapters  of  Mathew,  and  certean  comfortable 
places  of  the  epistles  namlie  the  Romans,  And  last  enter- 
ing to  the  Hebrew  I  gat  the  reiding  decly  nations  and  pro- 
nons  and  sum  also  of  the  conjugations  out  of  Martinius 
grammar  qlk  he  haid  w'  him,  and  schew  me  the  vse  of  th' 
Dictionair  also  qlk  he  haid  of  Reuclins**  w'  him.  And  all 
this  as  it  war  bot  pleying  and  craking,  sa  y'  I  lernit  mikle 
mair  by  heiring  of  him  in  daylie  conversation  bathe  that  quar- 
ter and  y''efter,  nor  ever  I  lernit  of  anie  buik,  whowbeit  he 
set  me  euer  to  the  best  authors." 

(Melville's  Diary,  p.  37,  38.) 


♦  Simon  Goulart,  Pastor  of  Geneva,  and  well  known  as  a  writer,  and 
the  correspondent  of  Scaliger,  Du  Plessis,  &c. 

t  Monsreur  Pinauld,  Pastor  of  Geneva,  (Epistres  Franc,  i  M.  de  la 
Scala.  p.  122,  267,  447.) 

t  Henry  Stephens,  the  learned  printer  of  Geneva. 

II  William  Keith,  son  of  Ixird  William  Keith,  and  brother  of  George 
Earl  Marischal,  who  was  unfortunately  killed  during  an  excursion  into 
the  country,  while  prosecuilne  his  studies  at  Geneva.  Beza,  Gaulter, 
and  other  foreien  lijterati  honoured  his  memory  with  elegies. 

§  George  Gillespie  was  a  Uegenl  in  St.  Mary's  College,  St.  Andrews, 
and  died  at  Geneva.  The  Records  of  the  University  (Jan.  6, 1575) 
mention  that  the  Kector  presented  the  accompts, — "  vice  M.  Georgii 
Gillaspie,  queestoris  facultatis  artium,  causata  ejus  aecessu  in  Galliam." 

%  William  Collace,  a  Regent  In  St.  Leonard's  College.    (See  above, 

E,  223,232.)  "-Not  tone  efter  (the  summer  of  1675)  Mr  Andro  receavit 
etters  from  Monsieur  du  Bez,  ami  iherin  amangifl  the  rest, '  CoUaceua 
renter,  exemplar  (mtnium  virttitutii,  nitper  apu3  nos  vitajTunetus  est.' 
This  was  my  guid  regent  quha  efter  the  ending  of  our  course  had  sean 
tofranceand  coming  to  Geneva  thrr  died,  agrf  at  losstollie  kirk  of  God 
in  his  countfpy,  for  he  wassolidlie  le.Trnit,  hartelie  addicted  to  divinilie, 
with  a  sincear  reilous  hart."    (Melville's  Diary,  p.  42.) 

••  John  Reuchlin,  or  Capnio,  published  his  Hebrew  Grammar  and 
Dictionary  (the  first  ever  composed  by  a  Christian  or  in  Latin)  in  the 
year  loOG.  But  perhaps  Melville  Jised  the  Dictionary  translated  from 
Hebrew  by  Anthony  Henchlin  In  1554,  and  of  which  an  abridgment  by 
Lucas  Osiander  apjieared  in  1569. 


NOTES 


387 


Note  L.  p.  233. 

Early  State  of  University  of  Glasgoiv. — At  the  solicita- 
tion of  William  TumbuU,  Bishop  of  Glasgow,  Pope  Nicholas 
V.  granted  a  bull,  dated  the  7th  of  January  1450,  constitu- 
ting "  a  General  Study  for  theology,  canon  and  civil  law,  the 
arts,  and  every  other  useful  faculty,"  at  Glasgow  ;  and  grant- 
ing to  it  all  the  rights  and  privileges  belonging  to  the  Uni- 
versity of  Bologna.  In  the  following  year  a  body  of  statutes 
for  its  government  was  prepared  by  the  bishop  and  his  chapter, 
which,  together  with  the  papal  bull,  were  confirmed,  in  1453, 
by  a  Royal  Charter  from  King  James  II.  During  the  first 
two  years  of  its  erection  more  than  a  hundred  individuals 
were  incorporated  into  it ;  but  the  most  of  these  were  not 
young  men  commencing  their  studies,  but  secular  or  regular 
ecclesiastics,  who  became  members  chiefly  for  the  sake  of  the 
honour  attached  to  a  learned  corporation,  or  of  the  immuni- 
ties to  which  it  entitled  them.  The  annals  of  the  university 
are  sufficiently  copious  in  information  respecting  its  govern- 
ment, but  they  are  almost  entirely  silent  as  to  what  is  more 
important,  the  means  of  instruction  which  it  provided,  and 
the  mode  in  which  that  instruction  was  conveyed.  So  far  as 
we  can  collect  from  scattered  hints,  it  would  seem  that  there 
was  no  stated  or  regular  teaching  in  the  higher  faculties. 
The  zeal  of  individuals  prompted  them  to  read  occasional  lec- 
tures, the  continuance  of  which  depended  on  the  caprice  of 
the  hearers,  whose  attendance  on  them  was  optional.  "  On 
the  29th  of  July,  1460,  a  venerable  man,  Master  David 
Cadyow,  precentor  of  the  church  of  Glasgow,  and  Rector  of 
the  university,  read,  in  the  Chapter-House  of  the  Predicant 
Friars  of  Glasgow,  at  nine  o'clock  ajite  meridiem,  the  title  or 
rubric  in  the  third  book  (of  the  Canon  Law)  De  vita  et 
honestate  clericorum,  in  the  presence  of  all  the  clergy  and 
masters  ;  and  he  continued  at  the  pleasure  of  the  hearers." 
On  the  same  day,  and  in  the  same  house.  Master  William 
de  Levenax  read  a  title  in  the  Civil  Law.  The  first  notice 
of  any  lecture  on  theology  is  at  a  much  later  period.  "  On 
the  23d  of  March,  1521,  a  religious  man.  Father  Robert 
Lile,  of  the  order  of  Predicant  Friars,  Bachelor  of  Theology, 
and  Prior  of  the  Convent  of  Glasgow,  hegdiW,  pro  forma,  to 
read  a  lecture  on  the  fourth  book  of  the  Sentences,  in  the 
foresaid  Monastery,  in  presence  of  the  Rector,  Dean  of  Fac- 
ulty, and  the  rest  of  the  masters;  John  Ade,  Professor  of 
Theology,  and  Provincial  of  the  whole  order  of  Scotland, 
presiding  at  the  time."  The  want  of  salaries  to  the  profes- 
sors was  doubtless  one  great  reason  of  the  rarity  of  these  lec- 
tures. Bishop  Turnbull  died  before  he  had  an  opportunity 
of  carrying  his  munificent  purposes  into  execution;*  and 
the  defect  was  not  supplied  by  his  successors,  or  by  the 
government.  With  the  exception  of  certain  small  perqui- 
sites paid  at  promotions  to  degrees,  the  university,  as  such, 
was  destitute  of  funds,  and  the  professors  of  divinity,  and  of 
canon  and  civil  law,  depended  for  their  support  on  the  bene- 
fices which  they  held  as  ecclesiastics  in  various  parts  of 
the  kingdom. 

Happily  more  attention  had  been  paid  to  the  inferior 
branches  of  learning.  These  were  taught  at  an  early  period  ; 
for  the  records  mention  the  admission  of  a  regent  of  philos- 
ophy within  two  years  after  the  erection  of  the  university. 
"  Congregatione  facultatis  artium  tenta,  &c.  1452,  28'".  Julij, 
supplicavit  venerabilis  et  religiosus  vir  Dominus  Alexander 
Geddes,  licentiatus  in  theologia,  monachus  de  Mclross,  pro 

licentia  exponendi  textum  Aristotelis  pro cujus  suppli- 

cationi  facultas  favorabiliter  inclinata  illam  quam  petiit  salvis 
suis  privilegiis  duntaxat  sibi  contulit  potestatem."  (Act. 
Fac.  Art.  Glasg.)  This  was  the  usual  way  of  admitting  a 
regent  to  teach  a  course  of  philosophy.  It  is  probable  that 
Bishop  Turnbull  had  founded  the  Pa;dagogium,  or  College, 
in  which  the  students  of  the  liberal  arts  lived  together  with 
the  masters  who  superintended  their  education.  They  resi- 
ded in  a  house  situated  on  the  south  side  of  the  Rottenrow, 
until  a  benefaction  from  Lord  Hamilton  enabled  them  to 
remove  to  the  situation  which  the  college  occupies  at  present. 
By  means  of  donations  and  bequests  from  different  individ- 
uals, a  moderate  provision  was  made  for  the  continuance  of 
regular  instruction  in  the  college.     Chaplainries,  for  the 


*  D.  Buchananus  de  Scriptoribus  Scot.  Art.  De  D.  TurnbuUo :  MS. 
in  Bibl.  Col.  Edin.    Bishop  Turnbull  died  in  1454, 


benefit  of  the  regents,  were  founded  at  difTerent  times. 
Thomas  Arthurlie  bequeathed  a  tenement  to  the  college. 
And  in  1557,  Archbishop  Beatoun  gave  to  it  the  vicarage 
of  Colmonell,  which,  with  the  glebe  acres,  is  valued,  in  the 
old  Rental  Book,  at  j£44.  13s.  4d.  (Records  of  University  ; 
and  Statist.  Account  of  Scotland,  vol.  xxi.  Appendix.)  Some 
idea  may  be  formed  of  the  nature  of  the  instruction  given 
from  the  lists,  at  the  end  of  this  note,  which  contain  the  titles 
of  books  presented  for  the  use  of  the  regents. 

The  University  of  Glasgow,  from  its  peculiar  constitution, 
necessarily  suffered  more  from  the  change  of  religion  at  the 
Reformation  than  the  other  learned  establishments  of  Scot- 
land. The  professors  in  the  higher  branches  being  all  sup- 
ported by  their  livings  in  the  church,  and  adhering  to  the  old 
religion,  successors  could  not  be  appointed  to  them  owing  to 
the  total  want  of  salaries.  It  was  so  far  a  favourable  cir- 
cumstance that  John  Davidson,  the  principal  of  the  college, 
embraced  the  reformed  doctrines,  and  continued  his  academ- 
ical labours.  By  this  means  the  most  valuable,  though  not 
the  most  dignified,  part  of  the  academy  was  preserved  from 
extinction.  But  it  also  suffered  materially  from  the  fraudu- 
lent alienation,  or  the  unjust  seizure  of  its  slender  revenues. 
To  remedy  this  evil,  the  friends  of  the  college  obtained 
from  Queen  Mary,  in  1563,  a  grant  under  the  Privy  Seal, 
founding  bursaries  for  five  poor  scholars,  and  bestowing 
certain  houses  and  lands  for  their  support  during  the  time  of 
their  education,  (Gibson's  Hist,  of  Glasgow  ;  Appendix.) 
In  1572,  the  Town  Council  of  Glasgow,  perceiving  "  that 
the  college  had  fallen  into  decay  for  want  of  funds,  and  the 
study  of  the  arts  was  nearly  extinguished  in  it  through  pov- 
erty," bestowed  on  it  rents  which  were  deemed  adequate  for 
the  support  of  fifteen  persons.  It  might  be  supposed  that 
these  gifts  would  have  been  sufficient  to  place  the  college  on 
a  respectable  footing,  but  all  that  could  be  made  good,  from 
the  whole  of  the  funds,  did  not  amount  to  more  than  three 
hundred  pounds  Scots  annually. 

The  following  extracts  from  the  records,  containing  lists  of 
books  taught  at  the  university,  were  obligingly  sent  me  by 
Dr.  Macturk,  Professor  of  Church  History  at  Glasgow. 

Congregatione  facultatis  artium  tenta,  &c.  anno  Domini 
1475  tertio  die  mensis  Novembris  prcsentati  fuerunt,  &c. 

Eodem  Anno  Reverendus  in  christo  Pater  ac  Dominus, 
Dominus  Johannes,  Dei  et  apostolicas  sedis  gratia,  Episcopus 
Glasguensis,  infrascriptos  donavit  libros  Pedagogio  Glas- 
guensi  ad  usum  et  utilitatem  Regentiura  inibi  pro  tempore 
existentium. 

In  primis  unura  volumen  in  pergameno  in  quo  continen- 
tur  textus  Phisicae  Aristotelis  completus,  quatuor  libri  de  cceIo 
et  mundo,  duo  de  Generatione,  quatuor  Metheororum,  liber  de 
causis  proprietatum  elcmentorum.  Liber  de  Mundo,  liber  de 
lineis  indivisibilibus,  Liber  de  inundatione  fluvii.  Item  liber 
de  Bona  fortuna,  Epistola  quaedam  Aristotelis  ad  Alexan- 
drum,  tres  libri  de  anima,  Liber  de  sensu  et  sensato.  Liber  de 
Memoria  et  Reminiscentia,  Liber  de  Sompno  et  Vigilia,  Li- 
ber de  longitudine  et  brevitate  vitse,  Liber  de  spiritu  et  res  • 
piratione.  Liber  de  morte  et  vita.  Liber  pe  motu  animalium, 
Liber  de  progressu  animalium,  Liber  de  Phisonomia,  Liber  de 
Pomo,  Liber  de 

Spiritus  et  animse.  Item  liber  de  vita  Aristotelis. 
Item  in  alio  Volumine  Papirio  donavit  idem  Reverendus 
Pater.  In  primis  quoddam  Scriptum  continens  questiones 
super  octo  libros  Phisicorum  Item  questiones  super  tribus 
libris  de  coelo  et  mundo  Item  questiones  quasdam  super  tri- 
bus libris  Metheororum  Item  quasdam  questiones  super  duo- 
bus  libris  de  Generatione  Item  quasdam  questiones  super 
tribus  libris  de  anima  Item  quasdam  questiones  super  libro  de 
sensu  et  sensato  Item  quasdam  questiones  super  libris  de 
memoria  et  reminiscentia  sompno  et  vigiha  Item  quasdam 
questiones  de  longitudine  et  brevitate  vitse. 

Sequuntur  libri  qucs  donavit  ad  usum  et  utilitatem  Regen- 
tium  in  facultate  artium  in  Psedagogio  Glasguen  pro  tempore 
inibi  existentium  bonse  memorise  venerabilis  vir  Magister 
Duncanus  Bunch  quondam  Canonicus  Glasguen  et  in  dicto 
loco  principalis  Regens. 

In  primis  unum  volumen  bene  ligatum  in  Pergameno  in 
quo  continentur  textus  predicabilium  Purphurii,  {sic)  textus 
Aristotelis  super  veteri  arte.  Liber  sex  principiorum  Gilberti 
Porritani,  Liber  Divisionum  Boetii  et  liber  Thopicorum  ejus- 
dem  et  textus  Aristotelis  super  nova  Logica  complete. 


388 


NOTES. 


Item  in  alio  papirio  volvrmine  Textus  super  tribus  Libris 
Aristotelis  Item  in  eodem  duo  libri  Elencorum  rupti  in  fine 
Item  duo  libri  Posteriorum  Item  commentum  allierti  super 
Pliisica  Aristotelis  in  Pergameno  Item  questioncs  Phisicales 
in  parte  magistri  Joannis  Elmir  Item  duo  libri  do  genera- 
tione 

Item  in  uno  volumine  questiones  super  quinque  librLs 
Metaphisicffl 

Item  in  uno  volumine  questiones  super  libro  de  anima 
cum  tribus  libris  Mothcororum  cum  quibusdam  aliis  excerptis 

Item  in  uno  volumine  Textus  Metaphisicae  complete  in 
Pergameno 

Item  Glossa  Petri  Hispani  secundum  usum  Mag^'  Joannis 
Elmir  super  quinque  tractatibus 

Item  in  alio  volumine  duo  libri  de  Anima 

Item  questiones  super  quinque  libris  Metaphisicae 

Item  questiones  super  octo  libris  Phisicorum 

Item  una  Biblia  in  Pergameno  parvo  volumine  litera 
optima  complete  Scripta. 

The  books  mentioned  in  the  following  list  were  presented 
in  the  year  1483. 

Sequunter  libri  quos  Donavit  ad  usum  et  utilitatem  Re- 
gentium  in  Facultate  artium  in  Pedagogio  Glasguen  pro 
tempore  inibi  existentium  bonae  memoriae  Johannes  Browne 
canonicus  Glasguen  et  in  dicto  Pedagogio  oiim  Regens. 

In  primis  unum  Volumen  in  quo  continentur  tres  libri  de 
coelo  et  munJo,  Duo  libri  tie  Generatione  et  corruptione, 
Libri  methorum,  tres  libri  de  anima  de  sompno  et  vigilia  Item 
aliud  Volumen  continens  questiones  logicales  complete  Item 
unum  Volumen  in  quo  continentur  auctores  Philosophise 
Naturalis  et  Moralis  cum  sex  principijs,  tractatus  de  Spera  et 
Algorismo  cum  quibusdam  morahbus  questionibus  Item 
volumen  unum  continens  questiones  metaphisicales.  Item 
unum  volumen  continens  glossam  Magistri  Petri  Hispani 
Item  unum  volumen  in  quo  continentur  sex  tractatus  Petri 
Hispani  cum  textu  Porphyrii  Item  unum  volumen  antiquum 
in  quo  continentur  qucstionos  de  anima  Item  Glosa  Petri 
Hispani  super  certis  tractatibus  Item  volumen  in  quo  conti- 
nentur octo  libri  Metaphisicae  Item  tractatus  super  textum 
Purphyrii  cum  aliquibus  questionibus  Item  unum  volumen 
in  quo  continentur  sex  libri  Ethicorum  Item  unum  volumen 
in  quo  continentur  questiones  sancti  Thomce  super  certis  li- 
bris Phisicae  Item  scriptum  super  quibusdam  libris  Phisico- 
rum Item  Scotus  secundum  librum  Purphyrii  et  scriptum 
Johannis  Burlaw  in  uno  volumine  Item  primus  tractatus 
super  suppositionibus  Item  super  diversis  dubiis  Item  unum 
volumen  quod  incipit  Utrum  Logica  sit  Scientia,  &c. 

Note  M.  p.  233. 

Distinffuished  persons  educated  at  the  University  of 
Glasgo-w. — Bishop  FAphingston^ s  name  is  in  the  list  of 
those  who  were  incorporated  in  1551,  at  the  first  opening 
of  the  university.  It  is  written  simply  "  Will"'  Eiphinstoun," 
from  which  it  is  probable  that  he  entered  as  a  student,  aud 
had  then  no  title  or  oflTice  in  the  church, 

Willielmus  Manderstoun  proceeded  Bachelor  of  Arts,  at 
Glasgow,  4th  November,  1506.  (Annates  Fac.  Art.) — Dec. 
1525.  Guill.  Manderston,  Scotigena,  Licent.  in  Medic.  Rec- 
tor universitatis  Parisiensis.  (Bulfcus.) — Wildmus  Mander- 
ston, Doctor  in  Mcdicina,  Rector  de  Gogar,  Rector  of  the 
University  of  8t.  Andrews,  anno  1530.  He  is  the  author 
of  the  following  work  :  "  Bipartitum  in  Morali  Philosophia 
opusculu  ex  variis  autoribus  per  magistrum  Guillelmii  Ma- 
derston  Scotu  nupcrrime  collectu :  Et  pro  secunda  impres- 
sione  cum  nouis  additionibus  ab  eodem  appositia  recusum. — 
Vainundantur  in  ajdibus  Gormontianis."  It  is  dedicated  by 
the  author  "  reueredo  in  christo  patri  &  domino :  domino  Ja- 
cobo  Beton ;  sancti  Andree  archipresuli :  ac  totius  Scotie 
primati  &  cancellario  suoq  mecenati."  Prefixed  to  it  arc  a 
copy  of  Latin  verses  by  William  Grayme  of  Fintree,  and  an 
epistle  in  prose  with  the  inscription,  "  Robertus  Gra.  mcdici- 
nae  amator  praeccptori  suo  vilelmo  Mandersto  apollonie  artis 
professori  peritissimo,"  The  colophon,  on  fol.  cclx.  is  in  these 
words  :  "  Explicit  opnsculum  in  morali  philosophia  bipartitu 
a  magistro  Guillelmo  Manderston  Scolo  diocesis  sacti  Andree 
nuperrimo  imprcsum  Parthisiis  Anno  a  Nativitate  domini 
Millesimo  quingentessimo  viccssimo  tertio,  Die  vero  decima 
quarta  Januarij."     In  small  8vo,   ' 


The  first  edition  of  this  book  was  printed  "  Parrhisijs 
1518,"  in  4to.  at  the  same  press.  The  colophon  states  that 
it  was  "  nuperrime  collectu  dum  regeret  Parisiis  in  famatissi- 
mo  diuaj  Barbara?  gymnasio,"  a.  d.  1518.  14  kal  April. 
The  work  itself  is  very  jejune.  There  is  an  earlier  book  by 
Manderston,  which  I  have  not  seen  :  "  Tripartitum  epithoma 
doctrinale  &  compendiosum  in  totius  dialecticte  artis  princi- 
pia,     LutetiiE  Paris,     1514."  4to. 

Extracts  respecting  Major  and  Knox  have  been  given 
froQi  the  records,  in  Life  of  John  Knox,  vol.  ii.  p.  465 — 467, 
4th  edit. — In  1514,  we  find  "  Dauid  Melwyn  principalem 
regentem  Glas."  David  Melville  went  to  St.  Andrews,  and 
from  1517  to  1520  he  is  frequently  mentioned  in  the  records 
of  that  university,  under  the  designation  "  Dauid  Maillwill 
Regentem  Principalem  Pedagogii  Sanctiandrefe." 

"  John  Ade  sacre  theologie  protessor"  is  mentioned  in  the 
registers  of  Glasgow,  29  March,  1521  ;  and  on  the  23  March, 
1521,  (i.  e.  1522,)  John  Ade,  or  Adamson,  provincial  of  the 
order  of  predicant  friars,  or  Dominicans,  presided  at  a  theolo- 
gical lecture  and  disputation  in  the  university.  Hector  Boece 
informs  us,  that  he  was  the  first  person  who  received  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  at  the  newly  erected  Universi- 
ty of  Aberdeen  ;  and  that  as  a  provincial  of  the  Dominicans 
he  introduced  a  salutary  reform  into  that  religious  order. 
(VitsB  Episcop.  Abcrd.  &  Murth.  See  also  Milne's  Hist. 
of  Bishops  of  Dunkeld.)  In  1506,  Robert  Park,  prior  of 
the  predicant  friars  at  Perth,  gives  a  charter  "  cum  consen- 
su &  asscnsu  rev.  patris  David  Andreae  prioris  provincialis 
ejusdem  ordinis  in  regno  Scotiae." — August  20,  1517,  "Re. 
Lile  prior  fr,  pred.  burgi  de  Perth"  grants  a  charter  with  con- 
sent "  ven,  p"'  n''  fratris  Johannis  Adamsone  prioris  provin. 
n"."  Adamson  was  dead  in  1526,  for  in  that  year  we  find  ord. 
"  Johannes  Gresoun  prior  provincialis  ejusdem  ordinis  in 
regno  Scotiae."  (Transcripts  from  Charters  of  the  Convent 
of  Blackfriars  at  Perth,  by  the  Rev,  Mr,  Scott,  in  Advocates 
Library.) 

The  following  entries  appear  to  relate  to  the  Superintend- 
ent of  Lothian. — "  Die  Sabbati  xxvii  June  1534  Incorporati 
— Dnus  Johannes  Spottiswood  sei-vus,  &c." — 8  Feb.  1536 
"  Dominus  Joannes  Spottiswood"  proceeded  bachelor.— 
1536.  "  Electi  fuerunt  quatuor  intrantes  viz.  Mag' Joannes 
Spottiswood,  &c."  In  the  same  year  and  in  1543,  he  was 
chosen  one  of  the  deputes  of  the  Rector.  (Annales  Fac. 
Art.  et  Annales  Univ.) 

David  Beaton  (afterwards  Cardinal)  was  matriculated 
of  this  univeriity  on  the  26th  of  October,  1511. 

The  names  of  the  following  young  men  of  rank  occur  in 
the  lists  of  incorporati,  or  matriculated  students. 

Oct.  24th  1457  Andreas  Stewart  Subdecanus  Glasguen 
frater  illustrissimi  Regis  Scotorum  Jacobi  secundi 

A.  1473  Joannes  Stewart  filius  comitis  de  levenax  et  dni 
de  Demly 

1482  Mattheus  Stewart  filius  primogenitus  et  heres  nobilis 
et  potentis  dni  comitis  de  levenax  et  dni  de  Dernly 

1488  Alex.  Stewart  filius  Comitus  de  levenax 
Rob.  Stewart  filius  ejusdem  comitis 

Patricius  Grahame  filius  getman.comit.  de  Montrose 

1489  Gavinus  Douglas  filius  dni  de  Drumlanrig 

1492  Alexander  Erskyne  filius  dni  de  Erskyne  studens. 
Under  the  year  1495  is  the  following  minute,  in  the  .^nnalei 
CoUeffii  Faciiltatis  artittm  :  "  Eotlem  Anno  processerunt 
ad  gradum  Bachallariatus  sub  Magistro  Patricio  Covyntre, 
Alexander  Erskyne,  filius  dni  de  eodem,  qui  et  gloriosum 
actum  celebravit  et  solus  ingentcs  expensas  fecit ;" — that  is, 
he  gave  a  splendid  feast  to  the  university  at  his  laureation. 

1510  Joannes  Stewart  magister  de  levenax  filius  et  appa- 
rens  heres  Matthei  com.  de  levenax  et  dni  de  Dernle. 

1534  Joannes  Campbell  filius  comit.  de  Argile 

1553  Joannes  Cunynghame  filius  comit.  de  Glencarne. 

It  was  the  custom  at  Glasgow  for  every  bursar  to  give  a 
silver  spoon  upon  his  being  admitted  to  the  college  table. 

Note  N.  p.  233. 

Queen  Mary^s  grant  to  the  College  of  Glasgo-w. — This 
is  antedated  in  the  common  accounts  of  the  university.  It 
was  "  given  under  our  privie  scale  at  Glasgow  the  threttene 
of  Julij  the  zeir  of  God  \^\^  thre  score  and  thre  zeiris," — 
"■  fforsamickle  as  within  the  citie  of  Glasgow,  ane  college  and 


NOTES. 


389 


aniversitie  was  devisit  to  be  hade,  quarein  the  zouth  micht 
be  brocht  up  in  lettres  and  knawUedge,  the  comoun  welth 
servit  and  vertue  incressit,  off  the  quhilk  college  ane  parte 
of  the  sculis  and  chalmcris  being  biggit,  the  rest  thairof  als- 
Weill  dwellingis  as  provision  for  the  puir  bursouris  and  Mais- 
teris  to  teche,  ceissit  Sua  that  the  samin  appcrit  rather  to  be 
the  decay  of  ane  universitie  nor  any  wyse  to  be  reknit  ane 
establissit  fundation  And  we  for  the  zele  we  beir  to  Ires  and 
for  the  gude  will  we  have  that  vertew  be  incressit  within 
our  realme,  have  foundit  and  erectit  and  be  thir  our  Ires 
foundis  and  erectis  five  puir  children  bursouris  the  said 
college  to  be  callit  in  all  tymes  cuming  bursouris  of  oure 
foundation  and  for  furnessing  and  provesion  to  be  maid  to 
the  saidis  five  bursouris."  It  gives  and  grants  certain  lands, 
mailes,  &c.  belonging  to  "the  freiris  predicatouris  within  the 
said  citie."  The  deed  further  states  that  the  queen  intends 
"  als  to  mak  the  said  college  to  be  provydit  of  sic  ressonable 
living  that  thairin  the  liberale  sciences  may  be  planlie  teched 
siclike  as  the  samyn  ar  in  utheris  coUegis  of  yis  realme 
Sua  that  the  college  foirsaid  salbe  reputet  oure  fundation  in 
all  tyme  cuming  And  to  that  effect  we  ordanc  that  quhen- 
ever  the  maister  thairof  or  any  of  the  bursouris  of  the  samyn 
happenis  to  deceiss  That  utheris  in  thair  roumes  be  placit  be 
us  and  o'  successouris  That  the  memorie  of  the  said  gude 
will  we  beir  to  vertew  may  remane  to  the  posterities  to  cum." 
(Records  of  the  University  of  Glasgow.) 

Note  O.  p.  235. 

A  Dream. — "  The  collage  had  monie  pleyis  in  law  de- 
pending y'  yeir  and  M'  Piter  blakburn  was  oeconomus  and 
speciall  acter.  yit  because  the  ajstimation  of  M''  Andro  was 
graitter,  hedesyrit  him  at  certean  perempter  dyettes  to  be  pres- 
ent in  Ed'',  ffor  sic  a  dyet  being  to  go  to  Ed"'  M"^  Piter  comes 
in  to  his  chalmer  in  the  morning  heavie  and  grim  jyk.  being 
inquyrit  by  the  principall  what  ealed  him,  he  answerit  I  haiff 
dreamed  an  vnsell*  dream  and  I  am  some  thing  solist  after  it. 
What  is  it  sayes  he.  Me  thought  we  war  sitting  at  our  col- 
lag  burde  and  a  cup  full  of  barmie  drink  befor  ws.  I  luiked  to 
the  cup  and  I  thought  I  saw  a  read  heidit  lead  leap  out  of  it 
and  craled  vpe  vpon  the  wall,  the  qlk  I  percewed  and  dang 
down  and  tramped  vnder  my  feit.  And  as  I  turned  I  saw  an 
other  lepe  out  also,  quhilk  whowbeit  I  followed  it  gat  away 
in  a  holl  out  of  my  sight.  Be  not  solist  says  he  M'  Piter  I 
will  interpret  your  dream  and  warrand  the  interpretation  trew 
for  a  pynt  of  wyne.  for  suthe  says  the  vther  and  it  be  guid  a 
quart.  The  collage  burd  and  cup  is  our  collage  leiving ; 
into  the  quhilk  twa  read  nebbit  teades  hes  intrusit  them  selif. 
They  ar  the  twa  read  neascd  compeditours  of  our  collage 
against  the  quhilk  yie  haiff  presentlie  the  actiones  viz.  Jhone 
Grame  the  first,  whom  yie  persewing  at  this  dyet  dim  als 
Weill  as  he  will  on  the  wall  of  the  law  yie  sail  ding  down  and 
overcome,  the  vther  is  the  read  faced  commissar  M'  Archi- 
bald Beaton,  wha  by  syme  wyll  sail  eschew  presentlie  and 
win  away.  Assure  thy  selff  man  tliow  sail  find  it  sa.  M' 
Piter  lauches  and  sayes,  he  was  worthe  the  wyne  whow  euer 
it  was.  for  the  twa  men  war  verie  read  and  tead  lyk  faced  for 
ploukes  and  lumpes.  And  in  deid  it  cam  sa  to  pass ;  for  they 
brought  hame  a  notable  decrcit  of  reduction  of  a  few  of  the 
freires  yeard  aganist  Jhone  Grame,  and  the  vther  by  moyen 
and  ernist  solistation  gat  the  action  delayit  and  brought  to 
arbitriment."     (Melville's  Diary,  p.  49,  50.) 

Note  P.  p.  237. 

Act  of  the  Privy    Council  respecting'  Alexander   Cnn- 
ninghame's  submission, 

Apud  Sanctandrois  xxix°  Julij  anno  Ixxx" 
Anent  o'  souerane  Lordis  Ires  raisit  at  the  instance  of 
Maister  James  meluile  ane  of  the  Regentis  of  the  vniuersitie 
of  Glasg''  Makand  mentioun  That  quhair  Alex''  Cuning- 
hame  zounger  of  clonbey'  burges  and  induellar  of  Glasgow 
vpoun  the  xx  day  of  Junii  instant  being  at  his  tabill  at  dennar 
w'  ccrtane  utheris  threatnit  and  showit  be  mony  despitefull 
wordis  to  be  revendgit  of  the  said  Mr.  James  for  correcting 

»  unhappy  or  ominous. 


of  Alex''  Boyd  his  scoUar  And  continewing  the  rest  of  that 
day  in  his  maUcious  mynd  and  hoisting  langage  quhill  efler 
nyne  ho'^  at  ny'  And  findand  then  occasioun  to  put  his 
foirtho'  ewil  mynd  to  executioun  he  houndit  out  the  said 
Alex'  Boyd  to  stryke  the  said  Mr.  James  w'  ane  battoun  q"*  bat- 
toun  wes  gevin  to  him  be  the  said  Alex''  Cuninghame  And 
the  said  Mr.  James  beand  ciiand  throw  the  hie  kirkzard  of 
Glasgow  to  the  college  w'out  ony  kynd  of  armoi"  Belevand  na 
ewill  to  haue  bene  done  to  him  by  ony  persoun  The  said 
Alex''  Boyd  be  the  persuasioun  and  hounding  out  as  said 
is  of  the  said  Alex''  Cuninghame  perseuit  and  strak  at  the 
said  Mr.  James  behind  his  bak  w'  the  said  battoun  q"'  straik 
he  echewit  be  his  suddane  turnig  about  At  q'"  time  the 
said  Alex'  Boyd  being  effrayit  and  astonisheit  be  the  saidis 
Mr.  James  wordis  and  countenance  drew  him  self  asyde 
luiking  for  the  assistence  of  the  said  Alex'  Cuninghame 
quha  to  performe  his  wcikit  interpryis  come  rynand  vpon 
the  said  Mr.  James  w'  ane  drawin  swird  in  his  hand  sweir- 
ing  and  hoisting  w'  many  vglie  aithis  that  he  sould  hoch 
and  slay  him  calling  him  oftymes  knaif  and  saying  that  he 
wes  ouir  pert  to  ding  that  boy.  lyke  as  in  deid  the  said 
Alex'  Cuninghame  had  not  there  faillit  to  haue  bereft  the 
said  Mr.  James  of  his  life  gif  be  godis  providence  he  had  not 
bene  stayit  ffor  the  q"'  caus  he  being  persewit  thaireftir  be- 
foir  the  recto'  and  assesso"  of  the  said  vniuersitie  and  bail- 
lies  and  counsale  of  the  citie  of  Glasgw.  At  last  he  wes 
fund  be  thame  to  haue  done  wrang  in  trubling  persewing  of 
the  said  Mr.  James  in  manor  foirsaid  and  thairfoir  ordanit  to 
cum  to  the  place  quhair  he  offendit  to  haue  acknawledgit  his 
fait  and  to  haue  askit  the  said  Mr.  James  and  the  haill  vniuer- 
sitie pardoun  and  forgifnes  q''  the  said  Alex'  Cuninghame 
not  onlie  rcfusit  and  refuissis  to  obey  and  fulfill  being  requirit 
thairto  Bot  still  boistis  and  bragis  to  attempt  forther  iniurie 
and  inuasioun  of  the  said  Mr.  James  Sua  that  be  this  forme 
of  doing  discipline  is  ordinarie  exercises  interruptit  and 

the  myndis  of  the  zouth  drawin  away  fra  thair  studyis 
quhairvpoun  alsua  further  inconvenient  is  abill  to  follow  w 
out  his  hiencs  and  the  lordis  of  secreit  counsale  proyvde 
tymous  remeid  And  anent  the  charge  gavin  to  the  said  Alex' 
Cuninghame  To  haue  compeirit  personallie  before  o'  sou- 
erane lord  and  lordis  of  secreit  counsale  at  a  certane  day 
bipast  to  haue  ansrit  to  this  complaint  and  to  haue  hard 
and  sene  ordo'  taikin  anent  the  same  as  appertenit  vnder 
the  pane  of  Rebellioun  and  putting  of  him  to  the  home 
w'  certificatioun  to  him  and  he  failzeit  vtheris  Ires  sould  be 
direct  simpl'  to  put  him  to  the  home  like  as  at  mair  lenth 
is  contenit  in  the  saidis  Ires  Quhilkis  being  callit  and  baith  the 
saidis  partiis  compeirand  personalie  Thair  ressonis  and  alle- 
gationis  togidder  w'  the  said  decreit  gevin  and  pronucit  be  the 
foirsaidis  judges  and  thair  assesso"  being  hard  sene  and  con- 
siderit  be  the  saidis  lordis  and  they  rypelie  auisit  thairwith 
The  Lordis  of  secreit  counsale  In  respect  of  the  said  decreit 
Ordanis  the  said  Alex'  Cuninghame  To  compeir  in  the  hie 
kirkzard  of  Glasgw  quhair  the  speciall  fait  wes  comittit 
vpoun  the  sevint  day  of  August  nixt  to  cum  betuix  foure 
and  fy  ve  houris  eftir  none  And  thair  bairheidit  to  confes 
his  said  offence  first  to  the  rector  in  name  of  the  vniversitie 
and  baillies  in  name  of  the  toun  and  to  the  said  Mr.  James 
partie  ofiendit  And  to  ask  God  and  thame  forgifnes  thair- 
of and  to  tak  thame  be  the  handis  in  signe  and  taikin 
alswcill  of  his  humiliatioun  as  reconsiliatioun  And  to 
purge  him  that  he  wes  not  steirit  vp  thairto  be  na  manor  of 
persoun  Or  ellis  that  he  entir  his  persoun  in  ward  within 
the  castill  of  blaknes  w'  in  xlviij  houris  eftir  the  said  sevint 
day  of  August  And  remane  thairin  thaireftir  vpoun  his 
awin  expensis  ay  and  quhill  he  be  fred  be  o'  souerane  lord 
vnder  the  pane  of  rebellioun  and  putting  of  him  to  the 
home  with  certificatioun  to  him  and  he  failzie  the  saidis 
xlviij  houris  being  bipast  he  salbe  incontinent  y'efter  denucit 
his  ma**^'*  rebell  and  put  to  the  home  and  all  his  movabill 
guidis  escheittit  to  his  mat'''^  vse  for  his  contemptioun. 

Note  Q.  p.  237. 

Reparation  of  the  Cathedral  of  Glasgo~v. — The  fol- 
lowing extract  from  the  Records  of  the  Town  Council 
shews  the  interest  which  the  Magistrates  took  in  this 
business. 


390 


NOTES. 


Die  xxi"""  Mensis  August!  Anno  Domini  &c  Ixxiv. 
Statutum 

The  quhilk  day  The  provost,  baillies  and  counsale  wt  ye 
Dekyns  of  the  crafts  and  divers  utheris  honest  men  of  the 
town  convenand  in  the  counsal  here  and  havand  respect  and 
consideration  to  ye  greit  decaye  and  ruyne  y'  ye  hie  kirk  of 
Glasgow  is  cum  to,  thro'  taking  away  of  the  leid,  sclait  and 
uther  gray'  thereof  in  yis  trublus  tyme  bygane  sua  yi  sick 
ane  greit  monument  will  allutterly  fall  down  and  decay 
w'out  it  be  remedit.  And  because  the  helping  y'of  is  sa 
greit  and  will  extend  to  mair  nor  yai  may  spair  And  yat 
yai  ar  no'  addctite  to  ye  uphalding  and  repairing  y^of  be  ye 
law  zet  of  thair  awn  free  willis  uncompellit  and  for  ye  zeil 
yai  beir  to  ye  kirk  of  meir  almouss  and  liberallity  sua  yat 
induce  na  practick  nor  preparative  in  tymes  coming,  conform 
to  ane  writing  to  be  mead  thereanent  All  in  ane  voce  hes 
conscntit  to  ane  taxt  and  imposition  of  tua  hundreth  punds 
money  to  be  taxt  and  payit  be  ye  township  and  freemen 
yairof  for  helping  to  repair  ye  said  kirk  and  balding  of  it 
waterfast  and  for  casting  and  making  thereof  hes  apointityir 
persons  following  viz  the  Dekyn  of  ilk  craft  John  Arbuckle, 
Thomas  Normant,  Matthew  Watson  flesher,  Patrick  Howe 
Ulster,  Robert  Muir  merchand,  William  Maxwell,  David 
Lindsay  Elder,  Andr.  Baillie,  Robert  Steuart,  Master  Adam 
Wallace,  George  Herbertson,  John  Fleming,  William  Hiegate, 
Robert  Fleming,  Thomas  Spang  and  Johne  Lindsay  and  to 
convene  on  Tysday  next  for  endyng  y'of. 

It  appears  from  the  Records  of  the  Kirk  Session  that  the 
ministers  zealously  co-operated  with  the  magistrates. — Decem- 
ber 7,  1586.  It  was  appointed  that  the  provost,  bailies,  and 
deacons  of  crafts,  and  ministers  of  Glasgow,  convene  in  the 
college  kirk  to  give  their  advice  and  judgement  anent  re- 
pairing the  High  Kirk. — Jan.  25.  1588.  The  session  ap- 
points commissioners  to  the  General  Assembly  to  desire  a 
commission  with  license  to  [from  1]  the  King's  Majesty  for 
reparation  of  the  High  Church  of  Glasgow  the  best  way  the 
town  and  parish  of  the  same  may. — March  7.  The  Com- 
missioners appointed  by  the  King's  Majesty  anent  repairing 
the  High  Kirk,  and  hail  brethren  of  the  kirk-session  of 
Glasgow  thinks  guid  that  the  laigh  steeple  be  taken  down  to 
repair  the  mason  work  of  the  said  kirk,  and  that  the  bell  and 
clock  be  transported  to  the  high  steeple  and  that  the  kirk 
have  a  quinzee  left  at  the  steeple  foresaid  for  the  relief 
thereof.  (Could  this  be  the  order  which  occasioned  the  riot 
referred  to  by  Spotswood  1  If  so,  it  happened  ten  years 
after  Melville  left  Glasgow.) — Aug.  1.  The  session  desire 
the  council  to  send  commissioners  to  the  Assembly,  as  for 
other  things  to  seek  the  Assembly's  assistance  for  obtaining 
at  the  King's  hand  and  counsel  money  for  helping  and  up- 
holding the  parish  kirk  at  Glasgow :  or  else  to  get  a  new 
commission  to  entertain  the  kirk  with  itself  as  it  may  best. — 
Dec.  29,  1603.  The  records  mention  a  right  Mr.  David 
Weemcs  had  made  to  him  from  the  dean  and  chapter  of 
Glasgow  to  pursue  the  gentlemen  in  whose  hands  services  of 
money  were  laid  by  the  said  Dean  and  Chapter  for  repairing, 
and  beautifying  and  decoring  the  Metropolitan  kirk  of 
Glasgow. — The  records  abound  with  resolutions  and  orders 
to  the  same  effect.  (Extracts  from  Records  of  Kirk  Session 
of  Glasgow :  Wodrow's  Life  of  Mr.  David  Weemes,  p.  5, 
6,  MSS.  vol.  iii.) 

Note  R.  p.  237. 

Library  of  the  University  of  Glasffoie. — A  list,  entitled 
Catalogiis    lAbrontm     JiibUothecm    publicis    Sumpttbus 
Academix   empti,  beside  such  works  as  those  of  Cicero, 
Aristotle,  and  Augustine,  contains. 
The  hail  Actes  of  Parliament 
The  Bible  of  Govan  and  College. 
Hisforia  Scotorum  manuscripta,  autore  G.  Buchanano. 
Empti  sunt  opera  Thoma  Jackei  questoris  Acade- 
mia;  1577. 
Thesaurus  linguse  GraeciB   Henrici   Stephani   quatuor 
voluminibus  ab  hcredibus  Andre®  Polwarti  emptus, 
&c. 
Ex  dono  viri  boniTbomae  Jackej 
Ambrosii  Opera  fol. 

Gregorii  Romani  Opera  duob.  voluminib. 
Maister  Peter  Blackburne  ane  of  the  Regentis   of  the 


College  at  his  departing  to  Aberdein  left  and  gave  to  the 
College  as  follows 

Ane  new  gnil  Cart  stentit  upon  buirdes  sett  out  be 

Gerardus  Jode  Antuerpise  1575. 
Tabulae  Vessalii  with  this  inscription  anatomes  totius 
sere  insculpta  delineatio.  fol.  magno  Paris  cid.  la.- 

LXV. 

The  names  of  some  scholastic  books  follow,  and  on  the 
margin  is  "  Ex  dono  Petri  Blackbumi  ante  decessum  8 
Nouemb.  1582." 

A  list  of  33  volumes  consisting  of  the  works  of  the 
fathers,  Erasmus,  Pagninus  &c.  has  this  note  prefixed, 
"  Decimo  Junij  1581.  D.  Jacobus  Boydaus,  Episcopus 
Glasguen.  has   omnes  Collegio  Glasg.   testamento  reliquit." 

14  July  1586  "  Magister  Archibaldus  Craufurd  Rector  uni- 
versitatis  &  ab  Eglischem,  in  monumentum  to;  <fi?,cjuou<rict(," 
presented  to  the  College  "  Platonis  Opera"  and  "  Sebastian 
Munster's  Hebrew  Bible." 

A  list  of  books  to  the  number  of  60  or  70  volumes  is 
preceded  by  this  note :  "  Libros  hosce  sequentes  ipsa  vetus- 
tate  notabiles  Collegio  Glasguesi  testamento  legavit  reveren- 
dus  senex  M.  Johannes  Huesonus  Ecclesia)  Cambuslangen- 
siae  pastor  anno  1619." 

The  list  of  books  presented  to  this  College  by  Buchanan 
may  be  seen  in  Irving's  Memoirs  of  Buchanan,  Append. 
No.  8.  2d  edit. 

Note  S.  p.  242. 

Jerom  on  episcopacy. — Nothing  has  proved  more  puz- 
zling to  the  jure  divino  prelatists,  who  feel  a  great  venera- 
tion for  the  fathers,  than  the  sentiments  which  St.  Jerom 
has  expressed,  in  various  parts  of  his  writings,  concerning 
the  origin  of  episcopacy.  A  very  curious  instance  of  this 
occurs  in  Hooker's  Ecclesiastical 'Polity.  That  learned 
and  masterly  writer  enters  into  an  elaborate  reply  to  the 
objections  which  the  presbyterians  have  raised  from  Jerom's 
assertion,  that  the  superiority  of  bishops  to  presbyters  arose 
from  custom  rather  than  divine  institution.  In  the  middle 
of  this  reply  the  following  singular  sentence  occurs  :  "  This 
ansTver  to  Saint  Jerom  seemeth  dangerous,  I  have  quali- 
fied it  as  I  may,  by  addition  of  some  words  of  restraint ; 
yet  I  satisfie  not  myself,  in  my  jtidgement  it  would  be  al- 
tered." (Eccl.  Polity,  book  vii.  sect.  v.  p.  11.  Lond.  1661.) 
It  will  be  obliging  if  some  of  the  admirers  of  the  Ecclesias- 
tical Polity  will  examine  this  passage,  and  furnish  a  key  to 
its  meaning,  and  to  the  design  with  which  it  was  introduced. 
In  the  mean  time  they  are  welcome  to  any  assistance  which 
they  can  derive  from  the  following  explication.  It  is  known 
that  the  last  three  books  (including  the  seventh)  of  the 
Polity  were  not  published  during  the  life-time  of  the  author. 
In  looking  over  his  manuscript,  what  he  had  written  on  this 
part  of  the  subject  appeared  to  Hooker  dangerous :  he  re- 
touched it  and  qualified  his  expressions,  but  still  his  answer 
satisfied  not  himself ;  it  required  yet  to  be  altered  :  and 
to  keep  this  in  mind  he  made  a  jotting  of  it  on  the  margin. 
The  manuscript  coming  into  the  hands  of  Dr.  Gauden, 
bishop  of  Exeter,  he  introduced  the  marginal  note  into  the 
text  and  published  both  together.  We  may  easily  conceive 
how  "  the  judicious  Hooker"  would  have  felt  at  seeing  his 
acknowledgment  of  his  perplexity  in  answering  this  objec- 
tion thus  ignorantly  and  rudely  exposed  to  the  public  eye. 
Yet  the  blunder  has  been  retained  in  all  the  editions  which 
I  have  seen,  from  that  of  1661  down  to  that  which  was 
lately  printed  at  Oxford  !  The  Ecclesiastical  Polity  is  one 
of  the  books  on  which  candidates  for  holy  orders  are  exam- 
ined ;  but  this  does  not  necessarily  imply  that  either  they 
or  their  examinators  have  made  themselves  masters  of  its 
meaning  and  contents. 

Dr.  Gauden,  in  his  gasconading  style,  boasts  of  the  ser- 
vice which  he  has  performed  for  the  Church  of  England, 
and  the  confusion  with  which  he  has  covered  her  enemies, 
by  publishing  the  posthumous  books,  "  After  this  Phoenix 
of  learning  and  grace,  and  prudence  and  eloquence,  had 
collected  this  fair  pile  of  his  Ecclesiastical  Polity — himself 
perished  amidst  his  great  undertakings  :"  And  "his  antago- 
nists, finding  themselves — sorely  wounded — by  this  great 
archer  in  his  five  first  books — received  some  comfort  in  tliis 
that  they  escaped  the  shot  of  his  last  three — and  found,  as  it 
is  by  some  imagined,  some  artifice  so  long  to  smother  and 


NOTES. 


391 


conceal  them  from  the  publique."  (Gauden's  Life  of  Hooker, 
p.  23.)  But  honest  Isaac  Walton  tells  a  more  tragic  tale. 
After  Hooker's  death,  two  puritan  ministers,  having  obtained 
admission  into  his  study,  '•  burnt  and  tore"  many  of  his 
writings  ;  and  his  wife  having  confessed  this  to  archbishop 
Whitgift,  "  she  was  found  next  morning  dead  in  her  bed." 
Walton  goes  on  to  tell  a  number  of  other  stories,  the  design 
of  which  is  to  shew  that  the  posthumous  works  were  al- 
tered, (Walton's  Lives,  by  Zouch,  p.  248—263.)  He 
does  not  however  refer  to  the  passage  under  consideration, 
but  to  those  places  in  which  sentiments  concerning  political 
liberty  too  liberal  for  High  Church  are  advanced.  (Eccl. 
Pol.  B.  viii.  191 — 195.)  With  respect  to  these,  it  may  be 
remarked,  that  expressions  of  the  very  same  import  occur  in 
that  part  of  the  work  which  was  published  by  Hooker  him- 
self, (lb.  B.  i.  p.  19,  21.  edit,  ut  sup.)  "The  scveiith 
book  (says  Dr.  Gauden)by  comparing  the  writing  of  it  with 
other  indisputable  papers,  or  known  manuscripts  of  Mr. 
Hooker's,  is  undoubtedly  his  own  hand  throughout."  (Life 
of  Hooker,  p.  26.) 

Note  T.  p.  250. 

Of  JBeza's  treatise  De  tripUci  Episcopatu. — I  have  not 
seen  the  original  work,  but  have  now  before  me  a  copy  of  a 
translation  of  it  into  English.  It  is  entitled,  "  The  Jvdge- 
ment  of  a  most  Reverend  and  Learned  Man  from  beyond 
the  Seas,  concerning  a  threefold  order  of  Bishops,  with  a 
Declaration  of  certaine  other  waigtie  points,  concerning  the 
Discipline  and  Government  of  the  Church,"  C  in  eights. 
The  running  title  is  "  The  Jvdgement  of  a  Learned  man." 
Strype  says,  it  was  printed  in  the  year  1580,  and  John 
Field  was  supposed  to  be  the  translator.  (Annals,  ii,  629.) 
It  contains  the  questions  transmitted  by  Lord  Glamis,  the 
Chancellor  of  Scotland,  which  are  six  in  number,  and  appear 
to  be  printed  at  full  length.  The  second,  which  relates  to 
Councils,  states  the  objections  which  some  urged  against 
them,  and  which  went  to  prevent  entirely  the  holding  of 
ecclesiastical  assemblies,  unless  when  called  for  special  pur- 
poses by  the  prince. 

Note  U.  p.  251. 

Scottish  press  and  edition  of  the  Bible. — The  following 
is  one  of  the  articles  in  a  petition  which  the  Assembly  pre- 
sented to  the  Regent  in  the  month  of  August,  1574.  "  Item 
It  is  understand  to  the  Generall  Assembly  be  credible  report 
of  certain  learned  men  lately  arrived  within  this  countrey 
that  a  french  printer  of  the  best  renowned  this  day,  nixt 
Henricus  Stephanus,  being  banished  with  his  wife  «fe  family 
from  his  countrey,  hath  offered  unto  them  to  come  in  Scot- 
land &  to  bring  with  him  three  thousand  franks  worth  of 
books,  and  to  print  whatever  he  should  be  commanded,  in  so 
much  that  there  should  not  be  a  book  printed  in  French  or 
Almain,  but  once  in  the  year  it  should  be  gotten  of  him  If 
he  might  have  sure  provision  of  a  yearly  pension  of  three 
hundreth  merks,  which  indeed  is  ane  offer  so  comfortable  to 
the  countrey  &  kirk  that  it  ought  not  to  be  overseen  That 
his  G.  will  consider  the  same  offer  and  take  order  therewith." 
(Cald.  MS.  ad  an.  1574.) 

I  know  no  printer  to  whom  this  descriptiorr  agrees  so  well 
as  Andreas  Wechelius.  He  was  the  son  of  Christianas 
Wechelius,  a  celebrated  Parisian  printer ;  and  having  em- 
braced the  reformed  opinions,  escaped  the  Bartholomew 
massacre  under  the  protection  of  Hubert  Languet,  the  am- 
bassador of  the  court  of  Saxony.  Wechelius  quitted  France 
in  1573,  and  established  himself  at  Frankfort,  where  many 
valuable  editions  of  the  classics,  corrected  by  the  learned 
Sylburgius,  proceeded  from  his  press.  (Peignot,  Diet. 
Raison.  de  Bibliographie,  tom.  ii.  342 — 3.)  It  is  probable 
that  Melville,  on  his  return  from  Geneva,  had  an  interview 
with  him,  and  brought  home  the  information  of  his  willing- 
ness to  settle  in  Scotland. 

Among  the  "  Articles  proponit  to  his  Ma*'^  and  counsal" 
by  the  commissioners  of  the  General  Assembly,  in  July, 
1580,  is  the  following.  "  9.  Because  y''  is  great  necessitie  of  a 
printer  within  this  countrey,  and  y'  is  a  stranger  banischit 
for  religion  callit  Vautrolier  y'  offers  to  imploy  his  labour  in 
J*  said  vocation  for  y'  weill  of  y'  countrey     It  will  please 


your  G.  &  counsel!  to  take  ordour  heirin  as  your  G.  thinks 
meit  and  to  give  licence  &  privilege  to  him  for  y'  eflect  if  it 
salbe  thocht  expedient  be  your  G.  &  counsel!."  (Buik  of 
Univ.  Kirk,  p.  98.) 

"  Robert  Lekprevik  Imprentar  in  Ed''"  obtained,  on  the 
11th  of  January,  1567,  the  exclusive  privilege,  for  twenty 
years,  of  printing  all  books  in  Latin  or  English,  necessary 
"  for  the  Weill  and  commoditie  of  the  lieges  of  this  realme 
and  als  all  sic  thingis  as  tend  to  ye  glorie  of  God."  This 
was  renewed  on  the  11th  of  Nov.  1570,  with  the  specifica- 
tion of  "  the  buke  callit  donatus  pro  pueris,  Rudimentis  of 
Pelisso,  The  actis  of  pari'  maid  or  to  be  maid.  The  cronicle 
of  this  realme.  The  buke  callit  regia  majestas.  The  psalmes 
of  Dauid  with  the  Inglis  and  Latine  catechismes  les  &  mair, 
The  buke  callit  the  Omeleis  for  readaris  in  kirkis,  Togid- 
der  with  ye  grammer  callit  y''  generall  grammer  to  be  vsit 
within  the  sculis  of  ye  realme  for  eruditioun  of  ye  youth." 
(Reg.  of  Privy  Seal,  vol.  xxxvii.  fol.  27.  vol.  xxxix.  fol. 
34.)  He  also  obtained  a  license  for  twenty  years,  to  print 
"  all  and  haill  ane  buke  callit  ye  Inglis  by  bill  imprented  of 
before  at  Geneva."     (Reg.  of  Privy  Seal,  April  14,  1568.) 

The  first  edition  of  the  English  Bible  printed  in  Scotland 
came  from  the  press  of  Bassanden  and  Arbuthnot,  in  folio. 
In  the  month  of  March,  1575,  articles  of  agreement  were 
given  in  to  the  General  Assembly,  and  approved  by  them, 
bearing:  "Imprimis,  Anent  the  godly  proposition  made  to 
the  Bishops,  Superintendents,  Visitors  and  commissioners  in 
this  general  assembly,  by  Alexander  Arbuthnot,  merchant 
burges  of  Edinburgh  and  Thomas  Bassenden  printer  and 
burges  of  the  said  burgh  for  printing  and  setting  forth  of 
the  Bible  in  the  English  tounge,  conform  to  the  proof  given 
and  subscribed  with  their  hands,  its  agreed  betwixt  this 
present  assembly  and  the  said  Alexander  and  Thomas  that 
every  Bible  which  they  shall  receive  advancement  for  shall 
be  sold  in  Albis  fo''  4  pound  13  shill :  4  pennies,  keeping 
the  character  of  the  saids  proofs  delivered  to  the  Clerk  of 
the  Assembly." — "  Item  the  kirk  hath  promised  to  deliver 
the  authoretic  copy  which  they  shall  follow  unto  them  be- 
twixt and  the  last  of  Aprile."  Certain  persons  were  ap- 
pointed to  oversee  the  copy,  but  they  merely  corrected  such 
errors  of  the  press  as  had  crept  into  former  editions,  and 
adhered  to  the  translation  which  had  been  made  and  first 
printed  at  Geneva.  "  Mr.  George  Young,  servant  to  my 
Lord  Abbot  of  Dunfermline,"  corrected  the  proof-sheets. 
Robert  Pont  composed  the  Kalendar.  (Wodrow's  Life  of 
Smeton,  p.  5 — 8.)  The  New  Testament  was  printed  first, 
and  bears  on  the  title-page :  "  At  Edinbvrgh  Printed  by 
Thomas  Bassandyne,  sr.  n.  lxxvi.  Cvm  Privilegio."  Bas- 
sanden died  before  the  completion  of  the  work  ;  and  the 
title  prefixed  to  the  Old  Testament  is  "  The  Bible  and  Holy 
Scriptures  conteined  in  the  Olde  and  Newe  Testament. — 
Printed  in  Edinbvrgh  Be  Alexander  Arbuthnet,  Printer  to 
the  Kingis  Maiestie,  dwelling  at  y'  kirk  of  fcild.  1579. 
Cvm  Gratia  et  Privilegio  Regise  Maiestatis." 

The  Dedication  to  the  young  king  is  dated  "  From  Edin- 
burgh in  our  general  assemblie  the  tent  day  of  Julie  1579. — 
now  quhe  as  being  couenit  in  our  geneiall  assemblie,  this 
holy  boke  of  God  callit  the  Bible,  newly  imprentit,  was 
brocht  before  vs  be  the  prenter  thereof  Alexander  Arbuth- 
not (a  man  quha  hes  taken  great  paines  and  trauailes  wor- 
thie  to  be  remembred  in  this  behalfe)  and  desyrit  to  be 
dedicat  to  zour  Hienes  with  a  conuenient  preface  in  our 
common  Scottis  language,  we  cold  not  omit  nor  neglect 
the  occasion  offrit  to  do  the  same. — O  quhat  difference  may 
be  sene  betwene  thir  daies  of  light,  quhen  almaist  in  euerie 
priuat  house  the  buike  of  Gods  lawe  is  red  and  vnderstand 
in  cure  vulgaire  language,  and  that  age  of  darkness  quhen 
skarslie  in  ane  haill  citie  (without  the  Clostres  of  the  monkes 
and  freyres)  culde  the  buke  of  God  anes  be  founde,  and 
that  in  ane  strange  tongue  of  latine  not  gud  but  mixed 
with  barbaritie,  used  and  red  be  fevve,  and  almaist  vnder- 
stand or  exponit  be  nano.  And  quhen  the  false  namit 
clergie  of  this  Realme,  abusing  the  gentle  nature  of  zour 
Hienes  maist  noble  Gudshir  of  wonhie  memorie  made  it  an 
cappital  crime  to  be  punishit  with  the  fyre  to  haue  or  rede 
the  new  testament  in  the  vulgare  language,  zea  and  to  make 
them  to  al  men  mare  odius,  as  gif  it  had  bene  the  detestable 
name  of  a  pernicious  secte,  they  were  named  new  testamen- 
taresJ' 


304 


NOTES. 


Note  Y.  p.  252. 

Apud  Halieruidhous  xviii^  fe"' 

Anno  etc.  Ixxx"^". 

Sederunt 

Colinus  crgadie  comes 

Jacobus  comes  de  arrane 

Dauid  comes  de  craufurd 

Joannes  comes  de  Montrois 

Joannes  comes  de  morloun 

Jacobus  comes  de   glencairne 

Jacobus  d""  de  down 

Thirlstane 

Commendatarius  de  Culroa 

Caprintoun 

Clicus  reg" 

Murdocaimy 

Prior  de  blantyii 

Segy 

M''  of  requeistLs. 

Mr.andioMriuiie  Forsamekle  as  maister  andro  meluile  provost 
chargeittoward.  ^j.  ^,  ^^^  colledgc  of  Sanctandrois  Being 
callit  befoir  the  kingis  maiestie  and  iordis  of  his  secreit 
counsale,  And  he  coraperand  personalie  wes  inquirit  vpoun 
certane  thingis  laid  to  his  charge  spokin  be  him  in  his  ser- 
mon maid  in"  y^  kirk  of  Sanctandrois  vpoun  the  day  of 
Januar  last  bypast,  ofS>nsiue  and  sklanderous  to  y'  kingis 
maiestie,  Eftir  sindrie  alledgeances  maid  be  y^  said  W.  andro 
for  declyning  of  y^  judgment  and  protestationis  tending  to 
ye  same  effect.  At  last  being  inquirit  gif  a  minister  speiking 
in  pulpett  that  q^^  salbe  allcdgit  to  be  treasoun  aucht  to  be 
tryit  yairfoir  ye  king  in  y"  first  instance  or  not,  Ansuerit  yat 
altho'  ye  speiche  wer  alledgit  to  be  treasoun  zit  y»  tryell  in 
y^  first  instance  aught  not  to  be  befoir  y"  king  hot  befoir  ye 
kirk,  Q''upon  his  hienes  and  his  secreit  counsale,  ffindis  yat 
his  hienes  and  not  y^  kirk  is  Judge  in  y"  first  instance  in 
caussis  of  tressoun  q'sumeuir,  And  in  respect  of  y*  said 
maister  androis  proceidingis  and  behaveor  sa  ofl  declyning 
his  maiesteis  judgment  And  Sua  refuising  to  acknauledge 
his  hienes  royall  estait  and  auc''%  As  alsua  to  obiect  aganis 
y°  witnessis  sumond  for  the  tryell  of  y*  said  mater,  Clamyng 
to  ye  priuiledge  of  certane  actis  of  parliament  and  secreit 
counsale  concerning  y^  iurisdictioun  of  y"  kirk  Quhilkis 
being  producit  red  and  considerit  wer  fund  to  contene  na  sic 
priuiledge  nor  libertie  gpantit  to  y"  kirks  to  cognosce  in 
materis  of  tressoun  in  the  first  instance  as  wes  alls'  be  hira 
Ansuering  alsua  maist  proudlie  irreuerentlie  and  contempt- 
uously that  y''  lawis  of  God  w'  y^  lawis  and  practik  obseruit 
within  yis  cuntrie  were  peruertit  and  not  obseruit  in  this 
cais.  And  last  yat  he  had  spokin  all  yat  he  had  to  say 
adherand  to  his  former  protestationis  His  maiestie  wt  auise 
of  y'  saidis  Iordis  of  his  secreit  counsale  In  yir  respectis 
declaris  y"'  said  maister  andro  to  be  worthie  to  be  comittit  to 
ward  in  his  hienes  castell  of  blaknes  and  forder  pvneist  in 
his  persoun  and  gudis  at  his  hienes  will,  Thairfoir  ordanis 
Lres  to  be  direct  to  y'  mas'"  of  counsale  or  \ther  officear  of 
armes  To  pas  and  in  his  hienes  Name  and  auc''*"  Comand 
and  charge  y"  said  maister  andro  meluille,  To  pas  and  entir 
his  persoun  in  ward  w'in  y*  said  castell  of  blaknes,  Thairin 
to  remane  vpoun  his  awin  expensis  during  his  hienes  will 
And  ay  and  quhill  he  be  fred  be  his  maiestie  within  ten 
houris  nixteftir  he  be  chargit  y'to  vnder  the  pane  of  rebel- 
lioun  and  putting  of  him  to  y^  home,  and  gif  he  failze  yiin 
ye  saidis  ten  houris  being  bypast  to  denuce  him  his  maiesteis 
rebell  and  put  him  to  y"  home.  And  to  escheit  and  inbring 
etc.  And  that  ane  L™  be  direct  for  his  ressait  in  ward,  w'in 
ye  said  castell.     (Record  of  Privy  Council.) 

Note  AA.  p.  265, 

Presentation  of  the  principalitie  of  "*  new  College  of  St 
And.     To  M"^  Johnc  Robertsoun. 

Ure  soverane  lord  ordanis  ane  Ire  to  be  made  vnder  the 
previe  seall  bcring  y'  forsamekle  as  his  mat'"  being  surelie 
informite  of  the  depairting  out  of  tho  realme  of  Mr  Andro 
Melven  priacipall  of  y*  new  Colleige  cailit  the  pedagoge  in 


Sanctandrois  and  of  ane  number  of  maisteris  &  regentia 
yairof  quha  hes  passit  out  of  this  realme  and  in  ane  maner 
laift  y"^  said  Collaige  voad  &  dissolat  of  all  lairning  doctrene 
and  inslructioun  to  y''  grite  preiudice  of  y"  schoillis  and 
decay  of  gud  Ires  w'in  this  realme  and  his  mat"*  being  of 
gud  mynd  and  dispositione  to  fortelie  mentene  &  aduance 
y"  curs  of  lairning  incress  of  gud  letters  and  vertew  w'in  the 
realme  and  speciallie  to  sie  y*^  said  Collaige  and  pedagoge 
restorit  redintegrat  and  restablisit  in  godlie  fsicj  and  exerceiss 
yairof  Thairfoir  and  for  y'  effect  foirsaid  his  mat''"  hes  wt  y« 
aduyse  of  y''  lord  and  consair  CsicJ  Patrik  bischope  of  Sanct- 
androuz  quhois  predicessors  foundit  &  ercctit  y'  said  Collaige 
to  place  qualefeit  &  lairnit  men  to  be  masteris  yairin.  And 
specialie  Mr  Johne  robertsoune  quho  is  remanent  and  actual! 
maister  of  auld  to  be  principall  Mr  yairof  to  nominat  present 
and  admit  Bursaris  and  pur  scoillars  yairin  to  tak  order  for 
y  rentis  fruttis  dewteis  profeittis  emolumcntis  of  the  said 
Collaige  of  ye  crope  &  zeir  of  God  1"'  v'=  fourscoir  four  zeiris 
And  sic  lyk  zeirlie  in  tymc  cuminge  And  to  appoint  sik 
personis  as  yai  pliss  for  y*  ingadcring  and  inbringinge  of  the 
saidis  rentis  and  fruilis  for  sustentat"ne  of  the  saids  Mrs 
regents  and  bursars  for  instructing  of  y'  youthehcid  in  gude 
literature  and  science  and  to  do  all  &  sundrie  thingis  y» 
belangs  to  the  ry'  and  dew  sdminislracione  of  the  said  Col- 
laige firm  &  stabill  balding  q'sumcver  the  said  bischope  shall 
do  yairin  anent  the  premissis.  Ordaninge  the  Iordis  of  C 
secreit  counseill  and  session  to  direct  Ires  of  horning  vpone 
ane  supt"  chairge  of  ten  dayis  alanarlie  at  ye  instance  of  The 
said  bischope  Mr  Johne  robertsoune  and  sik  vders  as  saill  be 
appointit  be  y*"'  for  y'=  inbringing  of  y*  saidis  rentis  of  y" 
crope  &  zeir  of  God  foirsaid  and  siclyk  zeirlie  in  tyme  cum- 
ing  to  the  efliect  aboiiwritten  discharging  be  yir  pmts  all 
vders  economus  intrometters  factors  or  vdis  personis  q'saeuer 
tittill  gift  or  licence  of  factorie  preceding  y"  dait  of  yir  prnts 
to  intromet  or  vplift  ony  of  y''  fruits  rentis  profeits  &  emolu- 
metis  of  ye  said  Collaige  in  maner  abouwriten  y'  ye  tenantis 
taxmen  fewars  farmoners  and  parochinars  of  the  kirkis  and 
landis  annexit  to  the  said  Collaige  reddelie  ans^  obay  and 
mak  thankful!  paymet  of  y'  said  rentis  of  y'  said  crop  &,zeir 
of  God  to  yam  yair  factors  and  servitors  alanerlie  and  y'  ye 
said  Ire  be  extendit  &c.  Subscriuit  at  holyrudhous  ye  xxvi 
day  of  februar  Anno  d°  1584yeiris.  (Register  of  Presenta- 
tions to  Benefices.     Vol.  ii.  f.  124.) 

Note  BB.  p.  267-8. 

Royal  Charges  ta  Melville. — At  Halyrud-  ■*f'J'"^'!;f , ... 
house  the  26  day  of  May  the  year  of  God" 
1586  years,  the  Kings  Maj.  and  Lords  of  Secret  Council 
having  consideration  of  the  disordered  estate  of  the  Univer- 
sitie  of  S'  Andrews,  occasioned  for  the  most  part  be  the 
Dissention  and  Diversitie  betwixt  Patrick  Bishop  of  S'  An- 
drews, and  M"  Andrew  and  James  Melvills  Masters  of  the 
New  Colledge  within  the  same,  their  favourers  and  adher- 
ents, to  the  great  slander  of  the  Kirk,  Division  of  the  said 
Universitie,  and  decaying  of  Learning,  and  all  virtuous  exer- 
cise within  the  same,  speciallie  of  theologie,  whereof  the 
said  New  Colledge  was  appointed  to  have  been  a  seminarie 
within  this  Realme,  albeit  be  occasion  of  the  said  Diversitie 
and  variance,  the  ordinar  profession  thereof  has  been  dis- 
continued thir  two  years  bygane  to  the  great  encouragement 
of  the  adversars  of  the  true  and  Christian  Religion,  and 
allurement  of  a  great  number  of  Jesuits  within  the  realme 
for  the  eversion  thereof^  and  the  erection  again  of  Antichris- 
lian  papistrie,  condemned  be  God,  and  be  his  Hieness  Lawes, 
for  repressing  of  whose  practices,  and  continuing  of  the  Exer- 
cise of  Theologie  within  the  said  Universitie  in  the  mean 
time,  his  H.  with  advice  foresaid,  ordeans  the  said  Mr  An- 
drew to  pass  immediatelie  to  Angus,  Merns,  Perth,  and 
other  parts  of  the  North  where  he  may  understand  anie  of 
the  saids  Jesuites  to  be,  to  conferr  with  them,  and  travell  «o 
far  as  in  him  lyes  to  reduce  them  to  the  true  and  Christian 
Religion  presently  professed  and  acknowledged  be  his  Maj. 
and  this  whole  realme,  and  in  case  he  shall  find  them  obsti- 
nate, to  delate  them  to  his  Maj.  and  his  Secret  Council  to  be 
tane  order  with  according  to  his  H.  Lawes  and  Acts  of  Par- 
liament, enduring  the  which  time  and  travell,  his  Hieness 
has  dispensed,  and  be  the  tcnour  hereof  dispenses  with  his 
ordinarie  profession,  and  exercise  within  the  said  New  Col- 


NOTES. 


395 


ledge,  and  appoints  the  same  to  vaike  untill  his  returning, 
Commanding  in  the  mean  time  the  said  M''  James  to  attend 
upon  his  own  place  for  the  instruction  of  the  youth  com- 
mitted to  his  care  and  teaching,  as  he  will  answer  to  God 
and  his  H.  and  to  the  Intent,  that  the  said  exercise  of  The- 
ologie  may  be  continued  within  that  Universitie,  his  Hieness 
with  advice  forsaid  ordeans  and  commands  the  said  Bishop 
to  teach  weeklie  two  Lessons  of  Theologie  within  S.  Salva- 
tors  Colledge  one  upon  Tuesday,  and  another  upon  Thurs- 
day everie  week,  beginning  upon  the  first  tuisday  of  Junie 
next,  and  so  continuing  ay  and  while  his  Maj.  take  further 
order  thereanent  and  that  but  prejudice  of  his  ordinar  preach- 
ing unto  a  particular  flock  whereunto  he  is  astricted  be  the 
late  Conference,  and  that  Letters  be  directed  hereupon  if 
need  be,  charging  everie  one  of  the  said  persons  to  do  ac- 
cordingly as  they  will  answer  to  his  Maj.  upon  their  obedi- 
ence at  their  uttermost  charge  and  perril. 

Extractum  ex  Libris  Actorum  Secreti  Concilii  per  me 
Joannem  Andro  Clericum  Deputatum  ejusdem  sub  meis 
signo  &  subscriptione  manualibus. 

Joannes  Andro. 
(Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.  Rob.  IIL  6.  17,  p.  219.) 

The  following  charge  taken  from  Calderwood,  (MS.  vol. 
iv.  8.)  is  corrected  by  another  copy  which  Wodrow  has  in- 
serted in  his  Life  of  Andrew  Melville.  (MSS.  vol.  xiv. 
Bibl.  Col.  Glasg.) 

Principall  and  Masters  of  the  New  Colledge.  we  greet  you 
well.  For  as  much  as  we  are  informed  certainly,  That  upon 
the  Sundays,  you  assemble  to  your  selves,  a  number  both 
of  burgh  and  land,  and  preaches  to  them  in  the  English 
Tongue,  and  inveigh  against  the  late  Agreement,  q'^''  by  the 
advice  of  the  G.  Assembly,  was  appointed  for  the  Quietnes 
of  the  Kirk  and  Realm ;  qrby  great  inconveniencys  may 
ensue :  specially  the  Division  of  the  members  of  the  univer- 
sity. Gentlemen  and  Burgesses,  who  by  y'  means  are  ab- 
stracted from  their  parish  kirk  and  pastors  there ;  We  willing 
that  no  such  occasion  should  ensue,  and  for  the  wellfare  and 
quietnes  of  the  Toun  and  kirk  there  have  By  thir  presents 
tho'  Good,  That  ye  contean  yourselves  within  the  Bounds 
of  your  own  vocation  &  calling,  and  in  such  languages  as 
ye  profess  for  the  Instruction  of  the  youth  and  that  in  no 
wise  ye  attempt  Doctrine  in  English  to  y«  people  of  the 
parish,  we  gave  our  commandment  to  Mr.  Andreu  Melvill 
returning  to  the  Colledge,  that  he  should  not  in  any  sort 
preach  to  the  people ;  wherein  if  either  ye  or  he  contineu  we 
will  take  further  order  in  time  coming,  that  our  appointment 
be  not  so  lightly  regarded.  Thus  we  committ  you  to  God, 
From  Hallyroodhous  the  4.  of  Feb.  1586. 

James  Rex. 

Note  CC.  p.  285. 

Of  James's  conduct  on  the  Execution  of  Queen  J\Iary. — 
Lord  Hamilton  having  been  employed  by  Courcelles,  the 
French  ambassador,  to  speak  to  James  of  his  mother's  danger ; 
"  The  kings  answere  was,  that  the  Queene,  his  mother, 
might  well  drink  the  ale  and  beere  which  her  selfe  had 
brewed  ;  ffurther  that  having  bound  her  selfe  to  the  Queene 
of  England  to  doe  nothing  againste  her,  she  ought  to  have 
kept  her  promise  :  notwithstandinge  that  he  woulde  no  waye 
faile  in  his  dutie  and  naturall  obligatione  he  ought  her." 
To  Sir  George  Douglas,  who  represented  to  him  how 
discreditable  it  would  be  to  him  to  allow  Elizabeth  to  put  his 
mother  to  death,  the  king  said  that  he  knew  "  she  bore  him 
no  more  good  will  than  she  did  the  Queene  of  England — 
and  that  in  truth  it  was  meete  for  her  to  meddle  with  noth- 
ing but  prayer  and  servinge  of  God."  The  Earl  of  Both- 
well  being  asked  by  the  King  what  he  should  do  if  Eliza- 
beth asked  his  consent  to  proceed  against  his  mother,  said, 
"  yf  he  did  suffer  it  he  were  worthie  to  be  hanged  the  nexte 
daye  after;  whereat  the  Kinge  laughed  and  said,  he  would 
prouid  for  that."  (Courcelles  to  the  King  of  France,  Oct.  4, 
1586.)  "  The  nobililie  believe  indeed  that  ther  is  some  se- 
crete intelligence  betwcene  the  Queene  of  Englande  and 
the  Kinge,  which  is  the  rather  confirmed  becaus  the  Kings 
Secretare  and  Grawe  were  onlie  made  privie  to  the  said 
Keiths  instructiones,  "&c.  (Same  to  same,  Nov.  30.)  The 
Master  of  Gray's  embassy  confirms  them  in  this  opinion, 
•'  and  that  the  Kinge  of  Scotts  will  not  declare  him  selfe 


openly  against  her  (Elizabeth)  thougb  his  mother  be  put  to 
death,  vnlesse  the  Queene  and  the  Statts  would  deprive  him 
of  his  right  to  that  crowne,  which  himselfe  hath  vttered  to 
Earl  Bothcwill  and  Chevaleire  Seaton."  (Dec.  31.)  Alex- 
ander Stewart,  sent  in  the  company  (Jf  the  ambassadors 
"  with  more  secret  charge,"  had  said  to  Elizabeth,  "  were  she 
even  deade,  yf  the  king  at  first  shewed  him  selfe  not  con- 
tented therewith  they  might  easily  satisfy  him  in  sending 
him  doges  and  deare."  On  being  informed  of  this,  "  the 
kinge  was  in  marvilose  collore  and  sware  and  protested  be- 
fore God  that  yf  Steuard  came  he  would  hange  him  before 
he  putt  off  his  bootes,  and  yf  the  Queene  medled  with  his 
mothers  life,  she  should  knowe  he  would  follow  somewhat 
else  then  dogges  and  deare."  (Feb.  LO.)  Courcelles  expres- 
ses his  fears  that  if  Mary's  execution  should  happen,  James 
would  "digeste  it  as  pattently  as  he  hath  done  that  which 
passed  between  the  Queene  of  England  and  Alexander 
Stuard,  whose  excuse  he  hath  well  allowed,  and  vseth  the 
man  as  well  as  before."  (Feb.  28.)  On  the  arrival  of  the 
intelligence  of  Mary's  execution,  Courcelles  "  believeth  in 
truth  that  the  king  is  greatly  afflicted  with  this  accidente." 
(March  8.)  But  when  Gray  was  banished,  the  Queen's 
death  was  not  mentioned  among  the  grounds,  "  lest  he 
should  have  accused  others."  And  when  the  Estates  twice 
requested  the  King  to  revenge  his  mother's  death,  and  offer- 
ed their  lives  and  fortunes  in  the  cause,  he  merely  "  thanked 
them,  and  said  he  would  open  his  intentions  afterwards." — 
(June  6.  and  August — ) 

The  above  quotations  are  made  from  "Ane  Extracte 
gathered  out  of  Monsieur  Courcelles  Negociation  in  Scot- 
land from  4th  October  1586.  to  28th  September  1587  :  "  in 
the  possession  of  the  Right  Honourable  the  Marquis  of  Lo- 
thian. This  is,  I  presume,  the  same  with  that  in  Cotton 
MSS.  Calig.  C.  ix.  233.  It  is  very  singular  that  nearly  a 
month  should  have  elapsed  before  Mary's  execution  was 
known  at  Edinburgh.  In  the  year  1585,  when  Stirling 
was  taken  by  the  banished  lords,  Elizabeth's  ministers  at 
London  had  intelligence  of  the  fact  within  forty-eight  hours 
after  it  happened. — (Melville's  Diary,  p.  165.) 

Note  DD.  p.  302. 

Of  Melville^ s  Poem  on  the  Coronation  of  Qveen  ^nne 
of  Denmark. — The  title  of  this  poem  is  "  2TE*ANI2KION. 
Ad  Scotiae  Regem,  habitvm  in  Coronatione  Reginse.  17.  May 
1590.  Per  Andream  Meluinum.  Pro.  16.  13.  lustitia 
stabilit  thronum  Regis.  Edinbvrgi  Excvdebat  Robertvs 
Walde  graue  An.  Dom.  1590.  Cum  priuilegio  Regali." 
4to.  five  leaves.  The  poem  is  republished  in  Delitix  Poe- 
tarvm  Scotorum.  torn.  ii.  p.  71 — 76.  On  the  back  of  the 
title-page  of  the  original  edition  are  the  following  lines,  in 
which  the  author  apologizes  for  the  haste  with  which  the 
poem  was  composed  and  published,  and  ingeniously  alludes 
to  the  late  voyage  of  the  royal  bridegroom. 

Ad  Regem. 

Quod  feci  dixique  tuo.  Rex  inclyte,  lussu, 
Ecce  iubes  volitet  docta  per  ora  virum. 

Jussisti  quod  here,  ego  hodie  :  eras  ibit  in  orbem  i 
Et  properatum  adeo  praecipitabis  opus? 

PrsBcipita.  per  me  ire  licet  quo  authore  volasti 
Trans  mare.   Sors  eadem  fors  erit:  vrget  amor. 

James  must  have  been  pleased  with  the  conceit  expressed 
in  the  two  concluding  lines,  and  with  the  following  address  in 
the  poem  itself,  which  pays  a  flattering  compliment  to  his 
gallantry  in  braving  the  winter  sea,  and  to  (what  he  was  no 
less  proud  of)  his  poetical  achievements; 

Ferguso  generate,  poli  certissima  proles, 
Quot  reges  tulit  olim  orbis,  quot  regna  Britannus, 
Tot  regnis  augende  hffires,  tot  regibus  orte, 
Tot  reges  geniture  olim  foelicibus  astris, 
Lsetus  in  optatas  Sanctis  amplexibus  Anna; : 
Annae,  cuius  amor  te  tot  vada  cerula  mensura, 
Tot  scopulos,  tot  prseruptas  saxa  ardua  rupes, 
Tantam  Hyemem,  tot  fceta  feris  et  inhospita  tesqua 
Raptauit,  gelidisque  morantem  distulit  oris, 
Quam  procul  a  patria,  ac  populo  regnisque  relictis 


394 


NOTES. 


Note  Y.  p.  252. 

Apud  Halieruidhous  xviii^  fe"' 

Anno  etc.  lxxx''J°. 

Sederunt 

Colinus  crgadie  comes 

Jacobus  comes  de  arrane 

Dauid  comes  de  craufurd 

Joannes  comes  de  Montrois 

Joannes  comes  de  mortoun 

Jacobus  comes  de   glencairne 

Jacobus  d"'  de  down 

Thirlstane 

Commendatarius  de  Culros 

Caprintoun 

Clicus  reg" 

Murdocaimy 

Prior  de  blantyii 

Segy 

M''  of  requeistis. 

Mr.andioMciuiie  FoFsamekle  as  maister  ainlro  meluile  provost 
chargeittoward.  ^j.  ^^  ^^^  colledgc  of  Sanctandrois  Being 
callit  befoir  the  kingis  maiestie  and  lordis  of  his  secreit 
counsale,  And  he  comperand  personalie  wes  inquirit  vpoun 
certane  thingis  laid  to  his  charge  spokin  be  him  in  his  ser- 
mon maid  in"  y'^  kirk  of  Sanctandrois  vpoun  the  day  of 
Januar  last  bypast,  olfrnsiue  and  sklander€>us  to  y'  kingis 
maiestie,  Eftir  sindrie  alledgeances  maid  be  y^  said  M''.  andro 
for  declyning  of  y^  judgment  and  protestationis  tending  to 
ye  same  effect.  At  last  being  inquirit  gif  a  minister  speiking 
in  pulpett  that  <j"'  salbe  allcdgit  to  be  treasoun  aucht  to  be 
tryit  yairfoir  ye  king  in  y"  first  instance  or  not,  Ansuerit  yat 
altho'  ye  speiche  wer  alledgit  to  be  treasoun  zit  y"  tryell  in 
y""  first  instance  aught  not  to  be  befoir  y'=  king  bot  befoir  ye 
kirk,  Qi'upon  his  hienes  and  his  secreit  counsede,  ffindis  yat 
his  hienes  and  not  y"  kirk  is  Judge  in  y^  first  instance  in 
caussis  of  tressoun  q'sumeuir,  And  in  respect  of  y*  said 
maister  androis  proceidingis  and  behaveor  sa  oft  declyning 
his  maiesteis  judgment  And  Sua  refuising  to  acknauledge 
his  hienes  royall  estait  and  auc''%  As  alsua  to  obiect  aganis 
y*  witnessis  sumond  for  the  tryell  of  y*^  said  mater,  Clamyng 
to  ye  priuiledge  of  certane  actis  of  parliament  and  secreit 
counsale  concerning  y'  iurisdictioun  of  y"  kirk  Quhilkis 
being  producit  red  and  considerit  wer  fund  to  contene  na  sic 
priuiledge  nor  libertie  gpantit  to.  y^  kirks  to  cognosce  in 
materis  of  tressoun  in  the  first  instance  as  wes  alle'  be  him 
Ansuering  alsua  maist  proudlie  irreuerentlie  and  contempt- 
uously that  y"  lawis  of  God  w'  y^  lawis  and  practik  obseruit 
within  yis  cuntrie  were  peruertit  and  not  obseruit  in  this 
cais.  And  last  yat  he  had  spokin  all  yat  he  had  to  say 
adherand  to  his  former  protestationis  His  maiestie  wt  auise 
of  y^  saidis  lordis  of  his  secreit  counsale  In  yir  respectis 
declaris  y"  said  maister  andro  to  be  worthie  to  be  comittit  to 
ward  in  his  hienes  castell  of  blaknes  and  forder  pvneist  in 
his  persoun  and  gudis  at  his  hienes  will,  Thairfoir  ordanis 
Lres  to  Ite  direct  to  y^  mas'"  of  counsale  or  vther  officear  of 
armes  To  pas  and  in  his  hienes  Name  and  auc''*'  Comand 
and  charge  y"'  said  maister  andro  meluille,  To  pas  and  entir 
his  persoun  in  ward  w'in  y^  said  castell  of  blaknes,  Tliairin 
to  remane  vpoun  his  awin  expensis  during  his  hienes  will 
And  ay  and  quhill  he  be  fred  bo  his  maiestie  within  ten 
houris  nixteftir  he  be  chargit  y^to  vnder  the  pane  of  rebel- 
lioun  and  putting  of  him  to  y*  homo,  and  gif  he  failze  yiin 
y  saidis  ten  houris  being  bypast  to  denuce  him  his  maiesteis 
rebell  and  put  him  to  y*  home.  And  to  escheit  and  inbring 
etc.  And  that  ane  L™  be  direct  for  his  ressait  in  ward,  w'in 
y«  said  castell.     (Record  of  Privy  Council.) 

Note  AA.  p.  265. 

Presentation  of  the  principaiitie  of  "«  new  College  of  Si 
And.     To  M'^  Johnc  Robertsoun. 

Ure  soverane  lord  ordanis  ane  Ire  to  be  made  vnder  the 
previe  seall  bcring  y'  forsameklc  as  his  mat'"  being  surelie 
informite  of  the  depairting  out  of  the  realme  of  Mr  Andro 
Melven  principall  of  y*  new  CoUeige  callit  the  pedagoge  in 


Sanctandrois  and  of  ane  number  of  maisteris  &  regentia 
yairof  quha  hes  passit  out  of  this  realme  and  in  ane  maner 
laift  y^  said  Collaige  voad  &  dissolat  of  all  laiming  doctrene 
and  instructioun  to  y*^  grite  preiudice  of  y"  schoillis  and 
decay  of  gud  Ires  w'in  this  realme  and  his  mat"*'  being  of 
gud  mynd  and  dispositione  to  forlefie  mentene  &  aduance 
y''  curs  of  laiming  incress  of  gud  letters  and  vertew  w'in  the 
realme  and  speciallie  to  sie  y"'  said  Collaige  and  pedagoge 
restorit  redintegrat  and  reslablisit  in  godlie  fsicj  and  exerceiss 
yairof  Thairfoir  and  for  y'  effect  foirsaid  his  mat''"  hes  w'  y« 
aduyse  of  y'=  lord  and  consair  fsicJ  Patrik  bischope  of  Sanct- 
androuz  quhois  prediccssors  foundit  «&  ci'cctit  y'  said  Collaige 
to  place  qualefeit  &  lairnit  men  to  be  masteris  yairin.  And 
specialie  Mr  Johne  robertsoune  quho  is  remanent  and  actuall 
maister  of  auld  to  be  principall  Mr  yairof  to  nominal  present 
and  admit  Bursaris  and  pur  scoillars  yairin  to  tak  ordor  for 
y'=  rentis  fruttis  dewteis  profeittis  emolumentis  of  the  said 
Collaige  of  y"  crope  &  zeir  of  God  1'"  v'=  fourscoir  four  zeiris 
And  sic  lyk  zeirlie  in  tymc  cuminge  And  to  appoint  sik 
personis  as  yai  pliss  for  y"  ingadering  and  inbringinge  of  the 
saidis  rentis  and  fruitis  for  sustentat"ne  of  the  saids  Mrs 
regents  and  bursars  for  instructing  of  y'  youthehcid  in  gude 
literature  and  science  and  to  do  all  &  sundrie  thingis  y» 
belangs  to  the  ry'  and  dew  administracione  of  the  said  Col- 
laige firm  &  stabill  balding  q'sumcver  the  said  bischope  shall 
do  yairin  anent  the  premissis.  Ordaninge  the  lordis  of  C 
secreit  counseill  and  session  to  direct  Ires  of  horning  vpone 
ane  supt"  chairge  of  ten  dayis  alanarlie  at  ye  instance  of  The 
said  bischope  Mr  Johne  robertsoune  and  sik  vders  as  saill  be 
appointit  be  y""  for  y"  inbringing  of  y*  saidis  rentis  of  y° 
crope  &  zeir  of  God  foirsaid  and  siclyk  zeirlie  in  tyme  cum- 
ing  to  the  eflect  aboiiwritten  discharging  be  yir  prnts  all 
vders  economus  intrometters  factors  or  vdis  personis  q'saeuer 
tittill  gift  or  licence  of  factorie  preceding  y*  dait  of  yir  prnts 
to  intromet  or  vplift  ony  of  y''  fruits  rentis  profeits  &,  emolu- 
metis  of  ye  said  Collaige  in  maner  abouwriten  y'  ye  tenantis 
taxmen  fewars  farmoners  and  parochinars  of  the  kirkis  and 
landis  annexit  to  the  said  Collaige  reddelie  ans^  obay  and 
mak  thankfull  paymet  of  y"  said  rentis  of  y'  said  crop  &  zeir 
of  God  to  yam  yair  factors  and  servitors  alancrlie  and  y'  ye 
said  Ire  be  extendit  &c.  Subscriuit  at  holyrudhous  ye  xxvi 
day  of  februar  Anno  d"  1584yeiri8.  (Register  of  Presenta- 
tions to  Benefices.    Vol.  ii.  f.  124.) 

Note  BB.  p.  267-8. 

Royal  Charges  iey  Melville. — At  Halyrud- _^^Acij^inp^^^_^ 
house  the  26  day  of  May  the  year  of  God '  ' 
1586  years,  the  Kings  Maj.  and  Lords  of  Secret  Council 
having  consideration  of  the  disordered  estate  of  the  Uiiiver- 
sitie  of  S'  Andrews,  occasioned  for  the  most  part  be  the 
Bissention  and  Diversitie  betwixt  Patrick  Bishop  of  S'  An- 
drews, and  M'"'  Andrew  and  James  Melvills  Masters  of  the 
New  Colledge  within  the  same,  their  favourers  and  adher- 
ents, to  the  great  slander  of  the  Kirk,  Division  of  the  said 
Universitie,  and  decaying  of  Learning,  and  all  virtuous  exer- 
cise within  the  same,  speciallie  of  theologie,  whereof  the 
said  New  Colledge  was  appointed  to  have  been  a  scminarie 
within  this  Realme,  albeit  be  occasion  of  the  said  Diversitie 
and  variance,  the  ordinar  profession  thereof  has  been  dis- 
continued thir  two  years  bygane  to  the  great  encouragement 
of  the  adversars  of  the  true  and  Christian  Religion,  and 
allurement  of  a  great  number  of  Jesuits  within  the  realme 
for  the  eversion  thereof^  and  the  erection  again  of  Antichria- 
lian  papistrie,  condemned  be  God,  and  be  his  Hicness  I^awes, 
for  repressing  of  whose  practices,  and  continuing  of  the  Exer- 
cise of  Theologie  within  the  said  Universitie  in  the  mean 
time,  his  H.  with  advice  foresaid,  ordeans  the  said  Mr  An- 
drew to  pass  immediatelie  to  Angus,  Merns,  Perth,  and 
other  parts  of  the  North  where  he  may  understand  anie  of 
the  saids  Jesuites  to  be,  to  conferr  with  them,  and  travell  so 
far  as  in  him  lyes  to  reduce  them  to  the  true  and  Christian 
Religion  {)resently  professed  and  acknowledged  be  his  Maj. 
and  this  whole  realme,  and  in  case  he  shall  find  them  obsti- 
nate, to  delate  them  to  his  Maj.  and  his  Secret  Council  to  be 
tane  order  with  according  to  his  H.  Lawcs  and  Acts  of  Par- 
liament, enduring  the  which  time  and  travell,  his  Hieness 
has  dispensed,  and  be  the  tcnour  hereof  dispenses  with  his 
ordinarie  profession,  and  exercise  within  the  said  New  Col- 


NOTES. 


39S 


ledge,  and  appoints  the  same  to  vaike  untill  his  returning, 
Commanding  in  the  mean  time  the  said  M''  James  to  attend 
upon  his  own  place  for  the  instruction  of  the  youth  com- 
mitted to  his  care  and  teaching,  as  he  will  answer  to  God 
and  his  H.  and  to  the  Intent,  that  the  said  exercise  of  The- 
ologie  may  be  continued  within  that  Universitie,  his  Hieness 
with  advice  forsaid  ordeans  and  commands  the  said  Bishop 
to  teach  weeklie  two  Lessons  of  Theologie  within  S.  Salva- 
tors  Colledge  one  upon  Tuesday,  and  another  upon  Thurs- 
day everie  week,  beginning  upon  the  first  tuisday  of  Junie 
next,  and  so  continuing  ay  and  while  his  Maj.  take  further 
order  thereanent  and  that  but  prejudice  of  his  ordinar  preach- 
ing unto  a  particular  flock  whereunto  he  is  astricted  be  the 
late  Conference,  and  that  Letters  be  directed  hereupon  if 
need  be,  charging  everie  one  of  the  said  persons  to  do  ac- 
cordingly as  they  will  answer  to  his  Maj.  upon  their  obedi- 
ence at  their  uttermost  charge  and  perril. 

Extractura  ex  Libris  Actorum  Secreti  Concilii  per  me 
Joannem  Andro  Clericum  Deputatum  ejusdem  sub  meis 
signo  &  subscriplione  manualibus. 

Joannes  Andro. 
(Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.  Rob.  IIL  6.  17.  p.  219.) 

The  following  charge  taken  from  Calderwood,  (MS.  vol. 
iv.  8.)  is  corrected  by  another  copy  which  Wodrow  has  in- 
serted in  his  Life  of  Andrew  Melville.  (MSS.  vol.  xiv. 
Bibl.  Col.  Glasg.) 

Principal!  and  Masters  of  the  New  Colledge,  we  greet  you 
well.  For  as  much  as  we  are  informed  certainly.  That  upon 
the  Sundays,  you  assemble  to  your  selves,  a  number  both 
of  burgh  and  land,  and  preaches  to  them  in  the  English 
Tongue,  and  inveigh  against  the  late  Agreement,  q'^''  by  the 
advice  of  the  G.  Assembly,  was  appointed  for  the  Quietnes 
of  the  Kirk  and  Realm ;  q^by  great  inconveniencys  may 
ensue  :  specially  the  Division  of  the  members  of  the  univer- 
sity. Gentlemen  and  Burgesses,  who  by  y'  means  are  ab- 
stracted from  their  parish  kirk  and  pastors  there ;  We  willing 
that  no  such  occasion  should  ensue,  and  for  the  wellfare  and 
quietnes  of  the  Toun  and  kirk  there  have  By  thir  presents 
tho'  Good,  That  ye  contean  yourselves  within  the  Bounds 
of  your  own  vocation  &  calling,  and  in  such  languages  as 
ye  profess  for  the  Instruction  of  the  youth  and  that  in  no 
wise  ye  attempt  Doctrine  in  English  to  y"  people  of  the 
parish,  we  gave  our  commandment  to  Mr.  Andreu  Melvill 
returning  to  the  Colledge,  that  he  should  not  in  any  sort 
preach  to  the  people ;  wherein  if  either  ye  or  he  contineu  we 
will  take  further  order  in  time  coming,  that  our  appointment 
be  not  so  lightly  regarded.  Thus  we  committ  you  to  God, 
From  Hallyroodhous  the  4.  of  Feb.  1586. 

James  Rex. 

Note  CC.  p.  285. 

Of  James's  conduct  on  the  ExecxUion  of  Queen  J\Iary. — 
Lord  Hamilton  having  been  employed  by  Courcelles,  the 
French  ambassador,  to  speak  to  James  of  his  mother's  danger ; 
"  The  kings  answere  was,  that  the  Queene,  his  mother, 
might  well  drink  the  ale  and  beere  which  her  selfe  had 
brewed  ;  ffurther  that  having  bound  her  selfe  to  the  Queene 
of  England  to  doe  nothing  againste  her,  she  ought  to  have 
kept  her  promise  :  notwithstandinge  that  he  woulde  no  waye 
faile  in  his  dutie  and  naturall  obligatione  he  ought  her." 
To  Sir  George  Douglas,  who  represented  to  him  how 
discreditable  it  would  be  to  him  to  allow  Elizabeth  to  put  his 
mother  to  death,  the  king  said  that  he  knew  "  she  bore  him 
no  more  good  will  than  she  did  the  Queene  of  England — 
and  that  in  truth  it  was  meete  for  her  to  meddle  with  noth- 
ing but  prayer  and  servinge  of  God."  The  Earl  of  Both- 
well  being  asked  by  the  King  what  he  should  do  if  Eliza- 
beth asked  his  consent  to  proceed  against  his  mother,  said, 
"  yf  he  did  suffer  it  he  were  worthie  to  be  hanged  the  nexte 
daye  after;  whereat  the  Kinge  laughed  and  said,  he  would 
prouid  for  that."  (Courcelles  to  the  King  of  France,  Oct.  4, 
1586.)  "  The  nobilitie  believe  indeed  that  ther  is  some  se- 
crete intelligence  betwcene  the  Queene  of  Englande  and 
the  Kinge,  which  is  the  rather  confirmed  becaus  the  Kings 
Secretare  and  Grawe  were  onlie  made  privie  to  the  said 
Keiths  instructiones,  "&c.  (Same  to  same,  Nov.  30.)  The 
Master  of  Gray's  embassy  confirms  them  in  this  opinion, 
"  and  that  the  Kinge  of  Scotts  will  not  declare  him  selfe 


openly  against  her  (Elizabeth)  thougti  his  mother  be  put  to 
death,  vnlesse  the  Queene  and  the  Statts  would  deprive  him 
of  his  right  to  that  crowne,  which  himselfe  hath  vttered  to 
Earl  Bothcwill  and  Chevaleire  Seaton."  (Dec.  31.)  Alex- 
ander Stewart,  sent  in  the  company  SS  the  ambassadors 
"  with  more  secret  charge,"  had  said  to  Elizabeth,  "  were  she 
even  deade,  yf  the  king  at  first  shewed  him  selfe  not  con- 
tented therewith  they  might  easily  satisfy  him  in  sending 
him  doges  and  deare."  On  being  informed  of  this,  "  the 
kinge  was  in  marvilose  collore  and  sware  and  protested  be- 
fore God  that  yf  Steuard  came  he  would  hange  him  before 
he  putt  off  his  bootes,  and  yf  the  Queene  medled  with  his 
mothers  life,  she  should  knowe  he  would  follow  somewhat 
else  then  dogges  and  deare."  (Feb.  10.)  Courcelles  expres- 
ses his  fears  that  if  Mary's  execution  should  happen,  James 
would  "digeste  it  as  patiently  as  he  hath  done  that  which 
passed  between  the  Queene  of  England  and  Alexander 
Stuard,  whose  excuse  he  hath  well  allowed,  and  vseth  the 
man  as  well  as  before."  (Feb.  28.)  On  the  arrival  of  the 
intelligence  of  Mary's  execution,  Courcelles  "  believeth  in 
truth  that  the  king  is  greatly  afflicted  with  this  accidente." 
(March  8.)  But  when  Gray  was  banished,  the  Queen's 
death  was  not  mentioned  among  the  grounds,  "  lest  he 
should  have  accused  others."  And  when  the  Estates  twiee 
requested  the  King  to  revenge  his  mother's  death,  and  offer- 
ed their  lives  and  fortunes  in  the  cause,  he  merely  "thanked 
them,  and  said  he  would  open  his  intentions  afterwards." — 
(June  6.  and  August — ) 

The  above  quotations  are  made  from  "Ane  Extracte 
gathered  out  of  Monsieur  Courcelles  Negociation  in  Scot- 
land from  4th  October  158G,  to  28th  September  1587  :  "  in 
the  possession  of  the  Right  Honourable  the  Marquis  of  Lo- 
thian. This  is,  I  presume,  the  same  with  that  in  Cotton 
MSS.  Calig.  C.  ix.  233.  It  is  very  singular  that  nearly  a 
month  should  have  elapsed  before  Mary's  execution  was 
known  at  Edinburgh.  In  the  year  1585,  when  Stirling 
was  taken  by  the  banished  lords,  Elizabeth's  ministers  at 
London  had  intelligence  of  the  fact  within  forty-eight  hours 
after  it  happened. — (Melville's  Diary,  p.  165.) 

Note  DD,  p.  302. 

Of  Melville^ s  Poem  on  the  Coronation  of  Queen  ^nne 
of  Denmark. — The  title  of  this  poem  is  "  2TE<I»ANI2K]ON. 
Ad  Scotiae  Regem,  habitvm  in  Coronatione  Reginae.  17.  May 
1590.  Per  Andream  Meluinum.  Pro.  16.  13.  lustitia 
stabilit  thronum  Regis.  Edinbvrgi  Excvdebat  Robertvs 
Walde  graue  An.  Dom.  1590.  Cum  priuilegio  Regali." 
4to.  five  leaves.  The  poem  is  republished  in  Delitix  Poe- 
tarvm  Scotoimm.  torn.  ii.  p.  71 — 76.  On  the  back  of  the 
title-page  of  the  original  edition  are  the  following  lines,  in 
which  the  author  apologizes  for  the  haste  with  which  the 
poem  was  composed  and  published,  and  ingeniously  alludes 
to  the  late  voyage  of  the  royal  bridegroom. 

Ad  Regem. 

Quod  feci  dixique  tuo.  Rex  inclyte,  lussu, 
Ecce  iubes  volitet  docta  per  ora  virum. 

Jussisti  quod  here,  ego  hodie :  eras  ibit  in  orbem  i 
Et  properatum  adeo  praecipitabis  opus? 

PrsBcipita.  per  me  ire  licet  quo  authore  volasti 
Trans  mare.   Sors  eadem  fors  erit :  vrget  amor. 

James  must  have  been  pleased  with  the  conceit  expressed 
in  the  two  concluding  lines,  and  with  the  following  address  in 
the  poem  itself,  which  pays  a  flattering  compliment  to  his 
gallantry  in  braving  the  winter  sea,  and  to  (what  he  was  no 
less  proud  of)  his  poetical  achievements: 

Ferguso  generate,  poli  certissima  proles, 
Quot  reges  tulit  olim  orbis,  quot  regna  Britannus, 
Tot  regnis  augende  haeres,  tot  regibus  orte, 
Tot  reges  geniture  olim  foslicibus  astris, 
Laetus  in  optatas  Sanctis  amplexibus  Annae : 
Annae,  cuius  amor  te  tot  vada  cerula  mensum, 
Tot  scopulos,  tot  praeruptas  saxa  ardua  rupes, 
Tantam  Hyemem,  tot  foeta  feris  et  inhospita  tesqua 
Raptauit,  gelidisque  morantem  distulit  oris, 
Quam  procul  a  patria,  ac  populo  regnisque  relictis 


396 


NOTES, 


Tam  propior  Phcebo,  Musis  lucem  annue  nostris, 
Dum  caiiimns  decus  omne  tuum,  decus  omne  tuorum, 
Rex  Iacobs,  decus  Musanim  et  Apollinis  ingens. 

The  theme  of  the  Stephaniskion  is  the  right  government 
of  a  kingdom.  After  a  description  of  the  cares  which  environ 
a  crown,  and  the  small  number  of  those  who  have  swa3'ed 
the  sceptre  with  credit  to  themselves  and  benefit  to  their 
people,  whose  names,  according  to  the  saying  of  an  Asiatic 
monarch, 

Una  omnes  inscribi  uno  posse  annulo,  et  una 
Includi  gemma,  fulvum  quffi  dividit  aurum; 
the  poet  inquires  into  the  causes  which  incite  men  to  covet 
this  dangerous  eminence, — the  secret  impulse  of  nature,  the 
innate  desire  of  distinction,  consciousness  of  talents  or  of 
birth,  thirst  for  personal  glory  or  family  aggrandizement, 
patriotism,  and  that  more  exalted  and  sacred  flame  which 
seeks,  by  a  faithful  administration  of  a  terrestrial  kingdom, 
to  obtain  a  celestial  and  unfading  crown. 

Vis  arcana  nature,  et  conscia  fati 
Semina : 

Levat  alta  laborem 
Gloria,  celsi  animi  pennis  sublimibus  apta. 
Quid  studium  humani  generis?  quid  viuida  virtu 
Ignause  impatiens  vmbrse  atque  ignobilis  oti  ? 
•  ••••• 

Et  prsedulce  decus  patriae :  populique  Patrumque, 
Vel  hello  quaerenda  salus,  per  mille  pericla, 
Mille  neces,  et  morte  ipsa  quod  durius  usquam  est  1 
Quo  patriae  non  raptet  amor  ccelestis,  &  aul® 
Etherise,  seterna  regem  quse  luce  coronat  T 

The  prince  described  is  of  course  a  patriot  king :  but  the 
author  does  not  maintain,  (as  Archbishop  Adamson  had 
accused  him  of  doing,)  that  popular  election  is  the  only 
legitimate  mode  of  investing  a  prince  with  the  sceptre : 

Seu  lectus  magno  e  populo,  sen  natus  avito 
In  solio,  vel  lege  nova,  vel  more  vetusto, 
Sortitus  sceptrique  decus  regnique  coronam. 

He  does  not  touch  the  harsh  string  of  resistance  to  rulers 
who  abuse  their  power,  but  he  strongly  reprobates,  and  con- 
demns to  the  Stygian  lake  whence  it  ascended,  the  pestilen- 
tial principle,  that  kings  are  born  for  themselves,  and  that 
their  will  is  their  law : 

Stat  regi,  ut  regni  Domino,  pro  lege  voluntas : 

Talia  dicta  vomit  diris  e  faucibus  Orcus. 

•  ••••• 

Est  pecus,  est  pejor  pecude,  est  fera  bellua,  soli 
Qui  sibi  se  natum  credit :  qui  non  nisi  in  ipso 
Cogitat  imperium  imperio :  qui  denique  secum 
Non  putat  ipse  datum  se  civibus,  at  sibi  cives. 

The  marriage  of  Jamea,  with  its  attendant  solemnities, 
vfras  celebrated  by  other  poets  besides  Melville.  Among 
these  were  Hercules  Rollock,  and  Adrian  Damman.  "  De 
Avgustissimo  Jacobi  6.  Scotorum  Regis,  &  Annas — conju- 
gio:  13.  Calend.  Septemb.  1589  in  Dania  celebrate : — 
Epithalamivm  Ad  eamdem  Annam,  Serenissimam  Scotorum 
Reginam.  Hercule  Rolloco  Scoto  auctore.  Edinburgi  Ex- 
cudebat  Henricvs  Charteris.  1589."  Ten  leaves  in  4to. 
"Schediasmata  Hadr.  Dammanis  A  Bisterveld  Gandavensis 
— Edinburgi  Excvdebat  Robertvs  Walde-graue.  An.  Dom. 
1590."  I  in  fours.  This  last  collection  consists  of  a  Greek 
and  Latin  poem  on  the  marriage,  and  of  Latin  poems  on 
the  storm  which  drove  the  Queen  to  Norway,  the  King's 
voyage,  the  coronation,  and  the  public  entrance  into  Edin- 
burgh. Prefixed  to  the  work  are  encomiastic  verses  by  Mel- 
ville in  Latin,  and  by  Robert  Pont  in  Latin  and  Greek. 
Damman  gives  a  poetical  description  of  the  ceremony  of  the 
Coronation,  in  the  course  of  which  he  praises  the  sermon 
preached  by  Gralloway,  and  especially  the  prayer  offered  up 
by  Bruce. 

Conticuere  iterum,  versisquc  ad  Sacra  Ministris, 
Brucius  assurgit,  vir  nobilis,  inque  togati 
Classe  Ministcrij  nullo  pietatis  &  a-qui 
Laudibus  inferior,  precibus  Solcmnia  Sanctis 
Commendare  Deo,  Christumque  in  vota  vocare 
Incipit.  &  prudens  animi,  linguieque  disertus. 


He  gives  the  following  flattering  description  of  Melville, 
and  the  part  which  he  acted  in  the  solemnity  .* 

Altisonis  stat  pausa  tubis :  strepitusque  silescit 
Gaudia  testantis  populi:  quum  denique  surgit 
Nobilis  eloquio,  doctrinaque  inclytus  omni, 
Divina  imprimis ;  qui  multus  Apollinis  antra. 
Antra  rosis,  violisque,  et  anethi  picta  corymbis, 
Lymphae  ubi  limpidulo  trepidant  pede,  rite  frequentat, 
Mcluinus,  grandique  ad  Regem  carmine  fatur 
Ausonio,  monitisque  docet  prudentibus  artem 
Imperij. 

It  appears  from  Damman's  account,  that  Melville  pro- 
nounced his  poem  immediately  after  the  crown  was  placed 
on  the  Queen's  head,  and  not  before  that  ceremony  was  per- 
formetl,  as  James  Melville  has  stated  in  his  Diary. — Damman 
was  not  a  Dane,  as  is  commonly  supposed.  He  was  bom 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Ghent  and  had  taught  Humanity  in 
that  city.  (Anton.  Sanderus,  De  Gandavensibvs  Erudit. 
Fama  Claris,  p.  13.  Antv.  1624.)  Sanderus  says  he  went  to 
Scotland  at  the  invitation  of  Buchanan.  "  Tandem  a 
Georgio  Buchanano  ad  Nobilem  iuventutem  politissimis 
litteris  imbuendam  accersitus  in  Scotiam  fuit."  Others  say 
that  he  came  to  Scotland  in  the  retinue  of  Queen  Anne. 
He  afterwards  taught  for  some  years  as  professor  of  Human- 
ity in  the  College  of  Edinburgh,  and  acted  as  Resident 
of  the  States  General  at  the  court  of  Scotland.  (Crawfurd's 
Hist  of  the  Univ.  of  Edinburgh,  p.  35,  40.  Epist.  Eccles.  et 
Theolog.  p.  35— 38.  Amst.  1704.) 

Note  BE.  p.  275. 

Of  Patronage  and  PopularElection — "  Ordinarie  voca- 
tion consisteth  in  Election,  Examination,  and  Admission. — It 
appertaineth  to  the  people,  and  to  every  severall  Congregation 
to  elect  their  mLnister, — For  altogether  this  is  to  be  avoided, 
that  any  man  be  violently  intruded  or  thrust  in  upon  any 
congregation.  But  this  libertie  with  all  care  must  be  re- 
served to  every  severall  Church,  to  have  their  votes  and 
suffrages  in  election  of  their  ministers."  (First  Book  of 
Discipline,  head  iv.)  "  Election  is  the  choosing  out  of  a  per- 
son, or  persons,  most  able,  to  the  office  that  vakes,  by  the 
judgement  of  the  Eldership,  and  consent  of  the  Congrega- 
tion, to  which  shall  be  tlie  person,  or  persons  appointed. — 
So  that  none  be  intrused  upon  any  Congregation,  either  by 
the  Prince,  or  any  inferiour  person,  without  lawful  election, 
and  the  consent  of  the  people  over  whom  the  person  is  placed, 
as  the  practice  of  the  Apostolical  and  Primitive  Kirk,  and 
good  order  craves.  And  because  this  order,  which  Gods 
word  craves,  cannot  stand  with  patronages  and  presentation 
to  benefices  used  in  the  Popes  kirk,  we  desire  all  them  that 
truely  feare  God,  earnestly  to  consider,  that  for  as  much  as 
the  names  of  patronages  and  benefices  together  with  the 
effect  thereof  have  flowed  from  the  Pope  and  corruption  of 
the  Canon  law  onely,  in  so  farr  as  thereby  any  person  was 
intrused  or  placed  over  kirkes  having  Curam  animarum ; 
and  for  as  much  as  that  manner  of  proceeding  bath  no  ground 
in  the  word  of  God,  but  is  contrary  to  the  same  and  to  the 
said  liberty  of  Election,  they  ought  not  now  to  have  place  in 
this  light  of  Reformation."  (Second  Book  of  Discipline, 
chap.  3.  and  12.) 

At  the  first  General  Assembly,  "  the  kirk  appointit  the 
electioun  of  the  minister.  Elders  and  deacons  to  be  in  the 
publick  Kirk,  and  the  premonition  to  be  vpon  the  sonday  pre- 
ceding the  day  of  Uie  Electioun."  (Buik  of  Univ.  Kirk,  f.  2.) 
In  June,  1562,  it  was  concluded,  "  tuiching  persones  to  be 
nnminat  to  Kirks,  that  none  be  admitted  without  nomination 
of  the  people,  and  dew  examination  and  admission  of  the 
Superintendent"  (Keith,  513.)  An  act  of  Assembly,  April, 
1582,  for  correcting  disorders  produced  by  ambition,  covetous- 
ness,  and  indirect  dealing  in  entering  to  the  ministry,  concludes 
thus:  "this  act  no  wayes  to  be  prejudiciall  to  laick  patrones 
and  y'  presentatiouns,  vnto  y  tyme  ye  lawes  be  reformed 
according  to  the  word  of  God."  (Buik  of  Univ.  Kirk,  f. 
123,  b.)  On  the  annexation  of  the  temporalities  of  the  bish- 
oprics to  the  crown,  the  patronages  connected  with  them 
were  disposed  of  to  different  noblemen  and  gentlemen. 
The  General  Assembly,  in  August,  1588,  petitioned  his 
Majesty  against  this ;  "  inhibiting  in  y'  meantjme  all  com- 


NOTES. 


397 


missioners  and  presbyteries  y'  they  in  no  wayes  give  colla- 
tioun  or  admissioun  to  any  persons  presentit  be  y"  saids  new 
patrons  as  is  above  speit  (specified)  unto  y  nixt  general 
assemblie  of  y«  Kirk."  (lb.  f.  153,  a.)  Among  the  articles 
of  an  overture  approved  by  the  Assembly  in  May,  1596, 
was  the  following :  "  Thridlie  because  be  presentatiouns 
many  forciblie  are  thrust  in  y^  minlstrie  and  vpoun  congrega- 
tiouns  yt  utteris  yafter  they  were  not  callit  be  God,  it  wald 
be  provydit  y'  none  seik  presentatiouns  to  benefices  without 
advyce  of  y  presbyterie  within  y*^  bounds  q''  of  pbrie  (sic) 
lyis,  and  if  any  doe  in  y'  contrair  they  to  be  repellit  as 
rei  ambitus."     (lb.  f.  178,  a.) 

Such  was  the  law  of  the  church.  The  practice  appears 
to  have  varied  somewhat  in  different  places.  Sometimes 
the  General  Assembly  or  the  presbytery  of  the  bounds  nom- 
inated or  recommended  a  minister,  either  of  their  own 
accord,  or  at  the  desire  of  the  session  or  congregation.  In 
some  instances  the  election  was  by  the  session,  or  by  the 
session  and  principal  persons  of  the  parish,  and  in  others  by 
the  votes  of  the  congregation  at  large.  Sometimes  the  con- 
gregation elected  the  individuals  themselves  ;  at  other  times 
they  nominated  electors  from  among  themselves  :  and  at 
other  times  they  referred  the  choice  to  the  presbytery.  But 
in  whatever  way  this  was  conducted,  the  general  consent  of 
the  people  was  considered  as  requisite  before  proceeding  to 
admission,  and  the  church  courts  exerted  themselves  in  ob- 
taining the  presentation  for  the  person  who  was  acceptable 
to  the  parish.  On  the  appointment  of  a  second  minister  to 
the  town  and  parish  of  Haddington,  the  presbytery  claimed 
the  right  of  nomination,  but  Mr.  James  Carmichael  having 
produced  and  read  the  act  of  Assembly  1562,  they  relin- 
quished their  claim.  (Record  of  Presbytery  of  Haddington, 
August  15,  1601.) — The  following  is  the  account  of  the 
election  of  Robert  Bruce  to  be  minister  of  St.  Andrews  : 
"  Die  xxi"  mensis  Maii  anno  Ixxxix". 

The  q"'  day  being  appointit  to  y"  electioun  of  ane  minis- 
ter and  fallow  laborar  w'  M  Robert  Wilkie  minister  in  y^ 
functioun  of  y*  ministrie  in  this  congregation,  fur'  of  y^  nyne 
personis  efter  specify  t  viz.  nominat  be  y"  town  vniversite  & 
landward  parochenaris ;  to  witt  M"  Robert  Bruce  Jhone 
Cauldcleuche  W™  Marche  nominat  be  y*  town,  M"  Johne 
Malcom  alex  monipcnny  &  M  Jhon  Auchinlek  nominat,  be 
y«  univcrsite,  and  M"  Nichol  Dalglcs  Jhonc  Dauidsoun  & 
Robert  Dury  nominat  be  y«  gentill  men  &  paroshenaris 
upon  land,  Comperit  ane  ry'  bono"  man  James  Lermouth 
of  Darsy  provest  of  S'  And*  M  Wm  Russel  bailze  Thomas 
Lentroun  &  Patrik  Gutherie  commissioners  for  y^  town  & 
Patrik  Bonkill  y"  common  clerk  M  James  M^ilkie  rector  of 
y'  universite,  M  David  monypenny  deane  of  facultie,  M 
Andrew  Meluill  Mr  principall  of  y  new  College,  and  M 
W™  Cranstoun  maister  in  y^  auld  college  commissioneris  for 
y"  said  universite,  and  honii  men  Sir  George  Douglas  of 
Elenehill  kny'  James  Wod  of  Lambeletham,  James  Hay 
chalmerlane  of  y^  priore  of  St  An"*™  Patrik  Dudingstoun 
portioner  of  Kincapill,  Andrew  Wn<l  of  Stray'wethy  & 
M  Alex  Jarden  of  Smyddy  grein  coramissionaris  for  y" 
gentillmen  and  paroshinaris  vpoun  land.  Quha  all  wt  ane 
voce  efter  ernest  incalling  on  y  holy  name  of  God,  elec- 
tit  &  chusit  y"  said  Mr  Robert  Bruce  as  ane  man  maist 
meet  habill  and  quhalifyt  minister  and  fallow  laborar  in 
y"  ministrie  w'  y«  said  Mr  Robert  Wilkie  And  y«  saidis 
haill  commissionaris  hes  aggreit  y^  ilk  ane  of  thame  to 
witt,  y'  towne,  universite  &  paroshenaris  vpon  land  send 
w'  all  diligens  y''  supplication  in  y<=  maist  feruent  maner 
to  ye  said  M  Robert  Bruce  to  cum  &  occupy  y^  said  of- 
fice in  and  upon  him  conforme  to  y^  said  fre  election." 
(Record  of  Kirk  Session  of  St  Andrews.)  On  the  demis- 
sion of  Mr  Robert  Wilkie,  who  was  appointed  principal 
of  St.  Leonard's  College,  "  The  maist  speciall  of  the  haill 
parochin  alsweill  to  land  as  bur'  being  convenit,  efter  ernest 
incalling  upon  y"  holy  name  of  God,  electit  &  chusit  all 
w'  ane  voce  w'out  discrepans  or  variance  Mr  David  Blak, 
quha  wes  specialie  recommendit  to  thame  be  y"  gcnerall 
kyrk,  pastor  and  minister  to  this  congregation."  (lb.  Nov. 
11,  1590.) 

Mr.  Andrew  Forester,  minister  of  Corstorphin,  having 
laid  before  the  presbytery  of  Haddington  a  demission  of  the 
vicarage  of  Tranent  by  his  father,  and  presentation  of  it 
to  himself  by  the  king,  confessed,  after  some  interrogatories, 


"  that  bay  y«  dismission  and  presentation  foirsaid  wer  taken 
be  his  foirknowledge  and  accepted  be  his  consent."  The 
presbytery  fonnd  that  they  could  not  proceed  to  collation  and 
admission,  because  he  had  not  obtained  license  of  transporta- 
tion, and  "  becaus  be  his  foirsaid  dealling  he  is  fallin  vnder 
danger  of  ane  act  of  the  gcnerall  assembly  decerning  sic  per- 
sones  as  takes  giftes  of  ony  benefices  of  cure  w'out  foir- 
knowledge and  consent  of  the  kirk  to  be  Rei  ambitus,  of  the 
q'^  fault  he  is  to  be  tryit  befoir  his  judge  ordinarie."  (Re- 
cord of  Presbytery  of  Haddington,  Oct.  5,  1597.) 

The  parishioners  of  Aberlady  requested  the  presbytery, 
"  that  ane  lite  my'  be  maid  of  qualifeit  men  and  sent  to 
teache  in  their  paroche  kirk  upon  several  sabboth  dayes 
per  vices,  To  the  end  y'  y"  Brethrene  of  the  presbyterie 
wt  their  consent  my'  out  of  that  number  chuse  ane  fittest 
for  the  rowme."  Mr.  Andrew  Blackball  younger  being  put 
on  the  leel  was  suspected  to  be  reus  ambitus,  and  ordained 
to  make  his  purgation.  He  satisfied  the  presbytery,  after  a 
strict  examination,  that  he  did  not  know  of  the  presentation, 
"  till  it  was  past  the  seallis,  and  as  yet  had  not  acceptit  of  the 
same,  nather  yet  was  myndit  to  accept  of  the  same  w'out 
y=  special  advyse  of  presbyterie,"  (lb.  from  January  21, 
to  March  17,  1602.)  The  presbytery  "finds  the  said  Mr 
Andro  not  to  be  Reus  ambitus;"  but  still  they  came  to  the 
following  resolution. 

"  At  Haddingtoun  y  24  Martij   1602. 

The  q"'  day  y®  brethrene  being  to  noiate  and  elect  ane 
of  the  thrie  y'  was  vpon  y  Lite  for  aberladie  to  be  placit  as 
pastour  thare,  before  y'  y^  said  mater  suld  be  put  in  voting 
tho'  meit  y'  Mr  Andro  Blackhal  suld  subscryve  y«  submis- 
sioun  following. 

I  Mr  Andro  blakhal  younger  am  content  to  put  and  pre- 
setlie  puts  y'  gift  and  presentafun  of  vicarage  of  aberladie 
obtainit  in  my  name  in  y"  hands  of  y^  presbyterie  of  had- 
ingtoun  to  use  it  as  thay  think  gude. 

Sic  Subscribitur 

M  A  Blakhall." 

A  curious  instance  of  procedure  in  the  case  of  an  un- 
popular presentee  occurred  in  the  same  presbytery  long 
after  the  introduction  of  episcopacy.  In  1621,  Michael 
Gilbert  having  obtained  from  the  king  a  presentation  to  the 
parish  of  Northberwick,  the  presbytery  appointed  him  to 
preach  in  that  church,  and  the  people  to  send  commissioners 
to  testify  what  is  "  ther  lyking  or  approbation"  of  him. 
Commissioners,  accordingly,  attended  next  meeting  of  the 
presbytery,  and  reported  "in  name  of  the  whole  people 
that  thei  ware  not  content  w'  Michael  Gibbert,  and  that  uni- 
versallie  y"=  people  had  no  lyking  of  him  and  thawcht  him 
not  meit  for  that  place,"  The  presbyterie  having  taken 
him  on  trials,  "  commends  and  allows  his  gift  and  holie 
affectioun,  juges  him  able  to  enter  in  the  ministrie  q''  it  sail 
please  God  to  call  him  wt  consent  of  the  congregation, 
but  in  respect  of  the  place  of  Northberwick  q''unto  the 
generall  assemblie  haldin  at  Aberdein  hes  thawcht  meit  an 
man  of  singular  gifts  of  authoritie  and  experience  Also 
in  respect  of  y"  comraissionars  of  the  said  parochin  of 
Northberwick  dissenting  y''fra  we  thinke  him  not  meit  for 
y'  place  of  Northbervick,"  It  was  ordained  accordingly 
that  a  letter  should  be  written  to  "  My  lord  of  St.  androis 
bearing  the  presbytries  judgement  anent  the  said  Michael 
Gilberts  not  qualification  for  northberwick."  On  the  5th 
of  September,  the  presbytery  received  the  following  answer 
from  the  archbishop. 

"  Loving  brithren  I  haue  receaved  yc  Itre  tutching  mi- 
chael  Gilbert  q''by  I  perceaue  y'  he  is  not  be  zow  fond  meit 
to  be  receavit  in  that  kirk,  but  I  must  pray  zow  in  yor  an- 
swair  to  forbeir  the  consideration  of  y'  kirk  at  leist  the  men- 
tion of  it  in  your  writt  because  as  I  formarlie  wrote  if  he 
be  fund  meit  to  be  an  minister  I  carmot  shift  but  giue  colla- 
tioun  as  I  am  requyrit,  he  is  presentit  to  that  kirk  y'^for 
directit  to  be  tryit  by  zow.  if  he  be  not  fund  meit  it  exoners 
both  zou  &  me  To  say  so  in  generall  that  Michael  Gilbert 
being  presented  be  his  Ma.  for  such  a  kirk  and  directed  by 
me  to  be  tryed  by  zou  ze  find  him  not  qualifeit  And  no 
more  then  this  being  I  sail  desyr  zow  speedilie  to  acquent 
me  whom  ze  wold  chuse  with  consent  of  the  parochin  and  I 
sail  doe  the  best  I  can  to  haue  zou  satisfeit  for  I  shall  be 
loith  to  admitt  any  whom  ze  by  yo''  judgement  finds  not 
qualefeit  to  anie  of  yo""  kirks  and  certainlie  wold  we  in 


398 


NOTES. 


planting  haue  this  regard  to  consider  y*  qualities  of  men 
ther  prudence  as  weill  as  y""  teiching  wliom  Chrysestome  in 
some  place  requyris  as  necessarie  in  a  pastor  o^  kirk  wold  be 
in  an  better  estate  &  o^  calling  not  so  exposed  to  contempt 
as  it  is,  but  thes  T  leaue  and  for  the  present  commits  zow  to 
God 

rests  your  assured  brother 

St.  Andrews." 
The  presbytery  took  the  bishop's  hint,  and  made  an  act 
declaring  simply  the  presentee's  "  non  sufficiencic,"  but  after 
some  delay,  they  received  instructions  from  the  bishop 
(Feb.  5,  1622.)  to  proceed  with  Gilbert's  settlement;  on 
which  they  came  to  this  conclusion,  "  that  in  regard  of  the 
opposition  made  already  by  the  peopill  and  in  regard  of  the 
slander  and  contempt  that  may  be  given  in  publick  to  the 
ministrie  urging  the  people  to  yield  unto  y'  q'^  no  wayes  they 
will  do,  that  the  mater  be  delayed  to  such  opportunities  as 
the  arch  B.  may  bespek."  (lb.  from  June  27,  1621,  to 
February  5,  1622.)  the  presentee,  however,  ultimately  pre- 
vailed ;  for  on  the  roll  of  members  of  Presbytery  in  1624  is 
"  Michael  Gilbert  rain"^  of  Northbervick." 

The  consent  of  the  people  was  signified  in  different  ways. 
When  it  was  proposed  that  John  Davidson  should  de  settled 
as  a  minister  of  Saltpreston  and  Pannis,  "  anc  gritt  multi- 
tude of  the  honest  men  of  bayth  the  tounes  foirsaids  come  and 
shew  their  gnde  lyking  of  Mr  Jhone  and  his  doctrine  to  us 
of  the  presbyterie,  (met  at  Tranent)  desyring  us  maist  ear- 
nestly w'  any  voyce,  "  &c — "  Thanks  returned  to  my  lord 
of  Newbottle  "  whose  concurrence  in  the  settlement  had  been 
requested  by  the  presbytery.  (lb.  Oct.  29 — Dec.  24, 1595.) 
Oftener  the  consent  of  the  congregation  was  reported  to  the 
presbytery  by  commissioners.  The  reader  may  be  pleased 
to  see  the  following  copy  of  a  formal  written  call,  which  is 
the  earliest  document  of  the  kind  that  I  have  met  with. 

"  Vnto  zo^  godlie  W.  of  the  presbyterie  of  hadingtoun 
humlie  menis  and  schawls  we  zo'  bretherne  the  pro"  [pa- 
rishioners] of  GuUane  w'  the  speciall  consent  of  our  pastor 
Mr  thomas  makghe  that  q''as  it  hes  pleisit  God  in  the  age 
infirmitie  and  often  diseisis  of  our  said  pastor  to  offer  occa- 
sion of  support  to  him  and  to  vs  both  be  Mr  Androw  Makghe 
his  sone  of  quhome  we  having  had  pruiff  and  tryall  the  twa 
zeiris  bygane  dois  testifie  his  doctrine  to  be  sound  sensible  & 
edfying  his  lyff  and  conversatioun  to  be  honest  and  unre- 
bukeable  In  respect  q'^of  haueing  gude  expectatioun  y'  he 
salbe  ane  profitable  instrument  amangis  vs  for  advancement 
of  goddis  glorie  and  our  awin  salvatioun  Hes  w'  ane  voyce 
thoucht  expedient  maist  emistlie  to  rcqueist  zo''  wisdomes  to 
proceid  w'  that  diligence  zo''  w.  sail  think  maist  expedient  to 
the  admission  and  ordinatioun  of  the  said  Mr  Andro  to  the 
office  of  ministerie  within  our  congregatioun  That  being 
warrandit  be  y'  outward  calling  and  authoritie  of  the  kirk 
he  may  be  answerabill  to  our  said  expectatioun  in  the  synceir 
preaching  of  goddis  word  ministring  of  ye  sacraments  dis- 
cipline and  all  vther  extemall  benefites  of  y'  kirk  according 
to  the  reuU  of  the  said  word  and  commoun  practise  of  the 
reformit  kirk  w'in  this  cuntrey  Unto  quhome  in  the  lord  ane 
and  all  we  promise  fay'fuUie  our  concurrance  and  obedience 
to  the  vttermost  according  to  o'  dewtie  And  zo'  godlie  w. 
answ  humlie  we  beseich 

Sic  Subscribitui  Mr  thomas  Makghe  minister 

of  gullane 
Ro'  hepburne  George  Ker 

Alex''  tod  P  Levingtoun  of  Saltcottis 

Mr  Mark  Hepburne  Ro  Congilton  of  that  ilk 

George  Dudgeoun  Walter  Ker 

Andro  Robesone  George  Haiyburtoun 

Williame  Marsheall  Daniel  broun 

Jhone  Sinclair  Michael  tod 

James  Sandilands 
George  Walker 
George  sseveis 
Thomas  Wilson 
This  is  the  mynd  of  the  hayll  rest  of  the  pro"  y'  cannot 
Bubscryvc  as  thai  hane  testifyit  be  thair  consent  quhen  thair 
voittis  wes  rcquyrit  desyring  me  notar  vnderwritten  to  sub- 
scrive  in  thair  names. 

Ita  est  Joannes  Craik  notarius   publicus  ad  premissa  rc- 
quisitus  testem  his  meis  signo  et  subscriptione  manualibus." 
(Record  of  Presbytery  of  Haddington,  Dec.  7,  1597.) 


Note  FF.  p.  278. 

Hiot  against  Jilelville  at  St.  Andretvs. — The  summons 
raised  at  the  instance  of  Mr  Andrew  Melvill  principal  of  the 
New  College  of  St  Andrews,  and  Mr  David  Makgill  of 
Nisbet  his  Majesty's  advocate  states,  "  that  upon  the  fourt 
day  of  Junij  instant,  the  said  Mr  Andro  being  vnder  medi- 
cine w'in  his  chalmer  of  the  said  college,  lippeing  for  nae 
violence — Mr  David  Methven  &c.  convocat  and  assembUt 
togidder  be  the  ringing  of  the  comoun  bell  the  haill  ceitie 
for  tlie  maist  part  of  the  said  citie  bod  in  in  feir  of  weir  with 
quhom  they  come  to  the  said  college  and  in  maist  barbarous 
and  insolent  maner  brak  up  tlie  back  and  foir  yettis  y'of 
clam  the  wallis  of  the  same  and  preisit  violentlie  to  haue 
brokin  up  the  said  Mr.  androis  chalmer  dur  lyke  as  thay 
brak  up  w'  ane  lang  Jeist  the  bak  stair  of  his  said  chalmer 
vfMjun  set  purpois  and  deliberatioun  to  have  slayne  and 
murdriest  him  within  his  said  chalmer  quhilk  thay  had  not 
faillit  to  have  done  were  not  be  the  providence  of  God  and 
the  mediatioun  and  travellis  of  the  magratis  of  the  said  citie 
thair  rage  and  fury  wes  sum  quhat  mitigat  lyk  as  thay  in  deid 
remanit  w'in  the  said  college  and  about  the  same  the  space  of 
tua  houris  togidder  suting  the  said  Mr  androis  lyff  uttering  all 
the  tyme  mony  injurious  speches  saying  we  have  now  gottln 
the  occasioun  we  lang  socht  let  us  tak  it  and  mak  us  qwyte 
of  this  man  that  troublis  ws  ay" — The  Lords  ordayn  master 
William  Russel  and  William  Leirmont  two  of  the  Bailies  of 
St  Andrews  to  enter  into  ward  in  the  Castle  of  Blacknes 
and  remain  there  until  they  give  up  the  names  of  the  chief 
persons  concerned  in  the  riot, — and  ordain  the  provost  and 
members  of  Town  Council  to  subscribe  a  Band  obliging 
themselves  and  their  Successors  to  preserve  all  the  members 
of  the  universitie  "  harmeless  and  skay'less." — And  they 
further  decern  that  such  of  the  rioters  as  had  been  summoned 
and  have  not  appeared,  shall  be  denounced  rebels.  (Record 
of  Privy  Council,  23  Junij  1591.) 

The  following  extract  from  the  Record  of  the  Burgh 
Court  of  St  Andrews  relates  to  the  circumstance  mentioned 
in  the  text  as  having  given  occasion  to  the  riot.  The  act  is 
crossed  in  the  Record,  and  on  the  margin  is  the  following 
official  note  :  "  Die  vigesimo  quarto  mensis  Augusti  1591. 
This  Act  deleit  w'  consent  of  ye  prowest  baillies  and  coun- 
sell.  J  Bonde  Scriba."  The  act  runs  thus : 
"  Mr  Andro  Malwill  &  y'  Town 

Curia  Burgalis  civ.S"  Andrete  tenta  in  prsetorioejusdemper 
honorabiles  viros  Thomam  Lentroun  Magistros  Gulielmum 
Cok  et  Gulielmum  Russell  ballivos  dictae  civitatis,  die  Ve- 
neris quarto  die  Mensis  Junii  Anno  Domini  Millesimo  quin- 
gentesimo  nonagesimo  prime. 

The  q"'  day  in  presence  of  the  baillies  of  this  citie  Mr 
Robert  Weilkye  principal  of  St  Leonardis  College  w'in  ye 
citie  of  St  And'  renunciand  expreslie  be  y""  presentis  all 
previleges  exemption  and  immunitie  or  jurisdictioun  that 
he  may  pretend  in  y'  contrair  heirof  And  submitting  him 
in  this  caice  to  y'  jurisdiction  of  the  provest  and  baillies 
of  y^  citie  of  St  And'  alenerlie  and  w'  him  David  Dal- 
gleisch  and  W"  Muffat  citineris  of  y"  said  citie  Ar  becum 
bound  oblist  and  actitat  for  thaim  y'  airis  &  successoris 
conjunctlie  and  severallie  for  Maister  Andro  Mailweill  rec- 
tor of  y*  Universitie  of  St  And"^  That  in  caice  it  may  be 
fund  and  tryed  y'  Maister  Johne  Cauldcleuch  ane  of  y" 
prencipall  Maisteris  of  y«  New  College  quha  hes  schott  and 
deidlie  woundit  Davit  Trumbull  ane  nytbour  of  this  citie 
w*  ane  arrow  q'^bye  he  is  in  danger  of  his  lyfe  to  be  anye 
tyme  heirefter  w'in  y'  boundis  of  y*  said  College  in  anye 
pairt  they  sail  present  him  to  y*  justice  for  underlying  of 
our  Soverane  lordis  lawis  he  being  requyrit  be  y'  prte 
Stewart  or  y"  bailies  of  y*  said  citie  my  lord  being  w'in 
y*  college  for  y^  tyme  of  his  requisition  And  w'in  y*  boun- 
dis of  y°  said  College  for  y  fact  foirsaid  under  y"  paines 
of  ane  thousand  ponds  to  be  aplyit  to  sic  uss  as  y°  provest 
ballets  &  counsaill  of  y°  said  citie  sail  think  expedient 
And  y'  y*  said  Mr  Andro  rector  foirsaid  renunciand  in 
lyk  maner  be  thir  prntes  expresslie  all  previlege  exemp- 
tioun  &  immuniiie  y'  he  may  pretend  in  y'  contrair  in 
this  caice  allenerlie  sail  be  answerable  to  y"  Stewart  of 
regalitie  of  St  Andr'  y''  provost  and  baillies  yrof  as  law 
will  in  caice  he  sail  be  querrellit  heirefter  be  anic  of  y* 
said  David  TrumbullLs  firiendia  under  paine  foirsaid  In 


NOTES. 


399 


presence  of  Mr.  Piter  Rollock  Bischope  of  Dunkell  Mr  Wm 
Mairch  ana  of  ye  regentis  in  St  Leonardis  College  David 
Watsoun  Mr  David  Russell  deane  of  gild  And  Mr  Patrick 
Mailuill  ane  of  y'  M"  of  y^  new  Col.  and  Jhon  Mair  w' 
uthris  diverss." 

Note  GG,  p.  279. 

Constitution  and  procedure  of  Kirk-sessions. — In 
speaking  of  the  election  of  Elders  and  Deacons,  we  ought 
to  keep  in  mind  that  formerly  it  was  annual.  At  St. 
Andrews,  when  the  time  of  election  approached,  the  session 
made  up  a  list  of  persons  to  be  nominated  for  office  during 
the  ensuing  year,  and  caused  this  to  be  read  from  the  pulpit, 
accompanied  with  an  intimation  that  the  session  would  meet 
on  a  certain  day  to  hear  objections  against  the  persons 
nominated,  and  to  receive  the  names  of  any  others  that 
might  be  proposed  as  better  qualified.  The  election  suc- 
ceeded to  this.  The  Session  sometimes  appointed  electors, 
and  at  other  times  they  acted  as  electors  themselves ;  in 
which  last  case  the  individuals  to  be  chosen,  if  already  in 
the  session,  were  successively  removed.  (Record  of  Kirk 
Session  of  St.  Andrews,  Oct.  8  &  15,  1589;  Jan.  12, 
1590  ;  and  Nov.  28,  1 593.)  This  was  also  the  practice  at 
Glasgow.  (Extracts  from  Rec.  of  Kirk  Sess.  of  Glasgow  : 
Wodrow's  Life  of  David  Weemes,  p.  28.)  "  Oct.  22, 
1609.  The  Bishop  compeared  and  intimat,  the  Synod  had 
for  sundry  and  good  respects  concluded  and  ordained  that 
the  Elders  and  Deacons  in  all  Sessions  shall  hereafter  be 
chosen  by  the  ministers.  The  Session  approves."  (Ibid, 
p.  29.)  At  Edinburgh  the  election  was  popular.  (Knox's 
Hist,  of  the  Reformation,  p.  267,  268.)  The  General 
Assembly,  April,  1582,  sanctioned  this  mode  of  election. 
"  Concerning  a  generall  ordour  of  the  admissioun  to  y" 
office  of  elders  referris  it  to  the  ordo*^  usit  at  Ed''  q"'  we  ap- 
prove." (Buik  of  the  Univ.  Kirk,  f.  124,  b.)  In  the 
parish  of  the  Canongate,  or  Holyrudhouse,  the  members 
of  Session  were  chosen  by  the  communicants  at  large. 
"Juley  28,  1565.  The  q"'  day  y«  names  of  y  faithful 
that  be  in  the  lyt  of  y'  Eldars  was  geiven  wp  be  y"  auld 
kirk  to  be  proclamit  be  y®  minister  and  to  be  chosen  on 
Sonday  come  aucht  dayes." — "  The  fourt  day  of  August. 
The  q"'  day  the  eflernone  at  y"  sermone  y*  haill  fay'fuU 
woted  in  chesing  y^  elders  and  diacons." — "The  11th 
day  of  Aug'.  The  q"'  day  it  is  ordanit  y'  y'  eldaris  and 
deaconis  as  efter  followis  present  thameself  to  y''  kirk  and 
set  in  ye  place  appontit  for  thame  to  rcsawe  thair  office. 
The  q"'  day  it  is  ordanit  y'  y"  minister  warn  oppenlie  in 
y  pulpell  all  thois  y'  communicates  to  y"  puirs  to  come 
to  ye  tobo'  on  tisday  y'  nixt  comes  at  7  ho"  in  y^  morning 
to  heir  y*  compts  of  y^  deacons  of  thair  resait  and  how  it  is 
destrybutit."     (The  Buik  of  the  Kirk  of  Canagait.) 

The  statement  made  in  the  text  respecting  the  civil 
punishments  inflicted  on  delinquents  is  justified  by  the 
minutes  of  the  last  named  Session.  An  unmarried  woman 
having  confessed  her  pregnancy,  "  Thairfoir  the  buillies 
assistane  the  assemblie  of  t/'  kirke  ordanis  hir  for  to 
depart  furt  of  y"  Gait  within  48  hours  heirefter,  under  y^ 
pain  of  schurging  and  burning  of  y^  scheike."  (Buik  of  the 
Kirk  of  Canagait,  Sept.  31,  1564.)  In  all  instances  in 
which  any  civil  penalty  is  added  this  form  of  expression 
is  used, — The  following  minute  refers  to  the  determining 
of  controversies  by  arbitration.  "  Dec.  8,  1565.  The  q"' 
day  it  is  ordanit  the  communion  to  be  ministrat  upon  the 
16th  of  y»  instant  also  to  advertise  communicants  to  be  at 
the  Saterday  exortation  efter-nune.  The  q"'  day  it  is  or- 
danit that  gif  thair  be  onie  persones  have  onye  gruge  of 
hatrit  or  malice  or  ony  oifense  in  his  heart  aganis  his 
broder  that  they  and  ifk  ane  of  them  come  on  tisday  in 
the  morning  at  8  ho's  to  the  Tolbo*  where  4  of  the  Kirk 
shall  be  present  to  juge  the  offense  and  gif  that  it  stands 
in  them  to  reconseil  the  same  y=  said  four  to  be  .Tohne 
hart  Johne  short  Jhone  Mordo  Johne  Atchison  Thomas 
hunter  James  Wilkie  or  ony  four  of  thir."  (Ibid.  Dec. 
8,  1565.)  At  Glasgow  the  Session  was  accustomed  to  pro- 
ceed in  certain  cases  by  way  of  inquest,  or  trial  by  jury. 
"Nov.  14,  1583.  the  Session  appoint  an  inquest  to  be 
taken  of  men  who  are  neither  Elders  nor  Deacons  for  this 
year,  out  of  the  several  parts  of  the  town."     This  was 


done  generally  every  year,  and  the  practice  is  mentioned 
in  the  minutes  as  late  as  1643.  The  request  is  ordinarily 
made  up  of  13  honest  men,  and  in  some  cases  women  are 
employed.     (Extracts,  ut  supra  :  p.  42,  43.) 

The  following  minute  may  be  given  as  an  illustration 
of  the  method  of  privy  censures  in  sessions.  "  Tlie  q"' 
day  being  appointit  to  try  y*  lyfe  and  conveisation  of  y* 
haill  memberis  of  y*  Sessioun,  alsweill  ministeris  as  elderis 
&  deaconis,  Mr  David  Blak  minister  being  remouit,  there 
is  nathing  objectit  aganis  him,  bot  all  y°  brethren  praises 
God  of  him,  and  y'  he  may  continew  in  his  seit.  M 
Robert  Wallace  being  remouit,  y*  brethrein  thankia  God 
for  him,  bot  it  is  desyrit  of  him  y'  he  may  be  mair  diligent 
&  careful!  over  y*  maneris  of  y'=  people,  &  in  visiting  of 
y"  seik.  M  Rob'  Zwill  being  remouit  thair  is  nathing 
opponit  aganis  him  in  lyfe  doctrein  nor  conversation,  bot 
he  is  to  be  admonisit  of  multiplicatione  of  wordis  in  his 
doctrine  and  y'  his  nottis  be  in  few  wordis  y'  y"  people 
may  be  mair  edifyit.  Mr  Androw  Meluill  being  remouit, 
y  is  nathing  opponit  aganis  him,  bot  y^  haill  brethrein 
thankis  God  for  him.  M'  Dauid  Monypenny  being  re- 
mouit y''  is  nathing  opponit  aganis  him.  M  W""  Welwod 
being  remouit  thair  is  nathing  aganis  him.  y"  Commis' 
remouit  nathing  opponit.  Dauid  Murray  &  Duncan  Bal- 
four y  is  nathing  opponit  except  Dauid  Murray  payis  na 
thing  to  y*  contributionis  of  y"  puir.  And  as  to  Duncan 
Balfour  fait  is  fund  w'  him  y'  he  being  ane  elder  suld  be 
in  company  w'  thame  y'  brak  vpe  y^  tolbuth  dur  &  electit 
ye  counsell  tyme  of  sermone  vpon  Weddinsday.  forder 
y*"  muithir  of  Pareis  being  laid  to  his  charge  becaus  he 
wes  in  companie  in  ye  kingis  seruice  at  y'  tyme.  Quharof 
ye  said  Duncane  purges  him  selfe  in  conscience  as  also  of 
cuming  w'  y'  kingis  commissioun  to  stay  ye  doctrein  in 
ye  new  college.  M"  W"  [and]  Henry  Russell  Andro  Wel- 
wood  being  remouit,  y''  is  fait  fund  with  M''  W™  being  (sic  J 
suld  pass  to  ye  synodall  assemblie  w'out  command  of  y* 
sessioun,  and  y'  y  is  ane  sklander  betwix  M"^  Henry  and 
his  father,  and  y'  Andrew  Welwod  mend  his  rasche  speiking 
in  ye  sessioun.  Mr  Wm  Russel  purgit  him  of  ye  thing 
laid  to  his  charge ;  Androw  Welwod  promisit  to  amend." 
(Record  of  Kirk  Session  of  St.  Andrews,  March  2,  1596.) 

Note  HH.  p.  279. 

Presbyterial  exercises,  and  trial  of  ministers. — The 
following  extracts  illustrate  the  mode  of  procedure  in  the 
ordinary  exercise.  "  It  is  ordanit  that  Mr.  Ro'  Rollock  sail 
mak  ane  catalogue  of  the  young  men  quhom  he  thinks 
meitt  to  exerceis,  and  that  they  quha  sail  come  to  the  p*"'* 
be  sittaris,  and  no'  standeris.  Ordanis  that  all  the  brethrene 
of  the  ministerie  w'in  this  presbytcrie  sail  convene  in  dew 
tyme,  and  sit  at  the  burdes  vnder  the  pains  contanit  in  y** 
actis  of  ye  p'^^''^,  and  that  nane  be  absent  w'out  ane  lawful! 
excus,  and  that  y*  catalog  be  red,  the  absents  markii,  and 
the  neist  day  censurit.  Ordanis  the  first  speikar  sail  occupy 
na  langer  time  nor  an  ho'',  the  second  half  an  hour  preciselie 
vnder  the  panes  to  be  censured  gif  he  transgress,  and  that 
the  prayer  before  and  efter  the  exerceis  be  schort."  (Record 
of  the  Presbytery  of  Edinburgh,  Nov.  8,  1597.)  "  Oct.  27, 
1598.  Maister  Dauid  Robertsone  maid  ye  exercise  upone 
ye  first  cap.  Esay  v.  3.  and  vas  allowit  and  Mr.  Peter 
Blackburne  addit,  quha  followis  nixt;"  i.  e.  makes  the  ex- 
ercise next  week.  (Record  of  Presbytery  of  Aberdeen.) 
"  April  23,  1602.  Johne  Mylnc  made  the  exercise — admo- 
nisit to  studle  diligentlie  and  to  have  a  feling  of  that  q"'  he 
delyverit. — "Nov.  26,  1602.  Robert  Forbes  maid  the  ex- 
ercise, quha  was  admonisit  to  eschew  affectat  language,  and 
to  utter  his  words  w'  gretar  force."  (Ibid.)  "  Dec.  8,  1616. 
Prophesie  maid  be  Mr.  Rob*  Backanq",  1  Cor.  14,  v.  8. 
Followed  Mr.  George  Greir  in  observations  upon  the  text 
exponed.  Doctrein  judged,  it  was  ordeined  Mr.  Andro 
Blackball  to  expone  in  the  first  place,  and  Mr.  Thomas  Bal- 
lantyne  to  observe  in  the  second  place.  1  Cor.  14,  v.  10." 
(Rec.  of  Prcsb.  of  Haddington.)  "  Dec.  4. 1593.  Mr.  Andro 
Polwart  (and  six  other  young  men)  put  on  the  privie  exer- 
cise." (Rec.  of  Presb.  of  Glasgow.)  "  Junij  18,  1600. 
A  remembrance  concerning  the  brethren  that  teiches  in 
privat  hous.  Mr.  Alex''  grcg  heard  this  day  in  the  gallery. — 
April  29,  1601.  He  is  to  be  heard  in  Mr.  James  Carmichael's 


400 


NOTES. 


gallery."  (Presb.  of  Haddington.)  "  May  8,  1608.  Mr. 
James  Carmichael  younger  heard  privile  exerces  y'  secund 
tyme  upone  Ephes.  6.  12.  The  Bre"  praysit  God  for  him, 
and  appoynit  him  to  exerceis  privihe  the  next  in  y^  morning 
in  y^  galrie,  prosecuting  the  samine  text."  (Ibid.)  The 
General  Assembly,  in  March,  1 572-3,  agreed,  "  That  sick 
ministers  as  hes  not  q'^weth  to  buy  bookes  may  have  bookes 
bought  to  y"  be  y^  collector,  and  to  allow  ye  pryces  yof 
in  y^  stipend.  (Buik  of  Univ.  Kirk,  p.  56.)  "  Oct.  20, 
1598.  It  is  agreit  by  y"  haile  prcsbitrie  thair  be  a  collection 
gatherit  amongis  y^  brelhrein  and  of  y*  penaleteis  to  by 
comentareis  vpon  y'  text  of  y*  exerceis  quhilk  sail  serue  to 
everie  ane  of  y^  presbyterie  quha  hes  nane  in  tym  cumlg. — 
Feb.  23,  1598.  Item  the  said  day  of  the  Moderator  col- 
lected fra  every  minister  of  the  presbyterie  sex  shillings 
audit  pennies  for  the  bying  of  Molerus  vpone  Isay,  and 
delyuerit  the  same  to  John  roche  coUecto''  to  giff  y^  buikar." 
(Rec  of  Presb.  of  Aberdeen.) 

In  October,  1581,  the  Provincial  Synod  of  Lothian  rep- 
resented that  they  had  agreed  to  have  disputations  in  every 
presbytery  on  the  articles  in  controversy  with  the  papists, 
and  moved  that  the  general  Assembly  should  appoint  the 
form  to  be  observed.  The  assembly  "  thinks  thir  disputations 
good  q"  they  may  be  bad."  (Buik  of  Univ.  Kirk,  ff.  1 15, 1 16.) 
In  March,  1597-8,  it  is  appointed,  '■  that  a  common  heid 
of  religioun  be  intreatit  every  moneth  in  ilk  p^''''  both  by 
way  of  discourse  and  disputation."  (Ibid.  f.  191,  b.)  The 
way  in  which  this  exercise  was  conducted  will  appear  from 
the  following  minutes.  "  .\prilis  7  1602.  The  q"'  day  y' 
common  heid,  De  Authenticis  Scripturarum  editionibus  et 
Versionibus  Sacrisque  Vernaculis,  beina;  first  handillit  pub- 
lictlie  before  y^  pepil  be  Mr.  John  Gibson,  they  disputit 
priuielie.  It  was  fund  Quod  sola  hebraica  editio  Vateris 
Testamenti  et  Graeca  noui  sit  authentica  editio  Scripturse  et 
q''  necessariu  sit  scripturas  converti  oniaque  sacra  peragi 
public  cori  populo  in  ecclesia  vemaculo  sermone.  The 
next  cOmoun  heid  De  Authoritate  Scripturae  was  appointit 
to  James  Lamb  to  be  entreattit  y^  secund  Wednesday  of 
May  approaching."  "  Junij  2.  The  controvertit  heid  De 
authoritate  S.  Scripturse  being  first  publicly  entreated  before 
y  pepill  be  James  lamb  his  text  being  upon  y°  2  epistill  to 
Timothe  3  cap.  16  vers.  Q'^  being  censurit — The  Brethren 
per  vices  everie  ane  enterit  in  thair  disputatioun  in  Latine 
anent  y^  same  mater  according  to  y"  ordinance  of  provincial 
assemblic."  (Record  of  Presb.  of  Haddington.)  The 
member  who  delivered  the  discourse  on  the  common  head 
sustained  his  thesis  in  the  dispute  against  the  other  members 
of  presbytery.  (Ibid.  July  4,  1602,  and  March  2,  1603.) 
"Jan.  6,  1603.  The  quhilk  daye  M'  Peter  blackburne 
intreatit  vpone  the  comoun  heid  of  cotroverzie  De  Ecclesia 
q'in  he  did  mervellous  and  y''foir  was  comendit.  (Rec.  of 
Presb.  of  Aberdeen.) 

The  General  Assembly  which  began  on  the  31st  of  March, 
1589,  appointed  all  the  ministers  of  the  church  to  be  tried 
de  novo,  and  nominated  certain  individuals  as  assistants  to 
each  presbytery  in  this  work.  (Act  inserted  in  the  Minutes 
of  Presb.  of  Haddington,  Nov.  5,  1589.  (In  consequence  of 
this  a  rigid  examination  commenced,  of  which  the  following 
extracts  will  convey  some  idea.  "  Tryall  be  passages  of 
Scripture  and  questions. — Mr  Thomas  MacgJue.  His 
passage  of  Scripture  46  Isai  vnto  y'  5  verse,  exponit  and 
collectit  the  same  and  y'cfter  removit.  The  Brethrcne 
censurit.  he  is  jugeit  to  be  weiil  verst  w'  the  Scriptures.  Be- 
ing examined  vpon  y*  authoritie  of  the  Scriptures  he  is  tho' 
prompt  to  confound  the  enemies  of  the  trewth  w'  the  word 
of  God  and  guid  [doctrine] — 28  Julij  at  Morning.  James 
Gibione.  Haiffing  teicheit  publiklie  at  his  appointit  hour 
being  [removed]  he  was  judgeit  to  haue  done  weill.  Zit  he 
omittit  what  he  promesit  to  defyne  As  also  he  repeated 
sundrie  impertinent  [words]  bayth  in  doctrine  &  prayer 
Q'foir  he  is  admonisit  to  be  [ware  of  them.] — Thomas  Greg: 
28  Julij  at  efVirnown.  His  passage  of  Scripture  3  to  the 
Gaiathians  vnto  the  4  verse  expounding  y°  samin  was 
removit.  He  is  jugeit  to  have  done  weill  and  it  appciris  he 
is  versed  with  y'  Scripturis  Being  examinat  as  followis,  It 
is  not  ane  fait  to  Godis  pepill  to  embrace  the  thingis  that 
God  commandis  Ergo  it  is  not  ane  fait  to  the  Christians  to 
keip  the  Ceremonial  law :  2.  Quhiddcr  gif  the  pepil  war 


justifeit  by  the  Ceremonies  of  the  Law :  3.  Quhidder  ar  we 
.  justifeit  be  fay'  or  be  warkis  or  partlie  be  warkis.  4.  We 
cane  not  be  justifiet  be  that  alane  q''^  is  never  alane  hot  fay' 
is  never  allane  thairfoir  we  cane  not  be  justifiet  be  fay'  allane  : 
Of  the  q'^*  he  onderstandis  the  argumentis  &  answerit  y'to 
howbeit  he  be  not  verst  in  logik. — Jamis  Rid.  22  Octobris. 
Jamis  Rid  being  hard  mak  privie  exercise  the  bretheren 
judges  he  hes  done  better  nor  affoir.  Zit  he  hes  not  cleirlie 
exponit  the  text  q'^foir  he  is  desyrit  to  be  mair  popular  q'^  he 
promesis  to  do  God  willing  protesting  that  at  his  next  hciring 
he  may  be  hard  at  mair  length  to  the  effect  he  may  collect 
his  doctrene  mair  amplie  in  the  place  q"'  cane  not  be  done 
in  half  ane  hour  to  satisfie  for  the  descriptioun  of  ane  ample 
text. — 

The  sentences  pronouncet 
JJ/r.  Jamis  Carmichaell  meit  to  be  contineuit  in  the 
ministrie  in  a  bettir  degrie. — Mr.  Johne  Ker  unmeit  to  be 
continewit  Thairfor  deposes  [him  from  the]  function  of  the 
ministrie  Zit  the  brethern  jugeis  that  [if  he  be]  occupyit 
w'  his  book  he  may  do  better  heirafter. — Jamis  Lamb  meit 
to  be  continewit  in  the  ministrie  in  the  lawest  missour. — 
Daniel  Wallace  meit  to  be  continewit  in  ane  law  missour. — 
Jamis  Rid  unmeit  to  be  continewit  Thairfoir  [deposes  him 
from  the]  function  of  the  ministrie  for  the  present — Thomas 
Gregge  meit  to  be  continewit  in  ane  gude  degree. — Mr 
Thomas  Macghie  meit  to  be  continewit  in  ane  bettir  degrie. 
— Alexander  forrester  meit  to  be  continewit  in  some  rea- 
sonable degrie. — James  Gibsone  meit  to  be  continewit  in 
ane  reasonable  gude  missour."  (Rec.  of  Presb.  of  Had- 
dington.) 

Note  II.  p.  282. 

Extraordinary  meeting  of  delegates  from  counties. — 
The  following  curious  deed  throws  light  upon  the  nature 
and  purposes  of  this  meeting. 

"At  Glasgow  the  allevint  day  of  October  y^  zeir  of  God 
jmyc  fourescoir  thrcttein  zeires.  The  quhilk  day  the  nobill- 
men  baronis  gentlemen  ministeris  comissioneris  of  y'  sref- 
domes  and  burrowis  wndervrittin  viz  Lanerk  renfrew  and 
Dumbartane  and  of  y^  presbitereis  yairof  being  convenit 
according  to  y"  bande  maid  be  our  sourane  lord  &  his 
estatis  for  matemente  of  y'  trew  religioun  presctlie  professit 
w4n  this  realme  and  defens  of  his  hienes  persoun  and 
estait  and  being  informit  of  y"  covening  of  y°  nobillme 
barronis  getlme  and  ministeris  of  fyfe  and  wtheris  partis 
of  this  realme  for  prosecuting  of  y'  said  bande  And  that 
y®  sevintein  daye  of  this  instat  is  appointtit  to  y=  said 
convening  &  that  certane  comissoneris  of  everie  province 
salbe  direct  to  meit  in  y"  bur'  of  Edinburt  for  cosulting  and 
avysing  wpoun  y"  following  fur'  and  prosecuting  of  y'  said 
bande  Heirfore  y*  saidis  nobillme  barronis  gctcllme  «& 
ministeris  of  y^  srefdomes  Ibirsaidis  hes  maid  constitut  & 
ordanit  &  be  thir  presetes  makis  constitutes  &  ordanis  the 
lard  of  calderwood,  tlie  lard  of  merchistoun,  the  gud  man  of 
Duchall,  the  lard  of  greinoh,  M  Ro'  Liudsaye  M  Jon 
Hewesoun  M  Johne  Haye  M  Johne  Couper  &  M  Patrik 
Scharp  ministeris  or  ony  thre  of  y'  saidis  ministeris  thair 
lautfull  and  wndowtit  comissioneris  to  covein  &  meit  at 
Edinbur'  y*^  daye  foirsaid  or  ony  wther  daye  or  place  appoint- 
tit or  to  be  appointtit  and  tboirto  cocurre  w'  y'  comission- 
eris of  yo  wther  srefdomes  «&  provinces  of  this  realme  thair 
to  be  assembht  and  to  give  thair  advyse  and  cosale  in  sik 
causs  coceming  y°  following  furt  of  y'  said  bande  &  wthe- 
ris cOcerning  y'=  glorie  of  God,  the  preseruatioun  of  his 
maiestie  persoun  and  estait  &  comounweiil  of  y«  cotrey 
as  salbe  treated  aad  as  salbe  cocludit  to  promise  in  y*^  names 
of  y^  nobillme  barronis  &  getilme  of  y"  srefdomes  foirsaidis 
and  burrowis  w'in  y'  samy  to  follow  fur'  the  determinatiouns 
of  y'  comissioneris  foirsaidis,  q'^  yaj  and  euerie  ane  of 
thame  wpoun  thair  cosience  &,  bono"*  hes  faitfullie  promesit 
to  do  and  performe.  and  y"  said  nobillme  &  barronis  & 
getilme  &  ministeris  foirsaid  hes  gevin  comand  &  power 
to  y*  clerk  of  y'  kirk  &  presbitrie  of  Glasgw  to  insert  thir 
preaentis  in  y''  buikes  of  y"  buikis  of  y*^  said  presbitrie 
and  to  extract  y'=  samy  y'furt  subscryvit  be  him  for  y  as  gif 
thaj  had  subscryvit  y"  »amy  yame  selfis."  (Record  of 
Presbytery  of  Glasgow.) 


NOTES. 


401 


Note  KK.  p.  291. 

Black's  Process. — "  Anent  the  charge  gevin  be  vertew 
of  our  souerane  Lordis  Lres  to  Maister  dauid  blak  minister 
at  Sanctandrois  to  haue  compeirit  pcrsonalie  befoir  the  Kin- 
gis  maiestie  and  lordis  of  secreit  counsaill  this  day  viz  the 
xviii  day  of  nouember  instat,  To  haue  answrit  to  sic  thingis 
as  sould  haue  bene  inquirit  of  him  ac  his  cwming  Tuiche- 
ing  certane  vndecent  and  vncumelie  speiches  vtterit  be  him 
in  diuers  his  sermonis  maid  in  Sanctandrois,  vnder  the  pain 
of  RebeUioun  and  putting  of  him  to  y'=  home  w"*  certificane 
to  him  and  he  failzeit  Lres  sould  be  direct  simp''  to  putt  him 
thairto,  Lyke  as  at  mair  Lenth  is  cotenit  in  y°  saidis  Lres 
executionis  and  indorsationis  thairof.  Q"'  being  caliit,  and 
the  said  maister  dauid  compeirand  personalie,  Declairit  that 
albeit  he  micht  obiect  aganis  the  summondis  as  being  direct 
super  inquirendis  Contrair  the  act  of  parliament,  na  particu- 
lair  cans  specifeit  thairin,  zit  he  wald  tak  him  to  the  ordi- 
nair  remeid  appointit  be  the  Lawis  and  Libertie  of  the  Kirk, 
allegeing  that  nane  sould  be  iugeis  to  materis  deliuerit  in 
pulpett,  bot  the  preicheouris  and  ministeris  of  the  worde, 
And  thairforc  desirit  to  be  Remiltit  to  his  iuge  ordinair,  Qu- 
hairupoun  being  inquirit  be  his  maiestie  to  quhat  iugement 
he  declynit,  answrit  to  the  presbiterie  quhair  the  doctrine 
wes  teicheit  quhair  his  maiestie  sould  be  a  complenair  in  the 
first  instance  as  a  Christcane  and  member  of  the  kirk,  and 
not  as  a  King.  Allegeit  be  his  Maiestie,  That  this  mater  is 
altogidder  ciuile  and  no'  spiritual!,  And  forder  that  the  gen- 
eralitie  of  the  summondis  is  restrictit  to  this  particulair 
expressit  in  this  vther  Lre  heirwith  produceit  be  the  inglis 
ambassadour,  Being  inquirit,  quidder  gif  his  maiestie  micht 
be  iuge  in  materis  of  tressoun  as  the  kirk  is  iuge  in  materis 
of  heresie,  Grantis,  zit  allegeit  That  the  wordis  deliuerit  in 
pulpett,  albeit  allegeit  to  be  trcssounable,  sould  be  tryit  in 
prima  instancia  be  the  Kirk  as  onlie  iuge  competent.  To  the 
contrair  quhairof  The  act  of  parliament-  maid  in  the  Ixxxiij 
zeir  of  god  wes  allegeit,  To  the  dirogatioun  of  the  quhilk 
act  Maister  dauid  produceit  ane  vther  act  in  the  parliament 
haldin  at  edinburgh  in  the  Ixxxxij  zeir  of  god,  Being 
inquirit  quhat  warrand  thay  had  oute  of  the  wordc  of  God, 
for  materis  spokin  aganis  a  christeane  magrilt.  Allegeit 
quhateuir  is  spokin  to  be  spirituall,  And  thairfore  mon  be 
reulit  be  the  worde  of  god,  and  for  this  purpois  allegeit  the 
first  of  Timothie  Continewit  to  the  Last  of  nouember 
instant,  And  M''  dauid  ordanit  To  remane  heir  in  the  mean- 
tyme."  (Record  of  Privy  Council,  Nov.  18,  1596.) 

The  Interloquitor,  declaring  the  Lords  of  Council  judges 
competent  of  all  the  crimes  libelled  in  the  new  and  enlarged 
summons,  was  passed  on  the  last  day  of  November.  And 
on  the  2d  of  December,  a  Decreet  was  passed  finding  Black 
guilty  of  all  the  articles  libelled,  and  ordaining  him  to  con- 
fine himself  beyond  the  North  Water  till  his  Majesty 
should  determine  on  his  farther  punishment.  (Record  of 
Privy  Council.) 


Note  LL. 


299. 


Ecclesiastical  Ttig-hts  of  Professors  of  Divinity ^ — It 
was  reported  to  the  General  Assembly  in  April,  1582,  "  that 
ane  elderschip  (presbytery)  is  begun  already  at  St  androes 
of  pastouris  and  teachers  bot  not  of  those  that  hes  not  the 
cure  of  teaching."  (Buik  of  Univ.  Kirk,  f.  118,  b.)  By  the 
General  assembly.  May  1586,  "  It  is  found  that  all  such  as 
tiie  scripture  appoints  governors  of  the  Kirk  of  God,  as 
namclie  pastors,  doctor^,,  and  ciders,  may  convene  to  gene- 
rall  assemblies,  and  vote  in  ecclesiastical  matters."  (Ibid.  f. 
139,  b.)  Being  constituent  members  of  (he  presbyteries 
within  whose  bounds  they  resided,  doctors  or  professors  of 
divinity  might  be  sent  hy  them,  as  well  as  by  their  univer- 
sities, as  representatives  to  the  General  Assembly.  In  conse- 
quence of  a  complaint  from  the  Synod  of  Fife  that  this  right 
had  been  infringed,  it  was  recognized  anew  by  the  Assembly 
which  met  at  Holyroodhouse  in  the  year  1602,  and  at 
which  his  Majesty  was  present.  (Ibid.  f.  203,  a.)  One  rea- 
son of  Rollock's  being  admitted  one  of  the  ministers  of  Edin- 
burgh, soon  after  the  meeting  of  the  commissioners  at  St. 
Andrews,  might  be  to  exempt  him  from  the  restriction  in- 
tended to  be  laid  on  all  theological  professors.  On  that 
occasion  Bruce  at  first  objected  to  receiving  imposition  of 
3  A 


hands,  as  implying  that  he  had  not  previously  a  valid  call  to 
the  ministry.  Patrick  Sympson,  in  a  letter  dated  May  1, 
1598,  says :  "I  perceive  that  Mr  Rob.  Rollock  stands  much 
on  the  lacke  of  ordination  in  your  ministry,  which  makes  me 
marvail  how  he  could  call  himself  a  minister  of  Christs 
Eva7ijel  at  Ed,  in  his  Analysis  upon  the  Epistle  to  the  Ro- 
mans, and  in  the  mean  time  wanting  ordination  to  that  min- 
istry, if  this  flbrm  of  ordination  which  we  want  be  so  essen- 
tial as  he  speaks."  (Wodrow's  life  of  Bruce,  p.  35  :  MSS 
vol.  1.)  But  I  do  not  think  that  Rollock,  in  1593,  when  he 
published  the  book  referred  to,  was  a  minister  in  the  same 
sense  as  Bruce  and  Symson  were :  I  mean  that  he  was  not 
properly  the  pastor  of  a  Congregation.  In  consequence  of  a 
petition  from  the  town,  the  presbytery  had  authorized  him 
to  preach  the  morning  lecture  in  one  of  the  churches. 
(Rec.  of  Presb.  of  Edin.  Sept.  5,  1587.)  But  it  was  not  till 
the  beginning  of  the  year  1598,  that  he  "  was  admittil  to  be 
ane  of  the  aught  ordinar  ministers  of  this  bur'."  (Reg.  of 
Town  Council,  Jan.  25,  1597.) 

Note  MM.  p.  300. 

Character  of  David  Black. — Spotswood  says,  that  "  Mr. 
Black  was  summoned"  before  the  commissioners.  (Hist.  p. 
448.)  But  James  Melville  who  was  one  of  the  commission- 
ers, says,  "  Mr.  Robert  Wallace  was  proceidit  against  and  re- 
movit  from  St  And"  be  sum  form  of  kinglie  commissione, 
proceiding  and  process.  Hot  JMr.  David  Black  -was  never 
anes  called,  and  yet,  of  mere  kinglie  power,  it  behovit  him 
to  be  debarrit  Sr  And'^'."  (Diary,  p.  314.)  Spotswood  farther 
says,  "  that  the  elders  and  deacons  of  the  church — all  upon 
oath  deponed  that  the  accusations  were  true,  and  that 
Blake  had  spoken  all  that  whereof  he  was  convicted  before 
the  Councel. — And  they  declared  that  both  the  one  and  the 
other  were  given  to  factions,  and  that  they  did  not 
carry  themselves  with  that  indifferency  which  became 
preachers."  Yet  the  archbishop  had  himself  stated,  a  little 
before,  that  Black  presented  to  the  privy  council,  as  a  proof 
of  the  falsehood  of  the  charges,  two  testimonials,  the  one 
subscribed  by  the  provost,  bailies,  and  council,  and  the  other 
by  the  rector,  dean  of  faculty,  and  professors  of  the  univer- 
sity. (Hist.  p.  425.  Comp.  Rec.  of  Privy  Council,  ult.  Nov. 
1596.)  Now  several  of  the  magistrates  and  of  the  profes- 
sors were  at  that  time  members  of  session.-  But  this  is  not 
all.  The  following  extracts  from  the  minutes  of  session 
prove  that  the  elders  and  deacons  felt  the  highest  respect  and 
regard  for  Black. 

Die  710710  Jatiiiarii,  1596. 
The  qlk  day,  Mr.  Robert  Wallace,  Mr.  David  Monypenny 
and  Mr.  Robert  Zule,  ar  ordenit  to  pas  to  y"^  coonsall  of  y^ 
toun  and  desyr  ane  supplication  to  his  M.  for  relief  of  Mr. 
David  Blak  y""  pastor,  and  als  order  to  be  takin  for  serving 
of  Mr.  David  Blakeis  cuir  q"  he  cum  hame,  and  yat  older 
may  be  taken  w'  y''  parochin  q"  he  cum  hame  qlkis  ar  now 
all  gane  lous. 

Die  xix"°  Martii,  1596. 
The  qlk  day  y  sessioun  hes  statut  that  y^  clerk  uret  ane 
bill  and  missive  in  y'  names  to  Mr.  David  Blak,  y''  minister 
to  give  him  thankes  for  his  last  V  of  recommendatione  send 
be  him  to  yame,  as  also  to  shaw  him  y'  y"  kinges  ma.  is 
desyrus  to  confer  w'  him,  and  y'  he  send  his  awin  supplica- 
tione  to  his  ma.  to  obtain  licens  to  cum  to  his  ma.  to  y'  ef- 
fect. And  to  schaw  to  y*^  said  Mr.  David  y'  q*  lyis  in  thair 
power  to  farther  his  hame  cuming  they  sail  do  y"  samin  w' 
his  awin  advys,  and  to  schaw  him  ye  townis  commissionaris, 
send  to  his  ma.  for  his  delyuerance,  resauit  y"  samin  ans""  of 
his  ma. 

Siipplicationc  for  j[Ir  David  Blak. 

Die  viii,  Maij,  1597. 
The  q'^  day,  y"  sessioun  of  Sanctandrois  hes  ordanit  ane 
supplicatione  to  be  send  to  y''  generall  assemblie  convenit  to 
morne  at  Dundie  requesting  thair  godlie  w.  to  interseid  to 
his  ma.  to  grant  licens  to  Mr.  David  Blak  thair  [minister]  to 
be  restorit  and  admittit  to  cum  hame  to  this  citie  to  use  his 
functioun  of  v"  ministrie  as  he  was  wont  to  do  befoir  and 
becaus  y"  bailzies  and  sum  otheris  of  y'=  elderis  and  deconis 
wes  n'  present  to  consent  heireto  the  sessioun  ordanit  Alex. 
26 


403 


NOTES. 


Winchester,   Martyn  Lumsdane,   George   Cristie,  Robert 

W^soun,  &  Charlis  Watsoun  clerk  to  pas  w'  y'  said  suppli- 
catione  to  Ihame  &  otheris  zealous  men  of  this  citie  to  in- 
quir  of  thame  to  subscryve  y°  said  supplicationc,  &  request 
for  y*  pastor  aforesaid,  &  for  his  hame  cuniing  again. 

Melville's  poem  on  Black's  death  may  be  seen  in  Delit. 
Poet.  Scot.  torn.  ii.  p.  8 1 — 84.  There  are  two  encomiastic 
poems  on  him  by  Hume  of  Godscroft.  (Lusus  Poetici, 
p.  53 — 55.)  "  Mr.  David  Black  min''  of  St,  Andrews"  ob- 
tained a  decree  for  an  "  annual  rent  of  aucht  bolls  victual — 
furth  of  the  lands  of  lochschedis,"  which  he  inherited  from 
"  umqll  Henry  Blak  burges  of  y"=  bruch  of  Perth,  father  to 
the  said  complainer."  (Act  Buik  of  the  Commissariot  of 
St.  Andrews,  July  18,  1594.) 

Note  NN.  p.  308 

Baailicon  Dorott. — According  to  Spotswood,  this  work 
was  shown  to  Melville  in  MS.  and  in  consequence  of  ex- 
tracts from  it  being  laid  before  the  Synod  of  Fyfe,  his  Ma- 
jesty published  it  in  the  course  of  that  year,  1699.  (Hist, 
p.  457.)  But  this  is  contradicted,  by  the  account  which 
James  has  himself  given  in  his  apologetic  preface  to  the 
second  edition,  and  which  I  have  followed  in  the  text.  I 
have  now  before  me  a  copy  of  the  first  edition,  belonging 
to  Archibald  Constable,  Esq.  Edinburgh ;  and  I  have  no 
doubt  that  it  is  one  of  the  seven  copies  (perhaps  the 
only  one  now  existing)  to  which  that  edition  was  lim- 
ited. Its  title  is,  "  BA21AKON  AnPON.  Devided  into  three 
Bookes  Edinbvrgh  %  Printed  by  Robert  Walde-gr»u€  Prin- 
ter to  the  Kings  Majestic.  1599."  X  in  fours.  It  is  beau- 
tifully printed  in  a  large  Italic  letter.  Prefixed  to  it  are  two 
sonnets,  the  tirst  of  which,  entitled  "  The  Dedication  of  the 
booke,"  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  subsequent  editions.  I 
haye  seen  no  reason  to  think  that  it  was  reprinted  until 
1603,  in  the  course  of  which  year  it  went  through  three  edi- 
tions ;  all  of  them,  probably,  published  after  the  death  of 
Elizabeth.  If  this  was  the  fact,  the  wonderful  influence 
which  Spotswood  says  it  had  in  promoting  James's  accession 
must  have  been  ex  post  facto.  I  have  not  seen  it  mentioned 
between  1599  and  1603.  One  of  the  seven  copies  might 
be  conveyed  to  some  of  the  courtiers  of  Elizabeth  in  the 
secret  correspondence  which  James  carried  on  with  them 
during  that  interval ;  but  they  had  other  reasons  than  his 
merits  as  an  author  for  favouring  his  title. 

On  comparing  the  first  edition  with  the  subsequent  ones, 
I  find  that  alterationa  were  made  on  the  work.  For  though 
all  the  charges  against  the  Scottish  preachers  are  retained  in 
substance,  James  found  it  necessary  to  drop  or  soften  some 
of  his  most  unguarded  and  harsh  expressions,  and  to  give 
an  ambiguous  turn  to  the  sentences  which  had  created  the 
greatest  ofience.  For  example,  in  the  original  edition  (p. 
8,  9,)  he  says :  "  If  my  conscience  had  not  resolued  me,  all 
my  religion  was  grounded  upon  the  plaine  words  of  the  scrip- 
ture, I  had  neuer  outwardly  avowed  it,  for  pleasure  or  awe  of 
the  vaine  pride  of  some  sedicious  Preachours."  In  the 
edition  printed  at  London  in  1603,   (p.  5,)  that  sentence 

ends "  I  had  neuer  outwardlie  auowed  it,  for  pleasure 

or  awe  of  any  fJesh." "The  reformation  of  religion  in 

Scotland,  being  made  by  a  popular  tumult  and  rebellion 
(as  wel  appeared  by  the  destruction  of  our  policie)  and  not 
proceeding  from  the  Princes  ordour,  &c."  (P.  46,  orig.  ed.^) 
"  The  reformation  of  Religion  in  Scotland,  being  extra- 
ordinarily -wrought  by  God,  loherein  many  things  luere 
inordinately  dune  by  a  populare  tumult  and  rebellion 
of  such  as  blindly  -were  doing  the  loorke  of  God  but 
clogged  -ivith  their  own  passions  and  particular  res- 
pects," &c.  (P.  31,  cd.  1603.)— "Take  heede  therefore 
(my  Sonne)  to  these  Puritanes,  verie  pestes  in  the  Church  and 
common-weill  of  Scotland ;  whom  (Ay  long  experience') 
I  have  found,  no  deserts  can  oblish,"  «&c.  (P.  49,  orig. 
ed.)  "  Take  heed  therefore  (my  Son)  to  stick  Pvritans,  verie 
pestes  in  the  Church  and  common-weale,  whom  no  deserts 
can  oblige,"  «&c.  (P.  84,  ed,  1603.)  The  following  sen- 
tence of  the  original  edition  (p.  51 ,)  was  afterwards  omitted  : 
"  And  the  first  that  raileth  against  you,  punish  with  the 
rigour  of  the  lawe ;  for  I  haue  else  in  my  days  bursten  them 
with  over-much  reason. '  The  following  sentence  respecting 
those  who  **  nveddle  w*;i  the  policie  in  the  pulpite,"  is  also 


omitted  :  "But  snibbe  sukerlle  the  first  minteth  to  it:  And 
(if  he  like  to  appeale  or  declync)  when  ye  haue  taken  order 
with  his  heade,  his  brethren  may  (if  they  please)  powle  his 
haire  and  pare  his  nayles  as  the  King  my  Grandefather  said 
of  a  Priest."  (P.  107,  108.)  The  following  character  of 
the  Islanders  of  Scotland  is  dropped  :  "  Thinke  no  other  of 
them  all,  then  as  Wolues  and  Wild  Boares."     (P.  43.) 

Note  00.  p.  302 

Writings  of  James  Melville. —  Under  the  year  1591,  he 
gives  the  following  account  of  what  was  most  probably  his 
first  publication.  "  Then  did  I  first  put  in  Print  some  of  my 
poesie,  to  wit,  the  description  of  the  Spanyarts  Naturall  out 
of  Jul"*  ScaHger,  w' sum  exhortationes  for  warning  of  kirk 
and  countrey."  (Diary,  p.  225.)  In  a  short  history  of  his 
life  at  Anstruther,  prefixed  to  his  Diary,  he  says  :  "  In  the 
year  1598  I  cawsit  print  my  Catechisme  for  the  profit 
of  my  peiple  and  bestowit  y^pon  fyve  hunder  marks 
quhilk  God  moved  the  hart  of  a  maist  godlie  and  lowing 
frind  to  frelie  offer  to  me  in  len  for  y'  effect:  of  the  [quhilk] 
I  remean  addettit,  hot  could  never  to  ray  knowledge  attein 
to  a  hunder  marks  again  for  the  bulks."  (lb.  p.  10.)  This 
rare  book  was  published  under  the  following  title  :  "  A 
Spirilvall  Propine  of  a  Pastour  to  his  People.  Heb.  5.  12. 
You  whom  it  behooued,  &c.  Jam.  1.  19,  21,  22.  And  sa 
my  beloued  brethren,  «Scc.  [Edinburgh,  Printed  by  Robert 
Walde-graue  Printer  to  the  Kings  Maicstie,  Cum  Privilegio 
Regio."]*  It  is  in  quarto,  and  consists  of  127  pages.  On  the 
back  of  the  title-page  are  "  Contents  of  the  Buik."  The 
Epistle  Dedicatorie  is  addressed  "  To  the  Reverende  Fath- 
ers and  Brethren,  Elders  of  the  Congregation  of  Kilrinny, 
and  haill  flocke  committed  to  their  gouernement."-  "  Receiue 
Reuerende  Fathers,  louing  brethren,  and  deir  flock,  this 
Spirituall  Propine :  conteining  in  short  summe  the  substance 
of  that  exercise  of  try  all,  wherewith  ye  are  acquainted  in 
dayly  doctrine,  before  ye  communicate  at  the  Table  of  the 
Lorde,  togidder  with  the  grounds  of  the  doctrine  of  godlinesse 
and  saluation,  contryued  in  a  peece  of  not  vnpleasand 
and  verie  profitable  Poesie,"  &c.  It  is  dated  "  From 
Ansteruther,  the  20  day  of  Nouember,  1598.  Your  Pastor, 
louing  and  faithful  be  the  grace  of  God  vnto  the  death, 
James  Malvili.."  Then  follow  sonnets,  commendatory 
of  the  work,  by  M.  R.  D.  [Mr.  Robert  Dury]  M.  I.  D.  [Mr. 
John  Davidson]  A.  M.  [Andrew  Melville]  M.  I.  I.  [Mr. 
John  Johnston]  M.  W,  S.  [Mr.  William  Scot]  M.  I.  C. 
and  M,  I.  C.  [probably  Mr.  John  and  Mr.  James  Carmi- 
chael.]  They  are  all  in  Scotch,  except  that  subscribed  A.  M, 
which  is  in  Latin,  and  accompanied  with  a  translation,  prob- 
ably by  James  Melville.  The  first  part  of  the  work  is  in 
prose,  and  consists  of  prayers  and  meditations  suited  to  dif- 
ferent occasions,  directions  for  self-examination,  and  "  the 
forme  of  tryall  and  examination,  taken  of  all  sik  as  ar  admit- 
ted to  the  Table  of  the  Lord,"  in  question  and  answer.  The 
second  part  is  in  poetry,  and  is  introduced  by  the  following 
title  :  "  A  Morning  Vision  :  or  Poem  for  the  Practise  of  Pietie, 
in  Devotion,  Faith  and  Repentance :  Wherein  the  Lords 
Prayer,  Beleefe,  and  Commands,  and  sa  the  whole  Cat- 
echisme, and  right  vse  thereof,  is  largely  exponed."  It  is  pre- 
faced by  a  metrical  dedication  to  "  James  the  sext,  king  of 
Scottes,  and  Prince  of  Poets  in  his  language  ;"  and  contains, 
among  other  devotional  and  moral  pieces,  a  singular  compo- 
sition, set  to  music,  and  entitled,  "  Celeusma  Navticvm ; 
The  Seamans  Shovte  or  mutual!  exhortation,  to  ga  forward  in 
the  spirituall  voyage." 

In  giving  an  account  of  treatises  against  the  imposition 
of  prelacy  on  the  Church  of  Scotland,  Row  says :  "  I  have 
also  seen  a  little  poem  in  print,  called  the  Black  Bastill, 
or  a  Lamentation  of  the  Kirk  of  Scotland,  compiled  by 
Mr  James  Melville,  sometime  Minis' at  Anstruther  and  now 
confyned  in  England,  1611."  (Hist.  p.  311,  312.)  I  have 
not  met  with  a  copy  of  the  printed  work,  but  a  MS.  volume, 
communicated  to  me  by  Robert  Graham,  Esq.  contains  a 
poem  which  I  have  no  doubt  is  a  transcript  of  that  to  which 
Row  refers.  It  is  entitled,  The  Blackbastall,  and  consists 
of  93  stanzas.   Prefixed  to  it  is  the  date,  "  November,  1611." 

The  following  stanzas  form  part  of  the  exordium. 


*  The  imprint  Is  supplied  from  the  title  to  the  second  pan. 


NOTES. 


403 


The  air  was  cleart  w*  quhyt  and  sable  clouds, 

Hard  froist,  w'  frequent  schours  of  hail  and  snow, 

Into  y''  nicht  the  stormie  vind  with  thouds 

And  balfouU  billows  on  y'  sea  did  blaw  : 

Men  beastis  and  fouUs  vnto  thair  bcilds  did  draw  ; 

Fain  than  lo  find  the  fruct  of  simmer  thrift, 

Quhen  clad  with  snaw  was  sand,  wodd,  crag  and  clift. 

I  satt  at  fyre  weill  guyrdit  in  my  goun, 
The  starving  sparrows  at  my  window  cheipid, 
To  reid  ane  quhyle  I  to  my  book  was  boun  : 
In  at  ane  panne,  the  pretty  progne  peipped, 
And  moved  me  for  fear  I  sould  haue  sleiped, 
To  ryse  and  sett  ane  keasment  oppen  wyd, 
To  sie  give  robein  wald  cum  in  and  byde. 

Puir  progne,  sueitlie  I  haue  hard  ye  sing 
Thair  at  my  window  one  the  simmer  day  ; 
And  now  sen  wintar  bidder  dois  ye  bring 
I  pray  y*  enter  in  my  hous  and  stay 
Till  it  be  fair,  and  than  thous  go  thy  way. 
For  trewlie  thous  be  treated  courteouslie 
And  nothing  thralled  in  thy  libertie. 

Cum  in,  sueit  robin,  welcum  verrilie. 
Said  I,  and  doun  I  satt  me  be  the  fyrc, 
Then  in  cums  robein  reibreist  mirrelie 
And  souppis  and  lodgis  at  my  harts  desyre  : 
But  one  y«  morne  I  him  perceaved  to  tyre ; 
For  phebus  schyning  sueitlie  him  aliurd. 
I  gaue  him  leif,  and  furth  guid  robein  furd. 

The  poet  betakes  himself  to  his  meditations,  and  sees  "  full 
cleirUe  in  ane  visioun," 

Ane  woman  with  ane  cumlie  countenance. 
With  ferdit  face  and  garisch  in  altyre. 
Ane  croun  of  glas  vpone  hir  held  did  [glance], 
Hir  clothes  war  collourit  contrair  hir  [desyre], 
Ane  heavy  yock  layd  on  hir  neck  and  [lyre], 
Of  reid  ane  scepter  in  hir  hand  she  buir  : 
In  riche  aray  yit  sillie,  leane  and  puir. 

Hoised  up  one  hie  upone  a  royal  throne 
Thair  feirclie  satt  abone  the  woman's  head 
(Which  held  hir  under  feir  and  all  undone 
As  presoner)  ane  rampand  Lyon  reid : 
This  lyon  craftie  foxes  tua  did  leid  : 
And  round  about  hir  threttcin  wolves  danced. 
To  haue  the  keiping  of  hir  scheip  advanced. 

After  the  leopard,  "  the  Lyons  grit  lieutenant,"  (the  Earl  of 
Dunbar,)  has  fenced  the  court,  and  a  wolf,  "clad  in  silk," 
has  made  "  ane  preitching  all  of  woU  and  milk,"  the  Lion 
(the  King)  is  declared  supreme,  and  at  his  will  and  pleasure 
the  wolves  (the  bishops)  are  set  over  the  flock ;  on  which 
the  captive  lady  breaks  out  into  a  "  heavie  Lamentation," 
which  occupies  the  rest  of  the  poem. 

In  the  same  MS.  is  another  poem  (of  69  stanzas)  on  the 
same  subject  with  the  preceding,  evidently  composed  by 
James  Melville,  and  entitled,  "  Thrie  may  keip  counsell 
give  twa  be  away  ;  or  Eusebius,  Democritus,  Heraclitus." 
Democritus  says : 

I  laucht  to  sie  how  lords  ar  maid  of  louns. 

And  how  thai  ar  intretted  in  our  touns. 

Quher  sumtyme  thai  war  fain  for  to  reteir  thame 

For  rocks  and  stoannes  of  wyffis  that  came  so  near  thamc. 

I  laucht  to  sie  thame  now  sett  ouer  the  flocks 

Who  came  to  cowrt  with  thair  auld  muUis  and  sockis, 

Quher  thai  war  nocht  regardit  with  ane  sows 

By  king,  by  cowrt,  nor  any  of  his  hous. 

I  laucht  how  Jon  and  George,  who  war  most  sclandrous, 

Ar  lords  advanced  of  Glasgow  and  St  Androus  ; 

How  William,  Androu,  Sanders,  and  the  laif. 

By  prejurie  and  playing  of  the  knaif, 

Ar  sty  Hit  in  God  our  fathers  reuerend. 

Who  scarrs  amongs  our  pastours  trew  war  kend, 

And  justlie  so,  for  now  ar  thai  declynd 

And  ar  becum  men  of  contrarie  mynd. 


The  Reverend  William  Blackie,  minister  of  Yetholm,  pos- 
sessed a  manuscript  volume,  which  he  has  deposited  in  the 
Advocates  Library.  It  consists  of  poems  in  the  Scottish 
language  by  James  Melville,  and  in  the  handwriting  of 
the  author.  They  appear  to  have  been  all  written  by  him 
during  his  banishment.  The  greater  part  of  them  are  expres- 
sive of  his  feelings  on  the  overthrow  of  the  liberties  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland,  and  the  imprisonment  and  banishment 
of  his  uncle.  "  A  Preservative  from  Apostacie,  or  the  Song 
of  Moses,  the  servant  of  God,  Deut.  xxxii.  with  short  notes, 
translated  out  of  Hebrew  and  put  in  metre,"  is  dedicated 
"  to  the  Church  of  Scotland  in  generall,  and  the  people  of  the 
paroch  of  Kilrennie  in  speciall."  Then  follows  a  long  son- 
net, entitled,  "  The  Wandering  Sheepe,  or  David's  Tragique 
Fall."  The  last  poem  in  the  volume  is  "  The  Keliefe  of 
the  Longing  Soule  :  The  Song  of  Songs,  which  is  Solomon's, 
exponed  by  a  large  paraphrase  of  metre  for  memorie  and 
aften  meditatioun."  Prefixed  to  it  is  a  dedication  :  "  To  his 
lowing  sister  in  Jesus  Christ,  M.  Nicolas  Murray,  grace, 
mercy  and  peace  be  multiplied. — London,  Novemb.  5, 1606. 
Y"  much  bound  in  Christ,  James  Melvill."  The  fol 
lowing  are  specimens  of  the  poetry  in  this  volume. 

To  Mr.  Andreiv  Melvin. 
O  matchles  Melvin,  honour  of  our  lands  ! 
How  are  we  grieved  and  gladit  with  thy  bands  ! 
We  grieve  to  see  sic  men  committ  as  thee, 
We  joy  to  hear  how  constantly  thou  stands 
Pleading  the  cause  of  God  cast  in  thy  hands 
Against  this  bastard  brood  of  Bishoprie, 
Whais  ydle  rites,  pompe,  pryd  and  graceless  glore, 
Justlie  thou  halts ;  halt  still,  halt  more  and  more. 

Happie,  thryse  happie,  Melvine,  thoch  in  warde. 
Men  loves  thy  cause,  God  has  it  in  regarde, 
No  prisone  can  thy  libertie  restraine 
To  speak  the  right,  but  *  flatterie  or  but  fairde, 
Pure,  plain,  not  mingled,  maimed  or  impairde. 
No  brangled  titles  can  thy  honour  staine. 
Thy  tell-truth  fervent  freedom  wha  would  blame, 
'Wrays  but  his  awin  fals,  faint,  or  servile  shame. 

AT  MH.  AITDKKW  MELTIN&'s  fiOIIire  TO  TKAXCE,  AFBIL  1611* 

Mond  a  Venvers. 

No  marvell  Scotland  thow  he  like  to  tyn, 
For  thou  lies  lost  thy  honey  and  thy  wine. 
Thy  strength,  thy  courage,  and  thy  libertie, 
Went  all  away,  when  as  he  went  from  thee. 
In  learning,  upright  zeall,  religion  trew. 
He  maister  was,  but  now  bid  all  a  Dieu, 
Be  mute,  you  Scottish  muses :  no  more  verse ! 
But  sobbing  say,  Le  mond  est  a  I'envers. 

In  the  MS  volume  entitled,  Mehini  Epistolse,  is  a  transla- 
tion into  EngUsh  verse  of  part  of  the  Zodiacus  Fitse  of 
Marcellus  Palingenius :  "  Dedicat  to  the  E.  of  D. ;"  that  is, 
the  Earl  of  Dunbar.  It  contains  only  Aries  and  part  of  Tau- 
rus.  There  can  be  no  doubt  of  its  being  the  work  of  James 
Melville.  The  MS.  is  in  his  handwriting,  and  on  the  mar- 
gin is  a  number  of  variations. — His  apology  for  the  Church 
of  Scotland  does  not  appear  to  have  been  printed  till  many 
years  after  his  death  ;  "  Ad  Serenissimum  Jacobum  Primvm 
Britanniarvm  Monarcham,  Ecclesiae  Scoticanae  libellus  sup- 
plex,  d^oxo^xTixoc  x,xi  oKo^vgTinoi.  Auclore  Jacobo  Melvino 
Verbi  Dei  Ministro,  Domini  Andrese  Melvini  tov  tthmu  ne- 
pote.  Londini, — 1645."  8vo.  In  the  Advocates  Library 
are  two  poems  in  MS.,  "  Funeral  Tears,"  and  a  "  Dialogue," 
on  the  death  of  James  Melville,  written  by  Thomas  Melville," 
(Jac.  V.  7.  nos.  6,  7.)  I  subjoin  the  epitaph  on  him  by  his 
uncle,  printed  at  the  end  of  the  last  mentioned  book,  which 
is  rare. 

Epitaphium  Auctoris,  a  Domino 

Andrea  Melvino  conscriptum. 

Chare  nepos,  de  fratre  nepos,  mihi  fratre,  nepote 
Charior,  et  quicquid  fratre  nepote  queat 


♦  Without. 


404 


NOTES. 


Charius  esse  usqaam  ;  quin  me  mihi  charior  ipso, 

Et  quicquid  mihi  me  charius  esse  queat. 
Consiliis  auctor  mihi  tu,  dux  rebus  agendis, 

Cum  privata,  aut  res  publica  agenda  fuit. 
Amborum  mens  una  animo,  corde  una  voluntas, 

Corque  unum  in  duplici  corpore,  et  una  anima. 
Vna  ambo  vexati  odiis  immanibus,  ambo 

Dignati  et  Christi  pro  grege  dura  pati. 
Dura  pali,  sed  iniqua  pati,  sub  crimine  ficto, 

Ni  Christum,  et  Christi  crimen  amare  gregem. 
Qui  locus,  aut  quse  me  hora  tibi  nunc  dividat,  idem 

Hie  locus,  haBC  me  eadem  dividat  hora  mihi. 
Tune  tui  desiderium  mihi  triste  relinquas  ? 

Qui  prior  hue  veni,  non  prior  hinc  abeam  1 
An  sequar  usque  comes  1  sic,  sic  juvat  ire  sub  astra. 

Tecum  ego  ut  exul  eram,  tecum  ero  et  in  patria. 
Christus  ubi  caput,  seternara  nos  poscit  in  aulam, 

Arctius  ut  jungat  nos  sua  membra  sibi. 
Induviis  donee  redivivi  corporis  artus 

Vestiat,  iliustrans  luraine  purpureo. 
Sternum  ut  patrem,  natumque  et  flamen  ovantes, 

Carmine  perpetuo  concelebremus,  lo. 

Note  PP.  p.  356. 

Writing-3  of  Aiidreio  Melville. — I  subjoin  a  list  of  his 
printed  works. 

1.  "Carmen  Mosis — Andrea  Melvino  Scoto  Avctore. 
BasileiE.  m.d.  lxxiii."  8vo.   (See  above,  p.  229,  230.) 

2.  "STE*ANI2KION.  Ad  Scotiae  Regem,  habitum  in 
Coronatione  Reginae.  Per  Andream  Mcluinum. — Edinbvrgi 
1590."  4to.   (See  above,  p.  271-72,  405.) 

3.  "  Carmina  ex  Doctissimis  Poetis  Selecta,  inter  quos, 
giiaedam  Geo.  Bitchanani  et  And.  Jllelvini  inseruntur. 
1590."  8vo.   (Ruddimanni  Bibl.  Roman,  p.  71.) 

4.  "  Principis  Scoti-Britannorvm  Natalia.  Edinbvrgi — 
1594."  4to.   (See  above,  p.  294.) 

5.  "Theses  Theologicfe  de  libero  arbitrio.  Edinburgi, 
1597."  4to.  (Sibbald,  de  Script.  Scot.  p.  42.)  These  might 
be  the  Theses  of  some  of  his  students. 

6.  "  Scholastica  Diatriba  de  Rebvs  Divinis  ad  Anquiren- 
dam  et  inveniendam  veritatem,  a  candidatis  S.  Theol. 
habenda  (Deo  volente)  ad  d.  xxvi,  et  xxvii,  Julij  in  Scholis 
Theologicis  Acad.  Andreanse,  Spiritu  Sancto  Prajside.  D. 
And.  Melvino  S,  Theol.  D.  et  illivs  facultatis  Decano 
a-v^mrrns-iv  moderante.  Edinbvrgi,  Excudeba  Robertus  Wal- 
degraue  Typographus  Regius  1599."  4to.  Pp.  16.  (In  Bibl. 
Col.  Glasg.) 

7.  "  Gathelus,  seu  Fragmentum  de  origine  Gentis  Scoto- 
rum."  This  poem  was  first  printed  along  with  "  Jonstoni 
Inscriptiones  Historicse  Regum  Scotorum.     Amstel.  1602." 

8.  "  Pro  supplici  Evangelicorum  Ministorum  in  Anglia — 
Apologia,  sive  Anti-Tami-Cami-Categoria.  Authore  A.  Mel- 
vino.   1604."     (See  above,  p.  313.) 

9.  Select  Psalms  turned  into  Latin  verse,  and  printed 
(probably  at  London)  in  1609.   (See  above,  p.  335.) 

10.  "Nescimus  Qvid  Vesper  Servs  Vehat.  Satyra  Menip- 
piea  Vincentii  Liberii  Hollandii.  mdcxix."  4to.  Pp.  35. 
Anotlier  edition  was  published  in  the  year  1620.  A  copy 
of  each  is  in  the  British  Museum.  On  the  back  of  the  title 
is  a  letter,  "Liberius  Vincentius  Hollandus  Francisco  de 
Ingenuis  S.  P.  D."  dated  "Amstelodami  it.  Idus  S  pt. 
Anno  a  Christo  nato  m.dc.xix."  I  have  not  seen  this  work, 
but  from  extracts  which  have  been  communicated  to  me,  it 
appears  to  be  a  satire  partly  in  prose  and  partly  in  verse, 
and  refers  much  to  the  aflfairs  of  Venice.  This  last  circum- 
stance, taken  in  connexion  with  Melville's  advanced  age, 
excites  a  suspicion  that  he  was  not  the  author.  And  yet  if 
he  was  not,  it  is  strange  that  it  should  have  been  so  gener- 
ally ascribed  to  him  both  by  Scottish  and  foreign  writers. 
(Barbier,  Diet,  des  Ouvrages  Anonymes  et  Pseudonymes, 
tom.  iii.  p.  489.  Charters's  Acco.  of  Scots  Divines,  p.  4.) 
It  has  also  been  ascribed  to  Nicholaus  Crassus,  a  Venetian. 

11.  "  Viri  clarissimi  A.  Melvini  Mvsae  et  P.  Adamsoni 
Vita  et  PaUnodia  et  Celss  commissionis — descriptio.  Anno 
K.nc.xx."  4to.  Pp.  67.  Melville  was  not  consulted  in  the 
publication  of  these  poems,  nor  was  he  the  author  (as  has 
often  been  inaccurately  stated)  of  the  tracts  added  to  them. 
Tn  the  epistle  to  the  reader,  the  publisher  says :  "  quia 


absque  eiu3  venia ;  gratum  illi  an  futurum  sit  hoc  meum 
studium  nescio." — "  Est  yir  iste  clarissimus  omni  invidia  et 
exceptione  major  :  virosque  illustres  Josephum  Scaligerum, 
Theodorum  Bezam  et  alios  habet  laudum  praecones:  non 
ideo  opus  est  illi  meo  encomio.  Tantum  descripsi  vitam 
Adamsoni,"  &c. — John  Adamson  (afterwards  Principal  of 
the  College  of  Edinburgh)  was  employed  in  collecting  Mel- 
ville's fugitive  poems,  (see  above,  p.  iig,)  but  whether  he 
or  Caldewood  was  the  publisher  of  the  Miibx,  I  cannot 
determine. 

12.  "De  Adiaphoris.  Scoti  rau  rv^cyro;  AphorismL 
Anno  Domini  1622."  12mo.  Pp.  20.  (In  Bibl.  Jurid. 
Edin.) 

13.  "  Andreae  Melvini  Scotiae  Topographia."  This  poem 
is  prefixed  to  the  Theatrum  Scotia  in  Bleaii's  Atlas. 
"  'Tis  Buchanan's  prose  turned  into  elegant  verse ;"  says 
Bishop  Nicholson.  (Scot.  Hist.  Lib.  p.  18.)  In  a  letter  to 
Sir  John  Scot  of  Scotstarvet,  "u!t.  decemb.  1655."  J. 
Bleau  acknowledges  a  letter  from  him  containing  "  les  cor- 
rections du  vers  de  Melvinus."  (MS.  in  Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin. 
A.  3.  19.  num.  35.) 

Melville  was  a  large  contributor  to  a  collection  of  poems, 
by  Scotchmen  and  Zealanders,  "  In  Oliitvm  Johannis  Walla- 
sii  Scoto  Belgae — Ludg.  Batav.  1603."  4to.  There  are  two 
poems  by  him  in  John  Jonston's  "  Sidera  Veteiis  ^vi," 
p.  33  ;  a  work  which  was  published  along  with  his  "  Iambi 
Sacri,"  and  his  "  Cantica  Sacra  Novi  Testament! — Salmu- 
rii  1611."  He  has  also  verses  prefixed  to  "Comment,  in 
Apost.  Acta  M.  Joannis  Malcolmi  Scoti — Middelb.  1615." 
Malcolm,  in  his  Dedication  to  the  King,  and  in  the  body  of 
the  work  (p.  264,)  defends  Melville  with  much  freedom, 
and  laments  his  removal  from  Scotland. 

Among  his  works  in  manuscript  are  the  following  : 

1.  "  D.  Andreas  Melvini  epistolae  Londino  e  turri  carceris 
ad  Jacobum  Melvinum  Nouocastri  exulantem  scriptae,  cum 
ejusdem  Jacobi  nonnullis  ad  eundem.  Annis  supra  mil- 
lesimu  sexcentessimo  octavo,  nono,  dccimo,  undecimo. 
Item  Ecclesise  Scoticanje  Oratio  Apologetica  ad  Regem  An. 
1610,  mense  Aprilis."  This  volume  (which  is  in  the  Li- 
brary of  the  University  of  Edinburgh)  brings  down  the  cor- 
respondence between  Melville  and  his  nephew  till  the  end 
of  the  year  1613.  It  belonged  to  James  Melville,  and  is 
partly  in  his  hand-writing.  Before  his  death  he  committed 
it  to  the  care  of  his  friend,  Sir  Patrick  Hume  of  Ayton, 
who  has  inserted  the  following  note :  "  Hie  visu  est  insere 
(sic)  paraliepomena  quasdam  eiusdem  et  alioru  quoru 
tt!/T5!r;^«<r*c  cum  libellis  ipsis  ipse  mihi  comendavit  author 
paulo  ante  obitu.     Pa  Hume." 

2.  "  Letters  from  Andrew  Melville  to  ♦*»*  in  the  United 
Provinces."  (In  Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.  M.  6.  9.  num.  42.) 
They  are  six  in  number,  and  were  addressed  to  Robert  Dury 
at  Leyden. 

3.  "  Florctum  Archiepiscopale ;  id  est,  errores  Pontificii 
assertiones  temerarire,  et  hyberbolicae  interpretationes." 
(Ibid.  num.  47.)  They  are  extracted  from  archbishop 
Adamson's  academical  prelections  at  St.  Andrews,  in  Mel- 
ville's handwriting,  and  subscribed  by  him. 

4.  "  Paraphrasis  Epistote  ad  Hebraeos  Andreae  Melvini." 
(Harl.  MSS.  num.  6947.  9.  It  is  a  metrical  paraphrase  of 
the  whole  epistle,  and  was  most  probably  composed  in  the 
Tower. 

5.  "  A  Melvinus  in  Cap,  4.  Danielis."  (In  Bibl.  Col.  S. 
Trinit  Dublin.)    This  I  have  not  seen. 

There  are  verses  by  him,  in  his  own  handwriting,  among 
the  Sempill  Papers  (MS.  in  Arch.  Eccl.  Scot.  vol.  xxviii. 
num.  7 ;)  and  in  a  collection  of  Letters  from  Learned  Men 
to  James  VL  (MS.  in  Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.)  On  a  blank 
leaf  at  the  beginning  of  a  copy  of  Auhm  Gelliiis  (transmit- 
ted to  me  by  Dr.  Leo)  there  is  a  poem  written,  with  this 
title :  "  Canticum  Mariae  paraphrasticos  expressum,  a  D. 
Andrea  Melvino  Scoto."  I  have  not  seen  it  elsewhere.  It 
is  followed  by  poems  of  Buchanan,  all  of  which  have  been 
published.  The  volume  bears  this  inscription,  among 
others  :  "  Liber  Magri  Gulielmi  Guildej.  1610." — Copies  of 
Melville's  large  Answer  to  Dorwnham's  Sermon  were  at  one 
time  not  uncommon.  In  enumerating  the  writers  in  defence 
of  ruling  elders,  a  foreign  divine  mentions  "  Ex  Scotis, 
And.  Melvinus  in  MS.  refut.  concionis  Downamii."  (Voetii 
Politica  Ecclesiastica,  tom,  ii.  p.  458.)  It  is  also  mentioned 


NOTES. 


405 


Charters.  (Acco.  of  Scots  Divines,  p.  4,)  Charters  says  that  ] 
there  is  a  copy  of  a  Latin  commentary  by  him  in  the  Library 
of  the  Students  of  Divinity  at  Edinburgh.  "  I  have  seen 
also  in  the  Hbrary  of  the  College  of  Glasgow,  a  large  folio, 
entitled,  Prxlectiones  in  Epistolam  ad  Romanos,  in  small 
write,  said  to  be  writ  by  Mr.  Melvil."  (Wodrow's  Life  of 
Mr.  Andrew  Melville,  p.  HI.)  Neither  of  these  MSS.  is 
now  to  be  found.  Five  poems  "  ex  Musis  Andrea;  Melvini, 
viri  clarissimi  et  undiquaque  doctissimi,  arc  appended  by 
Dr.  Koelman  of  Utrecht  to  his  Dissertation,  JDe  Diebus 
Festis.  Traj.  ad  Rhenum,  1693. 

In  Bioffraphical  Memoranda,  No.  iii.  p.  108,  printed  at 
Bristol  in  1814,  an  English  "  Poem  by  A.  Melvin"  is  given 
from  a  MS.  in  the  possession  of  the  editor.  On  inspecting 
that  MS.  I  find  that  the  poem  is  by  George  Herbert. 

Besides  those  formerly  mentioned,  encomiastic  verses  on 
Melville  were  written  by  David  Wedderburn,  (Musae  Sacrte, 
tom.  i.  p.  xlvii.)  by  John  Dunbar,  (Epigr.  p.  29,)  by  John 
Leech,  (Epigr.  p.  86,)  by  James  Wright,  (Poemat.  praef. 
Strangio,  De  Interpret.  Scripturse,)  and  by  Leon.  Moyartus, 
(Lachrymee  Zelandirae  in  Obitum  Joan.  Wallasii.) 

Four  letters  from  Melville  to  David  Hume  of  Godscroft 
are  prefixed  to  the  Lusus  Poetici  of  the  latter.  They  af- 
ford specimens  of  his  humour  as  well  as  proofs  of  the  inti- 
mate friendship  which  subsisted  between  him  and  Hume. 
One  of  them  is  subscribed,  "  Plus  fellis,  quam  mellis ;" 
which  shews  that  the  play  on  his  name,  with  which  episco- 
palian epigrammatists  have  diverted  themselves  so  much, 
was  not  the  invention  either  of  Dr.  Duport  or  bishop  Bar- 
low. James  Hume,  the  son  of  the  poet,  is  the  author  of 
various  works  on  arithmetic  and  mathematics.  In  the  edi- 
tion of  his  father's  poems,  published  by  him  at  Paris,  in 
]  639,  he  has  inserted  several  epigrams  against  Melville,  with 
answers  to  them  by  his  father.  In  a  note  to  the  latter,  he 
says :  "  Scripsit  author  alia  duo  Epigrammata  ad  Melvinu  ; 
sed,  quia  nimis  acerba  in  Episcopos  Aufflicanos,  omisimiis." 
(Dav.  Humii  Lusus  Poet.  p.  114.)  From  this  it  appears 
that  the  editor  was  a  politician  as  well  as  a  mathematician. 

I  have  a  copy  of  Buchanan's  History,  with  marginal  notes 
in  Melville's  handwriting.  In  one  of  these,  so  far  as  i  can 
make  sense  of  it,  (for  part  of  it  has  been  cut  off)  he  traces 
his  own  descent  from  the  royal  families  of  Scotland  and 
England,  in  the  way  of  stating  that  he  was  sprung  from 
Queen  Jane,  the  wife  of  James  I.  by  her  second  husband, 
Sir  James  Stewart,  surnamed  the  Black  Knight.  On  the 
title-page  of  the  dialogue  De  Jure  Regni,  he  has  written 
these  lines : 

Libera  si  dentur  populo  suffragia,  quis  tam 
Perditus  ut  dubitet  Senecam  prseferre  Neroni  1 
Did  he  intend  this  to  apply  to  Buchanan  and  his  royal  pnpil  T 

Note  QQ.  p.  358, 

University  of  St.  Andrews. — At  the  opening  of  the 
classes  in  1411,  Bishop  Wardlaw,  with  the  concurrence  of 
James  Bisset,  prior  of  the  Abbey  ol'  St.  Andrews,  and 
Thomas  Stewart,  archdeacon  of  Lothian,  granted  to  the 
masters  and  students  the  privileges  belonging  to  a  university, 
and  applied  in  the  usual  way  to  the  pope  for  a  confirmation 
of  what  he  had  done.  Besides  the  bull  founding  the  uni- 
versity, which  was  issued  on  the  37th  of  August,  1413, 
Benedict  XIII.  signed  on  the  same  day  five  other  bulls 
securing  its  rights. 

The  university  laboured  under  no  want  of  teachers  at  its 
commencement.  Before  the  papal  bulls  were  executed, 
Laurence  Lindores,  as  professor  of  divinity,  began  to  read 
the  fourth  book  of  the  Sentences.  Richard  Corvel,  John 
Litstar,  John  Schcves,  and  William  Stephani  or  Stevenson, 
appeared  as  lecturers  on  canon  law.  And  John  Gyll,  Wil- 
liam Fowlis,  and  WiHiam  Crosier,  taught  the  arts  of  philoso- 
phy. This  is  the  account  given  by  Fordun.  (Scotichroni- 
con,  Ub.  XV.  cap.  22.)  Hector  Boethius  makes  Laurence 
Lindores  professor  of  laws,  and  Richard  Corvcil  doctor  of 
decretals.  (Hist.  Scot  lib.  xvi.)  Spotswood,  though  he 
refers  to  Boethius  as  his  authority,  gives  a  different  state- 
ment ;  making  Schevcs,  Stephen,  and  Lister  readers  in 
divinity,  Lenders  in  canon  law,  and  Cornwall  in  civil  law. 
(Hist.  p.  57.) 

The  first  professors  appear  to  have  had  no  salaries.     The 


revenues  of  the  university  for  some  time  consisted  chiefly 
of  small  sums  received  from  the  students  at  their  admission 
and  graduation ;  and  the  greater  part  of  these  was  applied 
to  the  defraying  of  the  common  expenses.  The  classes  were 
at  first  taught  in  such  places  of  the  city  as  were  found  most 
convenient.  Robert  de  Montrose  gave  a  house  for  the  stu- 
dents of  theology  to  meet  in,  which  was  at  a  subsequent 
period  converted  into  the  public  library.  And  bishop  Ken- 
nedy appropriated  to  the  classes  of  philosophy  certain  build- 
ings in  the  neighbourhood,  which  retained  the  name  of  the 
Pxdaffogium  until  it  was  erected  into  a  college  under  the 
designation  of  St.  Mary's.     (Hovei  Oratio.) 

James  I.  who,  in  recompence  of  his  long  captivity,  had 
received  a  good  education  in  England,  patronised  the  newly 
erected  university  after  his  return  to  Scotland.  Besides  con- 
firming its  privileges  by  a  royal  charter,  he  assembled  those 
who  had  distinguished  themselves  by  teaching,  and  by  the 
progress  which  they  had  made  in  their  studies,  and  after  con- 
versing familiarly  with  them,  and  applauding  their  exertions, 
rewarded  them  according  to  their  merit  with  offices  in  the 
state  or  benefices  in  the  church.  (Fordun.  Hovei  Orat. 
Buch.  Hist.  p.  190.  edit.  Rudd.) 

Note  RR.  p.  359. 

Colleges  at  St.  Andrevis. — I  shall  give  here  some  more 
minute  facts  as  to  each  of  these  according  to  the  order  of 
time  in  which  they  were  erected. 

.S'^.  Sahator's  College. — This  college,  which  was  found- 
ed by  James  Kennedy,  archbishop  of  St.  Andrews,  in  1450, 
received  from  its  founder  a  new  and  more  improved  form  in 
1458.  It  consisted  of  three  professors  of  divinity,  called 
the  provost  or  principal,  the  licentiate,  and  the  bachelor ; 
four  masters  of  arts,  who  were  also  in  priest's  orders ;  and 
six  poor  scholars  or  clerks,  making  in  all  thirteen  persons, 
according  to  the  number  of  the  apostles  of  our  Saviour,  in 
honour  of  whom  the  college  was  named.  The  provost  was 
bound  to  read  lessons  in  theology  once  a-week,  the  licentiate 
thrice  a-wcek,  and  the  bachelor  every  readable  day  :  the  first, 
to  preach  to  the  people  four  times,  and  the  second,  six  times 
a-year.  From  the  four  masters  of  arts,  two  at  least  were  to 
be  annually  chosen  as  regents,  the  one  to  teach  logic,  and 
the  other  physics  and  metaphysics,  according  to  the  method 
of  the  schools  and  the  statutes  of  the  university.  The  col- 
lege was  liberally  endowed  by  the  founder  for  the  support  of 
the  masters  and  scholars  ;  besides  the  altarages  subsequently 
founded  by  other  individuals.  The  provost  had  the  rectory 
of  Cults  conferred  on  him,  the  licentiate  the  rectory  of  Kem- 
bach,  and  the  bachelor  that  of  Denino  ;  parish  churches  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  St.  Andrews,  the  revenues  of  which 
they  drew,  after  appropriating  a  certain  part  of  the  emolu- 
ments to  the  respective  vicars.  The  rectory  of  Kilmany  was 
appropriated  for  the  common  support  of  the  founded  persons, 
and  of  the  servants  attached  to  the  establishment,  in  vic- 
tuals, &c^  The  strictest  rules  were  laid  down  as  to  the  be- 
haviour of  all  the  members,  and  as  to  the  religious  exercises, 
as  well  as  the  studies,  of  those  who  were  admitted  to  the 
benefits  of  the  institution.  Young  men  of  rank  or  opulence, 
who  might  choose  to  study  in  the  college,  and  to  pay  for 
their  board,  were  bound  to  obey  the  provost,  and  to  submit 
in  all  things  to  the  rules  of  the  house  equally  as  the  bursars 
or  poor  scholars. 

Bishop  Kennedy  was  careful  to  have  his  college  provi- 
ded with  the  most  able  teachers.  With  this  view  he  called 
home  John  Athelmer  who  had  been  educated  at  St.  An- 
drews, but  was  then  in  the  university  of  Paris,  and  placed 
him  in  the  situation  of  provost  or  principal.  To  him  he 
joined  Thomas  Logy,  who  had  already  filled  the  office  of 
rector  of  the  university,  and  James  Ogilvy,  as  second  and 
third  masters  or  professors  of  divinitj\  Mr.  Jo.  Athelmer 
was  presented  to  the  "  paroche  church  of  Qhylt"  (Cults) 
March  25,  1450.  He  is  often  mentioned  as  Dean  of  The- 
ology. "Mr  Jo.  Aimer,  praepositus  Collegii  Sti  Sal  v."  oc- 
curs in  the  records  as  late  as  1473.  James  Ogilvy  seems 
to  have  been  the  same  person,  who,  on  account  of  his  great 
learning  and  virtue,  was  designed  for  bishop  of  St.  Andrews 
by  the  General  Council  of  Basil,  and  who  afterwards  taught 
theology  in  the  University  of  Aberdeen.  (Boetii  Vit« 
Abredonens.  Episcop.  foh  xxyiL  b.) 


406 


NOTES. 


St.  Leonardos  Colkge. — Adjoining  to  tlie  church  of  St 
Leonard,  and  within  the  precincts  of  the  Abbey,  was  an 
ancient  hospital  for  the  reception  of  pious  strangers  who  came 
in  pilgrimage  to  visit  the  rcUcs  of  St.  Andrew,  being  attracted  by 
the  fame  of  the  miracles  wrought  by  them.  "The  miracles 
and  pilgrimages  having  ceased  in  process  of  time,  as  may  be 
believed,"  the  hospital  was  converted  into  a  receptacle  for 
aged  women.  But  the  patrons,  not  being  satisfied  with  the 
conduct  of  the  new  objects  of  their  charity,  resolved  to  con- 
vert the  hospital,  with  the  adjoining  church,  into  a  College, 
"  for  training  up  poor  scholars  in  learning  and  the  arts,  to  the 
glory  of  God  and  tlie  spiritual  edification  of  the  people." 
This  was  called  the  College  of  St.  Leonard.  The  charter  of 
foundation  was  executed  in  1512,  by  John  Hepburn,  prior  of 
the  Abbey,  and  confirmed  by  archbishop  Alexander  Stewart, 
and  by  King  James  IV.  The  prior  and  conventual  chapter 
were  patrons  of  this  College,  and  retained  the  power  of  Nisit- 
ing  it  and  reforming  its  abuses.  The  teachers  were  always 
taken  from  the  monastery.  Dr.  Howie,  in  his  Oration  fre- 
quently quoted,  has  stated  that  John  Annand  was  the  first 
principal  of  St.  I>eonard's  College ;  and  Boece  has  done  the 
same.  (Vit.  Episc.  Abred.  xxvii.)  But  Alexander  Young 
was  principal  down  to  1517;  Gavm  Logie  in  1523 — 1537; 
Thomas  Cunninghame  in  1538 ;  and  John  Annand  in  1544. 
(Transumptum  Fundationis;  and  subscriptions  to  the  Stat- 
tutes  in  the  last  mentioned  year.)  Gavin  Logie  is  the  person 
known  for  his  early  partiahty  to  the  Reformation.  (Life 
of  Knox,  Note  1.)  Annand  was  probably  the  person 
who  disputed  with  Knox  at  St.  Andrews.  (Ibid.  p.  32.)  This 
College  was  intended  for  the  support  and  education  of  twenty 
poor  scholars.  The  principal  was  appointed  to  read  on  two 
days  of  every  week  a  lecture  on  the  Scriptures,  or  on  specula- 
tive theology  to  the  priests,  regents,  and  others  who  chose  to 
attend.  And  by  a  subsequent  regulation  an  additional  salary 
was  appointed  to  be  given  to  two  of  the  four  regents,  provi- 
ded they  chose  to  read,  twice  or  thrice  in  the  week,  a  lecture 
on  the  Scriptures,  or  on  the  Master  of  Sentences.  (Papers  of 
University.) 

It  was  required  of  those  who  were  admitted  to  St  Jjconard's 
College,  that,  besides  being  of  good  character,  acquainted 
with  grammar,  and  skilled  in  writing,  they  should  be  sullicient- 
ly  instructed  in  the  Gregorian  song, — "  cantuque  Grcgoria- 
no  sufiicienter  instructum."  (Papers  of  University.)  The 
religious  of  the  Priory  of  St.  Andrews  were  always  celebrated 
for  their  skill  in  music,  and  singing  formed  one  of  the  regular 
exercises  of  the  students.  (Boetii  Abredon.  Episcop.  Vitse, 
£  xxvi.)  Individuals  who  had  belonged  to  it  were  employed 
in  composing  the  music  used  in  churches  after  the  Reforma- 
tion.    (Old  Music  Book,  MS.) 

<S^.  Mary's  or  New  College. — There  were  still  in  the 
university  professors  and  students  who  did  not  belong  to 
either  of  the  colleges  of  St.  Salvator  and  St.  Ijconard.  These 
continued  to  teach  in  the  Pa;dagogium,  and  although  they 
were  not  formed  into  a  college,  and  had  but  slender  funds. 
Archbishop  Alexander  Stewart  who  has  been  highly  commen- 
ded by  Erasmus  for  his  literary  attainments,  intended  to  give 
it  a  collegiate  form,  and  with  this  view  he  not  only  repaired 
the  chapwl  of  St  John  the  Evangelist,  which  served  as  a 
place  of  worship  to  the  pasdagogium,  but  also  bestowed  on  it 
the  living  of  the  church  of  St.  Michael  de  Tarvet,  in  the 
neighbourhoo<l  of  Cupar  in  Fife.  In  the  deed  of  annexation 
it  is  said,  that  the  psedagogium  of  the  university  "  lay  almost 
extinct  in  consequence  of  the  deficiency  of  funds  and  of 
learned  men  ;"  and  that  the  archbishop,  with  the  consent  of 
his  chapter,  had  resolved  to  "  endow  and  erect  it  into  a  col- 
lege, to  the  praise  of  God,  the  defence  of  the  faith,  the  ui- 
crease  of  learned  men,  and  the  salvation  of  the  souls  of  the 
king,  his  predecessors  and  successors,  the  archbishops  of  St. 
Andrews,  and  all  the  faithful."  The  premature  death  of  the 
primate,  who  soon  after  fell  in  the  field  of  Flowden,  appears 
to  have  defeated  tliis  annexation,  and  prevented  the  erection  of 
the  college.  It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  the  psedagogium 
would  rival  colleges  which  were  provided  with  extensive  funds 
and  accommodations  both  for  master  and  scholars.  But  it 
continued  to  have  regents  and  a  principal ;  and  several  distin- 
guished individuals,  among  whom  were  George  Buchanan, 
received  their  education  in  it,  while  it  remained  on  its  original 
footing.  Archbishop  James  Beaton  resumed  the  design  of 
his  predecessor,  and  obtained  a  bull  from  Pope  Paul  III.  au- 
thorising him  to  erect  buildings  for  a  college  and  chapel,  under 
the  name  of  the  Assumption  of  St  Mary,  in  which  grammar, 
logic,  theology,  medicine,  and  law,  both  canon  and  civil, 


should  he  taught,  divine  oflSccs  performed,  and  a  collegial 
table  provided  from  the  rents  of  certain  benefices  which  were 
united  and  annexed  to  the  institution.  The  buildings  which 
were  begim  on  tlie  site  of  the  psedagogium  by  archbishop 
Beaton  were  carried  on  by  liis  nephew  and  successor,  the 
Cardinal.  But  the  college  was  not  finally  erected  imtil  1554, 
after  archbishop  Hamilton  had  obtained  a  papal  bull  from 
JuUus  III.  by  which  he  was  authorised  to  alter  at  his  pleasure 
the  arrangements  made  by  his  predecessor. 

By  the  foundation  of  bishop  Hamilton,  St.  Mary's  College, 
or,  as  it  was  often  called,  the  Netv  Colkge,  was  provided  with 
four  principal  professors,  denominated  the  provost,  Ucentiate, 
bachelor,  and  canonist ;  eight  students  of  theology ;  three  pro- 
fessors of  philosophy  and  two  of  rhetoric  and  grammar ;  six- 
teen students  of  philosophy ;  a  provisor,  cook  and  janitor ; 
and  five  vicars  pensionary.  The  principal,  besides  exercising 
the  ordinary  jurisdiction  of  the  college  and  presiding  at  the 
theological  disputations  once  a-week,  was  to  read  a  lecture  on 
the  sacred  Scriptures,  or  to  preach,  every  Monday.  The  hcen- 
tiate  was  to  read  a  lecture  on  the  Scriptures  four  times,  and 
the  bachelor  five  times  a-week.  And  the  canonist  was  to  lec- 
ture on  canon  law  five  times  every  week.  It  was  also  the  du- 
ty of  each  of  these  professors  to  say  mass  at  stated  times.  It 
behoved  the  students  of  divinity  to  be  in  priest's  orders  and 
initiated  into  theology,  "  so  as  to  have  answered  thrice  in  pub- 
lic, and  given  specimen  of  their  erudition  according  to  the 
custom  of  the  university."  They  were  bound  regularly  to  at- 
tend the  lectures  of  the  three  theological  professors,  to  answer 
publicly  to  the  difliculties  of  Scripture  every  holyday,  to  say 
mass,  and  to  preach  thrice  a-year  in  public.  Their  continu- 
ance in  this  situation  was  limited  to  six  years ;  for  it  was  ex- 
pected, "  that  by  the  divine  blessing,  and  their  eissiduity,  they 
shall  within  this  period  be  fit  for  becoming  licentiates  in  theo- 
logy, and  for  discharging  higher  offices."  The  three  profes- 
sors of  philosophy  were  to  teach  logic,  ethics,  physics,  and 
mathematics,  at  the  direction  of  the  principal ;  and  the  orator 
and  grammarian  were,  at  the  same  direction,  to  interpret  the 
most  useful  authors  in  their  respective  faculties.  And  they 
were  not  to  hold  their  places  above  six  years,  or  the  time  dur- 
ing which  they  taught  two  courses,  unless  they  received  a 
new  appointment.  It  behoved  the  students  of  philosophy,  be- 
fore their  admission,  to  be  initiated  into  grammar  and  the 
Latin  tongue,  so  as  to  be  able  to  express  themselves  properly 
in  that  language  at  disputations  and  examinations ;  to  swear 
that  they  had  no  benefice  or  patrimony  to  support  them,  and 
to  suppUcate,  for  the  love  of  God,  to  be  admitted  to  the  place 
of  poor  students.  Each  of  them  in  order  was  bound  to 
awake  all  the  domestics  at  five  in  the  morning,  and  furnish 
lights  to  such  as  wished  them.  The  professors,  regents,  and 
students,  were  to  wear  capes  after  the  Parisian  manner ;  and 
all  the  scholars,  including  the  noble  and  wealthy,  as  well  as 
the  bursars,  were  to  wear  gowns  bound  round  tliem  witli  a 
girdle,  to  which  the  bursars  were  to  add  a  black  hood.  By 
the  bull  of  Julius  III.  as  well  as  that  of  Paul  III.  the  college 
had  the  power  of  conferring  degrees  in  all  the  faculties;  and 
the  jurisdiction  over  the  bursars  belonged  to  the  principal,  from 
whom  an  appeal  lay  to  the  archbishop  and  the  pope,  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  the  rector  of  the  university  or  any  other  judge, 
even  in  the  second  instance.  The  college  was  provided  with 
ample  funds.  The  revenues  of  four  parish  churches,  Tyning- 
hame,  Tannadice,  Inchebriock,  (including  Craig  and  Perth) 
and  Conveth  or  Laurence-kirk,  were  apjsointed  for  its  support ; 
in  addition,  as  it  would  appear,  to  what  had  formerly  belonged 
to  the  Psedagogium.     (Fundatio  et  Eroctio  Novi  Collegii.^ 

Some  of  the  professors  of  the  New  College,  nominated  by 
archbishop  Beaton,  including  the  principal,  had  previously 
been  teachers  in  the  Pjedagogium.  The  instrument  of  Pre- 
sentation and  Investure,  Feb.  8.  1538,  appoints  "Magistrum 
Robertum  Bannerman,  pro  theologo  et  primario  dicti  coUegii 
de  assumptione  beat®  Mariae  Et  pro  sulvprincipali  Mag™  Da- 
vid Guynd  pro  Canonista  Mag""  Thomam  Kyncragy  pro  civ- 
ilista  Mag""  Johcm  Gledstanis  Item  jiro  regcntihus  artium  et 
studentibus  in  theologia  Magistros  Audrcitin  Kynnivnwnd, 
Johannem  Forbous  Wilhelinum  Young  et  Walterutn  Fdky." 
Those  whose  names  are  printed  in  Italics  had  previously  been 
teachers  in  the  Pffidagogium. 

.\rchbialiop  Hamilton,  in  his  foundation,  omitted  civil  law 
and  medicine,  which  his  pretlecessors  had  apjK)inted  to  be 
taught.  But,  upon  the  whole,  his  arrangements  appear  to 
have  been  adapte.l  to  the  means  of  instruction  which  he  had 
in  his  power;  and  in  several  points  they  indicate  a  due  atten 
tion  to  the  progress  which  learning  had  made  since  the  erection 


NOTES, 


407 


of  the  two  other  colleges.  He  was  equally  attentive  in  provi- 
ding the  college  with  professors.  Archibald  Hay,  who  was 
made  principal  soon  after  Cardinal  Beaton's  death,  appears  to 
have  excelled  most  of  his  countrymen  at  that  time  in  learning 
and  liberal  views.  During  his  residence  in  the  College  of 
Montague  at  Paris,  he  published  a  panegyrical  oration  on  arch- 
bishop Beaton's  advancement  to  the  purple.  It  is  entitled, 
"Ad  Illustriss.  Tit.  S.  Stephani  in  Monte  Ccelio  Cardinalem 
D.  Dauidem  Betonum — Gratulatorius  Panegyricus  Archibal- 
di  Hayi.  Parisiis  1540."  It  is  in  4to.  and  ends  on  fol.  Ixvi. 
On  the  title-page  is  a  motto  in  Greek  and  in  Hebrew.  The 
dedication  to  the  Cardinal  is  subscribed  "  addictissimus  Coii- 
sobrinus  vester  Archibald  Hayus."  In  the  course  of  this 
work  the  author  censures,  with  much  freedom,  the  ignorance, 
negligence  and  hypocrisy  of  the  clergy,  but  makes  no  allusion 
to  the  reformed  opinions  either  in  the  way  of  apf)robation  or 
condemnation.  The  most  curious  and  valuable  part  of  it  is 
tliat  in  which  he  lays  down  a  plan  of  teaching  for  the  new 
college  which  the  Cardinal  was  employed  in  organizing.  It 
will  be  of  far  more  consequence,  he  says,  to  procure  teachers 
capable  of  instructing  the  youth  in  the  three  learned  langua- 
ges, than  to  endow  a  rich  but  illiterate  college.  If  it  should 
be  thought  proper  to  add  teachers  of  Chaldee  and  Arabic,  he 
would  highly  approve  of  the  arrangement.  "  Quod  si  visum 
fuerit  linguae  caldaicse  et  arabicse  interpretes  addere,  vehemen- 
ter  probabo  ;  quandoquidem  cum  Hebraica  magna  habent  af- 
finitatem,  et  plurima  sunt  iliis  duabus  Unguis  scripta,  qua;  non 
param  sint  habitura  momenti  ad  rerum  pulcherrimarum  intel- 
ligentiam."  (Fol.  lix.)  Though  he  docs  not  propose  to  ban- 
ish the  Peripatetic  philosophy  from  the  school,  yet  he  would 
wish  to  see  the  study  of  the  divine  Plato  take  the  place  of 
scholastic  argutia:.  (Fol.  Ix.  a.)  He  laments  the  ne- 
glect of  the  Roman  law,  and  extols  the  science  of  mathe- 
matics.    (Fol.  Ix.  b.  Ixii.  a.) 

Robert  Bannerman  resigned  the  provostship,  July  12,  1546, 
on  account  of  his  advanced  age,  and  to  allow  the  college  to  be 
provided  "  de  alio  quovis  famoso,  juniori  et  magis  ydoneo  pri- 
mario  sen  principah."  On  the  same  day  collation  was  given 
to  Archibald  Hay,  "  Clerico  Sti  Andrea;  dioces."  Oct  1,  1547, 
the  office  was  conferred  "perdocto  et  spectabili  viro  Mag''"'  Jo- 
hanni  Douglass  clerico  dunkelden.  dioc."  in  consequence 
of  the  death  "  quond.  Mag"  Archibald!  Hay  ultimi  primarii." 

Dr.  Howie  mentions  the  kind  reception  which  archbishop 
Hamilton  gave  to  two  Englishmen,  Richard  Smith  and 
Richard  Marshall.  (Oratio  de  Fundatoribus  Acad,  et  Coll. 
Andreapol.)  "  Richardus  Martialis,  Alb.  Theologus,"  was  in- 
corporated at  St.  Andrews  in  1549.  In  1550,  Mr.  John  Doug- 
lass, being  made  rector  for  the  first  time,  had  for  one  of  his 
deputies  "  Richardum  Martialem  verbi  dei  praeconem  egre- 
gium."  In  1556,  the  same  person  is  styled  "  Collegii  Mariani 
liicentiatus." — "  Doctor  Richardus  Smythaeus,  Anglus,"  was 
incorporated  in  1550.  In  1552,  he  styles  himself  "professor 
sacrae  Theologise."  Richard  Martial,  D.  D.  was  of  Christ 
Church  College,  of  which  he  was  made  Dean  in  1553. 
(Wood's  Athena;  Oxon.  by  Bliss,  vol.  ii.  col.  136,  138.) 
Smith  was  also  of  Oxford,  and  is  the  author  of  a  great  many 
controversial  works  against  the  protestants.  (Wood,  ut  supra, 
vol.  i,  p.  333 — 337.)  Dr.  Laurence  Humphrey  represents 
him  as  flying  into  Scotland  to  avoid  a  dispute  with  his  succes- 
sor Peter  Martyr  :  "  Animosus  iste  Achilles,  die  ad  disputan- 
dum  constituto, — ad  Divum  Andream  in  Scotiam  profugeret, 
ratus  eum  qui  in  hoc  articulo  bene  latere,  bene  viuere."  (Jo- 
annis  IveUi  Vita  et  Mors,  p.  44.)  "  Those  of  his  persuasion 
accounted  him  the  best  schoolman  of  his  time,  and  they  have 
said  that  he  baffled  Pet.  Martyr  several  times.  Protestant 
writers  say  that  he  was  a  sophisler — and  that  he  was  a  goggle- 
eyed  fellow,  and  very  inconstant  in  his  opinion."  (Woodut  su- 
pra.) Further  particulars  concerning  him  will  be  found  in 
Burnet's  Hist,  of  the  Reform,  vol.  ii.  p.  162.  App.  JVo,  54. 
Strype's  Cranmer,  p.  172. 

Note  SS.  p.  362. 

Change  of  Professors  ai  St.  Andrews  in  1580. — It  was  at 
first  proposed  that  St.  Salvator's,  or  the  Old  College,  as  it  was 
called,  should  be  converted  into  the  seminary  for  divinity,  on 
account  of  the  number  of  chaplainries  founded  in  it,  which 
would  serve  for  the  sustentation  of  the  theological  students. 
And,  to  make  room  for  Melville,  it  had  been  agreed  that 
James  Martine,  who  was  at  the  head  of  that  college,  should  be 
translated,  and  made  principal  of  the  New  College.  But 
upon  maturer  deliberation,  this  measure  was  thought  unadvis- 


able.  It  was  judged  that  those  who  were  presented  to  the 
chaplainries  in  St.  Salvator's  might  study  theology  in  any  col- 
lege in  which  it  was  appointed  to  be  taught.  The  revenues 
of  the  New  College,  and  the  number  of  bursars  in  it  were 
greater  than  those  of  either  of  the  other  two.  And  there  was 
less  need  for  dispossessing  the  founded  persons  in  it,  in  order 
to  make  room  for  those  who  had  been  elected  professors  of 
theology.  (Determination  anent  the  Old  and  New  College, 
September  6,  1579;  subscribed  "  R.  Dunfermling.  P.  Sanc- 
tandros,")  Tliis  last  was  the  chief  reason  of  its  being  prefer- 
red. The  General  Assembly  had  declared  that  Robert  Hamil- 
ton's holding  the  office  of  provost  of  the  New  College  was  an 
impediment  to  him  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty  as  minister 
of  St.  Andrews,  and  had  repeatedly  enjoined  him  to  demit 
the  former  situation.  (Buik  of  Universall  Kirk,  p.  67.  Cald. 
MS.  vol.  iii.  p.  480,  564.)  Archibald  Hamilton,  the  second 
principal  master  of  that  college,  who  had  long  been  disaifected 
to  the  constitution  in  church  and  state,  had  lately  avowed  him- 
self a  Roman  Catholic,  and  deserted  Uie  university.  His  name 
occurs  for  the  last  time  in  the  records  of  the  university,  Nov. 
2, 1576,  when  he  was  elected  one  of  the  auditors  of  tlie  ques- 
tor's  accompts.  On  the  6th  Oct.  1574,  his  name  was  exclud- 
ed from  the  roll  of  persons  to  be  chosen  as  elders  in  St  An- 
drews, "  because  he  being  of  bcfoir  nominat  and  electit  refused 
to  accept  the  office  of  elder  on  him,  and  not  to  be  nominat 
quhil  he  mak  repentance  y'foir."  (Records  of  the  Kirk  Ses- 
sion of  St.  Andrews.)  The  place  of  John  Hamilton,  one 
of  the  regents,  had  also  been  vacated  in  the  same  way.  John 
Hamilton,  "  ex  gymnasio  M","  was  chosen  one  of  the  exami- 
nators  of  the  bachelors,  Feb.  21,  1574.  He  could  not,  there- 
fore, have  left  Scotland  earlier  than  1575.  Lord  Hailes 
(Sketch  of  the  life  of  John  Hamilton,  p.  2.)  says  that  he  was 
in  J'rance  in  1573  ;  proceeding  upon  the  authority  of  Servin, 
who,  in  1586,  says,  "II  y  a  treze  ans  qu'il  demeure  en  ceste 
ville."  (Plaidoye  de  Maistre  Lois  Servin  Advocat  en  Parla- 
ment,  pour  Maistre  Jean  Hamilton  Escossois,  p.  14.  Par. 
1586.)  The  Plaidoye  was  published  by  Hamilton  himself 
which  shows  how  difficult  it  is  to  attain  to  accuracy  in  such 
minute  circumstances.  The  counsel  who  pleaded  against 
Hamilton  alleged,  "  qu'il  ne  scait  parler  ne  Latin  ne  Francois." 
Servin  repUed  that  his  client  was  ready  to  give  proof  before 
the  parliament  of  his  knowledge  of  both  languages.  (Ibid, 
p.  59,  109.)  The  pleading  related  to  the  cure  of  St.  Coane 
and  St  Damian,  to  which  Hamilton  had  been  presented  by 
the  university,  and  contains  some  curious  matter  as  to  the  con- 
stitution of  universities  and  the  privileges  of  the  Scots  in 
France. — The  professors  of  law  and  mathematics  in  St  Mary's 
(College  were  transferred  to  St  Salvator's.  And  such  of  die 
regents  as  were  displaced  were  allowed  to  remain,  if  they 
chose,  as  bursars  of  theology. 

When  this  reformation  was  made  on  the  university,  Pat- 
rick Adamson,  as  archbishop  St  Andrews,  held  the  honora- 
ry office  of  Chancellor.  James  Wilkie  was  Rector  of  the 
university,  and  Principal  of  the  College  of  St.  Leonard,  in 
which  he  had  taught  for  more  than  thirty  years.*  James 
Martine  was  Principal  of  St.  Salvator's  College,  which  place 
John  Rutherfurd,  shortly  before  his  death,  had  resigned  to 
him.-j-  Though  he  had  never  left  the  college  in  which  he  re- 
ceived his  education,  the  literary  attainments  of  Martine  were 
respectable,  and  he  continued  to  discharge  the  duties  of  his 
office  with  credit  to  himself  for  nearly  half  a  century.  (Ba- 
ronii  Orat.  Funeb.  pro  M.  Jacobo  Martinio.)  William  Skene 
was  Dean  of  the  Faculty  of  Arts,  and  Conservator  of  the 
Privileges  of  the  University. 

Note    TT.  p.  363. 
V 
New  Foundation  of  King's   College,  Aberdeen. —  It  ap- 


*  In  the  Library  of  St.  Andrews,  there  are  Greek  books  which 
belonged  to  James  Wilkie,  containing  MS.  notes,  from  which  Dr. 
Lee  is  induced  to  think  that  he  was  acquainted  with  that  language. 
There  is  the  same  evidence  as  to  the  literary  acquirements  of  John 
Rutherfurd,  William  Ramsay,  John  Duncanson,  and  Robert  Wil- 
kie. 

t  On  the  2Gth  September.  1577,  "  Johne  Rutherfurd,  younger  son 
lawful  to  ane  venerabill  man,  Mr  Johne  Rutherfurd,  Rector  of  the 
university  of  St  Ands  — with  express  consent  and  assent  of  the  said 
Mr  Johne  his  father,"  signed  a  letter  of  factory  to  the  half  of  the 
teind  sheaves  of  Quilts  :  "  prDesentibus  Mro  Jacobo  Martine  prcepos- 
ito  dicti  Collegii."  &c.  On  the  18th  December,  1577,  "Christiana 
Forsyth,  relict  and  executrix  of  umqll  Mr.  Johne  Rutherfurd, 
sumtyme  provost  of  St.  Salvator's  College,  and  rector  of  the  univer- 
sity of  St.  And*,  delivered  certain  wreitts  and  evidentis,"  &c.  Ruth- 
erfurd must,  therefore,  have  died  in  the  interval  between  the  36th 
September  and  the  18th  December,  1577.    (Papers  of  TTniversity.) 


408 


NOTES. 


points  a  principal,  sub-principal,  three  regents,  and  a  teacher 
of  grammar.  The  latter  is  thus  described  :  "  Volumus  prse- 
ceptorem  grammaticaj  virum  esse  honum  ct  doctum  et  appri- 
me  versatum  in  Latina  et  Grajca  literatura,  cum  carmine  quam 
soluta  oratione."  The  first  regent  was  to  teach  Greek ;  the 
second  the  precepts  of  invention,  disposition,  and  elocution, 
in  as  easy  a  method  as  possible;  and  the  third  the  rudi- 
ments of  arithmetic  and  geomctrj.  The  sub-principal  was  to 
teach  physiology,  the  history  of  animals  as  chiefly  necessary, 
geography  and  astrology,  general  cosmography,  and  the  reck- 
oning of  time,  "  which  throws  great  light  on  other  arts  and 
the  knowledge  of  history  ;"  and  towards  the  end  of  his  course 
he  was  to  initiate  the  students  into  the  principles  of  the  holy 
tongue.  The  principal  was  alternately  to  lecture  on  theology, 
and  explain  the  Hebrew  language  ;  and  he  is  thus  described ; 
"  Is  in  sacris  Uteris  probe  institutus,  ad  aperienda  fidei  mys- 
teria  et  reconditos  divini  verbi  thesauros,  idoncus  linguarum 
etiam  gnarus  et  peritus  sit  oportet,  inprimis  vero  Hebraicaj 
et  Syriacffi,  cujus  professorcm  esse  instituimus ;  linguam  enim 
sacram,  ut  par  est,  promoveri  inter  subditos  nostros  cupimus, 
ut  scripturarum  fontes  et  mysteria  rectius  apcriantur."  'I'he 
teachers  were  appointed  to  confine  themselves  to  their  own 
branches,  "  Quatuor  autcm  hos  regentcs  noluimus  (prout  in 
reg^  nostri  Acaderaiis  olim  mos  fuit)  novas  profcssiones  quo- 
tannis  immutare,  quo  facto  fuit  ut  dum  multa  profiterentur,  in 
paucis  periti  invenirentur  ;  verum  voluimus  ut  in  eadem  pro- 
fessione  se  exerceant,"  &c.  (Nova  Fundatio,  Jacobo  Cto 
rege.) 

This  foundation  is  contained  in  a  Royal  Charter,  the  copy 
of  which  now  before  me  is  without  date.  But  in  the  dcscrij> 
tion  of  the  donation  made  to  the  College  by  King  James  VI. 
it  agrees  with  the  act  of  parliament  in  1617,  entitled,  "  Katifi- 
catioun  to  the  Old  CoUedge  ofl'  Abirdeno."  (Act.  Pari,  Scot. 
vol.  iv.  p.  576.) 

The  following  are  some  of  the  steps  taken  respecting  this 
new  erection.  In  April,  1583,  George,  Earl  Marischal,  Rob- 
ert, Commendator  of  Deir,  and  certain  brethren  who  had 
charge  of  the  King's  Majesty's  Commission,  presented  a 
petition  to  the  General  Assembly,  desiring  them  to  visit  the 
College  of  Aberdeen  to  take  trial  of  the  travels  they  have  ta- 
ken in  the  said  matter,  and  "  to  depute  some  persons  to  take 
trial  of  the  members  thereof,  that  they  be  sufficient  and  quali- 
fied and  conforme  to  tht  new  erectiune."  To  this  the  Assem- 
bly agreed,  and  ordained  Mr.  James  Lawson,  Mr.  Andrew 
Melville,  and  Mr,  Nicol  Dalgleish,  "  to  consider  the  procced- 
•  ings  of  the  said  commissioners  touching  the  said  erection,  and 
if  they  find  the  same  allowable  and  weel  done,  to  give  their 
testimony  and  approbation  thereof  to  be  presented  to  the  Erie 
Marshal,  that  his  Lo.  may  travel  for  the  King's  M.  confirma- 
tion thereof."  (Cald.  MS.  vol.  iii.  p.  236,  237.)  Nothing 
havuig  been  done  in  the  aflfair,  the  Assembly  which  met  in 
October  that  year  renewed  the  appointment  of  the  committee. 
(lb.  p.  268.)  It  appears  from  the  following  letter,  that  this 
measure  met  with  opposition  from  the  crown. 

"  Chancellor,  Rector,  and  other  members  of  our  College  of 
Abd.  we  greit  yow  weill.  We  are  surelie  informed  that  at 
this  last  gnall  asseniblie  it  was  desyrit  by  some  personcs  that 
Mr.  Alex''  Arbuthnot,  Princ"  of  oiur  said  College,  sould  trans- 
port himself  to  St.  Andrews,  and  be  minister  thairof  q'' through 
our  said  College  sail  be  heavilie  damnifiet,  and  the  founda- 
tione  thairof  prejudged.  As  also  it  is  meanit  they  intend  to 
pervert  the  ordour  of  the  foundatione  est;iblishcd  be  our  pro- 
genitors and  estaites  of  our  realme,  Quhairfore  we  will  and 
comand  you  to  observe  and  keipe  the  hcides  of  your  funda- 
tione,  and  in  no  waycs  to  hurt  the  funds,  ay  and  q"  the  estaites 
l»e  convenit  to  ane  Parliament.  At  q"'  tyme  wc  will  cause 
see  q'  is  to  be  reformit  tl>airin.  And  this  ye  do  upone  your 
obedience  as  ye  will  ans''  unto  us  thcmpone  notwithstanding 
any  ordour  taken  pntlie  or  to  be  taken  thairin  in  any  sort  thair 
anent,  and  keep  this  our  I™  for  your  warrand.  Thus  comittcs 
you  to  God.     At  halyrnidhous,  25  May,  1583.     Et  sic  subs. 

"Jambs  Rex." 

In  1581,  Parliament  appointed  a  commission  to  "  treate  and 
conclude  on  cxrtane  articles ;"  one  of  which  was  "  Reforma- 
tioun  of  the  college  of  Abirdene."  (Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vol.  iii. 
p.  214.)  In  1584,  the  new  foundation  was  presented  by  the 
professors  to  parliament,  and  at  their  request  a  commission  was 
appointed  to  consider  it.  (lb.  p.  355.)  In  1597,  Pariiament 
pas.scd  the  following  act :  "  Oure  Souerane  Lord  with  aduyse 
and  consent  of  the  estaittis  of  this  present  parliament,  Rati- 
feis  [and]  ajjprevis  the  new  foundation  of  his  ma***'  coUedge 


of  auld  abirdene  to  be  rcveist  bo  his  hienes  comissioncris  ap- 
pointit  to  that  effect,  viz.  Mr.  Johnc  lyndcsay  of  balcarhous 
his  ma''='*sccrctar,  Mr.  James  Elphingstoun  of  bamtoun  ane 
of  the  senators  of  his  hiones  coUedge  of  Justice  and  Mr.  dauid 
Cunynghame  bischop  of  abirdene  in  all  and  sindrie  pointis 
pri\'iledgis  liberteis  Immuniteis  clausis  and  circumstances  yrof 
quhatsumeuir  eftir  the  forme  and  tenno"'  of  the  samyn.  And 
ordanis  his  ma''^''  clerk  of  rcg''  to  rcssaue  the  said  fundatioun 
and  to  extend  ane  act  of  parliament  thairvpoun  in  the  maire 
forme  with  extensioun  of  all  claussis  neidful.  (Act.  ParL  Scot, 
vol.  iv.  p.  153.) 

The  question  as  to  the  legality  of  the  New  Foundation  was 
warmly  disputed  in  the  College,  between  the  years  1634  and 
1638,  The  greater  part  of  the  professors,  with  Dr.  Arthur 
Jonston,  the  Rector,  at  their  head,  maintained  the  aflirmative, 
in  opposition  to  the  professors  of  canon  law  and  medicine. 
On  the  7th  of  October,  1637,  a  royal  letter  was  issued  for 
visiting  King's  College,  and  "  establishing  the  new  foundation 
by  James  VI.;"  but,  in  consequence  of  the  representations  of 
"  the  mediciner  and  canonist,"  this  visitation  was  not  held, 
and  a  new  commission  was  given  in  the  following  year,  ap- 
pointing the  visitors  to  proceed  "  according  to  the  old  founda- 
tion." At  this  visitation  (April  1638,)  the  Rector  and  his 
friends  pleaded  that  the  original  deed  of  new  foundation,  sub- 
scribed by  the  King,  privy  council,  bishop,  and  members  of 
the  college,  had  been  secretly  destroyed  and  burnt  sixteen 
years  ago,  which  they  offered  to  prove  presently  ;  and  that  the 
act  of  parliament  quoted  above  was  a  valid  ratification  of  it. 
This  was  denied  by  the  other  party,  who  pleaded  that,  in  an 
action  before  the  Court  of  Session  in  March,  1636,  the  Lords 
had  found  that  the  act  of  Parliament  could  "  make  no  faith," 
forasmuch  as"  the  alledgit  fundation  wes  nevir  revised,  reported, 
nor  ratified  in  Parliament."  And  with  respect  to  "  the  copie 
of  the  act  of  counsall  alledgit  subscribed  be  his  Ma''«  at  Abir- 
deine,  1592,"  they  argued  that  it  was  "ane  tyme  of  greyt 
trouble  and  confusione  in  this  land,  and  wes  done  sine  causa 
cognitionis  et  partibus  non  auditis,  if  ever  it  wes  done."  (Pa- 
pers of  Visitation ;  and  Kennedy's  Annals  of  Aberdeen,  vol. 
ii.  p.  439—442.) 

Note  UU.  p.  363, 

Grammar  School  of  Glasf^ow. — In  the  statutes  of  the  Cathe- 
dral Church  of  Glasgow,  confirmed  in  the  fourteenth  century, 
it  is  declared :  "  Cancellarii  officium  est  in  scolis  regendis  et 
libris  reparandis  ct  corrigcndis  turam  impendcre,  lectiones  aus- 
cultare  et  terminare."  (Chartul.  Glascuens.  tom.  i.  p.  549  ; 
in  Bibl.  Coll.  Glasg.)  In  1494,  Mr.  Martin  Wan,  Chancel- 
lor of  the  Metropohtan  Church  of  Glasgow,  brought  a  com- 
plaint before  the  Bishop,  (Rol)ert  Blacadcr)  against  M.  D.  D. 
Dwne,  a  priest  of  the  diocese,  for  teaching  scholars  in  gram- 
mar, and  children  in  inferior  branchi^s  by  himself  apart,  open- 
ly and  publicly,  ("  per  se  ac  separatim  palam  et  manifeste,") 
in  the  said  city,  without  the  allowance  and  in  opposition  to  the 
win  of  the  Chancellor.  Wan  pleaded,  that,  by  statute  and  innne- 
morial  usage,  he  had  the  power  of  appointing  and  deposing  the 
master  of  the  grammar-school,  and  of  licensing  or  prohibiting  all 

teachers  of  youth  in  Glasgow. "  instituend.  et  destituend. 

mag"""  scolaj  grammaticalis  civitatis  glasguensis,  curamque 
et  regimen  dicta;  scolaa  ac  magisterium  ejusdcm  habend.  sic  gtias 
quod ubsf/ue  il/ttis  (sic)  mag''  martini  cancellarii  pnenominati 
ae  cancellarii  dicta;  ecclesije  pro  tempore  existentis,  nnlli  liccat 
scolam  grammalicalem  tenere,  scholaresque  in  gramniatica  aut 
juvenes  in  puerilibus  per  se  clam  aut  palam  infra  prtedictam 
civitatem  seu  universitatem  instruere  et  docere."  The  bishop 
having  heard  the  parties,  considered  thq  productions,  and  ex- 
amined witnesses,  decided,  with  the  advice  of  his  chapter,  and 
of  the  rector  and  clerks  of  the  university,  in  favour  of  the 
Chancellor,  and  prohibited  Dwne  from  all  teaching  or  instruct- 
ing of  youth  or  scholars,  without  license  specially  sought  and 
obtained  from  the  said  Mr.  Martin,  or  the  Chancellor  for  the 
time  being.     (Cartul.  Glasg.  tom.  ii.  p.  939.) 

It  appears  from  this  that  there  was  a  grammar-school  in 
Glasgow  long  before  the  year  1494.  In  the  sixteenth  century 
the  situation  of  master  of  it  was  highly  respectable.  Among 
the  non-regentfs  nominated  to  elect  the  rector,  or  to  exam- 
ine the  graduates,  the  records  of  the  university  mention,  in 
1523  and  in  1525,  "  Matthasus  Reid  mag'^'  scolte  grammatica- 
lis;" in  1549  and  1551,  "Mag.  Alex""  Crawfurd  mag.  scolm 
gramaticalis ;"  and  in  1555, "Archibald^  Crawfurd  pneceptor 
schol.  gram," 

At  what  time  Thomas  Jack  became  master,  I  have  not 


NOTES. 


409 


learned.  The  following  is  the  title  of  his  book :  "  Onomasti- 
con  Poeticvm  siue  Propriorvm  Qvibvs  in  svis  Monvmentis 
vsi  svnt  veteres  Poetae,  Brevis  Descriptio  Poetica,  Thoma  Jac- 
chaeo  Caledonio  Avthore.  Edinbvrgi  Excvdebant  Robertus 
Waldegraue,  Typographus  Regise  Maiestatis.  1592.  Cum  Pri- 
vilegio  Regali."  4to  Pp.  150.  It  is  dedicated  to  James,  eldest 
son  of  Claud  Hamilton,  Commendator  of  Paisley,  who  had 
been  educated  under  Jack,  along  with  John  Graham,  a  youn- 
ger son  of  the  Marquis  of  Montrose.  The  dedication  is 
dated  "  Ex  Sylva,  vulgo  dicta,  Orientati  ,•"  i.  e.  Eastwood. 
Prefixed  and  subjoined  to  the  work  are  a  recommendatory  let- 
ter by  Hadr.  Damman  A.  Bistorvelt,  and  encomiastic  verses  by 
the  same  individual,  by  Robert  Rollock,  Hercules  Rollock,  Pat- 
rick Sharp,  Andrew  Melville,  and  Thomas  Craig.  From  the 
versas  of  Robert  Rollock,  it  appears  that  he  had  been  the 
scholar  of  Jack,  whom  he  calls  "  praeceptor  ille  olim  meus 
Jacchaeus."  After  mentioning  that  he  left  the  school  of  Glas- 
gow "  a.  d.  v.  Kal.  Sept.  1574,"  Jack  goes  on  to  say :  Eo  ipso 
anno,  men$e  Nouembri,  non  sine  singulari  numinis  providentia, 
suae  gentis  decus,  et  pietatis  et  eruditionis  nomine,  Andreas 
Melvinus  Glascuam  venit,  qui  gymnasio  praeesset,  quem  baud 
dubie  in  summum  suae  Ecclesiee  et  Reipub.  Scoticanaj  commo- 
dum  eo  miserat  Deus.  Ille,  versibus  meis  perlectis,  me  instan- 
ter  urgere  non  destitit,  ut  operis  frontem  ad  umbilicum  pcrduce- 
rem."  Having  mentioned  the  revisal  of  his  work  by  Buchan- 
an, (See  Irving's  Mem.  of  Buchanan,  p.  238,  2d  edit.)  Jack 
adds :  "  Ad  Buchanani  curam  accessit  et  Andreas  Melvini,  Ro- 
berti  Pontani,  et  Hadriani  Dammanis  opera,  quibus  eo  nomine 
me  devinctissimum  confiteor."  (Onomasticon  Poeticum,  Dcdic. 
Epist.)  In  1577,  "  Thomas  Jackscus"  was  "  Qusestor  Acade- 
miffi."  (Annales  Collegii  Fac.  Art.Glasg.) — Feb.  4, 1578,"  Mr. 
Thomas  Jack  vicar  of  cistwod"  signs,  as  a  witness,  a  tack 
granted  by  the  College  to  John  Buchanan  of  Ballagan.  (Ibid.) 
"  Mr.  Thomas  Jack,  minister  of  Rutherglen,  was  among 
those  who  opposed  the  election  of  Montgomery  to  be  arch- 
bishop of  Glasgow.  (Records  of  Privy  Council,  April  12, 
1582.)  "  Tho.  Jack"  was  a  member  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly, Aug.  1590,  (Buik  of  Universall  Kirk,  f.  158,  b.)  He 
is  mentioned  as  a  minister  within  the  bounds  of  the  Presbyte- 
ry of  Paisley,  in  May  1593.  (Record  of  the  Presb.  of  Glas- 
gow.) And.  he  died  in  1596,  as  appears  from  the  Testament 
Testamentar  of  "  Euphame  Wylie,  relict  of  umqhill  Mr. 
Thomas  Jak  min''  at  Eastwod."  She  leaves  a  legacy  to 
"  James  Scharp,  her  oy,  sone  to  Mr.  Patrick  Scharp,"  and  con- 
stitutes "  Mr.  Gabriel  Maxwell,  her  oy,"  her  only  executor 
and  intromitter.  (Records  of  Commissary  Court  of  Edin- 
burgh, Aug.  1.  1608.)  In  the  dedication  of  his  Onomasti- 
con, Jack  says,  "  Gahrielem  Maxvellum,  nepotem  meum,  qui 
mihi  unici  filii  loco  est,  ingravcscente  hac  nostra  actate,  tuo 
commendo  patrocinio." — Gabriel  Maxwell  was  a  minister  in 
the  presbytery  of  Paisley,  18th  March,  1594.  (Records  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Edinburgh.)  And  he  is  mentioned  as 
"  Regcns  et  Magister  A"  1605,"  in  a  liist  of  the  Masters  of 
the  College  of  Glasgow.  (MS.  by  Principal  Dunlop,  in  Ad- 
vocates Library.) 

Note  VV.  p.  364. 

Early  State  of  High  School  of  Edinburgh. — This  school 
had  the  same  dependance  on  the  Abbey  of  Holyroodhouse, 
which  that  of  Glasgow  had  on  the  cathedral  church.  This  is 
established  by  a  very  curious  document,  a  royal  charter  by 
James  V.  dated  March  21,  1529,  "  Henrico  Henrison  super 
officio  Magisterii  Eruditionis  in  Schola  Grammaticalis  de 
Edinburgh."  It  ratifies  and  embodies  a  donation  by  George 
Bishop  of  Dunkeld,  as  Abbot  of  Holyroodhouse,  with  con- 
sent of  the  convent  of  that  monastery.  This  donation  bears, 
that  "our  Louit  Clark  and  Oratour  Maister  Dauid  Vocat 
principale  Maister  and  Techour  of  our  Grammar  scule  of  the 
burgh  of  Edinburgh  has  chosin  his  louit  friende  and  discipill 
Maister  Hary  Henrisoun  to  be  Comaister  with  him  into  the 
said  skule,"  and  to  succeed  to  him  after  his  disease ;  "  And  be- 
cause we  the  saidis  Abbot  and  Couent  understandis  y*  said 
Maister  Hary  is  abil  and  sufficientlie  qualyfyit  therto,  has 
made  under  him  gude  and  peritc  scolaris  now  laitlie  y  tym 
that  he  was  Maister  of  our  scule  within  our  burgh  of  y  Can- 
ongate,  Heirfor  vs^e,  &c.  ratifyis  and  approuis  y  said  admis- 
sioune  of  y  said  Maister  Hary  to  be  Commaister,"  &c.  and 
gives  and  grants  him  "  pouir  and  licence  to  be  principale  mais- 
ter of  y"  said  Grammar  skule  after  y^  said  Maister  Dauid  de- 
cois6 — wit  all  and  syndrie  profitis,  &c.  and  dischairgis  all 
3B 


utheris  of  ony  tcching  of  Gramar  Skules  within  y«  said 
Burgh,  except  y"  teching  and  lering  of  I^cctouris  allenerally 
under  y"  panys  contenit  in  y"  Papis  Bullis,  grantit  to  vs  yer- 
upon.  And  we  with  (will  1)  ye  said  Maister  Hary  Henry- 
soun  heirfore  be  ane  gude,  trew  and  thankful  servitour  to  ws 
and  our  Successouris  enduring  his  lyftyme,  and  to  beat  hie  sol- 
empne  festiual  tymes  with  ws  and  our  successouris  at  y*  mess 
and  ewin  sang  with  his  surplis  wponn  him  to  doe  ws  seruice 
y'^  tyme  yat  we  sail  doe  diwine  seruice  within  our  said  abbey 

as  efferis.- y«  ferd  daye  of  Septemb.  y'=  yeir  of  God  1524 

yeiris."  (Ex  Diplomatum  CoUectione  MS.  vol.  ii.  p.  350  ;  in 
Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.  Jac.  V.  4.  23.  ) 

During  the  disputes  between  the  magistrates  and  Mr.  Wil- 
liam Robertson,  the  right  of  the  Abbot  is  always  taken  for 
granted.  April  8,  1562,  the  town-council  agree  to  write  to 
Lord  James  to  deal  with  Lord  Robert,  (Abbot  of  Holyrood- 
house.) for  removing  Mr.  W,  Robertson  from  the  grammar- 
school,  for  granting  the  office  of  master  "  to  sic  ane  leimit  and 
qualifeit  man  as  yai  can  find  maist  abill  y'fore  and  for  vphald- 
ing  and  sustcning  y"  s"*  m.  &  doctouris,  as  ukua  of  y  regen- 
iis  of  ane  callage  to  be  biggit  wHn  yis  burgh."  (Register  of 
Town  Council,  vol.  iv.  f.  26.)  April  11,  1562,  Mr.  William 
Robertson  produced  "  ane  gyft  grantit  be  abbot  caimeros  to 
vmq'<=  Sr  J  hone  allane."  (lb.  f.  27.)  He  afterwards  produ- 
ced a  gift  to  himself "  be  presentation  of  the  abbat  of  halie- 
rudhouse  — of  y<=  dait  y"  x  day  of  Januar.  1""  v<^  xlvi  yers,"  to 
whjch  it  was  objected  by  the  procurator  of  the  town,  (Oct.  3, 
1562.)  that  it  ought  to  have  had  the  seal  of  the  convent  and 
the  subscription  of  the  Abbot  of  Cambuskennefh,  administra- 
tor and  governor  of  the  Abbot  of  Holyroodhouse,  who  was 
then  a  minor  under  fourteen  years  of  age.  "  The  provost, 
&c.  sittand  in  jugemet  as  iugeis  ordineris  to  the  porsoun  of 
Mr.  Williame  Robertsoun,  haifand  consent  of  Robert  commen- 
dator of  halierudhous — findis  y''  said  Mr.  W.  vnhabill  to  ex- 
erce  y*  said  office  of  scholemaister  within  y^  said  bur'  & 
yairfore  decerns  him  to  remove,"  &c.  (Reg.  ut  sup.  if.  44, 
45.)  This  is  a  very  curious  minute.  Robertson  continued  to 
defend  his  right,  and  on  the  6th  of  May,  1 565,  "the  Queen  in- 
terposed her  authority  in  his  favour.  (11).  fl'.  128,  129.)  On 
the  6th  of  March,  1562,  the  council  "  ordainis  ane  writing  to  be 
maid  in  maist  effectuous  manner  to  Mr.  James  (^uhite  scottis- 
man  in  londoh — to  accept  upon  him  y  'mastership  of  y-  hie 
gramer  scole,  and  becaus  yai  ar  surelie  informit  [be]  hes  greit 
proffit  be  his  scole  in  londone,  and  y'  he  is  ane  man  of  excel- 
lent lerning  baith  in  lating  &  greik  ordanis  ane  yearlie  pensioun 
to  be  given  to  him  of  iiij^^li  (fourscore  pounds)  of  y  readacst 
of  yair  comoun  gude,  besyde  and  abone  y^  profct  y'  he  sail 
haue  of  y  ''baimis."  (lb.  f.  60.)  July  28,  1568,  the  treasurer 
is  appointed  to  ride  to  St.  Andrews  "for  Mr.  Thomas  t)uchqu- 
hanane  to  be  Maist.  of  yair  hie  scole."  (lb.  f.  220.)  He 
entered  to  the  school  on  the  1 1  th  of  February  following,  and 
appears  to  have  left  it  about  July,  1570.  (lb.  ft'.  294,  260.) 
It  would  seem  that  he  acted  as  assistant  to  his  uncle  during 
his  residence  at  Stirling.  For  a  pension  of  JEIOO  was  given  to 
"  Mr.  Thomas  buchannane  Maister  of  y"  grammar  scole  of 
Striueling,  quha  hes  Ix-ne  in  the  nowmber  of  his  hienes  hous- 
bald"  and  has  bruiked  the  pension,  "  thir  diucrs  years  bygane. 
— Penult.  Aug.  1578."  (Reg.  of  Trescntation  to  Benefices, 
&c  vol.  ii.  f.  2.) 

It  appears,  from  the  gift  to  Henry  Henry  son,  that  in  1525 
there  was  a  grammar  school  in  the  Canongate,  distinct  from 
that  of  Edinburgh,  and  that  both  were  originally  under  the 
patronage  of  the  abbots  of  Holyroodhouse.  In  1580,  "  The 
baillies  counsall  and  Kirk  of  the  bur'  of  the  canongait"  enter- 
ed a  complaint  before  the  Privy  Council,  in  which  they  stated 
that  they  have  "bene  euir  cairful  according  to  thair  duties  that 
thair  youth  sould  haue  bene  instructit  and  bro'  vp  in  the  know- 
ledge of  god  and  g^ude  Ires  And  thairfoir  hes  had  grammer 
sculis  ane  or  ma  And  that  not  onlie  sen  reformatioun  of  reh- 
gioun  bot  also  in  tyme  of  papistrie  &  past  mcmorie'  of  man, 
Quhill  that  Mr  William  Robertsoun  sculemaster  of  Edinbur' 
be  sum  solistatioun  purchest  of  his  hienes  in  the  moneth  of 
October  last  the  confirmatioun  of  ane  papisticall  gift  gotten  in 
tyme  of  blindnes  at  the  abbot  of  hahcruidhous  then  being  in 
minority  without  consent  of  the  convent  And  be  the  same  hes 
stoppit  and  dischargit  their  sculis  be  the  space  of  ane  quartir 
of  ane  yeir  or  mair  last  bipast  throw  the  qlk  thair  haill  infantes 

and   children  are  dispersit,   &c. The   lordis  of  secreit 

counsall  ffindis  thamepelfis  not  to  be  judges  competent  to  the 
said  naier  and  thairfoir  remittis  the  samcn  tc  be  dccydit  befour 
the  judges  competent  thairto  as  accordis."  (Record  of  Privy 
Council,  9th  Sept.  1580.) 


410 


NOTES. 


Note  WW.  p.  365. 

Of  Alexander  Syme, — The  following  grant  to  Alexander 
Syme  furnishes  a  curious  notice  as  to  the  teaching  of  law  in 
Scotland :  "  Marie  be  y*  grace  of  god  quene  of  Scottis  &c 
Forsamekle  as  it  is  vnderstand  to  oure  derrest  motler  Marie 
quene  drowriare  and  regent  of  oure  realme  that  y''  want  and 
laik  of  cunning  men,  raritie  and  skarsincss  of  thame  to  teche 
and  reid  within  our  reahne  hes  bene  y^  occasioun  of  y'  decay 
of  knawlege  and  science,  within  j-^  scunin  swa  yat  yir  niony 
zeris  bigane  yair  hes  bene  few  yat  applyit  yanie  or  gaif  yair 
studie  to  obtene  letters  And  yat  florischeing  of  letters  knaw- 
lege and  science  nocht  allanerUe  to  y'  plesure  of  ws  and  our 
successouris,  and  to  oure  and  yair  perpetuale  honour  and  fame 
Bot  also  to  the  greit  decoring  of  y'^'countrie  and  vntellable 
proffeit  of  oure  hegis  quhilk  sail  follow  yairvpoun,  gif  be  au- 
thorising of  cunning  men  all  liberall  sciences  beis  frielie 
techit  floriss  and  incress,  and  We  vnderstanding  that  oure 
weilbelovite  clerk  maistcr  Alex.  Sym  hes  spendit  his  haill 
youtheid  past  in  vertew  and  science,  and  having  experience  of 
him  yat  he  is  habill  to  reid,  instruct,  and  teiche  Thairfor  &c  " 
grants  him  a  pension  of  100  lib.  Scots,  during  the  Queen's 
pleasure — "  To  y^  effect  yat  he  sail  await  upoun  our  said  der- 
rest moder,  and  be  hir  Lectoure  and  reidare  in  y^  lawis  or  ony 
vtheris  sciencis,  at  oure  bur'  of  Ed'  or  quhair  he  salbe  requirit 
be  our  said  derrest  moder  yairto.  And  alsua  to  gife  all  vtlieris 
young  mene  of  fresche  and  quyk  Ingynis  occasioun  to  apply 
yair  hale  myndis  to  studie  for  like  reward  to  be  hade  of  ws  in 
tyme  cuming,  &c.  At  Ed.  Feb.  .5,  1555."  (Register  of  Privy 
Seal,  vol.  xxviii.  fol.  10.) 

In  1562,  Mr  Alexander  Sym  was  appointed  one  of  the 
examinators  of  the  master  of  Oie  High  School  of  Edinburgh, 
"in  grammar,  greik,  and  latein."  The  following  is  a  Ust  of 
these  "  men  cuning  and  experte  in  tlie  saidis  sciencis,"  who 
may  be  presumed  to  have  been  the  most  distinguished  for 
learning  in  tlie  country :  "  Maisters  George  baquhannane, 
George  Hay,  Alexander  Sym,  David  Colass,  Johnne  craig  min- 
ister of  haUerudhous,  James  panter,  James  Kinponte,  Clement 
litill,  Johnne  henderson,  &  Johnne  Spottisvvood  superinten- 
dant  of  Lothian."  (Register  of  Town  Council,  Oct.  3,  1562.) 
In  1567,  Mr.  Alex.  Sym  was  appointed  one  of  the  procurators 
for  the  Church.  (Cald.  ii.  81.)  He  was  aUve  in  1573,  when  he 
was  appointed  procurator,  along  with  Edwart  Henderson,  for 
the  College  of  St.  Leonard  before  the  Lords  of  Counsel.  (Pap. 
of  Univ.  of  St.  Andrews.) 

Note   XX.  p.  365. 

Of  Henry  Henry  son. —Henry  son^s  first  work  was  a  trans- 
lation of  a  treatise  of  Plutarch  :  "  Plutarchi  Septem  Sapien- 
tvm  Convivivm,"  published  in  "  MoraUvra  Opvscvlorvm  Plu- 
tarchi Tomus  Tertivs — apvd  Graphivm.  Lvgdvni  1551."  12mo. 
The  Dedication  is  inscribed  "  D  Hvldrico  Fuggero  Edvardvs 
Henriso  S.  P.  D."  A  copy  of  this  book,  belonging  to  the 
University  of  St  Andrews,  has  on  the  title-page  the  author's 
autograph,  "  Edward  Hemyson,"  with  a  number  of  correc- 
tions of  errors  of  the  press  by  the  same  pen.  This  book  has 
also  the  autograph  of  "  G.  Hay  rvthwen."* 

In  1555,  Henryson  pubUshed  a  defence  of  Bare  against 
Govea,  on  the  subject  of  the  distinction  between  magistratical 
and  judicial  authority.  "Edvardi  Henrysonis  Pro  Eg.  Ba- 
rone  adversus  A.  Govcanvm  de  Jurisdictione  Libri  II.  Parisiis 
1555."  8vo.  fol.  80.  The  Dedication  "  Ad  Huldrichiun  Fug- 
gerum  Kirchbergi  &  Vveisscnhomiae  dominum,"  is  dated 
"  Biturigibus  quarto  nonas  Octob.  An.  do.  m.  d..  liv."  He  in- 
forms Fuggcr  that  he  had  planned  the  work  in  his  house — 
"  in  Michausa  tua,"  and  that  he  considered  all  his  literary  la- 
bours as  due  to  him  in  virtue  of  the  pension  which  he  had  from 
him — "  tibi  tui  stipendij  iure  debentur."  A  copy  of  this  work  in 
the  Advocates  Library  has  the  following  inscription  in  the  au- 
thor's handwriting :  "  D.  Joanni  Henrysoni  Eduard  Henryson 
author  amoris  ergo  D.  D.  postridie  Calend.  No.  1555." 

This  work,  as  well  as  Henryson's  Commentary  on  the  title 
of  the  Institutes  de  Testamentis,  was  repubUsbed  by  Mecr- 
man :  Novus  Thesaurus  Juris  Civilis  et  Canonici,  torn.  iii. 

♦  George  Hay,  sometimes  called  parson  of  Ruthven,  and  at  other 
times  parson  of  Eddilsion,  was  a  brother  of  Andrew  Hay,  parson  of 
Renfrew,  who  filled,  for  many  years,  the  office  of  Rector  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Glareow.  (Cald.  ii.  618,  619.)  An  account  of  his  Answer 
to  the  Abbot  of  Crossraguel  has  been  given  elsewhere.  (Life  of  Knox, 
ii.  131.  416.)  In  April,  1576,  "  Certane  brether  appointit  to  oversie 
the  booke  wrylin  be  Mr.  George  Hay  conira  Tyrie.''  (Built  of  Univ. 
Kirk,  p.  63.) 


Meerman  says  the  Comment,  de  Testamentis  ordinandis,  was 
printed  at  Paris,  1556,  in  8vo.  In  the  dedication  of  it  to 
Michael  d'Hopital,  dated  from  Bourges,  "  7  Cal.  Jul.  1555," 
Henryson  says,  that  the  second  year  of  his  teaching  Civil 
Law  in  that  plac«  was  then  running.  His  name,  however, 
does  not  occur  in  two  published  lists  of  the  professors  of  that 
university.      (Meerman,  Nov.  Thes,  torn.  iii.  Prffifat,p.  vii.) 

The  following  note  is  written  on  a  blank  leaf  of  Arriani 
Epictetvs,  Gr.  in  the  Library  of  Edinburgh  College.  (A.  T. 
a.  10.)  It  is  in  the  handwTiting  of  Henrjson's  son.  "  Fuit 
hie  Doctoris  Eduardi  henrysonis  liber  E  quo  transtulit  m  lin- 
guam  latinam  Epicteti  Enchiridium  et  arriani  Commentaries 
de  Epicteti  disscrtationibus  in  .^dibus  Reuerendissimi  viri 
Henrici  Sancto  Claro  turn  decani  Glasguensis  postea  Episcopi 
Rossensis  Eduardi  Moecenatis  Anno  52  post  MUlesimum 
Quingentissimum.  Antcquam  in  publicum  prodierunt  Jacobi 
Scheggii  Eruditissimi  Et  Hieronymi  volphii  .^lingensis  Inter- 
pretis  optimi  Eruditaj  Et  doctse  conuersicnes.  Mentionem 
facit  Volphius  Interpretationis  Thomis  Naogeorgii  quam  nou 
videre  mihi  contigit  Ucet  sedulo  perquisierim.  Cur  autcm 
pater  suam  versionem  Henrico  Sanclaro  dicatam  non  Ediderit 
Secuta  Luctuosissinia  illi  Mtecenatis  mors  Et  typographonmi 
A  pud  nos  penuria  Et  Statim  postea  tantorum  virorum  lucubra- 
tiones  EditiE  in  Gallia  fuere."  Some  of  the  statements  in 
this  note  are  at  least  dubious.  Henry  Suiclair,  bishop  of 
Ross,  did  not  die  until  Jan.  2,  1565.  The  translation  of  Ar- 
rian  by  Scheggius  was  published  in  1554.  Henryson  was 
with  Fugger  in  1551 ;  and  it  is  not  very  probable  that  he  was 
in  Scotland  during  the  following  year. — Dempster  (Hist, 
Eccl.  Scot.  p.  350.)  mentions  a  translation  of  another  work 
of  Plutarch  by  Henryson :  "  Plutarchi  Commentarium  Stoi- 
conmt  Contrarioru.     Lugduni,  1555." 

In  1563,  "Maisteris  James  Balfour  persoun  flisk,  Ed.  heniy- 
soun,  Clement  littill  aduocatis  and  robert  Maitland,"  were 
established  Commissaries  of  Edinburgh :  Balfour  had  400 
merks,  and  the  rest  300  merks  each,  for  their  "  feis  yierlie." 
(Reg.  of  Privy  Seal,  vol.  xxxii.  fol.  79.)  Henrj'son  is  known 
as  the  editor  of  the  Scots  Acts  of  Parliament,  which  appeared 
in  1566.  His  name  occurs  in  a  list  of  advocates.  May  22, 1585. 
(Papers  of  Hospital  of  Perth.)  He  was  dead  before  March 
10,1591.  (Inq.  Retorn.  £rfm&ur£-A,  num.  1414.)  Several  par- 
ticulars as  to  his  family  are  mentioned  in  Maitlan'd's  History 
of  Edinburgh,  p.  198.  And  his  talents  and  his  patronage  of 
science  are  celebrated  by  John  Rutherfurd.  (De  Arte  Disse- 
rendi,  Prscfat.) 

Note  YY.  p.  367. 

Of  Archbishop  Adamson. — Dr.  Mackenzie  is  offended  at 
the  presbyterian  historians  for  asserting  that  the  Archbishop's 
name  was  Patrick  Constance,  and  that  he  was  a  minister  of 
the  chiurch  of  Scotland  at  the  beginning  of  the  Reformation. 
(Lives,  iii.  365.)  That  he  was  called  Constyne,  Constance, 
or  Constaniine,  is  most  unquestionable.  Recommendatory 
verses  by  James  Lawson  and  Robert  Pont  are  prefixed  to 
"  Catechismvs  Latino  Carmine  redditus — Patricii  Adamsoni 
Scoti  poetae  elegantissimi  opera — Lekprevik,  1581."*  In  his 
verses  Pont  says : 

V^idit  Patricivis  cum  Constantinus  opelle 
Admouitque  manum  noster  Adamsonivs. 
The  following  is  the  title-page  of  the  first  edition  of  one  of  Adam- 
son's  earliest  works :"  De  Papistarvm  Svperstiosis  Incptiis  Pat- 
ricij  Adamsonij.  Alias  Constantini  carmen.  Matth.  15.  Omnis 
plantatio  «Stc.  Impressum  Edinbiu-gi  per  Robertum  Lekpre- 
wick.  Anno  1564."  (In  Bibl.  ColL  Edin.)  Wilson,  per- 
haps thinking  the  alias  discreditable  to  his  father-in-law, 
omitted  the  second  name  in  his  edition.  It  is  unnecessary  to 
produce  other  proofs.  If  any  of  the  Presbyterian  historians  have 
asserted  that  tlie  archbishop  changed  his  name,  they  are  mis- 
taken ;  for  he  inherited  both  designations  from  his  ancestors. 
Dionysius  Adamson  or  Constantine  was  Town  Clerk  of  Perth 
toward  the  close  of  the  fifteentli  century.  He  is  mentioned 
in  thirteen  charters  from  1491  to  1500,  and  is  sometimes  call- 
ed Adamson  and  sometimes  Constaniine.  (Extracts  from 
Registers  of  Births,  &c  in  Perth,  by  the  Rev.  James  Scott ; 
now  in  the  Library  of  the  Advocates.)  The  writer  of  Vita 
P.  Adamsoni,  subjoined  to  Melvini  Mtu9,  p.  46.)  says  the 

♦  This'work  was  first  printed  at  St.  Andrews  in  1573.  (Melville's 
Diary,  p.  27,  28.)  Charters  mentions  both  editions,  (Acco.  of  Scots  Di- 
vines,  p.  2,)  as  does  also  Sibbald.  (De  Script.  Scot.  p.  24.)  In  his 
dedication  of  it  to  the  young  king,  the  author  informs  James,  that 
be  had  composed  it  with  the  view  of  assisting  in  his  education. 


NOTES. 


411 


bishop  was  the  son  of  Patrick  Constan,  a  baker.  Mr.  Scott 
says  that  Patrick  Adamson  or  Constantine,  who  was  a  magis- 
trate of  Perth  in  1.541,  and  died  Oct.  23,  1570,  had  a  daugh- 
ter named  Violet,  and  three  sons,  Patrick,  Henry,  and  James. 
Violet  married  Andrew  Simson,  master  of  the  grammar  school 
of  Perth.  Patrick  became  archbishop  of  St.  Andrews.  Hen- 
ry was  killed  on  the  street  of  Perth,  April  16,  1558.  James 
held  the  office  of  provost  of  Perth  from  1609  to  1611,  and 
was  the  father  of  Mr.  Henry  Adamson,  the  author  of  the 
poem  entitled  GalVs  Gabions.  (Extracts  from  Registers,  ut 
supra.) 

In  1558, "  Patricius  Constyne,"  of  St.  Mary's  College,  was 
laureated.  (Rec.  of  Univ.  of  S.  And.)  In  1560,  "  Mr.  Pat- 
rik  Coustone"  (Constone)  was  declared  by  the  General  Assem- 
bly qualified  "  for  ministring  and  teaching."  (Keith's  Hist, 
p.  498.)  Dec.  1562,  "Mr.  Patrik  Couston  {Comlance, 
Bulk,  of  Univ.  Kirk,)  if  he  be  not  chosen,  for  St.  Johnston, 
for  Aberdeen."  (Keith,  519.)  June,  1564,  "Mr.  Patrick 
Constance  mimster  of  Syres  desyreing  the  licence  to  pass  to 
france  and  vther  countreyes  for  augmenting  of  his  knowledge 
for  a  tyme,  The  hail  assemblie  in  ane  voice  dissentit  yfra." 
(Buikof  Univ.  Kirk,  p.  H.)  "Accingenti  se  ad  iter  vir  Dei 
Johannes  Cnoxus  maledixit,  quod  tarn  ampla  mcsse  et  tanta 
operariorum  penuria  gregrem  deseriiisset,  ut  ea  quae  sunt  mundi 
quasreret."     (Melvini  Musae,  &c.  p.  45.) 

The  presbyterian  writers  say,  that  Adamson,  on  his  return 
to  Scotland,  betook  himself  a  second  time  to  the  ministr}^  and 
that,  being  disappointed  of  the  archbishopric  of  St.  Andrews, 
he  preached  a  sermon,  about  the  time  of  Douglas's  consecra- 
tion to  that  See,  in  whicii  he  told  the  people,  "  There  are  three 
sorts  of  Bishops ;  My  Lord  Bishop,  my  Jjord's  Bishop,  and 
the  Lord's  Bishop.  My  Lord  Bishop  was  in  the  time  of  Po- 
pery :  my  Lord's  Bishop  is  now.  when  my  Lord  gets  the  bene- 
fice, and  the  bishop  serves  for  nothing  but  to  make  his  title 
sure :  and  the  Lord's  Bishop  is  the  true  minister  of  the  gos- 
pel." Dr.  Mackenzie  summarily  rejects  this  statement,  as 
inconsistent  with  Adamson's  account  of  himself,  "  that  he 
was  then  at  Bruges  (Bourges)  in  France,  nor  did  he  return  to 
Scotland  till  the  year  1573."^  (Lives,  iii.  365,  366.)  The 
writer  of  the  life  of  Adamson  in  the  Biographia  Britannica 
adopts  Mackenzie's  statement,  but  blames  him  for  not  exposuig 
more  particularly  the  anachronisms  of  which  the  presbyterian 
writers  have  been  guilty ;  and  having  referred  to  dates  and  au- 
thorities "  to  put  this  matter  out  of  dispute,''  he  concludes  that 
the  whole  is  a  scandalous  story  fabricated  by  men  who  were 
induced  by  "  great  spleen  to  write  any  thing  that  came  into 
their  heads,  provided  always  the  enemies  of  the  kirk  were 
the  objects  of  their  invective."  (Biogr.  Brit.  vol.  i.  p.  39,  2d. 
edit.)  But  it  has  happened  to  this  writer  as  to  those  who 
contradict  others  on  a  subject  on  which  they  are  themselves 
superficially  informed.  For,  in  the  first  place,  Bannatyne, 
who  was  on  the  spot,  has  recorded  m  his  Jmiiiial,  (p.  323,) 
that  "  Mr.  Patrik  Cousting  (Consting)  preached"  at  St.  An- 
drews on  the  Friday  before  Douglas's  consecration;  and 
James  Melville  says  that  he  heard  the  sermon,  and  has  given 
the  words  used  by  the  preacher,  as  quoted  above.  (Diary,  p. 
27.)  In  the  second  place,  in  spite  of  the  averments  and  pre- 
sumptions of  the  writers  referred  to,  it  is  unquestionable  that 
Adamson  had  left  France,  and  was  in  Scotland,  when  Douglas 
was  appointed  to  the  archbishoprick  of  St  Andrews,  and  even 
before  the  death  of  Hamilton,  the  former  incumbent.  Arch- 
bishop Hamilton  was  executed  April  1,1571;  and  Douglas 
was  elected  to  the  bishopric  on  the  6th,  and  consecrated  on 
the  10th  day  of  February,  1672.  Now,  Mr.  Patrick  Adam- 
son presented  a  petition  to  the  General  Assembly,  which  met 
on  the  6th  of  March,  1572,  "requesting  them  to  ratify  his 
fiension  of  500  merks  out  of  the  parsonage  of  Glasgow, 
because  he  was  willing  to  serve  in  the  ministry."  (Cald.  ii. 
343.)  '•  The  Assembly  (A"  1571,)  brotherly  required  Mr. 
Patrick  Adamson  to  enter  again  into  the  ministry."  He  an- 
swered that  he  would  advise  till  next  Assembly.  (Ibid.  ii.  226.) 
"  In  the  tenth  Session  (of  the  Assembly  which  met  March  1, 
1570.)  Mr.  Patrick  Adamson  shewing  that  he  was  appointed 
by  advice  of  the  brethren  then  convened  at  Edin'  to  await  on 
Court,  and  preach  to  my  Lord  Regent's  Grace,  and  for  that 
purpose  was  modified  to  him  500  merks  be  year,  and  had  serv- 
ed three  months  upon  his  own  expences  :  therefore  requested 
the  brethren  to  appoint  when  he  should  receive  payment  of  his 
stipend  pro  rato,  w'^'^  was  done."  (lb.  ii.  165.)  But  the  fol- 
lowing document  puts  the  matter  beyond  all  doubt.  "  Gift  of 
ane  yeirly  pensioun  of  the  soume  of  fyvehundeth  merkis  money 
of  this  realme — to  Maister  Patrik  Adamsoun — from  the  person- 


age of  Glasgow  &c.  25  day  of  August  1570."  (Register  of 
Benefices  disponit  sen  the  entres  of  the  Noble  and  Michtie 
lord  Matthew  erle  of  levinax,  lord  dernelie,  to  the  office  of  Re- 
gentrie,  fol.  2.) 

These  authorities  would  have  outweighed  the  testimony  of 
Adamson  himself,  though  he  had  asserted  the  contrary.  But 
he  has  done  no  such  thing.  His  words  are  :  "  Scripsi  quidem  in 
Gallia  in  ipso  belli  furore"  (Dedic.  in  Catechis.)  ;  meaning 
the  civil  war  which  raged  in  1567  and  1568.  Misunderstand- 
ing this,  his  son-in-law  has  said,  "  dum  Martyrii  Parisiensis 
rabiis  conflagraret ;"  and  Thomas  Murray,  proceeding  on 
this  mistake,  adds,  "  in  medio  belli  civilis  quo  Gallia  anno 
1572  conflagi'auit,  incendio."  (Prsefat.  et  Carm.  ante  Jobum.) 
In  this  way  carelessness  creates  blunders,  and  blunders,  acting 
on  prejudice  and  spleen,  produce  calumny.  I  have  entered 
into  this  examination,  not  on  account  of  the  importance  of 
the  facts  to  which  it  immediately  relates,  (although  truth  is 
preferable  to  error  in  all  things,)  but  because  it  affords  a  speci- 
men of  the  ease  with  which  the  common  charges  of  falsifica- 
tion which  writers  of  a  certain  description  have  brought 
against  Knox,  Buchanan,  Calderwood,  and  other  presbyterian 
historians,  may  be  refuted. 

It  would  seem  that  Adamson  had  some  connexion  with  the 
University  of  St.  Andrews,  while  he  was  minister  of  Ceres. 
At  least,  the  preface  to  his  poem,  De  Papistarum  Ineptiis,  is 
dated,  "  Sanctiandrese  4.  calendas  Septembris.  Anno  1564. 
Ex  psGdagogio."  Among  the  works  ascribed  to  him  is  a 
eucharistical  poem  to  Queen  Elizabeth  for  the  liberation  of 
Scotland  from  civil  war.  (Graii  Oratio  de  lUustr.  Scot.  Script. 
p.  xxxii.  Mackenzie's  I>ivcs,  vol.  i.  Charters.  Sibbald.)  He 
was  probably  the  author  of  the  Latin  translation  of  the  Scots 
Confession  of  Faith,  published  by  Lekprevik,  "  Andreapoli 
Anno  Do.  m.d.lxxii."  Subjoined  to  it  are  a  specimen  of  his 
paraphrase  of  Job,  and  an  epitaph  by  him  on  Walter  Mill  the 
martyr.  This  is  the  epitaph  inserted  in  Spotswood's  History, 
p.  97.  Among  the  Cottonian  MSS,  are  two  epitaphs  "  per 
Patriciu  Constantinu  Scotum;"  one  on  bishop  Jewel,  and 
another  on  the  Duke  of  Guise,     (Calig.  B.  5.  58.) 

Note  ZZ.  p.  368. 

Of  John  Davidson,  Principal  of  the  College  of  Glasgow. 
— Charters,  in  his  account  of  Scottish  divines,  and  Wodrow, 
in  his  Life  of  John  Davidson,  has  confounded  the  Principal 
with  the  person  who  is  the  subject  of  the  succeeding  note.* 
The  latter  (who  became  minister  of  Libberton,  preached  for 
some  time  in  Edinburgh,  and  died  minister  of  Prestonpans,) 
was  a  student  of  St.  Leonard's  College,  in  the  University  of 
St.  Andrews,  from  1567  to  1570.  The  former  had  been  at 
the  head  of  the  College  of  Glasgow  many  years  before  that 
period.  "Die  xxiv°  octobris  anno  1556.  Incorporati  sub 
praEscripto  Rectore — Mag'  Joannes  Dauidson  vicarius  de 
alness."  The  same  year  he  was  chosen  one  of  the  four 
intrants  for  electing  the  Rector.     And  on  the  25th  of  Oct. 

1557,  he  is  styled  "  principalis  regens  pedagogii  Glasguen." 
(Annal.  Univ.  Glas.)  In  1559,  "  Mag.  Johanes  Dauidsoun 
principalis  regens  pedagogii  seu  univcrsitatis  Glasguen"  signs 
two  deeds  relating  to  the  college  rents;  and  in  1560  another 
is  subscribed  by  "  Mr.  Johne  Dauidsoun  principall  regent  of 
y*  pffidagog  of  Glasgow."  I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain 
at  what  time  he  died,  but  believe  his  name  occurs  for  the  last 
time  in  the  records  of  the  university  about  the  year  1572. 

The  following  is  the  title  of  a  book  pubUshed  by  him: 
"  Ane  Answer  to  the  Tractiue,  set  furth  in  the  zeir  of  God, 

1558,  be  Maister  Quintine  kennedy,  Commendator  of  Crosra- 
guell,  for  the  establisching  of  ane  Christiane  mannis  conscience 
(as  he  allegis)  the  Forth  and  strenth  of  his  Papistrie,  and  all 
vthers  of  his  Sect,  as  appearis  well  be  liis  Epistle  direct  to  the 
Protestantes,  and  Prentit  in  the  last  part  of  this  Buik.  Maid 
be  Maister  Johne  Dauidsone,  Maister  of  the  Psedagog  of  Glas- 
gw.  Colloss.  2.  Bewarre  &c.  Imprentit  at  Edinburgh  by 
Robert  Lekprewik.  Cum  priuilegio.  1563."  4to.  34  leaves. 
The  running  title  is :  The  Confutatione  of  M.  Q,  Ken.  Papis- 
ticall  Councels. 

After  an  address  "  To  the  Beneuolent  Reader"  is  a  dedica- 
tion "  To  the  maist  Noble  and  vertuous  Lorde  Alexander, 
Earle  of  Glencarden."  Having  praised  the  exertions  of  his 
Lordship  in  the  Reformation  of  Religion,  and  stated  that  this 


♦  There  was  a  third  person  of  this  name  who  was  alive  at  the 
same  time.  Mr.  John  Davidsone  was  minister  of  Hamilton  in 
1567,  (Keith  _p.  575,)  in  1578,  (Melville's  Diary,  p.  43,)  and  in  1589. 
(Cald.  iv.  139.) 


412 


NOTE  S 


answer  was  undertaken  at  his  desire,  the  author  goes  on  to 
say :  "  And  because  this  bnik  of  M.  Q.  contenit  so  many 
absurditeis,  quhilk  wald  haue  consumit  great  tyme,  to  haue 
confutit  thaim  all,  It  chancit  weill,  that  ane  lylle  space  before 
the  beginning  of  the  reformation  of  the  reHgion,  he  cxcerptit 
furth  of  this  hale  Buik,  ane  Schort  tractiue,  contening  the 
hale  matter  of  Ids  Buik,  as  the  Coppy  bearis  that  he  send  me, 
to  present  to  James  Betoune,  Archebischop  of  Glasgw  (quha 
was  my  gude  Maister  and  liberal  freind,  quliowbcit  for  religi- 
one  we  are  now  seperatit  in  ane  part,  as  mony  fathers  and 
sonncs  is,  in  thir  our  dayis)  to  quhom  I  pray  God,  send  the 
treuth  and  knawledge  of  his  worde:  that  may  vnit  vs  in 
Spirit  and  mynde  againe  together,  that  lies  seperatit  vs  (as 
apperis)  in  our  warldly  kyndenes."  At  the  end  of  the  book 
is  an  answer  to  "  Maister  Quintine  kcnnedeis  Epistle  to  the 
Brethren  Protestantes,"  in  which  Davidson  reminds  the 
Abbot  he  had  sent  him  his  Schort  Tractive,  "  to  haue  been 
presentit  in  that  troublus  tyme  to  James  Betoune  archebischope 
of  Glasgo,  our  gude  liorde  and  Maister,  to  haue  had  his 
Judgement  and  mjmde  of  zour  said  buik,  before  that  tyme 
laitly  Prentit:  quhilk  for  that  present  tyme,  we  approuit  baitli 
to  he  gude  and  godly,  hot  sen  syne,  I  finding  the  Scriptures  sa 
Weill  oppinnit,  be  the  ordinarie  meanis,  quhareby  God  commu- 
nicatis  vnto  men,  the  vnderstanding  of  his  Scripturs,  that  I 
could  nocht  be  langer  of  zour  opinione,  without  I  wald  haue 
mantenit,  as  ane  shameless  man,  that  thing  quhilk  had  nother 
ground  of  Scripture,  gude  reasoiie,  nor  approbatione  of  the 
Ancient  Doctours.  Quharefore,  for  the  brotherly  luife  I  beare 
to  all  meia  in  Christe,  and  for  the  auld  Parisiane  kyndnes,  that 
was  betuix  vs,  *  to  bryng  zour  L.  and  the  people  of  this  coun- 
trie,  fra  the  errour  and  blyndnes  that  this  lytle  buik  of  zours, 
hes  haldin  zow  and  thaim  baith  in.  Be  sindrie  Scripturs  and 
reasonis  I  haue  trauellit,  vsing  me  lieirin,  efter  the  commone 
maner  of  Reasoning,  without  dispyte,  or  reproche,  and  on  the 
maist  gentile  maner  I  could,  I  haue  schawin  zow,  quhow  ze 
haue  far  ouersene  zour  self  in  this  buik,  of  the  quhilk,  in 
my  hart  trewly  I  am  sorie.  Praying  zour  L.  heirfore,  gif 
ze  finde  the  Reasonis  I  bring  in  aganis  zours,  to  haue  evacuat 
the  reasonis  of  zour  buik  in  ony  sorte  :  vnderstand  my 
labours  not  to  be,  that  I  desyre  zour  L.  (quha  excedis  me  far 
in  vnderstanding,  and  in  all  kynde  of  subtile  reasoning)  to 
acknawledge  zgur  self  to  be  ouercom  be  me,  bot  lat  the  veritie 
beare  away  the  victorie  fra  vs  baith." 

The  following  notice  is  bestowed  on  Davidson's  book  by 
Ninian  Winget.  "  Of  this  mater  I  heir  of  a  buke  set  furth 
be  an  honorable  cofessoar  of  y**  trew  Catholik  fayth  M,  Quin- 
tine kennedie,  a  work  comendit  be  sindry  cunning  men  als 
weil  of  Ingland  as  of  Scotland.  And  also  laitlie  I  heif  sein 
certane  clatteris  &  I  wate  nocht  quhat,  nameit  cotumeliouslie 
in  hie  contempt  of  y"  kirk  of  God,  A  confutalioun  of  y*  said 
M.  Quintinis  Papistical  cotinselis.  Put  out  to  be  ane  of 
our  windfallin  brether,  laitlie  snapperit  in  the  cummerance 
of  Caluin.  M.  Johne  Dauidsone,  Quha  for  his  parte  of  the 
new  padzeane  of  his  desperat  brether,  wald  be  haldi  a  Dauid- 
sone so  doughtie,  yat  with  a  puft  of  his  mouth  he  micht 
be  iudgeit  to  cleik  fra  y"  counselis,  als  weil  general  as  wtheris, 
al  auctoritie :  in  yat  he  dar  be  so  temararious  as  to  call  yame 
papistical :  yat  is  as  he  intendis  contumeliouslie  be  yat  terme, 
dissaitful,  wickit,  leirig  ad  erroneous.  And  sua  impudentlie 
dar  he  affirme  few  Godly  couselis  to  hef  bene  othir,  sen 
Syluestris  days  or  afore  : — zit  he  thinkis  nocht  al  yat  venum 
aneuch:  bot  affinnis  als  that  yai  hef  bene  few  guid  pastouris 
in  y''  kirk  sen  y^  said  Syluester.  O  ingentem  confidtniiam  ! 
My  toung  treulie,  Madame,  failzeis  me  to  express  y'  zele  yat  a 
faythful  Christiane  suld  haif,  for  the  house  of  God,  aganis 
yir  schameles  leans,  aganis  y^  folic,  yea,  y*  phrenesie  of  yir 
proud  pestilent  protestantis,  euery  day  deseeding  a  step  feryer 
to  yair  maister  in  hel."  (Epistle  Dedicatory  "  To  y*  maist 
Catholik,  Noble,  and  Gratious  Souerane  Marie  Quene  of 
Scottis,"  prefixed  to  "  Vincentivs  Lirenensis  of  the  natioun 
of  Gallis,  for  the  antiquitie  and  veretic  of  the  catholik 
fayth,  aganis  y*  prophane  nouationis  of  all  haereseis,  A  richt 
goldin  buke  writtin  in  Ijatin  about  xi.  C.  zciris  passit,  and 
neulie  translatit  in  Scottis  be  NIniane  Winzet  a  catholik 
Preist — Antverpiae  Ex  oflicina  JEgidii  Diest,  1  Dccemb. 
1563.") 

As  a  number  of  books  in  favour  of  the  Roman  Catholic 

•  A  commissioifby  the  Bishop  of  Aberdeen  was  executed  at  Paris. 
Sept.  13,  1552:  "coram  his  leslibus— Magistris  Joanne  Davidson 
vicario  de  Nyg.,"  &c.  (Keith's  Scot,  Bishops,  p.  74.)  But  I  cannot 
assert  that  this  is  the  individual  who  was  afterwards  principal  of 
Glasgow  College. 


Religion  were  about  this  time  translated  into  the  Scottish 
language,  so  the  Reformers  procured  the  translation  of  the 
most  useful  writings  of  foreign  protestants.  One  of  these 
appeared  under  the  following  title :  "  Ane  Breif  Gathering  of 
the  Halie  Signes,  Sacrifices  and  Sacramentis  Institutit  of  God 
sen  the  Creation  of  the  warlde.  And  of  the  trew  originall 
of  the  sacrifice  of  the  Masse.  Translatit  out  of  Frenche 
into  Scottis  be  ane  Faithful  Brother.  Math.  15.  Euerie  plant 
&c.  Imprentit  at  Edinbvrgh  by  Robert  Lekprevik.  m.  n.  lxt." 
4to  46  leaves.  Judging  from  internal  evidence,  I  would  be 
disposed  to  conclude  that  the  epistle  of  "  The  Translatovr 
to  the  Reader"  was  written  by  John  Knox.  "  I  finding  the 
commoditie  of  sume  zoung  men  weill  acquentit  with  the 
French  toung  quhais  labouris  releuit  me  mekle  in  yis  behalf 
I  haue  causit  yis  litle  Bxnke  be  set  furthe  in  our  Scottis  toung 
to  make  y*  treuth  knawin  to  all  our  countrie  men,  yat  hes  not 
y^  knawledge  of  y"^  rest  vther  leid  and  yat  it  may  be  partely  ane 
answer  to  Winzets  Questions,  quhil  v"^  compleit  answer  be  pre- 
pared for  y*  rest." — It  appears  from  the  following  entry  that  a 
pension  was  for  some  time  assigned  to  an  individual  whom  the 
General  Assembly  employed  to  translate  foreign  books. 

"  And  of  the  soume  of  ane  hundercth  thretty  thre  pundis 
sex  schillingis  aucht  pennies  pait  be  y"  comptare  to  Williame 
Stewart  Translator  of  y«  werkis  and  buikis  as  is  tho'  necess' 
be  y*  kirk  to  be  translatit  for  edificatioun  of  y"  people  Con- 
foiTne  to  the  appointment  of  y''  said  buke  of  modification. 

jcxxxiij  li  vj  s  viij  d." 

(Accompt  Coll.  General  of  the  Thridds  of  Benefices  for 
the  year  1651.) — Another  entry  in  nearly  the  same  terms  is 
made  in  the  accompt  for  ]  562. 

Note  AAA.  p.  369. 

O/"  DavidsomUs  Memorial  of  Kinyeancleuch. — The  follow- 
ing IS  the  title  of  this  rare  poem  :  "  A  Memorial  of  the  life  & 
death  of  two  worthye  (christians,  Robert  Campbel  of  the 
Kinyeancleugh,  and  his  wife  Elizabeth  Campbel.  In  English 
Meter.  Edinburgh.  Printed  by  Robert  Walde-graue  Printer 
to  the  King's  Maiestie.  1595,  Cum  privilegio  Regali." 
Black  letter,  C  in  eights.  The  running  title  is  :  "  A  Memo- 
riall  of  the  life  of  two  worthie  Christians."  The  dedication 
"  To  his  loving  sister  in  Christ,  Elizabeth  Campbel  of  Kin- 
yeanclevch,"  is  dated  "  From  Edmburgh  the  24.  of  May. 
1595.  Your  assured  Friend  in  Christ  I.  D." — ''Finding 
this  little  Treatise  (Sister,  dearlie  beloued  in  Christ)  of  late 
yeares  amongst  my  other  Papers  which  I  made  about  twentie 
yeares  and  one  agoe,  Immediatlie  after  the  death  of  your 
godlie  Parentes  of  goo<l  memory,  with  whome  I  was  most 
dearlie  acquainted  in  Christ,  by  reason  of  the  troble  I  suffered 
in  those  dales  for  the  good  cause,  wherein  God  made  them 
chiefe  comforters  vnto  me  till  death  separated  vs.  As  I  vewed 
it  over,  and  reade  it  before  some  godly  persones  of  late,  they 
were  most  instant  with  me,  that  I  wouldc  sufl'er  it  to  come  to 
light,  ^o  the  stirring  vp  of  the  zeale  of  God's  people  among  vs, 
which  now  beginneth  almost  to  be  quenched  in  all  estates  none 
excepted.  So  that  the  saying  of  the  worthie  servaunt  of  God 
lohn  Knox,  (among  many  other  his  fore-speakings)  proueth 
true,  that  is :  "  That  as  the  gospel  entered  among  vs  and  was 
receiued  with  fervencie  and  neat  •■  so  lie  feared  it  should  decay 
and  lose  the  former  bewtie,  through  colanes,  and  lothsomnesse, 
howbeit  (as  he  saide  many  tymes)  it  should  not  be  utterlie 
overthrown  in  Scotland  til  the  coming  of  the  Lord  lesus  to 
judgment,  in  spite  of  Sathan  4"  malice  of  all  his  slaues." 
Elizabeth  was  the  heiress  of  the  two  worthie  christians,  "  af- 
ter the  dcatli  of  their  onely  Sonne  Nathaniel." 

I  have  already  given  an  extract  from  this  Poem.  (See 
above,  p.  403.  After  mentioning  that  poets  in  all  ages 
had  celebrated  those  who  excelled  in  any  "  vertuous  deid," 
or  deed  which  appeared  to  them  "  like  vertue,"  the  author 
says : — 

So  we  finde  deeds  of  vassalage, 
Set  foorth  by  Poets  in  all  age, 

Even  of  Gray-Steill,  wha  list  to  luke, 
Their  is  set  foorth  a  meikle  buke. 

Yea  for  to  make  it  did  them  gude 
Of  that  rank  Rouer  Robene  Hude  .- 

Of  Itobene  Hude  and  little  Johne, 
With  sic  Uke  Outlawes  many  one ; 

As  Clim  of  the  Clewgh  and  Cliddislie, 
Because  of  their  fine  archerie. 


NOTES. 


413 


Then  to  beginne  but  proccs  more, 

We  haue  had  worthie  men  before, 
Of  all  degries  these  fyftenc  yccrs. 

As  the  ^de  Regent  with  his  feeres : 
Tohn  Knox  that  valyant  Conquerour, 

That  stood  in  many  stalward  stour  : 
For  Christ  his  maister  and  his  word, 

And  many  moe  I  might  reqprd  : 
Some  yet  ahue,  some  also  past, 

Erie  Aexandcr  is  not  last, 
Of  Glencame,  but  these  I  passe  by, 

Because  their  deeds  are  alreddy 
By  sundrie  Poets  put  in  write, 

Quhilk  now  I  neid  not  to  recite. 

Kinyeancleugh's  zealous  and  active  exertions  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Reformation  are  commemorated  thus  : 

Sa  priuatelie  in  his  lodgeing. 

He  had  baith  prayers  and  preaching  : 
To  tell  his  freinds  he  na  whit  dred. 

How  they  had  lang  bene  blindlins  led  : 
By  shaueUng  Papists,  Monks  and  Friers, 

And  be  the  Paipe  these  many  yeares : 
When  some  Barrones,  neere  hand  him  by, 

And  Noble  men  he  did  espie, 
Of  auld  who  had  the  truth  profest, 

To  them  he  quicklie  him  addrest : 
And  in  exorting  was  not  slak. 

What  consultation  they  would  tak. 
How  orderlic  they  might  suppresse 

In  their  ownc  bounds  that  Idole  messe  : 
In  place  thereof  syne  preaching  plant. 

To  quhilk  some  noble  men  did  grant. 

«  »  »  »  • 

Quhilk  they  did  soone  performe  in  deede 

And  made  them  to  the  wark  with  speede  : 
And  had  some  preaching  publictUe, 

Where  people  came  maist  frequentlie  : 
Whiles  among  woods  in  banks  and  brais. 

Whiles  in  kirkyards  beside  their  fais : 
Thir  Novells  through  the  Countrie  ran, 

Quhilk  stirred  vp  baith  wife  and  man. 

»  *  »  »  * 

When  they  puld  down  the  Friers  of  Air, 

Speir  at  the  Friers  gif  he  was  thair : 
The  Lard  of  Camele  yet  in  Kyle, 

Quha  was  not  sleipand  al  this  while. 
And  Robert  wer  made  messengers, 

Send  from  the  rest  to  warne  the  Friers 
Out  of  these  places  to  deludge, 

Howbeit  the  Carls  began  to  grudge : 
Either  with  good  will  or  with  ill. 

The  keyes  they  gave  thir  twa  vntUI : 
After  their  gudes  they  had  out  tane, 

So  greater  harme  the  Friers  had  nane  : 
For  vnlike  to  their  crueltie. 

In  their  massacring  boutchorie. 
»  *  *  *  • 

Then  Robert  like  a  busie  Bie, 

Did  ride  the  post  in  all  Countrie : 
Baith  North  and  Sowth,  baith  East  and  West, 

To  all  that  the  gude  cause  profest  : 
Through  A7igus,  Fyfe  and  Lawthaine, 

Late  ioumies  had  he  many  ane : 
By  night  he  would  passe  forth  of  Kyle, 

And  sUp  in  shortly  to  Argyle  ; 
Syne  to  Stratherne  and  to  all  parts. 

Where  he  knew  godly  zealous  harts. 
Exhorting  them  for  to  be  stoute. 

And  of  the  matter  haue  no  doubt : 
For  although,  said  he,  we  be  few, 
Having  our  God  we  are  anew. 
S 
Davidson  praises    Kinyeancleugh's   lady   for  encouraging 
him  in  these  disinterested  expeditions,  instead  of  grudging, 
as  some  wives  did,  the  expense  which  he  incurred.     In  de- 
scribing the  ungracious  reception  which  the  husband  of  one 
of  these  thrifty  dames  received  at  his  home-coming,  the  poet 
informs   us   of  the  arrival  in  Scotland  of  a  singular  female 
colony,  whose  race,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  is  now  extinct  among 
us ;  although,  perhaps,  some  acute  and  keen-set  antiquary  may 


be  able  still  to  track  them,  and,  stoically  fearless  of  "  a  rebe- 
geaster,"  to  point  out  some  descendants  of  these  Norwegian 
Amazons. 

He  might  look  as  they  tell  the  tail. 

When  he  came  harae  for  euill  cooled  kaill 
Ze  haue  sa  meikle  gear  to  spend 

Ze  trow  never  it  will  haue  end : 
This  will  make  you  full  bare  there  ben, 

Lat  see  (sayes  she)  what  other  men, 
So  oft  ryding  a  field  ye  finde. 

Leaning  thair  owne  labour  behinde. 
This  and  farre  mair  had  oft  bene  told, 
•  Be  many  wiues,  yea  that  we  hold  ' 

Not  of  the  worst  in  all  the  land, 

I  speak  not  of  that  balefull  band  ; 
That  Sathan  hes  sent  heir  away. 

With  the  black  fleete  of  Norroway  : 
Of  whome  ane  wdth  her  Tygers  tong, 

Had  able  met  him  with  a  rong : 
And  reaked  him  a  rebegeastor, 

Calling  him  many  warlds  weastor. 

Kinyeancleugh,  accompanied  by  Davidson,  who  was  then 
under  concealment,  had  gone  to  Rti^ko,  a  seat  of  the  Laird 
of  Lochinvar,  where  he  sickened,  and  died  on  the  22d  of 
April,  1574.  His  wife  died  in  the  month  of  June  following. 
Davidson  praises  his  protector's  piety,  charity,  lenity  to  his 
tenants,  and  his  wdsdom  and  integrity  in  settling  private  dif- 
ferences, on  which  account  he  was  employed  by  rich  and 
poor,  both  of  the  popish  and  protestant  persuasion. 

Note   BBB.  p.  369. 

BisJiop  ReicTs  Legacy  for  building  a  College  in  Edin- 
burgh.— The  following  are  the  facts  respecting  this  legacy, 
of  which  MaitJand  (Hist,  of  Edin.  p.  356,)  has  given  an 
incorrect  statement.  Robert  Reid,  Bishop  of  Orkney  and 
Zetland,  (who  died  in  1558,)  "  be  his  testament  and  latf  will 
left  the  sowme  of  aUcht  thousand  merkis  money  of  this 
realme — for  bying  of  the  landis  and  yairdis  lyand  in  the  said 
burgh  (of  Edinburgh)  qlkis  sumtyme  pertenit  to  vmq'«  S' 
Johnne  ramsay  of  balmane  And  for  founding  of  ane  college 
for  exercise  of  learning  thairinto,  be  the  aduise  counsale  and 
discretioun  of  vmq'«  Maister  Abraham  creightoun  prouest 
of  dunglas,  Maister  James  Makgill  of  rankeloure  nether 
clerk  of  the  registre  and  vmq'^  Maister  thomas  makealzeane 
of  cliftonhall."  As  the  money  had  not  been  applied  accord- 
ing to  the  will  of  the  disponer,  and  "  all  the  liiree  persons 
to  whose  discretion  the  accomplishing  of  the  work  was  com- 
mitted," were  dead,  the  legacy  was  considered  as  having  fallen 
to  the  king;  and  the  town  council,  in  1582,  supplicated  the 
privy  council,  that  his  Majesties  right  in  the  matter  should 
be  conveyed  to  them,  and  that  they  might  have  full  power 
to  pursue  Walter  abbot  of  Kinloss,  "  ane  of  the  executors 
testamentares  of  the  said  vmq'^  Robert  bishop  of  Orkney," 
and  others  indebted  for  the  said  sum.  This  supplication  was 
granted  by  the  privy  council,  on  the  town  council  giving  secu- 
rity that  they  would  apply  the  money  recovered  to  the  support 
of  a  college.  (Record  of  Privy  Council,  April  11,  1582.) 
On  the  6th  of  July,  1593,  the  town  council  had  recovered 
the  money  in  the  hands  of  the  abbot  of  Kinloss,  which 
amounted  to  4000  merks.  (Record  of  Town  Council,  vol.  ix. 
f.  207,)  There  does  not  appear  to  have  been  any  ground  for  the 
charge  brought  against  the  Regent  Morton  of  having  seized 
on  the  legacy,  as  stated  in  Gordon's  Geneal.  Hist,  of  Earl- 
dom of  Sutherland,  p.  176,  and  in  Keith's  Scot.  Bishops,  p. 
134. 

Note  CCC.  p.  371. 

Resort  of  Foreign  Students  to  Scotland. — The  reputa- 
tion of  the  University  of  St.  Andrews  had  extended  to  France 
in  the  year  1586,  in  consequence  of  which  the  father  of 
the  celebrated  Andrew  Rivet  purposed  sending  him  to  study 
at  it.  (Dauberi  Oratio  Funebris,  sig.  *  *  2.  prsefix.  Riveti 
Oper.  torn,  iii.)  But  the  troubles  of  Scotland  discouraged 
foreign  students  from  visiting  it  between  1584  and  1586. 
The  reader  must  not  consider  the  following  list  as  containing 
all  the  foreigners  who  studied  at  St.  Andrews.  After  the 
year  1579,  the  names  of  those  who  entered  the  New 
College  (which  was  then  appropriated  to  the  study  of  theo- 
logy) are  not  usually  recorded  in  the  books  of  the  University. 


414 


NOTES. 


A  separate  list  of  them  appears  to  have  been  kept ;  but 
during  Melville's  principality,  from  1580  to  1607,  the  original 
^t  has  been  lost,  and  there  remains  only  an  imperfect  copy  of 
'X,  apparently  taken  by  Robert  Howie,  his  successor.  Blanks 
are  frequently  left  in  it,  and  sometimes  only  a  part  of  the 
name  is  given.  During  the  time  that  Howie  was  princi- 
pal, the  list,  which  is  in  his  handwriting,  may  be  consider- 
ed as  complete.  The  following  names  are  collected  from 
different  records  of  the  University.  I  have  not  included  the 
names  of  Students  from  England  and  Ireland.  The  greater 
part  of  the  foreigners  attended  the  University  during  several 
years ;  but,  for  the  sake  of  brevity,  their  names  are  not  re- 
peated. 

List  of  Foreign  Students  at  St  Andrews. 

An.  1588. 

Isaie  Chevalher.  * 
Gulielmus  Oustffius. 

1591. 

Jacobus  Maceus,  Gallus. 
Petrus  Thubinus,  Gallus. 

1584. 

Joannes  Burdigallasus. 
Claudius  Heraldus,  Niortensis  Gallus. 
Georgius  Rincoius,  natione  Gallus  Rupellencis. 
Isaacus  Cuvillus,  natione  Gallus  Sammaxantinus. 
Daniel  Couppeus,  natione  Gallus  Andegavensis. 
Daniel  Chanelus,  natione  Gallus  Rupellensis. 
Joannes  Vignaeus,  Gallus  Nannetensis. 

1595. 

Andreas  Swendius,  Nobilis  Danus. 

Petrus  Gombaldus. 

Petrus  Chevaltus. 

Joannes  Guivinellus. 

Antonius  Massonus. 

Joannes  RajTnondus. 

[Christophorus  Johannides,  Danus  .J-f- 

1596. 

Joannes  Doucherus. 
Jacobus  Tholoscus. 
Petrus  Menancellus. 

Goddaeus,  Belga, 

Grallus. 

Gallus. 


Georgius  Rouellus. 
Jacobus  Weland. 


1597. 


1598 


Jacobus  Rouellus. 

Gerhardus  Kreuterus,  Germanus  Hassus  Herfifenden- 

sis. 

1599. 

Jacobus  Cokstochius,  (Kosteckj)  Polonus. 

Samuel  Leonardus  Rasseski,  Polonus, 

Joan.   Casimirus  Francisci  Junii  F  Heidelbergensis 

Germanus. 
Daniel  Demetrius,  Franckendalensis. 
Joannes  Schesessius. 
Raphael  Colinus. 


•  This  individual  was  made  A.  M.  in  159-2,  under  the  designation 
of  "  Inaias  Chevalerius,  Francus  Kupellensis." 

+  Tliis  name  does  not  occur  in  the  Records,  but  it  is  added  on 
the  authority  of  the  following  printed  Thesis :  "  De  Prtedestinatione, 
give  De  Cavsis  Salvtis  et  Damnationis  £tern«  Disputatio,  in  qua 
prteside  D.  Akdr^ea  Melvwo,  Sarrar.  Lilerarvm  Professore  et 
rectore  Academia  Regite  AndreansB  in  Scotia,  Deo  volente,  Chris- 
TOPHORvs  Johannides  Danvs  respondeblt.  Edinburgi  Excubcbat 
RobertvB  Waldegraue  Typographua  Regius.    1695." 


1600. 

Joannes  Valace,  Belga. 
Tobias  Merbeckius,  Belga.* 
Gulielmus  Teellingius. 
Samuel  Gerobulus  R. 

1601. 

Johannes  Quada  a  Ravesteyn 
Isaacus  Massilius. 
Petrus  a  Scharlahen. 
Jobus  Danche,  Dordracenus. 
Andreas  MichaelL 
Guilielmus  Latinus. 

1603.  t 

Albertus  LothofTell,  Regiomontanus  Borussus. 
Christianus  Hoffmeister,  Regiomontanus  Borussus. 
Hugo  Trajanus. 


Joannes  Gascus. 


1604. 


1606. 


Johaimes  Bochardus,  Belga 
Jonas  Charisius  Severinus,  Haffniensis  Danus 
Petrus  Petrejus,  Hiennius  Danus. 
Johannes  Rhodius,  Danus. 

1607. 

Michael  Parisius,  Gallus,  commendatus  Collegio  ab 

Ecclesia  Diepens. 
Martinus  Claudius,  Danus. 
[  Claudius,  Danus.] 

[Andreas  PauUe.]4 

1609. 

Ericus  Julius,  Nobilis  Danus. 
Petrus  Magnus,  Danus. 
Andreas  Claudius,  Danus. 
Magnus  Martini,  Danus. 
David  Bariandus. 

1610. 

Francisco  a  Parisiis,  Italus  Neapolitanus. 
Dauid  Barjon,  Gallus  Aquitanus. 
Andreas  Andreae,  Danus. 

From  1610  to  1616,  only  one  new  foreign  name  occurs. 
From  1616  to  1632,  there  is  a  considerable  niunber  of  them, 
including  a  Neapohtan. 


Foreign  Students  at  Glasgow. 

1585.1 

Isaac*  Mazerius,  Gallus. 

1589. 
Jeremias  Barbsus,  Cdta. 

1590. 

Petrus  Buybertus,  Celta. 
Honoratus  Guibivit,  Celta. 
Josua  Buybertus,  Celta. 


•  See  Ames  Typ.  Ant.  p.  1521. 

t  The  register  of  the  New  College  firoin  1603  to  1607' is  almost  a 
blank. 

t  In  the  Testament  of  Walter  Ramsay,  oDConomus  of  St.  Salvator's 
College  who  deceased  12  Sep.  1611,  are  the  following  articles  among 
"  deitis  awand  to  the  deid." — "  It.  be  Marline  Claudii  Dutchmau, 
for  himself  &  his  Iwa  brother  40  lib.  6  s.  8d. 

It.  be  Androu  Paulie  Dutchman  as  rest  of  his  buird  9  lib." 

II  Dtiring  this  year  Melville  waa  at  Glasgow.    See  p.  266. 


N  0  T  1']  y . 


415 


1593. 

Johannes  Riuetua,  Celta. 
Jacobus  Choquetus,  Celta. 
Salomon  Cailhaudus,  Celta. 
Renatus  Pasquivius,  Celta. 
Joannes  Blackivian,  Celta. 

1595. 

Petrus  Baalus,  Celta. 
Jacobus  Thirellus,  Celta. 
Theodorus  Thyrellus,  Celta. 
Renatus  Osseus,  Celta. 
Carolus  Ossceus,  Celta. 
Gulielmus  Riuetus,  Celta. 

1598. 

Petras  Pagodus,  Celta. 
Petrus  Vemgodus,  Celta. 

No  other  foreign  names  occur  in  the  Records,  unless  in 
1622 — 1624,  when  Cameron  was  principal  of  the  University. 

Foreign  students  at  Edinburgh. 

An.  1592. 

Gulielmus  Oustaeus,  minister  verbi. 
Daniel  Plataeus,  Gallus  provincia. 
Gabriel  Bounerin,  Gallue. 

1595. 

Thomas  Maserius,  Gallus. 

1597. 

Joannes  Olivarius,  Gallus. 
J.  Baldoynus,  Gallus. 
[Mr.  ^olt]* 

1598. 

Joannes  Argerius,  Gallus. 
Petrus  Balloynus,  Gallus, 
Honorius  Argerius,  Gallus. 
Stephanus  Baldoynus. 

1600. 

Joachimus  Dubouchel,  Gallus. 
Theodorus  Du  Bouizet,  Gallus. 
Joannes  Wardin,  Xanctoniensis. 

1614. 

Petrus  Cosselius,  Gallus  Diepensis. 

1629. 

Joannes  Fabritius,  Genevensis. 

Note  DDD.p.  372. 

Parochial  Schook. — The  Record  of  the  "  Synod  of  that 
part  of  the  Diocie  of  St.  Andrews  q"'  lyeth  benorth  Forth" 
contains  a  report  of  the  visitation  of  Parishes  for  the  years 
1611  and  1613.  This  report  affords,  perhaps,  one  of  the 
best  means  of  ascertaining  the  exact  state  of  schools  within 
a  short  time  before  the  first  legislative  enactment  on  this 
subject  It  must  be  recollected,  however,  in  any  inferences 
that  may  be  drawn  from  it,  that  the  visitation  by  no  means 


*  Mons.  iEolt  writes  a  letter  from  Edinburgh,  April  5,  1597,  to 
Mens.  Tuile,  minister  at  Mouchap,  recommending  Robert  Boyd  of 
Trociirig.  He  speaks  of  several  of  his  countrymen  having  gone  to 
study  at  Glasgow. 


extended  to  all  the  parishes  within  the  bounds  of  the  Trans- 
forthian  division  of  the  diocese  of  St.  Andrews. 

The  parishes  of  Tannadice,  Perth,  Fettercairn,  Straybrock, 
Falkland,  Forgound,  Ebdie  or  Newburgh,  Innerkillor,  Barrie 
or  Panbryde,  Kinfaunds,  Kinnaird,  Inchture  and  Benvie, 
Mains  Strickmartine,  Bruntisland,  Inneraretie  and  Mathie, 
and  Errol,  were  provided  with  schools.  Those  of  Rascobie, 
Ferry  of  port  on  Craig,  St.  Vigeans,  Kilspindie  and  Rait, 
Liff,  Logie  and  Innergowrie,  Muirhous,  and  Manifuith,  were 
destitute  of  schools.  Thus  die  parishes  which  had  schools 
were  more  tlian  double  in  number  to  those  which  wanted 
them.  Where  they  were  wanting,  the  visitors  ordered  them 
to  be  set  up,  and  where  the  provision  for  the  master  was 
defective,  they  made  arrangements  for  remedying  the  evil. 
The  following  are  extracts.  "'Forgound,  August  14,  1611. 
— The  skole  entertained,  and  for  tlie  better  provision  of  it 
thair  is  ordained  that  ilk  pleuch  in  the  paroche  sail  pay  to 
the  skolemaister  xiijs,  iiijd,  and  ilk  bairne  of  the  paroche 
sail  pay  vis,  viijd,  in  the  quarter.  Strangers  that  are  of 
ane  uther  paroche  sail  pay  xx.  or  xxxs.  as  the  maister  can 
procuir:  And  it  is  agried  in  uther  congregationis."  This 
was  "the  common  ordor." — "  Straybrok,  July  1,  1611.  It 
is  ordenit  w'  comon  consent  that  the  parochineris  sail  give 
among  them  all  for  the  maintenance  of  the  scoolc  and  scool- 
maister  yeirlie  fyftie  merkis,  and  the  minister  sail  give  iiij 
libs." — "April,  1613 — It  is  reported  that  as  yet  y'  cannot 
be  had  ane  grammar  scole  in  Bruntisland,  the  councell  of  the 
toune  being  slaw  y''in  and  contenting  y™selfisw'  and  q"  teichea 
y'  baimes  to  rcid  and  wreite.  Forsameikle  as  it  was  anes 
concludit  in  ane  visitatione  that  ane  grammer  scole  salbe 
had  w'in  that  bruche  and  it  is  most  necess'  that  it  be  so, 
y'"fore  it  is  ordained  that  letters  be  raysed  upon  the  act  of 
visitafn."  I  do  not  know  on  what  authority  these  letters 
were  raised  unless  it  were  the  7th  act  of  the  parliament  1 593. 
(Act,  Pari,  Scot,  iv,  16,)  The  visitors  tried  the  quahfications 
of  the  teachers,  "  Perth,  Apr,  18,  1611, — Mr.  Patrik  Mao- 
gregor  scolem'  found  to  have  passed  his  course  of  philosophy 
in  St,  Leonard's  College — approved," 

There  is  frequent  reference  to  the  trial  and  inspection 
of  schoolmasters  in  all  the  registers  of  the  church  courts. 
"  Andrew  dischington  schoolm''  of  Dunbar,  The  act  of  the 
last  synodall  assembly  giving  the  presbyterie  commission  to 
try  Andro  dischingtoun  schoolmaister  of  Dunbar  not  only 
in  his  hability  to  travell  in  the  ministry  but  also  to  teache 
ane  grammer  schoole  being  presentit  to  the  presbyterie  the 
brethren  ordainit  him  to  cum  heir  yis  day  aucht  dayes  and 
for  beginning  of  his  tryall  to  teache  ane  piece  of  the  first 
booke  of  the  georgyckes  of  Virgill  at  the  beginning  yW  to 
try  quhither  he  be  able  to  teache  ane  grammer  schoole 
or  not,"  (Rec,  of  Presb,  of  Haddmgton,  Sept.  4,  1594.) — 
"It  wes  ordanit  be  the  presbyterie  that  the  haill  schoolm" 
w'in  yair  bounds  sould  be  chargit  to  compeir  befoir  thame 
that  Uiay  my'  not  only  knaw  how  yai  wer  aljill  to  instruct  the 
yow'  Bot  also  charge  thame  to  keip  the  exercise  that  yai 
my'  be  the  better  frequented  with  the  heids  of  religion,  (Ibid. 
June  2, 1596.) 

The  following  extracts  from  the  Record  of  the  Kirk  Session 
of  Anstruther  Wester  convey  curious  information  both  as  to 
the  customs  of  the  times,  and  as  to  the  zeal  with  which  the 
education  of  the  youth  was  urged.  "  Oct.  26,  1595.  Anent 
the  complent  given  in  by  Henrie  Cuningham  doctor  in  the 
schooU  the  Session  thinks  meit,  that  all  the  yowth  in  the 
toun  be  caused  com  to  the  schooU  to  be  teached.  and  that  sic 
as  are  puir  shall  be  furnished  vpone  the  common  expenses 
and  gif  ony  puir  refuiss  to  com  to  scholl,  help  of  sic  thing 
as  thay  neid  and  requir  shall  be  refused  to  them.  And  as  for 
sic  as  are  able  to  sustein  their  barnes  at  the  schooll  &  do 
their  dewitie  to  the  teacher  for  them,  they  shall  be  commandit 
to  put  them  to  the  school  that  they  may  be  brought  vp  in 
the  feir  of  God  and  vertiie.  qlk  if  thay  refuse  to  do,  thay 
shall  be  calht  before  the  session  and  admonished  of  ther 
dewctie  and  if  efter  admonition  they  mend  not  then  farther 
ordo''  shall  be  taken  w'  them  at  the  discretion  of  the  session. 
And  the  magistrates  &  counsale  shall  be  desyred  to  tak  fra 
them  the  quarter  payments  for  ther  child  and  ane  dewetie 
efter  ther  discretion  for  the  dayes  meat  as  it  shall  co  abovt 
vnto  them  whidder  they  put  ther  baimes  to  the  schooll  or  not." 
— "  18  of  November,  Anent  the  puirs  it  is  thoght  meit 
that  a  visitation  shall  be,  and  that  sic  help  shall  be  maid 
to  them  that  ar  altogether  vnable  that  may  not  travell  to 
seik  to  them  selfs  and  theyowng  shall  na  almess  bot  on 
condition  that  they  com  to  the  schooll,  qlk  sa  mony  as  does 


416 


NOTES. 


shall  be  helpit,  and  the  manner  of  ther  help  shall  be  thay  shall 
half  thric  hours  granted  to  them  evcrie  day  throw  the  town 
to  seek  ther  meat,  ane  hour  in  the  morning  fra  nyn  to  ten, 
at  midday  fra  twell  to  ane,  and  at  nyght  fra  sax  hours  furth 
and  the  peiple  are  to  be  desyred  to  be  helpful  to  sic  as  will 
give  themself  to  any  vertue,  and  as  for  others  to  deal!  lyardly 
w"'  them  to  dryve  them  to  seik  efter  vertue." — "Apr.  18, 
1596.  Euerie  man  within  the  town  that  hes  baimes  suld 
put  his  baimes  to  the  schooUe  and  for  everie  bairne  suld  give 
tensh.  in  the  quarter  and  be  fred  of  given  meat  botat  y'  owning 
plesure." — "Sept.  7,  1600.  Item  anent  the  schooll  agreid 
w'  henrie  Cunyngham  that  the  pure  of  the  town  shall  be  put 
to  the  [school]  and  sa  many  of  them  as  has  ingyne  and 
he  takes  paines  upone  shall  giv  fyv  sh.  in  the  quarter  qlk  the 
session  sail  pay,  he  shall  try  out  the  baimes  they  sail  be  broght 
befoir  the  session  be  the  elders  of  the  quarters  the  session  sail 
enter  them  to  the  scoU  and  try  their  pcrfitlng  &  sa  cans  re- 
compens  according  to  his  paines  &  ther  jj'fiting  and  as  for 
vther  y*  are  not  able  to  p''fit  thay  may  rcid  pr  wrct,  whidder  it 
be  for  want  of  ingyn  or  tym  to  await  on,  sic  sail  be  caused  to 
learn  the  Lordes  prayer  the  comades  &  belev  tlie  heades  of 
the  catechisme  y'  ar  demanded  on  the  examination  to  the 
communion  q'*  travell  also  the  session  will  acknowledge  and 
recompense  and  as  for  the  standing  yearlie  dewetie  referes 
that  to  the  counsell  of  the  town  to  tak  ordo'  wV*  (Record, 
ut  supra.) 

Note   EEE.  p.  372. 
V 
Alexander  Hume. — Three  persons  of  this  name  studied  in 
St.  Mary's  College,  St.  Andrews :  one  of  them  was  laureated 
in  1571,  another  in  1572,  and  the  third  was  made  bachelor  of 
arts  in  1574. 

1.  Mr.  Alexander  Hume,  Minisier  of  Dunbar. — He  con- 
tinued in  this  situation  from  the  year  1582  to  1601.  "  Mr. 
Alexander  Home,  minister  presented  to  the  personage  of 
Dunbar,  vacand  be  demission  of  Mr.  Andro  Symsoun,  Sept. 
13,  1582."  (Reg.  of  presentations,  vol.  ii.  f.  77.)  "Mr. 
James  Home,  minister,  resident  at  the  kirk  of  Dunbar,  pre- 
sented to  the  personage  of  the  same  be  demission  of  Mr. 
Alex.  Home,  May  21,  1601."  (Reg.  Sec.  Sig.  lib.  Ixxii.  f.  56.) 
The  latter  appears  to  have  retained  his  designation.  "  Mr.  Alex. 
Home,  persone  of  Dunbar,"  and  "  Mr.  James  Home,  min- 
ister at  Dunbar,"  are  witnesses  to  a  deed.  May  27,  1C05. 
(Gen.  Reg.  of  Deeds,  vol.  cix.)  "  Mr.  Alexander  Home 
of  Houndwood,  sumtyme  person  of  Dunbar,"  died  in  Decem- 
ber, 1623.  (Testament  in  Rec.  of  Commissary  Court  of 
Edinburgh.)  He  appears  to  have  been  a  half-brother  of 
Sir  George  Home  of  Broxmouth.  (Test,  of  Janet  Gibson, 
Lady  Broxmouth,  ibid.  Dec.  1,  1589.) 

2.  Mr.  Alexander  Hume,  Minister  of  Logie. — He  was 
the  author  of  "  Hymnes  or  Sacred  Songs, '  and  is  mentioned 
as  "  sone  to  umq'*  Pat.  Home  of  Polwarth."  (Gen.  Rec.  of 
Deeds,  vol.  cxix.  May  28,  1606.)  Mr.  Alex.  Home,  min''  at 
Logie,  and  Marioun  Duncansone,  dochter  of  Jo"  Duncansone, 
minister  to  the  kingis  Ma'"',  his  spous."(Gcn.  Reg.  of  Deeds, 
vol.  cvii.  May.  30,  1605.)  He  was  admitted  minister  of 
Logie  in  August,  1597;  and  died  on  the  4th  of  December, 
1609.  (Record  of  the  Presbytery  of  Dunblane.)  "Mr. 
Alex'  Home,  minister  at  Logie,  besides  Stirling, — has  left  ane 
admonitione  in  write  bchinde  him  to  the  Kirk  of  Scotland, 
wherein  he  affirms  that  the  bishops  who  were  then  fast  ris- 
inge  up  hes  left  the  sincere  ministers,"  &c.  (Row's  Hist,  p. 
94,  95.) 

3.  Mr.  Alexander  Hume,  the  Grammarian. — He,  I  am 
inclined  to  think,  was  the  author  of_  all  the  books  which 
appeared  under  the  name  of  Alexander  Hume,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Hymns.  He  has  given  an  account  of  him- 
self in  the  preface  to  his  Grammatica  Nova.  To  his  Trea- 
tise on  the  Lord's  Supper  is  prefixed  .in  Epistle  "  To  Mr.  John 
Hamilton,  his  olde  regent."  He  was  incorporated  at  Oxford, 
Jan.  26,  1580,  as  «  M.  A.  of  St  Andrews,  Scotland." 
(Wood's  Fasti,  by  Bliss,  217.)  Could  he  be  tlie  author 
of  Humii  Theses,  Marpurgi,  15911  He  was  principal 
master  of  the  High  School  of  Edinburgh,  from  1596  to  1606, 
when  he  went  to  Prestonpans.  He  had  left  the  latter  place 
in  1615,  and  appears  to  have  l)ecome  master  of  the  grammar 
school  of  Dunbar.  Charters,  (Acco.  of  Scot.  Writers,  p.  3.) 
and  Sibbald,  De  Script.  Scot.  p.  3.)  call  him  schoolmaster  of 
Dunl>ar.  "  Mr.  Alexander  Home,  schoolmaster  of  Dunbar," 
ifl  a  witness  to  a  deed,  June  24,  1623  ;  (Gen.  Reg.  of  Deeds, 
vol.  cccxli.)  and  to  another,  Nov.  27,  1627.  (Ibid.  vol.  cccxrix. 


His  Grammar  is  entitled,  "  Grammatica  nova  in  usum 
juventutis  ^goticffi  ad  methodum  revot-ata.  Ab  Alexandro 
Hvmeo,  ex  aniiqua  et  Nobili  Uente  Humicrum,  artiam 
Magisfro.  Et  auctoritate  senatus,  omnihus  Regni  Scholis 
imperata.  Edinburgi — 1612."  12mo.  (Copy  in  the  liibrary 
of  the  High  School  of  Edinburgh.)  The  \\  ords  here  printed 
in  Italics  are  not  in  the  common  copies.  The  author  had 
previously  published  Latin  Kvditnmts.  (Gram.  Part  ii.  p. 
25.)  The  tract  entitled  Belhim  Grammaiicale  was  not 
composed,  but  only  revised  by  Hume.  It  is  a  humorous  tragi- 
comedy, in  which  the  different  parts  of  speech  are  arrayed 
on  opposite  sides,  in  a  contest  concerning  the  respective 
claims  of  the  noun  and  verb  to  priority.  It  is  probable  that 
it  was  acted  by  the  boys  in  schools.  He  left  behind  him,  in 
MS.  a  compend  of  Buchanan's  History  (in  Bibl.  Jurid. 
Edin.)  and  a  grammatical  tract,  probably  in  defence  of  his 
own  grammar.  (Ruddimanni  Bibl.  Rom.  p.  61.  Sibbald, 
De  Script.  Scot.  p.  3.)  His  Grammar  was  appointed  to  be 
used  in  all  schools,  both  by  the  Privy  Council  and  Parliament. 
(Grammat.  Part  ii.  Ad  Led.  Comp.  Act  Pari.  Scot  iv.  157, 
374.  Act  Seer.  Concil.  Feb.  1610— Oct  1612.  Minute 
Book  of  Processes  before  the  Privy  Council,  Sept.  1611,  and 
July,  1612.)  Hume,  in  a  letter  to  Melville,  Dec.  6,  1612, 
gives  an  account  of  the  opposition  which  his  work  had 
encountered.  (Mclvini  Epistol»,  p.  309.)  Casaubon,  in  a 
letter  to  Hume,  denies  having  prepossessed  the  King  against 
his  Grammar,  but  does  not  conceal  his  disapprobation  of  it 
(Casauboni  Epistolse,  ab  Almeloveen,  epist.  878.)  That 
learned  man  represents  it  as  an  imitation  of  Ramus.  Hume 
expressly  allows  that  Ramus  had  not  succeeded  in  Grammar, 
(Grammat.  Part  i.  Ad  Lecf.) 

Note  FFF.    p.  373. 

Improvements  on  the  High  School  of  Edinburgh. — The 
following  minutes  of  Town  Council  contain  the  earliest  regu- 
lations for  this  seminary  that  I  have  observed. 

"July  21,  1598.  The  samin  day  the  forme  and  ordour  of 
thair  Grammer  schole  being  presentit  and  red  before  thame 
They  ratifyet  and  approve  the  samin  And  ordanis  it  to  be  ro- 
gistrat  in  thair  Counsall  bulks  quhairof  tlie  tenor  followis. 

"  The  opinioun  Counsall  and  advyse  of  the  rycht  honora- 
bill  Mr.  John  prestoun  of  barnis  ane  of  the  Senators  of  the 
College  of  Justice  M'^Jhone  scherp  Thomas  Craig  John  Nicol- 
soun  John  Russell  William  Oliphant  &  James  Donaldsoun 
advocates  Mr.  Robert  Rollock  principall  of  the  colledge  of 
Ed""  Henry  Ncsbit  provost  Alex.  Peirsoun  James  Nesbit  bail- 
lies  of  Ed""  William  Napier  deync  of  gild  of  the  saymn 
M"^  Walter  balcamquill  James  Balfour  and  William  Watsoun 
ministers  at  Ed''  Mr.  William  Scott  writter  convcnit  in  the 
said  colledge  26  Dec.  1597  for  provyding  of  Maisters  to  the 
Grammar  schole  of  Ed'   as  follows : 

"  In  primis  Thay  think  best  and  expedient  that  thair  be  foure 
lernetand  godlie  men  appointit  regents  to  teache  the  Grammer 
schole  of  Ed'  in  all  time  cumming  be  foure  severall  classes  in 
manner  following. 

"  The  first  das  and  regent  thairof  sail  teache  the  first  and 
secund  rudiments  of  Dumbar  whh  the  Colloques  of  Corde- 
rius  And  on  Sunday  Cadicchesis  palatiiiatus.  The  secund 
regent  sail  teache  the  rules  of  the  first  part  of  Pelisso  with 
Cicerois  familiar  epistilles  And  to  mak  sum  version  thryse 
in  the  oulk  And  to  teache  thame  on  sonday  the  foresaid 
Catechise  laitlie  sett  owt  in  latine  *  with  ouid  de  tristibus. 
The  third  regent  sail  teache  the  secund  part  of  PeUsso  with 
the  supplement  of  Erasmus  Sintaxis  Terence  The  Metamor- 
phosis of  Guide  with  buquhannanis  psalms  on  Sonday. 

"  The  ferd  sail  teache  the  third  part  of  Pelisso  with  Buqu- 
hannanis Prosodia,  Taleus  figures  &  rhetorick  figure  Construo 
tionis  Thome  Linacri  Virgelius  Salustius  Cesaris  Commenta- 
ria  &  floras  Ouidij  epistole  and  the  heroick  psalmes  of  Buqu- 
hannane  on  Sonday. 

"  Ilkane  of  the  foresaids  four  rcgentis  sail  teache  thair  clas 
in  severall  howssis  and  to  this  effect  the  hie  schole  sail  be  devy- 
i!it  in  four  howssis  be  thre  parpennis. 

"  Item  to  the  effect  thair  may  be  the  better  hamionye  betwix 
the  saidis  four  regentis  in  their  procedour  and  teacheing  and 
that  thai  may  the  bettir  answer  for  their  dewtie  dischairges 
simpliciter  maisters  or  others  persons  quhatsumevir  of  teache- 
ing of  ony  rudiments  or  ony  uther  bulk  of  latine  in  ony  of 


♦  "  The  CatechfsiB  laitlie  sett  out  In  latin  ver»e."     (Minuet 
of  Oct.  19,  1598,  fol.  206,  b.) 


NOTES 


417 


thair  lecture  scholis  Swa  that  the  fust  regent  may  be  the  mair 
answerabill  in  grunding  and  instructing  thame  in  Rudiments. 

"  It  is  alwayis  provydit  in  favoures  of  the  lecture  scholis 
That  nane  sail  be  resauet  in  the  said  first  clas  bot  he  quha 
can  reid  first  perfectlie  Inglis  with  sum  writt  and  the  said  first 
regent  sail  nawayes  be  sufferit  to  teache  any  the  first  a  b  c  in 
reding. 

"  Item  the  said  ferd  regent  sail  be  principall  of  the  said 
schole  and  regentis  and  have  the  owersicht  of  thame  all  viz 
he  sail  sie  and  animadvert  that  every  ane  of  the  regents  keip 
thair  awin  houres  maner  and  forme  of  teacheing  presentlie 
sett  doune  and  that  thai  and  ilkane  of  thame  continuallie 
awaitt  all  the  day  lang  upoune  the  schole  in  teaching  and 
exemining  thair  bayrnis  And  that  all  the  saids  regents  the 
principall  as  well  as  the  other  thrie  infireouris  ilkane  of  thame 
teache  thair  awin  class  and  that  ilkane  of  tliame  use  correc- 
tion upoun  thair  awin  disciples  except  in  greit  and  notorious 
falts  all  the  fours  to  be  assembUt  in  anc  hous  and  to  have  the 
principall  regent  to  puneis  the  same. 

"Item  the  Regent  of  Humanitie  erectet  in  the  college 
sail  teache  zeariie  y^  Rhetorick  of  Cassander  The  oraciounis 
of  Cicero  And  sail  cans  his  schoUers  owlkhe  mak  schort  de- 
clamatiouns. 

Item  he  sail  teache  Horace  Juvenall  Plautus  The  greik 
grammer  with  certane  greik  authores  And  as  the  bayrnis 
learnis  ane  Oracioun  of  Cicero  he  sail  cans  thame  every  ane 
of  thame  severally  declame  the  samyn  publictlie  in  the  schole. 

"Convenit  in  the  Counsale  hous  9  Jan"J  1597  Be  direc- 
tioun  of  the  kirk  and  Counsell  zisderday  The  provost  James 
Nesbit  Alex'  Peirsoun  baillies  with  Mr.  Walter  balcanqull 
&  Mr.  William  Watsoun  ministers  Mr.  James  Donaldson 
&  Mr.  William  Scott  Agreyes  that  the  persones  following 
Mr.  George  Haisting  sail  be  the  first  regent  Laurence  Pa- 
cok  secund  Mr.  Jhoun  Balfour  thrid  &  Mr.  Alex.  Home  fcrd 
and  principall  &  sail  gif  ane  pruif  of  their  teacheing  quhill 
mertymes  next  allanerlie  And  to  begin  at  Candilmas  nest  And 
to  publeis  aucht  dayes  before  be  proclamatioun  throw  the  town 
the  provisioun  of  the  Grammer  scolc  with  suflficient  maisters 
That  the  bayrnis  may  convene. 

"  Hes  thocht  guid  to  mak  the  feyis  and  quarter  payments 
of  the  saids  regents  in  this  maner  viz  The  first  &  secund 
regents  sail  half  quarterlie  ilkane  thrcttein  schilling  four  pen- 
neis.  The  thrid  fyfteen  schillings  and  the  ferd  and  principall 
twenty  shillings. 

"  Thair  feyis  the  first  and  secund  ilk  ane  twenty  pund  The 
thrid  fourty  merks  and  the  principall  twa  hunder  merks  The 
samin  day  the  foresaids  provests  baillies  and  Counsall  dis- 
chairges  all  masters  regents  and  teachers  of  bayrnis  in  thair 
Grammer  schole  of  all  craving  &  rcsaving  of  any  bleyis  syl- 
ver  of  their  bayrnis  and  scholers  As  alswa  of  any  bent  sylver 
exceptand  four  penneis  at  ane  tyme  allanerlie."  (Register  of 
Town  Council  of  Edinburgh,  vol.  x.  fol.  193,  b.) 

The  following  minute  shows  that  the  Town  Council  were 
■on  the  eve  of  destroying  an  institution  which  had  done  them 
so  much  honour.  It  is  probable  that  the  bad  humour  of  some 
foolish  individual  had  hurried  them  into  the  rash  resolution, 
which  is  never  afterwards  alluded  to  in  the  minutes.  "  Sep- 
tember 2nd,  1601.  The  sam  day  after  lang  deliberatioun 
fynds  guid  that  yair  hie  schole  be  brocht  to  y'=  awld  ordo 
of  ane  maister  and  ane  schole  And  to  after  and  discharge  the 
last  forme  of  four  maisters  &  fo''  scholes  In  respect  yat  y"  said 
maisters  keippet  nocht  y''  ordo''  gevin  yame  Q''by  many 
inconvenients  hes  followet  And  ordanis  Thomas  fyscheares 
&  Pafk  Sandelands  to  report  y"  sam  to  y®  foure  Sessiouns  of 
y«  kirk  That  forder  ordo"'  may  be  tane  w'  the  said  schole." 
(Ibid,  vol.  xi.  f.  55.) 

"Nov.  9,  1614.  The  quhilk  day  the  Provest  baillies  &c. 
Ordanis  in  all  tyme  cuming  Mr.  Johnne  Kea  m''  of  thair  hie 
scoole  To  keip  and  observe  the  i-euUis  and  ordouris  following 
In  tciching  the  schoUers  of  the  samine  Inprimis  that  the 
Rudimentaris  be  all  under  ane  doctor  And  that  Dnmbar 
Rudiments  be  onlie  teached  as  maist  approved  &  ressavit 
in  the  cuntrie  the  first  pairt  whairof  is  ane  introduction  to 
the  first  pairt  of  the  Dispauteris  grammer  and  the  uther  part 
serveing  as  ane  introductioun  to  the  secund  pairt  of  Des- 
pauter  And  that  thair  be  conjoynit  thairwith  the  vocables 
of  Stanisburgius  for  practise  of  declyning  dicta  sapientum 
and  the  distiches  of  (Jato,  As  for  praxis  to  the  wther  pairt  of 
the  rudimentis. 

"  That  the  secund  classe  learn  Despauters   first  pairt  and 
conjoyne  thairwith  Corderius  Minora  Colloquia  Erasmi  The 
select  epistles  of  Cicero  CoUectit  be  Sturmius  And  quhowson 
3C 


thay  enter  into  the  thrid  bulk  of  the  first  pairt  That  thai  be 
cxercdsit  in  theamis  and  versionis  altemis. 

"  That  the  third  classe  learne  Despauters  secund  pairt  and 
thairwith  the  familiar  epistles  of  Cicero  his  treatise  de  Senec- 
tute  or  de  Amicitia  and  that  Terence  be  ever  ane  of  their 
lessones  And  gif  it  be  fund  gude  to  gif  thame  sum  ingress  in 
poesie  for  interpretatioun  as  of  Ovides  epistles  or  his  tristis  As 
also  to  hald  tham  exerceisit  in  theamis  and  epistles. 

"  And  that  the  ford  classe  learne  the  third  and  fourt  pairtis 
of  Despauter  with  some  fables  of  Ovid  his  metamorphose  or 
Virgin  adjoyning  thairwith  Quintus  Curtius  or  Cesaris 
Commentaris  And  gif  thai  be  mair  capable  Suetonius  And 
that  thair  exercises  be  in  versiounis  msLking  of  Theamis 
braking  and  making  of  versis  as  thair  spirits  servis  thame. 

"  And  that  the  hie  classe  learne  the  Rhetorique  some  of 
Cicero  his  Oratiounes  or  de  Oratore  or  de  Claris  Oratoribus 
Salust  Plautus  Horace  Juvenale  Persius  And  that  thai  be 
exercised  in  Oratiounis  Compositiounis  versiouns  and  in 
verse  quhois  gift  serves  thaim  And  that  prose  and  verse  be 
taught  alternative  And  to  teitche  the  greik  gramer  Lyesiud 
and  T/ieogius.     (Hesiod  and  Theognis  ?) 

"  And  that  thair  be  repetitiouns  and  disputes  everie  oulk 
siclyk  tuyse  publict  examinatiounis  yeirlie  in  presence  of  the 
ministeris  and  magistratis  The  first  to  be  in  the  begining  of 
May  and  the  vther  the  twentie  day  of  October  quhen  the  hie 
classe  passis  to  the  College  And  that  nane  be  sufferit  to 
assend  in  the  schoole  or  pas  to  the  College  bot  quha  efter 
examination  ar  Judgit  worthie."  (Ibid.  vol.  xii.  fol.  167,  b.) 
u 
Note  GGG.  p.  373. 

Grammar  School  of  Presto^ipans.-'^'T'he  following  is  the 
account  of  Hume's  admission  to  this  school : — "  At  hadin- 
toun  y^  25  of  Junij  1606.  The  q"'day  Mr  Jo"  kcr  minister 
of  y"  panis  producit  y^  prentat"ne  of  Mr  Alex"^  hoome  to  be 
schoolm''  of  y"  Schoole  of  y'=  panis  foundit  be  Mr  J°  Davcd- 
sone  for  instructioune  of  the  youth  in  hebrew  greek  and  htine 
subscryvet  be  yais  to  quhome  Mr.  Jo"  davedsone  gave  power 
to  rioiat  y'  man  q'^  prentat°ne  y'=  prebrie  allowit  and  ordenit 
y*  moderator  &  clerk  to  subscrive  y'  samine  in  y''  names 
qikyay  jej^  ^^  gigQ  ordeanit  y'  y®  said  kirk  of  y"  panis  suld 
be  visited  vpon  y^  eight  day  of  Julij  next  to  come  for  admis- 
sione  of  y«  said  Mr  Alex"'  to  y«  said  otfice  The  visitors  wer 
appoyntit  Mr  Ar''  Oswald  Mr  Robert  Wallace  Mr  George 
greir  Mr  andro  blackhall  &  Mr  andro  Maghye  to  teach." — 
"At  Saltprestoun,  July  8,  1606.  The  haill  parischoners 
being  poisit  how  yay  lyckid  of  y*  said  Mr  Alex"'  w'  vniforme 
consent  being  particularly  inqwyrit  schew  y''  guid  lycking  of 
him  and  y''  willingnes  to  accept  and  receiv  him  to  y'=  said  office 
Q''upon  y*  said  Mr  Alex'  wes  admittit  to  y^  said  office  &  in 
token  of  y«  approba"ne  both  of  visitors  &  of  y^  parischones 
p'nt  both  y"  ane  and  y"  vother  tuik  y^  said  Mr  Alex'  be  y"  hand 
&  y"  haill  magistratis  gentlemen  and  remanet  parischoners 
p'nt  faithfuUie  p'misit  to  cocurre  for  y"^  furtherace  of  y"  work 
y'  yit  restis  to  be  done  to  y**  said  schoole  as  also  to  keipt 
y"  said  Mr  Alex'  and  his  scholleris  skailhlis  finallie  for  farther 
authorizing  of  y«  said  {sic)  it  wes  thought  meitty'  y'=  haill  visit- 
ors &  parichones  p'nt  suld  enter  y*  said  Mr  Alex'  into  y"  said 
schoole  &  y'  heir  liim  teache  q*  also  wes  doone."  (Rec.  of 
Presb.  of  Haddington.) 

The  Parliament  ui  the  course  of  that  year  erected  "  in  aner 
paroche  kirk,"  the  kirk  builded  "  be  the  labouris  paynis  and 
expenss  of  umq"=  Mr  Johne  dauidsoun"  and  ratefied  the 
school  founded  and  doted  by  him  "  for  teaching  of  Latin  grek 
and  Hebrew  toungis."     (Act.  Pari.  Scot.  iv.  302,) 

In  a  charter,  granted  Nov.  19.  1615,  by  John  Hamilton 
of  Preston,  as  superior  of  the  lands  on  which  the  kirk  and 
school  were  built,  it  is  narrated,  that  the  late  Mr.  John  David- 
son had  deserved  highly  of  the  whole  church  and  common- 
wealth, and  particularly  of  the  parish  of  Saltpreston, "  he  having 
preached  for  many  years  in  this  parish  without  any  fee  or 
reward,  built  at  his  own  expence  a  splendid  church,  fiunished 
with  a  large  clock,  a  manse,  garden,  and  other  pertinents, 
with  an  acre  of  arable  land  for  a  glebe  to  the  minister ;  and 
having  resolved  (as  appears  from  his  testament)  to  sell  his 
whole  patrimonial  inheritance,  consisting  of  valuable  houses 
and  lands  in  Dunfermline,  and  to  devote  the  whole  produce 
to  the  support  of  the  church  and  ministry  of  the  said  parish, 
which  purpose  he  would  have  carried  into  execution  if  he  had 
not  been  prevented  by  death."  It  then  goes  on  to  state : 
"  Dictus  quondam  Magister  Joannes  Daucdsoun  Aream 
quondam  vulgo  vocat  harlaw  hill,"  &c.  "  On  an  area  which 
27 


418 


ORIGINAL  PAPERS. 


he  purchased  from  me  he  finished  an  excellent  house  to  serve 
as  a  school  for  the  education  of  the  youth  of  the  parish  in 
good  letters,  sciences,  and  virtue,  [a  dwelling-house  for  the 
master  is  afterwards  specified]  and  to  furnish  a  stipend  for  the 
master  of  the  school  he  bequeathed  all  his  moveables,  to  wit, 
his  household  furniture,  his  clothes,  his  library,  consisting  of 
a  large  collection  of  books  of  all  kinds,  his  bills  and  obUgations 
for  debts  owing  him,  and  ail  the  money  in  his  possession, 
with  the  exception  of  certain  legacies  to  his  friends."  (Char- 
ter of  mortification,  among  the  Papers  of  the  Kirk  Session  of 
Prestonpans.) 

It  appears  from  this  document  that  Davidson  was  a  native 
of  DuiiiFermline.  "  Mag'  Joannes  Dalzel"  was  master  of  the 
grammar  school,  when  this  charter  was  granted,  and  contin- 
ued to  hold  that  situation  in  1623.  (Gen.  Reg.  of  Decreets, 
vol.  cccclxvi.l7  July,  1633.) 

Note  HHH.  p.  377. 

Of  WeJivood's  Experiments. — The  patent  was  granted  to 
him  and  John  Geddy.  "  Knawing  alsua  that  the  advance- 
ment of  curious  and  quick  spreittis  yat  heirtofoir  hes  be  their 
singulare  ingyne  inventit  —  ony  perfyct  art  or  deuise — is 
gretelie  to  be  helpit,  fauourd  and  supportit — thairfor  vnder- 
standing  yat  his  hienes  belouit  clerkis  Mr.  W"  Wahvode  and 
and  Mr.  Johne  geddy — hes  be  yair  awin  singular  moyen 
naturall  Industrie  curious  Ingynis  and  knawledge  in  sciences 
InvenUt — an  easie  perfite  and  suddane  way  of  eleuatioun  of 
watteris  out  of  coill  pottis  sinkis  and  vtheris  low  places, 
heirtofoir  neuir  hard  or  at  the  liest  neuir  put  in  practize 
within  this  his  hieues  realme,  &c.  Gevand  license  &c," 
Nov.  13,  1577.     (Record  of  Privy  Seal,  vol.  xliv.  f.  116.) 

The  book  in  which  he  explains  his  plan  is  entitled,  "  Gvil- 
ielmi  Velvod  de  Aqva  in  altum  per  fistulas  phunbeas  facile 
exprimenda  apologia  demonstratiua.  Edinburgi  apud  Alexan- 
drum  Arbuthnetum,  Typographum  Regium,  1582."  Six 
leaves  in  4to.  The  dedication  is  dated  "  Andreapoli  pridie 
nonas  Nouembris  1582."  Prefixed  to  it  is  a  copy  of  verses 
by  Melville.  If  Welwood  had  persevered  in  his  experiments 
he  might  have  accidentally  made  the  discovery  which  after- 
wards occurred  to  Galileo.  He  proposed  to  produce  the 
effect  by  means  of  a  leaden  pipe  bent  into  a  syphon  and 
extended  on  the  exterior  so  as  to  discharge  the  water  at  a 
point  below  the  surface  of  the  welL  Having  shut  up  the  two 
extremities  of  the  pipe,  he  introduces  water  into  both  its  legs, 
by  an  aperture  at  the  upper  point  or  elbow  of  the  syphon, 
till  they  are  completely  full ;  and  then  closing  this  aperture 
with  great  exactness,  and  opening  both  ends  of  the  syphon, 
he  maintains  that  the  water  will  flow  out  of  the  exterior  or 
longer  leg,  as  long  as  there  is  any  in  the  well.  It  cannot, 
he  argues,  flow  out  of  the  short  leg,  for  it  has  no  head  or 
difference  of  level  to  give  it  the  power  of  issuing  in  that 
direction :  It  cannot  flow  out  of  both  legs  at  the  same  time ; 
for  then  it  behoved  it  to  separate  somewhere  in  the  middle, 
which,  according  to  him,  is  impossible,  as  nature  abhors  a 
vacuum :  Therefore,  it  must  flow  out  of  the  well  by  the 
longer  leg.  The  well  is  supposed  to  be  45  cubits  deep ;  for  our 
autiior  was  not  possessed  of  the  important  fact  that  water  will 
not  rise  to  a  height  above  33  feet.  In  other  respects  the 
principles  of  his  demonstrations  are  not  more  unscientifical 
than  those  which  Galileo  would  have  employed  sixty  years 
after  the  time  of  Welwood. 

In  the  year  1598,  the  parUament  granted  to  two  individuals 
the  sole  right  of  making  certain  "pompis  for  raising  and 
forceing  of  wateris — furth  of  mynes,"  &c.  (Act.  Pari,  Scot. 
iv.  176.) 


ORIGINAL  PAPERS. 

No.  I.     [Orig.  Brit  Mu8.  Lanadowne  MSS.  nanu  15,  24,] 

Letter  from  George  Buchanan  to  Sir  Thomas  Randolph. 

To  his  singular  freynd  M,  Randolph  maister  of  postes 
to  the  queines  g.  of  Ingland.     In  london. 

I  resauit  twa  pair  of  lettres  of  you  sens  my  latter  wryting 
to  you.  wyth  the  fyrst  I  ressavit  Marianus  Scotus,  of  quhylk 
I  thank  you  greatly,  and  specialy  that  your  ingles  men  are 
fund  liars  in  thair  cronicles  allegyng  on  hym  sic  thyngs  as 


he  never  said.  I  haif  beyne  vexit  wj'th  seiknes  al  the  tymc 
sens,  and  geif  I  had  decessit  }"e  suld  haif  losit  both  thankis 
and  rccompens,  now  I  most  neid  thank  you  bot  geif  wear 
brekks  vp  of  thys  foly  laitly  done  on  tlie  border,  than  I  wyl 
hald  the  recompense  as  Inglis  geir.  bot  gif  peace  followis 
and  nother  ye  die  seik  of  mariage  or  of  the  twa  symptomes 
follo'.Aing  on  mariage  quhylks  ar  jalozie  and  cuccaldry,  and 
the  gut  cary  not  me  away,  I  most  other  find  sum  way  to  pay 
or  ceis  kyndnes  or  ellis  geifmg  vp  kyndncs  pay  zou  w'  evil 
wordis,  and  geif  thys  fasson  of  dealing  pleasit  me  I  haif  reddy 
occasion  to  be  angry  wyth  you  tliat  haif  wissit  me  to  be  ane 
kentys  man,  quylk  in  a  mancr  is  ane  centaur  half  man,  half 
beast  and  yit  for  ane  certaine  consideration  I  wyl  pas  over 
tliat  iniury,  imputyng  it  erar  to  your  new  foly  than  to  aid 
wisdome,  for  geif  ye  had  beine  in  your  rj't  wyt  ye  being  anis 
escapit  the  temptsteous  stormes  and  naufrage  of  mariage 
had  never  enterit  agane  in  the  samyng  dangeris.  for  I  can- 
not take  you  for  ane  Stoik  philosopher,  having  ane  head 
inexpugnable  w'  the  frenetyk  tormetis  of  Jalozie,  or  ane 
cairkss  [margin,  skcptik]  hart  that  taks  cuccaldris  as  th3mg 
indifferent.  In  this  cais  I  most  neidis  praefer  the  rude  Scottis 
wyt  of  capitaine  Cocburne  to  your  inglis  solomonical  sapience, 
quhylk  wery  of  ane  wyfe  deUuerit  hir  to  tlie  queyne  againe, 
bot  you  deliuerit  of  any  wyfe  castis  your  self  in  the  samyn 
nette,  et  ferrepotes  dominam  saluis  tot  restibus  ullam.  and 
so  capitaine  cockbume  is  in  better  case  than  you  for  his 
seiknes  is  in  the  feitte  and  zouris  ui  the  held.  I  pray  you  geif 
I  be  out  of  purpose  thynk  not  that  I  suld  be  maryit  bot 
rather  consider  your  awyn  dangerouse  cstait  of  the  quhylk  the 
spoking  has  thus  troublit  my  braine  and  put  me  so  far  out  of 
the  way.  As  to  my  occupation  at  this  present  tyme,  I  am 
besy  w'  our  story  of  Scotland  to  purge  it  of  sum  IngUs  lyis 
and  Scottis  vanite,  as  to  maister  knoks  his  historic  is  in  hys 
fremdis  handis,  and  thai  ar  m  cosultation  to  mitigat  sum  part 
the  acerbite  of  certaine  wordis  and  sura  taintis  quhair  in  he 
has  followit  to  much  su  of  your  inglis  writaris  as  M.  hal  et 
suppilaiorem  eius  Graftone  &c.  As  to  M.  Beza  I  fear  y'  eild 
quhylk  has  put  me  from  verses  making  sal  deliure  him  sone  a 
Scabie  poetica,  quhylk  war  ane  great  pitye  for  he  is  ane  of 
the  most  singular  poetes  that  has  beine  thys  lang  tyme.  as 
to  your  great  prasyng  gevin  to  me  in  your  Ire  geif  ye  scome 
not  I  thaiik  you  of  Imf  and  kyndness  towart  me  bot  I  am  sorie 
of  your  corrupt  iugement  heir  I  wald  say  mony  miuries  to 
you  war  not  yat  my  gut  comandis  me  to  cesse  and  I  wyl  als 
spair  mater  to  my  nixt  writings.  Fairweall  and  god  keip  you. 
at  Sterling  the  Sext  of  august 

Be  youris  at  al  power 

G.  BcGHAKAir. 

No.  n.     [Cotton  MSS.  Calig.  C.  vii.  11.] 

Extract  of  a  letter  ^rom  Henry  Woddrington  to  Secrelary 
Walsingham.      1582,  Mail  HG. 

Upon  Wednesday  evening  the  xxiii"*  of  this  instant  Mr 
John  Dury  preached  in  the  Cathedrall  church  of  Edenbroughe 
where  diuers  noble  men  were  present  the  effect  thcrof  tending 
to  the  reproof  of  the  bishop  of  Glasco  as  playnly  tearmyng 
him  an  apostate  and  maynswome  traytor  to  god  and  his 
churche  And  that  even  as  the  scribes  and  pharises  could  fynd 
none  so  mete  to  betray  Christ  as  one  of  his  owne  schollcrs  & 
disciples  even  so  this  duke  with  tlie  rest  of  his  faction  can  not 
fynd  so  mete  an  instrument  to  subuert  tlie  religion  planted  in 
Scotland  as  one  of  their  owne  nombre,  one  of  their  owne  breth- 

rine,  and  one  nourished  amonge  tlieir  owne  bowels. And 

lykewise  he  touched  the  present  sent  by  the  duke  of  Guysc  to 
the  k.  in  this  manor  of  speaches. 

I  pray  you  what  should  move  Guyse  that  bluddy  p'^secutor, 
y'  enemy  vnto  all  treuth,  that  piller  of  the  pope  to  send  this 
present  by  one  of  his  trustiest  servants  vnto  C  k.?  not  for 
any  love  no.  no.  his  pretence  is  knowen.  And  I  beseach  the 
lord  the  church  of  Scotland  feale  y'  not  ouersone.  The  k. 
matie  was  perswadcd  not  to  reccave  y'  for  why  1  what  amytie 
or  freindshipp  can  we  looke  for  at  his  hands  who  hath  bene 
the  bluddiest  persecutor  of  the  professors  of  the  trothe  in 
all  france  neither  was  any  notable  murder  or  havock  of  gods, 
but  ho  was  at  that  in  person.  And  yiet  for  all  this  the 
duke  and  Arrain  will  nedes  haue  o'  king  to  take  a  present 
from  liim. 

If  god  did  threaten  the  captivitie  and  spoyle  of  Herusalem 
because  that  there  king  Hesekia  did  reccave  a  Ire  and  present 
from  the  king  of  Babylon,  shali  we  think  to  be  free  comytting 


ORIGINAL  PAPERS, 


419 


the  like  or  rather  worse  1  And  because  yo"  my  11^  w'^''  both 
doe  sec  me  and  even  at  this  p''nt  heares  me  I  say  because  you 
shall  not  be  hereafter  excusable  I  tell  yo"  that  tho"  with  teares. 
I  feale  such  confusion  to  ensewe,  y'  I  feare  me,  will  be  the 
subuersion  and  ruyne  of  the  preaching  of  gods  Evangile  here 
in  the  church  of  Scotland.  I  am  tlie  more  playne  w'^you 
because  I  knowe  their  is  some  of  yo^^  in  the  same  action  wth 
the  rest  I  knowe  I  shalbe  called  to  an  accompt  for  thcs  words 
here  spoken,  but  let  them  doe  with  this  carkasse  of  myne 
what  they  will  for  I  knowe  my  sowle  is  in  the  hands  of  the 
lorde  and  therefore  I  will  speake  &  that  to  yo'  condcmnaon 
vnlesse  yo"  spedely  returnc. 

And  then  in  his  prayers  made  he  prayd  viito  the  Lord  either 
to  convert  or  confound  y''  duke. 

The  sermon  was  very  longe,  godly,  and  plaine,  to  the  great 
comfort  and  reioice  of  the  most  nombre  that  herd  yt,  or  doe 
here  of  yt.  And  for  thes  pouits  w'='^  I  am  enformcd  of  I 
thought  yt  convenycnt  to  signifie  the  ssane  vnto  yo"^  honor.  134. 

No.  m.  [Orig.  Harl.  MSS.  num.  7004.  3.] 
Letter  of  Andrew  Melville  to  T.  Savile,  aiid  G.  Carhton. 
Doctissimis  adolescentibus  et  amicis  integenimis  D.  Th, 
Savile  et  G  Carletono  Oxoniensibus.  Oxonium. 
Humanitas  erga  me  vestra  incrcdibilis,  et  amor  in  vos  mens 
singularis  flagitabant  a  me  iamdiu  literas :  easq  ad  singulos 
vestrum  priscipuas  potius,  quam  utrunq  commmies.  Vcrum 
nee  antea  quidquam  ad  vos  literarum  dedj,  iis  de  causis  quas 
facilius  est  vobis  existimarc  quam  mihi  scribcre:  et  nunc 
demu,  cum  a  mc  vt  scribam  impetro,  non  ausini  disiungcre 
epistola,  quos  tot  intcriorcs  literaj,  tanta  morum  similitudo 
bonorum,  tam  praiclara  honestissimarum  artium  studia  arctio- 
ribus  amicitise  vinculis  coniungunt:  nee  distrahi  patitur  antea- 
actffi  vitas  iucundissima  consuetudo.  Quare  vos,  pro  vcstram 
istam  veterem,  et  nuperam  banc  niter  nos  amicitiam  oro  atq 
obtestor,  vt  prreteritam  cessationem  meam  mihi  pro  vestra 
humanitate  condonetis  :  et  has  vnas  ad  vtrunq  literas,  binarum 
aut  etiam  plurum,  ad  singulos  vestrum  loco  esse  patiamini : 
Nee  me  proptcrea  non  virum  bonum  esse  putetis,  si  vobis 
videar  duos  parictcs  de  cadem  lidelia  dealbare :  Quanquam 
pictorum  mos  est :  tamcn  finitimus  pictori  poeta  nee  pigmcn- 
torum  arculis  liberatior,  quam  liberior  atKlcndi  licentia.  Verum 
hsBC  parcius  :  ne  dum  me  excuso,  de  Carletoni  aut  arte  aut  gloria 
detraham.  Cuius  spiritu  in  poesi  nihil  generosiiis,  nihil  ecloga 
dulcius,  nihil  cultius  aut  argutius  cpigrammatc :  adeo  vt,  si  om- 
nia hoc  modo  scripserit,  non  solum  a3qualcs  omnes  superare,  sed 
etiam  cum  omni  antiquitate  ccrtarc  videatur.  De  munere  litcrario, 
qua  mc  re  de  facie  quidem  antea  ignotum  vterque  vestrum 
affecistis,  habeo  gratiam ;  Vt  csetera  omittam  humanitatis 
officia,  tum  ab  vnivcrsa  fere  acadcmia  in  nos  homines  ignotos 
profecta,  tum  a  vobis  in  me  praecipue  collata.  Ita  viuam  vt 
nihil  usquam  ^•idcrem  in  omni  vita  splendidius  aut  magnificen- 
tius  vestra  acadeniia  :  nihil  gravius  prsEceptoribus  aut  discipu- 
lis  humanius  :  nihil  vobis  duobus  aut  amabilius  aut  amantius  : 
fortuncdi  ambo  ;  si  quid  wea  car  nana  pos.^wif,  etc.  Immo 
tua  Carletone  potius,  qua;  plurimu  atque  adco  omni  possunt 
ad  te  et  alios  a  mortalitatis  et  oblivionis  iniuria  vindicandos. 
Ad  quam  mirifica  in  pangendis  versibus  felicitatem  acccdit 
incrcdibiUs  rerum  mathematicanim  scientia.  Diuinum,  Saville 
ingenium,  et  eruditio  tanta,  quantam  in  istam  retatem  credere 
nunquam  putauj.  Quid  nmlta "?  /aukit  Iiklov  cnccTru  aXAo 
6aA:TV6TS?iv  sv  ofxtgi.  (prtitvov  ai7T/:iv  ig>:f/.d.iii  a/fis^cf,  &c.  Verum 
de  vobis  alias  et  apud  alios.  Quod  rcliquum  est,  suauissime 
idemq  doctissirae  Sauile,  cxpcctatione  promissi  tui  fretus 
humanitate  tua,  moneor,  vt  admoncam  te,  non  vt  flagitem : 
quid  est"!  fortassc  inquis.  Maniliana  tua,  vol,  si  mauis,  Scal- 
igerana,  liccat  mihi  per  te  (vel  tuo  potius  beneficio  conce- 
datur)  ex  interuallo  regustata.  Superiora  tua  in  me  bene- 
ficia  hac  etiam  accessionc  (mihi  crede)  non  parum  cumula- 
bis.  Salutem  a  me  ct  fratrihus  toti  Academise  et  nominatim 
vestro  coUegii  prefecto  ceterisq  amicis  communibus.  Va- 
lete  tyx-vgiai,  Raptim  liondini.  15  Decemb.  1584. 
Vestri  Studiosissimus 

Axn:  Melvincs. 

No.  IV.     [Orig.  Harl.  MSS.  num.  7004.  2.] 
Arrhbiihop  Adamson  to  Archbishop  W/iitgiff. 

Pleia  your  grace  inicdiatle  after  my  retourninge  in  Scotland 
the  king  his  maiestc  held  his  parliamet  where  besides  many 
loveable  a',-tis  his  liicncs  hath  restored  in  integru  tlie  estate  of 
Bishops  and  hath  contramandet  the  seignoreis  presbitereis  not 
only  be  good  reasoun  of  Scripture  and  antiquitc,  hot  likwayis 


in  respect  his  hiens  had  livele  experience,  that  they  wer  gret 
instrumcntis  of  unquietnes  and  rebellioun  be  there  populare 
disordo^  I  doubt  not  your  G.  hathe  beene  sufficietlie  enform- 
cd of  the  late  attemptatis  moved  be  some  of  Or  nobiUtie  wher- 
vnto  many  ministeris  being  prive  and  their  seignoreis  and 
therefore  not  able  to  abyde  the  triall  of  the  law  are  fugitive 
in  England  w-here  they  pretext  as  I  am  certe3Tile  enformcd, 
the  caus  of  religiovm  albeit  it  be  of  an  undoubted  truth,  that 
they  have  no  other  caus  hot  there  practizinge  counsellinge 
and  allowing  of  the  last  seditious  factis  and  the  refusinge  of 
the  lawfull  authoritie  of  there  ordinorcis  the  Bishops,  wher- 
vnto  notwithstanding  the  godle  and  quiet  spirites  w'in  the 
realme  hathe  willingle  aggreit  and  subscryved  The  quhilk  I 
have  thoght  most  necessare  to  advertez  your  grace  vpon 
whose  shoulderis  the  care  of  the  spiiituall  estate  dothe  chefle 
repose,  that  your  grace  may  be  moste  assured,  that  the  king 
his  maistie  o''  master  his  entention  is  with  the  sincerite  of  the 
word  qlk  his  hienes  in  his  heart  dothe  reverence,  to  conforme 
sik  an  police,  as  may  be  an  example  to  other  comounwealthis, 
as  I  did  show  yo'  g.  in  particulare  conferee  at  yo""  awin  hous 
of  Lambeth,  I  am  assured  divers  misreportis  wilbe  made  vnto 
yo''  G.  of  the  banishment  of  so  many  ministeris  hot  your  g. 
shall  beleve  that  there  is  never  one  banished,  nether  have  they 
abiddin  that  notable  sentence  of  Johnne  Chrisostome,  Ego  ex 
hoc  throno  non  discedam  nisi  impeiatoria  vi  coactus,  for  they 
are  fugitive  onele  vpon  their  awin  guiltines  Swa  that  I  am 
moste  assured  if  her  maiestc  be  your  g.  shalbe  sufiicientlie 
enformed  of  the  truthe,  her  hienes  will  not  suflcr  sik  slaunder- 
ous  persounes  vndcr  pretext  of  religioun  to  abyde  in  her 
counirey  to  infccte  the  estate  of  Englande  w'  their  seditious 
practises  qlk  tliey  have  bene  about  to  cstabUss  in  this  coun- 
trcy  And  for  my  awin  parte  your  g.  may  assure  her  hienes 
albeit  her  m.  hathe  bene  othcrweyis  enformed  at  my  beuig  in 
England,  that  after  my  small  credite  and  habilite  I  shall  endca 
vc  my  self  to  the  prcservas^'un  of  the  true  religioun  profcssit 
in  the  whole  yle  and  comoim  quietncs  and  mutuall  amite  of 
her  m.  nnd  o'  master  In  the  qlk  poynte  if  her  m.  had  further 
employed  me  at  that  tyme  I  could  have  done  what  laye  in  me, 
But  your  g.  knawis  in  what  ielose  my  doings  wer,  albeit  I 
protest  afore  god  I  ment  nothing  bot  in  sincerite  of  heart, 
wishing  next  Or  master  best  prosperitie  to  her  hienes  for  the 
conservation  of  the  truth  in  this  ysland  be  there  concorde. 
I  shall  not  forgeit  yo''  g.  galloway  naig,  in  tcstimonie  of 
mutuall  favor,  when  any  opportunit  comodite  shall  present  the 
self  be  any  sufficiet  berar,  wishing  heartle  your  g.  welfare  and 
to  assist  ws  with  your  I.  prayer,  help  and  gudwill  at  her  hienes 
hande  in  maynteininge  of  this  goode  work  against  tlie  preten- 
ded seignoreis,  the  end  whereof  tendis  to  evert  monarcheis 
and  destroy  the  scepto'  of  princes  and  to  confounde  the 
whole  estate  and  iurisdictioun  of  the  kirk  qlk  I  should  be  verie 
sore  after  so  longe  continewance  of  tyme  to  see  decaye  in  our 
dayis,  Nostra  sccordia  et  ignauia  qui  ad  clavum  sedemus.  It 
wilbe  your  g.  pleasor  to  salute  my  lorde  bishope  of  London  in 
my  name  and  my  Lorde  archbishop  of  york  his  grace  for  the 
goode  entertenement  I  resavcd  at  his  house,  thanking  her 
hienes  most  humble  therfore,  committis  your  g.  to  the  protec- 
tioun  of  god  frome  S'  Andross  the  16  of  Junij  1584 

Yo''  gracis  verie  lovinge  and  assured 
brother  S5'mmyste  and  coopcrare 
in  the  lorde  his  vyneyard 
Patrick,  Archbischop of  S'  Sanctandross 
To  my  lorde  his  grace  of  Canterburie  geove  these. 

[No.  V.     Cotton  MSS.  Calig.  C.  viiL  54,  G3,  78.] 

Extracts  of  Letters  from   William  Davito7i  to  Secretary 
Walsingham  concerning  the  administration  of  Arran. 

Edinb.  Juaie  15,  1684. 
-Upon  a  Ire  written  to  the  Magistrats  of  this  towne 


by  Mr.  Ja :  Lawson  signifyinge  the  causes  of  hiis  withdraw- 
inge  himself  from  his  charge  the  k.  had  caused  an  answere  to 
be  drawen  &  sent  hether  to  the  said  Magistrats  &  Burgesses 
to  be  subsigned  by  them  charginge  Mr.  Ja :  and  his  fellow- 
ministers  w'l'hereticall  and  seditious  doctrine,  w""  other  things 
verie  hard  in  tlieir  reproche  vi'^^  beinge  presented  vnto  them  and 
redd  in  open  counsell  the  Provost  who  hathe  ben  heretofore 
condempned  as  a  man  to  plyable  to  the  hard  commandements 
of  this  courte  suddenlie  brake  forth  into  an  exclamacon  desire- 
inge  to  lyve  no  longer  as  one  that  hadd  alreadie  seen  too  much 
of  the  miseryes  to  come  vppon  his  country  and  immcdiatelie 
beinge  readie  to  swonnc  in  the  counsell  was  conveiged  home 
extreamlie  sick  and  now  lieth  verie  hardlie  and  not  like  to 


420 


ORIGINAL  PAPERS. 


escape.  Notwithstanding  both  he  and  the  rest  thought  it 
good  to  deput  ccrten  of  their  companie  to  repaire  ^^lto  the  k: 
w""  their  humble  excuse  and  petition  that  thei  might  not  be 
forced  against  their  consciences  to  slaunder  thos  against  whos 
integritie  of  Jief  and  soundnes  of  doctrine  thei  cold  never  take 
exception,  but  in  fme  tlie  prsons  and  Ire  are  retomed  with 
flatt  charge  to  subscribe  it  in  the  forme  it  is  or  aunswer  the 
contempt  at  their  p'ills.  The  Secretary  Mateland  beinge 
appointed  to  see  it  don  and  to  take  the  names  of  soche  as  shall 
refuse  the  same. 

At  St.  Androwes  the  Bushopp  hathe  in  the  meantyme 
played  his  part  so  well  in  the  pursute  of  good  men  as  that 
both  the  professo"  and  students  in  the  Colledge  of  Theologie 
haue  abandoned  the  place  and  w'l'drawen  themselves  for  ther 
suerties  where  th^  can  find  safeest  refuge. 

Edinb.  July,  1584. 

Mr.  James  Skeene,  the  Jesuit  of  whome  I  haue  here- 
tofore aduertised  your  bono"'  had  as  I  credibly  leame  previe 
access  [to  a  con]ference  40  *  at  St  Androwes  It  is  assured 
me  that  [he  hath]  secrett  comission  both  from  20  and  others. 
&  hath  desyred  sorely  for  the  home  comeing  of  diuers  of  his 
fellow  Jesuitts  W^*"  he  bathe  thus  farr  ol)teyned  that  they  shall 
be  ouirscen  and  not  troubled  by  his  Ma'^  or  his  lawes  so  they 
will  tak  their  hazard  against  the  popular  fury,  &  with  this 
caution  that  they  be  not  ouirhasty  thereui  till  matters  be 
better  settled  w'^'^  trafficque  w""  him  &  others  of  his  sorte  doth 
wonderfully  increase  the  fear  &  suspicion  of  this  k.  desertion 
or  careles  accompt  of  religion. — Your  honor  may  have  some 
ghess  of  Osgood  natures  in  Court  by  their  sorrow  for  the 
murther  of  the  poor  pr.  of  orenge  w*  40  hath  openly  confessed 
to  be  such  an  end  as  he  deserued.  &  is  generally  allowed 
and  reioyced  at  amongst  the  most  part  of  our  poUitiques 
theare.  Having  written  thus  farr  tliis  letter  being  vnclosed 
till  this  morning  by  occasion  of  some  expected  aduyse  from 
a  friend  or  two  I  have  in  the  mean  tymc  vnderstood  that  Mr. 
John  Howeson  minister  of  Paslay  is  apprehended  &  to  pass 
on  assyse  the  xxii*  of  this  p'nt  af  Perth,  for  inveighing  agednst 
the  late  acts  of  p^liament  &  course  taken  against  religion  for 
w"*  he  is  lyk  to  be  executed.  And  the  whole  Regents  &c 
others  of  the  College  of  Glascow  for  the  same  opinion 
sumoned  super  inquirendis  so  as  yo"'  may  see  we  are  afrayd 
of  nothing  les  [than  that]  the  woild  should  be  ignorant  what 
mark  we  shoote  at. 

Edinb.  Aug.  16,  1584. 

"  On  thursday  p''clamcon  was  made  here  that  all  ministers 
should  giue  vpp  the  rentalls  of  their  benefices  into  the  exche- 
quer to  th'  end  that  none  hereafter  receave  any  p'"fitt  of  their 
livings  but  such  only  as  shall  submit  themseluea  and  subsciybe 
to  their  new  framed  pollicy.  Mr.  Andrew  Hay  who  w">  diuers 
others  hath  absolutely  refused  yt  is  comaundcd  to  dcp't  the 
country  w"'in  XX  dayes  w^'speciall  inhibition  not  to  repayre 
into  Ingland  or  Ireland  whose  ayre  they  hold  as  contagious 
and  for  the  same  cause  the  vniversity  of  Glascow  is  by  the 
Bishopps  diligence  made  vtterly  vacant  the  colledge  was  lockt 
vpp,  the  students  dismissed,  &  the  Regents  and  M"  commyt- 
ted,  the  lyk  curtesie  being  exercised  towards  them  of  St.  An- 
drowes and  Abirdeene  as  if  theis  bishopps  thought  their  glory 
and  surety  to  stand  in  bringing  in  ignorance  and  confusion 
into  the  schooles  &  by  the  same  degrees  corruption  & 
Athcisme  into  the  church  wherein  their  lal/  hath  great  appear- 
ance of  eifect,  if  this  coOTsc  be  longe  contincwed. 

The  B.  of  St.  Androwes  hath  addressed  one  Mr.  Archibald 
Harbishoune  into  England  aswell  to  call  home  some  of  his 
countrymen  w""  vs  &  and  of  his  own  humor  to  occupy  the 
roomcs  of  honeste  men  as  for  some  other  purposes  with  the  fr. 
ambassador. — There  is  little  appearance  that  the  Bishopps 
here  can  longer  brooke  their  newe  empyre  w*  quiet  either  in 
respect  to  th'  cause  or  th"^  p'sons  w'=''  are  gneally  condempned. 
At  St.  Androwes  there  was  the  last  week  an  alarm  given  to 
the  Bishopp  by  certain  of  the  students  remayning  there  & 
others  to  the  number  of  xx  or  xxx  p'^sons  euery  man  with  his 
barquebuzt  who  bestowed  the  most  p't  of  the  night  in  shoot- 
ing against  the  wyndowes  both  of  the  Castell  where  the  B. 
laye  and  of  his  house  in  tlie  townc  leaving  a  testimony 
behind  them  of  their  good  meaning  towards  him.  On  the 
morrow  the  Bishopp  thinking  to  haue  gotten  tryal  of  this  fact 
caused  the  few  students  of  the  colledge  w'^''  were  remaning  to 
be  conveen!3d  in  the  public  schooles  making  very  diligent  inqui- 
sjcon  of  tlie  former  nighta  disorder  but  found  nothing  save  that 


♦  It  appears  from  another  letter  of  Davison,  (Cal.  C.  vliU  78.)  ihai. 
40  is  the  cipher  for  the  King  of  Scotland. 


such  as  were  suspect  and  examined  though  thej  dcnyea  their 
presence  confessed  they  wished  the  Bishopp  so  well  as  it  was 
not  so  sclender  a  revenge  as  that  could  satisfie  them  for  the 
publique  hurt  he  had  done,  and  willed  him  to  remember  how 
fatall  that  sea  had  been  to  his  predecessours  &  to  looke  for  no 
better. 

No.  VI.     [Orig.  m  Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.  M.  6.  9.  num.  34.] 

Extract  of  a  letter  from  Mr.  D.  Andersone  to  certain  Minis- 
ters in  Scotland,  conveying  information  respecting  Scotch 
Papists  in  Germany. 

From  Auspurgh  in  high  Almanie  the  27  of  April,  1596. 

Right  worshipful  and  deare  bretheren  in  Christ — I  foresee- 
ing the  storme  imminent  and  hearing  of  the  pernicious 
intentions  of  the  enemies,  haue  not  desisted  till  I  came  to  the 
knowledge,  (yf  not  of  all)  yet  of  the  most  part  of  ther 
intentions  actions  &  purposes,  by  using  the  help  of  good 
christians,  abborrers  of  idolatrie,  men  secrete,  faythfuU  and 
prudent.  At  Rome  Tirie  the  Jesuit,  and  Archibald  Hamilton 
the  apostat  with  great  instance  and  manifold  supplications 
have  soUicited  the  Pope  Clement  the  8,  and  the  College  of 
Cardinals  to  erect  a  Seminarie  ther  for  the  education  in  Rom- 
ish impietie  of  such  youngiins  as  by  their  direction  doe  come 
from  Scotland  ;  who  afterwards  being  made  masse  priests  and 
Jesuits  may  be  sent  into  Scotland  for  the  propagation  of 
popish  religion  with  the  mine  of  the  present  estate  of  that 
realme :  but  nothing  as  yet  is  determined ;  notwithstanding 
they  are  in  hope  that  ther  petition  shall  take  effect,  seeing 
Gregorie  the  13  builded  three  seminaries  in  Rome  for  stran- 
gers, one  for  the  English,  another  for  the  Dutchc,  and  the  third 
for  the  Mauretanians  or  Africanes  :  Lut  the  matter  is  not  so 
hottlie  prosecuted  now  as  it  was  before,  by  reason  of  Hamil- 
tons  death,  who  departed  at  Rome  the  30  of  Januarie  1596. 
LesUe  bishop  of  Rosse,  John  Hamilton  popish  priest  and 
Ligeur ;  William  Chrichton  and  James  Gordon  Jesuits,  who 
remayn  most  commonlie  in  Brusels  (except  Gordon,  who  is 
most  commonlie  with  Huntlie  and  Arole.  either  at  Leids  with 
the  bishop  of  Colon,  or  at  Namur  in  the  companie  of  Span- 
iards) are  verie  busie  with  Albert  Cardinall  of  Austria,  prcscntlie 
Lieutenant  for  the  Spanish  King  in  the  Netherlands,  for  obtain- 
ing of  sum  aide  to  assist  Huntlie  and  Arole  with  their  com- 
plices in  Scotland  for  the  extermination  of  all  the  professors 
of  the  true  reformed  rehgion  in  that  realme ;  I  heare  that 
Walter  Lyndesay  for  the  furtherance  of  ther  matters  is  sent 
unto  the  King  of  Spaine ;  but  I  hope  in  God,  that  tliey  shall 
come  short  of  ther  expectations ;  seeing  the  Spaniard  hath 
more  yrnes  in  the  fyre  than  he  can  well  handle,  and  more 
mightie  princes  in  Christendome  justlie  his  enemies,  than  he 
with  all  his  forces  is  able  to  resist.  The  Spanish  concile  also 
taxeth  the  foresaid  Earles  of  the  breach  of  ther  promise,  who 
in  the  yeare  1592,  (when  the  Spaniard  concluded  to  aid  the 
papists  in  Scotland  with  20000  men)  after  the  rccete  of  great 
summes  of  Spanish  gold,  not  only  then  but  at  diverse  other 
tymes,  oblished  themselves  to  take  armcs  with  all  possible 
diligence  agaynst  all  those  of  the  reformed  rehgion  hi  Scotland, 
and  also  to  advance  the  Kuig  of  Spayns  practizes  not  only 
ther,  but  also  m  England  and  Ireland,  to  the  uttermost  of  ther 
power ;  which  nevertheless  according  to  promise  they  have 
not  performed.  But  tliey  to  excuse  themselves,  first  alledge 
the  reveUng  of  ther  intentions,  secondlie  that  Rol)crt  Bruce 
(a  principal  trafficker  in  those  treasonable  alfayres)  delivered 
not  those  summes  of  money  unto  them  which  were  promised, 
partlie  for  the  hyring  of  souldiours ;  and  partlic  for  Uie  grati- 
fying of  gentlemen  Romish  Catholikes,  and  Clannes,  to  make 
the  more  prompt  and  courageous  in  tlic  Spanish  service ;  for 
which  cause  Brusse  is  straitlie  imprisoned  ;  and  sharply  accus- 
ed by  the  forenamed  Earles.  In  high  Germanic  the  Scotish 
Papists  have  some  abbayes  praiscntly  in  jwssession ;  as  at 
Reusburgh  in  Bavaria,  the  abbots  name  is  James  Whytc  borne 
neere  abcrdene :  the  prior  is  called  James  Winnet  (Ninian 
Winniets  nephew  Whits  pra;deccssour)  ;  raonkes  ther,  Lessiie 
cosin  to  Lessiie  the  bishop;  DarnpuU;  James  Bog,  John 
Bogs  sone  one  of  his  majesties  })orters ;  two  novices  are  gone 
thence  to  Rome,  tlie  one  his  name  is  Wddard  home  in  Edin- 
burgh, he  studied  in  jiragc  with  the  Jesuits  ;  the  other  is  one 
Lermonth  borne  neere  Sanctandrosse  the  laird  of  Darsies 
brother  sone.  Ther  is  also  another  popish  priest  sent  to 
Rome  by  the  Scottish  abbots  as  I  suppose;,  to  obtaine  a  license 
of  the  pope  that  some  of  them  may  return  into  Scotland,  to 
traflSck  ther  with  the  papists  and  to  bring  some  nuntber  of 
young  boyes  with  them  in  Germanic  (but  more  hereafter  of 


ORIGINAL  PAPERS. 


421 


this  purpose.)  The  popish  priest  that  is  sent  to  Rome  is  call- 
ed Adame  Sympson  borne  in  Edinburgh,  he  was  long  a  ser- 
vant in  Newbattle,  afterwards  in  france  he  served  Archibald 
Hamilton  the  apostat,  and  from  him  he  went  with  the  Earle  of 
Westmorland  into  Spaine;  lastlie  he  served  George  Carr, 
Trafficker  for  the  Spaniards  in  Scotland.  In  the  yeare  of  God 
1.594  and  1595  he  said  masse  sometymes  ui  the  Lord  Herise 
hous ;  sometymes  in  Arols  hous,  and  in  the  young  lord  of 
Bonitons  hous  called  Wodd  :  he  came  last  out  of  Scotland  in 
the  companie  of  Huntlie ;  he  is  a  verie  craftie,  cruel,  and  pes- 
tiferous papist,  but  unlearned.  The  second  Scottish  abbey  in 
Germanic  is  at  Wirtzburg  in  Frankland ;  the  abbot  ther  is 
Richard  Wrwin  borne  about  Dumirisse,  he  was  sometymes  ser- 
vant to  the  old  lord  Herise,  and  attended  at  Santandrosse  in 
the  old  college  on  his  sone  Edward  Maxwell  now  abbot  of 
Dundrennen  and  laird  of  Lamingt«n :  he  was  sent  from 
Parise  by  the  popish  bishop  of  Glasgow  to  Winiet  abbot  of 
Reusburg,  and  ther  made  a  monke ;  he  is  a  drunken,  igno- 
rant, subtill  and  malicious  fellow.  The  prior  at  Wirtzburg  is 
called  francos  Hamilton  of  the  hous  of  Stanhouse,  as  he 
sayeth,  but  I  rather  thinke  that  he  is  one  of  the  Hamiltons  of 
Santandrosse ;  he  was  sometymes  at  pont  mison  in  Lorainc, 
and  afterwards  studied  under  the  Jesuits  at  Wirtzburg  and 
Reusburg ;  ther  is  not  a  more  blasphemous  cruel  and  vtra- 
gious  enemie  against  the  gospel  of  Christ  of  our  nation  then 
this  Hamilton :  but  withall  a  proud  unlearned  bodie :  The 
third  Scotishman  at  Wirtzburgh  his  name  is  John  Stuard 
borne  about  Glasgow  a  boy  of  18  years  of  age;  more  monkes 
Scotishmen  they  have  not,  because  none  of  our  nation  that 
fearcth  God  will  enter  into  so  infamous  and  idolatrous  a  soci- 
ety. The  third  Scottish  abbey  is  at  Erfurd  in  the  land  of 
Thuringia,  the  abbots  name  is  John  Walker,  borne  I  think 
about  Disert  in  Fyfe  ;  he  is  all  alone  for  want  of  Scottish  pa- 
pists. The  Scottish  pajnsts  of  the  foresaid  places  have  had  a 
meeting  at  Wirtzburg  the  19  of  April  1596  according  to 
the  direction  of  the  pops  legat  in  Germanie,.  and  the  bishop  of 
Wirtzburgh,  called  Julius  Extar  (one  of  the  greatest  enemies 
that  the  gospel  of  our  Saviour  hath  in  Germanie)  for  the  elect- 
ing of  some  of  these  Scottish  papists  to  send  into  Scotland 
this  yeare,  and  that  for  two  causes  cheiflic  ;  first,  that  they  may 
learne  the  whole  state  and  condition  of  the  countrey,  and  con- 
sult with  the  papists  ther,  what  is  to  be  done  for  the  subver- 
sion of  the  present  state  of  religion  in  Scotland  ;  secondlie  to 
make  a  choice  of  childrene  between  the  ages  of  12  and  18 
years  to  be  broght  into  Germanie,  partlie  for  the  furnishmg  of 
their  abbays,  not  only  which  prajscntlie  they  poascsse,  but  also 
of  those  places  which  they  are  in  hope  to  obtaine  at  the  pops  and 
Emperours  hands  ;  the  abbayes  are  there,  one  in  Vienna,  two  at 
Colen,  one  at  News  at,  one  at  Ments,  and  another  at  Wormes  : 
and  partlie  that  these  younglmgs  may  be  educatetl  with  tlie  Jesu- 
its to  be  sent  afterwards  into  Scotland  for  the  effecting  of  ther 
purposes :  the  bishop  of  Wirtzburgh  hath  promised  to  main- 
tain at  his  charges  threescore  of  these  yong  boyes,  the  Bishop 
of  Saltzburgh  fortie  and  the  bishop  of  Reusburg  twentie  till 
they  be  able  to  be  made  masse  priests,  Jesuits  or  monkes  :  It 
is  thought  that  either  Wrwin  or  Hamilton  shall  be  sent  this 
summer  into  Scotland  for  that  purpose,  '/'he  lard  of  Lething- 
ton  called  Metalcn  departed  from  the  Earles  at  Lieds  about 
the  20  of  August  1595  towards  Rome,  in  all  his  journey  he 
had  long  and  serious  conferences  with  the  Jesuits :  Gordon 
and  Crichton  Scots  Jesuits  and  one  called  Holt  an  English 
Jesuit  gave  him  letters  of  recommendation  to  all  those  places,  as 
also  a  direction  to  recxjave  of  the  Jesuits  at  everie  neede  three 
hundreth  crownes  for  the  better  expedition  of  his  affaires : 
what  letters  he  had  to  the  pope,  college  of  Cardinals  or  the 
Spanish  Ambassadour  at  Rome,  either  from  enemies  at  home 
or  abroad  I  know  not :  your  wisdomes  may  judge  that  his 
going  so  long  and  tedious  a  journey  was  not  for  small  trifles. 
Whiles  he  remayned  in  Scotland  in  the  Lord  Herise  his 
father  in  laws  hous  he  had  great  intelligence  with  many  po- 
pish priests  both  English  and  Scottish  but  namely  with  one 
Sicill  an  English  priest  that  lurkcth  most  commonhe  in  the 
Lord  Heriscs  hous  or  in  the  borders  not  farr  from  thence : 
they  use  commonlie  the  help  of  a  poor  craftie  knave,  unsus- 
pected of  any  man  I)ecause  of  his  outward  simplicitie,  in  cary- 
ing  and  recarying  of  letters  between  the  papists  of  England 
and  Scotland  whose  surname  is  Horsburgh,  ho  hanteth  in 
Dumfrisse  and  tliose  quarters.  Places  most  dangerous  in  Scot- 
land are  the  Southwest  and  Northeast  where  Gods,  the  kings, 
and  whole  realms  enemies  are  receaved,  harboured  and  inter- 
teyned.  In  Scotland  prajsentlie  (yf  they  he  not  of  late  departed 
out  of  the  land)  there  are  Jesuits,  Mackwhuiry,  Mirton,  Abcr- 


cromie  and  ane  Murdoch,  spies  for  the  Spaniard,  and  noto- 
rious traitors  to  God,  his  church,  the  kings  majestie,  and  the 
whole  land.  There  is  also  in  Germanic  one  named  Archibald 
Anderson  who  is  my  half  brother  by  the  flesh  a  professor  of 
the  Greke  tongue  in  the  Jesuits  CoUedge  at  Grats  in  the  coun- 
trey of  Stiria,  whom  I  soght  to  reduce  from  that  papisticall  bon- 
dage ;  but  he  knowing  of  my  coming  to  Cramaw  in  Bohemia 
where  tlien  he  remayned  was  suddenlic  transported  from 
thence  by  the  Jesuits  to  Vienna. 

No.  VII,      [Orig.  in  Bibl.  Jurid.  M.  6.  9.  num.  32.] 

Letter  from  John,  Earl  of  Gowrie* 

To  my  beloved  brother  M.  Jhone  Malcome  Minister  at  Perth. 

"EvKoynTOY  Mtoi  TO  hvo/jia.  Tovjitov  he  cuava. 

Beloved  brother 
Having  taken  occasione  to  wret  to  Scotland  wald  not  omitt 
my  deutie  to  you  in  visiting  you  with  this  letter,  that  therby 
ye  my*  vnderstand  of  my  present  estate  quhilk  continues  as  of 
before,  praising  God  from  my  hairt  that  of  the  riche  abundance 
of  his  gude  grace  and  mere  mercie  hes  maid  the  beames 
and  licht  of  his  countenance  to  shine  upon  me  most  fauorably 
to  be  ane  guide  to  conduct  me  saiflie  per  hunc  Avemum 
quherin  mony  here  {quorum  oculi  densa  caligine  et  nebulis 
obfttscaii  sunt)  o  miserum  specfaculum  !  are  drouned  in  his 
justice.  I  meane  not  at  all,  ahsit ,-  for  I  am  acquainted  with 
diuersheir  qui  etiam  inter  fias paludes stigiashes  neuer  boued 
ther  kne  to  Baal :  quhat  ane  maruell  is  this  and  quha  can  be- 
leue  it ;  and  yet  it  is  certanly  true,  glorifcetur  igitur  Dots  in 
op^ilms  suis  ac  eo  magis  quo  sunt  mirubiliora  wnfa.  tdv  <^v<rn. 
There  was  ane  notable  exemple  of  constancie  not  long  ago  in 
ane  Silesian  minister  of  some  threscorc  ycarcs  and  mair  quha 
efter  he  hes  beine  deteined  in  prisone  about  nyne  yeares  and 
the  Jesuites  had  trauailed  with  him  to  recant  bot  persaiffing 
that  thei  could  prevaile  nothing  at  his  handis  caused  bring  him 
to  the  fyre  lyke  bludie  dogges  quhere  efter  he  had  maid  ane 
excellent  discours  and  harang  to  the  people  shauing  them  the 
grat  honor  he  was  callit  to  in  suffering  for  Christis  sake  and 
exhorted  them  to  conuersione  abode  most  patientlie  without 
ony  shrinking  all  tormentis  magnifeing  Godis  holy  name  and 
praying  that  ther  sinnes  myt  be  forgiuen  them.  Efter  he  wes 
bront  not  being  yet  satisfied  of  the  crueltie  that  thei  had  usit 
against  him  quhen  he  wes  lining  did  cast  ane  gret  heap  of 
stones  vpon  his  ashes  multo  swviores  quam  erant  Judiei  ad- 
vcrsus  Sfephanum.  Ther  were  vtheris  quha  for  feare  of  death 
ett  that  same  tyme  maid  filthie  apostacie  fra  the  true  Religione 
to  that  damnable  Idolatrie  and  at  that  instant  that  ane  of  them 
begane  to  deny  Christ  in  making  defectione  there  isshued 
bluile  out  of  his  nose  in  suche  gret  abundance  that  all  did  see 
him  thout  he  sould  haue  dyed  presentlie  this  wes  ane  visibill 
signe  of  the  hand  of  God  that  chopped  on  him  quha  hed 
done  suche  ane  villanie  aganist  his  conscience  for  to  purchase 
his  owen  lyffe  quhilk  he  wes  not  worthee  to  bruik  by  the  loss 
of  his  soule.  Bot  these  renegatcs  not  the  les  escaped  not 
ther  awin  punishment  for  they  all  were  send  ad  triremes, 
ubi  non  vnius  horse  spatio  vitam  Jinituri  sed  morien- 
tfs  semper  nee  tamen  mcrientur.  Laitlie  efter  these  thin- 
gis  ane  certane  Inglishe  man  being  moved  on  zcle  to  cast 
ther  focra  fioitia  (as  thei  most  falsie  callis  it)  out  of  the 
priestis  handis  that  wes  careing  it  in  processione  to  the 
grund,  and  to  stramp  on  it  with  his  fete  wes  apprehendit  and 
denudit  of  his  clothes  thcreftcr  ane  hude  putt  on  his  heade 
quheron  wes  painted  the  dcuilis  image  and  some  with  bleasis 
quha  bnmt  him  continually  in  the  backe  and  brest  as  he  walk- 
ed fordwart  bot  he  in  the  meane  tyme  wes  occupiet  in  shau- 
ing the  people  hou  thei  were  schamfulHe  abused  be  there  mis- 
cent  Iddolers  quha  wer  leading  them  to  there  auin  damnatione. 
In  end  he  spake  with  suche  ane  vehemencie  that  the  enymies 
caused  knett  his  toung  fearing  some  uprnre  to  enseu  if  he  had 
gottin  ony  forder  libertie  to  speke  so  he  wes  brot  to  the  place 
of  executione  quhere  Ufting  vp  his  eyis  to  heauen  and  on  his 
knees  kissing  the  chaine  he  wes  bund  with,  they  caused  firet 
cut  of  his  hand  for  the  fact  he  had  committed  with  it  and  nixt 
bume  him  quicke.  All  thir  thingis  were  done  in  Rome  that 
mother  of  all  vyce  and  hoorishc  synagog  of  deuils.  I  am  soiy 
that  my  absence  will  not  permitt  me  to  kyth  my  mynd  and 
gudwill  in  helping  to  sett  furth  Godis  glorie  ther  cui  totus  ex 
iininio  incui'ibcrem  bot  quhen  at  his  gude  pleasure  I  returne 

♦  This  is  tlip  nobleman  wlio  is  so  well  known,  in  consequence  of  hiB 
name  having  been  given  to  that  much  contested  and  dark  atlair— 
the  Generic  Cotispiract/. 


422 


ORIGINAL  PAPERS. 


sail  with  his  grace  inJeuore  my  self  to  amend  quliatsomeuer  is 
omitted  for  laike  of  my  presence.  I  thank  you  most  hartfully 
of  your  rememberance  of  me  in  your  prayeris  desyring  you 
earnestlie  to  contineu  according  to  the  loue  ye  cary  to  the  sal- 
vatione  of  my  soule.  Thus  remembering  my  very  loving 
commendationis  to  yourselff  with  the  haill  ny'bouris  of  the 
toune  Committis  you  with  them  all  to  the  protectione  of  the 
Omnipotent. 

At  Padouathe  28  of  Nouember  1595. 

Youris  alwayis  affectionat 

GOWRTE. 

I  dout  not  bot  ye  haue  hard  long  sioce  of  the  Papes  bene- 
dictione  given  to  the  king  of  France  quhilk  lies  turned  to 
ane  maledictione.  No  vther  ncuis  occurris  heir  for  the 
present,  bot  now  againe  laitly  ther  is  some  IngUshmen 
put  in  the  hous  of  inquisitione  in  Kome. 

No.  Virr.  [Melvini  EpistoliE  MSS.  p.  29.] 
Melvinus  ad  Senatum  Anglicanum. 
Artaxerxes  cognomento  memoriosus  in  veterem  Judeorum 
ecclesiam  ab  exilio  reducem  Pcrsarum  Monarcha  bencficentis- 
simus,  Legem  de  cuitu  divino  et  rcligione  moderanda  sanxit 
divinitus  in  ha;c  verba :  Quirl//uid  est  de  sententia  Dei  cceles- 
tisperJicUur  diUgentur  in  doino  Del  ccclestis  .•  ut  iwn  sitfer- 
vens  ira  in  regnum  regem  et  filios  ejus.  Hanc  ego  legem 
cum  similibus  sacrae  scripturte  locis  non  negligentissime  com- 
paratam,  multo  antequam  Angliam  hac  vice  cogitassem,  sajpe 
mecum  et  diu  multumque  pro  muneris  mihi  divinitus  mandati 
ratione,  meditatus,  tertio  abhinc  anno,  Septombri  mense  ver- 
gente  in  aede  Hamptoniana  jussus  sacris  interesse,  tarn  specta- 
tor quam  auditor  insolens,  pro  re  nata  carmen  breve  et  Dra- 
maticum,  Regise  majestati,  invocato  numine,  recitandum  feci. 
Cujus  exemplum  inscio  me  descriptum  et  depravatum  ct  muti- 
lum  postea  Novenibri  prfficipite,  niihi  coram  amplissimo  senatu 
criminis  loco  objectum  :  ct  anni  insequentis  adulto  vcre  dcnuo 
exacerbatum  fuit.  In  hac  causa  dicenda  sine  fuco  et  fallaciis 
more  majorum,  et  mcis  versicolis  a  criminis  atrocitate  cujus 
affinis  non  cssem  libere  vindicandis,  si  quid  mihi  tam  necessa- 
rio  tempore  meo,  minus  dccore  pro  hiijus  gentis  indole  et  reg- 
ni  moribus  respondent!  humanitus  excidit,  quod  quemquam 
mortalium  jure  offenderit,  nedum  Senatum  ampiissimum,  ut 
ejus  ego  sive  erroris  sive  rusticitatis  pocnam  biennali  carcere 
adhuc  luo :  ita  vcniam  supplex  primum  a  Deo  patre  indulgen^ 
tissimo,  deindc  a  Britanniarum  Rcge  Clementissimo,  denique 
ab  amplissimo  Senatus  singular!  aequanimitate,  ctiam  atque 
etiam  peto. 

No.  IX.       [Orig.  in  Arch.  Eccles.  Scotic.  vol,  xxviii  num.  6,] 

Letter  from  Andrew  Melville  to  Sir  James  Sempill 
of  Beltrees, 

My  dewtie  humblie  remembered  Please  yo'  w,  being  pre- 
vented by  yo'  undeserved  kindness,  I  am  emboldened  to  aske 
your  counsel  and  good  advice  at  this  tyme.  I  heare  that  the 
Duke  of  Bullon  hath  requested  his  Ma.  by  letters  and  by  my 
Lord  Wotton  Ambassadour,  in  my  favour,  and  that  his  Ma.  is 
not  unwilling  to  shew  me  some  gracious  favour.  Therfor  I 
thought  it  my  dewtie  to  offer  my  humble  service  unto  the 
Prince  Highnes  as  a  naturall  subject.  And  if  bashfulnes 
wold  suffer  me  to  speak  the  Irutii,  one  come  of  those  wliome 
his  roycll  progenitors  hath  acknowledged  not  only  faithfull  ser- 
vants but  also  friendly  kinsfolk.  8o  that  naturall  affection 
should  command  me  reverently  to  hono'  and  faithfully  to  serve 
his  Ma.  and  progeny,  namely  his  highnes  whome  the  Lord  ad- 
vauceth  to  succeed  in  the  royall  throne,  which  is  established 
by  two  ground  pillars  of  ,Iut>lLcc  and  Reliigion,  whereof  the 
last  hath  Injcn  my  calling  and  exerceis  these  36  years  at  the 
least  in  my  owne  native  countrie,  except  so  much  as  England 
hath  broken  off  the  course  of  my  ordinarie  traveles.  I  was 
transported  thirtie  j'eers  ago  l>y  the  advice  &  authoritie  both  of 
generall  Assembly  and  three  estats  at  his  Ma,  command  from 
Glasco  (wh(;re  six  ycers  the  Jjord  had  blessed  my  labours  in 
letters  &  reliigion  to  the  comfort  of  the  church  &  honour  of 
the  countrie)  unto  St,  Androis  for  reforming  of  the  Universitie, 
and  erecting  a  coUcdgc  of  Diviniiie  for  the  profession  of  learn- 
ed tongues  &  Thcologie  against  the  Seminaries  of  Reni.s  and 
liome:  wheniii  I  was  placed  by  Commissionars  both  of 
Church  and  Counsel!,  authorized  with  his  Ma.  commission  in 
most  solemn  manner.  And  I  for  my  i>art,  inmodestie  to  utter 
the  trutli,  I  dare  not  48ay  but  I  have  Ikcu  f;ullifull  in  my  great 
weaknes  notwilhstaniiin;?  michty  op()Osition:  but  these  four 
ycers  l)ypa.-!t  und  more  I  have  been  willihoklen  from  y'  doing 


of  my  dewtie  to  my  countrie  and  church  of  God  therein,  as  is 
notoriously  knowen,  to  my  great  regrate.  Now  Reason  and 
Conscience  bind  me  to  this  obligation  of  my  calling  and  dis- 
charge of  my  dewtie,  if  so  it  wold  please  his  Ma.  And  I 
feare  the  necessitie  of  that  holy  work  wold  crave  help,  that  the 
fountaines  of  Learning  and  Reliigion  be  not  dryed  up  in  our 
barren  country.  And  my  old  age  doth  no  less  crave,  if  not 
rest  from  travel,  at  the  least  an  honest  retreat  from  warefaro 
within  my  own  garison  and  corsgard,  with  hope  of  buriall  with 
my  ancestors.  In  the  meanetyme  I  offer  my  humble  service 
unto  tlie  Prince  his  highnes,  if  your  w,  think  it  expedient, 
with  the  advise  of  my  two  intire  and  speciall  friends  Sir  James 
Fowlarton  and  Mr.  'riiomas  Murray,  to  whome  these  presents 
will  make  my  heartie  comendations.  So  taking  my  leave  I 
recomend  you  S""  to  the  grace  of  God  till  a  joyful  meeting  at 
his  good  pleasour, 

Yo"  in  y''  Lord  to  be  conmaandit 

An.  Meltijte. 
London  Tower  this  first 
of  December  1610. 

No,  X,     [Bibl,  Jurid,  Edin.  M,  6.  9,  num,  42,] 

Letter  from  Andrew  Melville  to  Robert  Durie  at  Lei/den. 

Right  reverend  and  dearly  beloved  father  in  the  Lord  Jesus, 
your  last  letter  was  full  of  kyndly  stufie,  and  so  was  very 
sweet  to  me,  namely  your  owne  godly  and  constant  resolution, 
quhareunto  adscribe  mesocium  inutrumque  tuum  paralum, 
ad  *  *  *  aut  manendum,  arbitratu  nostri  fi^stCtunv  iteu 
stymiSmv.  Tecum  ego  viuere  amem,  etiam  obeam  e^o  libens. 
Receave  fra  tliir  bearar,  your  sone  Johne,  his  oration  with 
thanks,  and  great  hope  he  shall  be  a  good  instrument  after 
our  departing.  We  have  heard  nothing  farther  of  Scotts  or 
Inglish  newes,  but  only  the  returning  of  Mr,  Digbie  ambassa- 
dar  from  Spaine  who  be  now  adjoyned  to  the  secret  counsali 
for  his  faithfull  service.  So  that  we  look  to  hear  shortly  of  the 
L.  Somerset  &  his  la.  and  vyers  their  complices.  We  expect 
the  returning  of  oure  duke  and  prince  from  Parise  thiswceke 
at  the  farrest,  the  peace  being  ratified  from  the  parliament  of 
Parise,  From  Mr,  Johne  Forbess  neuer  a  word  haue  we  yet 
receavcd,  and  so  remaine  we  in  suspence :  only  the  ministrie 
of  Fhssing  as  you  wrait  appears  to  say  sumthing,  whereof  I 
gather  litle  comfort  or  gratious  answer  from  the  monarche, 
Lord  be  mcrcifuU  to  his  chosen  and  faithfull  servants,  f/uibus 
vbi  desinet  hiimaniim  ibi  incipit  diuinum  aitxilium.  In 
uno  Ckristo  sunt  omnia  ad  bene  beateque  viuendum.  Ipsa 
est  lux,  via,  Veritas  et  vita.  Ab  ipso  est  Paracletus,  *«/  TrdL^tt.- 
iiK>i<rii;,  Kut  Ti  'VdigdLfAvQioy  th  ctyuTrn;.  I  thank  you  for  Roscus 
and  Godartius.  things  goes  not  euill  as  we  haue  heard.  Bot  we 
cannot  bot  feare  the  act  from  the  state  to  the  classes,  howbeit 
we  know  not  '.as  yet  tlie  contents  thereof.  I  thank  you  also 
for  Mr.  Robert  Bruce  that  constant  confessor  and  almost  mar- 
tyr of  our  Lord  Jesus,  The  liOrd  [keep]  him  and  Iris  forever. 
I  never  remember  him  and  his  w'out  comfort  and  heart 
lift  up  to  God  And  so  doe  I  when  I  remember  or  hears  or 
speaks  of  any  of  you  all  that  suffers  for  Christ  and  his  church, 
Faiiic  wold  I  hear  good  things  from  Mr,  William  Scotte,  Mr, 
Joline  Carmiclicll  &  Mr.  Johne  Dykes  whom  I  hope  the  Lord 
hath  not  left  destitute  of  his  good  spirit,  but  that  they  shine  as 
burning  lamps  in  the  mids  of  that  confused  darkness.  Mr. 
Patrick  Symsonc  triuiiqjhes,  whose  ccclcsiustick  history  I  heare 
be  cum  furth  bot  not  cum  to  our  hands,  quam  ego  prclio  du- 
plicato  redimam.  I  cannot  tell  whats  bccum  of  Mr,  Jas,  Car- 
michells  laliours,  or  whether  he  be  yet  aliue.  Mr,  Johne  David- 
sone  left  sum  nots  behind  of  our  tymc,  and  so  did  Mr,  Johne 
Jonstoun.  I  speak  notliing  of  my  Cousing,  I  wold  all  were 
safe  to  mak  out  a  true  narnitioun  to  the  posterity,  I  left 
with  my  lufmg  and  faithful  gossep  your  father  in  law  Mr. 
Knox's  letters,  I  wish  them  to  be  furthcuming.  Mak  my  hart- 
ly  commendations  to  him  &  his,  and  Icarnc  what  you  can  of 
all,  Jjet  the  bishops  be  mowdewarps,  we  will  lay  our  treasure 
in  the  heavins  quher  they  he  sure.  Fed  niche  nearer  to  St 
Androis  nor  Durisie  could  not  (saue)  their  fed  sowe  from  the 
graue.  My  collect,  graucU  and  gutte  be  messengers  (bot  not 
inqwrtune)  to  spoyle  my  patience,  hot  to  exercise  my  faith. 
My  health  is  better  nor  I  wold  looke  for  in  this  age,  praised  be 
the  true  mediator.  To  whose  glory  it  may  scruc,  to  the  bene- 
fitt  of  his  church.  My  cummer  and  all  \he  bairns  be  locked 
vvp  in  my  heart,  whom  I  recommend  with  you  to  the  grace  of 
our  heavenly  Father  in  the  bowels  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  This  in 
great  haist,  with  commendations  to  all  friends  thair. 

Tnus  ut  suus 

Scdani  24  Maij  1616.  A.\.  MtLuiLi- 


MEMOIR 


OF 


MR.    WILLIAM    VEITCH, 

WRITTEN  BY  HIMSELF  : 


WITH 


OTHER  NARRATIVES  ILLUSTRATIVE  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND, 
FROM  THE  RESTORATION  TO  THE  REVOLUTION. 


TO    WHICH    ARE    ADDED, 
BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES  AND  NOTES, 

BY    THOMAS    M'CRIE,    D.  D 


423 


i't/s: 


PREFACE. 


The  pieces  composing  this  volume  relate  to  an  important  period  of  our  national  history,  which, 
after  all  that  has  been  written  on  it,  still  admits  of  farther  illustration. 

The  Memoirs  of  Mr.  William  Veitch  are  printed  from  a  MS.  belonging  to  David  Constable,  Esq. 
advocate,  who  very  obligingly  put  it  into  my  hands  with  a  view  to  publication.  It  bears  to  have 
been  "  written  and  carefully  collated  with  the  original,  Aug.  11,  1727."  In  the  Advocates  Library 
is  a  copy  of  a  Diary,  chiefly  religious,  written  by  Mrs.  Veitch,  which  confirms  and  throws  light  on 
several  passages  of  her  husband's  Memoirs.  The  original  of  this  is  in  the  possession  of  W.  Hen- 
derson Somerville  of  Fingask  and  Whitecroft,  Esq.  a  descendant  of  Mr.  Veitch,  to  whom  I  am  in- 
debted for  the  use  of  several  documents  relating  to  the  family.  Others  were  communicated  by  Mr. 
Short,  Town  Clerk  of  Dumfries.  I  have  also  to  acknowledge  the  kindness  of  the  Reverend  Dr. 
Duncan  of  Dumfries,  and  the  Reverend  Mr.  Somerville  of  Drumelzier,  in  furnishing  me  with  ex- 
tracts from  the  church-records  in  their  bounds,  which  were  very  useful  to  me  in  drawing  up  the 
Supplement  to  Veitch's  Memoirs. 

Colonel  Wallace's  Narrative  of  the  Rising  suppressed  at  Pentland  is  taken  from  a  MS.  in  the 
College  Library  of  Edinburgh,  which  is  rather  strangely  entitled  "  Rump  Parliament,"  but  which 
contains  a  history  of  the  affairs  of  Scotland,  chiefly  ecclesiastical,  from  the  year  1659  to  1675.  It 
is  evident  that  Mr.  Kirkton  had  consulted  it,  when  he  composed  his  History  ;  but  a  narrative  of  that 
affair,  drawn  up  by  the  individual  who  commanded  the  Presbyterian  forces,  appeared  to  me  to  merit 
publication. 

The  collection  is  closed  with  a  Narrative  of  the  Rising  suppressed  at  Bothwel  Bridge,  written  by 
James  Ure  of  Shargarton,  a  gentleman  who  acted  a  prominent  part  on  that  occasion.  It  is  preserved 
in  the  Advocates  Library,  and  may  be  viewed  as  an  appropriate  accompaniment  to  the  preceding 
narrative.  The  circumstance  of  its  having  been  composed  by  one  who  took  the  moderate  side  in 
the  disputes  which  divided  those  who  had  recourse  to  arms  at  this  time,  was  an  additional  induce- 
ment to  publish  it ;  as  all  the  separate  accounts  of  this  affair  already  before  the  public,  were  written 
by  persons  attached  to  the  opposite  party. 

Biographical  notices  of  the  writers  of  the  two  last  articles  are  prefixed  to  their  respective  narra- 
tives. The  object  proposed  in  the  notes  was  to  illustrate  the  text,  not  to  indulge  in  reflections  on 
the  facts  which  it  details.  In  collecting  materials  for  these,  I  derived  much  assistance  from  Mr. 
Meelf,  on  whose  accuracy  in  making  extracts  I  could  always  rely,  and  who  often  discovered  facts 
additional  to  those  which  he  was  instructed  to  search  for.  Some  may  be  of  opinion  that  unneces- 
sary pains  has  been  taken  in  the  editing  of  the  work ;  but  having  undertaken  to  superintend  the 
publication  of  these  memorials,  and  considering  them  to  be  valuable,  I  reckoned  it  incumbent  on  me 
to  do  them  as  much  justice  as  possible.  With  a  little  more  labour  a  connected  history  of  the  period 
might  have  been  produced,  but  I  am  persuaded  that  no  account  which  I  could  draw  up  would  present 

so  graphic  a  picture  of  the  men  and  measures  of  that  time,  as  is  exhibited  in  the  following  historical 
3  D  425 


426  PREFACE. 

pieces.  The  reader  has  an  opportunity  of  listening  to  persons  who  describe  scenes  which  they 
witnessed,  and  in  which  they  bore  a  part,  more  or  less  distinguished.  Agreeing  in  their  religious 
and  political  sentiments,  they  were  placed  in  very  different  situations  :  one  of  them  being  an  eccle- 
siastic, another  a  military  man,  a  third  a  private  gentleman,  and  a  fourth  a  farmer  and  a  merchant  at 
different  periods  of  his  life.  Their  style  of  writing  is  of  course  various  ;  but  all  the  narratives  have 
that  pleasing  character  which  marks  the  compositions  of  men  who  write  on  a  subject  with  which 
they  are  familiarly  acquainted,  and  in  which  they  feel  a  deep  interest. 

In  the  Appendix  some  papers  are  inserted  which  do  not  bear  a  very  intimate  relation  to  the  narra- 
tives in  the  preceding  part  of  the  work,  but  which  I  thought  worthy  of  being  brought  to  light.  Of 
this  kind  are  the  letters  which  contain  a  notification  of  the  seizure  of  the  registers  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland,  and  which  give  an  account  of  the  printing  of  Caldervvood's  History.  It  appears  from 
these  documents  that  the  last-mentioned  work,  though  in  a  form  much  more  contracted  than  that  in 
which  it  was  originally  compiled,  was  exactly  printed  from  a  manuscript  which  the  author  himself 
had  carefully  prepared  for  the  press ;  and,  consequently,  it  can  no  longer  be  viewed  either  as  of 
doubtful  authority  or  as  an  abridgement  made  by  a  different  hand. 

Edinburgh,  16th  May,  1825. 


■  r-S'i 


MEMOIRS 


OP 


WILLIAM    VEITCH. 


Mr.  Veitch  was  born  at  Roberton,  in  the  shire  of 
Clydesdale,  seven  miles  from  Lanark,  and  in  that  pres- 
bytery, in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1640,  April  27.  He 
was  the  youngest  child  of  Mr.  John  Veitch,*  minister 
of  that  place  for  the  space  of  about  forty-five  years. 
His  mother  was  a  pious  and  frugal  woman,  very  dex- 
terous in  house-keeping  and  educating  of  children ; 
which  her  husband  knew  little  of  as  to  family  affairs. 
Her  name  was  Elizabeth  Johnston,  a  merchant's  daugh- 
ter in  Glasgow. 

He  (Mr.  John  Veitch)  had  many  sons,  three  where- 
of were  ministers,  and  of  no  mean  repute  in  this 
church,  viz.  Mr.  John  Veitch  was  minister  of  West- 
ruther,  in  the  shire  of  Berwick,  above  fifty-four  years. 
He  died  at  Dalkeith,  the  month  of  December  in 
the  year  1703,  as  he  was  returning  home  from  atten- 
ding the  commission  of  the  Kirk  ;  j"  and  is  buried 
there  among  his  ancestors,  who  had  a  considerable  es- 
tate in  and  about  that  town  for  a  hundred  years  togeth- 
er;  and  his  eldest  brother  Robert  Veitch  sold  the  last 
of  it,  aVid  lies  there  himself:  the  one  of  them  was 
eighty-four  and  the  other  eighty-five  years  when 
they  died.  On  Oct.  4,  1685,  by  order  from  Chancellor 
Perth,  Mr.  John  Veitch,  minister  of  Westruiher,  was 
taken,  and  carried  prisoner  to  Edinburgh,  by  Sir 
Adam  Blair  of  Carberry,  younger ;  and  lay  all  night 
in  the  guard  keeped  at  Hol-yroodhouse.  Oct.  5,  1635. 
He  was  sent  to  the  tolbooth  in  a  most  unusual  manner  ; 
made  close  prisoner,  his  keeper  sworn  neither  to  carry 
any  word  to  him,  nor  take  any  out  from  him,  nor  to 
suffer  any  to  speak  to  him  ;  and  in  his  absence,  lest 
any  one  should  speak  in  at  the  d  ■()[•  to  him,  or  he  to 
them,  two  soldiers  constantly  guarded  his  door:  pen 
and  ink  were  taken  from  him.  In  this  case  he  contin- 
ued for  the  space  of  twenty  weeks, :{:  till  January  16, 


*  Mr.  John  Veitch.  the  father,  was  ejected  from  his  parish, 
and  in  September  1664  was  residing  at  Lanark.  In  1671  he  was 
still  alive;  for  in  that  year,  October  6,  we  find  a  retour — -Mr. 
John  Veitch,  lute  minister  at  Robertoun,  heir  of  Mr.  David 
Veitch,  schoolmaster  at  Salton,  his  brother.  (Inquis.  Retorn. 
Gen.  5464.) 

+  "  Mr.  John  Veitch,  minister  of  Westruther,  died  at  Dal- 
keith, going-  home  from  the  Conmiission,  Dec.  1703,  I  think." 
(MS.  note  on  Mr.  William  Veitch's  family  Bible.) 

\  There  must  be  some  oversight  here.  It  is  not  twenlj  weeks 
from  October  4, 1685.  to  January  16,  1686.  From  the  King's  let- 
ter of  the  17th  October  to  the  Council,  (Wodrow  ii.  577.)  it  is 
evident  that  his  examination  was  on  or  before  21st  September 
1685.  Perhaps  October  in  Veitch,  is  an  erratum  for  September. 
The  same  error  is  committed  by  Wodrow,  ii.  p.  577.  Fountain- 
hall  has  the  following  notice  concerning  him,  October  24, 
1685; — "  J.  Veitch  falling  sick,  and  supplicating  for  a  physician, 
they  would  allow  none  to  go  in  to  him  but  the  apostate  Doctor 
Sihbald,  which  was  looked  on  by  some  as  strange."  (Decis.  i. 
371.)  The  Doctor  here  referred  to,  is  the  well-known  Sir  Ro- 
bert Sibbald,  who  had  turned  Papist. 


1686.        This  was  found  marked  with  his  own  hand 
among  his  papers.* 

Another  son  of  his  was  Mr.  James,  who,  after  he 
had  been  seven  years  a  regent  in  the  college  of  Glas- 
gow, was  called  to  be  minister  in  Mauchlin,  in  the 
shire  of  Ayr,  about  the  year  1656,  and  was  turned 
out  by  the  prelates  and  parliament  that  set  up  prel- 
acy, anno  1662  ;  he  being  one  of  the  seven  leading 
ministers  in  the  west,  that  the  parliament  took  to  task 
to  see  if  they  could  bring  them  into  a  compliance  with 
that  new  government ;  which,  if  they  could  have  done, 
might  be  a  mean,  as  they  apprehended,  to  make   the 


*  Wodrow  has  inserted  a  letter  from  the  council  to  the  King, 
(September  21,  1685,)  giving  an  account  of  their  having  exam- 
ined Spence  and  Mr.  John  Veitch,  on  some  surmises  thrown  out 
by  Sir  John  Cochran  and  his  son,  affecting  the  earl  of  Murray  and 
the  Lord  Register,  as  to  alleged  correspondence  with  Lord  Mel- 
vil,  and  some  malversations  of  the  Lord  Advocate.  The  King, 
by  a  letter  of  the  17th  October,  rebukes  them  severely  for  inter- 
fering with  the  chancellor's  prisoner,  (J.  Veitch,)  and  "  admires 
by  what  persuasion"  they  could  have  been  induced  .so  to  do. 
The  council  reply  on  the  25th,  stating  more  precisely  what  they 
did  with  regard  to  Veitch,  and  adding,  "  One  of  the  chief  motives 
that  induced  us  to  believe  that  we  might  examine  him,  was, 
that  my  Lord  Chancellor's  order  did  not  expressly  bear  that  no 
person  or  judicature  should  examine  him,  which,  if  it  had  been, 
we  would  have  had  that  just  deference  to  my  Lord  Chancellor's 
order,  as  not  to  have  examined  him ;  but  the  order  bearing  only, 
that  no  person  should  speak  with  or  see  him,  we  only  consid- 
ered Veitch  to  be  in  the  condition  of  other  close  prisoners,  whom 
the  council  uses  to  examine.  But  whatever  the  practice  has 
been,  it  is  sufficient  for  us  that  your  Majesty  has  excluded  all 
examination  in  such  cases  for  the  future,  which  we  shall  humbly 
and  heartily  obey.  And  to  show  that  no  interest  of  ours  did  or 
shall  induce  us  to  believe,  that  your  Majesty,  by  yourself  or 
your  order,  may  not  examine  any  person  whatsoever,  either  as 
to  us  or  your  Majesty's  servants,  we  again  renew  the  ac- 
knowledgement in  our  former  letter,  that  informations  are  to  be 
received  against  the  best  of  servants;  and  we  may  be  the  safer 
in  this  acknowledgement,  that  we  are  so  happy  as  to  live  under 
a  prince  who  will  protect  the  innocence  of  his  approved  ser- 
vants."    (Wod.  ii.  576,  577,  578.) 

It  would  appear  that  Mr.  John  Veitch  had  been  prosecuted, 
if  not  imprisoned,  more  than  once.  Wodrow  says,  he  was 
summoned  before  the  council,  October  5,  1680,  for  preaching 
without  licence  at  Anstruther,  probably  Westruther.  Not 
compearing,  he  was  denounced,  and  put  to  the  horn.  "We 
shall  afterwards  hear  that  he  was  taken  and  kept  close  pris- 
oner at  Edinburgh  about  a  year's  time,  under  no  small  hard- 
ships. He  was  allowed  neither  candle  nor  fire  the  whole  time; 
his  wife  was  never  allowed  to  speak  to  him,  but  in  the  presence 
of  two  or  three  soldiers.  He  pressed  much  to  be  brought 
to  a  trial,  but  that  could  not  be  allowed.  The  reason  of 
this  cruel  and  unchristian  treatment  was,  that  when  the  curate 
died,  at  the  invitation  of  the  people,  he  returned  and  preached 
to  his  own  people  from  whom  he  had  been  violently  thrust 
away."     (Wod.  ii.  128.) 

Though  his  name  does  not  appear  in  Wodrow's  lists  of  in- 
dulged ministers,  both  that  historian  and  Fountaiiihall  speak  of 
him  as  indulged.  "  August  2.  1683,  seven  of  the  indulged  min- 
isters  being-     pannelled    for    breaking    their   instructions,   in 

427 


428 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


other  ministers  that  were  outed  of  their  kirks  to 
comply  also.*  The  ministers'  names  that  were  thus 
staged  before  the  parliament  with  my  brother,  were, 
Mr.  John  Carstairs,  minister  of  Glasgow  ;  Mr.  James 


preaching  without  their  bounds,  or  against  the  test;  five  of 
them  were  continued  under  caution  to  the  1st  of  December 
next;  and  the  other  two,  viz.  Mr.  John  Veitch.once  at  Wester- 
Anstruther,  (Westruther,)  and  Mr.  Antony  Shaw,  were  incar- 
cerate, because  their  guilt  seemed  greater  than  that  of  the 
rest."  (Fountainhall's  Decis.  i.  236-7.)  December  10,  "Mr 
Veitch's  diet  is  deserted,  on  caution  that  he  compear  when 
called."     (Wod.  ii.  307.) 

"  In  1684,  at  the  circuit   court  held   by   Balcarras,  Yester, 
and  Drummelzier,  for  Berwick,  Roxburgh,  &c.  at  Jedburgh, 
October  10th,  on  application  made  by  George  Veitch,  writer  in 
Edinburgh,  the  Lords  repone  Mr.  John  Veitch  at  Westruther, 
against  the  sentence  passed  at  Dunse  upon  absents,  his  absence 
being  owing  to  infirmity,  on  the  said  George  giving  bond  of  5000 
merus  for  his  father's  compearing  when  called.     In  the  abstract 
of  their  proceedings,  they  state  that  Mr.  James  Fletcher  at  Nen- 
thorne  was  the  only  indulged    minister  within  their  district. 
(Public  Papers.)     If  Mr.  Veitch,  therefore,  had  been  formerly 
indulged,  his  indulgence  must  have  been  withdrawn;    proba- 
bly ill  1683.     (Wod.  ii.  307.)      The  above-mentioned  sentence 
at  Dunse,  in  his  absence,  may  have  been  on  some  charge  of  ir- 
regularity; or,  if  an  heritor,  the  court,  by  their  instructions, 
could    punish    him  for  absence  from    the    King's  host.      The 
distinction,    suggested    in  the    following  quotation,    between 
connivance  and  indulgence,    may  perhaps    explain    what    ap- 
pears obscure  in  the  above  statement.     In  a  cause  of  a  nonju- 
rant  minister  claiming  his  teinds,  Feb.  16,  1694,    "  The  Lords 
compared  the  late  act  with  the  3d  act  1662,  depriving  the  Pres- 
byterian ministers;  the  one  (the  act  1662)  inilicted  it  ipso  jure, 
and  the  other  ipso  facio;  and  it  was  alleged,  that  such  Presby- 
terian ministers  as  continued  to  preach  by  connivance,  contrary 
to  the  law,  got  their  stipends,  as  was  found  in  1664,  in  the  case 
of  Mr.  John   Veitch,  minister  of  Westruthers."      (Fountain- 
hall's  Decis.  i.  609.)     Possibly  the  subject  of  this  note  is  the 
person  intended  in  a  retour  recorded  2d   April   1824,  Christie 
patri.     Among  other  lands  of  tlie  barony  of  Bassendean,  refer- 
red to,  is  the  five  merk  land  of  Bassendean  "  acquisit.  a  Joanne 
Edgar  de  Wedderlie,  at  Mto.  Joanne   Veitch,  evangelii   minis- 
tro  apud  Woolstruther,"  &c.  within  the  parish  of  Woolstruther 
and  shire  of  Berwick.     The  date  of  the  purchase  is  not  given. 
*  In  March  1669,  wc  find  Mr.  James  Veitch  in  a  list  of  elev- 
en ministers,  who,  at  the  instigation  of  the  Archbishop  of  Glas- 
gow, were  cited  to  attend  a  meeting  of  noblemen  and  gentle- 
men  at  Ayr,  for  preaching  and   baptizing  irregularly.      The 
oflScer,  a  Major  Cockburn,   employed   to  cite  them,  not  .only 
obliged  them  to  give  bond  for   their  compearance,  but   turned 
some  of  them  with  their  families  out  of  doors  at  twenty-four 
hours  warning.     Two  of  them,  Veitch  and  Mr.  Blair  ofGals- 
ton,  were  allowed  300  merks  each  for  damages;  so  sensible 
were  the  council  of  the  injustice  done  them.     The  council's 
procedure,  and  Mr.   Fullerton's    speech  in  name  of  the  whole, 
are  given  in  Wodrow.     (Hist.  i.  298,  8u:.)     It  is  somewhat  cu- 
rious, that  this  matter  was   issued    on  the  very  day,  (April  8,) 
that  the  council  ordered  a  proclamation  against  conventicles  in 
the  shires  of  Lanark,  Renfrew,  Ayr,  and  Kirkcudbright,  making 
heritors  liable  to  a  fine  of -£50  sterling  for  every  such  meeting 
held  on  their  property;  and   in  the  printed  copies,  it  is  said,  a 
clause  was  added,  for  fining  tenants  on  whose  bounds  they  were 
held   in  £100   Scots.     (Wod.  i.  300.)     When   the  indulgence 
was  resorted  to,  James  Veitch  was  appointed  to   Mauchlin,  his 
former  charge.  (Ibid.  i.  307.)     In  1675,  he,  with    Mr.   John 
Gemlile,   confined  to   Symington,   and    Mr.    Hugh    Campbell, 
confined  to  Muirkirk,  are  summoned  for  exercising  their  office 
beyond  their  own   parishes,   apjjointing  a   fast,  and    ordaining 
young  men.     Wodrow    gives    the    letters    and    summons   at 
length,  (Hist.  i.  399.  400,  )  but  supposes  the  prosecution  had 
been  let  fall  through  the   interest  of  Lord   Stair,  whom  we  af- 
terwards find  to  be  a  friend  to  our  Veitch.     Nov.  3,  1681,   he. 
together  with  Messrs.    John  Hutchinson  at  Dundonald,  and 
Robert  Miller  at  Ochiltree,  is   libelled  before  the   council  for 
excommunicating  (debarring  from  the  sacrament)  such   as  de- 
serted or  disowned  the  covenant  by  taking  the  bond  of  peace; 
and   not  compearing,  he  was  denounced.     On  the  24th  oi  No- 
vember he  compeared,  and  petitioned  to  be  reponed;  but  was 
served  with  an  additional  libel,  further  charging  him  with  tak- 
ing parents  obliged,  at  tlie  baptism  of  their  children,  to  edu- 
cate them  conform  to  the  National    and   Solemn   League  and 
Covenants;  and  with   not  only   breaking   his  confinement,  but 
keeping  classical  meetings  for  discipline  and  ordination.      The 
Advocate  referred  all  to  his  oath.     Mr.  Veitch   denied  all  the 
articles  of  the  libels  "  as  they  stand  libelled,"  and  no  probation 
being  ready,  he  was  assoilyied.     (Wod.  ii.  176.) 

On  the  2d  of  August  1683,  wn  find  him  one  of  the  seven 
mentioned  in  a  former  note,  (p.  427,)  the  others  being  his  bro- 
ther John,  Messrs.  I\i>hert  Miller  at  Ochiltree,  John  Campbell, 
Antony  Scliaw,  Robert  Boyd,  and  Willium  Daily  of  Ilar- 
dington.     They  hud  been  inserted  in  the  Porteous  rolls,  and 


Nasmyth,  minister  of  Hamilton  ;  Mr.  Alexander  Blair, 
minister  of  Galston  ;  Mr.  Matthew  Mowat,  and  Mr 
.Tames  Rewat,  ministers  of  Killmarnock ;  and  Mr.WiU 
liam  Adair,  minister  of  Ayr;*  all  men  of  great  worth. 
They  were  all  put  in  prison  except  Mr.  William 
Adair  ;f    for   whom   Sir    Archibald    Primrose,   then 


remitted  by  the  circuit  to  Edinburgh,  and  indicted  on  the 
charges  contained  in  the  Porteous  rolls.  Mr.  James  Veitch 
and  other  four  have  their  diet  continued.  On  December  19, 
he  and  Mr.  John  Campbell  were  remitted  to  the  council,  and 
found  caution  for  their  compearance.  They  compear  on  3d 
January  1684,  and  are  charged  with  the  breach  of  their  confine- 
ment, and  the  probation  is  remitted  to  their  oath.  They  con- 
fess this  charge;  and  also  that  they  had  prayed  and  exercised 
in  private  families;  and  that  they  had  not' read  the  procla- 
mation for  the  thanksgiving.  The  council  declare  their  licence 
void,  and  appoint  them  to  go  to  prison,  or  find  caution,  un- 
der five  thousand  merks,  either  to  go  forth  of  the  kingdom 
against  the  first  of  March  next,  or  to  attend  the  curates,  and 
not  exercise  their  mini.-itry.  (Wod.  ii.  307,  351.)  Mr.  Veitch 
accordingly  went  into  banishment,  to  his  brother's,  at  Stanton 
Hall,  in  Northumberland,  whence  both  of  them  retired  to 
Holland,  as  will  appear  from  the  sequel  of  the  memoir.  Du- 
ring his  residence  there,  "  he  continued  under  some  trouble 
from  Robert  Hamilton  and  his  party,  but  increasing  in  learn- 
ing and  grace  till  the  toleration,  he  returned  to  his  charge  at 
Mauchlin."  (Wod.  ii.  351.)  It  would  appear,  that  he  had 
been  in  Rotterdam  soon  after  the  rising  at  Bothwel.  Mr.  Rob- 
ert Fleming  "was  settled  minister  in  the  Scots  Congregation 
in  Rotterdam.  He  invited  Mr.  James  Veitch,  one  of  our  Scots 
actually  indulged,  to  preach  with  him.  who  was  there  occa- 
sionally." M'Ward,  Thomas  Douglas,  Walter  Smith,  and  oth- 
ers, heard  and  conversed  with  him,  on  which  account  Robert 
Hamilton  and  Mr.  Bogue  withdrew  frohi  them.  See  the  facts 
stated  at  large  in  Walker's  Remarkable  Passages,  p.  99.  102. 
From  a  letter  of  Mr.  John  Dickson  to  Mr.  M'Ward,  1679,  it 
appears  that  Messrs.  James  Veitch,  Robert  ftlillar,  and  John 
Baird,  were  appointed  by  their  brethren  to  answer  the  argii- 
ments  brought  by  the  ministers  in  Holland  against  hearing  the 
indulgjed.     (Wodrow  MSS.  LIX.  art.  106.) 

*  \Vodrow  gives  the  proceedings  with  these  ministers. 
(Hist.  i.  p.  132,  &c.)  On  the  16th  of  September  1662,  the  affair 
was  issued  by  an  act  of  Council,  ejecting  them  from  their 
churches;  prohibiting  them  Irom  residing  in  Glasgow  or  Edin- 
burgh, or  within  the  Presbj'teries  where  their  said  churches  lie, 
and  declaring  that  they  have  no  right  to  the  stipend  for  the 
current  year. 

Mr.  James  J^'asmylh  had  in  1660  been  before  the  committee 
of  Estates,  for  words  alleged  to  have  been  spoken  by,  him  in 
1650,  when  pressing  his  hearers,  of  whom  the  English  general, 
Lambert,  was  one,  '•  to  employ  their  power  for  God,  and  not  in 
opposition  to  the  Gospel;  otherwise  they  might  expect  to  be 
brought  down  by  the  judgment  of  God,  as  those  who  went  te- 
Jore  were."  He  was  imprisoned,  and  for  several  months  was 
kept  from  his  charge;  (Wod.  i.  12.)  and  now  by  the  oath  of 
supremacy,  was  removed  from  Hamilton  to  make  way  for  Mr. 
James  Ramsay,  Dean  of  Glasgow.  In  1670,  when  the  mini,«ter3 
in  the  west,  indulged  and  non-indulged,  met  with  Bishop 
Leighton  and  his  friends,  Messrs.  Adair  and  Nasmyth  are 
found  taking  an  active  part.  (Wod.  i.  337.)  Mr.  Nasmyth 
is  included  in  the  indulgence  1672,  and  confined  to  Glaslbrd. 
(Wod.  i.  app.  p.  138.)  That  he  accepted  it  with  a  protestation 
before  the  people,  appears  from  the  Grievances  of  the  diocese 
of  Glasgow  to  the  Parliament,  which  state,  that  "  generally, 
not  only  conventiclers.  but  indulged  ministers,  preach  sedition, 
and  pray  to  the  same  purpose;  and,  in  their  apologies  at  their 
entry,  avow  publicly  that  they  owe  neither  to  the  King  nor  his 
Council  their  entry  to  their  charges;  as,  Mr.  Nasmyth  at 
Glasford,  Mr.  Stirling  at  Kilbarchan.  Mr.  Wallace  at  Largs, 
and  others."     (Wod.  i.  380.) 

J\Ir.  Alexander  Blair,  minister  at  Galston,  was,  in  1669,  in- 
dulged to  his  own  charge.  (Wod.  i.  307.)  In  1673,  when  the 
Council  furnished  each  of  the  indulged  ministers  with  a  copy 
of  instructions,  limiting  them  in  the  exercise  of  their  ministry,, 
Mr.  Blair  said, — "  My  Lord  Chancellor,  I  cannot  be  so  uncivil 
as  to  refuse  a  paper  otl'ered  me  by  your  Lordships,  but  I  can 
receive  no  instructions  from  you  for  regulating  the  exercise  of 
my  ministry;  for  if  I  should  receive  instructions  from  you,  I 
should  be  your  ambassador."  For  this  he  was  committed  close 
prisoner.  A  petition  which  he  presented  to  the  Council  for 
liberation,  was  rejected.  Having  sickened  in  the  end  of  the 
year,  he  was  permitted  to  go  to  a  private  house  in  Edinburgh, 
on  a  bond  of  five  thousand  merks,  that  he  shall  re-enter  in  a 
month,  and  not  keep  convcniicles;  and  in  the  month  of  January 
following,  "  this  excellent  person  died,  in  much  joy  and  full  as- 
surance of  faith."  (Ibid.  i.  3.58.)  In  tlie  Wodrow  manuscripts 
are  three  dill'erent  copies  of  verses  to  his  memory. 

+  We  hear  little  of  Jl/r.  Adair.  In  Wodrow's  list  of  non- 
ronforniiiig  ministers,  he  is  marked  as  confined  to  his  parish. 
He  is  not  in  any  list  of  the    indulged;  but  is  explicitly  dc- 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


429 


Clerk  Register,  and  a  witty  man  and  great  politician, 
who  had  a  great  hand  in  the  new  government,  interpo- 
sed and  got  him  off.  The  rest  were  kept  so  close  that 
their  wives  and  nearest  relations  had  no  access  to  them. 

After  several  appearances  before  the  parliament,  the 
oath  of  allegiance  was  tendered  unto  them  ;  which, 
under  that  name,  had  the  oath  of  supremacy  intermix- 
ed. The  ministers  desired  a  day  to  give  their  answer, 
and  sent  word  to  Mr.  Adair,  who  was  yet  in  town,  to 
see  if  he  would  join  with  them  in  subscribing  their 
answer  ;  which  was  an  explication  of  these  oaths  that 
were  mixed,  and  contained  certain  conditions  upon 
which  they  were  willing  to  take  it;  but  he  took  his 
horse  and  went  home,  and  did  not  stay  to  joiu  with 
them.  Their  answers  were  not  pleasing  to  the  parlia- 
ment, and  some  of  their  speeches  did  highly  offend 
them ;  for  which   they   were  more   severely  treated. 

But  it  happened  that  Mr.  William  Veitch,  being  then 
governor  to  young  Greenhead,  at  the  college  of  Edin- 
burgh, through  the  interest  he  had  in  Middleton's  page 
who  was  then  Commissioner,  preferred  a  petition  to 
his  Grace,  that  he  would  give  him  liberty  to  see  to  the 
accommodation  and  provision  of  these  ministers  in 
prison,  whereof  his  brother  was  one.  This  petiton  was 
granted  through  the  moyen  of  his  servant,  and  Mr. 
William's  fair  promises,  that  he  would  endeavour,  both 
by  himself  and  others  that  he  should  introduce  to  them, 
to  convince  them  of  their  errors,  if  they  were  in  any, 
and  reduce  them  to  rijrht :  to  which  Middleton  replied, 
"  Quod  si  facias,  eris  milii  magnus  Apollo."  Some 
weeks  after  he  went  back  to  his  Grace  according  to  or- 
der, and  condoled  their  obstinacy  ;  and  begocd  once 
more  of  his  Grace,  tliat  he  would  give  them  liberty  of 
seven  miles  about,  to  see  if  the  free  air,  and  a  freer 
prison,  might  bring  them  into  a  better  temper;  so  that 
the  parliament  gradually  overlooked  them,  and  let 
them  fall  under  the  six  mile  act. 

Among  others  that  Mr.  Veitch  introduced,  the  fa- 
mous Mr.  Wood,  professor  at  St.  Andrews,  was  one, 
to  see  Mr.  Carstairs,  his  brotiier-in-law,*  &c. ;  but 
the  Parliament  being  to  sit,  he  desired  Mr.  Veitch  his 
company,  at  ten  o'clock,  to  James  Glen's  shop,  to  see 
Sharp,  whom  he  had  never  seen  since  he  had  turned 
bishop.  He  came  up  in  the  commissioner's  coach, 
and  coming  first  out,  he  turned  to  receive  the  com- 
missioner with  his  hat  off;  so  we  had  a  full  sight 
of  his  face,  to  which  Mr.  Wood  looked  very  seri- 
ously, as  being  much  affected,  and  said  these  words 
in  my  hearing,  and  others  in  the  shop,  "  O  thou  Judas, 
and  apostatised  traitor,  that  hast  betrayed  the  famous 
Presbyterian  church  of  Scotland  to  its  total  ruin,  as 
far  as  thou  canst !  if  I  know  any  thing  of  the  mind 
of  God,  thou  shalt  not  die  the  ordinary  and  common 
death  of  men."  And  though  it  was  spoken  about 
eighteen  years  before,  yet  it  is  well  known  that  it  was 
exactly  accomplished  anno  1079. 

A  third  son  of  the  aforesaid  Mr.  John  Veitch  was 
Mr.  David,  who  was  a  minister  abfiut  four  or  five 
years  at  Govan,  near  Glasgow ;  one  to  whom  the  great 
Mr.  Rutherford  gave  that  testimony  to  the  presbytery 
of  Biggar,  when  he  passed  his  trials,  (not  being;  suf- 
fered to  do  it  in  St.  Andrews,  because  he  was  a  protes- 
ter,! )  that  the  like  of  Mr.   David   Veitch,  in  his  age, 


for  great  learning  and  piety  he  had  hever  known.  He 
died  about  the  twenty-fifth  year  of  his  age,  being  co- 
temporary  and  co-presbyter  with  the  famous  Mr.  Dur- 
ham, who  foretold  his  death.  Theoccasionof  itwas  this: 
Mr.  Durham  being  several  months  confined  to  his 
chamber  by  sickness,  before  he  died,  the  magistrates 
of  Glasgow  and  some  of  the  ministers  at  that  time  be- 
ing for  the  public  resolutions,  the  better  party,  called 
the  protesters,  were  afraid  that  the  magistrates  and 
they,  after  Mr.  Durham's  death,  would  put  a  public 
resolutioner  in  his  place  :  therefore  they  contrive  the 
matter  so  as  to  get  a  commission  subscribed  by  both 
parties,  for  Mr.  Durham's  nominating  his  own  succes- 
sor. The  reverend  and  singularly  pious  Mr.  John 
Carstairs,*    being   both    his    brother-in-law  and   col- 


nominated  an  indulged  minister,  in  an  act  of  the  Committee 
of  Council  at  Ayr,  22d  February  1678,  denouncing-  John  .\!uir 
late  provost  of  Ayr,  which  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix.  I, 
would  appear,  however,  that  Primrose's  interest  failed  to  pro- 
tect him;  for  lie  had  been  for  sometime  previous  to  his 
death  prohibited  from  preaching-. — "  February  11,  1684,  dies 
Mr.  William  Adair,  the  old  minister  at  Air,  who  was  laid  aside 
a  little  time  before  for  not  takino-  the  test,  and  Mr.  John 
Stirling,  indulged  to  Irwine,  both  worthy  men  in  the  minis- 
try."    (Law's  Memorialis,  p.  260.) 

*  An  intei-esting  account  of  the  testimony  which  Mr. 
Wood  gave  in  favour  of  Presbytery  on  his  death-bed,  is 
contained  in  a  letter  from  Mr.  Carstairs,  his  brother-in-law, 
to  the  Chancellor.     (See  Appendix.) 

•|-  The  Scottish  Parliament  had  passed  some  acts,  particularly 
the  act  of  classes,  for  excluding  from  places  of  trust,  civil  and 


military,  persons  who  had  manifested  a  malignant  opposition 
to  tiie  religion  and  liberties  of  the  nation.  After  the  defeat 
of  the  Scottish  army  by  Cromwell  at  Dunbar  and  Hamilton, 
the  court,  in  the  end  of  1650  and  beginning  of  1651,  put 
two  queries  to  the  Commission  of  the  General  Assembly, 
with  reference  to  the  admission  of  rnalignants.  The  Com- 
mission's answers  otherwise  called  ilie  public  resolutions, 
were  favourable  to  the  views  of  the  Court,  and  the  act  of 
classes  was  repealed.  The  resolutions,  and  subsequent  pro- 
cedure of  the  Commission  and  General  Assembly,  were 
protested  against  by  a  considerable  number  of  ministers  and 
elders.  This  gave  rise  to  a  divi.sion  between  the  Resolutioners 
and  Protesters,  (as  they  were  called)  which,  though  accom- 
modated, was  not  completely  healed  when  the  Restoration  took 
place.  The  protesters,  beitig  the  stricter  Presbyterians,  were 
most  obnoxious  to  the  restored  goverrtment. 

*  Mr.  John  Carstairs,  father  of  Principal  Carstairs,  was 
married  to  Janet,  and  Mr.  Durham  to  Margaret  Mure,  (widow 
of  Mr.  Zachary  Boyd,)  daughters  of  WHIiam  Mure  of  Glan- 
deiston.  (Crawford's  history  of  Renfrewshire,  p.  40,  41.  An 
account  of  his  citations  and  appearances  before  the  Privy 
Council  may  be  seen  in  Wodrow's  history,  (i.  209,  315,  348.; 
ii.  155.)  In  1666  he  was,  in  opposition  to  his  own  judgment, 
induced  to  accompany  the  party  of  Caldwell,  Kersland,  (zc. 
who  intended  to  join  the  insurgents  at  Pentland,  but  were 
prevented.  (Kirkton,  246.)  In  July  1681,  the  Earl  of  Rothes, 
being  on  his  death-bed,  "appeared  concerned  upon  views  of 
eternity;  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  John  Carstairs,  upon  his  desire, 
waited  upon  hiiu,  and  prayed  with  him,  the  Duke  of  Ham- 
ilton, and  many  others  of  his  noble  relations,  being  present; 
and  few  were  present  without  being  affected  very  sensibly. 
When  the  Duke  of  York  heard  that  Presbyterian  ministers 
had  been  with  the  Chancellor,  he  is  said  to  have  had  this 
expression,  'that  all  Scotland  were  either  Presbyterian  through 
their  life,  or  at  their  death,  profess  what  "they  would.'" 
(Wod.  ii.  222.)  From  an  interesting  letter  b}'  Mr.  Carstairs 
to  the  Secretary  of  State,  Nov.  3,  1684,  it  appears  that  he 
was  born  on  the  6th  of  January  1623.  (See  Appendix.)  Wod- 
row  thinks  he  did  not  long  survive  the  date  of  this  letter, 
which  is  rendered  very  probable  by  the  po.stsci-ipt  to  a  pref- 
ace of  his  to  Durham's  Sermons,  entitled.  The  Unsearchable 
Riches  of  Christ:  "  1  heartily  wish  that  this  mite  of  service 
may  be  acceptable  to  the  saints,  it  being  not  improbable  that  it 
may  be  the  last  service  of  this  kind  tnat  I  shall  have  access 
to  do  them.  Feb.  4,  1685."  He  had  performed  various  servi- 
ces of  this  kind,  besides  the  one  now  mentioned;  in  prefacing 
Durham's  Lectures  on  the  Revelations  in  1658;  and  his  Ser- 
mons on  Isaiah  liii.  in  1682,  with  a  Dedicatory  Epistle  to 
the  Earl  of  Crawford.  The  preface  to  Calderwood's  printed 
History  is  mentioned  as  written  by  him  in  his  correspon- 
dence with  M'Ward,  preserved  among  the  Wodrow  manu- 
scripts. His  Letters  show  the  deep  interest  he  took  in  that 
history,  and  the  exertions  made  by  nim  and  Mr.  Wylie  to  ob- 
tiiin  the  manuscript.  Some  of  the  letters  relating  to  this  work, 
and  to  the  Records  of  the  Church,  will  be  inserted  in  the 
Appendix.  We  find  also,  in  the  same  correspondence,  some 
long  papers  between  Carstairs  and  Frazer  of  Brae,  respectin<»- 
some  peculiar  doctrinal  notions  entertained  by  the  latter.  In 
1677,  Carstairs  declined  an  invitation  to  become  pastor  of  the 
congregation  at  Rotterdam,  and  proposed,  first,  Mr.  Kirkton, 
and  afterwards  Mr.  Fleming,  the  last  of  whom  accepted  the 
charge.  In  the  debates  on  occasion  of  the  indulgence,  he  was 
anxious  to  preserve  peace  between  the  two  parties. 

What  follows  is  contained  in  a  MS.  preserved  in  the  Advo- 
cates Library: — "  The  last  words  of  Mr.  John  Carstairs, 
sometime  minister  of  the  Gospel  at  Glasgow,  as  they  were 
taken  from  his  own  mouth  when  a-dying,  anno  1685  or  1686, 
by  Mr.  William  Crighton,  sometime  minister  of  the  Gospel 
at  Edinburgh. 

"  Being  asked  how  it  was  with  him,  he  answered,  that  he 
had  laid  aside  aH  his  duties  and  all  his  performances  whatso- 
ever; and  that  he  had  betaken  himself  to  the  righteousness 
of  Jesus   Christ,  and    rested    thereon;    and    that   thereby  he 


430 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


league  in  the  ministry  in  the  inner  kirk  of  Glas- 
gow, intimates  to  him  one  day  while  visiting,  how 
desirous  he  was  to  know  whom  he  intended  for  his 
successor,  seeing  he  was  to  be  his  colleague  after 
his  death ;  the  power  being  now  in  his  hand  to  choose 
whom  he  pleased.  After  some  scruple  to  tell  him  so 
soon,  lest  it  should  come  to  the  person's  ears,  and  his 
promise  to  conceal  it  from  all  persons,  he  told  him 
that  Mr.  David  Veitch  was  the  man  he  purposed  to 
nominate,  but  not  until  he  was  near  death;  think- 
ing that  then  it  would  have  the  more  weight  with  him. 
To  which  Mr.  Carstairs  cordially  assented,  saying, 
that  was  the  man  he  himself  would  have  chosen.  But 
when  a-dying  having  called  some  of  the  magistrates, 
ministers,  and  elders  of  the  place,  he  named  other 
three  ministers,  for  them  to  choose  any  of  these  they 
pleased.  This  alteration  so  surprised  Mr.  Carstairs, 
that  he  could  not  satisfy  himself  till  he  had  inquired 
the  reason  after  the  rest  were  gone,  to  which  Mr.  Dur- 
ham gave  this  reply,  "  O  brother !  Mr.  David  Veitch 
is  too  ripe  for  heaven  to  be  transported  to  any  church 
on  earth  ;  he  will  be  there  almost  as  soon  as  I." 
This  I  had  from  Mr.  Carstairs's  own  mouth,  and  it 
proved  so.  For  this  being  spoken  on  Wednesday's 
night,  Mr.  Durham  died  on  Friday  at  three  of  the 
clock  in  the  morning;  and  Mr.  Veitch  preached  next 
Sabbath,  (knowing  nothing  of  this  prediction,)  where- 
in he  told  his  people,  in  the  afternoon,  it  would  be  the 
last  sermon  that  ever  he  would  preach  to  them;  and, 
going  to  his  sick-bed  that  night,  he  died  the  next  Fri- 
day, at  the  same  hour  in  the  morning  that  Mr.  Durham 
died  ;*  as  good  Dr.  Rattray,  who  .was  witness  to  both 
their  deaths,  did  declare. f 


concluded  that  within  a  little  he  should  be  as  well  and  much 
better  than  ever  in  the  best  frame  of  soul  he  was  in,  being 
made  holy  as  God  is  lioly,  anH  knowing  liini  as  he  was  known 
of  him.  Being  asked  as  to  the  public  matters  of  God  and 
the  times,  he  said,  that  it  was  a  very  great  depth;  but  if  1 
be  not  far  mistaken  of  the  word  and  ways  of  God,  the, heart 
of  God  is  not  towards  these  men;  and  that  notwithstanding 
of  all  their  successes  and  prevailings  of  a  long  time  against 
the  people  and  work  of  God.  He  was  persuaded  tandem  bona 
causa  triumphabit.  He  exhorted  all  his  friends  to  walk  hum- 
bly with  God,  to  lay  on  the  dust  before  him,  to  wait  pati- 
ently on  him,  and  to  shun  all  manner  of  compliance  with  this 
generation;  the  sooner,  the  better;  the  straiter,  the  better; 
the  more  universal,  the  better.  For  himself  he  blessed  the 
Lord,  that  he  had  in  some  measure  preserved  him;  for  God 
had  made  him  many  a  time  willing  to  have  laid  his  head  up- 
on the  block,  if  so  be  God  had  called  him  thereunto.  He 
said  he  blessed  the  Lord,  he  had  these  twenty  or  thirty  years 
no  challenges  for  any  mints  he  had  made  at  the  service  of 
the  Lord  in  the  gospel ;  but  he  had  many  for  his  short- 
comings therein.  He  left  his  children  and  fannly  on  God,  who 
had  given  him  them,  and  would  be  their  portion.  If  it  were 
possible  that  Christ  and  his  interest  in  the  world  could  ruine, 
I  had  much  rather  ruine  and  fall  with  him,  (said  he)  than 
stand  with  any  or  all  the  powers  in  the  world;  but  as  1  am 
persuaded  that  these  cannot  perish,  so  I  am  confident  in  the 
Lord  these  shall  revive  in  all  the  churches  of  Christ."  (MS. 
xxxiii.  Jac.  L  25,  art.  119.) 

*  This  account  is  confirmed  Vjy  the  testimony  of  the  writer 
of  Mr.  Durham's  Life  prefixed  to  his  Commentary  on  the 
Revelation. — Durham  died  on  Friday  the  25th  of  June,  1658 
Mr.  David  Veitch's  death  will  therefore  fall  on  the  first  of 
July  that  year.  On  August  5,  1662,  Alexander  Veitch  is 
served  heir  of  his  brother,  David  Veitch,  minister  of  God's 
word,  at  the  church  of  Goveane.  (Inquis.  Retorn.  Gen. 
4608.) 

f  Doctor  Silvester  Rattray,  a  physician  of  some  eminence  at 
that  time,  being  called  before  the  episcopal  clergy  of  Glasgow, 
for  employing  a  presbyterian  minister  to  baptize  one  of  his 
children,  gave  in  the  following  declaration;  which  is  a  spe- 
cimen of  the  way  in  which  many  of  the  same  persuasion  re- 
conciled themselves  at  that  period,  to  continuance  in  the 
communion  of  the  established  church. — "  I  declare  unto 
you.  Sir,  before  this  meeting,  that  really,  I  am  of  the 
Presbyterian  persuasion  and  judgment;  and  that,  not  only  be- 
cause I  was  bred  and  brought  up  under  it,  but  also  being 
convinced  by  clear  evidence  from  Scripture,  that  it  is  the  only 
government  Christ  and  his  apostle.s  did  leave  behind  them, 
whereby  the  church  should  be  ruled  to  the  end  of  the  world: 
as  also,  because  of  the  many  obligations,  ties,  and  vows  yet 
recent  upon  my  spirit  for  adhering  unto  it:  us  also,  I  am  con- 


Mr.  William  being  laureate  at  Glasgow,  anno  1659, 
was  called  to  Sir  Andrew  Ker  of  Greenhead's  family 
the  year  after,*  where  he  resolved  in  his  spare  hours  to 
read  physic  books,  thinking  to  betake  himself  to  that 
study,  having  so  many  brethren  already  in  the  function 
of  the  ministry  ;  and  especially  now  when  episcopacy 
was  like  to  be  settled  in  the  kingdom.  Bat  the  great 
Mr.  John  Livingston,  minister  at  Ancrum,  who  fre- 
quented that  house,  (as  did  other  godly  ministers,) 
with  many  arguments  and  much  earnestness,  dissuaded 
him  from  it,  and  exhorted  him  to  follow  the  footsteps 
of  his  worthy  brethren,  who  were  in  so  great  estima- 
tion in  the  church. 

This  happened  a  little  before  the  setting  up  of  prel- 
acy by  act  of  Parliament,  anno  1662,  which,  when 
it  was  erected,  not  only  ministers  were  turned  out  that 
did  not  comply  with  the  government,  but  all  chaplains 
and  pedagogues,  and  he  among  the  first,  by  the  insti- 
gation of  Fairfoul,  Archbishop  of  Glasgow,  about  the 
beginning  of  the  year  1663,  in  which  summer  he  went 
into  Murrayland,  to  Sir  Hugh  Campbell  of  Calder's 
family,  I  who  was  lately  married  to  Lady  Henrietta 
Stewart,  sister  to  the  Earl  of  Murray,  to  officiate  as 
chaplain,  thinking  he  might  do  some  service  to  that 
new-erected  family,  being  far  north,  and  at  a  conside- 
rable distance  from  the  court.  To  this  undertaking 
he  was  earnestly  solicited  by  the  Lord  Brodie  (a  gen- 
tleman of  great  piety  and  worth,  and  uncle  to  the  said 
knight  ij:)  and  the  reverend  Mr.  James  Kirkton  ;  but 


vinced  that  Prelacy  is  an  human  invention,  which  derives  its 
rise  only  from  some  antiquated  customs  in  the  ci.urch.  And 
albeit  the  Lord,  in  his  holy  and  sovereign  providence,  hath  suf- 
fered this  hedge  of  Presbytery  to  be  broken  down,  wherein  ye 
have  borne  deep  shares  to  your  power,  I  do  declare,  that  I 
will  not  separate  fi'om  the  church  of  God,  but  will  participate 
of  the  ordinances  so  long  as  they  remain  pure  among  us,  only 
with  this  proviso,  that  this  my  participating  of  the  ordinances 
do  not  inter  my  approving  any  unlawful  or  unwarrantable  prac- 
tice in  you,  or  any  other  of  the  dispensers  of  the  ordinances. 
Doctor  S.  Rattray."      (Wodrow,  i.  p.  189.) 

*  Sir  Andrew  Ker  of  Greenhead  married,  in  1634,  Eliza- 
beth, eldest  daughter  of  Sir  William  Scot  of  Harden.  (Doug-- 
las  Baronage,  p.  215.)  In  1662,  he  was  fined  in  L.  6000. 
(Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vol.  vii.  p.  424.)  In  1664,  he  married  Lady 
Catharine,  fifth  daughter  of  the  first  Karl  of  Wemyss.  He 
died  in  1665,  and  his  widow  in  1668.  (Douglas  Peerage,  vol. 
ii.  p.  621.  Wood's  edit.)  On  September  10,  1684,  the  Com- 
mittee for  Public  Affairs  report  to  the  Council,  "  that  the  lady 
Graden  is  fined  by  the  Sheriff  of  Teviotdale,  in  twenty-six 
thousand  and  odd  pounds,  the  Lady  Greenhead  in  sixteen 
thousand  and  odd  pounds.  The  Committee  find  reason  to 
sist  execution  as  to  her,  and  the  Council  approve."  (Wod.  ii. 
363.) 

+  Feb.  6,  1662,  Sir  Hugh  Campbell  of  Calder  was  served 
heir  to  his  counsin-german,  Colin  Campbell.  He  was  her- 
itable sheriff  of  Nairnshire,  (Inquis.  Retor.  Nairn.  25,)  and 
was  very  friendly  to  the  persecuted  party.  His  name  appears 
in  the  list  of  persons  fined  in  1662  for  the  sum  of  L.  12,000 
Scots.  (Wod.  i.  App.  61.)  His  engagements  as  cautioner 
for  ministers  amounted  to  upwards  of  L.  1700  sterling.  Fra- 
zer  of  Bras  had  been  cit«d  for  a  field  conventicle;  but  being  in 
the  north,  and  afllicted  with  an  ague,  Campbell,  who  was  his 
surety,  proposed  to  him  to  write  the  council  to  put  off  his 
appearance.  Frazer  assured  him  that  thev  would  press  it 
the  more,  in  hope  of  forfeiting  the  bond.  Campbell  however 
wrote  himself ;  and  the  consequence  was,  that  the  citation  was 
renewed,  requiring  his  appearance  on  Dec.  22,  1681.  On  that 
day  however,  in  spite  of  all  hazards,  Frazer  to  save  his  surety, 
presented  himself,  and  Campbell  was  relieved.  (Wod.  ii.98. 
177,  178.)  Mr,  John  M'Gilligcn  of  Alness,  minister  of  Fotter- 
tie,  being  apprehended,  Oct.  1676,  and  sent  into  Nairnshire, 
Campbell  kejit  him  in  his  house  as  a  prisoner,  and  employed 
him  as  his  chaplain.  The  Council  summoned  the  sheriff  before 
them,  and  reprimanded  the  Earl  of  Seaforth  for  encouraging 
his  lenity.  (Ibid.  i.  425,426.  442.)  Jan.  11,  1683.—"  At  privy 
council,  Campbell  of  Caddell  is  called  as  cautioner,  for  produ- 
cing one  Mackillican,  a  nonconformist  minister;  and  they 
thought  to  have  gotten  his  bond  forfeited;  but  he  had  the  man 
ready  to  sist.  They  remembered  Caddell's  opposing  the 
Duke's  interest  in  the  Parliament  1681."  (Fountainhall's  De- 
cisions, i.  n.  206.)— November  8th,  1683 —"  Campbell  of  Cad- 
dell  is  called  as  cautioner  for  Mr.  Thomas  Hogg,  a  nonconfor- 
mist minister;  he  produces  him  to  the  council."    (Ibid.  i.  241.) 

J  Alexander  Brodie  of  that  ilk  was  member  for  Elgin- 
shire in  the  Convcutioii  of  Estates  which  met  in  June  1643; 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


431 


after  thirteen  months  stay  there,  Mr.  Murdoch  M'Ken- 
zie,  then  bishop  of  Murrayland,  sent  Mr.  Colin  Falco- 
ner of  Forres,  and  Mr.  William  Falconer,  minister  of 
Dyke,  to  confer  with  him  ;  but  his  answer  no  way 
pleased  the  bishop,  so  he  was  forced  to  leave  that 
place  about  September  1C64. 

In  this  cloudy  season  of  the  church,  wherein  pres- 
bytery was  overturned,  and  the  godly  ministry,  with 
the  pedagogues  and  chaplains  that  owned  that  govern- 
ment, were  most  part  turned  out  of  their  offices,  the 
father  of  the  said  Mr.  William  being  removed  from 
his  church  at  Roberton  and  dwelling  at  Lanark,  called 
him  in  this  solitude  to  stay  some  time  with  him, 
where,  falling  in  acquaintance  with  the  godly  families 
of  the  place,  he  was  induced  to  match  with  a  young 
virgin  in  that  town  called  Marion  Fairly  ;  who  proved 
a  wife  of  eminent  piety,  as  several  instances  after 
narrated,  and  a  manuscript  of  her  own,-*  would  testify, 
which  I  once  did  see;  and  it  contains  as  strange  act- 
ings of  faith  upon  the  word  of  God,  answers  of 
prayer,  and  revelations  of  the  mind  of  God,  as  perad- 
venture  the  age  she  lived  in  can  parallel;  and  that 
both  with  respect  to  the  public  work  of  God,  and  also 
her  husband  and  family's  case,  under  their  long  and 
great  sufferings,  will  abundantly  evince.  Her  father 
was  descended  of  that  ancient  family  of  the  Fairlies, 
of  the  house  of  Braid,  near  Edinburgh,  and  a  friend  of 
the  Lord  Lee's  first  lady,  who  was  of  that  house  and 
name- 
Being  married  anno  1664,  November  23,  and  having 
lived  together  near  two  years,  he  was  prevailed  with 
by  Mr.  John  Welsh,  minister  of  Irongray,  f  and  others, 
who  came  to  his  house  at  the  Westhills  of  Dunsyre, 
to  join  with  that  party  who  were  so  oppressed  by  the 
inhuman  cruelties  and  excessive  robberies  of  Sir  James 
Turner,  and  the  forces  he  commanded,  lying  at  Dum- 
fries, for  their  non-compliance  with  abjured  prelacy  ; 
so  that  they  were  necessitated  to  endeavour  their  own 
relief,  if  possible,  by  taking  up  arms  and  apprehend- 
ing Sir  James  Turner,  which  might  put  a  stop  to  the 
cruel  usages  of  that  corner :  and  then  they  resolved 
to  march  to  Edinburgh  to  represent  their  grievances  ; 
but  were  broken  at  Pentland  Hills  near  the  city,  by 
the  prelatical  forces,  headed  by  the  Duke  of  Hamil- 


and  during  its  sitting,  and  in  subsequent  parliaments,  we  fre- 
quently find  his  name  on  committees.  (Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vi.  13, 
68.)  He  was  one  of  the  commissioners  appointed  by  Parlia- 
ment to  go  to  the  Hague  in  1649,  and  to  Breda  in  1650,  to  invite 
Charles  II.  into  Scotland  on  certain  conditions.  (Act.  Pari. 
Scot.  vi.  400.  451,  452,  513,  537.)  In  consequence  of  the  Act 
of  Classes,  23d  January  1649,  for  reforming  the  judicatories, 
&c.  a  number  of  the  judges  were  removed,  and  on  June  26, 
1649,  "the  laird  of  Brodie  is  nominate  to  be  one  of  the  sena- 
tors of  the  Coliedge  of  Justice. "  (Ibid.  465,  485.)  On  the  in- 
vasion of  the  English,  he  seems  to  have  been  unemployed  for 
.some  time,  but  was  re-appointed  to  the  bench  in  December 
1657;  Warriston  having  been  appointed  in  the  preceding- 
month.  (Hailes,  Catalogue  of  the  Lords  of  Session,  p.  11.) 
In  Middleton's  Parliament,  he  was  fined  in  L.48'00  Scots. 
(Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vii.  424.) 

*  This  is  the  manuscript  mentioned  in  the  Preface. 

f  Messrs.  Welsh,  Blackader,  &c,  were  at  Edinburgh  when 
the  rising  took  place  in  1666.  At  a  meeting  at  Mr.  Alexander 
Robertson's  chamber,  Ferguson  of  Kaittoch  hesitated,  the  rest 
were  clear  to  assist  their  brethren.  Among  these  were  Colonel 
Wallace,  Mr.  Welsh,  and  Mr  Robertson,  who  appear  to  have 
gone  oft'  immediately.  Blackader  and  others  had  got  their 
accoutrements  sent  out  of  the  town;  but  ere  they  could  ffo 
themselves,  they  learned  the  hopeless  state  of  their  friends. 
Welsh  appears  to  have  taken  Mr.  Veitch's  house  in  his  way. 
(Kirkton,  p.  234.  Blackader,  Mem.  p.  141.) 

According  to  Blackader's  account,  Mr.  Robison  was  in  Dum- 
fries at  the  seizing  of  Turner.  (Crichton's  Mem.  of  Blackader, 
p.  138.)  In  all  probability,  he  had  come  from  the  Westland 
men,  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  the  assistance  of  friends  at 
Edinburgh.  In  his  way  to  the  town,  he  could  pass  through 
Libberton,  and  thus  be  in  case  to  promise  Colonel  Wallace 
40  horsemen,  a  promise  which  failed.  (Kirkton's  Hist.  p.  234.) 
After  they  had  assembled,  and  were  come  to  Muirkirk,  An- 
drew Macormoch  informed  Colonel  Wallace  that  it  was  the 
mind  of  Captain  Robert  Lockhart  and  Mr.  Robison,  that  they 
should  break  up  and  dismiss  the  people.     (Kirkton,  p.  236.) 


ton,  General  Dalziel,  and  Major-General  Drummond. 
And  as  several  that  were  taken  prisoners  were  executed, 
so  those  of  any  note  that  escaped  were  forfeited  life 
and  fortune,  and  that  in  absence ;  an  illegal  and  new- 
invented  piece  of  cruelty  by  Sir  John  Nisbet,  the  then 
King's  Advocate  ;  who,  thinking  that  this  wickedness 
might  recoil  upon  him  afterwards,  got  an  act  of  Par- 
liament to  approve  what  was  then  done,  and  so  did  se- 
cure himself  from  any  afterclap  that  might  befall. 

The  Galloway  forces  who  were  commanded  by  one 
Andrew  Gray  and  John  Nelson  of  Corsack,*  came  by 
surprise,  and  apprehended  Sir  James  Turner  at  Dum- 
fries, and  immediately  after  marched  toward  the  west 
country,  sending  their  messengers  to  the  shires  round 
about  to  come  and  assist  them.  And  the  information 
coming  to  Mr.  Veitch  that  he  would  not  only  come 
himself,  but  bring  as  many  as  possible  along  with 
him,  especially  such  officers,  if  there  were  any,  as  un- 
derstood how  to  command.  And  Major  Learmont  liv- 
ing near  him,  a  man  skilful,  resolute,  and  courageous 
enough,  but  of  no  great  projection,  he  went  to  his 
house  and  persuaded  him  to  join.|     And  so  they  with 


*  John  Neilson  of  Corsack  entertained  Messrs.  Welsh  and 
Semple  when  they  were  outed  in  1662.  (Black.  Mem.  MS.  G. 
2.)  He  had  been  early  in  this  insurrection,  and,  with  Robison 
and  other  two,  made  Sir  James  Turner  prisoner.  Andrew 
Grey,  the  chief  of  tlie  party,  coming  up  and  offering  to  shoot 
the  prisoner,  Corsack,  "  a  meek  and  generous  gentleman,"  in- 
terfered, saying,  "You  shall  as  soon  kill  nie,  for  I  have  giverr 
him  quarters.'"  (Crichton's  Mem.  of  Blackader,  138,  139.) 
How  well  he  deserved  the  above  character,  will  appear  from 
the  following  statement  of  his  sufferings  at  Sir  James's  hand. 
"  When  Sir  James  Turner  came  first  into  Galloway,  Corsack 
was  soon  delated  by  the  curate  (Dalgleish)  for  nonconformity, 
and  Sir  James  exacted  an  hundred  pounds  Scots  from  him,  and, 
contrary  to  promise,  he  was  sent  prisoner  to  Kirkcudbright. 
He  suffered  very  much  by  quarterings  of  soldiers  upon  hmT; 
from  the  beginning  of  March,  to  the  end  of  May  that  year,  lie 
had  troopers  lying  on  him,  sometimes  ten,  sometimes  six,  some- 
times four  at  once,  and  was  forced  to  pay  each  man  half  a 
crown  a  day,  which  came  to  eight  hundred  and  nineteert 
pounds  Scots,  and  free  quarters  besides  to  man  and  horse; 
which,  moderately  computing  at  fifteen  pence  a  day,  amounts  to 
four  hundred  and  eight  pounds,  ten  shillings.  Next  year.  Sir 
James  Turner  sent  six  foot  soldiers  to  quarter  upon  him,  from 
March  to  the  middle  of  June.  These  had  each  of  them  twelve 
pence  a  day,  besides  free  quarters,  which  amounts  to  seven  hun- 
dred and  fifty-six  pounds.  By  these  hardships,  Corsack  was- 
obliged  to  leave  his  house,  and  wander  up  and  down;  and  upon 
his  hiding,  he  lost  his  horse  worth  an  hundred  pounds,  and 
was  seized  hinwelf,  and  imprisoned  for  some  time.  The  loss 
of  his  household  stuflF,  victual,  and  most  part  of  his  sheep,  can- 
not be  well  reckoned.  When  they  had  turned  his  lady  and 
children  to  the  doors,  they  next  fell  upon  his  tenants,-  and 
obliged  them  to  bring  them  in  sheep,  lambs,  meal,  and  malt, 
till  they  were  well  nigh  ruined.  And  last  of  all,  they  drove 
all  his  oxen  and  black  cattle  to  Glasgow,  and  sold  them.  And 
all  this  for  nothing  else  but  precise  noncontbrmity.  After  alh 
this  oppression,  of  which  I  have  before  me  an  attested  account, 
the  reader  can  scarce  wonder  that  he,  and  many  others  in  the 
like  circumstances,  took  hold  on  the  first  opportunity  that  offer- 
ed to  complain  of,  and  relieve  themselves  of  those  calamities. 
When  essaying  this,  he  is  taken  at  Pentland,  and,when  a  prisoner 
in  Edinburgh  tolbooth.  Sir  James  Turner  used  his  interest  to 
get  his  life  spared,  because  Corsack,  out  of  his  truly  christian 
temper,  saved  Sir  James,  when  some  were  seeking  to  take  hig 
life,  both  at  Dumfries  and  afterwards,  though  few  had  felt  more 
of  his  severity  than  this  gentleman;  Mr.  Dalgleish  the  curate, 
getting  notice  of  it,  applied  himself  to  some  of  the  bishops,- 
and  acquainted  them,  Corsack  was  a  ringleader  to  the  phanat^ 
ics  in  Galloway,  and  if  he  were  spared,  he  needed  not  think  of 
continuing  in  his  parish,  and  thej'  might  spare  them  all.  This 
went  farther  than  Sir  James  his  interest  could  go,  and  so  he 
was  executed." 

But  his  execution  was  not  the  greatest  severity  to  which  be 
was  subjected ;  for,  disregarding  the  claims  which  he  had  to 
gentler  treatment,  he  was  the  first  person  whom  the  council 
put  to  the  torture,  a  mode  of  examination  which  had  been  dis- 
used in  Scotland  for  a  great  number  of  years.  "Corsack 
(says  Wodrow)  was  fearfully  tormented,  so  that  his  shrieks 
would  have  melted  any  body  but  those  present,  who  still  call- 
ed for  the  other  touch."  After  his  death,  his  wife  and  family 
were  grievously  oppressed.     (Wodrow,  i.  258,  259.) 

f  In  the  list  of  fines  by  Middleton's  Parliament  in  1662, 
is  Joseph  Learmont,  Peebles-shire,  L.1200.  (Wodrow,  i.  App. 
xxxiii.) 

"March,  1682,  Major  (Joseph)   Learmont,  an  old  soldier 


432 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


several  others  went  westward  and  met  the  foremen- 
lioned  forces  on  the  hill  above  Galstoun,  where,  after 
consultation,  they  thouaht  fit  to  halt  in  that  country 
for  a  little  time  till  their  friends  should  come  in  ;  and 
that  they  might  be  more  conveniently  quartered,  some 
of  them  went  to  Mauchline,  and  others  to  Tarbolton. 

The  next  day  they  sent  Mr.  Veitch  with  forty  or 
fifty  horse  to  the  town  of  Ayr  to  take  up  quarters  for 
them  ;  the  magistrates  absconding  themselves  for  fear 
what  might  be  the  issue,  he,  upon  information  given 
him  by  some  of  his  friends  where  one  of  them  was 
lurking,  did  apprehend  and  bring  him  to  a  public 
house,  causing  him  to  give  billets  for  quartering  seven 
or  eight  hundred  horse  and  foot.  The  forces  fol- 
lowing drew  up  in  the  citadel ;  and  through  the  great 
rains  and  coldness  of  the  weather,  several  that  were 
not  used  to  such  hardships  were  like  to  turn  valetu- 
dinary ;  and  tlie  worthy  Mr.  Hugh  M'Kell  had  fal- 
len off  his  horse  if  one  had  not  laid  hold  of  him  and 
kept  him  up  ;  and  they  carrying  him  into  a  house  in 
that  faintingfit,  laying  him  in  a  bed,  and  giving  him 
something  for  a  cordial,  by  which  his  spirits  returned, 
and  he  recovered. 

After  a  little  respite  there,  they  marched  up  the  wa- 
ter of  Ayr  toward  Douglass,  and  from  that  to  Lanark. 
In  the  mean  time.  General  Dalziel  and  his  forces  came 
westward  to  meet  them  the  length  of  Strathaven  ;  but 
hearing  that  the  west  country  men  were  got  to  Lanark 
between  them  and  Edinburgh,  they  turned  their  march 
after  them.  The  honest  party  at  Lanark  being  about 
fifteen  hundred  horse  and  foot,  thought  fit  that  the 
ministers  should  preach  something  suitably  to  the  peo- 
ple, and  to  the  present  circumstances  of  things,  both  in 
church  and  state,  which  they  did  ;  and  there  both  the 
National  and  Solemn  League  and  Covenant  were  re- 
newed, for  spiriting  and  encouraging  the-  people  to  this 
work. 

The  rumour  of  Dalziel's  pursuit  made  them  that 
night  send  spies  to  find  out  the  truth  of  it,  and 
which  way  he  was  intending  ;  and  coming  back  before 
day  with  the  information  of  the  enemy's  being  resolved 
that  night  for  Lanark,  a  council  w^as  called  of  officers, 
gentlemen,  and  ministers,  to  see  what  was  most  prop- 
er to  be  done  in  such  a  juncture.  And  it  was  by  the 
generality  thought  most  proper  that  they  should  abide 
at  Lanark ;  and  that  because  the  enemy  being  on  the 
other  side  of  Clyde,  and  the  rains  having  made  it  im- 
passable except  by  boat,  Dalziel  and  his  forces  could 
not  reach  them  (the  boat  being  broken)  until  the  water 
decreased,  which  could  not  be  very  suddenly.  And, 
if  but  five  hundred  of  the  western  forces  were  sent  to 
the  place  where  they  were  to  pass,  would  overawe 
them  to  venture   upon   the  water.      And,  they  being 


and  now  about  77  years,  and  a  layior  to  his  trade,  who  was  at 
Pentland  hills  in  the  insurrection,  1666,  and  at  Bothwell  bridge 
insurrection,  1679,  was  taken  in  his  own  house  within  three 
miles  of  Laneric,  in  a  vault  which  he  digged  underground,  and 
penned  for  his  iiiding;  it  had  its  entry  in  bis  own  house,  upon 
the  svde  of  a  wall,  and  closed  up  with  a  whole  stone,  so  closs 
as  that  non  would  have  judged  it  but  to  have  been  a  stone 
of  the  building;  it  descended  below  the  foundation  of  the 
house,  and  was  in  length  about  40  yards,  and  in  the  far  end, 
the  other  mouth  of  it,  was  closed  with  faill,  having  a  faill  dyke 
builded  upon  it,  so  that  with  ease  when  he  went  out  he  shutt 
out  the  faill,  and  closed  it  again.  Here  he  sheltered  for  the 
space  of  17  years,  b3'  taking  himself  to  it  at  every  alarm,  and 
many  times  hath  his  house  been  searched  for  him  by  the  sol- 
diers, but  where  he  sheltered  non  was  privy  to  it  but  his  own 
donjestic-,  and  at  length  he  is  discovered  by  his  own  herds- 
man. He  is  carried  before  the  council,  and  examined;  confes- 
ses he  was  at  Pentland  hills,  and  at  Bothwell  bridge  fight,  but 
came  only  there  to  advise  the  people  to  accept  of  the  Duke  of 
Monmouth's  oft'ers  he  made  them  in  the  king's  name."  (Law's 
Memoriall?,  p.  216,  217.)  He  had  been  forfeited  in  absence 
after  Pentland,  and  on  April  8,  this  year,  was  appiiinted  to  be 
executed  on  the  28,  but  througrh  interest  made  for  him  the  sen- 
tence »vas  commuted  into  imprisonment  in  the  Bass.  He  sur- 
vived the  Revolution;  and  soon  after  that  happ)'  event  died  in 
bis  own  house  of  Ncwholm  in  the  eighty  eighth  vearof  his  ao-e. 
(Wodrow,  ii.  262.) 


Stopped  there,  they  could  not  subsist  without  victuals 
and  lodging  twenty-four  hours  in  such  stormy  weath- 
er ;  and  therefore  would  be  necessitated  to  retire  back 
again  :  and  this  dash  being  given  to  them,  it  would 
contribute  to  discourage  the  enemy,  and  encourage 
their  friends  to  arise  for  their  assistance. 

But  a  letter,  I  may  say  unhappily,  coming  from 
James  Stewart  (who  after  the  Revolution  was  King's 
Advocate)  to  Mr.  Welsh  and  Mr.  Semple,  to  come  as 
near  Edinburgh  as  possible,  where  they  would  get  as- 
sistance both  of  men  and  other  necessaries,  made  them 
break  their  former  resolution,  and  march  instantly  to- 
wards Bathgate ;  where  night  coming  on,  and  no  quar- 
ters could  be  had  for  such  a  number,  they  were  forced 
to  stand  with  their  arms  without  in  the  field.  And  a 
great  snow  coming  on  like  to  discourage  the  company, 
some  of  the  officers,  thinking  it  was  better  to  be  marcli- 
ing  than  standing  in  such  a  posture,  gave  a  false 
alarm  that  the  enemy  was  approaching;  and  so  they 
concluded  to  march  to  CoUington  and  sent  one  before 
with  a  party  of  horse  to  take  up  their  quarters.  Now 
when  they  came  there,  it  was  necessary  to  consult 
what  was  fit  to  be  done  in  answer  to  Mr.  Stewart's  let- 
ter. Among  the  rest,  Mr.  Veitch  was  called  for  to 
give  his  judgment ;  but  he,  both  that  night  and  several 
nights  before  having  been  wet  to  the  skin,  being  seve- 
ral nights  out  of  bed  in  that  service,  was  lain  down 
upon  the  top  of  a  bed  to  sleep  and  refresh  himself,  or- 
dering his  men  to  let  nobody  into  the  room.  When 
their  messenger  came,  he  returned  with  that  answer, 
that  he  could  not  get  access  tohim,  for  he  was  gone  to 
rest ;  Avith  which  they  not  being  satisfied,  sent  him 
back  again,  and  told  they  would  do  nothing  until  he 
came.  In  their  consultation,  Colonel  Wallace,  who 
commanded  in  chief,  was  for  sending  one  of  their 
number  into  the  city,  if  it  were  possible,  to  converse 
with  James  Stewart,  to  see  how  he  would  malce 
good  his  promise.  They  generally  voted  that  Mr. 
Veitch  should  go,  but  he  refused,  being  persuaded 
that,  the  measures  proposed  at  Lanark  being  neglected, 
they  had  lost  an  opportunity  put  in  their  hand,  the  like 
whereof  he  could  not  see  they  would  get  again  ;  and 
if  it  had  not  been  for  discouraging  of  them  he  would 
have  left  them  at  Lanark  ;  and  he  feared  that,  in  such 
a  malignant  country,  they  would  meet  with  a  disap- 
pointment. However,  Wallace  told  that,  if  Mr. 
Veitch  would  not  go,  he  would  do  it  himself;  which 
made  all  of  them  urge  him  to  a  compliance,  which  he 
did.  But  how  unreasonable  and  dangerous  the  under- 
taking was,  you  hear  by  what  follows.* 

Mr.  Veitch  sends  for  his  man,  orders  him  to  bring 
him  his  baggage  horse,  an  old  hat  and  an  old  cloak; 
puts  all  off  him  that  might  give  suspicion  to  any  that 
should  search  him,  as  sword,  pistols,  &c. ;  and  rides 
straight  from  CoUington  to  Biggar  way,  that,  if  any 
should  meet  him  going  into  town,  he  might  say  he 
came  out  Biggar  way.  Mr.  Andrew  M'Cormick  (cal- 
led afterward  the  goodman  of  the  whigs)  a  minister  in 
Ireland,  a  man  of  good  years,  and  judicious,  conveyed 
him  to  CoUington,  talking  to  him  of  several  things  ne- 
cessary lo  he  minded  when  he  came  to  James  Stew- 
art; and  then  left  him.  Not  long  after,  having  ridden 
but  a  little  in  Biggar  road,  he  met  a  very  brisk  strong- 
like fellow  riding  with  a  drawn  sword,  who  asked 
him  which  way  he  came?  He  replied,  he  came  out 
Biggar  way.  "  But,"  says  he,  "  did  you  not  see  all 
CollingtoQ  on  fire  1     I  fear  my  house  be  burnt,  for  I 


*  JN'otwilhstanding  the  difficulty  of  the  undertaking,  it  ap- 
pears that  Mr.  James  Mitchell,  afterwards  executed  for  the  at- 
tempt on  Sharp,  having  gone  from  Edinburgh  with  Colonel 
Wallace,  did,  at  the  desire  of  Captain  Arnot,  return  to  town 
the  same  night  Veitch  was  in  it.  (See  the  Act  of  Privy  Coun- 
cil of  March  12,  1674;  in  Wodrow,  Hist.  i.  376.)  this  act 
contains  also  a  statement  and  revocation  of  that  assurance  of 
his  life,  on  the  faith  of  which  he  confessed  his  attempt  on  the 
bishop.  It  is  well  known  that,  on  his  trial,  a  number  of  the 
Counsellors  solcnmly  .swore  that  no  such  assurance  bad  ever 
bcenjiven.     (Ibid.  615,  516.) 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


433 


hear  the  whigs  are  come  there."  But  it  was  replied 
by  Mr.  Veitch  that  he  knew  nothing  of  it;  thus  they 
parted.  This  gave  occasion  to  tliink  what  the  issue 
of  this  journey  was  like  to  be. 

So  he  went  forward  till  he  came  to  the  ascent  ere 
you  come  to  the  Greenhill  park  dyke,  where  three 
country  women  walking  on  foot  met  him  ;  and  asked 
him,  "  Friend,  which  way  are  you  going  ?"  He  an- 
swered, carelessly,  "  Into  the  town."  They  tell  him 
that,  if  he  go  by  the  Greenhill  house  into  Brunts- 
field  Links,  he  is  a  dead  man  ;  for  there  the  Lord 
Kingston,  with  several  horse  and  foot  under  his  com- 
mand,' are  all  drawn  up  to  stop  the  whigs  from  coming 
into  the  town  ;  praying  him  not  to  go  forward.  He  con- 
sidering the  thing,  and  seeing  a  by-road  upon  his  right 
hand,  going  down  by  the  Grange  to  Libberton  way,  he 
turns  into  it,  and  rides  on  in  that  way  till  he  came  to 
the  Sciennes ;  and,  seeing  a  sentry  upon  horseback 
drinking,  with  his  horse's  head  and  his  own  within 
the  door,  he  turns  from  him  to  the  right  hand,  and 
rides  through  by  the  Burrowmuir  to  Dalkeith  way. 
When  he  came  thither  he  met  a  number  of  colliers, 
who  asked  him  whither  he  was  going?  He  replied, 
"  Into  the  town."  Say  they,  "  You  cannot  come  there ; 
for  all  the  gates  are  shut  up,  and  guards  without  to  appre- 
hend every  person  that  passes."  This  put  him  to  think, 
whether  it  would  be  more  profitable  and  creditable  to 
go  back,  or  go  forward.  Reason  and  light  was  for 
going  back  ;  but  credit  cried,  you  must  go  forward, 
else  lose  your  reputation,  as  a  coward  that  durst  not 
go  forward  to  prosecute  your  commission. 

Upon  which  he  proceeded  and  was  taken  by  two 
sentries  at  the  Windmiin  ;  one  of  whom  carried  him 
into  the  Potterrow  Port,  when  the  captain  of  the 
guard  searching  and  examining  him,  and  finding  no 
just  ground  to  detain  him,  he  desired  him  either  to  let 
him  in  at  the  gate,  or  let  him  go  seek  his  lodgings  in 
the  suburbs.  He  replied  that  neither  of  these  he  could 
do;  for  he  had  not  the  key  of  the  gate,  and  also  he 
had  a  particular  commission  to  send  every  one  he  ap- 
prehended to  my  Lord  Kingston,  who  commanded  the 
main-guard  without  the  West  Port :  and  so  called  a 
corporal  with  a  rate  of  musketeers  to  carry  him  thith- 
er;  which  they  did  by  the  back  of  Heriot  Work  walls. 
The  prisoner  now,  leading  his  own  beast  in  his  hand, 
and  walking  with  them,  thinking  on  his  dangerous 
case,  sent  up  some  desires  to  God,  that,  if  he  had  a 
mind  to  spare  him  and  deliver  him  out  of  this  danger, 
he  would  deliver  him  from  fear,  and  give  him  presence 
of  mind  and  courage ;  which  was  mercifully  granted 
him,  so  that  when  my  Lord  Kingston,  who  was  a  huf- 
fie  *  and  hot-spirited  man,  examined  him,  he  gave 
him  very  smooth  and  suitable  answers,  and  such  as 
gave  him  to  think  that  he  had  no  ground  to  commit 
him. 

But,  in  the  mean  time,  an  alarm  arises  that  the 
Whigs  were  all  at  hand  ;  and  he  crymg  to  stand  to 
their  arms,  the  prisoner  says,  "  My  Lord,  if  you  have 
any  arms  to  give  me,  I'll  venture  against  these  Whigs 
in  the  first  rank."  To  which  he  replied,  "  Thou  art 
an  honest  fellow  :  if  there  be  any  arms  let  him  have 
some."  But  the  noise  being  quashed,  the  prisoner 
says,  "  Now  what  will  your  Lordship  do  with  me  ?" 
Says  he,  "  If  I  thought  all  ye  had  spoken  were  true, 
T  would  let  you  go;  but  I  doubt  of  it."  "Then," 
says  he,  "  my  Lord,  if  you  will  grant  me  one  favour,  I 
shall  easily  clear  you  ;  and  that  is,  if  you  will  send 
one  with  me  to  the  dean  of  Edinburgh's  house,  viz.  Mr. 
Robert  Laurie,  I  shall  bring  a  line  from  him  to  satisfy 
and  clear  your  Lordship  in  the  matter."  "  O,"  says 
he,  "  that  is  my  friend,  to  whom  I  have  as  great  re- 
spect as  to  any  ;  but  no  doubt  he  and  all  his  friends  are 
fled  to  the  castle  for  safety  ;  but  seeing  you  are  a  friend 
of  his  I  let  you  go."  He  had  not  well  said  it,  when  a 
gentleman  standing  by  him  and  looking  toward  the 

«  Huffish. 
3  E 


Links  says,  "  My  Lord,  yonder  is  a  prisoner  coming  in 
with  our  two  scouts;  and  he,  looking  that  way,  per- 
ceives it  to  be  Mr.  Hugh  M'Kell,  which  made  htm  think 
it  was  high  time  for  him  to  be  going ;  and  therefore  says 
to  my  Lord, "  I  am  sensible  of  your  Lordship's  kindness 
to  me,  for  your  friend  and  my  friend's  sake.  I  desire  that 
you  would  order  this  corporal  and  the  musketeers  that 
are  going  back  to  the  Potterrow  Port,  to  bid  the  captain 
there  look  on  me  now  that  he  may  know  me,  that  his 
sentries,  that  are  standing  in  the  streets  in  Potterrow 
and  Bristo,  may  not  apprehend  me  and  bring  me  back  to 
trouble  your  Lordship,  when  I  am  seeking  my  quar- 
ters;" which  the  corporal  did,  for  which  he  gave  him 
a  shilling.  Here  was  a  remarkable  delivery  ;  for  no 
doubt  Mr.  M'Kell  would  have  owned  me  instantly 
and  innocently ;  so  we  should  have  died  together.* 


*  A  Mr.  M'Kail's  sufferings  are  frequently  adverted  to  in  ac- 
counts of  this  period.  The  notices  of  them  by  English  wri- 
ters furnish  us  with  instances  of  their  inaccuracy  on  the  affairs 
of  Scotland.  In  the  Life  of  Lord  William  Russel,  by  his  no- 
ble descendant,  (vol.  i.  p,  169.)  M'Kail  is  stated  to  have  died 
under  the  torture;  a  blunder  copied  from  Burnet,  which  might 
have  been  corrected  by  looking  into  Wodrow. — The  following 
extract  from  a  manuscript  in  the  Advocates  Library,  is  given 
as  containing  son)e  particulars  not  generally  known. 

"  The  forementioned  Mr.  Matthew  M'Kail,  then  apothecary 
in  Edinburgh,  and  afterwards  Doctor  of  Medicine,  when  he 
heard  of  his  cousine  Mr.  Hew  M'Kail,  his  being  taken,  and 
put  in  prrson,  went  to  Mr.  James  Sharp,  Archbishop  of  St. 
Andrews,  to  solicit  for  him:  the  occasion  of  this  was,  the  said 
Mr.  Matthew  M'Kail,  was  emi)loyed  at  London,  1657,  bj'  the 
said  Mr.  James  Sharp,  to  write  several  papers,  to  be  sent  to 
ScotFand,  concerning  the  affairs  of  the  church, for  at  that  time  Mr. 
Sharp  was  agenting  for  the  public  resolutioners,  against  the  pro 
testers  against  the  Assembly  at  St. Andrews  and  Dundee.  When 
Mr.  Matthew  spoke  to  him,  he  desired  him  to  assure  Mr.  Hew 
that  he  would  befriend  him  if  he  would  reveal  the  mystery  of  the 
plot,  which  he  not  being  able  to  do,  occasioned  his  torture;  but 
there  was,  indeed,  a  plot  to  have  surrendered  the  castles  of 
Edinburgh,  Stirline,  and  Dumbarton,  in  July  thatyear,and  the 
chief  contrivers  failing,  nothing  vv'as  done. 

"  Upon  the  Thursday  thereafter,  the  Bishop  went  to  St.  An- 
drews, and  Mr.  Matthew  followed  him  on  I  riday,  but  reach- 
ed only  to  the  Weems  that  night.  After  dinner  he  arrived  at 
the  Bishop's  house  on  Saturday,  and  the  servant  told  that  the 
barber  was  triming  him,  and  when  he  had  done  Mr.  Matthew 
would  get  access.  In  the  mean  time,  whilst  he  was  walking  in 
the  outer  room,  the  Bishop's  son  (about  12  years  old) 
came,  and  enquired  of  Mr.  Matthew  if  he  came  from  Edin- 
burgh, to  which  it  was  answered,  yes;  then  he  inquired  forthe 
news  there,  and  Mr.  Matthew  answered  there  was  none,  but 
that  other  4  of  the  west  countr3'nien,  were  hanged  yesterday; 
then  the  youth  said,  "  No  more!  it  will  be  long  before  they 
hang  them  all:"  and  thus  was  verified  the  old  proverb,  as  the 
old  cock  crows  the  young  cock  learns.  When  Mr.  Mathew  got 
access,  he  delivered  to  the  bishop  one  letter  from  the  March- 
ioness Dowager  of  Douglass,  in  favours  of  Mr.  Hew,  whose 
brother  Mr.  Matthew  was  governor  to  her  son.  Lord  James- 
Douglas,  and  another  from  the  Bishop's  brother,  Sir  William 
Sharp,  his  lady;  and  when  he  had  read  them,  he  said,  "The 
business  is  now  in  the  Justiciaries  hands,  and  I  can  do  nothing; 
but  however  I  shall  have  answers  ready  against  the  next  morn- 
ing;" at  which  time,  when  Mr.  Matthews  came,  the  bishop  cat- 
led  his  family  together,  prayed,  and  desired  Mr.  Matthew,  icf 
come  and  dine  with  him,  and  then  he  would  give  the  answer: 
then  he  went  to  the  church,  did  preach,  and  inveigh  much 
against  the  Covenant.  Immediately  after  dinner  he  gave  the 
answers  to  the  letters,  and  Mr.  Matthew  said,  he  ho})ed  that 
his  travellnig  that  day  about  so  serious  a  business  [would  give 
no  offence;]  to  which  the  bishop  answered,  that  it  would  give 
no  offence.  Then  Mr.  Matthew  went  to  inquire  for  his  horse^ 
but  the  stabler's  family  were  all  gone  to  the  church,  so  that  he 
could  not  travel  till  Monday  morning  early;  and  when  he 
came  to  Buckhaven,  the  wind  being  easterl}',  the  fish  boats 
were  coming  into  the  harbour,  and  he  hired  one  of  them  imme- 
diately, and  arrived  at  Leith  in  the  evening,  having  sent  his 
horse  to  Bruntisland.  He  went  immediately  to  the  Archbishop 
(Burnet)  of  Glasgow,  and  delivered  a  letter  to  hitn,  who  did 
read  it,  and  then  said,  that  the  business  was  now  in  the  Justici- 
aries hands.  The  next  day  being  Tuesday,  Mr.  Hew  was  ar- 
raigned before  the  Justice  Court,  which  sentenced  him  to  be 
hanged  at  the  Cross  of  Edinburgh  on  Friday  next;  and  the 
night  before,  Mr.  Matthew  went  to  the  executioner's  John 
Dunmore's  house,  and  did  drink  with  him,  and  gave  him  six 
dollars,  desiring  him  not  to  meddle  with  Mr.  Hew's  clothes: 
and  the  next  day  the  executioner  did  nothing,  but  put  the  rope 
about  his  neck,  and  a  napkin  about  his  face,  and  turned  hmi  oif 
the  ladder,  and  Mr.  Matthew  received  him,  and  drew  down  his 


434 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


Then,  the  prisoner  being:  liberated,  he  went  to  the  end 
of  the  Potterrow,  where  he  knew  there  was  a  widow  that 
kept  a  public  inn ;  but  when  he  came  and  looked  into  her 
hall,  he  saw  it  standing  full  of  curates,  who  had  fled 
out  of  the  country,  to  shelter  themselves  from  the 
whigs,  but  could  not  get  in  at  the  ports  ;  so  he 
slipped  off,  and  turned  about  to  Bristo  Street,  where 
he  lighted  upon  a  man  that  was  a  cow-keeper  and  sel- 
ler of  milk,  to  whom  he  says,  as  people  do  sometimes, 
carelessly,  "  What  confusion  is  this  about  this  town 
to-night ;  I  cannot  get  in  at  the  port,  and  think  I  shall 
not  get  quarters  without;  do  you  know  of  any  herea- 
bout ]"  Says  he,  "  I  can  give  you  quarters  for  your 
beast,  but  I  have  none  for  yourself."  Says  he,  "  That 
will  do  very  well  :"  upon  which  he  went  to  his  house 
and  gave  him  his  beast,  and  a  sixpence  to  buy  draff  to  it 
all  night;  and  so  left  him,  for  it  was  just  growing 
dark.  And  though  the  house  he  intended  to  lodge  in 
was  just  above  him,  yet  he  passed  by  it  at  that  time  to 
blind  the  man,  that  he  might  not  know  where  he  was 
going,  and  returned  within  a  little  ;  and  finding  Mrs. 
Durham  not  within,  he  went  up  to  the  story  above  to 
Mr.  Arthur  Murray's  house,  who  had  been  turned  out 
of  his  kirk  in  Orkney.  *  And  when  he  saw  him,  he 
wondered  how  he  had  got  safely  into  his  honse  in 
such  a  confusion  ;  for  he  had  heard  that  he  in  partic- 
ular was  among  the  whigs.  He  told  him  how  he  had 
escaped,  at  which  he  cried  out,  "  O  dear  Billy,  I  hope 
God  has  yet  more  to  do  with  thee."  Then  he  told 
him  his  errand,  and  with  whom  it  was,  but  saw  no  ac- 
cess how  to  do  any  thing  in  it;  and  it  was  the  thing 
he  told  his  friends  ere  he  left  them,  that  it  was  not 
likely  he  could  get  in  at  that  time,  for  all  would  be  in 
confusion.  However,  when  my  landlord  told  that  the 
wicket  of  the  Netherbow  was  open,  they  sent  his  wife 
with  a  verbal  message  to  Mr.  Stewart;  but  she  could 
not  get  in.  So  he  went  to  his  bed,  being  exceedingly 
weary ;  and  his  boots  not  having  been  off  for  many 
nights  before,  and  wet,  they  were  forced  to  slit  them 
off;  and  they  were  hanging  there  thirteen  years  after, 
when  Mr.  Veitch  was  brought  prisoner  out  of  Eng- 
land to  Scotland,  to  die  under  a  sentence  in  absence,  as 
after  will  appear. 

The  next  morning,  being  informed  that  the  western 
forces  were  marching  from  CoUington  about  Pentland- 
hill  ends,  and  seeing  that  he  could  do  nothing  in  the 
affair  he  was  sent  for,  he  resolved  to  venture  a  return 
to  his  friends,  though  against  the  advice  of  his  landlord 
and  others  at  Edinburgh.  And  going  out  by  Libber- 
ton  Kirk,  towards  the  House  of  the  Muir,  he  was  like 
to  be  difficultied  with  some  persons  that  were  riding  to 
the  enemy  at  Pentland  town ;  but  advising  them  to  go 
in  and  search  for  arms,  he  standing  sentry  at  the  town 
till  they  came  out,  in  the  mean  time  made  his  escape. 

feet.  When  he  was  cut  down,  he  was  laid  into  his  coffin, 
which  Mr.  Matthew  had  provided,  and  was  carryed  to  Mag- 
dalen's Chapell;  and  when  his  grave  clothes  were  put  on,  he 
was  carryed  to  the  Gray  Friar's  Church  Yard,  and  was  interred 
near  the  east  dyke,  a  little  above  the  stair,  at  the  entry,  being 
conveyed  by  a  great  company  of  honest  men. 

"  It  will  not  be  amiss  to  insert  here,  that  inmiediately  after 
the  execution  of  the  forementioned  four  men,  there  came  a 
letter  from  the  king,  discharging  the  execution  of  moe;  but 
the  Bishop  of  St.  Andrews  kept  it  up  till  Mr.  Hew  was  execu- 
ted, and  then  no  moe  were  panelled  for  that  business. 

"  The  night  before  his  execution,  the  said  Mr.  Matthew  did 
ly  with  Mr.  Hew,  who  did  sleep,  as  before  related  in  the  print, 
which  the  said  Mr.  Matthew  knew,  having  sleeped  very  little 
that  night,  because  of  a  pain  in  his  head  wherewith  he  was 
frequently  troubled.  And  because  no  friend  durst  put  on 
mourning,  the  said  Mr.  Matthew  did  wear  his  black  hair  stuff 
coat  wherein  he  was  hanged,  and  that  as  long  as  it  lasted." 
(MS.  Jac.  V.  7.  22.) 

•  "  This  good  and  aged  man  was  living  in  the  suburbs  of 
Edinburgh,  through  which  Daliiel's  soldiers  marched  in  tri- 
umph. When  he  opened  his  window,  and  saw  them  display 
their  banners,  and  heard  the  shouts  of  the  soldiers,  trioraphing 
over  the  prisoners,  he  was  struck  to  the  very  heart, — took  his 
bed  immediately,  and  died  in  a  day  or  two."  (Wodrow.  vol,  i. 
p.  255.)  ^ 


But  passing  through  Roslin  Muir,  and  coming  to 
Glencross  water,  a  frontier  party  of  Dalziel's  horse 
had  almost  taken  him  up.  But  being  within  cry  of 
Lieutenant  Paton  *  who  commanded  the  rearguard  of 
the  opposite  forces,  he  returned,  and  beating  back  the 
other  party,  delivered  him  ;  and  said  to  Mr.  Veitch, 
"  O  !  Sir,  we  took  you  for  a  lost  man,  and  repented 
sore  that  we  sent  you  upon  so  unreasonable  an  under- 
taking." 

As  they  rode  up  toward  Pentland  hills,  they  observ- 
ed their  friends  leaving  the  highway,  and  marching 
up  their  body  to  the  middle  of  the  hill,  and  a  select 
party  of  horse  tn  the  top.  It  was  about  twelve  of  the 
clock,  the  28th  day  of  November  1666  :  it  having  been 
snow  and  frost  the  night  before,  the  day  was  pretty  clear 
and  sunshine.  General  Dalziel's  coming  from  Cuxrie 
through  the  hills,  of  which  they  got  notice,  was  the 
occasion  of  their  taking  of  themsel  ves  to  that  strength  ; 
and  within  half  an  hour  after,  a  select  party  of  Dalzi- 
el's forces,  commanded  by  Major  General  Drummond, 
fell  upon  their  select  party  that  was  upon  the  top  of  the 
hill.  Drummond  and  his  party  weie  instantly  beat 
back  to  the  great  confusion  and  consternation  of  their 
army ;  hundreds  whereof,  as  they  were  following  dis- 
orderly through  the  hill  sides,  threw  down  their  arms 
and  ran  away  ;  and  Drummond  himself  afterward  ac- 
knowledged to  the  Reverend  Mr.  Kirkton,  that  if  the 
Whigs  bad  pursued  their  first  assault,  wherein  they 
beat  them  back,  they  had  utterly  ruined  Dalziel's  forces. 

M'Clellan  of  Barmagechan,i  and  Mr.  John  Crook- 
Shanks,  commanded  that  first  party,  where  some  pris- 
oners were  taken  by  M'Clellan,  but  were  let  go  in  the 
evening,  after  the  enemy  had  obtained  the  victory.  Mr. 
Crookshanks  and  Mr.  Andrew  M'Cormick  were  both 
killed  at  the  first  rencounter.:^:  Major  Learmont  com- 
manded the  second  party,  who  beat  the  enemy  again  ; 
where  Duke  Hamilton  hardly  escaped,  by  Ramsay, 
dean  of  Hamilton,  his  laying  his  sword  upon  the 
Duke's  back  to  ward  off  the  countryman's  stroke,  that 


*  John  Paton,  Meadow-head,  is  among  the  Scots  Worthies. 
Veitch  styles  hira  only  Lieutenant.  Fountainhall,  at  April  12. 
1684,  mentions  Captain  Paton's  being  brought  in  prisoner  to 
Edinburgh.  "  He  carried  himself  very  discreetly  before  the  Justi- 
ces; however  he  is  sentenced  to  be  hanged  on  the  23d  April; 
but  was  for  a  time  reprieved;  and  at  length  was  hanged  on  the 
9th  of  May.  He  was  willing  to  take  the  test;  but  a  quorum  of 
the  Privy  Council  could  not  be  then  got  to  reprieve  him." — 
(Decis.  1.  295.) — On  a  similar  statement  in  Fountainhall's  Dia- 
ry, p.  92,  the  editor  remarks  in  a  note,  "  This  was  brntal 
enough,  especially  as  a  quorum  could  have  been  easily  collect- 
ed for  the  purpose  of  hanging  him.  An  old  Judge,  Lord 
Nairne,  was  dragged  out  of  Court — [fcerf,  it  should  have  been 
said] — to  vote  forArgyle's  condemnation. 

f  Robert  M'Clellan  of  Barmagechan,  in  the  parish  of  Borg, 
shared  deeply  in  the  sufferings  o(  that  part  of  the  country;  un- 
der Sir  James  Turner;  and  now  took  part  with  his  fellow-suf- 
ferers in  the  rising  at  Pentland,  as  he  afterwards  did  in  that  of 
Bothwell.  Wodrow.  (Hist.  ii.  567.)  has  given  an  account  of 
his  sufferings  in  his  imprisonment  at  Dnnolter,  in  his  banish- 
ment and  voyage  to  the  plantations  with  Pitlochie,  and  in  his 
return  home  after  the  Revolution. 

J  Mr.  Andrew  M'Cormick  was  charged  with  having  been  in 
Blood's  plot  in  Irelaiid.along  with  Lackie  end  other  six  presbyte- 
rian  ministers.  Lackie,  with  Colonels  Edward  Warren,  and 
Jephson,and  Major  Thomson,  were  executed.  Thomas  Blood, 
Colonel  Gibby  Carr,  with  Andrew  M'Cormick,  and  Robert 
Chambers,  nonconformist  ministers,  escaped.  (Carte's  Life  ofOr- 
inond,  ii.  269,70.)  Messrs.  M'Cormick  and  Crookshanks  were, 
by  some  writers,  supposed  to  have  been  active  in  exciting  the 
insurrection,  being  tnrniselves  exposed  to  danger  for  their  con- 
cern in  the  plots  in  Ireland;  but  the  conduct  of  Mr.  M'Cor- 
mick, referred  to  in  a  former  note,  (see  page  431,)  does  not  fa- 
vour that  supposition.  Wodrow  says,  he  has  seen  no  evidence  of 
Colonel  Ker's  accession  to  the  Irish  plot.     (Hist.  i.  188.) 

Wodrow,  (Hist.  i.  app.  p.  78,)  gives  a  list  of  fifty-nine  non- 
conforming ministers  in  Ireland.  Of  these  several  came  to 
Scotland  before  Pentland,  as  Messrs.  Michael  Bruce  and  An- 
drew M'Cormick  from  Newton  Presbytery,  and  John  Crook- 
shanks  from  that  of  Logan.  Bruce  and  Crookshanks  attract 
the  notice  of  the  Council,  who,  on  June  23,  1664,  ordain  let- 
ters, charging  them  at  the  Cross  of  Edinburgh,  and  Pier  and 
Shore  of  Ivefth,  to  appear,  July  27,  for  preaching  without  li- 
cence, and  empower  the  officers  and  commanders  of  the  forces 
to  seiie  them.  (Wod.  i.  215.) 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


435 


he  saw  lie  was  bringing  on  him.*  Dalziel  sent  up  a 
party  quickly  to  rescue  the  Duke,  who  beat  back  Lear- 
mont,  and  shot  his  horse  under  him;  but  he  starting 
back  to  a  fold-dike  killed  one  of  the  four  that  pursued 
him,  and  mounting  his  horse  came  off  in  spite  of  the 
other  three.  The  last  rencounter  was  at  daylight 
going,  where  the  enemy's  foot,  being  flanked  with 
their  horses  on  each  side,  firing  upon  the  Whigs  broke 
their  ranks,  their  horses  not  being  used  with  fire  ;  then 
the  troops  upon  the  right  wing  of  the  enemy  broke  in 
upon  them;  and  had  taken  and  killed  many  more,  if 
the  night  had  not  prevented  them.f 

Mr.  Veitch  falling  in  among  a  whole  troop  of  the 
enemy,  they  turned  his  horse  violently  in  the  dark, 
and  carried  him  along  with  them,  not  knowing  but  that 
he  was  one  of  their  own  ;  but  as  they  fell  down  the 
hill  in  the  pursuit  of  the  enemy,  he  held  upward  till 
he  got  to  the  outside  of  them,  and  the  moon  rising  clear, 
which  made  him  fear  he  would  presently  be  discovered, 
he  saw  no  other  way  of  escape  but  to  venture  up  the 
hill,  which  he  did,  being  well  mounted  ;  which,  when 
the  enemy  perceived,  they  cried  out,  "  Ho!  this  is  one 
of  the  rogues  that  has  commanded  them."  Several 
pursued  him  up  the  hill  a  little,  and  shot  at  him  sun- 
dry times  ;  but  their  horses  sunk,  and  were  not  able  to 
ascend  the  hill,  so  that  he  escaped,  and  came  that 
night  to  a  bird's  house  in  Dunsyre  Common,  within  a 
mile  of  his  own  dwelling.  Giving  the  bird  j:  his  horse 
to  carry  home  to  his  own  stable,  and  to  tell  his  wife,who 
was  entertaining  several  of  the  officers  that  had  fled, 
but  weeping  for  fear  her  husband  should  have  been 
killed,  he  lurked  several  nights  thereabout,  till  he  got 
ready  things  to  go  for  England. 

One  remarkable  passage  on  Friday's  night  after, 
which  was  the  30th  of  November,  he  cannot  but 
mention;  viz.  that  the  Laird  of  .Austown,||  who  lived 
near  by  his  house  in  the  Westhills,  and  was  his  land- 
lord, having  cleared  some  accompts  between  them,  one 
particular  was  omitted,  which  occasioned  him  to  go 
down  in  the  moonlight  to  his  house.  And  taking  his 
servant  with  him,  as  he  came  in  sight  of  the  town,  his 
man  perceives  a  great  many  troopers,  some  of  them 
riding  about  the  dikes,  and  some  of  them  searching 
the  yards,  for  Major  Learmont,  the  gentleman's  son- 

*  Whether  through  the  Duke's  interest,  or  his  own  activity 
and  capacity  for  business,  Ramsay  was  afterwards  advanced  in 
the  church.  "James  Ramsay,  son  of  Robert  Ranisav,  minister 
at  Dundonald,  and  afterward  principal  of  the  College  of  Glas- 
gow, was  first  minister  at  Kirkintuliock,  next  at  Liidithcow, 
and  in  the  year  1670  he  was  made  Dean  of  Glasgow,  &c.  (which 
deanry  is  annexed  to  the  parsonage  of  Hamilton.)  On  the  22d 
July,  1673,  he  was  preferred  to  the  See  of  Dunblane,  upon 
the  translation  thence  of  Bishop  Leighton  to  the  Archiepi.sco- 
pal  See  of  Glasgow.  On  the  23d  May,  1684,  he  was  translated 
from  Dunblane  to  Ross,  (Publick  Records,)  and  here  he  con- 
tinued till  the  Revolution  deprived  him.  He  died  at  Edin- 
burgh, 22d  October,  1696,  and  was  interred  in  the  Canongate 
church-yard."     (Keith's  Catalogue  of  Scots  Bishops,  p.  121.) 

f  "  I  shall  only  notice,"  says  Mr.  Blackader,  "  that  it  was 
greatly  wondered,  that  such  a  poor  inconsiderable  party  of 
countrymen,  so  badly  armed  as  they  were,  so  outwearyed  with 
cold,  travel,  and  hunger,  should  ever  have  faced  such  a  formi- 
dable enemy;  they  being  scarce  900  of  them  who  engaged 
against  3000  horse  and  foot,  beside  great  multitudes  attendants 
01  noblemen  and  gentlemen  in  the  country,  all  well  armed  with 
all  manner  of  furniture  for  war  offensive  and  defensive;  and 
yet,  not  only  in  the  morning,  but  twice  in  the  afternoon,  they 
both  faced  them  and  resolutely  fought  till  the}'  were  able  to  do 
no  more,  being  oppressed  with  multitudes.  It  is  not  known 
what  number  of  Dalziel's  men  fell  that  day,  but  these  who 
stood  on  the  hill,  when  the  second  party  charged  the  enemy, 
and  chased  them  into  the  body,  some  honest  men,  I  say,  who 
stood  among  the  rest  and  saw  it,  affirm  they  saw  many  empty 
horse  run  into  the  body  of  Dalziel's  army.''  (Memoirs,  MS. 
sig.  K.  1.) 

J  Herdsman. 

11  John  Hamilton  of  Auldstain,  or  Austane,  was,  in  January, 
1667,  apprehended  b}'  the  Council's  order,  upon  a  suspicion 
that  Major  Lermont,  his  son-in-law,  bad  been  in  his  house 
after  Pentland.  Nothing  could  be  proven,  and  with  difficulty 
he  got  out,  upon  giving  bond  to  compear  when  called,  under 
penalty  of  ten  thousand  raerks."     (Wod.  i.  266.) 


in-law,  whom  Dalziel  heard  he  had  received  ;  for  it 
was  his  troop.  Mr.  Veitch's  man  says,  "  Master,  Oh  ! 
yonder  troopers;  what  will  you  do?"  and  so  ran 
straight  home.  His  master  fearing  that  if  they  saw  him 
they  would  follow  him  as  a  suspected  person,  he  him- 
self being  in  a  country  habit,  like  one  of  the  birds  of 
the  place,  thought  it  fittest  and  safest  to  go  forward  ; 
and  coming  to  the  green  where  the  pedees  and 
countrymen  were  holding  the  troopers  horses  till  they 
searched  the  house  and  yards,  goes  to  one  of  the  ten- 
ants called  Hugh  Gramme,  an  honest  man,  who  was 
holding  four  or  five  of  their  horses,  and  says,  "  What 
think  you  of  this  night,  Hughie  1  will  it  be  snow  or 
not  ?-"  He,  perceiving  who  it  was,  says,  "  Willie,  take 
two  of  these  horses  and  lead ;  and  he  leading  tliem  to 
and  again,  when  they  got  alone  from  the  company,  he 
said,  "  O,  what  brought  you  here  to-night  ■?"  and  he 
telling  him  that  it  was  to  speak  with  the  laird,  he  says, 
"  That  you  will  not  get  done,  for  they  are  taking  him 
away  prisoner."  In  the  mean  time,  they  sent  a  party 
up  to  Mr.  Veitch's  house  to  search  for  him,  but  found 
neither  him  nor  his  horse  ;  for  his  man  had  taken  him 
out  to  the  moor.  When  the  troopers  mounted  and 
took  away  the  laird  prisoner,  Mr.  Veitch  held  the  stir- 
rups of  the  two  horses  till  his  masters  mounted  their 
horses,  with  his  greasy  bonnet  under  his  arm.  After 
that,  he  went  to  the  bird's  house  all  night,  and  lay  in 
the  calf-house  among  some  straw. 

The  Saturday  after  he  sent  one  down  to  Tweedale, 
to  see  if  there  was  any  safe  travelling  through  that 
country  ;  and  the  man  that  went  carried  his  wife  behind 
him,  upon  his  fine  horse,  to  Mr.  Fleming's  house,  min- 
ister of  Strobo;*  and  she  was  to  send  him  word  by 
the  man,  if  there  was  any  searching  that  way;  and 
hearing  of  no  danger,  became  about  midnight  to  Mr. 
Fleming's  house,  and  taking  his  wife  on  behind  him, 
they  rode  to  Glenvetches  before  day,  and  the  next  night 
to  ToTWOodlee,  and  so  to  his  brother  Mr.  John's,  who 
had  sent  James  Hume  of  Flass,  his  brother-in-law,  to 
Edinburgh,  to  hear  how  all  was  going ;  who,  returning 
the  next  day,  brought  the  printed  proclamation  against 
the  leading  Whigs,  to  apprehend  them  wherever  they 
could  be  found,  and  not  to  harbour  them,  as  they  would 
not  be  punished  according  to  law,  as  the  persons  har- 
boured did  deserve.  His  name  being  there,  he  was 
forced  that  night  to  fly  into  England  and  leave  his  wife, 
who  was  at  that  time  big  with  child  of  his  eldest  son 
William. 

He  left  with  his  wife  the  fine  horse  he  rode  upon,  be- 
ing one  of  the  Lord  Loudon's  horses  that  was  taken 
from  him,  because  he  had  sent  his  officer  to  warn  all 
his  tenants  not  to  rise  to  the  assistance  of  their  friends. 
She  delivered  him  at  Edinburgh  to  a  friend  of  my 
Lords,  and  went  back  to  her  family  at  the  Easthills. 
He,  intending  for  Newcastle,  and  being  wholly  a 
stranger  in  that  country,  and  fearing  to  be  robbed  by 
the  way,  left  his  money  with  a  merchant  in  Kelso; 
and  not  daring  to  take  a  written  bill,  he  got  a  verbal 
token  to  Robert  Ker,  merchant  in  the  Groat  Market 
of  Newcastle,  to  pay  him  the  money  ;  but,  before  Mr. 
Veitch  came  there,  he  had  got  advice  by  letter  so  to 
do.  He  found  several  of  his  friends  there  who  were 
in  the  proclamation,  and  finding  them  go  under  other 
names  for  their  safety,  he  took  the  name  of  William 
Johnson,  his  mother  being  of  that  name. 

The  worthy  Mr.  John  Spreul,  town-clerk  of  Glas- 
gow, being  fled  thither,f  they  took   a  chamber  and 


*  In  the  roll  of  ministers  who  were  nonconformists  to  pre- 
lacy, is  "  Mr.  Patrick  Fleming  of  Stobo."  (Wodrow,  i.  app. 
No.  xxxviii.  p.  72.) 

f  Mr.  Spreul  had  not  fled,  but  was  banished.  He  had  been 
imprisoned  in  September  1660,  along  with  John  Graham,  Prov- 
ost of  Glasgow,  as  a  person  friendly  to  the  Remonstrance.  At 
that  time  he  obtained  his  liberty.  But  he  was  afterwards 
brought  before  the  Council,  •'  and  the  oath  of  allegiance  being 
tendered  to  him,  he  refused  the  same,  alledging  he  had  not 
freedom  to  sign  the  same,  by  reason  of  the  tie  that  lay  upon  him 


436 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


dieted  together  that  winter :  where  Mr.  Veitch  fell 
into  a  great  flux,  through  the  fatigue  and  cold  he  had 
got  that  winter.  He  met  with  great  kindness  from 
the  good  people  in  that  place,  so  that  he  was  not  only 
able  to  live  comfortably  himself,  but  also  to  help  his 
friends  that  were  there  in  strait,  viz.  Mr.  Spreul,  Bar- 
magaehan,    Sundywell,*  Andrew    Gray,    and  James 


by  the  oath  of  the  Covenant:  Wherefore  the  said  Lords  (De- 
cember 18,  1664)  judging  it  unjust,  that  any  person  should 
have  the  benefit  of  the  protection  of  hig  Majesty,  and  enjoy  the 
liberties  of  a  free  subject,  who  refuse  to  give  their  oath  of 
allegiance,  ordain  the  said  Mr.  John  Spreul  to  enact  himself 
under  pain  of  death,  to  remove  out  of  the  kingdom  against 
the  first  of  February  next,  and  not  to  return  without  licence, 
and  find  caution  to  behave  peaceably  till  then,  under  the  pain 
of  two  thousand  pounds,  and  not  to  go  within  six  miles  of 
Glasgow."  He  returned  1671,  and,  in  consideration  of  sick- 
ness and  the  infirmities  of  age,  was  liberated  on  bond.  (Wod- 
row,  i.  p.  10,  216,  348.)  Provost  Graham,  mentioned  above, 
on  regaining  his  liberty,  retired  to  Holland  with  Provost  Porter- 
field  of  Glasgow,  who  was  in  similar  circumstances;  and  in  the 
latter  end  of  1665,  during  the  Dutch  war,  the  Council  declar- 
ed them  rebels  and  fugitives.  (Wod.  i.  266.)  All  the  three 
were  in  the  list  of  persons  fined  by  act  of  Parliament,  1662; 
Mr.  Spreul  in  L.1200  Scots,  Provost  Graham  in  L.IOOO, 
and  Provost  Porterfield  in  L.3000.  Several  letters  from 
M'Ward  to  Porterfield  are  in  the  Advocates  Library. 

*  James  Kirko  of  Sundaywell  was  served  heir  to  his  father, 
John  Kirko,  July  2,  1647.  (Inquis.  Retorn.  Dumfries,  196.) 
This  public-spirited  gentleman,  and  Andrew  Hey  of  Crajgne- 
than,  had  the  honour  to  be  the  two  ruling  elders  who  were  pre- 
sent with  Mr.  James  Guthrie,  and  other  ministers,  when  they 
met  in  the  house  of  Robert  Simpson  in  Edinburgh,  at  the 
restoration  of  Charles  II.,  to  agree  in  an  address  to  the 
King,  congratulating  him  on  his  return,  and  putting  him  in 
mind  of  the  engagements  which  he  had  formerly  come  under 
to  God  and  his  people.  On  that  occasion  he  was  imprisoned 
for  some  months,  and  was  afterwards  vexed  with  repeated  fines 
and  quarterings  of  military,  which  obliged  him  to  quit  his 
house  and  property.     (Wodrow,  i.  7,269;  App.  60.) 

He  was  closely  connected  with  those  ministers  who  preach- 
ed in  the  fields  in  the  year  1665,  as  appears  from  the  following 
account  by  Mr.  Blackader.  Being  invited  by  Gordon  of  Earl- 
ston's  lady,  to  baptize  a  daughter  whom  she  had  born  at  Drum- 
shinnock,  in  her  journey  from  Galloway  to  Edinburgh,  Black- 
ader (to  use  his  own  words)  "  would  needs  venture,  finding  it 
a  necessary  duty,  none  of  the  nonconform  ministers  being  in 
the  bounds,  at  least  who  would  venture  to  do  it;  and  also,  the 
laird,  her  husband,  being  banished  out  of  the  kingdom,  and  at 
London,  after  the  beginning  of  the  persecution  in  Galloway. 
John  Neilson  of  Corsack,  a  godly  gentleman  who  was  execu- 
ted after  Pentland,  having  formerly  fled  out  of  Galloway  to 
Edinburgh,  about  the  time  of  Mr.  Ad.  (Adamson,  Blackader's 
assumed  name)  flying,  did  ride  along  with  him  to  Drutnshin- 
nock  that  day  they  went  out  of  Edinburgh,  befng  to  ride 
home  secretly  to  see  his  wife;  and  when  they  came,  Mr.  Ad. 
baptized  the  child,  who  was  called  Margaret,  now  married 
since  to  Menstree;  the  child  was  presented  by  Corsack  in  the 
father's  absence.  After  he  had  baptized  this  child,  he  rode 
forward  next  day,  in  the  evening,  to  Barndannoch,  to  visit  his 
children  and  servants  whom  he  left  behind;  and  though  he 
came  most  privately  there,  souldiers  being  quartered  not  faroff, 
yet  it  was  discovered  to  several  in  the  country,  who  ^brought 
thither  five  or  six  young  children  to  be  baptized,  whom  he  bap- 
tized at  night  in  his  own  house;  and  after  he  had  ordered  John 
Osburn  to  bring  his  youngest  son,  a  child  of  two  years  old,  to 
be  carryed  for  Edin''.  and  meit  him  that  night  at  Mr,  Samuel 
Austine's,  in  the  place  of  Auchinson,  near  Sanquhar,  early  in 
the  morning  he  rode  back  to  Drumshinnock,  stayed  while  near 
night,  and  with  a  guide  rode  to  the  said  Mr.  Samuel  Austin's 
where  he  had  trysted  his  son,  where  also  he  met  with  Sunday- 
well,  being  on  his  journey  to  Edinburgh.  In  the  morning  they 
sent  away  the  man,  with  the  bairn  on  horseback  before  him; 
his  father  and  Sundaywell  followed  soon  after,  and  overtook 
them  in  the  hollows  of  Menoch  Water,  an  unusual  way;  hav- 
ing ridden  a  while  beside  the  child,  he,  with  Sundywell,  was 
forced  to  leave  him  with  the  uncouth  man,  where  he  cried  out 
pitifully  till  the  hills  resounded  again.  They  were  forced  to 
take  bywayes  all  the  way,  for  the  present  danger.  His  father 
turned  back  a  little  and  then  rode  on  with  Sundaywell,  and 
canrie  to  the  parish  of  Dunsyre  on  Saturday  night,  to  Mr. 
Veitch's  house  at  Hills,  where  he  preached  on  the  morrow, 
being  Sabbath,  but  tn  a  few  persons,  publick  preaching  not 
having  been  practised  in  these  bounds  before."  This  happened 
in  spring  1666.     (Blackader's  Memoirs,  MS.  H.  3,  4.) 

John  Osburn,  mentioned  above,  belonged  to  the  parish  of 
Keir,  and  was  joined  with  the  ministers  against  whom  letters 
were  directed  Januar)-  25,  1666,  alleging,  "  the  said  John  Os- 
burn does  presume  to  take  upon  him  to  be  an  officer  for  giving 
police  to  the  people  of  the  said  unlawful  meetings,  and  accor- 


McDugald,  with  some  others,  who  stayed  all  win- 
ter. 

One  of  his  greatest  and  kindest  friends  was  Madam 
Johnson,  wife  to  Mr.  William  Johnson  of  Kipplesworth, 
who,  at  that  time,  was  present  Mayor  of  Newcastle, 
who  did  often  visit  him  incognito,  especially  in  his 
sickness,  letting  him  want  nothing.  And  when  he 
began  to  recover  of  his  flux  tabled  him  in  the  country 
with  an  independent  minister,  that  he  might  have  a 
better  air  for  his  health ;  and  took  him  along  with  her 
as  her  chaplain  to  Naisborrow  Spa,*  which  was  an 
occasion  to  acquaint  him  with  many  persons  in  the 
several  counties  about,  such  as  General  Venables  who 
lived  at  West  Chester,f  and  Justice  Sharpless  at 
Blakeburn,  with  merchants  about  Leeds,  Wakefield, 
and  other  places  of  that  country,  who  earnestly  invi- 
ted him  to  come  and  sojourn  with  them.  Venables 
earnestly  solicited  the  lady  Johnson  to  let  Mr.  Veitch 
to  go  into  his  coach  with  him,  and  stay  with  him  the 
next  winter;  but  he  desired  the  lady  not  to  grant  it  till  he 
went  back  with  her,  and  got  things  fit  for  such  a  journey. 

After  he  returned  with  the  lady,  he  longed  to  see  his 
wife  and  family,  and  know  what  was  become  of  them; 
hearing  that  she  was  greatly  molested  with  parties  of 
troopers,  who  ordinarily  came  in  the  night  (offering  to 
break  up  her  doors  if  she  did  not  quickly  open)  to  search 
for  her  husband,  and  also  for  Major  Learmont,  who  lived 
within  two  miles.  And  they  being  often  disappointed 
of  their  design,  made  use  of  a  malignant  laird  and 
lady  who  lived  hard  by,  to  inform  them  when  he  came 
home  ;  and  coming  some  weeks  after  to  that  house 
first  to  get  information,  they  told  that  they  never  heard 
of  his  coming  home,  and  it  were  a  pity  to  disturb  such 
a  good  gentlewoman,  who  was  big  with  child  :  and, 
giving  them  drink,  persuaded  them  to  pass  by  to  the 
major's  house.  Here  was  a  special  hand  of  God,  for 
that  night  Mr.  Veitch  was  come  home,  and  they  would 
have  undoubtedly  found  him  and  his  horse  both. 
But  he  that  evening  went  away,  and  advised  his  wife 
to  give  up  the  farm  and  go  to  Edinburgh  where  she 
might  live  quietly  :  and  he  returning  to  Newcastle, 
Justice  Sharpless,  who  lived  at  a  hundred  miles  dis- 
tance in  Lancashire,  sent  his  son  to  conduct  him  into 
the  country,  where  he  sojourned  with  him  and  Gen- 


dingly,  from  time  to  time,  doth  acquaint  them  herewith.  "  (Wod. 
i.  234,  235.)  His  own  account  ot  his  sufferings  is  here  subjoin- 
ed from  a  manuscript  in  the  Advocates  Library.  "  In  the  first 
place  when  the  ministers  came  to  preach  in  the  hills,  to  wot, 
when  Mr.  John  Welsh,  Mr.  Gabriel  Sample,  and  other  eight 
with  them  were  denunced,  and  I  was  also  denunced  with  them, 
as  being  niuntan  beddall,  as  likeways  afterhend  1  was  forced  to 
flee,  and  afterward  returning  home,  was  apprehended  at  my 
master's  harvest  by  a  party  of  Turner's  men ;  being  taken  to 
Dumfriece,  was  interrogate  whoe  they  were  that  preached,  and 
who  were  auditors  of  my  acquaintance;  the  which  I  absolute- 
lie  refused  upon  all  hazards.  Thence  he  put  me  in  the  thives 
hole,  and  threatened  me  by  sterving,  keeping  the  key  the  space 
of  three  daj's  himself,  thinking  to  make  me  confess  whome  I 
knew  to  be  preachers  and  hearers,  the  which  I  absolutelie  re- 
fused ;  afterwards  my  wife  went  to  one  of  the  tune  bailies,  de- 
claring to  him  that  she  would  goe  to  Edinburgh  and  complain. 
Afterward  I  was  brought  out  of  the  prison,  and  was  put  in  an- 
other, where  I  received  meat  and  drink,  otherwayes  I  had  ster- 
ved."     (No.  6.  MS.  XL.  art.  54.) 

*  Knaresborough,  a  town  in  the  North  Ridingof  Yorkshire, 

fleasantly  situated  on  the  river  Nid,  on  a  rugged  rough  rock, 
t  is  famous  for  four  medicinal  springs,  and  is  18  miles  W.  by 
N.  of  York.  (Walker's  Gazetteer.)  And  now  (says  Sir  John 
Reresby)  Lord  Fairfax,  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  Lord  Lieuten- 
ant of  the  North  Riding,  being  at  York,  observed  to  me,  •'  it 
could  be  for  no  good  ends  that  the  Lords  Devonshire  and  Dan- 
by  were  come  down  to  the  country;  though  the  former  preten- 
ded he  was  only  come  to  view  his  estate,  and  the  latter  to 
drink  the  waters  of  Knairsborough."  Oct.  4,  1668,  (Reresbj's 
Memoirs,  p.  275—6.) 

+  This  is  the  city  Chester,  as  evidently  appears  from  what 
follows.  After  the  battle  of  Naseby,  Mrs.  Hutchinson  states, 
that  "  Fairfax  tooke  again  the  towne  of  Liecester,  and  went 
into  the  west,  reliev'd  Taunton,  tooke  Bristol,  and  many  other 
garrisons.  West  Chester  alsoe  and  other  places  were  taken 
that  way."— (Life  of  Col.  Hutch,  p.  253.)— The  king  when  at 
York  sent  a  message  to  the  parliament,  that  he  was  going  to 
Ireland,  and  would  form  a  guard  at  West  Chester.    (Ibid.  88.) 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


437 


eral  Venables*  many  months :  then  came  to  Leeds, 
where  his  acquaintances  there  he  had  gotten  at  the 
Well  made  him  very  welcome.  Among  all  these 
parts  he  preached  to  the  people  as  conveniency  offered, 
It  being  a  persecuting  time. 

From  thence  he  was  invited  to  go  to  London,  where 
he  sometimes  preached  in  meeting-houses,  particularly 
for  Mr.  Nichol  Blakie.f  one  Sabbath  day,  on  Luke 
19,  41,  42.  "  If  thou  hadst  known  in  this  thy  day," 
&c.  where  there  happened  to  be  some  hearers  who 
were  esteemed  to  be  spies,  (which  was  a  Court  trick 
at  that  time)  who  cried  out  after  the  blessing  was  pro- 
nounced, treason,  treason  ;  which  surprised  and  fright- 
ened Mr.  Blakie  and  the  people  ;  but  the  famous  Colo- 


*  Colonel  Venables  arrived  at  Dublin  with  reinforcements 
to  the  Parliament's  troops  in  July  1649.  (Carte's  Ormond,  ii. 
78.)  He  was  employed  in  Ireland,  and  was  in  Cromwell's  Par- 
liament, which  met  September  3,  1654,)  for  the  counties  of 
Downe,  Antritp,  and  Armagh.  (History  of  Irish  Parliament, 
ii.  242-3.)  His  attempts  in  1650,  to  induce  the  Presbyterian 
ministers  to  own  the  Rump  Parliament,  proved  abortive. — 
(Historical  Essay  upon  the  Loyalty  of  Presbyterians,  p,  288 — 
297.) — In  1655,  an  expedition  was  fitted  out  to  St.  Domingo, 
under  the  command  of  Pen  and  "  General  Venables.  a  gentle- 
man of  a  good  family  in  Cheshire,  who  had  served  long  in  the 
armj'  in  the  condition  of  a  Colonel,  and  was  then  called  out  of 
Ireland  to  command  this  expedition."  Clarendon  says,  that 
both  these  officers  were  well  affected  to  the  King's  service, 
and  had,  unknown  to  one  another,  signified  so  much  to  him; 
but  he  wished  them  to  reserve  their  affections  to  a  more  pro- 
per season.  (History  vi.  739.)  Having  failed  in  the  attempt 
on  St.  Domingo,  the  object  of  the  expedition,  though  they 
succeeded  in  a  descent  on  Jamaica,  Cromwell  was  so  highly  in- 
censed that  at  their  return  he  committed  them  for  son)e  time 
to  the  tower,  and  could  never  be  persuaded  to  trust  either  of 
them  again. — (Ibid.  744.) — In  1663  Venables  was  examined  on 
the  Marquis  of  Antrim's  alleged  correspondence  with  Crom- 
well or  his  officers. — (Carte's  Ormond,  ii.  279.) 

f  Mr.  Nichol  Blackie,  or  Blakie,  was  author  of  some  Ser- 
mons under  the  title  Lazarus  Redivivus,  published  in  1671  at 
London,  where  they  had  been  preached  about  the  period  when 
Veitch  was  occasionally  with  him.  They  were  reprinted  at 
Edinburgh  in  1760,  with  a  preface  by  the  Reverend  Adam 
Gib,  who  had  looked  in  vain  for  the  author's  name  in  Calamy's 
Account  of  non-conforming  ministers,  but  appears  to  have  had 
no  suspicion  of  his  being  a  Scotchman.  This,  however,  was 
the  fact.  Mr.  Alexander  Shields  mentions  his  having  gone  to 
London  with  a  letter  of  recommendation  to  one  Mr.  Blackie  a 
Scottish  minister. — (Minutes  of  the  general  meeting  of  United 
Societies,  MS.  p.  172.  Advocates  Library.)  On  looking  into 
Wodrnw's  List  of  Scottish  non-conforming  ministers,  I  find 
Mr.  Blackie  ejected,  by  the  Glasgow  act  in  1662,  from  Rober- 
ton  in  the  Presbytery  of  Lanark,  the  very  parish  in  which 
Veitch's  father  had  been  minister,  and  from  which  he  was  dri- 
ven, after  45  years  ministrations.  But  it  does  not  appear  whe- 
ther Blackie  was  inducted  to  the  parish  after  Veitch's  ejection, 
or  had  been  previously  settled  as  assistant  and  successor  to 
him.  At  any  rate,  both  were  turned  out  before  this  time,  and 
Veitch's  acquaintance  with  Blackie  is  accounted  for.  Mr. 
Blackie  survived  the  Revolution,  but  I  know  not  if  he  ever  re- 
turned to  Scotland. 

From  a  passage  of  his  Sermons,  it  is  probable  that  Mr.  Blac- 
kie was  one  of  those  who  preached  to  the  people  of  London,  in 
1665  and  1666,  on  occasion  of  the  plague  and  burning  of  the 
city.  "  Was  not  this  a  hopeful  beginning,  to  see  a  people  com- 
ing out  of  the  fire  and  from  the  plague — trembling  and  melted 
down  at  Christ's  feet?  Then  i/ow  spake  trembling,  and  he  ex- 
alted you,  by  sending  forth  from  these  flames,  the  cooling  wa- 
ters of  the  sanctuary,  that  run  plentifully  towards  you,  when 
the  gospel  had  a  free  passage,  by  the  indulgence  of  the  supreme 
authority,  for  several  years."  (Lazarus  Redivivus,  p.  17.  ed. 
Glasgow,  1795.)  "  One  great  benefit  (says  Mr.  Baxter)  the 
plague  brought  to  the  city;  that  is,  it  occasioned  the  silenced 
ministers,  more  openly  and  laboriously  to  preach  the  gospel,  to 
the  exceeding  comfort  and  profit  of  the  people;  insomuch,  that 
to  this  day  the  freedom  of  preaching,  which  this  occasion- 
ed, cannot,  by  the  daily  guards  of  soldiers,  nor  by  the  impris- 
onments of  multitudes,  be  restrained.  The  ministers  «(hat 
were  silenced  for  non-conformity,  had,  ever  since  1662,  done 
their  work  very  privately,  and  to  a  few  (not  so  much  through 
their  timorousness,  as  their  loathness  to  offend  the  king,  and 
in  hopes  still  that  their  forbearance  might  procure  them  some 
liberty;  and  through  some  timorousness  of  the  people  that 
should  hear  them.)  And  when  the  plague  grew  hot,  most  of 
the  conformable  ministers  fled,  and  left  their  flocks,  in  the  time 
of  their  extremity:  whereupon  divers  non-conformists  pity- 
ing the  dying  and  distressed  people,  that  had  none  to  call  the 
impenitent  to  repentance,  nor  to  nelp  men  to  prepare  for  ano- 
ther world;  nor  to  comfort  them  in  their  terrors,  when  about 


nel  Blood,  who  went  then  under  the  name  of  Allan,* 
with  some  of  his  accomplices,  sitting  near  the  only 
door  of  the  meeting-house,  while  the  others  who  cried 
were  on  the  far  side  of  the  pulpit.  Colonel  Blood  stands 
up,  saying,  "  Good  people,  what  are  these  that  cry  trea- 
son, treason  1  We  have  heard  nothing  but  reason,  rea- 
son. You  that  are  in  the  passage  there  stand  still, 
and  you  who  are  betwixt  and  the  pulpit,  make  way 
for  the  minister  to  come  tome,  and  I'll  carry  him 
safe  to  his  chamber."  And  so  he  did,  and  we  heard 
no  more  of  that  business. 

Thus  did  Mr.  Veitch  travel  from  place  to  place, 
sometimes  at  London,  sometimes  at  Nottingham, 
sometimes  in  Cheshire,  and  sometimes  in  Lancashire ; 
and  stayed  frequently  at  Mr.  Scurr's  house  at  Hague- 
hall,  five  miles  off  Leeds  ;  and  preached  much  at  the 
meeting-house  of  TopclifF-hall  about  three  miles  from 
Leeds  ;  f    and  sometimes  in  Northumberland,  espe- 


10,000  died  in  a  week,  resolved  that  no  obedience  to  the  laws 
of  any  mortal -men  whosoever,  could  justify  them  for  neglect- 
ingot  men's  souls  and  bodies  in  such  extremities;  no  more 
than  they  can  justify  parents  for  famishing  their  children  to 
death:  And  that  when  Christ  shall  saj',  inasmuch  as  ye  did 
it  not  to  one  of  these  ye  did  it  not  to  me:  it  will  be  poor  ex- 
cuse to  say.  Lord,  I  was  forbidden  by  the  law."  (Life  of  Bax- 
ter, part  iii.  p.  2.)  The  pious  intrepidity  with  which  one  of 
these  ministers  (iVlr.  Thomas  Vincent,  author  of  a  well  known 
Catechism,)  dovoted  himself  to  this  perilous  work  of  love, 
surpasses  any  of  the  justly-lauded  labours  of  the  philanthropic 
Howard.  To  the  arguments  employed  to  persuade  him  not 
to  expose  his  valuable  life,  by  his  brethren  assembled  for  the 
purpose  of  dissuading  him  from  his  purpose,  Vincent  replied, 
"  that  he  had  very  seriously  considered  the  matter  before  he 
had  come  to  a  resolution:  he  had  carefully  examined  the  state 
of  his  own  soul,  and  could  look  death  in  the  face  with  comfort. 
He  thought  that  it  was  absolutely  necessary  that  such  vast 
numbers  of  dying  people  should  have  some  spiritual  assistance. 
He  could  have  no  prospect  of  service  in  the  exercise  of  his  min- 
istry through  his  whole  life  like  that  which  now  offered  itself. 
He  had  often  committed  the  case  and  himself  to  God  in  prayer; 
and,  upon  the  whole,  had  solemnly  devoted  himself  to  the  ser- 
vice 01  God  and  souls  upon  this  occasion;  and  therefore  hoped 
none  of  them  would  endeavour  to  weaken  his  hands  in  this 
work."  "When  the  ministers  present  had  heard  him  out, 
they  unanimously  declared  their  satisfaction  and  joy,  that  they 
apprehended  the  matter  was  of  God,  and  concurred  in  their 
prayers  for  his  protection  and  success.  He  went  out  hereupon 
to  his  work  with  the  greatest  firmness  and  assiduity.  He  con- 
stantly preached  every  Lord's  day  through  the  whole  visitation 
in  some  parish  church.  His  subjects  were  the  most  moving 
and  important,  and  his  management  of  them  most  pathetic  and 
searching.  The  awfulness  of  the  judgment,  then  every  where 
obvious,  gave  a  peculiar  edg«  to  the  preacher  and  his  auditors. 
It  was  a  general  inquiry  through  the  preceding  week,  where 
he  was  to  preach:  multitudes  followed  him  wherever  he  went; 
and  several  were  awakened  by  every  sermon.  He  visited  all 
that  sent  for  him,  without  fear,  and  did  the  best  he  could  for 
them  in  their  extremity,  especially  to  save  their  souls  from 
death.  And  it  pleased  God  to  take  particular  care  of  him;  for 
though  the  whole  number  reckoned  to  die  of  the  plague  in 
London  this  year  was  68,596,  and  seven  persons  died  of  it  in 
the  family  where  he  lived,  he  continued  m  perfect  health  all 
the  while,  and  was  afterwards  useful,  by  his  unwearied  labours, 
to  a  numerous  congregation,  till  the  year  1678,  when  he  died  at 
Haxton."  (Palmer's  Non-conformist's  Memorial,  vol.  i.  p. 
125-6.) 

*  "  Thomas  Allen,  the  pretended  doctor,  was  really  Mr. 
Blood,  under  that  fictitious  name.  (Biographia  Britannica, 
vol.  ii.  p.  365.  Last  edition.)  This  singular  character  comes  to 
be  mentioned  again  in  the  memoir. 

f  It  is  evident  that  the  parts  of  England  frequented  by  Veitch 
abounded  with  non-conformists.  Tney  had  been  deprived  of 
their  ministers  by  the  act  of  Uniformity,  and  by  subsequent 
procedure.  The  following  notices  relate  to  the  places  mention- 
ed in  the  text. 

Hague-Hall. — Mr.  Leonard  Scurr,  ejected  from  Beeston, 
was  a  native  of  Ponfefract,  and  had  a  good  estate  in  that  neigh- 
bourhood. -About  1680  he  and  his  family  were  murdered. 
The  murderers  fled  to  Ireland,  but  were  apprehended.  (Pal- 
mer's Non-conf.  Men)orial,  vol.  ii.  p.  555.)  Mr.  Gamaliel 
Marsden,  ejected  from  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  in  1660,  and 
from  a  chapel  near  Halifax  in  1662.  "  He  afterwards  went  in- 
to Holland,  and  at  his  return  taught  some  young  students  at 
Hague-Hall  philosophy,"  &c.  He  died  May  28, 1681.  (Ibid, 
p.  563.) 

Topcliff'- Hall.— Mi:  Christopher  Marshall,  ejected  from 
Woodkirk  in  1662;  preached  in  1672  at  TopclifT-Hall.     He 


438 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


cially  in  Reedsdale  and  the  borders  thereabout,  until  the 
year  of  God  1671.  Bein^  prevailed  with  by  that  peo- 
ple to  bring  his  family  into  the  north,  that  he  might 
be  some  way  useful  among  them,  he  removed  his  wife 
and  two  sons,  William  and  Samuel,  in  creels,  from 
Edinburgh  into  a  village  called  Falalies,  farming  a 
piece  of  ground  from  Charles  Hall,  who  was  owner 
of  that  place  and  village,  within  the  parish  of  Rod- 
berry  in  Northumberland.  After  some  years  wander- 
ing, he  had  found  that  lot  much  embittered  with  his 
great  and  almost  continual  distance  from  his  wife  and 
family,  as  also  with  the  great  troubles  they  under- 
went, (parties  of  soldiers  besetting  and  breaking  up 
the  doors  at  midnight,)  so  that  he  resolved  to  trans- 
port them  into  Northumberland  ;  neither  his  affection 
nor  ability  serving  to  carry  them  farther  at  that  time, 
he  being  forfeit  life  and  fortune  and  all  that  he  had 
taken  from  him,  except  a  little  they  knew  not  of. 

But  they  were  not  well  settled  there  (though  in  a 
moorish  retired  place)  when  their  neighbours  of  the 
Romish  gang,  which  abound  there,  did  stir  up  the 
Lord  Whiterington  *  to  mar  some  small  meetings  that 
he  had.  It  being  about  the  time  of  the  English  in- 
dulgence, j"  he  pretended  a  commission  to  apprehend 
and  secure  all  ministers  that  had  not  the  king's  license, 
and  thinking  belike  that  this  stranger  had  scarce 
friends  or  time  to  procure  one  of  the  licences,  he, 
accompanied  with  Esquire  Thornton,:}:  a  great  Roman- 
ist, and  several  other  gentlemen,  came  to  the  minis- 
ter's landlord,  whom  they  sent  to  see  for  the  license, 
and  finding  one,  which  indeed  was  come  but  the 
preceding  day,  went  away  with  a  great  disappointment. 

This  liberty  occasioned  him  to  be  called  five  miles 
farther  into  the  country,  and  to  farm  an  house  suitable 
to  the  work,  called  Hamamhall,  belonging  to  Major 
Babington,||  where  the  auditory  increased  daily.     The 


died  in  1673.  (Ibid.  579.)  Mr.  James  Calvert  "  had  been 
several  j^ears  at  Topcliff,  when  be  was  silenced  by  the  act  of 
Uniformity."  After  some  stay  at  York,  he,  about  1675,  be- 
came chaplain  to  Sir  William  Strickland  of  Bovnton.  On  his 
death  he  removed  to  Hull,  and  thence  to  Nortnuniberland  to 
Sir  William  Middleton's,  who  made  him  his  chaplain,  and  left 
Lim  tutor  to  his  only  son.  (Ibid.  p.  596.) 

Leeds. — Mr.  Richard  Stretton,  ejected  from  Petworth  in  Sus- 
sex, preached  in  Leeds  from  about  1670  to  1677.  (Ibid.  p. 
469.)  He  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  Thomas  Sharp,  ejected  from 
Addle,  in  the  West  Riding,  who  survived  the  Revolution.  (Ibid. 
p.  469.)  Mr.  CorneliusTodd,  ejected  from  Bilton,  West  Riding, 
wag  one  of  four  who  preached  in  a  meeting  house  erected  in 
Leeds  on  the  indulgence,  1672.  (Ibid.  p.  556.)  Messrs.  Rob- 
ert Todd,  James  Sales,  and  Christopher  Nesse,  were  ejected 
from  Leeds.     (Ibid.  p.  565-6-7.) 

Wakefield. — Mr.  Jeremiah  Marsden  was  ejected  fromArdes- 
Icy  chapel  near  Wakefield  in  1662.  (Ibid.  p.  552.)  Mr.  Wil- 
liam Howden,  born  near  Leeds,  being  ejected  from  Broads- 
worth,  removed  to  Wakefield,  where  he  preached,  even  after 
the  loss  of  his  sight,  which  happened  about  1690.  (Ibid.  p.  558.) 

Blackburn. — Nlr.  Charles  Sager,  master  of  the  school  of 
Blackburn,  Lancashire,  preached  there,  or  in  the  vicinity, 
till  1668  or  1669.  He  was  afterwards  imprisoned.  (Ibid.  vol. 
i.  p.  335.)  Mr.  Jeremiah  Marsden,  mentioned  in  the  last  para- 
graph, had  preached  at  Blackburn,  and  in  various  places  in 
Yorkshire,  Cheshire,  &c.  previous  to  his  settlement  at  Ardesley. 
(Ibid.  ii.  553.) 

•  Sir  William  Widdrington  of  Widdrington  Castle  was 
expelled  the  House  of  Commons,  1642;  created  a  Baron  by 
the  King  in  1643;  and  slain  at  Wig^an  on  the  march  of  Charles 
II.  to  Worcester.  William,  Lord  Widdrington,  his  son,  was 
one  of  the  Council  of  Stale  on  the  Restoration. — Hutchinson's 
Northumberland,  ii.  317.) — Being  Governor  of  Berwick,  he 
took  offence  at  a  sermon  which  mr.  Luke  Ogle,  the  minister 
of  that  town,  preached  on  the  5(h  of  November,  shut  him  out 
of  his  church  without  waiting  for  the  act  of  Uniformity; threw 
him  afterwards  repeatedly  into  f)ri»on,  and  refused  to  allow 
him  to  live  in  Berwick,  even  after  the  English  indulgence  was 
erranted,  unless  he  would  conform.— (Palmer's  Nonconf.  Memor. 
II.  244—6.) 

+  March  15.  1672. 

\  Sir  Nicholas  Thornton's  estate  was  sequestrated  by  par- 
liament 8th  Nov.  1652.— (Hutchinson's  North,  ii.  283,  note.) 

II  "  Harnhani  wa«  the  mansion  of  the  Babingtons  (a  family 
B«  ancient  in  Britain  as  the  Conquest)  and  of  Colonel  Babing- 
ton,  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  Governor  of  Berwick.     I-fis 


very  report  made  several  persons  come  to  see  the  nov- 
elty, and  satisfy  their  curiosity ;  of  some  of  whom, 
it  can  be  said,  they  went  not  as  they  came;  for  the 
profanation  of  the  Sabbath  by  baking  their  bread, 
starching  their  clothes,  mucking  their  byres,  &c.  was 
wonderfully  reformed  by  his  preaching  on  Sabbath 
sanctification. 

Likewise  many  Anabaptists,  who  keep  seventh-day 
Sabbath,  came  to  hear,  and  being  taken  with  the  ordi- 
nances, did  also  keep  our  Sabbath,  and  were  punctual 
attenders.  One  young  gentlewoman  who  was  married 
to  a  Presbyterian,  after  the  baptism  of  her  first  child, 
was  long  under  trouble  of  mind,  and  confessed  that 
shame  kept  her  long  back;  butcoming  over  all  at  length, 
stood  up  in  the  congregation,  and  making  a  savoury 
confession  of  her  faith,  was  baptized — (it  was  a  weep- 
ing day,  and  I  think  it  did  more  good  than  many  ser- 
mons)— which  did  much  good  in  the  corner,  several 
following  her  example.  By  this  and  other  motives 
the  meeting  still  increased,  by  many  who  lived  at  a 
great  distance,  they  would  have  come  ten  miles  on 
the  one  side,  and  as  far  on  the  other. 

And  here  I  cannot  pass  a  remarkable  story  concern- 
ing a  village  called  Fenick  or  Phenwick,  about  five 
miles  oflF  this  meeting,  where  a  godly  weaver  and  his 
wife  lived,  who  were  the  scorn  of  the  place  for  their 
piety,  and  used  to  steal  in  the  back  way  to  their  own 
house ;  but  being  discovered  by  a  number  of  young 
men  playing  at  the  foot  ball  on  Sabbath  afternoon, 
they  left  their  game  coming  to  mock  them ;  but  the 
honest  man  addressing  himself  to  some  of  them 
who  were  of  good  age,  after  he  had  laid  before  them 
the  danger  of  such  an  open  profanation  of  the  Sab- 
bath, he  invites  three  or  four  of  them  to  go  once 
along  with  him  and  hear  sermon,  and  it  might  be 
that  they  would  change  their  thoughts  ;  and  if  they 
were  not  persuaded  to  go  again,  yet  he  hoped  they 
might  be  so  far  convinced  as  not  any  more  to  mock 
him  for  going.  These  went  with  him  next  day,  and 
it  pleased  the  Lord  that  they  got  that  which  made 
them  invite  others,  and  they  others,  till  the  most  part 
of  the  town  came ;  and  family  worship, with  Sabbath  re- 
formation, was  so  remarkable  there,  that  itwas  the  talk 
of  the  country  about,  and  greatly  incensed  the  clergy. 

Whilst  the  bulwark  of  indulgence  continued  he 
preached  peaceably,  although  some  of  several  offices, 
professions,  and  qualities  meanwhile  were  sharpening 
their  teeth  and  snarling,  which  visibly  appeared  upon 
the  back  of  that  proclamation  recalling  the  liberty. 
For  Sir  Thomas  Lorrain  of  Kirkharle,  a  justice  of  the 
peace,  being  instigated,  as  is  confidently  reported,  by 
several  of  his  pot  companions,  the  clergymen,  did  once 
and  again  issue  out  warrants  to  the  high  and  petty  con- 
stables of  that  ward  to  apprehend  him  ;  which  proving 
ineffectual,  he,  to  gain  his  point,  retrieve  his  credit, 
and  gratify  the  renewed  desires  of  his  foremenlioned 
friends,  drinking  one  Saturday  afternoon  with  him  in 
his  own  house,  did  solemnly  promise  that  the  next 
Sabbath,  which  was  then  very  nigh,  he  would  go  him- 
self in  person  and  apprehend  him,  and  consequently, 
once  for  all,  put  a  stop  to  that  meeting.  But  not  many 
hours  after,  if  any,  he  by  an  unusual  mean  got  his  leg 
broke,  so  that  for  many  weeks  he  could  not  travel : 
his  lady.  Sir  John  Fenwick's  sister,*  calling  him  out 


first  wife,  Catharine,  was  under  excommunication  for  con- 
tempt of  an  ecclesiastical  sentence,  on  which  account  she 
was  not  entitled  to  sepulture  on  consecrated  ground." — 
(Ibid.  i.  217 — 8.)  It  is  probable  that  protestant  nonconformi- 
ty was  her  crime,  as  she  was  the  widow  of  Colonel  George 
Fenwick,  and  eldest  daughter  of  Sir  Arthur  Hezelrigge  of 
Nosely,  and  of  Dorothea  Grenville,  sister  to  Robert  Lord 
Brook.    (Ibid.) 

t  Thomas  Loraine  of  Kirkharle,  was  created  a  Baronet  in 
the  26th  year  of  the  reign  of  King  Charles  II.  and  died  in 
January  1717.  He  married  Grace,  daughter  of  Sir  William 
Fenwick,  Baronet  of  Wallington,  in  the  county  of  Northum- 
berland.   Sir  John  Fenwick  was  executed  on   Towcrhill   in 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


439 


from  the  instigators  to  tlie  stairhead,  being  in  a  pas- 
sion, kicked  him  down  stairs  for  selling  four  oxen  and 
spending  the  price  of  them  in  drinking. 

The  clergy  then  resolved  to  make  use  of  their  in- 
struments of  death,  seeing  his  were  blunted  ;  and 
that  they  might  be  completely  furbished  and  sharpen- 
ed effectually  to  do  the  work,  one  Parson  Ward  of 
Kirkharle  *  goes  up  to  the  chief  grinder  and  polisher 
at  Durham,  viz.  the  bishop, |  and  no  doubt  returned, 
as  he  thought,  well  armed  for  the  destruction,  not 
only  of  this  but  of  other  non-conforming  ministers 
and  people  about :  and  being  so  well  pleased  that  the 
bishop  had  given  him  and  his  brethren  about,  orders 
to  excommunicate  all  of  them,  &c.  But  being  a  con- 
siderable way  off  his  church  on  Sabbath  (being  detain- 
ed by  the  parson  of  Pontiland  who  drank  all  night  to- 
gether) rides  so  hard  to  be  home  in  time,  that  he 
tired  his  horse  by  the  way,  and  not  being  able  to  get 
him  on  alone,  he  hires  the  herdman  of  Harnam,  the 
town  where  this  minister  lived,  to  lead  him,  taking  his 
club  to  drive  him  on.  But  while  he  is  unmercifully 
(as  it  is  like)  beating  the  poor  beast,  it  doth  (without 
respect  had  to  his  coat,  the  canons,  or  the  orders  he 
carried)  smite  him  violently  with  his  foot  upon  the 
cheek  bone  until  the  blood  gushed  out  and  he  fell ; 
and  so  like  the  ass  in  sacred  story  presaged  his  unsuc- 
cessfulness.  The  boy  that  led  the  horse  runs  into  a 
lady's  house  hard  by  :  the  old  gentlewoman  sent  out 
the  two  servants  that  waited  on  her  (the  rest  being  at 
church)  with  a  barrow,  and  they  with  the  boy  carried 
him  in.  She  dressed  his  wound,  and  he  lay  there 
several  weeks  under  cure  ;  by  which  providence  their 
malicious  design  at  that  time  was  disappointed,  and  I 
am  credibly  informed  he  carries  the  mark  of  that 
stroke  to  this  day. 

After  he  had  preached  four  years  in  a  hall  at  Har- 
nam, the  house  and  ground  pertaining  thereto  got  a 
new  master,  one  Thomas  Dawson,  a  roper  in  Newcas- 
tle, who,  upon  reasons  best  known  to  himself,  refused 
to  continue  this  minister  his  tenant,  and  thereby  that 
meeting  was  dissolved  ;  yet  he  was  a  dissenter,  and 
his  riches  melted  away  afterwards. 

This  occasioned  his  removal  to  Stantonhall,  in  the 
parish  of  Longhorsly,  May  16,  anno  .  .  .  where  he 
found  his  lot  fallen  in  none  of  the  best  places ;  the 
country  side  abounding  with  papists,  and  the  parish 
church  filled  with  a  violent  persecutor,  one  Mr.  Thom- 
as Bell,  a  Scotsman,  of  whom  more  afterwards :  and 
there  wanted  not  justices  of  peace  at  hand  meet  hel- 
pers for  them,  two  whereof,  viz.  Sir  Thomas  Horsley 


1696  for  a  conspiracy  against  King  William. — Hutchinson's 
North,  i.  220,  221.")— "  Northumberland.— Sir  John  Fenwick, 
a  Captain  under  the  Duke  of  Monmouth,  and  promised  a 
place  at  Court,  had  L.2000  given  him  for  his  election." — (Mar- 
veil's  Works,  ii.  571.) — He  appears  to  have  sitten  in  all  the 
parliaments  from  the  Restoration  to  the  Revolution. — (Hutch- 
inson s  North,  ii.  447 — 8.) 

*  "  Kirkharle  vicarage. — Ric.Ward.  1671.  Pr.  Thomas  Lor- 
raine."— Hutchinson's  North.  State  of  Churches,  p.  46.) 

f  On  October  22,  1674,  Nathaniel  Crewe  was  translated 
from  Oxford  to  Durham.  (Surtees,  Durham,  vol.  i.  P.  i.  p. 
cxv.)  "  In  1677,  the  Duke  of  Monmouth  was  sent  as  general 
against  the  Scottish  Covenanters.  Bishop  Crewe's  zeal  for 
this  service  cannot  be  doubted;  he  posted  to  his  diocese, 
[of  which  he  was  Lord  Lieutenant]  raised  the  militia  of  the 
county  with  great  promptitude,  and  entertained  the  Duke  at 
Durham  both  on  his  progress  and  on  his  return."  He  solem- 
nized the  marriage  of  the  Duke  of  York  with  Mary  of  Modena, 
and  on  the  Duke's  accession,  "  went  headlong  into  the  des- 
tructive measures  which  hurled  that  prince  and  all  his  family 
into  exile.''  Though  he  voted  that  James  had  abdicated  the 
throne,  he  was  excepted  from  the  general  pardon  granted  by 
William  and  Mary,  and  fled  to  Holland,  but  having  returned 
and  taken  the  oaths  to  the  new  government,  was  restored  to 
his  bishopric.  On  Sir  John  Fenwick's  trial  for  treason 
against  King  William,  the  Bishop  had  King  James's  thanks 
sent  him  from  St.  Germains  for  his  attention  to  the  prisoner. 
Bishop  Crewe  felt  the  ruling  passion  (aversion  to  the  WhiM) 
strong  in  death;  as  he  lay  dying  on  the  marble  slab  before  tne 


of  Longhorsley,*  and  William  Ogle  of  Causeway 
Park,|  came  with  some  men  to  take  Mr.  Veitch  at  a 
meeting  in  his  own  house,  upon  the  second  Sabbath 
of  August  1677.  One  of  the  justices  with  his  party 
came  to  the  foregates,  but  Mr.  Ogle  with  his  came  to 
the  postern  gate  and  broke  up  a  nailed  door  about  three 
of  the  clock  in  the  afternoon,  without  ever  demanding 
entrance,  and  bursting  up  another  door  that  the  minis- 
ter's wife  was  shutting  till  her  husband  escaped, 
whereby  she  had  certainly  been  spoiled,  she  being 
great  with  child,  if  the  falling  down  of  the  sneckhad 
not  prevented  it.  In  the  mean  time  the  minister  got 
into  a  hole  within  the  lining  of  a  great  window 
which  had  been  made  on  purpose,  for  the  whole  room 
was  lined  about  with  wainscot. 

A  Scotsman  that  was  their  gardener  came  along 
with  them,  and  bursting  first  into  that  room  perceived 
the  minister  going  into  the  hiding  place,  which  his 
wife  perceived,  and  standing  near  him,  he  observed 
her  to  be  afraid  of  him,  and  he  said  to  her  "  Fear 
not,"  which  eased  her  mind.  They  sent  their  servants 
up  through  the  rooms  and  garrets  to  search  for  the 
minister  and  others  ;  and  one  of  their  servants  falling 
in  upon  the  garret  that  was  above  a  great  lower  haU 
which  was  the  meeting  place,  looking  down  through 
a  hole  that  was  broke,  he  saw  a  great  crowd  of  people 
(which  were  the  town's  folks  gazing,)  and  one  of  them 
being  in  black  clothes,  whom  he  took  to  be  the  minis- 
ter, he  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  "  Master,  master, 
where  are  you  1  I  have  found  'em  all."  Justice  Ogle 
running  into  the  hall,  cried  "  Where  are  they  ?"  "  Sir, 
you  are  just  among  them."     "  Come  down,  sirrah," 

says  he  ;  "  the  d confound  you,  for  here  is  none 

but  the  people  gazing."  "Troth,"  says  he,  "Sir, 
I  have  been  through  so  many  garrets  that  I  know  not 
where  I  am."  So  missing  their  design,  and  advising 
his  wife  to  let  her  husband  preach  to  herself  and  her 
children  only,  then  she  should  not  be  troubled,  they 
went  away.  Their  carriage  was  very  rude,  coming  in 
with  pistols  in  their  hands ;  and  all  this  was  done 
upon  the  naked  information  of  one  single  person,  sec- 
onded with  Mr.  Bell's  threatenings  and  persuasives. 

The  laymen  being  vexed,  and  the  clergy  about  gall- 
ed at  this  disappointment,  resolved,  on  more  frequent 
and  close  pursuits,  to  catch  the  prey.  Mr.  Bell  drink- 
ing with  a  mixed  company,  some  professed  papists, 
others  little  better,  who  it  is  like  were  stimulating 
him  on  against  that  meeting  and  minister,  vowed,  as 
it  is  reported,  that  he  should  either  ruin  him  or  he  him; 
and  as  the  event  proved,  he  was  no  false  prophet. 
For  after  several  essays  against  him  and  others,  both 
such  as  dwelt  in  the  country,  and  those  that  came  in 
transiently  from  Scotland  and  preached,  he,  with  sev- 
eral of  that  gang,  as  we  hear,  represented  to  Lauder- 
dale, returning  from  Scotland  to  the  court,  the  danger- 
ous condition  of  these  northern  counties,  and  that  be- 
cause of  many  vagrant  Scotch  preachers,  by  whose 
means  the  begun  infection  did  spread,  and  was  like  to 
pass  Tyne  Bridge,  and  approach  the  very  noble  parts 
of  the  nation  if  not  timeously  prevented. 


fire,  he  cried  out,  in  almost  his  last  moments,  to  his  chaplain 
Richard  Grey,  "  Dick!  Dick!  don't  go  over  to  them."  (Ibid, 
vol.  i.  p.  i.cxv — cxix.) 

*  "  Long  Horsley. — The  family  of  Horsley  held  lands  within 
this  manor  from  distant  ages."  (Hutch.  North,  ii.  319.)  Ed- 
ward Horsley  Widdrington,  whose  only  daughter  and  heir 
married  Thomas  Riddall,  Esq.  of  Swinburn  Castle.  (Ibid.)  Sir 
Thomas  Horsley,  Knight,  was  appointed  a  Commissioner  of 
Supply  for  the  county  of  Northumberland,  anno  1679,  (Stat- 
tutes  of  the  Realm,  vol.  v.  915.) 

t  "  Cawsey  Park — the  inheritance  of  a  younger  branch 
of  the  noble  family  of  Ogle."  James  Ogle,  Esq.  of  Cawsey 
Park,  a  steady  royalist,  died  4th  December  1664.  (Hutchin- 
son, ii.  318.)  William  Ogle,  Esq.  was  appointed  a  Commis- 
sioner of  Supply  for  the  county  of  Northumberland,  anno  1679, 
and  member  for  that  coiuity,  anno  1685.  (Statutes  of  the 
Realm,  T.  915.) 


440 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


Shortly  after  his  arrival  at  Court,  several  troops  of 
horse  and  dragoons  were  sent  thither,  to  crush  all 
meetings,  apprehend  the  abettors,  and  stop  the  infec- 
tion. One  Major  Main  was  over  the  horse,  and  Major 
Oglethorp  the  dragoons.*  These  were  sent  to  chas- 
tise the  now  bad  (commonly  called,  and  never  more 
deservedly,  the  good)  town  of  Berwick  upon  Tweed. 
These  men  being  all  strangers  were  to  act  by  counsel 
and  command  of  Colonel  Strothers,  a  deputy  lieuten- 
ant of  Northumberland,  who  was  set  over  them,  and 
preferred  to  have  a  troop  of  his  own  raising  for  his 
own  guard ;  and  as  their  commission  was  ample,  so 
he  was  sine  quo  non  in  all  their  actings. 

After  they  had  carried  on  their  work  a  great  length 
(being  feasted  and  encouraged  by  the  papists,  the  cler- 
gy, and  the  corrupt  juslices)  Major  Oglethorp  having 
notice  given  him  in  the  very  night  Mr.  Veitch  came 
home,  by  some  hired  for  that  purpose,  he  being  a 
stranger  in  the  country,  hires  one  Thomas  Cleugh,  a 
sheriff's  bailiff,  to  be  his  guide  from  Morpeth  ;  and 
after  they  had  beset  the  house  upon  the  19th  day  of 
January  1679,  about  five  of  the  clock  in  the  morning, 
this  Cleugh  rapping  on  the  glass  window  of  the  par- 
lour where  the  minister  lay,  and  calling  him  till  he 
awaked,  Mr.  Veitch  being  surprised  asked  who  was 
there,  which,  when  Cleugh  heard,  "  Now,"  said  he  to 
the  Major,  standing  beside  him,  "  Yonder  he  is,  I  have 
no  more  to  do."  Upon  which  the  Major  broke  down 
the  glass  window,  thinking  to  get  in;  but  finding  iron 
bars  in  his  way,  called  to  open  the  door  quickly, 
quickly  ;  and  being  impatient  they  broke  in  at  the 
hall  windows,  and  had  their  candles  lighted  ere  the 
maid  opened  the  inner  doors  ;  apprehended  the  minis- 
ter, and  carried  him  to  Morpeth  jail,  where  he  contin- 
ued prisoner  twelve  days.  The  warrant  they  had  was 
by  way  of  letter  from  Colonel  Strothers  and  Mr.  Ogle 
of  Causeway  Park  his  son-in-law,  and  now  Lieuten- 
ant to  his  troop.  It  was  given  several  months  before, 
and  directed  to  Major  Main  at  Wooler  ;  he  directs  it 
to  Oglethorp  at  Morpeth,  three  or  four  miles  from  Stan- 
tonhall,  to  execute,  the  true  copy  whereof  is  as  fol- 
lows : 

"Sir,  We  are  credibly  informed  that  there  is  one 
Mr.  Johnson,  a  preacher  or  teacher  to  the  nonconfor- 
mists in  the  church  of  England,  who  stands  outlawed 
for  rebellion  in  the  kingdom  of  Scotland,  and  a  fugi- 
tive in  this  kingdom  ;  his  constant  abode  is  at  Stanton, 
about  four  miles  from  Morpeth  in  this  county.  We 
desire  that  you  will  give  out  your  order  to  some  of 
your  forces  under  your  command,  that  the  said  Johnson 
may  be  taken  and  sent  to  jail  :  and  the  jailor,  his  depu- 
ty or  deputies,  is  hereby  required,  and  in  his  Majesty's 
name  straitly  we  command  him  or  them,  to  receive  the 
body  of  the  said  Johnson  into  their  custody,  and  him 

*  During;  the  rising  at  Bothwell,  the  Privy  Council  of  Scot- 
land desired  Major  Main  to  march  to  Kelso,  and  both  he  and 
Major  Oglethorp  appear  to  have  been  actively  employed  in 
suppressing  the  insurrection.  (Wodrow,  ii.  52,  596.)  The 
forfeiture  of  life  and  fortune  which  followed  theaflairat  Both- 
well  (says  Ker  of  Kersland)  "  still  aflects  some  gentlemen  who 
then  forfeited,  because  their  estates  were  given  by  the  Crown 
to  Colonel  Cornwall,  Sir  Theophilus  Oglethorp,  and  General 
Main,  three  Englishmen,  who  never  having  any  of  their  effects 
in  Scotland,  could  not  be  reached  by  the  laws  of  that  nation. 
Nevertheless  Mr,  Gordon  of  Craighlaw,  Mr.  Gordon  of  Earl- 
gton,  Mr.  Cochrane  of  Waterside,  Mr.  Ferguson  of  Caithlock, 
Mr.  Martin  of  Cutcloy,  and  others,  have  been  always  reckon- 
ed among  the  loyalest  subjects,  since  King  William  of  glorious 
memory  came  to  the  Crown;  who  from  that  year  1679  have  la- 
boured under  insuperable  diflUculties,  (which  all  others  who 
then  forfeited,  were  relieved  from)  without  any  probability  of 
reparation,  as  much  as  if  the  forfeiture  had  never  been  rever- 
sed, notwithstanding  all  the  representations  that  have  been 
made  of  their  case,  not  only  to  the  government  and  Mr.  Corn- 
wall himself,  but  by  the  Parliament  also  recommended  to  the 
Crown,  and  even  in  spite  of  the  Union  too."  (Memoirs,  p.  5.) 
"  If  Clavers  and  Oglethorp  had  been  left  to  their  own  discre- 
tion, they  had  put  an  end  to  that  rebellious  crowd,  and  purged 
the  nation  of  much  superfluous  end  corrupted  blood."  (Me- 
moirs of  Dundee,  p.  12.) 


safely  keep  in  their  jails  until  the  next  assizes,  and 
this  shall  be  the  jailor's  security. 

Sir,  this  with  our  humble 
service  to  you,  we  rest 
your  faithful  friends  and  servants, 

Wm.  Strother.* 
Wm.  Ogle." 
"  Fowberry,  Nov.  21.  1678." 

It  was  thus  directed. 
"  For   the    Honoured   Major    Main,    Commander  in 
Chief  of  his  Majesty's  Forces,  in   these  Northern 
Counties,  at  his  quarters  at  Wooler." 

It  seems  that  this  warrant  is  sent  to  Major  Oglethorp, 
Major  of  the  dragoons,  who  lay  at  Morpeth,  to  be  put 
in  execution. 

This  warrant  was  no  way  formal  or  legal,  as  after- 
wards was  declared  by  good  lawyers.  The  executing 
it  upon  the  Sabbath  day  was  against  a  late  act  of  Par- 
liament,")" But  the  zeal  and  love  of  reward  carried 
them  over  all  these  difficulties,  and  a  deep  storm  of 
snow  to  the  boot ;  which  made  the  Major  and  Griffith 
his  Lieutenant,  and  Ensign  Owen,  (wlio  was  hanged  at 
York,  tiie  Lammas  after  their  disbanding,  for  robbery,) 
and  the  rest  walk  on  foot  all  the  way,  and  were  often 
up  to  the  middle  in  snow  missing  the  tract  in  the  night. 

The  foresaid  Justices  being  acquainted  by  a  messen- 
ger from  the  Major,  and  fearing  the  warrant,  (for  the 
Head  Sheriff,:J:  upon  information  of  the  illegalness 
of  it,  wrote  to  his  deputy  to  turn  the  prisoner  out  of 
his  jail,  which  he  obeyed  not,)  two  days  after,  they 
send  another  directed  to  the  jailor  Fenwick,  to  keep 
him  in  safe  custody  until  Lammas  assizes,  and  that 
without  bail  or  main  prize,  l^his  warrant  had  Henry 
Ogle  of  Eglingham's   hand  joined  to  the  other  two.|| 


*  "  Fowbury,  the  possession  of  the  Fowburys,  in  the  veign 
of  King  Edward  I.;  afterwards  of  the  family  of  Strothers, 
and  now  of  Sir  Francis  Blake  of  Twizcll."  (Hutchinson's 
North,  i.  240.)  William  Strothers  was  a  Commissioner  of 
Supply  in  1679,  (Statutes  of  the  Realm,  v.  915.)  and  an  active 
agent  of  the  Council  in  Scotland,  for  apprehending  Scottish 
ministers  who  had  taken  refuge  in  Northumberland.  (Wodrow, 
ii.  254,  257.) 

f  Veitch  refers  here  to  the  Act  for  the  better  observation  of 
the  Lord's  day,  commonly  called  Sunday,  by  the  Parliament 
1677,  of  which  the  following  is  an  extract;  "  Provided  alsoe, 
that  noe  person  or  persons  upon  the  Lord's  day,  shall  serve  or 
execute,  or  cause  to  be  served  or  executed,  any  writt,  pro- 
cesse,  warrant,  order,  judgement,  or  decree,  (except  in  cases  of 
treason,  felony,  or  breach  of  the  peace)  but  that  the  service  of 
every  such  writt,  processe,  warrant,  order,  judgement,  or  de- 
cree, shall  be  void  to  all  intents  and  purposes  whatsoever. 
And  the  person  or  persons  soe  serveing  or  executeing  the 
same,  shall  be  a.s  lyable  to  the  suite  of  the  partie  grieved,  and 
to  answere  damages  to  him  for  doeing  thereof,  as  if  he  or  they 
had  done  the  same  without  any  writt,  processe,  warrant,  order, 
judgement  or  decree  at  all."     (Statutes  of  the  Realm,  v.  848.) 

\  Marke  Milbanke  "  was  High  Sheriff  of  Northumberland 
in  1679."  (Hutchinson's  North,  ii.  461.)  He  was  of  Scottish 
extraction.  Ralph  Milbanke  was  cup-bearer  to  Mary  Quern 
of  Scots;  and  having  fought  a  duel  in  Scotland,  retired  and 
settled  at  Chirton,  near  North  Shields,  Marke  Milbanke, 
"  his  grandson  and  heir,"  was  twice  Mayor  of  Newcastle,  and 
once  High  Sheriff  of  Northumberland.  He  was  active  in  the 
Restoration,  and  a  contributor  to  the  money  sent  by  the  town 
of  Newcastle  to  the  King  at  Breda.  Mark  Milbanke,  Esq.  his 
"  only  surviving  son  and  heir,  was  advanced  to  the  degree  of 
a  Baronet  [of  Haliiaby,  Yorkshire]  13.  Car.  II. — and  dying 
June  1680,"  was  succeeded  in  honour  and  estate  by  his  eldest 
son.  Sir  Mark  Milbanke. — (Baronetage  of  England,  ii.  223, 
224.)  Sir  Ralph  Milbanke  of  Halnaby,  the  father  of  Lady 
Byron,  took  the  name  of  Noel  in  1815.  (Surtees,  Durham, 
vol.  i.  part  ii.  p.  274.) 

II  "  Eglingham  is  a  seat  of  a  branch  of  the  Ogle  family,"  of 
whom  was  "Henry,  one  of  the  sequestrators  of  lands  in  North- 
umberland for  Parliament  19  King  Charles  I.  1643."  "  He 
was  representative  for  this  county  in  Parliaments  King  Charles 
II.  1653."  (Cromwell's  Parliament.)  He  is  also  in  the  list  for 
1654.  "  Henry,  High  Sheriff  for  this  county,  6th  Queen  Anne 
1707."     (Hutchinson's  North,  i.  234,  ii.  447!) 

In  his  account  of  Mr.  Henry  Erskine's  sufferings,  Wodrow 
gays:— Ju/v  2,  1682,  [it  should  be  1685.  Palmer's  Nonconf. 
IVfem.  ii.  253.1  he  was  apprehended  by  eight  of  the  militia 
horBemen,  and  carried  first  to  Wooller  and  next  day  to  For- 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


441 


The  lawyers  being  consulted  did,  notwithstanding, 
declare  the  prisoner  bailable,  and  the  Justices  fineable 
for  refusal ;  but  for  all  this  many  refused,  and  this  or- 
der that  was  procured  from  two  Justices,  was  by  Mr. 
Green  the  under-sheriff,  rejected.  The  tenor  whereof 
follows : — 

"  Northumberland. — Whereas  you  have  in  your 
custody  the  body  of  one  Mr.  Johnson,  alias  Veitch, 
committed  the  19th  day  of  January  instant,  for  holding 
and  keeping  unlawful  assemblies  and  meetings;  and 
himself  hath  preached  and  teached  contrary  to  the  laws 
of  our  Sovereign  Lord  and  King  that  now  is.  And 
whereas  tliere  has  been  sufficient  sureties  given  before 
us  for  his  personal  appearance  at  the  next  quarter  ses- 
sions to  beheld  for  the  county.  These  are  in  his  Majes- 
ty's name  straitly  to  charge  and  command  you,  the  keep- 
er of  his  Majesty's  jayl  for  the  county  aforesaid,  to  bring 
before  us  the  body  of  the  said  Mr.  Johnson  alias  Veitch, 
immediately  upon  sight  hereof,  that  such  care  may  be 
taken  as  the  law  shall  direct;  and  hereof  you  are  not  to 
fail,  as  you  will  answer  the  contrary  at  your  utmost 
peril.  Given  under  our  hands  and  seall,  this  29th  day 
of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1678.  [1679.] 
Bellshaw,  Jan.  29,  1678.  Wm.    Middleton.  * 

Cheesburn  Grange,  Jan.  29, 1678.  Wm.  WiDDRiNGTON.f 

"  For  the  keeper  of  his  Majesty's  jayl 
at  Morpeth,  for  the  county  aforesaid 
his  deputy  or  deputies,  these." 

In  the  mean  time  an  express  was  sent  to  London,  to 
acquaint  his  majesty  that  the  prisoner  was  apprehend- 
ed :  and  the  king  no  doubt  being  greatly  misinformed, 
an  order  was  dispatched  from  the  king  and  council  to 
transport  the  prisoner  to  Scotland,  there  to  suffer  for 
alleged  misdemeanours.  Therefore,  he  is  safely  to  be 
conducted  to  the  borders,  where  the  sheriff  of  the 
Merse,  the  county  next  England,  by  the  king  and 
council  of  Scotland's  order,  was  to  receive  him  off  the 
English  hands. 

After  this  order  came,  quick  despatch  was  made,  lest 
the  prisoner  should  have  been  liberate.  Major  Ogle- 
ihorp  meets  Colonel  .Strother  at  Alnwick  to  consult 
about  his  transportation  ;  and  then  they  send  the  king 
and  council  of  England's  order  to  the  under  sheriff, 
and  officers  of  dragoons,  lying  at  Morpeth  ;  which  was 
read  to  the  prisoner  with  a  great  deal  of  ceremony  and 
insulting ;  performed  by  that  confluence  gathered  to- 
gether   in   the  jailor's    low   hall,    to  which   he  was 


'I 


berry  [Fowbury],  to  Colonel  Striithers,  who  acquainted  him 
he  must  go  to  Newcastle  to  Sir  John  Fenwick,  by  virtue  of  an 
order  from  the  King,  and  so  was  returned  that  night  to  Wool- 
ler  prison,  where  he  met  with  the  Reverend  Mr.  I.uke  Ogle,  a 
fellow  prisoner.  July  4,  both  of  them  were  carried  under  a 
guard  to  Eglingham,  to  a  Justice  of  Peace  his  house;  and  up- 
on Monday  July  6,  for  it  seems  the  English  were  a  little  more 
careful  of  the  Lord's  day  than  our  Scots  persecutors,  they 
were  taken  to  Newcastle."  (ii.  257.)  It  would  seem  they 
had  grown  more  religious  since  Veitch's  imprisonment. — Be- 
tween 1648  and  1662,  a  Mr.  John  Pringle  was  minister  at 
Eglingham,  a  nonconformist.  (Hutchinson's  North,  vol.  i. 
State  of  the  Churches,  p.  7.)  Walter  Pringle  of  Greenknow 
visited  him  at  Eglingham  in  company  with  Sir.  John  Livings- 
ton, minister  of  Ancrum. — (Memoirs  of  Walter  Pringle  of 
Greenknow,  writien  by  himself,  p  2L  Edin.  1751.) 

*  "  Belsay  Castle,  the  seat  ot  Sir  William  Middleton — was 
part  of  the  family  ])ossessions  in  the  time  of  King  Edward  II." 
(Hutchinson's  North,  i.  218.)  Sir  William  Middleton  was  cre- 
ated a  Baronet  in  the  4th  of  King  Charles  II.  according  to 
Hutchinson,  (p.  219.)  but  the  14th  according  to  the  Baronetage 
of  England,  (ii.  269.)  He  was  High  Sheriff' of  Northumber- 
land in  1666.  (Hutchinson,  ii.  46L)  In  addition  to  the  proof 
formerly  given  of  his  favourable  disposition  to  the  nonconfor- 
mists, it  may  be  mentioned  that  Mr.  Robert  Leaver,  ejected 
from  Bolhara,  Northumberland,  preached  sometimes  in  a  chap- 
pel  in  the  same  parish  belonging  to  Sir  William  Middleton; 
"and  Mr,  John  Davis,  ejected  from  Bywell,  preached  some- 
times at  Sir  Willian)  Micldjeton's  at  Belsay."  (Palmer,  Non- 
eonf.  Mem.  ii.  247,  249.) 

f  "  Cheeseburn  Grange  lays  to  the  North  [of  Rutchesler.] 
The  manor  belonged  to  the  priory  of  Hexham,  afterwards  to 
the  Widdringlons,  and  now  is  the  possession  of  Ralph  Riddle, 
Esq.  "    (Hutchinson's  North,  i.  130.) 
3  F 


brought  down  to  prison  from  a  guard  of  musketeers. 

They  appointed  him  to  make  ready  for  his  journey 
by  eight  of  the  clock  next  morning,  being  the  30th 
day  of  January.  But  he  told  them,  he  knew  not  how 
to  make  ready,  for  he  had  access  to  speak  to  no  person, 
either  for  getting  horses,  or  any  other  necessaries  :  and 
desired  liberty  to  see  his  wife.  They  allowed  him  to 
send  for  any  in  town  to  provide  horses,  and  to  bring 
his  wife  to  him,  who  came  through  a  deep  storm  of 
snow  to  an  inn  at  Morpeth  after  midnight,  and  sat  at  the 
fireside  till  next  morning;  and  when  she  came  to  her 
husband,  she  was  not  admitted  to  speak  to  him  but  he- 
fore  the  soldiers;  *  a  guard  whereof  was  that  night 
set  in  the  room  to  watch  him,  in  conjimction  with  a 
fellow  that  the  jailor  had  hired  every  night,  lest  he 
should  escape,  which  care  was  not  taken  of  the  popish 
priest,  prisoner  in  the  same  room,  as  was  observed,  ei- 
ther before  or  after. 

The  next  day  the  kettle-drums  beat  early,  and  by 
Lieutenant  Griffith  he  is  brought  to  Alnwick,  where 
the  fore-mentioned  justices  that  had  given  the  two 
warrants  to  apprehend  him,  with  the  majors  and  other 
officers,  about  twenty  of  them,  all  assembled  at  the 
post-house  to  see  the  prisoner.  The  lieutenant  drew 
up  the  guard  before  that  door,  and  Colonel  Strothers 
called  out  to  bring  up  the  prisoner,  and,  as  he  entered 
the  dining-room,  saluted  him,  regretting  his  hard  cir- 
cumstances, and  hoping  he  would  not  mistake  them, 
being  obliged,  by  their  places,  to  obey  his  majesty's 
orders.  To  which  the  prisoner  replied,  that  he  thought 
all  persons  in  their  several  stations  and  capacities 
should  act  so  in  every  one  of  them,  as  they  may 
be  answerable  to  a  good  conscience,  the  kings  of 
the  earth,  and  the  Sovereign  Judge  before  whom  all 
of  us  must  appear  at  the  great  audit.  So  he  was  de- 
sired to  dine  with  them,  but  not  to  say  grace,  for  some 
of  them  made  the  fashion  of  taking  off  their  hat,  and 
some  not. 

When  the  healths  drinking  came  about,  he  refused, 
at  which  Major  Main  cried  out,  "  Colonel  Strother, 
you  see  what  a  rebel  this  man  is,  who  refuses  to  drink 
the  king's  health."  To  which  he  replied,  "  Sir,  if  you 
understood  the  law  you  would  [find]  yourself  the 
rebel,  and  not  me.  It  seems  you  know  not  that  the 
king,  by  proclamation,  has  discharged  healths  drink- 
ing, and  his  own  in  particular,  which  you  will  find  in 
the  booksellers'  shops  at  Newcastle."!     After  that  he 

*  The  following  passage  in  Mrs.  Veitch's  Memoirs  refers  to 
this  part  of  their  family  history.  "  Several  years  after  it  pleas- 
ed the  Lord  to  let  niy  husband  fall  into  the  enemy's  hands, 
who  took  him  January  19,  about  five  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
1679,  in  Stanton  Hall. — All  the  time  the  officers  were  in  the 
house  he  supported  me  so,  that  I  was  not  in  the  least  discoura- 
ged before  them,  which  made  Major  Oglethorp  to  say,  he  Won- 
dered to  see  aie.  I  told  him  that  I  looked  to  an  higher  hand 
than  his  in  this;  I  knew  he  could  not  go  one  hairbreadth  be^ 
yond  God's  permission.  He  answered,  '  he  permits  his  ene- 
mies to  go  a  great  length  sometimes.'  They  took  him  to  pri- 
son, where  he  lay  about  twelve  days. — Much  means  were  used 
for  his  liberty,  but  all  to  none  efllect,  which  bred  new  errands 
to  God  for  him  and  me;  but  misbelief  coming  in,  and  telling 
many  ill  tales  of  God,  was  like  to  discourage  me;  viz.  that  I 
was  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land,  and  had  six  small  chil- 
dren, and  little  in  the  world  to  look  to;  but  he  comforted  me 
with  these  words,  '  O,  why  art  thou  cast  down,  my  soul,  what 
should  discourage  thee?  and  why  with  vexing  thoughts  art  thou 
disquieted  within  me?  Still  trust  in  him,  for  I  shall  have  good 
cause  to  praise  him.'  Ps.  xliii.  5. — He  wrote  to  me  m  the 
night  that  there  was  an  order  from  the  King  to  remove  him  to 
Edinburgh.  When  I  opened  the  letter  he  had  that  expression, 
'  deep  calleth  unto  deep,'  &c.  But  he  was  pleased  to  set 
home  that  word,  '  good  is  the  word  of  the  Lord,'  which  silen- 
ced much  my  misbelief.  I  rode  along  with  the  man  that  night,- 
but  could  get  no  access  until  the  morning.  When  I  came  in 
the  soldiers  were  guarding  him,  the  kettle-drums  beating,  the 
troop  presently  in  arms;  we  were  soon  parted,  and  he  carried 
out  to  the  streets,  and  set  on  horseback  among  the  ranks,  the 
town's  people  running  to  gaze.  I  went  after  to  a  friend's 
house  in  the  town,  and  wept  my  fill,.and  some  friends  with  me." 
(MS.  Memoirs,  p.  3,  4,  5.) 

t  There  may  have  been  proclamations  of  a  later  date,  but  I 
give  the  following  extract  from  a"  proclamation  against  viciour, 


443 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


was  bidden  drink  no  mere  healths.  Dinner  being 
ended,  the  trumpet  blew,  and  Major  Oglethorp,  with  a 
fresh  party  of  Major  Main's  horse,  borrowed  to  ease 
his  own  dragoons,  the  way  being  deep,  and  storm  great, 
conducted  him  to  Belford,  another  stage,  sending  an 
express  before  to  Captain  Ivory,  who  lay  there  with  a 
troop  of  his  dragoons  to  be  ready  to  receive  them  and 
keep  guard  all  night.  The  main  guard  lodged  in  a 
great  barn  before  the  post-house;  Major  Oglethorp 
and  the  prisoner  lay  in  two  beds  in  a  chamber  at  the 
end  of  the  lower  hall.  There  were  ten  dragoons  or- 
dered to  stay  in  the  hall  all  night,  and  one  of  them 
to  stand  sentry  within  the  chamber  door,  at  the  priso- 
ner's bedside.  There  was  a  great  coal  fire  in  the  room 
all  night,  which  was  very  refreshing,  both  for  light 
and  heat,  in  such  a  cold  night. 

About  midnight,  our  guard  in  the  hall  were  all  got 
drunk,  and  had  neglected  to  relieve  the  sentinel,  he 
crying  out  to  the  corporal  to  relieve  him,  and  he 
bidding  one  of  the  dragoons  go  to  it,  and  he  bidding  him 
go  himself;  they  fell  a-fighting,  and  made  such  a  noise 
as  they  awaked  the  major,  who  came  leaping  out  of 
his  bed  towards  the  prisoner,  to  see  if  he  was  gone ; 
but  he  perceiving  it,  said,  "  Major,  what  are  you  afraid 
of?"  Said  he,  "I  thought  you  had  been  gone."  So 
going  to  his  bed,  he  asked  the  sentinel  within  the  door 
what  the  matter  was,  who  told  him  that  they  had  got  a 
little  drink,  and  they  would  not  come  and  relieve  him. 
He  caused  the  captain  to  tie  them  all  neck  and  heel  in 
the  main  guard  till  he  arose,  and  put  fresh  soldiers  in 
the  hall. 

The  next  day  they  went  to  Berwick,  and  thought  to 
have  delivered  the  prisoner  at  the  boundary  road  ;  but 
the  Earl  of  Hume,  the  high  sheriff,  sent  him  word  that 
he  had  no  orders  as  yet  to  receive  the  prisoner,  and  the 
magistrates  of  Berwick  refusing  to  receive  him  into 
their  jail,  he  was  committed  close  prisoner  in  a  room 
at  the  Crown,  and  a  guard  in  the  room  with  him 
night  and  day;  none  to  see  him  or  correspond  with 
him ;  pen,  ink,  and  paper  taken  from  him,  so  that 
Done  got  into  his  room  but  a  servant  maid  to  make 
his  bed  and  fire,  and  bring  him  his  meat.  Providence 
fitted  her  well  for  his  case,  both  for  wit  and  affection ; 
for  when  she  came  to  make  the  bed,  she  brought  paper 
and  an  inkhorn,  and  laid  in  the  bed's  head,  and  letters 
now  and  then,  as  they  came  to  her  hand,  under  the  pil- 
low, and  looked  to  him,  not  daring  to  speak,  to  take 
notice  thereof,  the  soldiers  being  at  their  game  in  the 
other  end  of  the  room  ;  so  that  he  had  letters  from  his 
wife  and  friends,  giving  him  an  account  of  matters 
that  fell  out  at  home  and  elsewhere  in  which  he  was 
concerned. 

Under  that  hard  usage  he  continued  twenty  days,  in 
which  time  Duke  Hamilton,  coming  from  London,  and 
lodging  there,  the  prisoner  was  removed  to  another 
room  ;  that  being  his  bedchamber.*     The  maid  carry- 

(Jebauch'd,  and  prophane  persons. — Given  at  our  Court  at 
Whitehall,  the  thirtieth  day  of  May,  in  the  twelfth  year  of  our 
reign."  [Anno  1660.]  "Charles  Rex. — There  are,  likewise, 
another  sort  of  men,  of  whom  we  have  heard  much,  and  are 
sufficiently  ashamed,  who  spend  their  time  in  taverns,  tippling- 
houses  and  debauches,  ffiving;  no  other  evidence  of  their  aflec- 
/  tion  to  us,  but  in  drinking  our  heahh,  and  inveighing  against 
all  others  who  are  not  of  their  awn  dissolute  temper;  and  who, 
in  truth,  have  more  discredited  our  cause,  by  the  license  of  their 
manners  and  lives,  than  they  could  ever  advance  rt  by  their  af- 
fection or  courage.  We  nope  that  this  extraordinary  way  of 
delivering  us  all,  from  all  we  feared,  and  almost  bringing  us  to 
all  we  can  reasonably  hope,  hath,  and  will  work  upon  the 
hearts,  even  of  these  men,  to  that  degree,  that  they  will  cordi- 
ally renounce  all  that  licentiousness,  prophaneness,  and  impiety, 
with  which  they  have  been  corrupted  and  endeavoured  to  cor- 
rupt others;  and  that  they  will,  hereafter,  become  examples  of 
sobriety  and  virtue,  and  make  it  appear,  that  what  is  past,  was 
rather  the  vice  of  the  time  than  of  the  persons,  and  so  the  fitter 
to  be  forgolt«n  together."  (Pamphlets  in  Adv.  Libr.  ccc.  3. 12. 
No.  9.) 

•  The  Duke  did  not  find  such, good  accommodation  in  Ber- 
wick on  a  former  occasion.  "  Dec.  8,  1673.  Duke  Hamilton, 
and  the  Earle  of  Tweedale,  take  jumey  for  London,  to  present 


ing  up  the  candles  before  him,  he  cunningly  asked  her, 
"  Who  lay  in  this  room  last?"  She  answered,  "  If  it 
please  your  grace,  an  honest  minister,  though  now  a 
prisoner."  "  It  seems,  "  said  he,  "  you  have  a  kind- 
ness for  him."  "  Indeed  have  I,  "  said  she,  "  my  lord, 
and  would  give  any  thing  in  my  power  to  have  him  set 
at  liberty;  and  would  forgive  your  lordship,  all  my 
drink-money,  and  all  that  you  will  leave  in  the  house, 
if  you  will  befriend  him;"  with  which  he  was  so  ta- 
ken, that  he  left  double  drink-money,  as  was  said.  He 
sent  quietly  his  master  of  horses,  to  see  wherein  he 
could  do  the  prisoner  a  kindness.  He  gave  his  service 
to  his  grace,  and  thanked  him,  telling  that  his  own- 
ing him  at  this  time  would  be  no  kindness,  when  ho 
and  Lauderdale  were  so  hotly  contending. 

He  was  now  parted  from  his  dear  and  loving  wife,  a 
meet  helper  for  him  indeed,  in  this  very  case,  and  six 
small  children  ;  and  was  necessitated  to  sell  his  stock 
for  money  to  bear  his  charges,  and  by  so  doing  to  let 
his  farm  lee,  rendering  it  presently  useless  to  his  fam- 
ily, yea,  so  disabled  as  the  way-going  crop  was  lost, 
in  which  sad  posture  he  left  them;  the  children  young, 
insensible  of  the  matter,  and  unfit  to  do  for  themselves, 
so  the  whole  burden  was  laid  upon  the  mother. 
Trouble  and  sorrow  did  not  compass  her  about  in  this 
darkest  hour  of  her  twelve  years  night  of  affliction. 
Her  soul  melteth  for  heaviness  and  grief;  she  is 
now  in  deep  waters  in  a  foreign  land,  far  from  her 
relations,  friends,  and  acquaintances;  distress  and  des- 
olation at  home,  and  destruction  and  death  abroad  ;  the 
sad  report  whereof,  with  trembling,  she  expects  every 
day,  because  of  the  fury  of  the  oppressor.  This  put  her 
on  a  most  serious  exercise,  and  firm  resolution  to  take 
God  for  all.  He  should  be  the  husband,  and  he 
should  be  the  farm;  he  should  be  the  stock  and  the 
croj) ;  he  should  be  the  provider,  the  food,  and  the  rai- 
ment, the  master  of  the  family,  the  father  of  the  chil- 
dren, yea,  she  resolved  to  cleave  faster  unto  this  rela- 
tion than  Ruth  did  to  Naomi,  for  that  which  parted 
them  should  bring  her  to  the  greatest  nearness,  most 
inseparable  and  comfortable  communion  with  her  God. 
Thus,  while  the  deep  called  unto  deep,  she  held  by  her 
compass,  and  followed  the  precedents  of  the  word. 
Her  prayer  was  in  this  night  to  the  God  of  her  life, 
and  Jacob-like,  she  gave  it  not  over  till  she  got  a  new 
lease  of  her  husband's  life  granted  her ;  which,  when 
she  obtained,  she  wrote  an  encouraging  letter  to  him  at 
Berwick,  (the  weaning  of  her  child  Sarah  not  suffering 
her  yet  to  visit  him)  telling  him,  that  he  should  he 
like  Isaac,  with  the  knife  at  his  throat,  near  to  death  ; 
but  the  Lord  would  find  a  sacrifice,  and  the  enemy 
should  be  restrained.  She  wished  him  also  not  to  be 
anxious  about  his  family,  for  the  meal  and  the  oil,  little 
as  it  was,  should  not  fail ;  not  only  till  he  returned, 
but  also  the  kingdom  to  Israel.  These  instances,  so 
clearly  and  convincingly  borne  in  upon  her,  gave  her 
good  ground  to  say  with  the  Psalmist,  "  Thy  word  is 
my  comfort  in  all  my  afflictions  ;"  her  prayers  and 
pleadings  were  turned  to  praises,  and  his  statutes 
were  her  songs  in  the  house  of  her  pilgrimage ;  and 
she  was  persuaded  that  her  night  would  yet  have  a 
day  succeeding  it,   wherein  he  would,  as  a    special 


to  the  king's  tnajestie  the  grievances  of  the  kingdom  of  Scot- 
fend,  and  to  keep  themselves  fra  being  mistaken  by  the  king  in 
their  actings  that  way.  Lauderdale  compliments  them  at  their 
departure;  they  went  not  with  his  consent.  Duke  Hamilton,  in 
his  jurney  to  London,  is  necessilat  to  pass  through  Berwick, 
and  that  night  seek  lodging  elsewhere,  in  regard  of  the  great 
coBvoy  be  had  with  him,oran  100  horse,  that  lenth;  which  the 
governour  wold  not  suffer  to  abyd  in  the  city.  The  governour 
nitercepts  the  letters  beforehand  the  duke  had  sent  for  London, 
and  sent  them  to  Lauderdale  at  Edinburgh,  whereby  he  under- 
stood all  his  and  his  parties  projects.  Lauderdale  keeps  great 
hopes  of  the  king's  favour,  niid  tells  his  favorites  that  Duke 
Hamilton  will  come  down  Commissioner,  Tweedal  Secretar, 
and  Sir  John  Harper  Lord  President.  He  seems  to  be  veiy 
little  concerned  in  all  this  adoe."  (Law's  Memorialls,  p.  66, 
57.) 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


443 


favour  to  her  "and  her  family,  command  his  loving 
kindness. 

What  insul tings  were  over  him  and  his  honest  hear- 
ers it  were  strange  and  tedious  to  rehearse  :  his  ene- 
mies concluding,  he  should  trouble  them  and  the  coun- 
try-side no  more ;  and  who  boasted  more  than  Mr. 
Bell,  the  parson  of  that  place,*  as  having  now  accom- 
plished his  design  and  forementioned  vow  ■?  For, 
meeting  with  a  gentleman,  (about  two  days  after  Mr. 
Veitch's  transportation,)  called  Mr.  Moor,  who  was  a 
friend  and  hearer  in  the  meeting-house,  after  other  bit- 
ter invectives.  Now,  said  he,  this  night  he  will  be  at 
Edinburgh,  and  hanged  to-morrow,  according  to  his 
demerits  ;  and  could  such  a  rebel  as  he,  who  did  so 
and  so,  expect  to  escape  the  just  judgment  of  God  1 
But  though  the  good  man  was  silent,  and  gave  him  no 
answer,  yet  he  met  with  a  remarkable  one  within  three 
days.  He  being  then  in  his  journey  to  Newcastle, 
and  returning  to  PontiJand,  (a  fatal  place  to  my  perse- 
cutors,) on  Wednesday  afternoon,  falls  a  drinking 
there  till  about  ten  of  the  clock  at  night,  and  then 
he  would  needs  go  home.  But  the  parson  of  that 
place  f  urged  the  contrary,  the  night  being  dark  and 
stormy,  and  the  water  big.  No  persuasions  will  pre- 
vail. He  is  not  well  got  out  of  that  town  till  he 
loses  his  way,  and  riding  on,  comes  at  length  to  the 
river  Pont,  where  it  is  probable  his  beast  stopped  ; 
and,  he  alighting  to  find  where  he  was,  and,  as  the  jury 
apprehended,  moving  forward  to  feel  with  his  foot 
in  the  snow  what  stopped  his  passage,  slipped 
over  the  brink  of  the  river  unto  the  armpits,  where, 
though  it  was  of  great  depth,  yet  the  old  ice  bare 
him  up  ;  the  water,  because  of  the  two  days  thaw,  run- 
ning that  deep  above  it;  and  now  the  frost  returns  so 
violently,  that  it  freezes  him  in.  He  was  found  two 
days  after,  standing  on  his  feet,  with  his  arms  stretch- 
ed out,  his  hat  on,  and  all  dry  above  the  arms.  He 
had  wrestled  much  to  get  out,  as  his  boots  and  gloves 
did  testify,  being  worn  with  his  struggling  among  the 
ice.  When  he  was -found,  the  rumour  went ;  and  al- 
beit several  came  to  help  out  the  dead  man,  yet  few 
conducted  his  corpse  home,  or  else  they  would  never 
have  carried  him  laid  cross  the  horse,  as  they  did, 
with  one  end  of  a  rope  about  his  neck,  and  coming 
under  the  horse's  belly,  was  tied  to  his  feet  to  keep 
him  on.:): 


*  "  Allenton  curacy.  Thomas  Bell,  A.  M.  ap.  Scotos,  Cur. 
Allinton  Ord.  Deacon.  Sept.  20,  1663.  Joh.  Stewart.  1671. 
(Hutchinson's  Northumberland,  I.  Stat.  Chur.  4.) — "Lon^- 
horsley  Vicarage,  The.  Bell,  A.  M.  21  June,  1665,  Pr.  Cha.  D. 
Somerset."     (Ibid.  p.  46,  47.) 

t  "Ponteland  Vicarage.— Gawen  Knight,  A.M.  1672,  P. 
Mort.  JSfanson.  Vincent  Edwards,  A.M.  1679,  P.  Mort.  Knight." 
(Hutchinson,  North.  I.  Stat.  Chur.  55,  56.) 

i  The  following  is  Mrs.  Veitch's  account  of  this  affair.  "  He 
(Bell)  was  a  great  enemy  to  my  husband,  because  some  of  his 
hearers  withdrew  from  him  and  would  not  hear  him.  Three  or 
four  days  after  be  was  taken,  one  William  Collinwood,  who 
lived  in  Mr.  J^ell's  parish,  came  to  see  me.  He  had  been  once 
a  hearer  of  his,  but  had  withdrawn  and  heard  my  husband.  He 
going  to  Mr.  Bell's  to  pay  him  some  tythes,  I  desired  him  to 
come  to  me  back,  and  tell  what  Mr.  Bell  said  of  my  husband; 
for,  I  said,  its  like  he  may  think  now  he  hath  gotten  his  desire 
accomplished.  I'm  told  he  bad  him  go  to  Edinburgh  and  get 
a  preaching,  for  he  would  be  hanged  against  Tuesday.  When 
he  told  me,  that  Scripture  was  in  my  mind,  "Let  them  cui-se 
but  bless  thou;"  and  that  also,  "He  that  rendereth  evil  for 
good,  evil  shall  not  depart  from  his  house."  He  was  just  going 
to  Newcastle  when  he  spoke  to  William  Collenwood,  he  stayed 
all  night  and  came  the  next  day  to  Pontland,  where  he  drank 
till  10  o'clock  at  night  with  the  curate.  There  was  a  great 
storm  of  snow  on  the  ground,  and  that  day  there  had  been  a 
thaw.  He  would  be  home  that  night.  They  took  his  watch 
from  him,  his  horse  they  locked  up  in  the  stable,  but  all  would 
not  do.  He  told  them, he  had  a  good  horse;  and  nobody  knew 
what  way  he  rode,  but  he  was  found  12  [two?]  nights  and  a 
day  afterwards  standing  in  a  water,  frozen  just  to  his  arm-pits, 
dead;  for  there  came  on  a  great  frost  that  night.  His  hat  was 
on,  his  band  dry,  his  gloves  on,  he  standing  at  the  side  of  the 
water,  had  worn  his  boots  and  gloves  to  get  out  of  the  water. 
They  could  scarce  get  as  many  countrymen  as  carry  him  home, 
and  getting  foreharamers,  they  brake  the  ice,  and'ty'd  him  on 


This  speaking  dispensation  made  great  and  various 
impressions  on  the  people,  especially  those  who  knew 
how  instrumental  he  had  been  in  Mr.  Veitch's  trouble, 
and  to  show  how  bitter  an  enemy  he  was  to  the  non- 
conformists' way,  I  shall  only  set  down  what  he  said 
to  a  parishioner  of  his  whom  he  was  chiding  for  going 
to  conventicles.  The  man  told  him  it  was  better  to  go 
to  them  than  to  play  at  foot-ball  or  go  to  an  alehouse ; 
to  whom  he  tartly  replied,  "  You  had  better  drink 
drunk  and  kill  one  in  your  way  home,  as  go  hear  any 
of  these  men." 

.  Now  this  Mr.  Thomas  Bell  was  a  Scotchman,  of 
the  meaner  sort  of  gentry,  born  in  the  parish  where 
the  prisoner's  brother,  Mr.  John,  was  minister,  who 
took  him  from  herding,  (his  father  being  brought  low,) 
put  him  to  the  grammar  school,  and  got  the  presby- 
tery's bursary  to  him  when  he  went  to  the  college. 
After  his  laureation,  and  losing  that  benefice,  he  made 
his  moan  to  the  minister,  that  now  he  was  in  worse 
case  than  ever,  and  intreated  his  help  for  a  little  till 
he  sought  out  a  place.  Upon  which  he  wrote  a  letter 
to  Torwoodlce,  and  some  other  good  gentlemen,  each 
of  them  to  give  him  so  much  money  at  his  desire,  which 
they  did  ;  and  he,  falling  in  company  with  Sir  Thomas 
Ker  of  Fairly,  continued  drinking  with  him  some  days, 
which  irritated  the  gentlemen  ;  and  he  hearing  that 
they  were  sending  to  Mr.  John  Veitch  to  come  and 
take  their  money  from  him  again,  which  was  like  to  be 
ill  bestowed,  he  took  straight  to  England,  and  com- 
plying with  that  government,  obtained  his  parsonage. 
By  this  you  may  see  what  a  bad  requital  he  gave  to 
the  minister  that  did  so  much  for  him,  when  he  perse- 
cuted his  brother  at  such  a  rate. 

Upon  the  20th  of  February,  1G79,  Major  Hope, 
then  deputy-governor  of  Berwick,  and  most  of  the  offi- 
cers there,  carried  the  prisoner,  guarded  with  a  compa- 
ny of  foot  before  him,  another  behind,  and  they  riding 
on  each  hand  to  the  boundary-road  betwixt  the  king- 
doms, and  delivered  him  over  with  a  great  deal  of  cer- 
emony, to  the  sheriff's  depute  of  the  Merse,  attended 
with  some  petty  gentry,  and  a  party  of  the  Earl  of 
Airly's  troop  of  horse :  commissions  from  the  king 
for  so  doing  being  read,  and  volleys  shot  on  both  sides. 
He  was  conducted  by  these,  first  to  Ayton,  where 
there  was  a  treat  of  claret  provided  for  the  English 
oflUcers ;  and  after  they  had  drunk  some  hours  there, 
he  was  carried  that  night  to  Dunbar.  The  magis- 
trates were  required,  in  the  king's  name,  to  send  eighty 
men  to  guard  the  house  and  him  all  night.  David 
Hume  of  Newton,*  the  sheriff-depute,  being  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  prisoner,  at  his  desire,  sent  his  man 
quietly  off  to  his  brother,  Mr.  John,  to  meet  them  the 
next  day  about  two  or  three  of  the  clock  in  the  after- 
noon at  such  an  inn  in  the  foot  of  the  Canongate,  where 
they  might  converse  together  a  little  before  he  should 
go  to  prison,  which  was  done ;  and  then  the  sheriff 
carried  him  quietly  up  in  a  coach  in  the  evening  to  the 
tolbooth,  where  he  met  with  a  very  unexpected  treat- 
ment. For,  thinking  on  nothing  he  could  purchase  that 
night,  being  so  late,  for  his  accommodation,  but  candle 
for  light  and  a  stool  to  sit  on,  till  the  next  day,  which 
he  desired  the  jailor  would  please  cause  one  of  his  ser- 
vants bring  him  these  for  payment.      And  he,  calling 


a  horse  and  carried  him  to  his  wife.  The  whole  country  about 
was  astonished  at  the  dispensation,  and  often  said  to  me  there 
would  none  trouble  my  husband  again;  for  they  all  knew  that 
he  was  an  enemy  to  my  husband.  I  told  them,  they  that  would 
not  take  warning  from  the  word  of  God  would  never  take 
warning  from  that.  That  Scripture  was  often  borne  in  upon 
my  spirit,  "Rejoice  not  at  the  fall  of  thine  enemy,  lest  He  see 
it  and  be  displeased."     (MS.  Memoirs,  p.  57.) 

*  10th  .Inly,  1678.  David  Home  of  Newton  was  appointed 
a  commissioner  of  supply  for  the  shire  of  Berwick.  (Act.  Pari. 
Scot.  viii.  224.)  In  Fountainhall's  Decisions,  (ii.  195,  196,)  we 
find  Edgar  of  Newton  "bound  cautioner"  for  David  Hume  "to 
Mr.  John  Veitch,  minister  at  Foulstruther,  [  Woolstruiher,  as 
Westruther  was  anciently  written]  and  sundry  others  hi»  cre- 
ditors." 


444 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


one  of  them,  bid  him  go  fetch  his  wife,  and  she,  after 
salutation,  and  drinking  a  glass  of  wine  to  the  prison- 
er, said,  "  Sir,  I  am  come  to  give  you  that  compliment 
this  night  which  I  never  did  before  to  any  prisoner, 
and  that  is,  to  convoy  you  to  your  chamber ;"  which 
was  the  only  best  room  in  the  tolbooth,  called  Mon- 
trose's chamber,  where  the  room  was  well  and  plenti- 
fully furnished,  a  good  bed  and  chairs,  fire,  and  a  great 
candle  on  the  table,  several  bottles  of  ale  and  brandy 
standing  in  a  corner,  wheat  bread,  and  a  great  pigeon 
pye  on  a  shelf,  and  coals  laid  in.  When  I  asked  how 
this  came  to  be  done  ;  she  answered,  "  It  is  a  thing 
you  must  not  inquire  about  for  it  was  ordered  to  be 
done,  under  promise  of  secrecy,  by  one  of  the  greatest 
ladies  in  Scotland."* 

Griffith,  the  English  lieutenant,  came  along  with  the 
prisoner,  having  an  order  from  his  Majesty  to  the 
Lords  of  the  Treasury,  to  pay  to  Major  Oglethorp 
or  his  order  200lib.  sterling  for  taking  him  ;  but  he 
only  got  llllib.  English.  He  went  to  several  mer- 
chants in  Edinburgh  to  return  it,  but  none  of  them 
would  ;  saying,  it  would  spoil  all  their  money. f  Ogle- 
thorp would  have  come  himself,  but  was  called  back  by 
an  express  from  Berwick  to  London ;  and,  coming  to  ask 
the  prisoner  what  service  he  had  for  him  there,  he  said 
there  was  onekindnesshe  would  begif  he  would  do  him 
it,  viz.  that  he  would  write  a  letter  to  Lauderdale,  and  in- 
close it  to  him  by  the  post,  if  he  would  deliver  it,which 
he  frankly  promised.  "  Then,"  said  the  prisoner,  "  you 
must  order  me  paper,  pen,  and  ink,   that  I  may  write 

*  It  appears  from  the  following  notice,  that  Veitch  had  a 
number  of  warm  friends  in  Edinburgh.  "February  5,  1685. 
At  Privy  Council,  James  Row,  George  Mosman,  and  many 
others  of  the  merchants  of  Edinburgh  of  the  Presbyterian  per- 
suasion, are  pursued;  as  also  Anderson  of  Dowhill,  Craigie  of 
Dumbarnie,  Oliphant  of  Condee,  &c.  as  they  who,  since  the 
last  indemnity  in  August  1679,  have  frequented  house  or  field 
conventicles,  resetted  fugitive  ministers  or  other  rebels;  and 
particularly  did  contribute  money  to  see  if  the)'  could  procure 
a  remission  from  the  king  to  Mr.  William  Veitch,  a  fanatic  for- 
feited minister;  item,  to  educate  and  breed  up  some  young  stu- 
dents in  the  Presbyterian  form,  to  be  a  nursery  to  perpetuate 
and  hold  up  the  schism.  Some  redeemed  themselves  by  offer- 
ing to  take  the  test;  others  escaped  by  taking  the  oaths  of  alle- 
giance and  prerogative,  without  any  additions  or  limitations  of 
their  own,  (which  were  all  refused,)  but  as  it  is  explained  in  the 
Assertory  act,  made  in  the  parliament  1669,  and  which  was  ex- 
pressly put  to  them.  A  third  sort  refused  both,  and  so  were 
committed  to  prison  as  disaffected  to  the  government."  (Foun- 
tainhall's  Decisions,  i.  338,  339.) 

+  The  meaning  appears  to  be,  that  Griffith  got  L.lll  in 
English,  and  L.89  in  Scottish  coin,  which  last  he  wished  to  ex- 
change for  English,  but  that  the  merchants  of  Edinburgh  re- 
fused this,  on  account  of  the  badness  of  the  money  issued  by 
government  at  that  period.     This  last  fact  is  established  b)-  a 

Erocess  before  the  Court  of  Session  in  1602  and  1683,  against 
lOrd  Halton  (then  Earl  of  Lauderdale)  for  malversations  as 
late  General  of  the  Mint,  '•  in  n)aking  the  fineness  below  the 
standard,"  &c.  (Fountainhall's  Decisions,  i.  184.)  In  Halton's 
defences,  it  was  pleaded,  inter  alia,  that  he  was  discharged  and 
pardoned  by  the  general  indemnity;  for  "this  oblivion  and  in- 
demnity in  1679  is  more  ample  than  any  of  them,  being  drawn 
in  the  most  ample  and  comprehensive  terms  deviseable,  as  mainly 
designed  to  secure  Lauderdale  and  his  party  for  the  Highland 
army  that  they  sent  in  upon  the  West  in  1678,  «c.  and  the  par- 
doning the  rebels  who  rose  at  Bothwell  Bridge  was  but  a 
sham  and  colour  to  draw  on  the  other."  The  Lords  sustained 
this  plea,  and,  upon  that  ground,  altered  an  interlocutor  which 
they  had  already  given  in  the  cause;  '^Jbr  after  serious  delibe- 
ration they  durst  not  make  too  bold  with  the  loosing  of  this  act 
of  indemnity."     (Ibid.  p.  208,  209.) 

It  may  be  added,  that  the  exchange  of  money  between  the 
two  kingdoms  was,  at  that  time,  a  matter  of  considerable  diffi- 
culty. A  Mr.  Mertin,  sent  in  1683  from  the  protestant  lords  at 
London  to  Scotland,  brought  an  unsubscribed  letter  in  the 
hand-writing  of  Jerviswood  (who  was  then  in  England)  to  Lady 
Tarras,  his  niece,  desiring  her  to  transmit  to  him  some  money 
which  he  had  left  with  her.  This,  at  Merlin's  desire,  was  given 
to  Torwoodlee.  "  When  Torwoodliec  (say.*  the  Earl  of  Tarras, 
in  his  deposition  on  the  trial  of  Sir  John  Cochrane,  &c.)  had 
gotten  the  money  of  Jerveswoods  before  spoaken  off  from  my 
servant,  he  layd  it  by,  and  asked  me,  if  it  was  in  English  money. 
I  said,  it  was  the  same  I  supposed  he  had  left  at  my  house;  he 
said,  it  was  noe  matter,  he  would  send  it  to  Will.  Veitch  who 
%vould  have  a  cair  to  get  English  money  for  hiiu."  (.\ct.  Pari. 
Scot.  viii.  App.  36,  37.) 


it." — "  Yes,"  said  he,  "but you  must  read  it  to  the 
governor  ;  and  if  he  like  it,  seal  it,  and  he  will  send  it 
to  me."  When  the  governor  read  it,  he  says,  "  Will 
you  indeed  send  this  to  my  lord  ?  If  so,  your  circum- 
stances are  not  so  bad  as  men  think."  But  he,*instead 
of  sending  it  to  London,  sent  it  out  to  Colonel  Stro- 
ther ;  and  they  afterward  sent  it  to  the  Major  ;  but  he 
delivered  it  not  till  several  days  after  the  prisoner  had 
been  at  Edinburgh,  and  written  a  second  letter  to  Lau- 
derdale mentioning  that.  When  it  came  the  Duke 
was  in  passion,  and  said,  for  any  gentleman  to  promise 
to  do  a  prisoner  a  kindness,  and  not  to  make  it  good, 
was  a  base  and  unbecoming  treatment.* 

On  the  22d  of  February,  1679,  he  is  brought  before 
a  committee  of  the  council,  whereof  Sharp,  the  arch- 
bishop of  St.  Andrews,  was  preses.  As  he  was  com- 
ing along  the  pavement,  the  Earl  of  Mar's  gentleman 
came  to  him  from  his  master,  desiring  him  to  give  the 
archbishop  his  titles  ;t  that  would  prove  a  likely  mean 
to  prevail  with  the  bishop  for  his  liberty.  He,  giving 
his  service  to  the  Earl,  answered,  that  he  resolved  to 
act  according  to  his  light.  The  bishop  put  many 
questions  to  him,  to  see  if  he  could  ensnare  him,  which 
were  urged  by  Paterson,  the  bishop  of  Edinburgh. 
One  whereof  was,  "  Have  you  taken  the  covenant  1" 
He  answered,  "  All  that  see  me  at  this  honourable 
board  may  easily  perceive  that  I  was  not  capable  to 
talce  the  Covenant,  when  you  and  the  other  ministers 
of  Scotland  tendered  it."  At  which  the  whole  compa- 
ny fell  a  laughing,  which  nettled  the  bishop.  "  But," 
says  he,  "  did  you  never  take  the  covenant  since  ?"  To 
which  hereplied,  "  I  judge  myself  obliged  to  covenant 
myself  away  to  God,  and  frequently  to  renew  it."  At 
which  Paterson  stood  up  and  said,  "  My  lord,  you 
will  get  no  good  of  this  man  ;  he's  all  for  evasion. 
But,"  says  he, "  was  not  you  at  Pentland  fight  1" 
To  which  he  replied,  "  If  you  will  give  me  power 
and  liberty  to  seek  witnesses  to  prove  it,  I  was  alibi ,-" 
having  been  all  night  and  that  morning  at  Edinburgh. 
Many  other  questions  they  posed  him  with  ;  and 
Hugh  Stevenson,  the  under  clerk,  wrote  all. 

Being  put  out  a  considerable  time,  he  was  called  in, 
and  the  bishop  said,  "  Hear  your  confession  read." 
Many  sentences  they  had  interlined  to  make  him  a 
criminal,  which,  as  he  heard,  he  denied  he  had  spoken 
such  words,  and  refused  to  subscribe  his  confession 
when  they  desired  him.:}:  "  What,"  says  the  bishop, 
"  will  you  not  subscribe  your  own  confession  ? — 
"  Not  I,"  said  the  prisoner,  "  except  you  write  it 
in  mimdo  without  your  additions  ;"  at  which  they 
were  like  to  be  irritated.  But  my  Lord  Lithgow,  sit- 
ting next  the  prisoner  on  the  one  side  of  the  table,  and 


*  It  is  gratifying  to  rf.cord  instances  of  humanity  in  the 
rulers  of  that  time.  '*  October  5, 6,  and  7, 1680. — Robert  Curry, 
writer,  being  bound  as  cautioner,  to  present  a  man  who  was  im- 
prisoned upon  suspicion  as  one  of  the  rebels,  but  bailed  by  him 
to  this  council  day;  and  the  man  being  very  sick  and  like  to 
die,  Robert,  to  exoner  himself,  did  cause  bring  him  from  his 
own  house,  carried  by  five  or  six  people  on  a  bed,  and  brought 
him  to  the  Privy  Council  doors,  and  took  instruments  on  his 
presentation,  to  free  himself.  The  Chancellor  and  Council 
took  this  rude  and  cruel  usage  of  the  poor  sick  man  so  ill,  that 
they  commanded  Curry  to  orison,  seeing  he  might,  by  a  bill, 
have  represented  it,  and  got  himself  liberate."  (Fountainhall's 
Decisions,  i.  113.) 

•f-  The  refusal  of  these  had  been  severely  resented.  Mr.  Al- 
exander Smith,  minister  at  Cowend,  who  had  been  driven  from 
his  charge  in  1663,  was  brought  before  the  High  Commission 
Court  "  for  preaching  privately,  and  giving  Bishop  Sharp  only 
.S'tV." — He  was  put  in  the  thieves'  hole  with  a  madman;  and, 
when  the  sympathy  of  the  jjeople  of  Edinburgh  followed  him 
there,  the  bishops  caused  remove  him  to  another  room  where  he 
sickened.  He  was  then  banished  to  Shetland,  where,  for  four 
years,  his  only  food  was  of  barley,  and  his  fuel  sea-tangle.  In 
1667,  he  was  brought  before  the  Privy  Council  at  Edinburgh, 
and  ordered  to  Orkney.  (Kirkton,  208,  209.  Wod.  i.  176, 
280,291.) 

J  A  similar  device  was  employed  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Gabriel 
Seniple;  but  whether  from  the  motive  which  he  apprehended, 
or  at  the  instigation  of  some  friend  who  wished  to  bring  him 
off,  may  admit  of  a  doubt.     (Wodrow,  ii.  17S.) 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


445 


Lundie,  afterward  Earl  of  Melford,  (who  had  been  in- 
fluenced to  favour  him,)  sitting  on  the  other  side, 
speaks  over  to  Lithgow,  upon  wliich  he  says  to  the 
archbishop,  "  My  Lord  St  Andrews,  cause  write  it  in 
mundo  to  the  young  man."  So  he  was  put  out  again, 
and  it  written  over ;  and  being  called  in,  it  was  read 
over  to  him  ;  and  when  laid  before  him  to  subscribe, 
he  begged  liberty  to  read  it  over  himself  before  he 
could  subscribe  it,  which  was  granted.  They  found 
nothing  in  it  whereof  to  accuse  him,  so  they  remanded 
him  to  prison.*  The  archbishop  did  little  more  in 
public  after  that,  being  within  a  few  days  cut  off  at 
Magus  Muir,  as  history  will  tell. 

The  next  news  was  a  letter  from  the  King,  to  turn 
him  over  to  the  criminal  court,  and  there  to  intimate 
an  old  illegal  sentence  of  death  unto  him,f  as  the  pro- 
cess registrate  in  their  court-books  will  declare,  and 
the  best  lawyers  had  done;  for  the  testimony  of  the 
two  witnesses  did  not  agree.  And  whether  the  ini- 
quity of  the  sentence  was  not  attested  by  the  omnisci- 
ent and  just  Judge  in  the  remarkable  judgments  that 
befell  these  witnesses,  I  leave  to  every  judicious  and  so- 
ber reader.  They  were  relations  of  one  surname,  viz. 
Mirrie,  and  tenants  to  Sir  Thomas  Wallace  of  Craigie, 
one  of  the  Lords  of  this  Justice  Court,  who  took  par- 
ticular notice  of  the  thing,  and  he  himself  declared 
they  never  did  well  after,  one  of  them  falling  into 
murder,  the  other  into  adultery,  upon  which  they  both 
fled  and  were  never  heard  of,  their  families  broken  and 
ruined.  The  murderer  was  since  found  and  hanged  at 
Edinburgh.  Some  said  that  he  was  taken  that  very 
day  that  Mr.  Veitch  was  released  by  a  sentence  of 
banishment ;  and  yet  upon  this  sentence  in  absence 
must  the  prisoner  die  without  granting  him  a  new  trial ; 
and  the  18th  day  of  March  is  appointed  for  the  sitting 
of  the  court,  and  the  intimation  thereof,  viz.  the  sen- 
tence;  but  the  perplexedness  of  the  case  occasions  an 
adjournment  until  the  8th  of  April. :|: 

The  prisoner  wrote  to  his  friend  Lauderdale;  and 
some  ladies  obtained  a  letter  from  archbishop  Paterson 
to  the  Duke  in  his  favour;  and  his  brother.  Sir  Wil- 
liam, brought  it  open  to  the  prisoner,  and  read  it,  be- 
ing very  well  penned,  directed  to  Dr.  Hicks,  his  chap- 
lain, to  present,  which  the  prisoner's  messenger  did  at 
night;  and  coming  next  morning  for  an  answer,  Hicks 
showed  him  a  letter  per  post,  forbidding  him  to  deliver 
it ;  so  he  returned  to  Shaftesbury,  and  the  bishop  cheat- 
ed the  ladies. 

In  the  mean  time  the  prisoner's  case  was  represented 
to  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury  by  his  papers,  a  messenger, 
viz.  Mr.   Gilbert  Elliot,!  being  sent  therewith,   con- 


*  On  the  25th  of  February  the  Council  appointed  Mr. 
Veitch  to  be  sent  to  the  Bass,  but  it  dots  not  appear  that  this 
order  was  carried  into  execution.     (Wodrow,  ii.  6,  7.) 

t  This  sentence  was  pronounced  on  tlie  16th  of  August  1667. 
Previous  to  this,  a  query  was  moved  to  the  Lords  of  Session, 
"  Whether  or  not  a  person  guilty  of  high  treason  nr>ay  be  pur- 
sued before  the  Justices,  albeit  they  be  absent  and  contumacious, 
so  that  the  Justices,  upon  citation  and  sufficient  probation  and 
evidence,  may  pronounce  sentence  and  doom  of  forfeiture,  if 
the  dittay  be  proven;"  to  which  their  Lordships  having  consi- 
dered the  query,  answered  in  the  affirmative.  But  as  strong 
doubts  were  entertained  of  the  legality  of  this  step,  an  act  of 
Parliament  was  afterwards  procured,  ratifying  and  approving  of 
the  conduct  of  the  Lord  Advocate,  Sir  John  Nisbet,  and  the 
process  and  sentence  against  Veitch  and  others,  who  were  in 
the  circumstances  described  in  the  above  query.  (Wodrow,  i. 
267,268,  App.  p.  109,110;  Acts  of  Parliament  of  Scot.  vii.  562.) 
On  the  19th  of  July,  1690,  the  parliament  declared,  that  "all 
sentences  pronounced  by  the  Justice  Court,  in  absence  for  per- 
duellion,  or  any  other  crime,  before  the  year  1669,  were  from 
the  beginning  null  and  void ;"  restored  "  all  persons,  or  their 
representatives,  so  forefaulted  by  the  Justices  in  modnm  jiistiiicB, 
and  particularly  the  representatives  of  Muire  of  Cald- 

wells,  Ker  of  Kersland,  and  Mr.  William  Veatch,  min- 

ister of  the  gospel;"  and  rescinded  the  act  of  parliament  anno 
1669,  "  in  so  far  as  it  ratifies  these  forefaultures."  (Act.  Pari. 
Scot.  ix.  199,200.) 

\  Several  documents  relating  to  this  process  will  be  found 
in  the  Appendix. 

II  Gilbert  Elliot  of  Craigcnd  and  afterwards  of  Minto  and 


taining  the  sentiments  both  of  English  and  Scotch 
lawyers,  all  of  them  declaring  the  illegalness  of  the 
procedure  against  him  in  both  kingdoms;  as  also  a 
testimony  of  two  justices  of  the  peace  in  Northumber- 
land, witnessing  how  long  and  how  peaceably  he  had 
lived  there.  All  which  being  patiently  considered  by 
that  judicious  and  renowned  patriot  the  Earl  of  Shaftes- 
bury, he  influences  Prince  Rupert,  the  Duke  of  Mon- 
mouth, with  several  other  great  persons,  to  join  him  in 
petitioning  the  King  for  sending  him  back  again  to 
England  to  be  tried  there ;  and  that  because  he  was  an 
English  subject,  having  lived  so  long  in  the  kingdom  ; 
that  the  laws  were  affronted  in  his  removal,  and  this 
practice  would  make  men  expect  little  security  from 
them  ;  and  that  it  was  more  expedient  to  liberate,  pre- 
serve, and  encourage  protestant  ministers,  than  to  take 
their  lives  at  such  a  juncture  as  this,  when  so  horrid  a 
popish  plot  is  discovered  for  the  ruin  of  the  protestant 
interest,  lest  his  Majesty  should  be  thought  a  compiler 
therewith. 

Notwithstanding  all  the  arguments  made  use  of  by 
these  great  persons  for  bringing  him  back  to  be  tried 
in  England,  yet  the  King  would  by  no  means  grant  it. 
For  the  Duke  of  Monmouth  (upon  the  King's  saying 
that  he  thought  by  this  time  he  would  be  execute,  and 
deserved  more  deaths  than  one  if  his  information  was 
true,)  said  to  his  Majesty  that  he  might  yet  be  retriev- 
ed ;  but  the  King  answered,  "  I  have  written  with  my 
own  hand  to  execute  him ;  and  what  I  have  written  I 
have  written."  In  this  he  acted  like  Pilate  to  the 
Jews.  Upon  this  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury  told  his  Ma- 
jesty, that  seeing  the  petition  of  so  many  of  the 
greatest  peers  in  England  now  standing  before  him, 
for  a  thing  so  just  and  equitable,  could  not  be  granted, 
the  new  parliament  for  inquiring  into  the  popish  plot 
was  now  sitting  down  ;*  and  no  person  that  they  found 
guilty,  presbyterian  or  other,  should  escape  death,  if 
the  parliament  would  take  his  advice,  and  the  lords 
now  before  the  King;  and  then  his  Majesty  should 
have  pears  for  plumbs. 

tipon  this  Shaftesbury  sent  his  servant  to  Mr.  Elliot, 
who  was  waiting  on,  to  go  to  the  Parliament  door,  and 
distribute  to  the  members  as  they  went  in  the  doubles 
of  these  petitions ;  and  the  lords  taking  their  leave  of 
the  King,  followed  after;  and  seeing  the  members 
standing  here  and  there  reading  them,  Shaftsbury  ask- 
ed their  lordships  what  they  were  reading?  When 
they  told  him,  he  answered,  "  O,  my  lords,  is  that  the 
text?  Come,  I'll  give  you  the  sermon  upon  it;"  and, 
so  telling  them  the  case  of  that  minister  as  it  stood  in 
law,  he  influenced  them  to  sa}',  that  if  it  be  truly  so, 
we'll  pass  an  order  immediately  when  we  sit  down  for 
his  remanding.     Upon  which  one   of  the  Tories  (for 


llfadshaw.  (Act.  Pari.  Scot.  viii.  342,  xi.  259—261,  462,  App. 
129.)  was,  on  the  16th  of  July,  1685,  found  guilty  of  treason, 
and  forfeited,  for  being  in  arms  with  Argyle.  In  the  process, 
he  is  described  as  "  writer  in  Edinburgh."  (Fountainhall's 
Decis.  i.  366.  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  viii.  490,  App.  44.  &c.  Wod- 
row, ii.  492,  493.)  Having  obtained  the  king's  pardon,  he  ap- 
plied, November  8, 1687,  to  be  admitted  an  advocate,  on  which 
occasion  the  examinators  "stumbled  to  meet  with  him,  till  he 
first  shewed  his  remission,  least  it  might  infer  converse  against 
them."  (Fount.  Dec.  i.  475.)  At  the  Revolution,  the  act  of 
his  forfeiture  was  rescinded,  he  was  created  Sir  Gilbert  Elliot, 
was  appointed  clerk  to  the  Privy  Council,  and  had  extensive 
practice  as  an  advocate.  (Act.  Pari.  Scot.  ix.  166,  211,  290;  xi. 
140,)  On  the  28th  of  June,  1704,  he  took  his  seat  in  the  Court 
of  Session  by  the  title  of  Lord  Minto.  (Lord  Hailes,  Cata- 
logue, p.  15.)  Wodrow  (ii.  493.)  says,  he  was  also  one  of  the 
Lords  of  Justiciary. 

When  Lord  Minto  visited  Dumfries,  of  which  Mr.  Veitch 
was  minister  after  the  Revolution,  he  always  spent  some  time 
with  his  old  friend,  when  their  conversation  often  turned  on 
the  perils  of  their  former  life.  On  these  occasions,  his  lord- 
ship was  accustomed  facetiouslj^  to  say,  "  Ah!  Willie,  Willie; 
had  it  no'  been  for  me,  the  pyets  had  been  pyking  your  pate  on 
the  Nether  Bow  Port;"  to  which  Veitch  replied,  "Ah!  Gibbie, 
Gibbie,  had  it  no' been  forme,  ye  would  ha'e  been  yet  writting 
papers  for  a  plack  the  page." 

*  The  Parliament  met  on  the  6th  of  March,  1679.  (Life  of 
Lord  Russel,  i.l47.) 


446 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


the  house  was  made  up  of  Tory,  Whig,  and  Trimmer,) 
taking  the  petition  in  his  hand,  went  instantly  to  the 
King,  and  telling  all  he  had  heard  from  the  Earl  of 
Shaftesbury  about  that  person,  begged  his  Majesty  to 
consider  the  thing ;  for  this  was  not  his  sixteen  years' 
old  parliament,  and  he  knew  not  what  they  would  do  ; 
and  it  was  dangerous  for  his  Majesty,  upon  so  mean 
an  account,  to  set  two  kingdoms  by  the  ears.  There- 
fore he  begged  that  he  would  presently  send  for  Lau- 
derdale to  dispatch  an  express  for  Scotland  to  stop 
all  procedure  against  the  criminal,  and  he  would 
report  it  to  the  lords  to  take  them  off  their  resolv- 
ed measures ;  which  was  done.  And,  w  hich  is 
to  be  noted,  this  letter  came  to  the  hand  of  the  Justice- 
General  Tarbet,  (he  being  providentially  stopped  by 
the  Earl  of  Perth,  who,  at  ten  of  the  clock,  took  him 
up  stairs  again  when  he  was  coming  to  the  court,  and 
kept  him  till  it  was  after  eleven,)  just  as  he  was  en- 
tering the  Parliament  close,  where  the  Lord  Tarbet 
stood  and  read  it  at  great  leisure;  and  then  going 
through  the  throng,  many  standing  in  the  pavement  to 
see  the  issue  of  that  business,  and  beholding  the  crim- 
inal's brother,  Mr.  John,  called  him  and  told,  "  Now 
I  can  give  you  better  news  of  your  brother  than  I 
could  in  the  morning,  when  you  were  with  me;  for  he 
has  relinquished  Lauderdale  and  betaken  himself  to 
Shaftesbury  and  the  parliament  of  England  ;  and  they 
are  like  to  bring  him  off,  and  I  am  going  to  dissolve 
the  court."  You  may  observe  here  how  exactly  this 
answered  the  prophetical  letter  he  got  at  Berwick. 

The  prisoner's  brother,  and  Mr.  Thomas  Rigg,  his 
agent,  ran  like  Cushi  and  Ahimaaz,  who  should  first 
tell  the  prisoner  the  good  news,  which  was  very  sur- 
prising to  the  prisoner,  but  not  so  much  to  his  wife  : 
for,  though  she  often  fell  into  fits  of  weeping,  yet  she 
had  interludes  of  hope,  saying,  "  I  am  often  thinking 
that  this  day  will  produce  what  I  saw." 

This,  indeed,  gave  the  great  stop  to  the  rage  of  the 
persecutors,  but  the  prisoner  was  not  yet  released,  but 
still  kept  in  close  prison,  which  gave  him  ground  to 
fear  that  the  storm  would  return.  And  there  fell  out 
such  things  within  a  short  time  as  increased  these 
fears ;  such  as  the  killing  of  the  Bishop  at  Magus 
Moor,  remarkable  for  the  way  of  it,  for  the  instra- 
ments  that  did  it  went  out  that  morning  from  their 
houses  with  no  such  thought  or  design,  for  they 
had  combined  together  that   morning  to  be  avenged 

upon    one  Carmichael,    who    was   put   in 

conjunct  Sheriff-Depute  by  the  King's  order  to  his 
council  in  Scotland,  obtained  by  the  archbishop,  for 
the  more  vigorous,  or  rather  rigorous  execution  of 
their  iniquitous  laws,  for  compelling  all  to  come  to 
church  and  comply  with  the  government.*     Now  this 

Carmichael  had  mined   several  families  by 

taking  their  corn,  cattle,  and  all  they  had  from  them, 
so  that  hearing  that  he  was  to  hunt  in  Coupar  fields, 
they  were  resolved  that  day  to  be  avenged  on  him  ;  and 
while  they  were  coming  up  the  fields  that  day,  toward 
the  hunters,  they  from  suspicion  and  fear,  leaving  tjje 
dogs,  rode  to  Coupar  for  their  safety.  Upon  which  the 
pursuers  turned  aside  toward  Magus  Moor,  with  an  in- 
tention to  dissipate  themselves  ;  and  calling  at  a  house 
for  drink,  the  barnman  came  out  to  talk  with  them, 
(being  it  seems  of  their  accjuaintance)  and  said,  "  O, 
gentlemen,  yonder  is  a  prize  for  you ;  if  you  have 
missed  the  one,  you  may  hit  the  other  who  is  the 
cause  of  all  your  trouble.  Bishop  Sharp  is  just  going 
by,  and  I  see  none  riding  with  him  but  one  servant, 
and  you  may  easily  do  his  business."  Upon  which  it 
seems  they  resolved  on  the  enterprise ;  only  Hacks- 
ton  of  Rathillet  (who  was  afterwards  hanged,  drawn, 
and  quartered  for  the  thing)  would  not  go  with  them, 
telling  them  it  would  be  thought  revenge,  for  the 
bishop  and  he  had  fallen  out  but  the  other  day  about 

*  Proofs  of  the  activity  of  the  archbishop  and  his  clergy,  in 
stirring;  up  the  g^overnment  to  severe  measures  against  the  non- 
conformists, will  be  found  in  the  Appendix. 


his  teinds,  so  desired  to  be  excused.  The  rest  went 
on,  and  one  of  them  riding  faster  than  the  rest  stopped 
the  coach,  by  cutting  the  harness.  They  shot  several 
pistols  at  him  while  he  was  in  the  coach,  at  length 
pulling  him  out,  Burley,  a  petty  gentleman,  one  of 
those  that  had  been  so  miserably  spoiled  and  ruined, 
having  a  brazen  blunderbuss  charged  with  several 
musket  bullets,  fired  it  so  near  his  breast,  as  that  his 
gown,  clothes,  and  shirt,  were  all  burned  :  at  which 
he  fell  flat  upon  his  face,  and  they  thinking  they  had 
made  a  window  through  his  body,  and  that  he  was 
undoubtedly  killed,  went  away,  leaving  his  daughter, 
who  only  was  in  the  coach  with  him,  crying  beside 
him.  But  it  happened  that  one  of  them  being  alight- 
ed on  the  far  side  of  the  coach  to  tie  his  girth,  and 
hearing  the  daughter  calling  to  the  coachman  to  help 
up  her  father,  for  he  was  yet  alive,  rode  after  the  par- 
ty, and  telling  them  the  story,  and  that  if  he  lived 
they  would  be  worse  than  if  they  had  killed  him  ; 
they  turned  back,  and  the  foresaid  Burley,  as  it  is 
said,  came  up  to  him  lying  flat  on  his  face  on  the 
ground,  and  putting  his  hat  off  with  his  foot,  struck 
him  on  the  head  till  his  brains  were  seen  ;  at  which 
giving  a  great  cry  he  expired.  They  searched  his 
pockets  and  found  the  King's  letter  empowering  him 
and  the  Council  to  execute  these  cruelties  ;  as  also  a  lit- 
tle purse  in  which  they  found  two  pistol  bullets,  a  lit- 
tle ball  made  up  of  all  colours  of  silk,  bigger  than  an 
ordinary  plumb,  and  a  bit  of  parchment  the  breadth 
and  length  of  one's  finger,  with  two  long  words  writ- 
ten upon  it,  which  none  could  read  ;  the  characters 
were  Hebrew  or  Chaldaic.  These  they  brought  with 
them,  but  meddled  neither  with  his  gold,  money,  or 
watch.* 

The  council  met  upon  the  news,  and  it  being  shortly 
after  his  severe  examination  of  Mr.  Veitch,  which 
made  people  talk  that  he  designed  his  execution;  it 
made  the  rumour  go  that  he  would  be  brought  out  and 
sacrificed  to  his  ghost ;  which  came  to  the  prisoner's 
ears,  and  could  not  but  occasion  thoughtfulness  there- 
anent. 

The  council  sent  two  surgeons  to  view  his  corpse 
and  embalm  them,  at  the  desire  of  his  brother  Sir 
William  Sharp,  and  to  report  upon  oath  the  manner  of 


*  It  is  singular  to  observe  how  differently  persons  think  and 
express  themselves  respecting  deeds  of  assassination,  according 
as  the  victim  happens  to  be  of  their  own  party  or  of  the  oppo- 
site. Clarendon  charges  the  parliamentary  officers  as  guilty  of 
murder  in  trying  and  shooting  Sir  Charles  Lucas,  who  had,  with 
his  own  hand,  put  some  soldiers  to  death  in  cold  blood,  and  en- 
gaged in  an  insurrection  while  a  prisoner  on  parole.  (History 
of  Rebellion,  v.  239,  fol.  edit.  Brodie's  History  of  the  British 
Empire,  iv.  146, 147.)  But  when  he  comes  to  relate  the  second 
and  successful  attempt  to  assassinate  the  parliamentary  officer. 
Colonel  Rainsborough,  "  Mrs.  Macauly  remarks,  that  Claren- 
don, to  his  eternal  infamy,  applauds  every  circumstance  of  the 
foul,  unmanly  deed."  (Brodie,  iv.  137;  Clarendon,  v.  245,256.) 
The  reader  may  consult  Brodie  (iv,  264.)  for  the  account  of  the 
murder  of  Dr.  Dorislaus  at  the  Hague,  and  Oldmixon  (Critical 
Hist,  i,  223.)  for  that  of  Ascham,  resident  for  the  parliament  at 
Madrid,  of  whom  Clarendon  (who  was  then  in  Spain)  speaks  in 
a  manner  not  very  creditable  to  himself.  The  following  let- 
ter of  Lord  Arlington,  and  the  accompanying  statement  of  a 
staunch  cavalier,  show  that  others  besides  Presliyterians  can  in- 
terpret divine  judgments. 

"  JVhiiehal,'Septem.8.  [16]64.— My  Lord,  The  News  Book 
will  tell  your  Excellency  a  strange  story  of  Lisle,  the  Usurper's 
keeper,  which  is  in  every  word  true;  and  the  observation  of  it 
very  well  made,  that  God  Almighty's  justice  would  not  let 
those  villains  go  quietly  to  their  grave."  (Arlington's  Letters, 
ii.  p.  43.)  "  August  the  21st,  that  notorious  regicide  Lisle, 
overtaken  by  divine  vengeance  at  Lausanne,  where  the  mise- 
rable wretch  was  shot  dead  by  the  gallantry  of  three  Irish  gen- 
tlemen, who  attempted  the  surprisal  of  him  and  four  more  im- 
pious parricides."  (Wharton's  Gesta  Britannorum,  p.  504, 
apud  Biog.  Brit.  v.  i.  p.  3032,  London,  1760.) — Sneaking  of 
Captain  Manning,  a  spy  of  Cromwell,  the  author  of  England's 
TViumph  (p.  52)  says,  "  one  of  his  Majesty's  servants  (though 
contrary  to  orclen)  pistoled  him;  which,  though  it  came  far 
short  of  his  desert,  yet  it  was  not  so  well  done,  in  sending  the 
devil  his  due  before  his  time,  and  wronging  the  hangman  of  his 
labour." 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


447 


his  death,  that  they  might  have  more  legal  grounds  to 
pursue  the  murderers ;  which  they  did,  and  declared 
that  they  found  about  his  back  and  shoulders  the  blue 
marks  that  the  pistol  bullets  had  made ;  his  clothes 
burnt  off  his  breast,  and  a  great  deal  of  it  blue ;  but 
in  all  these  places  the  skin  was  not  broken,  so  that  the 
wound  in  his  head  only  killed  him.  This  occasioned 
a  universal  talk,  that  he  had  got  proof  from  the  devil 
against  shot;  and  that  the  forementioned  purse  that  he 
carried  about  with  him  contained  the  charm.  His 
brother  obtained  liberty  to  erect  over  him  a  marble 
tomb  in  St.  Andrews,  and  there  it  stands  yet  a  monu- 
ment for  his  infamy.  I  leave  it  to  history  to  tell  how 
his  posterity  and  relations  were  brought  low  and  ex- 
tinct. 

Another  thing  that  gave  an  occasion  of  fear  was,  the 
falling  out  of  that  rising,  called  Bothwell-bridge,  in 
May  following.  The  occasion  of  it  was — the  laird  of 
Claverhouse,  afterward  Earl  of  Dundee,  coming  on  a 
Sabbath  day  to  break  a  great  conventicle  upon  a  moor 
called  Drumclog  near  Strathaven,  was  beaten  by  a  par- 
ty of  the  hearers,  commanded  by  William  Cleland, 
afterward  made  Lieutenant-Colonel  to  Angus's  regi- 
ment, and  killed  at  Dunkeld;  a  youth  extraordinary  in 
warlike  affairs  and  promising,  a  great  philosopher, 
physician  and  divine,  very  sober  and  pious;  whose 
loss  was  great  in  the  very  beginning  of  that  happy 
revolution  under  the  great  King  William.*  They 
beat  Claverhouse  off  the  field,  who  sent  an  express 
that  night  to  Edinburgh  to  acquaint  my  Lord  Lith- 
gow,  then  Major-General  of  the  Forces  ;  whose  lodg- 
ing being  over  against  the  prisoner's  window,  where 
the  express  came  to  give  my  lord  the  account  after  one 
of  the  clock  at  midnight;  the  post  horn  winding,  and 
the  horse's  feet  making  a  noise  alarming  the  prisoner, 
he  arose,  and  lying  over  his  window  heard  the  post- 
boy tell  the  whole  story  to  the  sentry — that  the  Whigs 
had  beaten  Claverhouse,  killed  his  fine  horse,  and  se- 
veral of  his  men,  taken  his  standard,  and  that  he  was 
fled  to  Glasgow  ;  and  that  they  were  following  and 
would  destroy  my  Lord  Ross  and  Claverhouse,  if  Lith- 
gow  came  not  quickly  to  their  relief. 

The  storm  did  increase  by  the  gathering  of  the  west 
country  people,  which  so  frightened  the  Court,  that 
the  Duke  of  Monmouth  and  several  English  forces 
came  down  from  England  to  their  assistance  and  the 
suppression  of  the  Whigs.  The  prisoner  wrote  out  a 
letter  to  Mr.  David  Hume  and  the  other  ministers  there, 
sewed  within  the  sole  of  a  woman's  shoe,  who  carri- 
ed it  and  delivered  it,  intreatingthem,  if  by  any  means 
they  could,  to  accommodate  the  matter  upon  any  reason- 
able terms  as  quickly  as  possible,  (the  Duke  of  Mon- 
mouth intending  tenderness  for  them)  lest  the  divisions 
that  were  begun  among  them  should  expose  them  to 
greater  ruin.  But  they  not  hitting  it  among  themselves, 
ere  they  went  to  Monmouth  at  Bothwell  Bridge,  made 
it  uneasy  and  unlikely  to  compound  it  with  him  ;  and 
so  they  were  broke,  and  many  brought  in  prisoners  to 
Edinburgh. 

It  cannot  be  denied  but  Monmouth  was  as  tender 
and  careful  to  avoid  blood-shed  as  possibly  he  could  ;j" 


*  Colonel  William  Clelland  was  son  to  Thomas  Clelland, 
gamekeeper  to  the  Marquis  of  Douglas.  (Wodrow,  i.  524.)  He 
was  educated  at  St.  Andrews,  where  he  entered  St.  Salvador's 
College  in  1676,  and  was  matriculated  on  the  2d  of  March, 
1677.  His  regent's  name  was  Mr.  Edward  Thomson.  (Rec- 
ords of  the  University  of  St.  Andrews.)  Having,  with  his  bro- 
ther-in-law, Baillie  Haddoway,  accompanied  Mr.  Blackader  to 
Fife  in  1678,  he  showed  his  courage,  particularly  at  Divan,  in 
facing  the  troops  which  came  to  disturb  their  meetings,  or  to 
pillage  the  peojjle  on  their  dismission.  (Crichton's  Blackader, 
211,  212,  213.)  A  collection  of  Poems  and  verses  by  Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel Clelland,  was  printed  Anno  Dom.  1697,  in  12mo. 
They  are  chiefly  in  the  Hudibrastic  style, and  discover  conside- 
rable talent. 

}"  JVbv ember  18,  1680. — At  Privy  Council,  Greenhead, 
(Veitch's  pupil)  Chatto,  and  some  other  lairds  of  Teviotdale, 
being  pursued  for  absence  from  the  host  at  Bothwell,  pleaded 


and  obtained  an  universal  indemnity  to  all  that  had 
been  there,  and  all  other  prisoners  upon  certain  condi- 
tions, which  severals,  especially  ministers,  could  not 
come  up  to.  One  of  them  was  that  the  ministers 
should  never  preach  without  liberty  given;  and  though 
the  Duke,  upon  Shaftesbury's  recommendation,  insert- 
ed Mr.  Veitch's  name  among  the  ministers  that  were  to 
be  liberated,  when  the  roll  was  read  before  the  Council 
table,  Bishop  Paterson  rose  up  and  opposed  it;  saying, 
he  was  brought  from  England  upon  other  heads,  and 
so  cannot  be  comprehended  here.  It  being  put  to  a 
vote  he  was  excluded. 

From  what  is  said,  it  may  be  seen  what  grounds  of 
fear  the  prisoner  had  notwithstanding  the  foresaid  stop ; 
for  now  he  saw  no  probable  outgate.  But  what  fol- 
lows teaches  us  that  man  sees  not  as  God  seeth,  for 
that  which  the  enemy  thought  to  destroy  him  by,  viz. 
their  instigating  Lauderdale  more  violently  against 
him,  because  he  had  betaken  himself  to  Monmouth 
and  Shaftesbury's  side,  God's  providence  did  work  the 
contrary  to  what  they  purposed.  For  the  Duke  of 
Monmouth,  seeing  he  could  not  deliver  the  prisoner, 
rose  in  a  passion  from  the  Council-table,  telling  the 
Chancellor  and  the  rest,  that  seeing  they  treated  him 
so  unkindly  in  excluding  that  person,  he  was  now  go- 
ing post  for  London,  and  it  should  be  the  first  business 
he  would  bow  his  knee  to  the  king  for. 

Here  it  is  to  be  considered  that  Shaftesbury,  who 
was  president  of  the  Council  of  England,  and  his 
party,  had  sent  down  Monmouth  to  Scotland  with  a 
design  to  break  Lauderdale's  interest  there  ;  for  which 
cause  Lauderdale  had  a  constant  spy  upon  him  while 
he  was  here,  to  see  if  he  could  find  him  trip  in  any 
piece  of  his  management.  Here  likewise  it  is  to 
be  considered  that  Duke  Hamilton  and  Lauderdale 
lying  at  this  time  by  the  ears  at  court,  Lauderdale  had 
by  the  King's  order  sent  for  several  who  had  the  trust 
under  him  in  Scotland,  for  justifying  his  government, 
viz.  the  Lord  Tarbet,  Justice-General ;  old  Stairs, 
President  of  the  Session;  Sir  George  Mackenzie, 
King's  Advocate ;  the  Lord  Glendoick,  Clerk  Regis- 
ter; and  Sir  Thomas  Wallace  of  Craigie,  Justice- 
Clerk.*  These  persons  were  to  answer  Hamilton's 
grievances,  and  satisfy  the  King.  The  prisoner's  case 
coming  in  among  these,  and  these  great  persons  among 
themselves  discoursing  upon  it.  Stairs,  who  was  the 
prisoner's  underfriend  always,  though  apparently  an 
enemy,  did  demonstrate  to  them,  that  in  law  they 
could  not  justify  the  taking  of  the  prisoner's  life: 
Glendoick  and  the  Justice-Clerk  did  second  him,  and 
so  persuaded  the  rest  to  comply  with  their  turning  his 
sentence  of  death  into  banishment :  and  that  it  was  fit 
they  should  jointly  acquaint  Lauderdale  with  their 
sentiments,  that  he  and  they  might  represent  it  to  the 
King;  which  when  they  did,  he  to!d  them  it  would 
not  do  well  yet ;  the  King  being  hot  upon  it,  and 
stirred  up  thereto  by  the  Duke  of  York,  and  he  by 
the  priests  in  Northumberland,  where  the  prisoner  had 
been  a  preacher,  his  Majesty  behoved  to  have  some 
weeks  for  cooling  and  putting  it  out  of  his  mind,  and 
then  they  would  do  it.  All  this  was  done,  as  my  Lord 
Stairs  told  the  prisoner  some  years  after  in  Holland, 
before  Monmouth  was  sent  to  Scotland,  but  was  kept 


the  General's  (Monmouth's)  licence  or  pass.  The  Council 
found  that  the  General  had  no  power  to  grant  licence  of  ab- 
sence till  they  had,  by  their  appearance  at  their  colours,  put 
themselves  under  his  command.  Yet  in  regard  "Monmouth 
was  a  stranger,  they  excused  these  gentlemen  for  this  time,  but 
would  not  sustain  it  hereafter.  There  was  great  ground  to  sus- 
pect their  licenses  were  obtained  ex  post  Jacio."  (Fountain- 
hall's  Decisions,  i.  117.)  Lady  Melville  produced  tcf  the  Lords 
of  Articles,  a  declaration  under  the  hand  of  the  Duke  of  Mon- 
mouth, warranting  Lord  Melville  to  send  a  messenger  "to  the 
rebells  armie  to  Mr.  John  Welsh  and  Mr.  David  Home,  and 
tell  them  from  him  that  they  might  send  a  petition  to  the  Duke 
of  Monmouth,  and  that  thev  might  expect  good  conditions," 
(Act.  Pari.  Scot.  viii.  App.  p.  57—59.) 
*  See  FountainhaM's  DecisionSf  i.  43 


448 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


secret  among  themselves,  and  not  as  yet  made  known 
to  the  King. 

But  the  good  providence  of  God  put  an  unexpected 
opportunity  in  their  hand  ;  for  my  Lord  Stairs,  as  he 
afterwards  told  him,  having  the  draught  of  the  pri- 
soner's sentence  of  banishment  in  his  pocket  for  seve- 
ral weeks  together,  which  was  consented  to  by  the 
rest,  waiting  the  season  of  the  King's  being  in  an 
humour  for  that  elFect ;  he  happened  to  visit  Lauder- 
dale that  week  Monmouth  took  post  from  Scotland, 
and  that  his  spy  *  had  sent  him  an  account  what  Mon- 
mouth had  sent  when  he  rose  from  the  council  table 
toward  the  relief  of  the  prisoner  as  soon  as  he  saw  the 
King ;  and  Lauderdale  giving  this  letter  to  Stairs  to 
read,  he  says,  "  Now,  my  lord,  Monmouth  is  upon  his 
way,  and  is  like  to  relieve  this  prisoner.  I  think  it 
were  best  for  your  lordship  to  send  for  the  King's  Ad- 
vocate, and  the  rest  of  the  lords  who  are  here,  aiui  we 
will  get  this  sentence  of  banishment  out  of  the  king- 
dom past  upon  him  before  Monmouth  come  up;  and  if 
the  King  have  any  scruple  about  it,  his  advocate  and  the 
other  lords  will  clear  him  thereanent.  This  will  be  for 
our  credit,  and  stop  the  mouths  of  all  in  Scotland  who 
reflect  on  our  severity  ;  and  if  he  come  and  do  it,  the  dirt 
will  lie  upon  us."  To  which  Lauderdale  replies,  "On 
ray  conscience  we  will  <]o  it,  and  Monmouth  shall  not 
have  the  honour  and  credit  of  it.  We'll  send  for  the 
lords  instantly,  and  tell  the  King  a  new  story  that  will 
make  him  do  it;"  which  they  did;  the  King  super- 
scribing and  Lauderdale  subscribing  the  new  sentence ; 
and  also  an  order  from  the  King  to  his  Council,  to  put 
the  same  in  execution  upon  sight.  My  lord  Stairs 
sends  for  Mr.  Elliot,  the  prisoner's  agent,  and  delivers 
it  to  him. 

At  this  time  was  there  also  an  order  granted  for  the 
relieving  Sir  Patrick  Hume  of  Polwart  out  of  the  Cas- 
tle of  Stirling,  and  a  third  for  removing  the  sentence  of 
James  Stewart  that  so  he  might  appear  in  public  again. 
The  three  agents  thinking  it  was  too  expensive  for  all 
of  them  to  ride  post,  they  cast  lots  which  of  the  three 
should  do  it,  and  it  fell  upon  Polwart's  agent,  a  Merse 
gentleman,  who  came  by  Mr.  John  Veitch,  and  bring- 
ing him  in  with  him,  they  went  to  the  Chancellor 
Rothes,  who  called  the  council,  wherein  they  past  an 
order  to  the  lords  of  justiciary  to  call  the  prisoner  be- 
fore them,  and  intimate  the  new  sentence,  which  they 
did  next  day,  and  so  he  was  released. f 

This  deliverance  was  very  remarkable,  if  we  consi- 
der that  it  was  done  by  Lauderdale  out  of  a  mere  anti- 
pathy to  Monmouth,  which  pushed  him  on,  not  only  to 
do  it,  but  to  do  it  before  he  should  reach  the  Court; 
and  also  upon  this  account,  that  Monmouth,  though  he 
undertook  fair,  yet  he  could  never  have  done  it;  yet 
that  brisk  undertaking  was  the  spring  that  moved  them 
to  do  it.  For  Monmouth  was  never  admitted  to  the 
court,:|:  York  and  Lauderdale  having  prevailed  with  the 


*  This  statement,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  watch  set  on  Mon- 
mouth's conduct  during  the  time  he  was  in  Scotland,  is  con- 
firmed by  Sir  John  Reresby's  account  of  his  interview  with  him 
at  Doncaster  on  his  return  to  London.     (Memoirs,  p.  97.) 

+  -'July  28,  1679.— Mr.  William  Veitch,  who  had  been  for- 
feit in  absence  for  being-  in  the  rebellion  in  1666,  and  many 
ministers  who  were  in  prison,  were  all  liberated  by  virtue  of 
the  Kinff's  pardon,  indulgence  and  indemnity;  and  if  Mr.  Wil- 
liam had  been  reponed  to  his  defences,  or  needed  them,  it  was 
alleged  the  decreet  of  forfeiture  pronounced  against  him,  upon 
a  probation  taken  in  absence  of  his  being  in  the  Pentland  rebel- 
lion 1666,  had  a  material  nullity;  viz.  that  the  executor  of  the 
ditty  of  treason,  and  the  witnesses  were  not  sworn  in  Court 
upon  the  truth  of  the  execution.  2do,  The  ditty  was  not  exe- 
cuted at  his  dwelling-house,  which  he  had  before  the  said  re- 
bellion and  rising  in  arms." — In  the  case  of  Macdowall,  of 
French  and  others,  9lh  February,  1680,  "  the  witnesses  to  the 
execution  were  sworn."     (Fountainhall's  Decis.  i.  54,  83.) 

I  This  stateanent  is  not  altogether  correct;  for  Monmouth 
appears  to  have  had  several  interviews  with  the  King,  after  he 
returned  from  Scotland.  (Burnet,  History  of  his  own  Times, 
ii.  269,  270.)  He  left  Edmburgh  on  the  6th  of  July,  was  at 
Windsor  on  the  11th,  and  on  tne  29th,  the  King,  "for  that 
great  trust  that  he  reposes  in  his  entirely  beloved  cousin  and 


King  to  debar  him  and  order  him  to  go  abroad  out  of  the 
kingdom ;  so  that  if  this  had  not  fallen  out,  the  prisoner 
in  all  likelihood  had  perished ;  therefore  he  ought  to  ad- 
mire, and  cry  out  as  long  as  he  lives,  "  O  the  depth  of 
thewisdom,  mercy,  and  goodness  of  God!  his  thoughts 
are  unsearchable,  and  his  ways  past  finding  out  I" 
Next,  if  we  will  consider  that  the  sufferer  had  not 
only  the  enemies  to  that  interest  in  one  kingdom  but 
in  both  to  grapple  with.  In  the  third  place,  if  we 
consider  how  eagerly,  and  withal  treacherously,  the 
prelates  sought  his  life;  an  instance  whereof  Paterson, 
bishop  of  Edinburgh,  gave,  (as  formerly  mentioned,) 
when  the  prisoner's  blood  was  laid  at  his  door  by  some 
worthy  ladies,  being  the  person  that  appeared  most 
against  him.  He,  to  take  off"  the  odium,  writes  a  very 
plain  and  urgent  letter  to  Lauderdale's  chaplain.  Dr. 
Hicks,  to  show  his  lord  in  the  prisoner's  favour.  He 
sends  it  up  to  the  prison  with  his  brother  Sir  William, 
and  reads  it  to  the  prisoner  and  his  friends,  and  seals 
the  same,  delivering  it  to  him  to  give  his  agent,  who 
was  taking  post  for  London  ;  and,  in  the  mean  time, 
by  the  public  post,  writes  a  contrary  one,  discharging 
him  to  show  it,  as  the  agent  at  his  arrival  discovered.* 
And,  lastl)'^,  if  we  consider  how  highly  they  incensed 
the  King  by  their  misinformations,  so  that  he  wrote 
down  three  several  letters  with  his  own  hand  to  the 
criminal  lords  to  despatch  him,  as  can  be  made  good. 
Now,  that  after  all  this  he  should  escape,  and  that  by 
a  letter  from  the  King  ordering  to  release  him,  as  has 
been  said,  is  such  a  thing  as  will  not  find  many  paral- 
lels in  history. 

Besides  all  the  other  troubles  which  attended  him 
and  his  family  through  the  forfeitry  and  giving  away 
of  what  they  had  in  Scotland,  and  the  many  removings 
from  place  to  place  occasioned  by  the  prelates  and 
their  abettors,  this  sore  trial  involved  him  in  great 
debt,  being  so  expensive  a  business  every  way.  It  is 
well  known  also  that  it  was  the  Lord's  blessing  other 
means  that  he  was  necessitated  to  follow  for  the  main- 
tenance of  his  family,  being  in  a  poor  country  side,  that 
kept  them  together ;  for  what  the  people  gave  waa 
never  able  to  do  it;  and  it  was  his  wife's  observation, 
that  things  came  never  in  so  plentifully,  nor  went  so 
far,  as  when  they  had  most  strangers ;  their  house 
being  a  resting  and  refreshing  place  for  the  wandering 
and  weather-beaten  flock  of  Christ. 

His  return  home  to  his  dwelling  house  in  England 
made  glad  his  friends,  and  more  than  formerly  galled 
his  adversaries,  so  that  Daniel  Collingwood,  Esquire,f 
and  Justice  of  the  Peace,  in  a  meeting  at  Morpeth 
with  Sir  John  Fenwick  and  others,  would  needs  have 
him  taken  again,  had  they  not  put  him  off,  which  de- 
bate occasioned  a  friend  immediately  to  write  to  Mr. 
Veitch  and  advise  him  to  retire  for  a  season  ;  there 
being  little  access  to  redress  such  irregularities  as  they 
might  commit.  Upon  which  information  he  withdrew 
a  considerable  time,  and  after  his  return  made  his  ac- 
quaintance more  westward  in  the  English  borders, 
where  he  frequently  preached,  viz  :  Keilderhead, 
Wheel-causeway,  Dead-water,  &c.  What  wonderful 
success  the  preaching  of  the  word  has  had,  by  minis- 
ters retiring  thither  under  persecution,  in  order  to  the 
repressing,  yea  almost  extinguishing  these  feuds, 
thefts,  and  robberies,  that  were  then  so  natural  to  that 
place  and  people,  is  worth  a  singular  and  serious  ob- 

Counsellor,  James,  Duke  of  Buccleugh  and  Monmouth,"  grants 
a  Commission  to  him  to  be  Captain  General  of  all  the  torces 
in  Scotland.  (Wodrow,  ii.  73,  79,  app.  39.)  This  was  with- 
drawn in  September,  after  the  Duke  of  York's  arrival  from  the 
Continent,  on  occasion  of  the  King's  real  or  pretended  illness. 
(Wodrow,  ii.  99;  Carte's  Ormond,  ii.  493,  494.) 

*  Other  instances  of  such  conduct,  on  the  part  of  the  clergy 
of  that  time,  may  be  seen  in  Wodrow,  ii.  458,  513,  514. 

f  This  gentleman  obtains  u  place  in  Andrew  Marvell's  list 
of  labourers  in  parliament,  in  tne  design  of  popery  and  arbi- 
trary power.  "  Berwick.  Daniel  Collingwood ,  Lsquire,  a  court 
janizary;  a  pensioner  of  L.300  per  annum.  Governor  of  Holy 
Island.  (Marvell's  Works,  ii.  571.)  In  1679,  he  was  member 
for  Morpeth.     (Hutchinson's  North,  ii.  294.) 


MEMOIV'S  CF  WILLIAM  VEITCH, 


U9 


Bervation.  These  news  ought  to  ho  Ka':''>T  of  joy  and  [ 
thanksgiving  to  all  the  truly  godly  in  iViiain,  that 
though  the  ark,  the  glory  and  gcirf-p  of  crv  God,  be, 
alas !  too,  too  much  removed  from  3"ri* -jh^  T^rhratah, 
the  ingrounds,  the  places  of  greater  outi-^ud  plenty 
and  pleasure,  yet  that  he  is  to  be  found  i'  t'.;e  borders 
of  those  lands,  in  the  mountains  and  fields  of  the 
woods.  Some  of  the  gentry  on  both  sides  of  the  bor- 
ders commissionate  to  repress  such  enormities,  have 
been  forced  both  to  see  and  say,  that  the  Gospel  has 
done  that  which  their  most  severe  rixcoution  of  the 
laws  could  never  accomplish.  And  is  not  such  a 
change  worthy  a  remark  !  to  see  z.  peopls  who  t.sed  to 
ride  unweariedly  through  the  long  "K'irter  nig'.itS  to 
steal  and  drive  away  the  prize,  new,  upon  ih  ?  report 
of  a  sermon,  come  from  afar,  travelling"  ^!1  n'ght  tc 
hear  the  Gospel;  yea,  some  bringing  uheir  chiliren 
along  with  them  to  the  ordinan', '  sf  i  rn^ijnr.,  althoiigh 
the  landlord  threaten  to  eje^t  li<i  tf. -.vit  ztd  the  r.ias- 
ter  the  servant  for  so  doing.* 

Mr.  Veitoh  having  returned  ho  ::;e  again,  by  a  sen- 
tence of  banishment,  to  his  farai'y  rnd  i/isnds,  and  re- 
solving to  carry  on  his  m*.niste:iai  vork  at  Stantonhall, 
as  he  did  formerly,  is  forcsLl,  es  hij  just  been  hinted, 
by  the  malicious  dc::'f".3  f,^  the  justices  of  the  peace, 
and  others  of  tha'".  i-lne'in  tho  country,  who  were 
resolved  to  tu^-i  hiri  r'jjht  or  vrrong,  to  retire  into 
the  western  Icrd?^:,  wheve  he  exc^rcised  his  ministry 
'o  the  people  o.';'  bo.h  ?ld:-3  of  the  borders,  Scots 
ird  Kngl'sh;  ki-eping  a'v/sys  the  place  of  meeting 
j'.on  the  Lngiish  ground,  for  fear  of  the  Scotch  forces, 
'vlio  were  3ent  to  Teyiotdale,  under  the  command  of 
Meldrutn  and  others,  who  much  haunted  Teviotdale 
ar-a  he  Cl-vse,  to  break  all  meetings  upon  the  Scotch 
rii'e. 

7:i  i«  TOithy  our  noJcing,  that  rmong  other  things 
tl '*  g'.-"*  ccoasion  to  the  sending  of  these  forces,  was 
60:113  re  "".ot.'.:>ns  that  were  cast  in  Lauderdale's  teeth  ; 
t'r-  ho*h  he  had  made  an  act  of  Parliament  f  for 
ju.  '  M  g  a'l  the  landlords  upon  whose  grounds  meet- 
infss^c'd  bo  kept,  yet  it  proved  for  several  years 
i/.u"  ct"a'..  And  it  happened  at  the  time  of  the  mak- 
in|,'of  '.ha'  act,  ';hit  Mr.  Veitch  being  at  Hume,  meet- 
?.,Vvr.'  V.  s'^zeral  preachers  of  the  fields,  and   several 


'  Th«  panshei  (i  Rothbury,  Bolani,  and  Longhorsley,  in 
••■'  .ch  Veitch  had  resided,  bordered  upon  Redesdale  and  Tyne- 
»'■ 'o  th  se  rid^  di:tricls  of  which  Bishop  Carletoii,  in  his  Life 
c:  .-■'fiiiiari'  :-'i"piiJ  says,  "the  word  of  God  was  never  heard  of 
!c  ■- :  picE.cii'ii  anongst  tliem  but  by  the  ministry  of  Gilpin." 
iCor:eei'  Luih.-.ni,  vol.  i.  P.  i.  166, 167.)  In  1776  Hutchinson 
vf..  ec,  ■'  The  church  of  Symondburn  has  two  dependant  chap- 
eis,  Belling-hani  and  Falston;  the  parish  is  between  thirty  and 
tC'.y  iriles  in  length,  extending  to  Liddesdale,  in  Scotland. 
'ii  are  is  within  this  district,  between  Falston  and  the  extreme 
IjCttiidary,  an  extensive  tract  of  country  where,  till  the  last  cen- 
t'ar>,  conversion  had  scarce  reached,  or  the  benefits  of  religion, 
tnA  :b.e  rites  of  the  English  church  been  promulgated,  except 
;.n  the  collection  of  tithes.  (Tour  in  Northimiberland,  i.  215.) 
^:r'.ees  calls  it  "  the  wealthy  church  of  Siraonburn."  Dur- 
boiii,  vol.  i.  P.  i.  p.  xliv.)  Mr.  Gabriel  Semple,  accounting  for 
ii'js  quiet  possession  of  Ford  church  for  some  years  after  Pent- 
iand,  says,  "  these  borderers  were  looked  upon  to  be  ignorant, 
harbarous.and  debauched  with  all  sort  of  wickedness,  that  none 
thought  it  worthy  their  consideration  to  look  after  them, 
thinking  that  they  could  not  be  brought  to  any  reformation. 
Yet  in  the  Lord's  infinite  mercy,  the  preaching  to  these  bor- 
derers had  more  fruit  than  in  many  places  that  was  more  civil- 
ized." (Scrapie's  Life,  p.  51,  52,  MS. /jenfs  the  Reverend  Dr. 
liCe,  Edinburgh.)  From  a  Jacobite  accoui.t  of  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  General  Assembly  1690,  it  appears  that  the  people 
from  twelve  parishes  on  the  borders  of  Northiimberland,  made 
application  for  the  continuance  of  Mr.  Gabriel  Semple  with 
them;  pleading  that  he  had  taken  compassion  on  them  in  their 
blood,  and  been  twenty-four  years  among  them.  (Historical 
Relation  of  the  General  Assenibly,  ICSO,  p.  45,  46.) 

t  I  suspect  it  should  be  Act  of  Council,  April  26,  1676, 
which  extended  the  provisions  of  a  proclamation  of  the  8th 
April  1669  to  the  whole  kingdom,  ordaining  "all  heritors  to  be 
liable  to  the  fines  above  specified,  (L.50  sterling,  Mies  qnoties) 
in  case  any  conventicle  be  kept  on  the  ground  of  their  lands,  or 
in  hou:es  belonging  to  them."  (Wodrow,  i.  419;  comp.  p. 
300.) 

3  G 


other  gentlemen  to  whom  the  news  of  that  act  was 
sent  out,  after  several  of  that  meeting  had  given  their 
sentiment  of  it,  thinking  it  would  eifectually  break  at 
meetings,  and  were  lamenting  tlie  sad  providence,  thej 
asked  Mr.  Veitch,  whit  he  tho'ight  proper  to  bo  done 
in  this  case.  His  judgment  was,  seeing  Lauderdale 
h3d  been  the  author  of  su3h  a  malicious  act,  the  best 
requital  he  though',  couid  ha  give:),  was  to  seK  up  pub- 
lic field  rricetings  in  bis  bounds.  They  all  liked  the 
07er"-.ure  well,  but  were  at  a  ftrait  to  find  one  that 
would  venture  to  begin,  and  bell  the  cat  (aa  we  used 
to  say) :  and  so  fell  upon  importuning  him  to  do  it, 
seeing  ho  lived  in  another  cruntry  for  the  present. 
Afi.jrth'-jlr  refusal  of  several  ejcuses  he  made,  "  Well," 
sc  J-  he,  '■  gentlemen,  if  you  be  so  unanimous  and  for- 
'Wi  t\  for  tin  thing,  seeing  I  proposed  it,  upon  the  con- 
ditio r  ye  v-'ill  keep  it  up  as  far  as  possible,  I  will  ven- 
xu-w  to  set  it  up  Sabbath  next,  at  the  Clue  Cairn  in 
Lauder  moor ;  *  and  you  may  warn  them  if  you  please 
from  Dan  to  Beersheba  to  be  there."  And  the  meeting 
that  day,  at  that  place,  was  computed  to  be  above  four 
thousand  hearers ;  and  it  was  so  visibly  blessed  of 
God,  that  it  raised  a  spirit  of  zeal  and  forwardness 
both  in  ministers  and  people  in  that  country ;  both  to 
keep  up  that  meeting,  and  set  up  several  others  in  the 
Merse  and  Tiviotdale,  to  the  great  advantage  of  reli- 
gion for  many  years.  And  Mr.  Veitch  promised  at 
that  time,  that,  before  that  meeting  should  fall,  upon 
their  acquainting  of  him,  he  would  come  and  help  them 
to  support  it,  which  he  frequently  did.  Ani  it  is  ai 
step  of  providence  worth  the  observation,  that  after 
King  William's  happy  Revolution,  he  was  the  first 
minister  appointed  to  preach  at  Lauder  church,  (being 
appointed  by  the  council,  and  by  the  great  and  good 
Earl  of  Crawford  personslly,  to  go  and  declare  it 
vacant)  where  there  was  a  vast  confluence  of  peopla 
met  upon  the  report  cf  it  to  see  the  happy  change ; 
but  the  lady  Lauderdale  hearing  of  it,  caused  neidnail  | 
all  the  church  doors  and  windows,  that  there  might  be 
no  access  for  such  ministers.  In  this  posture  Mr. 
Veitch  found  the  church  when  he  came,  the  lady  and 
the  magistrates  of  the  town  all  retired,  so  that  he 
could  find  no  magistrate  to  open  the  church  doors. 
When  he  was  in  this  strait,  several  of  his  old  hearers 
sent  him  word  quietly  that  they  would  make  open 
doors  if  he  would  allow  them,  which  ha  did.  And  o, 
in  the  bringing  the  ark  from  Ephratah — from  the  field.* 
of  the  wood,  into  the  chuich  and  houPv.^  of  G(>j,  (!is 
proper  seat  of  it,  it  proved  such  a  day  of  weeping  aed 
singing  as  the  like  had  not  been  seen  heretofire;  the 
minister  lecturing  and  preaching  upon  the  i32n'} 
Psalm,  and  the  text  he  preache;'.  i;pon  was,  verse  8* 
"Arise,  O  Lord,  into  thy  rest." 

This  meeting  at  the  Clue  Cairn,  after  several  years,- 
and  the  importunity  of  the  godly  people  about  Ber- 
wick and  the  east  end  of  the  Morse,  was  removed  to 
Fogo-moor  for  their  better  conveniency ;  and  Mr. 
Veitch  was  sent  for  out  of  England  to  do  it,  which, 
at  the  importunity  of  the  people,  he  did.  His  lecture 
and  preaching  was  upon  the  102nd  Psalm,  especially 
these  words,  "Thou  shalt  arise,  and  have  mercy  upon 
Zion ;  for  the  time,  even  the  set  time,  to  favour  her  is 
come."  It  was  a  great  and  good  day,  as  the  auditory 
witnessed.  It  was  the  first  day  and  it  was  the  last 
day  of  meeting  in  that  place ;  for  that  very  evening, 
several  of  the  forces,  both  horse  and  foot,  by  sp'^.rial- 
orders,  came  from  Haddington  through  Lammermoor, 
and  f»-ll  in  upon  Cordon  and  Hume,  and  the  plaiesi 
about;  searching  all   night  to  find   Mr.  Veitch,  «vKo 


*  "  In  \.\i'i  d'itrxt  [of  Roxbui-ghshire,  1  et^  len  the  Gala  aiir, 
'he  Leader]  ai-oi.t  four  miles  northward  of  the  i'i-.'e«:<i,  therein 
a  rem?.rkot)1e  object  called  1'he  liiv:  Cai"i,  fiom  i.'ie  co'ov.r 
of  the  stones.  A  large  spnce  which  is  sjfficiei.t  to  •.•onfain  m5nr 
persons,  is  completely  er.^.iosed,  a-.d  ma/  irc  sa'd  tt  b«  f5rtifl«l 
by  a  natural  rampart  of  stones."  (PT.l:'*  Il^to.r,  f.  b?,  "SC, 
a/)«d  Chalmers's  Caledonia,  ii,  7'^.)  ;, 

f  Fasten  wuh  nails. 


4ft0 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VXilTCH. 


very  strangely  and  providentially  escaped  them  by 
James  Hume  of  Flass's  *  carrying  of  him  that  night 
in  the  dark  to  the  old  lady  Stitchell's  at  her  house  in 
Coongecarle,f  which  the  troopers  passed  by,  upon  the 
inforiijatiou  that  she  was  ar  oic  weakly  gentlevcoman. 

Lauderdale  being  then  ir.  Scotland,  and  irojiiPud 
that  the  meetings  should  have  been  so  freq  jenJj  ktpt 
upon  his  ground,  inquirei  ot  the  south-country  g-^ntrj, 
when  they  came  to  see  him,  what  minister  it  w^.'?  t\at 
set  it  up  first,  receiving  to  make  him  an  exainjd'j. 
Many  of  the  gentry  shitted  to  tell  him  ;  but  Sir  Alex- 
ander Don,  not  out  of  any  dislike,  but  mere  heedless- 
ness, told  it  was  Mr.  William  Veitch.  "  V,'a3  it  so"" 
said  my  lord  ;  "  My  own  relation !  I'll  think  v.pon 
him."  And  indeed  he  did  so  :  for  it  inade  him  c-V-e 
cearch  England  diligently  for  him  ;  and  stirred  him  iio 
vigorously  to  pursue  when  he  was  sent  prisoner  to 
Scotland.  This  piece  of  the  history,  you  see,  did 
precede  his  being  taken  and  sent  into  Scotland. 

Another  thing  remarkable  after  Mr.  Veitch  ictnmed 
by  a  sentence  of  banishment,  and  preached  upon  the 
borders,  was  his  going  to  Berwick,  upon  a  line  from 
his  friend  Mr.  Temple,  a  merchant  there,  chiding  hiin 
for  his  unkindness  in  not  cominof  to  give  the  good  peo- 
ple of  that  place  :J:  thanks  for  their  great  kindness 
while  he  was  prisoner  there.  It  happened  to  be  at  the 
time  when  the  Earl  of  Argyle  escaped  out  of  the  cas- 
tle of  Edinburgh.  The  news  of  which  running  through 
the  town  by  an  express,  some  officers  v/ho  had  read  it 
at  the  port-house,  comingr  along  by  Mr,  Robert  Wat- 
son's gates,  where  Mr.  Veitch  was  taking  his  leave  of 
him  and  his  lady,  and  perceiving  him  to  be  in  town, 
turned  back  to  the  post-house,  where  the  governor 
was,  telling  him  that  such  a  one  was  in  town,  and  he 
might  have  a  hand  in  Argyll's  escape,  which  was 
worthy  the  governor's  consideration.  They  unani- 
mously concluded  that  it  was  fit  for  them,  in  the  first 
place,  to  double  the  guards ;  and  then  to  go  to  the 
mayor  to  get  a  warrant  to  search. 


*  James  Home  of  Flass  was  a  Commissioner  of  militia  in 
1689,  and  Ccinmissioner  of  supply  in  1690,  for  the  shire  of  Ber- 
wick.— "  J^fal/  nth,  1689,  The  Committee  of  Estates,  doe  give 
warrand  to  James  Homeof  Flasse,  with  the  commanding  officer 
of  the  troop,  to  muster  the  horsemen  ordered  to  be  raised  out 
of  the  shire  of  Berwick,  upon  Tuesday-  next  at  Dunce."  (Act. 
Pari.  Srot.  ix.  app.  p.  31.) 

t  RoDeit  Prinj^le  of  Stitchell.  who  died  in  1649,  left  a  wid- 
ow, whom  his  son,  WaUer  Prin^le  of  Greenknow,  in  1664,  calls 
his  aged  mother.  VValier's  elder  brother,  John  Pringle,j?ar  of 
Stitchell.  whc  died  before  his  father  about  1647,  appears  also 
to  have  left  a  widow.  (Prinde's  Memoirs,  p.  11,14,  52.)  Oct. 
28,  1651.  Robert  Pringle  of  Stitchell  is  retoured  heir  of  his 
father.  John  Pringle  feodatary  de  Stitchell  in  Coningcarle,  in 
dominio  de  Stitchell.     (Inquis.  Retorn.  Roxb.  201.) 

\  "  Sept.  20,  1684,  by  an  order  from  the  king,  there  is  a 
search  made  in  Berwick  for  Polwart,  Mr.  James  Daes,  and  other 
Scots  fugitives  residing  there;  but  they  had  advertisement  of  it 
beforehand.  There  was  also  a  quo  warranto  issued  out  at  the 
king's  attorneys  instance  against  the  charter  of  Berwick,  as  for- 
feit by  this  misdemeanour  of  resetting,  and  also  because  they 
had  refused  to  surrender,  as  many  burrows  and  corporations 
had  done.  But  the  king's  difficulty  lay  in  this,  tnat,  by  a 
clause  in  their  charter,  they  can  only  be  judged  by  an  inquest 
of  twelve  burgesses  of  their  own  town :  Yet,  in  Nov.  1684,  hav- 
ing debarred  sundry  of  the  Whig  party  by  excommunication, 
for  not  keeping  the  church,  they,  by  a  vote,  surrendered  their 
charter  to  the  king."  (Fountainhalrs  Decisions,  i.  304.)  Dec. 
8,  1688,  York  and  Berwick  declared  for  a  free  pariianient. 
(Lady  Russel's  Letters,  p.  187.) 

"  Circuit  Court,  Dunse,  Sept.  29,  1684.~Thc  Lords  being 
informed,  by  depositions,  Ax.  that  several  rebels  and  fugitives 
were  reset  in  the  major's  house  of  Berwick,  resolved  to  write 
to  the  committee." — "  Jedbnrg,  Wth  Ortoher,  163'4.— I7f  jn  n 
letter  from  the  <rovefnor  of  Ber.vick,  signifying  tha'  he  wa«i  ii- 
formit  Polwart  had  not  made  his  escape  as  yet,  and  ihal  tlse 
minister  of  the  said  {.aroch  co.jid  give  notice  thereof,  thi*  lortis 
ordered  the  miiirter  of  the  Mid  kirk  to  he  cii'-d  before  therf; 
v-zhc  compearing  deponed  '.hai  he  had  not  tee»  lol.van  sinct, 
bin  eccep"  r.rd  the  :«ean-h  i,nde  for  him,  and  vhat  he  krew  not 
wh';.'=.  he  wa-«  or  rou  d  be  (cind.  '  (Minutes  of  Circui.  Couit 
for  O'rtvicir/hir :!,  &.,.)  -  Polwaii  leti  his  concealment  ni  his 
«WB  r.ouse  acou:  the  time  of  Motbeth  Fair,  a  few  days  after 
Jcrvwwood's  execution.  (Lany  Murray's  Memors,  p.  41,  42.) 
Vrviswood  was  executed  on  'an  '  4*h  December,  1684. 


In  the  roe\.^  iLvo.e.  Mr.  Veitch,  knowing  nothing  of 
the  news,  or  ot  i.ieir  resolutions,  went  confidently 
along  ti  e  Llveot  tj  his  lodgings,  in  order  to  his  going 
out  of  'o  v..  Ii.i.aeward,  in  company  with  Mr.  Temple, 
his  Hndio-i.  Tiiey  see  the  mayor,  who  was  brcther- 
in-iaw  i3  bi': .  Temple,  going  up  street  to  his  house  a 
little  before  them ;  upon  which  Mr.  Temple  says, 
"  Yonder  is  the  mayor  going  to  repay  your  visit  yes- 
ternight, and  take  his  leave  of  you."  When  we  came 
into  the  hall  v,'iisie  ?lr.  Lowk,  the  mayor,*  was  stand- 
ing, he  sa}s,  "  lir.  Veitch,  I'm  come  to  tell  you  great 
and  strar.ge  news:  the  Earl  of  Argyle  is  escaped  out 
of  Edinburgh  CaPtle,  and  it's  thought  he  is  either  for 
i.i.5  ov.a  HigLla.;ds  or  London."  Mr.  Veitch  smiling 
i  iit  it  as  a  i:i3Te  ciory,  says  lie,  "  You  need  not  doubt 
;]!,  for  I  ho.\e  :e;jj  the  express  just  now  at  the  post- 
housv?." 

The  rnaia  j^  '.arc  «r2«  just  over  against  that  lodging, 
I  at.d  ere  drums  h  i  t  nj  ,i:krd,  the  mayor  says,  "  Let  us 
go  up  stairs  and  see  what  the  matter  means."  He 
opening  the  cas^.f.eiif,  one  tells  him  that  it  was  for 
doubling  the  jjuaras.  lie,  still  looking  out,  perceives 
the  governor,  and  t\e  oil'i^bre,  with  an  additional  party 
of  guards,  coming  ap.  "}  he  governor  oomes  from 
them  to  a  barber's  shop  \Lzt  3  ci  ..lier  kept,  belonging 
to  Mr.  Temple,  and  inqui-cs  >*'  h'm-  if  Mr.  Veitch 
lodged  in  that  house.  He  ilsclar^c,  h*.  knew  nothing 
of  it.  "Vv'ell,"  soys  he,  "  hold  y  u:  pr-.ace."  The 
fellow,  when  he  is  gix\e,  palling  to  Lid  half-door,  and 
going  down  street,  comes  about  to  a  tack  in  ry  of  Mr. 
Temple's  house,  and  calling  him  down  telh^  d.e  sto*  \ 
At  which  Mr.  Temple  comes  quickly  vijt  atalrs,  and 
acquaints  us,  that  all  this  was  a-doing  to  so.-ure  the 
town,  in  order  to  the  searching  for  Mr.  Ve'v:..'i  an.  ..  r- 
gyle,  if  he  was  with  him.  At  which  the  fn  /or,  like 
one  in  a  surprise,  without  speaking  one  wrf ,  'lisUi^a 
down  stairs,  and  goes  home,  thinking  they  \;  u  d  pri«- 
sently  be  at  him  for  a  wariant,  which  ui  ■■  aid  rot 
give  without  two  justices,  according  to  th'^  "-v  f  t:i3 
place.  One  of  them  he  knew  was  gon;  :or  X*  v^ac- 
tle  ;  he  sends  his  boy  to  the  other,  desiring  ^»'m  i  •  all 
kindness,  quickly  to  go  out  of  (own,  and  no*.  *,i  X'/un 
that  night.  The  boy  was  not  Vvell  3JTie  \&cr,'i.'hin 
the  governor  and  officers  came  to  the  x::a)'oi,  rj^  .ir.i.g' 
a  warrant.  "  O,"  says  he,  "by  iAl  msans;  nt 
calling  his  boy,  "  Run,"  says  he,  '•  for  thes2  two  ;  i^^- 
tices,  and  bring  them  hither  quickly."  The  boy  af,ir 
a  space  returning,  told  they  were  both  out  o:;  tjw  f 
and  would  not  be  in  till  to-morrow.  " 'Vjll."  ui  y? 
the  mayor  to  the  governor,  "you  know  I  can  q;!ve  if 
warrant  till  they  come  ;  and  you,  having  doubled  h  . 
guards,  may  secure  all  till  then." 

In  the  mean  time,  Mr.  Temple  carried  Mr.  Vei^/  h 
through  back-ways  to  the  curate's  beadle's  hc>'»i3<, 
where  the  wife  being  fanatic  undertook  to  Eec;i6 
him ;  and  he  dined  with  one  skipper  Mitchel,  who  had 
a  great  tobacco  ship  lying  over  against  one  of  tH4 
gates  of  the  town  walls;  and  had  liberty  from  vho 
mayor  and  governor  that  the  gate  might  not  be  shut  a£ 
the  rest  until  ten  of  the  clock  at  night.  Betwixt  two 
and  three  of  the  clock  in  the  afternoon,  Mr.  Mayor 
comes  in  surprisingly  upon  Mr.  Veitch,  bringing  some 
bottles  of  wine  with  him  ;  and,  his  man  being  put  out 
of  the  room,  telling  him  all  he  had  done  for  his  securi- 
ty, drinks  a  glass  to  his  safe  delivery,  and  says,  smil- 
ingly, "  I  can  do  no  more  for  you,  but  commit  you  to 
your  fanatic  frisnds:"  and  so  takes  his  leave.  Mr. 
Veitch  desires  him  to  send  Samuel  Shell,  the  town 
solicitor,  to  him,  which  he  did  ;  and  he  being  Mr. 
Veitch's  acquaintance  formerly  at  London,  was  very 
careful  to  do  him  service,  and  told  him  that  this  night, 


*  1677  and  1679,  commissioners  of  sui)ply  for  the  burroughe 
of  Berwicke-upon-Tweede:  John  Lucke,  maior  for  the  time 
being,  Daniel  Collingwood,  Sir  John  Fenwicke,  Robert  Wat- 
son, &c.  John  Lucke  and  Robert  Watson  were  also  commission- 
ers in  1688-9,  and  1690.  (Statutes  of  the  Realm,  y.  819,  916: 
vi.  41,121,199.) 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


iSl 


his  brother,  the  town-clerk,  had  a  child  to  be  buried 
with  torches,  where  all  the  leading  persons  who  were 
his  friends  in  town  would  be ;  and  there  they  would 
consult  the  best  way  of  his  escape,  which  they  did  : 
causing  two  honest  boatmen  lay  their  boat  to  the  off- 
side of  the  tobacco-ship  before-mentioned,  betwixt 
•even  and  eight  of  the  clock  at  night;  and  two  mer- 
chants, when  they  knew  all  was  ready,  went  out  at 
that  gate  talking  about  the  cargo-buying,  to  blind  the 
two  sentries  that  stood  upon  the  wall  above  the  door 
head  :  and  finding  no  ditficulty,  came  back  and  took 
Mr.  Veitch  and  put  him  in  the  ship's  boat,  which  the 
Skipper  had  laid  at  the  key,  which  carried  hin:  out  to 
the  far  side  of  the  ship,  and  put  liiin  in  tlie  other  l)oat, 
which  landed  him  in  Tweedmouth,  where  he  had  left 
his  horse  and  riding  gear,  and  getting  two  friends 
there,  they  accompanied  him  six  miles  to  Mr.  Luke 
Ogle's  house,*  the  outed  minist.fr  of  Berwick,  who 
laughed  heartily  at  the  story.  It  being  Thursday's 
night,  he  engaged  him  to  stay  till  the  Sabbath  was 
over,  and  perform  an  old  promise  to  Ittallf  and  his 
lady,  giving  them  a  Sabbath  day's  sermon,  to  which 
he  assented. 

But  going  to  bed  after  this  confusion  and  weariness, 
and  falling  asleep,  he  dreamed  that  liis  house  at  Stan- 
ton Hall,  more  than  thirty  miles  off  that  place,  was 
all  on  fire,  which  made  him  awake  with  great  conster- 
nation and  trouble  of  mind,  and  think  of  altering  his 
resolution  and  taking  his  journey  honic  to-morrow  morn- 
ing, wishing  it  were  near  rising  tiiiiC  that  he  might  go. 
But  hearing  the  clock  strike  two  in  the  raorning,and  that 
it  was  not  seasonable  to  trouble  the  house  till  six  of 
the  clock,  he  fell  asleep,  and  dreaming  the  same  over 
again,  and  awaking  all  in  a  sweat,  took  the  doubling 
of  the  dream  to  be  a  clear  call  to  go  home,  which 
next  morning  he  did,  making  his  apclogy  to  Mr.  Ogle, 
and  telling  him  his  dream,  (which  he  said  ^Yas  like 
one  of  his  maggots)  and  desiring  hira  to  .excuse  him 
at  the  laird  and  lady's  hands.  It  being  a  violent  frost 
and  the  day  short.:|:  he  could  not  riii*.;  above  twenty 
miles,  so  that  tho  rext  day  being  Saturday,  it  wa3 
near  night  ere  he  go*  ho-ne. 

About  a  mile  and  a  i  alf  froDi  his  own  house,  as  he 
was  going  up  a  -ane,  he  s^es  tw.  Ti.eu  iiid   thiee  fine 
horses  meeting  him.     The  ^c  '•stn'^"'.;  o:  v;hom,  when 
he  perceived  who  it  was,  cani"-  ni''  ^r  fast  np  to  him, 
(it  was  Torwoodlei'e  man,"}  s'iyirir'.,  "  0,  Sir,  you  are 
long  looked  for  at  your  aor.si  ;"  wh:c';  .nade  hire  ask,  I 
what  is  the  ma*.te.''r  is  ir.y  v, ..fe  r.i  n  r'ttmily  welll"  I 
"  Yes,"  says  he,-   •'  bat  rheie  is  ■*   o-..^.  ir;er  ^ongs  t  j  j 
see  you,  vii..  Aigyli;';  and  you'  \r^-^  and  h^  have  i 


been  sending  about  the  country  these  two  days  to  find 
you."  Then  he  saw  that  the  dream  was  a  clear  call 
to  bring  him  bonne. 

After  their  meeting,  and  talking  about  matters, 
Mr.  Veitch,  with  his  wife's  consent,  who  was  then 
near  her  time,  undertook  ^o  do  his  best  for  bringing 
him  safe  to  London,  and  advised  to  send  his  two 
servant?  to-morrow  morning  being  the  Sabbath,  to 
Newcastle,  to  stay  there  until  farther  orders. 

Ke  took  Argyle,  now  called  Mr.  Hope,  in  disguise, 
along  v.'ith  him  to  Millburn  Grange,*  where  he  was 
to  preach  all  that  Sabbath  day.  On  Monday  morninor 
he  took  him  to  a  friend's  house  between  Newcastle 
and  Newbern,  where  he  left  him,  until  he  went  on  to 
Newcastle  and  bought  three  horses  for  him  and  his 
two  servants,  which  cost  him  about  £27  Sterling, 
which  Mr.  Veitch  paid  out  of  his  own  pocket,  finding 
Mr.  Hope  scarce  of  money.  Having  done  this,  he 
ordered  Mr.  Hope's  two  servants  to  go  to  a  change 
house  in  the  way  to  Leeds,  seventeen  miles  from 
Newcastle,  and  he  and  Mr.  Hope  crossed  Tyne  at 
Newbern,  and  went  to  a  by-in  over  against  Durham. 
They  called  next  day  for  the  servants,  and  took  them 
along.  On  Thursday  night  they  came  to  Leeds,  where 
Mr.  Veitch  was  well  acquainted.  The  next  day 
they  went  towards  lloderam,  thinking  to  lodge  four 
or  five  miles  beyond  it  that  night ;  but  the   day  being 


*  Probably  at  Bousden,  where  Mr,  Og'.e  hac'  a  pr-perty,  to 
which  he  retired  when  expel'ed  iVct)  Beiw'jit.  ,iis  ejection 
from  '.hat  place  at  'he  Res'.oratio.',  ^:;d  hi^  i'MprlsoMren*.  aioug 
wilh  Mr.  Henry  E.'-kii,e  ir  IGiif,  r.av:  r>iiCi  airs'id"  n.entlonea. 
(See  above,  p.  6C,  7'1 )  He  vrj  c'ler'  x  t-.t  \  z.:Ai  cf  Lang- 
ton  ill  ihe  Merse,  durrij^-  tii:  c. ■•...''.  i".'lulg  ;;ite  in  1679,  but 
this  being  quickly  TV'th','.'r.v. ,  ne  hrc  i-eti  ^.^eu  ta  his  o'd  re- 
treat. Upon  Kii.g  ifioiiE  tG'''r.''*ioi.  ..;  r/rt  "nvited  again  to 
Berw'.ck,  and  fi::irf,  -J.'ie  hue',  a  nuu.rons  Congregation.  In 
King  William's  tiire  be  h.-.d  rails  bo'.-  t:-oi'i  Kelso  and  Edin- 
burgh, but' couici  !:o*.  It  y  /s  '£.:' led  o:.  '.c  leave  Hsrwick,  "  where 
Got.  had  signally  »-i'n.LV'e-|,  ind  owned  ajjd  blessed  him. 
There  he  lived  beloved,  t.na  dixl  much  !anieiite.-5  in  April  1G96, 
aged  sixty-sis,"  ^!'<icti-cor.l':-r'>iis''s  Meiiional,  ii.  244,  246, 
253.)  He  is  vcr/  artectlcnate!}  mentioned  by  Waiter  Pringle 
of  Greenknow,  (IV^eir^o'r,  p.  I?-.' 

+  Mr.  Gabriei  Seri.p'-  uf  '.rid.ts  his  sscond  wife,  Margaret, 
daughter  of  Sir  Rcb  Jrt  Ker  of  ;  >!1. 

t  It  was  the  i.3d  of  December. 

II  Previously  to  the  fact  for  which  the  Earl  of  Argyle  was 
brought  to  trial,  the  Duke  of  /ork  and  his  party  had  testified 
their  hostile  intention  tovards  !iir;!,  both  on  his  father's  ac- 
count and  his  own  well-knjwn  zerd  for  tlie  protestant  religion. 
(Fountainhall's  Decis.  i.  1^1.  Wodri^w.  ii.  205.)  On  this 
account  some  of  his  fri.-nds  had  urged  him  to  retire  into  pri- 
vate life;  but,  trusting  in  his  'oyalty  and  innocence,  he  refused 
to  comply  ^vith  their  fidvi;;o.  (Paper  by  Andrew  Donaldson, 
Wodrow,  MSS.  Ixxv.  Art.  10,  Adr.  Library.)  When  called  in, 
as  a  member  of  privy  council,  to  tnke  that  self-contradictory 
oath,  the  Test,  he  dcclajcd  that  he   "  did  take  it  as  far  as  it  is 


consistent  wilh  itself  and  the  protestant  religion;  and  that  he 
meant  not  to  bind  up  himself,  in  his  station,  and  in  a  lawful 
way,  to  wish  and  encleavour  any  alteration  he  thought  to  the 
advantage  of  the  church  and  state,  not  repugnant  to  the  protes- 
tant religion  and  his  loyalty."  (Act.  Pari.  Scot.  ix.  App.  p.  47; 
comp.  Wodrow,  ii.  206,  207.)  For  refusing  to  retract  this 
declaration,  so  honourable  to  him  as  a  protestant  a:id  a  pat- 
riot, he  was  immediately  deprived  of  all  his  offices;  upon  tvhich 
(says  Lord  Fountainhall,)  "  he,  wilh  great  magnanimity,  firm- 
ness, and  constancy  of  spirit,  answered,  'Seeing  he  could  not 
serve  his  Majesty  and  the  royal  family  any  more  in  his  counsels 
within  doors,  he  should  never  be  wanting  to  do  them  all  Ih? 
service  in  his  power  without  doors."  (Decis.  i.  p.  160.)  But, 
determined  to  put  his  loyalty  to  a  still  severer  test,  the  govern- 
ment brought  him  to  trial  for  the  above  declaration;  and,  on 
the  13th  ot  December,  1681,  he  was  found  guilty  of  treason! 
"  There  was  a  great  outcry  against  the  Criminal  Judges,  their 
timorous  dishonesty.  The  Marquis  of  Montrose  was  chancellor 
of  his  assize.  Sir  George  Lockhart  called  it  lucrative  treason, 
to  the  advantage  of  church  and  state;  and  admired  how  a  man 
could  be  condemned  as  a  traitor  for  saying,  he  would  endeav- 
our all  amendment  he  can  to  the  advantage  of  church  and 
state."  Even  those  who  thought  the  words  deserved  some 
lessor  punishment,  called  it  "  diabolical  alchemy  to  screw  them 
into  treason."  (Ibid.  i.  166.)  "December  20,  1681.  This 
pvenlnp;,  about  nine  o'clock  at  night,  the  Earl  of  Argyle,  fear- 
ing his  life  might  be  taken,  escaped  out  of  the  Castle  of  Edin- 
burgh under  the  disguise  of  a  page,  and  holding  up  the  train  of 
Ltdy  Sophia  Lindsay,  his  step-daughter,  and  sister  to  the  Earl 
of  Balcarhouse."  (Ibid.  p.  167.)  On  the  23d  of  December,  the 
crimiuEl  court  pronounced  sentence  of  death  against  him. 
(Ibid.  Wodrow,  ii.  214.)  Lord  Halifax  told  Charles  II.  that 
"  he  understood  not  the  Scotch  law,  but  the  English  law  would 
not  have  hanged  a  dog  for  such  a  crime."  (Fountainhall's 
Diary,  p.  21.)  Both  Charles  and  his  brother  endeavoured  af- 
terwards to  excuse  their  conduct  in  this  affair.  The  latter 
pleaded,  as  his  reason  for  refusing  the  intercession  of  Lauder- 
dale in  behalf  of  Argyle,  "  that  he  would  not  be  diverted,  to 
make  friends  for  himself,  from  pursuing  the  king's  interest." 
Charles,  on  the  other  hand,  thought  fit  to  issue  out  a  proclama- 
tion for  apprehending  my  lord  Argyle,  "  that,  if  it  missed  his 
person,  it  might  convince  the  world,  at  least,  he  was  satisfied 
with  the  Duke's  management."  (Life  of  King  James  II.) 
"  What  an  aflecting  picture  of  brotherly  love!"  says  Lord  John 
Russel.  (Lifp  of  Lord  William  Russel,  ii.  15.) 

On  escaping  from  the  castle,  Argyle,  by  the  direction  of  Mr. 
John  Scot,  minister  of  Hawick,  rode  straight  to  the  house  of 
Pringle  of  Torwoodlee,  who  sent  his  servant  along  with  him  to 
conduct  him  to  Mr.  Veitch.  (Wodrow,  ii.  212,  490.) 

*  In  August,  1684,  Mr.  Robert  Leaver,  ejected  from  BoJam, 
the  parish  in  which  Haniam  is  situated,  "  was  apprehended  at 
his  inn  in  Gateshead,  for  being  the  preacher  at  a  conventicle  91 
Mr.  George  Horsley's  of  Milhum  Grange,  a  gentleman  of 
family  and  fortune,  who  spared  neither  his  pains,  nor  pur»e, 
nor  person,  to  serve  the  interest  of  religion  among  the  de- 
S))ised  nonconformists,  and  was  a  considerable  sufl'erer,  paid 
JC60  for  two  sermons  preached  at  his  house  in  one  day, 
by  Mr.  Owen  and  Mr.  Leaver."  (Palmer's  Noncon.  Mem. 
ii.  247.) 


452 


MEMOIRS  OP  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


very  rainy,  and  he  complaining  he  was  wet  to  the 
skin,  and  seeing  we  must  take  up  at  Rcderam,  we  re- 
solved to  take  the  post  house,  as  least  suspected,  rath- 
er than  ?.  by-inn. 

We  were  not  well  in  our  chamber,  and  got  some 
faggots  to  dry  us,  when  a  l'veryr:»an,  w^il  mounted, 
and  calling  for  the  hostler,  asked  briskly,  "  Came 
there  not  here  soine  gentlemen  shortly  I"  which  put 
us  all  in  fear.  But,  alter  inquiry,  it  was  some  jrentle- 
man's  servant,  who,  having  seen  us  before  them  upon 
the  ro?d,  and,  thinking  we  might  call  at  the  post  house 
and  take  up  the  best  rooms,  had  sent  this  fellow  to 
see.  Mr.  Veitch,  call'ng  for  a  flagon  of  ale  and  a 
bottle  of  wine,  and  some  bread,  called  for  the  landlord 
landlady  to  drink  with  them,  and  talked  a  little,  asking 
for  several  gentry  in  the  countr}',  how  far  they  lived 
from  that  place,  telling  them  that  they  were  relations 
to  some  of  his  neighbour  gentry  in  Northumberland. 
This  he  did,  that  the  landlord  and  landlady  might 
know  they  were  Englishmen,  which  happened  well; 
for  while  we  were  at  supper,  the  postboy,  coming  in 
from  Doncaster,  gave  his  master  a  letter  from  that 
postmaster,  which  after  he  had  read,  he  at  length 
reached  it  up  to  the  table  head  to  Mr.  Veitch,  who 
was  silting  there  as  chief  gentleman  of  the  company, 
having  Argyle's  page,  new  ir  disguise,  standing  at 
his  back.  After  Mr.  Veitch  had  vead  it  with  great  lei- 
sure, he  was  almost  nonplussed  what  to  think  or 
say:  for  the  narrative  of  the  letter  was  to  tell,  that 
Argyle  was  escaped  out  of  his  castle,  and  there  was 
j6500  Sterling  bid  for  him,  whosoever  should  apprehend 
him.  "  If  you  find  him,"  [said  the  postmaster  in  his  let- 
ter] "  and  apprehend  him  in  yo-ir  road,  let  me  go  snips 
v/iih  yoa ;  and  if  I  find  him,  you  shall  go  snips  with 
me."  He  [Mr.  Veitch]  broke  out  by  way  of  laugh- 
ter, ind  said,  "  Mr.  Hope,  here  are  admirable  good 
news  for  you  and  me.  The  Earl  of  Argyle  is  escaped 
ly  these  news  ;  we  that  are  travelling  southward  may 
come  to  hit  upon  him  ;  for  if  he  be  come  to  England, 
he  will  readily  take  byways,  and  if  we  hit  upon  him, 
J^£00  reward  will  do  us  good  service  :  only  1  fear  he 
ride  much  these  moonlight  mornivgs.  I  could  find  in 
my  heart  to  give  my  landlord  a  bottle  of  sack,  to  let 
his  hoptler  direct  us  early  'n  the  way  to  Clown,  and  I 
promise  him,  if  we  find  the  prize  he  shall  share  of  the 
reward."  To  which  the  landlord  replied,  "  The  host- 
ler is  at  your  honour's  set  vice."  So  Mr.  Veitch  call- { 
ed  for  a  bolt'.e  of  sack  to  d-hik  to  '-htir  good  success. ! 
They  went  early  in  the  morning  ■^Lw^LJ,  and  searched  1 
the  house,  but  found  not  one  lodger.  Krc  they  came  | 
to  the  Clown  thsy  dismissed  the  hostler,  and  break-  j 
fasted  at  that  place.  After  which  Mr.  Veitch  rent  the 
servants  to  the  Plum.e  of  Feathers  at  Nottingham,  and 
set  Argyle  upon  thi!  horse  that  carried  the  cloak-bag. 
So  they  rode  that  Saturd?.y's  night  to  Mr.  Willis's 
house  at  Glapwell,*  and  staid  there  fill  Monday.  It 
was  one  oi  Mr.  Vcitch's  haunts,  and  he  preached  a:l 
the  Sabdath  to  the  meeting. 

In  the  mean  time  R'r.  Veiich  thinkinv  upon  the 
alarm  given,  and  that  things  looked  raore  dangerous 
and  difficult  like,  he  thought  fit  to  advise  with  an  hon- 
est old  Oliverian  captain,  Lockycr,t  (one  of  Colonel 
Blood's :{:  accomplices  at  that  time,)  about  their  safe 

»  Glapwell  is  in  the  parish  of  Bolsover.De^bjshirc.  Clown 
is  a  parish  in  the  same  county,  f  PiJkingioc's  Derbyshire,  vol. 
ii.  p.  361,  365.) 

f  See  Keiinet's  Chronicle,  p.  116. 

j  Colonel  Biood  i:  a  character  too  es'-raordinary  to  he  dis- 
cussed in  the  cor.'ir>'d  limits  of  a  note.  In  the  singular  circum- 
■t&:ice8  in  which  pcracns  are  placed  i.i  the  convulsions  cf  civil 
i2i«cord,  we  need  r.ot  l>e  surprised  at  inconsistencies,  real  or 
tpparent,  in  the  conduct  of  men  v;hn.«e  character  in  the  onli- 
ntry  course  of  affaii's  had  bsen  nn.'i-ipeachable.  Many  actors 
in  such  scenes  stand  in  need  of  the  liberal  treatment  which 
Cr::.inv,ell  receives  at  the  hand  of  the  celebrated  Edmund  Burke. 
"Cromwell,''  says  he,  •'  was  a  n:cri  in  whom  ambition  had  not 
wiioHy  suppressed,  but  only  susjiended  the  sentiments  of  reli- 
(iou,  and  the  love,  as  far  as  it  could  consist  with  bis  designs. 


getting  to  London,  who  generously  offered  to  conduct 
my  Lord  Argyle  safely  thither  ;  which  he  did,  bring- 
ing him  first  to  Battersea,  four  miles  above  London,  to 
Mr.  Smith's  a  sugar-baker's  house,  whose  lady  was  a 
very  pious,  wise,  and  generous  gentlewoman.  They 
were  rich,  and  had  no  children.  The  servants  sent  to 
Nottingham  were  ordered  for  London,  to  a  place  were 
they  should  stay  till  further  orders.  Madam  Smith 
being  informed  who  Mr.  Hope  was,  concealed  it  from 
her  husband  and  all  others ;  and  he  passed  for  an  ordi- 
nary Scots  gentleman. 

Within  a  day  or  tv/o  she  sends  down  a  note  to  Ma*' 
jor  Holmes,  one  of  her  great  trustees  in  the  city,  to 
provide  two  chambers  at  a  good  distance  from  one 
another,  where  two  friends  of  hers  might  be  quiet  and 


of  fair  and  honouruhle  reputation.  The  couiitrj-  was  nearly  as 
well  in  his  hands  a:-  iii  those  of  Charles  II.  and  in  some  points 
much  better.  The  tiws  in  general  had  their  course,  and  were 
admirably  administered."   (Works,  vi.  14,  15,  edit.  1809.) 

Thomas  Blood  had  fought,  during  the  civil  war,  under  the 
stand.Ti'd  of  Charles  I.  After  the  ruin  of  the  royal  cause,  falling 
in,  on  his  way  to  Ireland,  his  native  countrj',  with  some  of  the 
presbj  terian  ministers  in  Lancashire,  who  were  then  writing 
against  the  violence  which  the  sectarian  army  had  done  to  the 
king  and  parliament,  I.e  became  a  convert  to  their  views.  He 
lived  in  Ireland  quietiv,  end  perforriied  the  duty  of  a  justice  of 
peace  with  g-reat  opprcbation,  till  the  Restoration,  when  the 
government  having  forfeited  th(;  plcd^^e  which  it  gave  in  the 
declaration  ftom  Brsda,  he  took  an  active  part  in  a  conspiracy, 
formed  by  some  t.je.!.jbt:rs  of  parliaDieut,  and  others,  who  had 
been  deprived  of  tiicir  lands.  (See  their  Declaration  in  the 
Appendix.)  On  the  discovery  cf  this  plot,  he  made  his  escape 
to  England,  where  sic  contrived  to  live  unknown  as  a  medical 
practitioner,  under  the  assumed  names  of  Dr.  Allan,  Dr.  Clarke, 
&c.     When  he  was  in  this  situation,  his  daring  resolution  was 


Ormond,  ii.  421.)  In  December,  1670,  he  seized  the  Duke  of 
Ormo-.id,  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland,  at  Haymarket,  and  at- 
tempted to  carry  hiir.  off.  In  the  fellowing  year,  he  made  an 
attempt  to  carry  off  the  noton  from  the  tower  of  London,  and 
it  is  thought,  woal.i  have  cucceeded,  had  he  not  spared  the 
keeper's  life.  Butt/hat  is  £till  more  strange,  after  this  treason- 
able act,  he  v/as  admitte^'  to  au  interview  with  Charles  II.,  par- 
doned, and  allowed  to  appef  publicly  at  court,  even  in  the 
presfi.nce  of  I'rmjid.  Y  ritsrs  have  been  exceedingly  puz- 
zled in  atterxiptiaj  to  r.cc">r.r,t  for  this  favourp.ble  'reatme.il.  In 
1680,  he  was  tcca;pd  of  a  co.ispiracy  against  the  Duke  of 
Buckingham,  b/'t  wtiiic  he  ivas  preparing  for  his  trial,  he  sick- 
ened and  died.  The  .e.-ro- v  .jicii  ne  hao  inspired  did  not  cease 
with  his  life;  hi^  ju*-:.  1  '.'..s  'octcd  on  «3  a  triok;  the  body  was 
disintErreJ.r.td,  Rfta."  a  strict  ix>rj;'nuuon, -yasat  last  identified 
as  his,  by  the  u'.cciP'  xor.  r'-c  c^'hiipf' th  ;• -b.  (See  Biog.Brit. 
2J  edit.  ?.rt.  .P?o./v,  7'here  al-ro't  ■'.■or,'  diing  written  about 
him  is  ccllectjd.;  ?;u.<ter  ippov.;"3  lo  h?.7S  entertained,  upor. 
the  who!e,  a  favoL.aole  -^pl^ion  oi"bIs  clioracter.  (Life,  part  iii. 
p.  38.)  Crtrc?  t.Tclaircs  fegainst  bis  '' ina*chl3ss  impudence,  ir. 
pr-.^tendmt-  to  ;;odii.  cij  and  tenderness  of  conscience."  (Life  of 
Ormond,  li.  •^3  )  'i'veiyn,  who  dined  'vith  him  in  the  Lord 
Treiisurer's  aior.g,  wi  li  se'-ji-al  i'rcrr'u  rob'emen,  after  his  at- 
ten;pc  on  the  cov"™.,  ."'"y")  •!'  '  ht.r  v.c<t  cr'y  a  daring,  but  a 
v:l!.-»ino'.i3,  vim  ere'"':'  Vtk, :  fa'se  ;v  »:r.to-,'ince,  but  very  wel'- 
spcken,  antldr.T.g^rojrly  ia  r'-.^ir^;"  IV!emr:rs,  i.  413.)  But 
Evelyn  was  f.  bcter  viit-rso  tzt.\  :^-d<r:  of  character.  Blood 
was  of  a  restlecu  'lisro-iticT",  a-.d  doj:  •...i  '.i  courage;  but  it  Iz 
not  so  evident  teat  1:9  \i't  C;.Tifcl.  nenV  c-z.  cr  a'together  de- 
void of  a  sense  of  reii^":.- :.. 

From  the  following  2xu^:t  cf  t.  'e'li:?  i-?:ii  Lord  Arlington 
to  the  Duke  of  Ormond.  Aug.  IS,  Tjfif,  i'.  eppears  that  Blood 
was  an  author:  "  I  am  assured  frotj  e;ve.a*  hands,  that  Blood 
alias  Mene  Teksl,  so  called  f;-oi.'i  the  vi:!i-i..o-i8  book  he  wrote 
with  that  title,  and  soine  {evr  o'.Iiers  oi'ths  ztr:c  principles,  are 
lately  gone  into  tns-t  kingdom  (Irelana)  ho,vt..Sf  to  work  effec- 
tually their  wicked  enoa  -.ipc".'  '.ho  c/itJ  xiiitia  especially." 
(Brown's  Misccll.  Auiica,  p.  i\4-.')  In  u>e  '•>  Icwinjf  lines  of  the 
satirical  Marvell,  "  Upon  Blood's  stealing  the.  Crown,"  the  wit 
turns  on  the  circumstaiice  of  bis  having  gnined  admission  to  the 
Tower  in  a  clerical  gsrb. 

"When  daring  B'.cod,  ifiis  rent  to  havs  r^gaiu'd, 
Upon  the  Englisli  diadem  diVrain'd, 
He  chose  the  cassock,  circingle,  and  gcwn. 
The  fittest  mask  for  one  that  robs  the  crown* 
But  his  lay-pity  underneath  prevsil'd. 
And  whilst  ne  sav"d  the  keeper's  life,  he  faii'd 
With  the  priest's  vost:.ient  had  hi  but  p-i>  o.>i 
The  prelate's  c-ucl*y,  the  crown  r.ad  gene." 

(IV!ailvzu.'8  WbrJu,  iii.  237.) 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


463 


retired  for  a  while ;  and  when  he  sent  her  word  they 
were  ready,  she  sent  them  to  the  Major's  lodgings  in 
the  night  time.  None  of  them  knew  the  Major,  but 
they  being  set  in  an  outer  room  to  wait  for  his  coming 
down,  whenever  the  Major  came  into  the  room  he  knew 
Argyie,  and  getting  him  in  his  arms,  said,  "  My  dear 
Lord  Argyie,  you  are  most  welcome  to  me."  At 
which  my  lord  seemed  to  be  concerned,  and  said, 
"  Pray,  Sir,  where  did  you  know  me  V  "  My  lord," 
says  he,  "  I  knew  you  since  that  day  that  I  took  you 
prisoner  in  the  Highlands,  when  you  were  Lord  Lorn, 
and  brought  you  to  the  Castle  of  Edinburgh.*  But  now 
we  are  on  one  side,  and  I  will  venture  all  that  is  dear 
to  me  to  save  you  :"  And  so  sent  each  of  them  to  their 
several  chambers,  where  they  lurked  a  considerable 
while. 

None  knew  Mr.  Hope's  lodgings  but  Major  Holmes 
and  Mr.  Veitch.  After  some  days,  Mr.  Veitch  being 
acquainted  with  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  went  to  pay 
him  a  visit.  When  he  saw  him,  he  took  him  into  his 
bed-chamber,  and  sitting  down  together,  he  asked  him, 
what  was  become  of  my  Lord  Argyie.  He  replied, 
"  How  should  I  know  any  thing  of  that,  my  lord]" 
Says  he,  "  I  no  sooner  saw  your  face,  but  I  was  per- 
suaded you  had  brought  him  to  the  city.  For  when  I 
heard  of  his  escape,  and  considered  with  myself  he 
could  not  be  so  safe  any  where  as  in  London,  ilwas  cast 
in  my  mind  that  you  were  the  person  that  could  safeliest 
conduct  him  thither."  Upon  which  Mr.  Vei'.ch  told  liim 
that  he  was  in  town,  but  his  Lordship  behoved  to  keep 
it  secret ;  which  he  promised  to  do,  at:d  said  he  would 
serve  him  to  his  power. 

After  the  hurry  about  his  escape  was  over.  Madam 
Smith  brought  out  Mr.  Hope  and  Mr.  "Veitch  with 
him,  to  stay  at  their  new  house  at  Brentford,  seven 
miles  off  the  city  ;  and  not  long  after,  several  nobility, 
gentry,  and  rich  merchants,  some  ia  the  city  of  Lon- 
don, and  some  elsewhere,  began  to  meet  secretly,  to  see 
if  they  could  fall  upon  any  measures  to  prevent  these 
nations,  and  the  church  of  Christ  therein,  from  sinking 
into  popery  and  slavery,  but  all  to  little  purpose,  for 
it  ended  in  that  discovery  that  they  called  Monmouth's 
plot;-)-  when  several  gentlemen  of  Scotland,  and  Mr. 
William  Carslairs,  were  taken  in  London,  and  brought 
down  to  Edinburgh  prisoners;  sorae  of  tbera  put  to 
torture,  and  the  great,  learned  and  pious  Jerviswood 
was  cruelly  put  to  death.:}: 


»  Major  Holmes  is  described  by  Sp'ac  as  "  an  Englisliraaa — 
a  Major  in  the  English  army  in  Scotland. "  (Account  ol' 'Jo.i- 
spir.  31, 110.)  Argyie,  when  Lord  Lorn,  had  distinguished  hiru- 
seif  by  appearing  in  arms  for  the  loyal  ca  .sf  >n  1!*53  and  li)&4, 
along  with  Glencairn  and  Middleton.  (Miiitarv  Mcmoi'-s  of 
the  Great  Civil  War,  p.  158,  197,  199,  215.  Edin.  182??.  Bail- 
lie's  Letters,  ii.  377,  382,  394.)  On  thvs  so-oanthe  was  favour- 
ably received  at  court  on  the  Restora<-ion ;  and  the  sr-me  cause 
had  rendered  him  an  object  of  jsalo'.sy  ic  CroHiweH'a  cincers. 
and  caused  his  being  imprisonea  on  every  acv?  occasion.  (Bur- 
net, i.  106.)  It  would  appear,  that  r,-n  some  of  these  occisions. 
Kolmes  had  coiiinianded  the  .larty  that  ppprehended  hi:n. 
When  Argyie,  in  the  end  of  1382,  escaped  to  HolUnd,  hie  cor- 
respondence with  his  friends  a*  heme  pitied  thi-ough  the  M<\- 
jor's  hands,  who  being  apprehend  ad  araopg  the  Arst,  and  exam- 
ined, 29th  June  1683,  some  letters  in  cyphers  were  found  with 
him,  which  involved  Mr.  Wil'iani  Spence,  and  eventualiy  Mr. 
William  Carstairs,  and  occasioned  thsi.-  being  toitured.  He  is 
mentioned  by  bolti  in  their  depositions.  Carstairs  had  been 
previously  acquainted  with  him,  and  in  o.^e  of  the  !ast  letters 
which  he  ever  wrote,  caTn  hiu;  "honest  and  worthy  Major 
Holmes."  (Sprat's  AccouEt.  p.  ill.  Copies  of  Inform,  p.  172, 
Act.  Pari.  Scot.  viii.  App.  35.  Wod.  ii.387,  ?.88.) 

t  More  commonly  called  the  Ky^-house  Plot. 

X  For  Baillie  of  Jo'viswocd'c  '.rial,  sec  Wodrov/,ii.379,  387, 
450.  The  depositions  taken  l.T  Scotland  in  relation  to  the 
Rye-house  plot,  furnish  U.-i  kiiowing  particulars  respecting 
IVfr.  Veitch  during  ihe  t'.Tie  he  wa?  in  London. — "  Veatche 
stayed  sometimes  at  iV',-ols:-.>  sta'jiers  hous  at  London  iiall; 
sometimes  with  one  Widov/  I-Tardcdstle  in  Morljclds."  A  let- 
ter having  come  fron)  A  rg;'?  'c  Major  Holnies,  intimating  that 
he  would  join  with  Monmouth  acd  follow  his  directions,  "  this 
Mr.  Veatch  thought  fitf  lo  communicate"  to  tiie  Du'Ke  of 
Monraoutti,  and  obtained  from  Carstairs  the  key  of  the  cypher, 
that  he  might  hand  it  with  the  letter  to  Ferguson,  for  the  pur- 


Mr.  Hope  kept  himself  retired  still  from  all  these 
meetings,  yet  he  knew  their  measures,  and  they  want- 
ed not  his  advice  ;  for  he  made  himself  known  to  none 
of  these  great  persons  at  London  by  personal  con- 
verse,* except  only  to  Sir  Arthur  Forbes,  the  Earl  of 
Granard,  and  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland,  with  whom 
formerly  he  had  a  peculiar  intimacy  and  friendship. 

The  Earl  of  Granard  coming  to  London,  and  find- 
ing that  Argyie  was  lurking  in  it,  used  all  means  to 
see  him  ;  and  finding  out  his  son,  the  Lord  Lorn,  in 
the  city,  intreated  him  to  do  him  the  favour  to  bring 
them  together.  He  replied,  "  It  was  the  thing  he 
could  not  do  himself,  for  he  was  as  ignorant  of  his 
lodging  as  his  lordship,  but  he  would  speak  to  the 
gentleman  that  brings  him  and  his  father  together,  and 
see  what  could  be  done."  At  length  Mr.  Veitch  be- 
ing spoken  to,  and  telling  Mr.  Hope  the  matter,  he 
was  as  desirous  to  meet  with  Granard  as  he  was  with 
him.  Upon  which  my  lord  Lorn,  and  Mr.  Veitch,  un- 
der the  name  of  Captain  Forbes,  resolved  they  should 
meet  and  dine  together  at  the  Dolphin  in  Lombard 
Street,  being  the  ordinary  place  where  his  father  and 
he  used  to  meet.  There  they  spent  several  hours  to- 
gether, discoursing  upon  the  times,  and  what  they 
thought  proper  for  them  to  do  to  prevent  the  evils  that 
tlireatened  both  church  and  state.  So  much  for  the 
first  meeting. 

They  had  only  one  other  congress  at  the  same  place, 
though,  in  the  interim.  Captain  Forbes  went  hatwixt 
them  with  several  messages,  and  vs^as  much  caressed 
by  the  Earl  of  Granard  to  go  along  with  him  to  Ire- 
land, and  he  would  prefer  him  to  as  profitable  and  hon- 
ourable a  post  as  possible,  for  which  the  captain  heart- 
ily thanked  his  Lordship,  but  told  him  that  in  good 
manners  he  could  not  leave  the  Earl  of  Argyie. 

At  the  second  and  last  congress,  which  they  had  at 
the  same  place,  they  concluded  to  join  with  the  Duke 
of  Monmouth,  and  the  honest  nobility,  gentry,  and 
commons  of  England,  that  should  appear  for  the  pro- 
testant  interest,  &c.  Argyie  heading  the  same  in  Scot- 
land ;  and  the  Earl  of  Granard  in  Ireland  ;  and  that  he 
shonld,  whenever  Argyie  appeared  in  the  west  of  Scot- 
land, send  over  out  of  Ireland  five  thousand  trained  sol- 
diers to  assist  Argyie.  Upon  which  Mr.  Forbes  did 
see  the  two  Earls  pass  their  parole,  and  change  their 
walking  canes  upon  that  head.  But  when  the  time 
came,  nothing  of  this  was  performed,  and  what  was 
the  obstruction  he  knows  not.-j- 


pose  of  showing  it  to  the  Duke.  Veitch  was  also  at  more  than 
one  meeting  with  his  countrymen,  some  of  whom  came  to 
London  in  the  beginning  of  April,  and  others  only  at  the  be- 
ginning of  May  1683.     (Act.  Pari.  Scot.  viii.  App.  p.  34,  36.} 

*  Ses  Gordon  of  Earlston's  relation,  in  Sprat's  Copies  of  In- 
formations relating  to  the  Conspiracy,  p.  145. 

t  Arthur  Foi-bes,  Earl  of  Granard,  was  the  son  of  Arthur 
Forbes  of  Castle  Forbes,  who,  after  bearing  arms  on  the  conti- 
nent, settled  in  Ireland,  was  created  a  baronet  in  1628,  and 
died  in  1632.  Sir  Arthur  was  the  4th  son  of  William  Forbes 
of  Corse  and  Oneil,and  brother  of  Patrick,  bishop  of  Aberdeen, 
and  John,  minister  of  Alford,  who  was  banished  to  Holland  for 
assisting  at  the  Genftral  Assembly  held  in  Aberdeen  in  1605. 
(Douglas's  Baronage  of  Scotland,  p.  76.  Lodge's  Peerage  of 
Iri!and,  i.  p.  378,  379.  Life  of  Andrew  Melville,  ii.  292.  2d 
edit.)  His  son  was  active  in  transporting  troops  from  Ireland 
to  Scotland  in  1648,  to  join  the  Duke  of  Hamilton  in  his  expe- 
dition to  England.  (Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vii.  App.  97.)  He  com- 
manded a  party  of  horse  under  Glencairn  and  Middleton  in  the 
Highlands  of  Scotland,  when  they  appeared  for  Charles  II.  in 
the  years  1653  and  1654,  and  distinguished  himself  in  several 
encounters  with  the  English.  Being  t:.ken  prisoner  ai.d  con- 
6ned  in  the  Castle  of  Edinburgh,  the  Earl  of  Argyie,  then  Lord 
Lorn,  ai  the  time  of  his  capitulation,  exerted  himself  in  procur- 
ing hi.:  liberation  "  for  furthering  his  Majesty's  service,  'nd  for 
personal  respect  to  Sir  Arthur."  (Supplemeni  to  Diet,  of  Dec. 
vol.  ii.  687,  688.  Wodrow,  ii.  App.  p.  65.  Bailiie's  Letters, 
ii.  377,  382,  394.  Lodge,  i.  37S,  380.  Military  Memoirs  of 
the  Civil  War,  p.  161.  et  passim.)  In  February,  1660,  he  was 
sent  lo  Brussels  hy  Sir  Charles  Coote  (afterwirds  Eari  of  Mon- 
trath)  "to  assa.-e  the  Kin«^  of  his  duty,  and  to  give  him  an  ac- 
count of  the  state  of  the  kmgdom."  (Carte's  Onnond,  ii.  £03. 
Erown'.s  Miscellanea  Aulica,  p.  S34.)  His  bytity  csjccd  him 
to  be  employed  and  advanced  af'.er  the  Restoration,     In  1663, 


454 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


My  Lord  Argyle  upon  the  prospect  of  the  dis- 
covery went  to  Holland ;  *  and  Madam  Smith,  who 
had  a  hand  in  that,  also  persuaded  her  husband  to  go 
to  Holland,  and  dwell  there,  from  other  motives ;  for 
he  knew  not  that  she  had  a  hand  in  that  plot :  and  then 
Argyle  and  they  lived  at  Utrecht  together.  Mr.  Veitch 
came  from  London  down  to  the  North  to  see  his  fam- 
ily and  friends  about  fourteen  days  before  it  broke  out,-)- 
and  so  escaped  being  taken  with  the  Scotch  gentry ; 
and  after  he  had  wearied  himself  in  hiding,  sometimes 
in  one  place,  and  sometimes  another,  he  was  necessi- 
tated to  steal  over  to  Holland.  His  brother  Mr.  James 
and  his  wife  being  banished  by  the  Duke  of  York,  and 
coming  to  his  house  at  Stantonhall,  being  afraid  to 
stay  there,  went  along  with  him.:|: 

Mr.  Veitch  met  there  with  his  old  friends,  Mon- 
mouth, Argyle,  Earl  of  Melvil,  Lord  Polwart,  Tor- 
woodlee,  James  Stewart,  and  many  others,  who  did, 
by  the  instigation  of  friends  from  both  nations,  not 
only  before  but  especially  after  the  death  of  King 
Charles,  contrive  Monmouth's  coming  to  England, 
and  Argyle's  to  Scotland,  to  oppose  King  Jaiiiea's  car- 
rying on  his  malicious  designs  of  bringing  the  nations 
back  again  to  the  see  of  Rome.  Both  of  them  had 
great  promises  sent  them  of  assistance,  but  it  turned  lo 


he  was  sworn  in  a  member  of  the  Privy  Council;  in  1670,  mr.de 
Marshal  of  the  army;  in  1675,  Viscount  Granard;  and  in  1664, 
Earl  of  Granard.  (Lodge,  i.  381,  382.)  Veitch  is  mistaken  in 
calling  him  Loid  Lieutenant  of  fieland:  he  never  held  that  of- 
fice, but  he  was  on  several  occasions  one  of  the  two  Lords  Jus- 
tices. (Lodge,  ut  A-^ffa.)  Though  loyal,  he  was  decidedly 
attached  to  the  protestant  religion,  and  favourable  to  the  ores- 
byterian  ministers  in  the  North  of  Ireland.  It  was  through  his 
influence  that  Charles  II.  granted  them  a  sum  of  L.600anniially, 
which  was  intrusted  to  Granard,  and  doubled  at  the  Revolu- 
tion. (Memoirs  of  Ireland,  p.  39,  40.  Hist.  Essay  on  the 
Loyalty  of  Presbyterians,  p.  383—385.  Wodrow,  i.  270.)  in 
the  project  of  the  Whig  Council  of  1679,  he  was  one  of  three 
lords  supposed  lo  be  firm  protestants,  from  whom  it  was  pro- 
posed to  choose  the  Chief  Governor  of  Ireland.  (Carte's  Or- 
mond,  p.  494,  495.)  The  author  of  the  Memoirs  of  Ireland 
says,  that  on  the  Duke  of  Monmouth's  invasion,  some  were  apt 
to  believe  that  Granard  was  in  suspence  whom  to  declare  for, 
but  "the  unalterable  steadiness"  of  the  Lord  Primate  Boyle, 
who  was  one  of  the  Lords  Justices,  "  hindered  the  other  from 
deserting."  Hume  says,  that  at  that  time  "  the  whole  power 
was  in  the  hands  of  Talbot,  the  general,  soon  after  created 
Earl  of  Tj'rconnel."  (Hist.  vol.  ix.  254.  Lond.  1811.)  Gates  ha*! 
marked  Talbot  for  this  employment,  whence  it  came  to  be  ob- 
served, "that  if  Gates  was  an  ill  evidence,  he  was  certain!/  a 
good  prophet"  (Rennet's  Memorial,  p.  313.)  At  the  Revolu- 
tion the  Earl  of  Granard  adhered  to  James,  and  sat  in  his  Privy 
Council  and  Parliament  in  1689;  but  becoming  satisfied  of  the 
duplicity  of  that  Monarch  and  his  intentions  to  establish  popery, 
he  left  him  and  went  over  to  William  in  1690.  (Plowden's 
Hist,  of  Ireland,  i.  182, 189.  Memoirs  of  Ireland,  p.  39.  Ladv 
Russel's  Letters,  p.  214.     Rawdon  Papers,  326,  327.) 

*  "  Lord  Argyle,  in  September  1682,  was  pursued  at  Lon- 
don, where  he  was  on  his  hiding,  aiid  did  escape."  (Law's  Ma- 
morials,  p.  236.)  From  Carstair's  deposition,  (Act.  Pari.  Scot. 
viii.  App.  p.  34,  35.)  and  Gordon  of  Earlston's,  (Sprat's  Copiea 
of  Informations,  p.  142.)  it  would  appear  that  Argyle  was  in 
Holland  in  or  about  December  1682. 

+  The  first  information  of  the  plot  was  given  by  Kealing  on 
"the  happy  twelfth  of  June,"  1683,  says  Sprat;  and  tlie  con- 
spirators met  "  on  Monday  June  18th,  at  Walcot's  Lodging?,  ir. 
Goodman's  Fields,  to  consult,  once  for  all,  what  should  be  do  .c 
for  their  common  safety."  (Acco.  of  the  Conspiracy,  p.  89,  81. 
Copies  of  Informations,  p.  1.)  The  discovery  was  announced  on 
the  21st  of  June.  (Wodrow,  ii.330.) 

X  See  before,  p.  428. — The  following  extract  relates  to  a  period 
soon  after  Veitch  went  to  London  with  Argyle. — "  My  husbnnd 
some  weeks  after  sent  me  word  what  proffers  he  had  for  Caro- 
lina, and  he  thought  I  might  n)ake  for  going  thither;  which 
bred  u  neiv  exercise  to  me.  I  thought  in  my  old  days  I  *"ould 
have  no  heart  for  such  a  voyage  and  leave  these  covenanted 
lands,  but  at  length  I  got  submission  to  my  God,  and  whg  con- 
tent if  he  had  more  service  for  me  and  mme  in  another  land." 
(Mrs.  Veitth's  Mem.  MS.  p.  S.)  Sprat  represents  the  scheme  of 
a  plantation  in  Carolina,  by  Sir  John  Cochrane  and  his  as.soci- 
•tes,  as  a  mere  disguise,  under  which  thfy  met  to  cany  on 
their  consp'rar^'  aganist  the  government.  (Acco,  of  the  Conspi- 
rtcv,  p.  34,  87.)  The  extract  from  Mrs.  Veitch's  Memoirs  is  an 
adJition  to  the  evidence  in  support  of  the  reality  of  the  scheme 
produced  by  Wod.-ow,  (ii.  23C.)  Riid  fui-nished  by  ihc  deposi- 
tion of  ConiMis5?.ry  Monro.  (Act.  Pari.  Scot.  viii.  App.  p.  33.) 


nothing,  as  the  public  history  tells.  And  no  wonder,  for 
the  one  part  kept  not  their  promises,  and  the  other  par- 
ties followed  not  the  measures  contrived  and  concerted 
at  Amsterdam ;  to  which  meeting  Mr.  Veitch,  with 
much  persuasion,  brought  old  President  Stairs  :  and  it 
cost  him  giving  in  bond  for  iBiOOO  sterling  to  Madam 
Smith,  who  lent  out  £6000  or  £7000  more,  her  hus- 
band being  now  dead,  to  my  Lord  Argyle  and  others, 
for  the  better  carrying  on  that  enterprise.  Monmouth 
sent  several  of  his  friends  incognito  to  several  places 
in  England  to  warn  them  to  make  them  ready;  and 
Argyle  sent  Torwoodlee  to  Murrayland  to  prepare 
them,  and  Mr.  Veitch  to  Northumberland  and  the 
Scotch  borders  to  give  them  notice.  He  had  also  a 
verbal  commission,  and  a  token  for  showing  the  verity 
of  his  commission  from  my  Lord  Gray  to  his  chief 
steward  in  Northumberland,  to  instigate  him  to  raise 
what  forces  of  horse  and  foot  he  could  upon  his 
charges,  that  they  might  be  ready  to  appear  when  they 
heard  of  Monmouth's  landing  in  the  South.  Mr. 
Veitch  also  had  a  verbal  commission  from  Argyle  to 
procure  money  for  buying  of  arms,  colours,  drums, 
horses,  and  taking  on  men,  especially  old  Oliverian 
officers ;  somewhat  of  all  which  he  did,  and  through 
his  too  much  travelling  through  the  country,  and  the 
zeal  of  scverals  in  many  places  to  rise,  the  matter  was 
like  to  take  wind,  so  that  he  was  forced  to  retire  up  to 
•  the  mountains  in  the  borders  near  Reidsd ale-head,  and 
hide  himeelf  from  his  very  friends,  until  the  season  of 
appearing  cam-?.  For  Colonel  Strother  in  the  English 
side  getting  some  notice  of  him,  sent  an  express  to  the 
Scotch  council  hereanent ;  and  they  sent  an  express  to 
the  Earl  of  Lothian  who  commanded  the  militia  in  Ti- 
viotdals,  and  io  Meldrum  whose  troop  was  lying  there, 
to  join  with  Strother  in  searching  the  suspected  places 
of  the  border  to  find  him,  which  they  did.  They  come 
upon  a  hill  called  the  Carter,  where  Mr.  Veitch  was 
lying  in  a  hut  among  the  rocks  covered  with  heather- 
turfs  as  if  they  had  been  growing,  which  honest  Mr. 
ThorrrdS  Steel  had  made  up  for  himself,  when  he  was 
fovceJ  to  flee  upon  Aaron  Smith's  coming  from  Lon- 
don upon  that  eiiand  ;*  which  place  he  assigned  unto 
him,  and  he  was  lying  in  it  when  these  great  persons 
were  riding  along  that  hill  on  every  side  of  him  ;  for 
no  horse  could  ciune  where  he  was.  He  was  only 
afraid  of  their  do^s,  but  providence  ordered  it  well ; 
for  they  missed  their  mark. 

The  nev^B  coming  that  Argyle  was  landed  in  the 
Highlands,  he  knew  not  how  to  get  the  truth  of  it,  but 
aent  one  right  .fbr  Mr.  Steel,  by  honest  Sanders  Ste- 
venson, his  rran,  who  came  every  night  with  milk,  and 
bread,  and  cheece^  to  him.  And  they  advising  toge- 
ther how  to  ge*;  sure  notice,  thought  it  necessary  to 
send  one  to  Edinbur;jh,  to  a  trusty  friend  there,  to  see 
if  he  coaid  procure  Xifo  printed  passes,  for  at  that  time 


*  Thomas  Stci!  was  Chamberlain  of  Jedburgh  Forest  to 
Js-ries,  Marquis  of  Douglas.  About  the  middle  of  February 
168f<,  AaroTi  Smith  being  sent  from  the  English  Whigs  to  Sir 
John  Cochr.in,  end  other  frisndsin  Scotland,  came,  the  Thursday 
before  Sh-ovs  Tuesday,  to  Newctst'.e,  vyhere  Sheriff',  the  inn- 
keepsrwith  whom  he  lodged,  obtained  one  Bell  to  be  hisguide  to 
Jedbu."g"i»,  io  Steil  who  vjm  his  '^Sliririfl^'s)  acquaintance.  From 
Jedbi'rgh  he  tvus  conducted  to  Douglas  by  Andrew  Olipher, 
who  was  previously  engcgad,  j.nd  now  on  his  way  to  bring 
horje  Steil's  vrife  fr.jm  ths  latt'.r  piace.  Smith  not  finding  a 
guide  there,  Mrs.  Steil  permi-jved  Oiipher  to  go  forward  with 
nim  to  Or.hillric,  v/here  h3  left  h'.ii.  He  passed  by  the  name 
of  Samuel  Clerk,  £.nd  said  that  'liwas  on  the  Carolina  business. 
(Sprat's  Account,  T'PS,  184,  i«^';  Copies  of  Informations,  154, 
155,  153.)  On  the  Jisoovery  of  thi  plot,  and  trial  of  those  ac- 
cused, Steil  appecrs  ic  have  beccrcs  alarmed,  and  provided  the 
hut  above  mentioned  iov  his  concealment.  Being  at  length 
apprehended,  he,  with  Andrew  Olipher,  was,  on  the  11th  of 
December  1682,  examined  by  thi  coiik'r.'.'.tee  for  public  aflTairs. 
On  the  20th  of  that  month,  on  t.ic  peiiiion  of  the  Marquis  as- 
serting Steil's  innocence,  r.ni  u'girg  the  injury  his  Lorship's 
affairs  would  suffer  by  his  dettr.ti«:i,  the  Ccu.icil  liberated  him, 
on  a  bond  that  hs  should  compear,  and  not  leave  the  kingdom 
without  licence,  under  a  penalty  cf  two  thousand  merki.  (Privy 
Council  Records.) 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


455 


none  could  travel  without  thenrj ;  and  filled  up  the 
names  of  two  persons  that  he  sent  west,  one  toward 
Dumbarton,  and  another  toward  Irvine,  to  bring  him 
a  true  account,  which  one  of  them  did  ;  but  it  was  a 
sad  account,  viz.  that  Argyle  and  his  party  were  broken 
at  Muirdykes,  and  he  himself  taken  near  Paisley, 
which  occasioned  no  small  sorrow  to  Mr.  Steel  and 
Mr.  Veitch,  and  to  all  their  other  friends,  for  they  con- 
cluded now  their  case  to  be  hopeless  and  helpless, 
there  being  no  other  mean  in  outward  appearance  now 
left;  and,  (which  put  on  the  copestone  of  all,)  within 
a  few  days  after,  the  news  of  Monmouth's  being 
broken  came  down  to  Newcastle  by  post,  and  peremp- 
tory and  strict  orders  to  search  for  all  suspected  per- 
sons, and  to  apprehend  and  strictly  examine  all  tra- 
vellers by  sea  and  land. 

After  the  Earl  of  Argyle  was  apprehended  at  Pais- 
ley, he  was  carried  to  Edinburgh,  and  executed  upon 
the  old  sentence,  without  any  respect  had  to  this  inva- 
sion.* He  was  a  person  of  great  wit  and  policy,  and 
true  piety,  so  far  as  ever  Mr.  Veitch  could  discern, 
who  was  in  his  company  from  the  time  he  carried  him 
from  his  own  house  (being  recommended  to  his  care 
by  the  laird  of  Torwoodlee,  who  sent  him  to  his  house 
with  his  own  servant  and  horses)  until  he  sent  him 
from  Amsterdam,  some  weeks  before  he  took  shipping 
there  for  Scotland.  For,  as  he  hath  formerly  hinted, 
he  bought  horses  at  his  own  charge  to  carry  Argyle 
and  his  servants  to  London  ;  and  furnished  him  mo- 
ney both  by  the  way  and  afterward.  When  his  son 
Charles,  and  black  John  Campbell  came  to  London, 
having  lost  a  little  ship  that  was  laden  by  sea,  called 
the  Anne  of  Argyle,  they  had  nothing  either  to  main- 
tain them  while  they  staid  in  the  city  or  carry  them 
home,  but  as  Mr.  Veitch  gave  them.  Also  when  the 
Earl  of  Shaftesbury  was  necessitated  to  flee  for  Hol- 
land,! ^^  ^^^^  Mr.  Ferguson  to  fetch  Mr.  Veitch  to 
him,  and  was  earnestly  solicitous  that  he  should  make 
himself  ready  against  to-morrow's  night  to  go  along 
with  him,  and  he  would  sufficiently  recompense  him 
for  his  pains.  But  my  lord  Argyle  would  by  no  means 
part  with  him,  which  made  him  beg  my  lord  Shaftes- 
bury's excuse,  who  was  not  well  pleased.  And  it  was 
a  considerable  loss  to  Mr.  Veitch,  for  he  that  went 
with  him  in  his  room,  besides  all  other  things,  got  a 
hundred  guineas  for  a  few  months  service  abroad,  where 
he  died.  Likewise,  he  was  at  a  loss  by  his  absence 
from  his  people,  and  his  meeting  house  being  supplied 
by  another  in  his  room,  who  got  the  salary.  And  Ar- 
gyle and  the  other  Scotch  gentry  employed  him  to 
ride  seven  times  between  London  and  the  borders  of 
Scotland  in  nine  months  time,  and  he  had  nothing  for 
it  but  seven  pounds  sterling,  and  spent  other  seven 
pounds  of  my  own.:}: 

He  would  have  him  also  to  get  straight  to  Holland 
with  him,  and  his  trunk  was  sent  with  my  lord's  down 

*  He  was  executed  on  the  30th  of  June  1686.  (Wodrow,  ii. 
541.) 

+  *'  The  Earl  not  long  after  chose  to  withdraw  himself  from 
further  attacks  by  a  retreat  into  Holland,  where  he  arrived  in 
November  1682.  For  security  he  applied  to  be  made  a  burglier 
of  Amsterdam,  on  which  occasion  it  is  said,  that  his  delenda  est 
Carthago  was  brought  to  his  recollection.  He  died  in  that 
city  of  the  gout  in  his  stomach,  on  January  22,  1683,  in  the 
•ixty-second  year  of  his  age."  A  MS.  of  his  on  Toleration  i« 
said  to  be  the  basis  of  his  friend  Locke's  Essay  on  that  subject. 
(General  Biography,  article  Cooper,  A.  Ashley.)  Sprat  says, 
Shaftesbury  went  down  the  river  on  the  19th  of  November. 
(Account  of  the  Conspiracy,  p.  49.) 

J  "  Jerveswood  desired  me  some  tyme  last  winter,  cr  the  be- 
ginning of  the  spring  [1683,  1684]  to  acquent  Torwoodlie,  that 
Mr.  William  Vetch  in  Northumberland  was  too  openly  up  and 
down,  and  desired  that  Torwoodly  might  acquent  him  soe  much, 
that  he  keep  himself  more  privat,  else  they  might  get  a  hite  of 
him,  for  he  heard  or  feared  some  designed"  it,  which  Torwoodly 
sometyme  after  told  me  he  had  immediately  done  upon  the  ad- 
vertisement." (Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vjii.  App.  37.  Tarras"?  Deposi- 
tion.) 


to  the  ship.  But  Mr.  Veitch  falling  that  night  into  an 
excessive  fit  of  a  cholic  which  kept  him  for  many 
days,  his  trunk  was  sent  back.  Yet,  as  is  formerly 
hinted,  he  followed  him  shortly  to  Holland,  after  he 
had  visited  his  family  and  friends  in  the  north ;  and 
wailing  on  him  in  that  country,  with  the  things  he 
bought  there  to  prepare  him  for  his  undertaking  for 
Scotland,  he  spent  ^50  sterling  of  his  own  money. 
And,  moreover,  as  has  been  hinted,  upon  his  desire, 
when  he  parted  from  Amsterdam  to  execute  his  com- 
mission in  Northumberland  and  the  borders,  he  gave 
him  not  one  sixpence  of  all  the  money  and  gold  he  had 
borrowed  either  to  bear  his  charges,  or  buy  the  arms, 
and  do  the  other  things  that  he  instructed  him  about, 
viz.  giving  to  some  old  Oliverian  officers  fifteen,  and 
some  twenty  guineas  a-piece,  to  engage  them  and 
fit  them  for  that  service,  some  eleven  pounds,  some 
ten,  some  four.  To  many  he  gave  pistols  and  swords, 
and  money  to  buy  furniture  of  that  nature.  He  also 
provided  colours,  a  pair  of  which  he  had  kept  till  after 
the  Revolution,  and  showed  them  to  the  Duke  of  Ar- 
gyle, his  son.  The  waiting  upon  Argyle  also,  so  long 
together,  occasioned  him  to  lose  j6l20  sterling  of  lent 
money,  with  the  interest  of  it,  to  Mr.  Horsley  of  Mill- 
burn  Grange,*  not  having  a  security  upon  his  estate 
for  it,  and  the  creditors  upon  his  death  running  away 
with  the  executry,  when  Mr.  Veitch  was  abroad ;  so 
that  all  the  money  from  the  very  horses  that  he  bought 
at  first,  and  the  other  things  narrated,  was  never  paid 
to  Mr.  Veitch,  nor  any  of  his,  to  this  day. 

Besides  all  this,  any  body  would  think  that  Mr. 
Veitch  deserved  a  considerable  reward  for  venturing 
his  life  and  fortune  over  again,  being  but  lately  reliev- 
ed out  of  that  danger,  and  leaving  his  wife  big  with 
child  within  a  few  weeks  of  her  time,  and  a  numerous 
family  to  subsist  upon  a  very  small  farm  that  there  he 
was  redacted  to,  being  exhausted  and  impoverished  by 
his  former  imprisonment  and  other  troubles,  where  his 
life  was  at  the  stake. 

But  though  these  things  were  represented  to  his 
son,  the  late  Duke  of  Argyle,  who  gave  Mr.  Veitch 
many  repeated  promises  to  reimburse  him,  and  an  ac- 
count only  of  his  real  outlayings  there  was  left  in  his 
custody  with  a  letter  subjoined,  which  no  doubt  his 
executors  found  among  his  papers,  yet  never  was  there 
any  thing  done ;  and  Mr.  Veitch  may  say  that  some 
of  his  children,  to  whom  he  had  been  very  kind,  gave 
him  frowns  and  summons  upon  false  grounds,  and  re- 
proaches behind  his  back,  instead  of  thanks. 

This  I  confess  to  the  commendation  of  the  suffering 
Earl,  that,  walking  with  him  in  Madam  Smith's  gar- 
den at  Brentford,  in  an  unexpected  discourse,  he  ac- 
knowledged to  Mr.  Veitch  his  great  kindness  in  ven- 
turing over  again  his  all  in  the  world,  yea  his  life,  to 
serve  him,  who  was  never  acquainted  with  him  for- 
merly;  and  that  he  not  only  resolved  to  give  him  a 
free  farm,  worth  about  four  hundred  merks  per  annum, 
lying  near  Campbeltown,  as  he  remembers,  disponed 
to  him  and  his  posterity  for  ever,  for  that  good  service 
he  had  done  him  ;  and  that  it  should  be  mentioned  in 
the  disposition,  that  his  posterity  might  always  show 
kindness  to  Mr.  Veitch's  posterity;  and  if  Mr.  Veitch 
had  sought  a  bond  of  him,  he,  without  doubt,  had 
given  him  it.  But  he  never  dreamed  of  such  a  thing, 
thinking  always  they  would  live  together  afterwards, 
and  the  thing  would  be  done. 

The  Duke  of  Monmouth  was  apprehended  hiding 
himself  among  long  braikers  or  ferns  in  the  field, 
shortly  after  the  defeat  of  his  army ;  and  public  his- 
tory gives  an  account  of  his  execution.  It  was  never 
heard  (after  Lauderdale  had  procured  his  being  ban- 
ished from  the  court  when  he  came  out  of  Scotland 
after  Bothwell  Bridge,  without  so  much  as  coming  to 
court,  and  going  instantly  to  Holland)  that  ever  he 


*  See  before,  p.  451. 


456 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


saw  the  king's  face,  except  once  before  his  majesty 
died  ;*  when,  being  deeply  impressed  and  troubled  in 
his  mind  anent  the  Duke  of  York  and  his  Jesuitical 
cabal's  plotting  how  to  take  the  king  off  the  stage, 
which  made  him  resolutely  and  generously  venture  to 
come  over  to  London  incognito,  he  sent  for  the  lord 
Allington,  then  governor  of  the  Tower  of  London, 
being  his  great  friend  and  favourite ;  tellinor  him,  that 
he  must  needs  go  lo  the  king  and  acquaint  him,  that 
he  is  in  town,  and  has  a  business  of  great  importance 
to  impart  to  him.  Upon  which  his  majesty  sent  him 
word  with  the  bearer  when  and  where  to  meet  him. 
The  matter  was,  that  he  was  credibly  informed  that 
there  was  a  design  laying  by  the  Duke  of  York  and 
his  cabal,  to  cut  him  off,  and  he  could  not  but  venture 
all  that  was  dearest  to  him  to  come  and  acquaint  him 
therewith.  At  which  the  King  was  a  little  struck  and 
amazed,  not  so  much  from  his  not  being  apprehensive 
of  the  thing,  as  that  it  should  have  come  the  length 
of  his  ears  when  abroad,  and  that  he  should  have 
showed  so  much  kindness  as  to  make  such  a  danger- 
ous adventure  to  inform  him.  So  that  after  they  had 
discoursed  to  the  full,  ere  they  parted,  the  king  gave 
him  as  many  jewels  out  of  his  cabinet  as  were  valued 
at  ten  thousand  pounds  sterling,  and  a  secret  order  to 
his  cashier  to  pay  to  the  lord  Allington,  for  the  use  of 
a  friend  of  his,  ten  thousand  pounds  sterling,  as  it  is 
said  :  so  he  returned  incognito  again  to  Holland. 

This  alarm  put  the  King  upon  a  more  serious  inquiry 
anent  this  matter,  and  finding  several  things  that  in- 
creased his  fears,  he  sent  one  of  his  domestic  servants 
to  the  lord  Allington  to  desire  him  to  come  at  such  an 
hour,  which  being  late  at  night,  he  thought  it  would 
be  the  most  quiet  and  unknown,  and  undiscovered. 
But  it  proved  not  so  ;  and  the  reason  that  was  fre- 
quently given  for  it  was  this,  that  the  Duke  of  York 
had  so  awed,  influenced,  and  bribed  all  that  used  about 
the  king,  even  to  the  meanest  station,  that  nothing 
could  be  done  now  by  the  king,  never  so  secretly,  but 
it  came  presently  to  York's  ears,  so  that  he  was  not 
only  able  to  carry  on  the  foresaid  design,  but  to  frus- 
trate all  opposition  thereunto. 

Now  the  king's  business  with  Allington  was  this — 
to  take  his  advice,  he  being  a  wise  man,  and  one  of 
his  greatest  confidants  at  that  time,  about  what  meas- 
ures he  should  make  use  of  to  prevent  the  Duke  of 
York  and  his  cabals  destroying  of  him  ;  for  he  saw  now 
it  was  inevitably  a-coming.  To  which  Allington  re- 
plied, "  Sir,  you  have  brought  it  upon  yourself,  by 
your  turning  out  Monmouth  out  of  all  his  places,  es- 
pecially his  command  over  the  guards  about  your  per- 
son, and  suffering  such  to  be  put  in  who  were  York's 
creatures."  "  But  what  shall  I  do  now  1"  said  the  king 
— "  Sir,"  said  he,  "  I  neither  can  nor  dare  advise  you  in 
that  matter  ;  for  if  it  be  heard,  as  likely  it  will,  it  may 
hasten  both  our  ruins."  The  king  promised  solemnly 
to  keep  it  secret,  and  would  not  part  with  him  till  he 
told  him,  and  that  he  would  presently  put  them  in  ex- 
ecution ;  and  whatever  befel  him  he  should  never  dis- 
cover or  wrong  Allington  ;  and  they  paroled   upon  it. 


*  Veitch  appears  to  have  forgotten  Monmouth's  reception  at 
court  after  the  Ryehouse  plot.  Wcllwood  expressly  says,  that 
King  Charles  "  Drought  nim  back  to  court  after  the  ferment 
(about  the  plot)  was  a  little  abated;"  and  adds,  "  All  the  time 
Monmouth  was  absconding,  and  when  there  was  a  proclamation 
out  for  apprehending  him.  King  Charles  not  only  knew  where 
be  was,  and  sent  him  messages  every  day,  but  saw  him  several 
times  in  private."  (Memoirs,  p.  166,  167.)  That  Monmouth 
had  an  interview  with  the  king  a  short  time  before  the  death 
of  the  latter,  as  stated  by  Veitch,  is  confirmed  by  the  following 
passage  in  Carte.  "Though  the  Duke  of  York  was  a  princi- 
pal means  in  bringing  his  Majesty  to  recnl  the  Duke  of  Or- 
mond,  yet,  within  a  month  after  the  king  had  notified  that  re- 
solution, the  Duke  of  Monmouth  was  sufl'ered  to  come  over 
into  England,  and  admitted  to  a  private  Interview  with  his 
Maje&ty,  who,  to  remove  his  roval  highness  from  about  him, 
determined  to  <end  him  to  hold  a  parliament  in  Scotland,  on 
March  10th  following."  (Carte's  Life  of  Ormond.  ii.  539.)  By 
comparing  this  with  p.  536-;-538,  it  appears  that  this  interview 


"  Now,"  says  he,  "  Sir,  my  advice  is  this,  that  seeing 
within  a  few  weeks  the  appointed  time  will  be  that 
the  Duke  of  York  is  obliged  to  go  to  Scotland,  to 
hold  the  next  session  of  his  parliament,  take  care  to 
give  him  his  commission,  and  send  him  timeously 
away ;  and  when  he  is  there,  send  for  Monmouth,  re- 
store him  to  all  his  places,  and  remove  from  the  court 
all  persons  that  are  suspected  to  favour  York's  inte- 
rest, as  also,  out  of  your  guards,  and  double  them. 
When  this  is  once  done,  he  being  in  Scotland,  we  will 
see  then  what  is  farther  to  be  done." 

This  proved  a  costly  advice  to  them  both,  for  no 
doubt  but  there  were  some  overhearing  behind  the  cur- 
tain, who  told  all  to  York,  as  appears  by  the  event. 
A  little  after,  the  king  sends  for  his  brother,  telling 
him  he  must  make  ready  to  go  down  for  Scotland,  the 
time  drawing  near  for  his  keeping  the  next  session  of 
their  parliament,  he  would  presently  expede  his  com- 
mission, and  upon  such  a  day  he  must  take  journey. 
At  which  discourse  the  duke  seemed  to  be  much  dis- 
pleased, telling  his  majesty  it  was  a  thing  he  could  not 
at  all  undertake  at  this  juncture  ;  for  he  having  a  great 
trade  at  Calais  and  other  foreign  places,  and  many 
years'  accounts  to  clear  with  these  foreign  factors, 
wherein  he  and  other  great  merchants  in  the  city  were 
concerned,  being  now  upon  their  journey,  he  must 
needs  stay  to  clear  with  them,  and  therefore  desired 
earnestly  to  be  excused.  To  which  the  king  replied, 
"  James,  either  you  mast  go,  or  I  must  go."  And 
speaking  these  words  with  a  kind  of  question,  the 
duke  as  briskly  replied,  "  He  would  not  go  ;''  and  so 
took  his  leave.  Then  going  home,  and  calling  his 
friends  and  cabal,  he  told  them  what  passed  ;  and  that 
he  perceived  the  king  resolved  to  follow  Allington's 
measures.  After  which,  his  cabal  he  trusted  in  re- 
solved among  themselves,  that  they  would  go  to  their 
houses,  and  put  them  in  such  a  posture  as  that  they 
might  return  within  so  many  hours;  no  doubt,  to  such  a 
secret  place  where  they  might  sit  without  parting,  un- 
til they  had  defeated  the  king's  resolutions,  and  brought 
their  purposes,  if  possible,  to  the  intended  issue.  And 
if  the  information  be  true,  which  the  event  seems  to 
make  probable,  they  all  unanimously  resolved  to  begin 
with  Allington,  and  see  if  they  could  take  him  ofl!"  by 
poison  ;  which  they  did  by  bribing  his  cook  and  mas- 
ter-household ;  which  took  place,  and,  if  my  memory 
fail  not,  says  the  relator,  he  either  died  on  the  Friday's 
night  or  morning.*  For  York  had  a  spy  to  tell  him 
so  soon  as  ever  his  breath  went  out ;  and  the  cabal  re- 
solved, that  if  the  business  took,  the  Duke  of  York 
should  be  the  first  that  should  carry  the  news  to  the 
king,  lamenting  such  a  heavy  loss,  to  blind  the  matter. 
And  it  is  said  that  he  made  such  haste,  for  fear  any 
should  be  before  him,  that  he  ran  to  the  court  at  the 
nighest,  with  one  of  his  shoes  down  in  the  heel,  and 
one  of  his  stockings  untied.  Yet  he  was  prevented, 
for  one  of  my  lord's  servants  had  just  come  in  before 
him,  and  told  that  his  master  was  dead  suddenly,  and 
undoubtedly  poisoned.  York  coming  in  in  the  mean 
time,  not  hearing  this,  made  his  lamentation  that  Al- 
lington, his  friend,  was  dead ;  a  very  sad  stroke  to 
the  court.     "  Ay,"  says  the  king,  "  and  his  servant 


must  have  taken  place  in  November  or  December,  1684.     The 
king  died  on  the  6th  of  February,  1685. 

»  "In  1682,  William,  lord  Alington  of  Killard,  in  Ireland, 
was  created  lord  Alington  of  Wyniley,  in  Hertfordshire.  He 
was  constable  of  the  Tower  when  the  earl  of  Essex  was  there 
found  murdered,  and  died  of  poison,  as  it  i.i  believed,  two  or 
three  days  before  King  Charles  II."  (New  Peerage  of  Eng- 
land, Scotland,  and  Ireland,  ii.  340.)  He  married  lady  Diana 
Russel,  sister  of  William,  lord  Riissel,  and  Widow  of  Sir  Grevil 
Verncy  of  Compton  Verney,  in  the  county  of  Warwick.  (Rus- 
scl's  Life,  p.  14.)  Notwithstanding  his  connexion  with  the  fam- 
ily of  Russel,  he  appears  to  have  been  a  steady  adherent  to  the 
court.  (A.  Marveil's  Works,  ii.  559.  Oldniixon's  Crit.  Hist. 
ii.352.  Statutetof  the  Realm,  v.900,901.)  Lady  Russel  often 
mentions  her  "  sister  Alington,"  and  refers  to  lord  Alington'a 
death  in  two  letters  to  Dr.  Fitrwilliam.    f  Letters,  p.  51,99,100.) 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


4W 


thinks  he  was  poisoned  :  I  wish  you  have  not  a  hand 
in  it,  of  which,  if  I  were  sure,  you  should  presently  go 
to  the  Tower;  for  I  am  like  to  be  next."  But  the 
duke  intreated  his  majesty  to  have  no  such  thoughts, 
and,  acknowledging  his  fault  in  refusing  to  go  to 
Scotland  at  their  last  meeting,  said,  he  was  now  re- 
solved to  comply  with  his  majesty's  commands,  and 
take  journey  next  week  for  Scotland,  come  of  his  busi- 
ness what  would  :  and  therefore  desired  his  majesty 
to  expede  his  commission  next  week,  that  he  might 
not  be  hindered.  Now  these  were  the  words  that  he 
and  his  cabal  had  concerted  further  to  blind  the  king 
withal,  that  so  they  might  better  effectuate  their  next 
resolution. 

The  king  believing'  him  to  speak  seriously,  and, 
that  he  might  yet  accomplish  what  Allington  had  ad- 
vised him,  when  the  duke  was  gone  for  Scotland,  or- 
dered his  commission  to  be  instantly  drawn,  that  he 
might  go  down  to  hold  the  foresaid  parliament.  In  the 
mean  time,  the  duchess  of  Portsmouth,  his  present 
miss  or  whore,  that  the  king  of  France  had  sent  him, 
and  who  influenced  him  as  she  pleased  to  the  French 
measures,  not  being  pleased  with  the  Duke  of  York's 
maltreating  the  king  in  refusing  to  go  to  Scotland,  his 
cabal  thought  fit  that  the  duke  should  go  to  her  and 
acknowledge  his  rashness  with  tiie  king,  and  beg  that 
she  would  interpose  for  their  amicable  reconciliation, 
which  she  promised  to  do ;  and  telling  her  that,  he  be- 
ing to  go  away  upon  Monday  or  Tuesday  next  to  obey 
his  majesty's  commands  in  Scotland,  the  best  way  and 
time  to  do  it  was  to  sup  with  her  grace  on  Sabbath 
night,  and  she  might  invite  any  of  the  court  there  that 
she  thought  fit;  to  which  she  consented.  When  he 
came  back,  and  told  his  cabal  what  was  done,  they 
said,  "  Then  our  business  is  like  to  do."  So  they  or- 
dered the  duke  to  send  a  good  quantity  of  ail  sorts  of 
wines  and  good  liquors,  especially  claret,  which  the 
king  loved ;  that  so  she  might  be  induced  to  entertain 
them  liberally  and  long  that  night.  And,  the  king  be- 
ing sotted  with  drink,  it  being  usual,  in  such  a  case,  to 
drink  a  good  deal  of  coffee  for  a  cure,  they  had  liber- 
ally bribed  his  coffee-man  to  poison  his  coffee;  and 
some  of  York's  faction,  in  that  case,  when  he  was  so 
drunk,  was  to  advise  the  duchess  to  keep  him  all  night, 
to  save  him  the  trouble  of  going  to  his  own  room. 
Likewise  knowing  that,  in  the  morning,  wiien  he  first 
awaked,  he  made  use  of  much  snuff,  they  hired  the 
duchess's  chambermaid  to  put  in  the  poisoned  snuff 
into  his  box,  and  take  out  what  was  in  it  before.  And 
so  nothing  doubting  but  their  design  now  would  take 
place,  they  ordered  a  spy  to  give  an  account  of  his  car- 
riage when  he  awaked,  timeously,  before  any  of  the 
court  should  know  of  it.  When  he  awaked  he  cried 
out  "  he  was  deadly  sick,"  and  calling  for  his  snuff- 
box, he  took  a  deal  of  it;  but  still  growing  worse,  he 
sent  for  his  servants  to  put  on  his  clothes,  which  when 
they  were  doing  he  staggered.  So  he  got  to  the  win- 
dow, and  leaned  upon  it,  crying,  "  I'm  gone,  I'm  poi- 
soned ;  have  me  quickly  into  my  chamber." 

The  duke  getting  notice,  came  running  in  haste,  all 
undrest,  to  lament  liis  brother's  fate,  saying,  "  Alas  ! 
Sir,  what's  the  matter  1"  who  answered,  "  O,  you 
know  too  well,"  and  was  in  great  passion  at  him.  In 
the  mean  time,  he  called  for  his  closet-keeper  to  fetch 
him  out  an  antidote  against  poison,  that  a  German 
mountebank  had  given  him  and  assured  him  it  would 
instantly  cure  him  whenever  he  suspected  it;  but  it 
could  not  be  found,  neither  his  physicians,  being,  as  it 
was  thought,  sent  out  of  town.  When  he  saw  all  these 
things  fail  him,  being  enraged  at  his  brother,  he  made 
at  him;  but  he  having  secured  all  the  entries  to  the 
court,  that  the  sentry  should  tell,  if  any  courtiers  or 
bishops,  upon  the  news,  should  offer  to  come  in  to  see 
how  the  king  was.  They  were  to  tell  them  that  he 
was  gone  to  bed  out  of  order,  and  had  discharged  all 
access  to  him  that  he  might  be  quiet.  And  in  the 
Boean  tirne  the  duke  seeing  him  in  such  a  rage,  and 


that  the  poison  was  not  like  to  do  so  quickly,  set  four 
ruffians  upon  him,  at  which  he  crying  out  so  as  he  was 
heard,  they  presently  choked  him  in  his  cravat,  and  so 
beat  him  in  the  head  that  he  instantly  died.  It  is  said 
that  his  head  swelled  bigger  than  two  heads  ;  and  also 
that  his  body  stunk  so  with  the  poison  and  other  things, 
that  none  could  stay  in  the  room.  And  it  is  said,  that 
in  the  dead  of  the  night  they  were  forced  to  carry  him 
out  and  bury  him  incognito. 

However  the  room  was  kept  quiet,  that  none  had  ac- 
cess to  the  supposed  sick  king,  as  if  he  had  been  ly- 
ing still  in  bed.  None  was  admitted  to  that  room  but 
those  who  were  true  friends  to  York,  who  made  the 
people  believe  he  was  still  alive,  but  dangerously  ill. 
And  when  his  council  met,  and  had  concerted  what 
measures  to  follow  upon  the  supposition  of  his  death, 
(an  embargo  being  laid  upon  all  ships  for  that  time, 
that  none  might  carry  abroad  the  rumour  of  his  sick- 
ness,) then  they  gave  out  the  news  of  his  being  just 
now  dead  toward  the  latter  end  of  the  week  ;  and,  as 
they  had  concerted  in  council,  the  duke  of  York  was 
proclaimed  king.  Oik;  that  was  at  court  at  this  time, 
and  was  a  friend  of  Monmouth's,  brought  him  over 
this  account,  affirming  it  to  be  true. 

The  duke  of  York  was  no  sooner  proclaimed  king, 
but  he  sent  over  instantly  an  express  to  the  prince  of 
Orange,  his  good-son,  to  apprehend  the  duke  of  Mon- 
mouth, and  send  him  over  prisoner  to  England.  It 
was  a  strange  providence  that  the  duke,  upon  the 
prince's  invitation  some  months  before,  had  gone  up  to 
visit  him,  and  was  that  night  in  his  lodgings  when  the 
express  came.  The  prince  being  surprised  with  the 
news  at  first,  upon  second  thoughts  managed  the  busi- 
ness very  well.  He  dispatched  the  express,  and  when 
all  his  household  was  gone  to  bed,  he  put  on  his  night- 
gown, and  went  up  to  the  duke  of  Monmouth's  bed- 
chamber; and  letting  him  see  the  surprising  news, 
both  with  respect  to  the  king  and  himself,  he  advised 
him  to  get  up  and  go  away  before  day-break,  to  any 
place  where  he  thouglit  he  might  be  most  secure,  for 
he  had  no  mind  to  meddle  with  him.  Which  he  did, 
and  came  to  Rotterdam  before  five  in  the  morning,  to 
his  friend  and  factor's  house,  Mr.  Washington's,  who 
kept  the  great  brewery  at  the  sign  of  the  Peacock,  and, 
sending  for  several  of  his  friends  who  were  there,  told 
them  the  strange  news,  asking  their  advice  what  was 
best  for  him  to  do.  They,  being  all  struck  with 
amazement,  knew  not  what  advice  to  give  him.  He 
told  them  that  the  Marquis  de  Grana,  governor  of  the' 
Spanish  Netherlands,  being  his  intimate  acquaintance 
at  the  English  court,  had  by  a  message  invited  him 
up  to  divert  himself  a  while  with  him  at  Brussels. 
He  thought  now  he  was  called  to  go  there,  since  he 
Was  not  admitted  to  stay  where  the  prince  of  Orange 
had  any  power,  lest  it  might  beget  a  mistake  between 
him  and  his  father-in-law.  His  friends  thought  it  a 
good  providence  that  he  should  take  the  occasion, 
which  he  did  ;  and  going  through  several  garrison 
towns  which  were  in  his  way  thither,  with  his  camels, 
sumpters,  and  servants  attending  him,  he  was  compli- 
mented in  his  passage  by  the  magistrates  and  gov- 
ernors of  these  places. 

Bat  how  strange  is  it  to  think,  that  some  days  ere  he' 
came  there,  there  came  a  message  and  order  from  the 
king  of  Spain  to  the  marquis,  giving  him  an  account 
that,  if  he  heard  by  this  time  of  the  king  of  England's 
death,  he  should  take  care  to  apprehend  the  duke  of 
Monmouth,  if  he  were  in  his  territories.  They  were 
both  surprised  at  their  meeting,  and  condoled  one 
another's  fate ;  the  one  that  he  had  got  such  an  order, 
that,  cost  him  what  it  would,  he  would  not  execute; 
the  other,  that  he  should  have  come  now  to  put  him  in 
such  a  lock.  So  in  that  very  night  he  was  forced  to 
disguise  himself,  and  one  of  his  trustiest  servants,  in 
a  common  soldier's  habit,  and  return  again,  sometimes 
by  land  and  sometimes  by  water,  until  he  landed  at 
Dort,  where  two  spies,  Englishmen,  following  them  to 
3  H 


458 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


the  inn  as  suspected  persons,  the  master  going  up 
stairs  to  a  room,  and  his  servant  going  into  the  cook- 
ery to  see  what  meat  was  for  eating,  he  heard  them 
saying  one  to  another  in  French,  "  That  fellow  that 
went  up  stairs  looked  very  like  the  duke  of  Mon- 
mouth." Upon  which  the  servant  took  up  bread  and 
drink,  paying  for  it ;  and  they  went  out  by  a  back 
door,  when  they  had  done,  and  took  a  waggon,  which 
brought  them  to  Rotterdam;  where  they  told  their 
friends  what  was  befallen  them. 

What  is  above  said  seems  to  make  it  very  evident 
that  the  king's  death  was  a  fore-contrived  thing.  For 
if  the  king  of  Spain  knew  of  it  before  his  messenger 
was  dispatched,  as  the  story  eviiiceth,  so  the  popish 
princes  in  other  countries  could  not  but  be  acqnainted 
also,  as  well  as  the  papists  in  England  ;  for  it  seems 
to  have  been  an  universally  laid  thing,  to  hasten  the 
duke  of  York  to  the  crown  of  England  for  advancing 
the  Catholic  cause.  After  this,  Monmouth  was  obli- 
ged to  lurk  sometimes  in  Rotterdam,  sometimes  else- 
where, until  they  had  perfected  tliat  concert  of  Argyle's 
coming  into  Scotland  and  Monmouth's  into  England, 
where  their  friends  in  both  nations  promised  to  appear 
with  them  for  retrieving,  if  possible,  t!ie  protestant  in- 
terest that  was  now  perishing  ;  and  their  last  meeting 
for  that  effect  was  at  Rotterdam. 

Here  also,  it  is  to  be  remarked,  that  the  duke  of 
York,  now  king  of  England,  pursued  Washington,  as 
his  factor,  for  receiving  the  crown  jewels  that  the  king 
gave  to  Monmouth ;  but  he  not  being  able  to  make  it 
good  that  Washington  had  received  them,  the  pursuit 
fell,  and  came  to  nothing. 

Mr.  Veitch,  drawing  nigher  Newcastle,  was  in  such 
strait  that  he  was  forced  to  betake  himself  to  a  wood ; 
these  proclamations  and  penalties*  putting  his  friends 
in  such  a  fear,  that  they  durst  not  harbour  him  in  their 
houses.  The  harvest-aights  growing  cold,  he  got 
some  straw  to  lie  on  under  him,  and  a  great  covering 
above  him  all  night ;  which  was  supposed  by  travel- 
lers, or  any  that  saw  it,  to  be  the  herd's,  whose  name 
was  Thomas  Wilson;  and,  when  JVIr.  Veitch  went 
from  the  place  of  the  wood  where  he  used  to  be,  upon 
the  noise  of  travellers,  so  that  the  lass  that  brought 
him  his  meat  could  not  find  him,  she  was  appointed  to 
cry  "  Tommy  Wilson,  Tommy  ;"  upon  the  hearing  of 
which  he  came  and  met  her. 

When  that  storm  was  a  little  calmed,  he  ventured 
in  to  Newcastle  to  see  his  wife  and  family ;  where  he 
met  with  some  of  his  Scotch  relations,  that  were  come 
to  see  them,  and  inquire  what  was  become  of  him. 
Some  other  good  people  in  town  also  were  there. 
They  spent  together  a  part  of  the  night  in  prayer  and 
mourning  over  the  sad  ease  that  now  the  nations  and 
church  were  in.|  The  most  part  of  their  discourse 
was  telling  their  fears  and  discouragements,  and  that 
they  were  never  like  to  see  good  days  again.  After 
several  had  spoke  to  that  purpose,  Mrs.  Veitch  came 
to  tell  her  thoughts, — '  that,  indeed,  our  night  was 
dark,  and  all  things  looked  with  a  black  face,  but  yet 
she  was  persuaded  that  God  would  not  leave  his  own 
work,  but  would  xaise  up  instruments  from  an  airt  that 
we  did  not  expect,  to  build  his  house,  to  bring  back 
the  ark  and  the  glory,  and  bring  home  his  captives; 
and  siie  was  persuaded  that  she  would  see  presbytery 


*  See  before,  p.  455. 

f  Bcnnet,  in  his  Memorial,  (p.  289 — ^291.)  ^ives  ai*  account 
of  some  young  men  in  Newcastle  who  were  brought  before 
Judge  JeflVies  in  1683,  imprisoned  for  a  year,  and  threatened 
with  a  trial  for  hi^h  treason,  because  the^-  had  subscribed  a 
paper  containing  rules  for  the  better  ordering  of  a  society  for 
prayer  and  rehgious  conference,  which  they  nad  taken  from  a 
work  of  Isaac  Ambrose. — Richard  Gilpin,  M.D.  who  was  eject- 
ed from  G'raystock,  in  Cumberland,  and  had  refused  the  bish- 
opric of  Carlisle,  a  person  of  great  accomplishments,  practised 
as  a  physician,  and  preached  to  the  nonconformists,  in  Newcas- 
tle. (Palmer,  i.  300.)  Mrs.  Veitch  speaks  of  attending  hjg 
ministry  before  the  Revolution.  (Memoir,  p.  29.)  Mr.  Benja- 
niiu  Bennet  succeeded  Dr.  Gilpin  as  rainlstcr  at  Newcastle. 


established,  and  her  husband  a  settled  minister,  in  the 
church  of  Scotland,  ere  she  died.'  Though  they  lov- 
ed the  thing,  yet  they  little  believed  it  in  the  time; 
but  when  it  came  to  pass,  they  both  thought  and  talk- 
ed much  of  it. 

Mr.  Veitch,  being  wearied  with  such  toil  and  con- 
finement, went  with  one  Caleb  Wilkison,  a  Notting- 
ham merchant  and  friend  of  his ;  who  carried  him  to 
that  part  of  Yorkshire  lying  between  York  and  Hull, 
and  left  him  as  a  friend  of  his  to  stay  in  a  town  called 
South  Cave,  with  one  Mr.  John  Chap))elle,  a  merchant 
there;  telling  him  quietly,  that  he  was  an  honest  man 
under  hiding,  where  he  was  most  kindly  entertained. 
And  there  was  in  that  town  one  Mr.  Beak,  their  dis- 
senting minister,  that  preached  in  Swanland  Chapel,* 
but  durst  not  at  this  time,  the  heat  of  Monmouth's 
business  not  being  yet  well  cooled;  but  some  weeks 
being  elapsed  he  began  to  venture.  In  the  mean  time, 
when  the  Sabbath  came,  his  landlord,  Mr.  Chappelle, 
read  and  spake  his  thoughts  upon  the  Scripture,  (which 
is  usual  in  England,)  and  prayed  in  the  fori  noon.  And 
he  would  have  Mr.  Veitch,  who  now  went  under  the 
name  of  Mr.  Robinson,  to  do  the  like  in  the  afternoon; 
to  which  he  was  somewhat  averse,  but,  being  urged, 
did  it.  Next  morning  Mr.  Chappelle  comes  to  Mr. 
Robinson's  bedside,  and,  after  inquiring  how  he  was 
this  morning,  he  says,  "  Truly,  Sir,  I  have  been  in  a 
mistake  about  you  ;  for  I  never  took  you  to  be  a  min- 
ister till  yesterday,  but  now  I  am  persuaded  you  are. 
and  my  friend  did  me  an  injury  in  not  telling  me."  Mr. 
Robinson  would  have  dissuaded  him,  but  it  would  not 
do.  He  goes  down  to  visit  his  minister,  Mr.  Beak, 
taking  his  guest  along  with  him,  and,  taking  him 
aside,  tells  him  his  thoughts  concerning  him.  The 
minister  was  very  kind,  and  they  kept  for  several 
weeks  a  warm  correspondence  in  private,  till  the  min- 
isters fell  a  preaching  again  in  their  meeting-houses  ; 
when  Mr.  Beak  preaching  in  the  forenoon,  he  and 
some  others  will  have  Mr.  Robinson  to  preach  in  the 
afternoon. 

Some  of  the  people  of  Beverly  being  at  that  sermon, 
had  influenced  the  leadiner  dissenters  to  send  a  horse 
and  a  letter,  inviting  Mr.  Robinson  to  come  down  and 
give  them  a  sermon  ;  which  he  was  loath  to  do,  but 
his  landlord  persuading  him  to  it,  did  comply.  Though 
there  were  many  good  people  in  it,  and  some  of  note, 
yet  the  mayor,  aldermen,  and  Sir  Ralph  Wharton,f 
deputy-lieutenant,  were  all  high  tories.  However,  the 
good  people  would  have  him  to  preach  to  them  in  a 
by-place  of  the  town,  called  Paradise,  walled  about. 
They  went  in  all  before  day  broke;  but  the  country 
people,  who  came  wandering  in  the  day-time,  seeking 
sermon,  occasioned  them  to  be  discovered.  The  mayor 
and  aldermen  compassed  the  house,  and  the  mayor 
coming  in  with  a  sergeant  at  his  hack,  the  people 
rising  to  give  him  way,  ere  he  came  near  the  minister, 
he  cried,  "  Hold,  hold  !  Sir,  enough  of  that ;"  and  step- 
ped to  tho  end  of  the  table  next  him,  to  lay  hold  on 
the  paper  that  one  was  writing  the  preaching  upon  ; 
but,  they  struggling,  he  did  not  get  it.  In  the  mean 
time,  all  being  on  their  feet  round  about  hicn,  and  the 
mayor  being  sand-blind,  so  tliat  he  could  not  distin- 
guish him  from  the  rest,  the  minister  was  advised  to 
turn  about  to  the  other  end  of  the  table,  and  go  into 
another  room  on  the  same  floor  where  the  people  were 
hearing.  He  put  on  his  steel-grey  riding  coat,  which 
was  lying  on  the  bedside,  and  sat  down  and  heard  the 
mayor  abusing  his  neighbours  for  being  there  ;  telling 


*  Palmer  (Memor.  ii.  597.)  mentions  "  Mr.  James  Baycock," 
(corrected  "  liayock,")  as  many  years  a  preacher  at  South  Cave, 
where  he  trained  up  several  persons  tor  the  ministry.  This 
appears  to  be  the  person  called  Beak  by  Veitch,  who  always 
adapts  his  orthography  of  English  names  to  the  pronunciation. 
Swanland  is  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood. 

+  Sir  Ralph  Wharton — commissioner  of  supply  for  the  east 
riding  of  the  county  of  York  in  1679  and  1690.  (Stat,  of  the 
Realm,  v.  905;  vi.  188.) 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


459 


them  that  Monmouth  was  not  as  yet  well  cold  in  his 
grave,  and  they  were  beginning  new  plots  against  the 
government ;  and  many  other  things  to  that  purpose. 
To  whom  Mr.  Benjamin  Dalton,  a  rich  man,  and  one 
in  good  esteem  in  the  place,  replied,  "  Mr.  Mayor,  if 
you  understood  yourself,  and  the  station  you  occupy, 
you  would  not  speak  so  rudely  to  us,  and  threaten  us 
so  hard  with  a  prison  ;  we  know  what  you  can  do  in 
law,  and,  if  you  go  beyond  it,  we  know  how  to  be  re- 
dressed." Upon  which,  one  of  the  aldermen  came  in, 
and  called  him  out  to  the  door,  and  he,  with  the  rest, 
chid  him  for  his  indiscretion,  and  told  him  only  to  take 
up  their  names,  and  let  them  go  till  the  court-day, 
where  they  would  be  called  to  pay  their  fines.  Mr. 
Robinson  was  afraid  when  he  heard  of  sending  all  to 
prison,  thinking  then  that  he  would  be  discovered  ;  but 
when  he  heard  of  taking  up  names,  he  hoped  that  he 
might  escape. 

The  mayor  came  back  with  his  clerk,  and  stood  in 
the  great  entry,  and  the  clerk  took  all  their  names  as 
they  passed  by.  Mr.  Chappelle,  Mr.  Robinson's  land- 
lord, was  the  mayor's  cousin-german,  and  both  were 
of  one  name.  He  thought  fit  to  show  himself  to  his 
cousin,  the  mayor,  before  his  wife,  and  the  minister, 
and  the  people  that  lived  in  that  town  should  go  out. 
When  he  came  to  him,  he  got  up  both  his  hands,  and 
cried  out,  "  O,  cousin,  are  you  here  1  I'm  sure  there 
is  a  deep  plot  on  foot  that  you  are  come  seven  miles  to 
carry  on  ;  but,  however,  you  may  go,  for  I  cannot  for- 
get your  name  if  I  mind  my  own."  "  Nay,"  says  he ; 
"  I  have  my  wife,  friends,  and  neiglibours  here,  and 
I'll  go  fetch  them  all  out  together ;"  and,  when  he 
came  back,  he  says  to  the  minister,  "  Come  you  next 
after  me,  and  let  the  rest  follow."  When  he  passes 
by,  the  clerk  writes  down  his  name  by  the  mayor's  or- 
der. In  the  mean  time,  the  mayor  takes  Mr.  Robin- 
son by  the  sleeve,  and  says,  "  What  is  your  name. 
Sir  ]"  to  which  he  replies,  "  Mr.  Mayor,  my  name  is 
William  Robinson."  "  Where  do  you  live  ?"  This 
question  being  a  little  puzzling,  he  pulls  at  his  land- 
lord's coat,  and  he,  understanding  the  strait  he  was  in, 
turns  about,  and  says  to  the  clerk,  "  Write  down,  Wil- 
liam Robinson  of  Gilbert-dykes  ;"  and  so  they  went 
out. 

But  Mr.  Robinson  would  go  to  no  house,  but  de- 
sired his  landlord  to  show  him  the  next  way  out  to  the 
Windmills,  and  send  his  horse  after  him.  He  lay 
long  among  the  bushes  waiting,  and  seeing  several 
horsemen  coming  by,  he  skulked  behind  a  hedge  lest 
they  should  be  enemies  ;  but  when  they  came  nigh, 
seeing  them  friends,  he  asked,  if  they  saw  his  boy  and 
the  horses  coming.  They  said,  "No;"  but  one  of 
them  caused  his  son  give  him  his  horse,  and  he  went 
along  with  them,  and  the  young  man  waited  for  the 
minister's  horse.  So  he  went  to  that  man's  house, 
which  was  but  two  miles  off  the  town,  where  he  dined ; 
and,  after  preaching  out  his  sermon  to  a  number  of  peo- 
ple that  followed  on  that  way,  he  went  home  at  night 
with  his  landlord  Chappelle. 

When  the  court-day  came,  the  mayor  sat  to  fine  the 
people  of  the  town,  and  Sir  Ralph  Wharton  those  of 
the  country,  who  most  part  appeared,  yet  the  preacher 
was  not  found  ;  but  they  fined  him,  according  to  the 
law,  in  £20  Sterling,  whose  name  and  habitation  was 
not  yet  known,  whenever  he  should  be  found  ;  and  if 
he  be  not,  to  lay  that  fine  upon  the  hearers  proportion- 
ably  next  court-day.  But  some  of  them  thinking  that 
the  minister  might  be  that  Robinson  of  Gilbert-dykes, 
they  ordered  their  bailiffs  to  go  to  that  place,  which 
was  ten  miles  off  Beverly,  and  bring  him,  with  all  the 
other  absents  in  the  country,  the  next  court-day,  which 
was  to  sit  at  twelve  of  the  clock.  The  bailiffs  went  to 
the  place,  and  happened  to  find  a  poor  old  man  of  that 
name,  who  was  a  hedger  anrl  ditcher,  whom  when  they 
would  bring  away,  he  appealed  to  the  next  justice  of 
the  peace,  where  he  gave  his  affidavit  that  he  had  never 
been  in  Beverly  all  his  life,  and  that  he  was  no  dis- 


senter; which  affidavit  they  presented  to  the  court  the 
next  day ;  and  when  it  was  read  they  fell  all  a  laugh- 
ing, and  the  mayor  cried  out,  "  My  cousin  Chappelle 
has  undoubtedly  served  us  this  trick." 

It  is  remarkable  here,  that  more  than  an  hour  before, 
King  James's  act  of  indemnity,  and  his  act  for  liberty 
to  all  dissenters  to  license  meeting-houses  and  minis- 
ters, where,  and  whom  they  pleased,  and  that  only  for 
paying  sixpence  to  the  next  justice  of  the  peace's 
clerk,  were  proclaimed  at  eleven  of  the  clock  at  the 
market-cross  in  Beverly  ;  yet  the  court  that  sat  after 
twelve  were  going  to  exact  the  fines  for  the  minister 
and  people.  But  Mr.  Dalton,  with  some  of  the  lead- 
ing dissenters,  went  up  to  the  Court,  protested  and 
took  instruments  in  the  hands  of  the  clerk,  that  now 
their  proceedings  were  illegal,  seeing  the  acts  of  in- 
demnity and  liberty  were  proclaimed  before  they  sat 
down;  and  they  were  forced  to  dissolve  the  court,  so 
that  neither  minister  nor  people  paid  fin^s. 

Sir  Ralph  Wharton,  meeting  with  Mr.  Dalton,  his 
physician,  says,  "  How  now,  Dalton  ;  you'll  have  a 
minister  and  a  meeting-house,  surely  ]"  "  Yes,"  says 
Mr.  Dalton,  "as  soon  as  possible;  and  if  we  can,  we 
will  have  Robinson  of  Gilbert-dykes  to  be  our  minis- 
ter, and  then  ye  shall  see  him,  though  before  you  could 
not  find  him." 

It  is  to  be  remembered  here,  that  Mr.  Robinson, 
after  that  meeting  was  taken,  within  a  few  days  went 
straight  to  York,  and  Mr.  Beak,  the  honest  minister 
of  Swanland,  was  pleased  to  accompany  him,  being 
born  in  that  city,  where  he  met  with  another  remarka- 
ble deliverance.  For  Mr.  Beak  informing  several  of 
the  good  people  of  that  city  what  he  was,  they  would 
needs  have  him  to  preach  privately  to  them,  the  lib- 
erty not  yet  being  come  out.*  He  lying  at  the  Black 
Greyhound,  near  the  Minster  of  York,  a  little  before 
the  time  that  the  messenger  was  to  come  about  him  to 
the  other  end  of  the  city  where  he  was  to  preach,  he 
went  over  to  the  minster-yard  to  get  himself  trimmed, 
and  passed  by  a  company  of  fine  genteel  sparks,  who 
looked  very  wistfully  to  him  as  he  was  going  into  the 
barber's  shop,  whom,  by  a  good  providence,  he  found 
not  within,  and  so  returned  to  his  quarters,  and  went 
away  with  the  messenger  that  came  for  him  about  day- 
going. 

After  the  beginning  of  his  sermon  there  came  in  a 
gentleman  and  his  lady,  with  a  great  lantern  before 
them,  and  sat  down  in  the  chairs  hard  by  the  preacher, 
that  were  set  for  them.  After  sermon  was  ended,  he 
and  some  others  staid  to  talk  with  the  minister,  to  whom 
he  said,  "  I  perceive.  Sir,  you  are  a  Scotch  minister; 
was  you  this  evening  in  the  minster-yard  1  and  saw 
you  any  sparks  there  standing?"  "Yes,  I  did," 
said  the  minister.  Says  the  gentleman,  "  One  of  them 
was  a  Scotchman,  a  Jesuit  priest,  who  knew  you,  and 
thought  to  have  resented  some  injury  he  says  you  did 
him.  For  as  soon  as  he  saw  you,  he  made  haste  to 
get  a  warrant  from  the  justice  to  apprehend  you  before 
you  got  out  of  the  barber's  shop,  and  missing  you 
there,  as  I  came  through  the  minster-yard,  he,  with  a 
great  many  officers,  were  searching  all  the  suspected 
houses  round  about.  Upon  which,  the  master  of  the 
house  where  he  was  preaching  said,  he  should  lie 
with  him  all  night ;  and   Mr.  Beak  should  go  to  the 


*  The  king's  Declaration  for  liberty  of  conscience  in  Eng- 
land was  dated  April  4, 1687.  It  suspended  the  execution  of 
all  penal  laws  in  matters  ecclesiastical,  acquitied  the  subjects 
from  all  penalties  which  they  had  incurred,  or  might  hereafter 
be  liable  to,  for  nonconformitj',  and  freely  gave  them  "  leave  to 
meet  and  serve  God  after  their  own  way  and  manner,  be  it  in 
private  houses,  or  places  purposely  hired  or  built  for  that  use." 
— "  We  cannot  but  heartily  wish,"  (says  his  Majesty)  "  as  it 
will  easily  be  believed,  that  all  the  people  of  our  dominions  were 
members  of  the  Catholic  church;  yet  we  humbly  thank  Al- 
mighty God,  it  is,  and  hath  of  long  time  been,  our  constant 
sense  and  opinion,  (which  upon  divers  occasions  we  have  de- 
clared,) that  conscience  ought  not  to  be  constrained,  or  people 
forced  in  matters  of  mere  religion."  (Wodrow,  ii.  App.  193.) 


460 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


quarters  where  they  had  lien  together,  which  was  his 
aunt's  house,  and  should  come  by  daybreaking  in  the 
morning  with  the  horses  to  that  place,  and  convey  him 
safely  out  at  the  gates,  which  he  could  well  do,  being 
born  in  the  city,  and  accompanied  him  a  mile  on  his 
way.  He  went  toward  Newcastle,  to  hear  of  his  wife 
and  family,  and  presently  returned  to  Nottingham, 
there  being  no  safety  for  him  there;  for  the  indemnity 
and  liberty  forementioned  was  not  proclaimed  till  he 
came  to  Nottingham. 

This  Scotchman,  who  was  now  turned  to  be  a  Jesu- 
it priest,  his  name  was  Brown,  born  in  Sraailholm, 
near  Kelso,  who  being  new  laureate,  came  to  Mr, 
Veitch's  house  at  Harnam  Hall,  in  Northumberland, 
and  lamenting  his  distressed  case,  would  be  content 
either  to  be  a  chaplain  or  schoolmaster,  or  any  thing 
he  would  recommend  him  to,  for  his  livelihood. 
Upon  which  Mr.  Veitch  recommended  him  to  a  gen- 
tleman in  that  country  to  teach  his  children.  The 
gentleman  being  pious,  and  finding  him  extravagant, 
he  turned  him  off;  and  the  young  man  being  at  a  new 
strait,  came  to  Mr.  Veitch  to  get  a  recommendation 
from  him  to  the  ministers  of  London  of  his  acquaint- 
ance, that  they  might  help  him  to  some  place  or  other. 
But  he  refused  not  only  upon  the  account  of  his  loose 
carriage  here,  but  fearing  he  might  be  worse  afterward  ; 
and  also  because  some  other  yonng  men  that  he  had 
formerly  recommended  to  these  ministers  in  the  city 
did  neither  answer  his  nor  their  expectation.  However, 
this  youth  went  to  London,  and  falling  in  with  a  popish 
gentleman,  attended  his  son  abroad  for  several  years, 
and  returned  to  England,  as  it  was  reported,  under  the 
character  of  a  popish  priest;  and  haunting  at  York, 
(for  it  is  like  the  popish  gentleman  was  a  Yorkshire 
one  which  made  him  do  so,)  there  it  was  that  he  first 
saw  Mr.  Veitch  and  intended  to  give  him  the  foremen- 
tioned requital.  But  God,  who  had  given  him  many 
former  deliverances,  added  this  also. 

Within  a  few  days  after  he  came  there,  a  messenger 
brought  him  a  call  from  the  people  of  Beverly  to  be 
their  minister,  which  he  complied  with,  though  the 
people  of  Nottingham  had  an  inclination  to  detain 
him.  He  sent  back  a  letter  with  the  messenger,  tell- 
ing them,  that  within  eight  or  ten  days  he  would 
wait  upon  them.  After  his  entry,  the  meeting  grew 
daily  more  numerous,  which  was  occasioned  by  his 
going  up  to  the  wild  places  of  Yorkshire,  called  the 
Wolds  of  Yorkshire,  being  invited  upon  week  days  to 
preach  among  them,  and  they  licensing  great  leatlis, 
or  barns,  for  that  purpose ;  so  that  they  came  down 
from  these  places  in  companies  to  Beverly  on  the  Sab- 
bath. They  had  made  a  stately  meeting-house  by 
throwing  down  all  the  divisions  of  four  great  rooms  on 
one  floor  ;  and  taking  up  the  deals  of  the  middle  parts 
of  the  lofts  above,  and  opening  great  windows  to  a 
yard  of  green  ground,  where  hundreds  of  people  may 
stand  and  hear.  All  sorts  of  people  at  first  were  anx- 
ious to  hear;  and  it  can  be  said  of  several  of  them 
that  came  from  such  motives,  they  got  better  ones  there. 
He  was  several  times  invited  to  preach  at  Hull, 
which  is  six  miles  off.  The  people  declared  that,  to 
their  knowledge,  there  never  was  such  a  reformation 
in  these  parts.  For  the  justices  of  the  peace,  especi- 
ally those  that  were  popish,  were  mightily  incensed 
against  it,  and  used  all  means  to  break  it,  especially 
his  preaching  in  the  Wolds;  where  a  popish  justice 
of  the  peace,  on  a  week  day,  came  (having  threatened 
before  that  he  would  do  it)  with  a  great  company  of 
hounds  and  hunting  horses,  and  long  whips ;  and  call- 
ed to  the  people  that  were  standing  without  doors  to 
hold  out  of  their  way,  that  they  might  see  and  hear 
that  fellow,  who  came  so  boldly  to  debauch  the  coun- 
try. But  the  people  told  them,  that  if  they  offered  to 
do  any  thing  indecent  and  disturbing,  or  contrary  to 
law,  they  would  resent  it,  upon  which  they  retired. 
The  minister  had  never  more  satisfaction  in  any  part 
0f  his  ministerial  work  than  he  had  in  that  place. 


Having  preached  for  six  or  seven  months  there,  and 
settled  a  meeting-house  and  a  people,  the  like  whereof 
was  not  formerly,  and  which  continues  unto  this  day, 
September  1688,  he  was  strongly  invited,  by  many  let- 
ters, to  return  to  his  native  land  ;  they  having  accept- 
ed also  of  king  James's  liberty,  though  they  did  not  sc 
soon  as  in  England.  His  wife  was  very  forward  foi 
his  returning,  though  the  people  of  Beverly  had  sent 
for  her,  given  her  good  offers,  and  used  many  argu- 
ments to  persuade  her  and  her  husband  to  stay  with 
them.  But  her  heart  was  for  her  native  country,  and 
she  longed  to  see  that  in  the  performance  which  she 
had  promised  herself  formerly  in  her  duties  and  wrest- 
lings with  God,  and  had  expressed  her  assuranco 
thereof. 

After  he  had  left  Beverly,  one  of  the  pleasantest 
cities,  with  two  great  and  famous  churches  in  it,  curi- 
ous and  plain  fields  about  it,  therefore  called  the  Para- 
dise of  England  ;  and  having  preached  his  farewell 
sermon,  where  there  were  many  tears,  he,  with  a  kind 
of  reluctancy,  took  his  leave  of  that  beloved  and  affec- 
tionate people. 

In  his  way  home  he  visited  his  friends  at  Darntoun, 
where  he  was  persuaded  to  stay  the  next  Sabbath. 
The  few  godly  people  that  were  there  were  earnestly 
desirous  that  he  should  stay  a  while  with  them,  and 
that  he  should  go  out  upon  the  week  days  and  preach 
in  the  country  about  where  he  had  been  formerly  ac- 
quainted, viz.  at  Matthew  Scarfield's  at  Jolbee,  about 
three  miles  south  from  Darnton,  who  was  a  very  godly 
man ;  at  Mr.  Smithson's,  who  lived  to  the  westward 
four  or  five  miles;  and  at  one  Mr.  Harrison's,  who 
lived  to  the  north-east  several  miles.  Their  importu- 
nity made  him  continue  longer  than  he  designed  ;  and 
though  the  people  in  Darnton  could  not,  when  he 
came  there,  promise  a  minister  above  L.IO  a-year, 
they  not  exceeding  eighty  hearers  at  first,  yet  in  two 
months'  time  he  brought  them  to  about  400  or  500  out 
of  the  country  round  about,  who  did  subscribe  to  give 
an  honest  minister  L.60  Sterling  per  annum ,-  so  that 
they  were  necessitated  to  make  up  a  new  meeting- 
house; for  the  old  place  would  not  serve.  And  the 
people  of  Scotland  being  impatient  for  his  coming,  he 
left  Mr.  Long  his  successor  to  that  people. 

After  all  these  things,  he  at  length,  all  impediments 
being  removed  out  of  the  way,  returned  with  great  joy 
and  affection  to  his  native  land  ;  the  people  in  the  par- 
ishes of  Oxnani,  Crailing,  Eckford,  Linton,  Morebat- 
tle,  and  Hownam,  having  joined  together  to  give  him 
a  call  to  preach  to  them,  under  the  present  liberty,*  at 
Whittonhall,  which  was  almost  the  centre  of  these 
parishes,  the  most  of  the  hearers  being  within  three 
miles  of  the  meeting-house  which  they  there  erected. 
He  entered  it  in  April  1688,  the  call  by  that  people  be- 
ing sent  unto  him  many  months  before,  which  is  here 
subjoined. 

"  We,  the  people  of  the  presbyterian  persuasion 
within   the   parishes   of  Hounam,  Oxnam,   Eckford, 


*  In  the  Proclamation  of  Februarj'  12,  1687,  conimonlv 
called  James's  First  Toleration  for  Scotland,  his  Majesty  didf, 
by  his  "  sovereign  authority,  royal  prerogative,  ana  absolute 
power,  allow  and  tolerate  ttit-  moderate  presbylerians  to  meet 
in  their  private  houses,  and  thereto  hear  all  such  ministers  as 
either  have,  or  are  willing  to,  accept  of  our  indulgence  allenar- 
ly,  and  none  other;  nor  are  they  to  presume  to  build  meeting- 
houses, or  to  use  out-houses  or  barns."  This  liberty  was  grant- 
ed them  on  condition  of  their  taking  an  oath  prescribed  in  the 
))roclamatiou.  Quaicers  were  permitted  to  meet  "  io  any  place 
or  places  appointetl  for  worship."  This  proclamation  suspend- 
ed, stopped,  and  disabled,  all  laws  against  Roman  Catholicf, 
who  "  shall  in  all  things  be  as  free,  in  all  respects,  as  any  of  our 
Protestant  subjects  whatsoever,  not  only  to  exercise  their  reli- 
gion, but  to  enjoy  air  offices,  benefices,"  &c.  '(Wodrow,  ii. 
App.  No.  129.)  The  king's  letter  of  March  31,  called  the  Sec- 
ond Toleration,  dispensed  with  the  oath  enjoined  bv  the  for- 
mer. (Ibid.  No.  132.)  His  proclamation  of  June  20,  called 
the  Third  Toleration,  was  as  ample  as  the  English  Toleration 
of  April  preceding,  with  this  aifference,  that  it  denounced 
field-conventicles.     (Ibid.  No.  134.) 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


461 


Morebattle,  and  places  adjacent,  having  united  our- 
selves in  a  society  for  carrying  on  the  work  of  the 
gospel  among  us  ;  and  having  duly  and  ripely  consi- 
dered the  need  we  have  of  a  faithful  and  able  preacher 
to  be  settled  among  us,  to  the  eternal  welfare  of  our 
immortal  souls, — have  pitched  upon  you,  Mr.  William 
Veitch,  Minister  of  the  Gospel,  and  do  unanimously, 
heartily,  and  earnestly,  invite  and  call  you  to  take  the 
charge  of  us,  by  preaching  the  gospel,  catechising, 
visiting  our  families,  administrating  the  sacraments, 
and  exercising  discipline,  and  doing,  by  instructing, 
comforting,  admonishing,  and  rebuking,  whatever  is 
incumbent  to  a  faithful  pastor.  And  we  do,  in  the 
Lord's  strength,  promise  to  receive  the  word  from  your 
mouth,  subject  ourselves  to  the  several  parts  of  your 
ministry,  to  give  you  all  due  encouragement,  and  do 
whatever  is  incumbent  for  a  dutiful  people  to  their 
faithful  pastor.  In  witness  whereof  we  have  subscrib- 
ed thir  presents,  at  Whitton,  the  second  day  of  No- 
vember, 1687." 

This  call  was  subscribed  by  above  seventy  masters 
of  families  in  the  forementioned  parishes,  some  where- 
of were  gentlemen  of  good  quality. 

He  exercised  his  ministry  there  with  great  satis- 
faction ;  and  the  meeting  increased  daily,  not  only 
from  the  Scotch  side,  but  also  the  English;  his  old 
friends  and  hearers  in  Coquet-water  and  Reedsdale 
frequenting  that  place,  and  inviting  him  over  on  week 
days  to  preach  with  them,  which  he  willingly  complied 
with.  He  preached  also  in  these  parishes  mentioned 
on  the  week  days,  time  about,  both  before  and  after  the 
happy  Revolution  by  the  prince  of  Orange,  (who 
landed  at  Torbay,  with  his  fleet  and  army,  the  4th  of 
Noveffiber,  1688 ;)  and  then  in  the  churches  about,  as 
they  were  cleared  from  the  prelatical  clergy. 

Upon  this  good  news,  and  the  prospect  of  a  happy 
change,  the  outed  presbyterian  ministers  of  Scotland 
thought  it  expedient  to  meet  at  Edinburgh,  and  so 
wrote  to  all  their  brethren  in  the  adjacent  parts  to  meet 
at  the  Taylors'  Hall,  where  they  spent  some  time  in 
praying  together,  that  God  would  prosper  the  prince's 
undertaking,  give  him,  and  all  that  joined  with  him, 
counsel  and  direction  how  to  manage  so  great  and  dif- 
ficult an  undertaking,  and  make  them  successful  ;  so 
as  it  might  resolve  to  God's  glory,  returning  of  the 
captivity  of  the  church  and  people  of  God,  the  building 
of  the  old  waste  places,  and  the  bringing  back  of  the 
ark  and  the  glory  that  had  been  so  long  at  Kirjath-jea- 
rim,  the  fields  of  the  wood,  and  settle  it  again  in  his 
sanctuary;  and  particularly  that,  at  this  juncture,  he 
would  point  out  to  the  godly  ministry  and  people  in 
Scotland  what  is  their  duty,  and  help  them  faithfully 
to  perform  it. 

It  fell  out,  very  unexpectedly  and  surprisingly  to 
Mr.  Veitch,  that  the  meeting  of  the  ministers  voted 
him,  the  next  day  after  he  came,  to  preach  in  the  new 
meeting-house  over  against  Libberton's  Wynd  head  ; 
a  thing  to  which  he  was  greatly  averse.  His  reasons 
that  he  gave  were — his  being  a  stranger  for  twenty 
years  and  more  in  Scotland,  and  so  very  ill  acquainted 
with  the  transactions  of  that  time,  which  rendered  him 
unfit  at  such  a  juncture  to  speak  in  public  ;  as  also 
that  there  were  many  old,  grave,  and  wise  men  there 
to  do  it,  and  it  might  bring  no  small  detriment  to  such 
a  promising  work  of  reformation  as  was  now  in  pros- 
pect to  set  him  or  such  as  he  was  in  such  a  public 
place.  But  these  reasons  were  not  heard,  and  it  was 
left  upon  him,  which  was  so  perplexing  to  his  mind 
that  he  knew  not  what  to  do,  for  when  eight  of  the 
clock  at  night  was  come  he  could  not  find  a  text ;  but 
at  length  he  fell  upon  18th  verse  of  the  1 19th  psalm,  (the 
words  are, "  Thou  hast  trode  down  all  them  that  err  from 
thy  statutes,  for  their  deceit  is  falsehood,")  which  took 
him  up  the  whole  night  without  going  to  bed  in  think- 
ing upon  it.  And  when  he  came  up  to  the  pulpit,  his 
seeing  of  sixteen  old  ministers  sitting  in  the  loft  before 
him,  and  the  meeting  so  throng  of  all  sorts  of  people, 


increased  his  fear  and  confusion.  However,  he  de- 
livered his  thoughts  upon  the  subject,  with  respect  to 
the  present  circumstances  of  things  and  what  was  in 
view,  with  such  plainness  and  freedom  as  greatly  of- 
fended the  prelates,  who  sent  him  a  particular  message 
the  next  day  by  one  of  their  own  gang  and  his  ac- 
quaintance,— that  for  such  bold  and  unbecoming  re- 
flections upon  them  and  their  government  they  were 
resolved  to  be  even  with  him  ere  long;  as  also  that  he 
durst  be  so  bold  in  such  a  public  auditory  to  pray  for 
the  success  of  the  Prince  and  Princess  of  Orange.  All 
the  answer  he  returned  them  by  the  messenger  was, 
to  bid  them  put  on  their  spurs.  Upon  the  other  hand, 
he  seemed  to  give  offlence  to  some  of  the  godly  party, 
by  some  free  expressions  that  he  had  with  respect  to 
the  future  government,  if  presbytery  should  be  erected. 

A  worthy  gentleman  both  for  learning  and  piety  took 
him  by  after  sermon  in  the  street,  and  told  him,  he 
doubted  not  but  he  had  oflfended  several  of  the  good 
people  by  some  things  he  had  said.  He  replied,  he 
was  sorry  for  it,  but  a  little  time  would  discover  these 
things.  About  half  a  year  after  he  came  to  him  at  the 
cross  of  Edinburgh,  and  taking  him  aside,  he  craved 
him  pardon  for  what  he  had  said  upon  that  sermon,  for 
all  that  was  spoken  in  it  was  like  to  be  too  true. 

When  the  presbyterian  church  was.  restored  by  law, 
Mr.  Veitch  had  calls  from  several  parishes,  viz.  one 
to  Crailing,  another  to  Melrose,  and  a  third  to  Peebles, 
which  he  was  persuaded  by  the  Earl  of  Crawford, 
Lord  Argyle,  old  Stairs,  and  James  Stewart,  advocate, 
to  embrace,  notwithstanding  the  old  duke  of  Queens- 
berry  did  vigorously  and  violently  oppose  it.  But 
these  four  forementioned  persons  engaged  to  support 
him,  telling  that  the  duke  and  his  iniquitous  laws  were 
now  out  of  date,  out  of  court,  and  under  water;  but, 
notwithstanding  of  his  being  overclouded  for  the  pre- 
sent, he  got  up  again,  and  maintained  a  vigorous  plea 
against  Mr.  Veitch  for  seven  sessions,  both  before  the 
lords  and  the  church  ;  so  that  the  gentlemen  who  pro- 
mised to  support  him  shrunk  back  as  the  duke  in- 
creased in  favour  at  court ;  and  at  length  he  overawed, 
1  may  say,  the  church  to  loose  him  from  that  charge. 
And  he  having  a  call  to  Edinburgh,  another  to  Paisley, 
and  a  third  to  Dumfries,  the  assembly  was  influenced 
by  Mr.  Veitch's  speech,  (wherein  he  showed  so  great 
an  aversion  to  Edinburgh)  to  vote  him  to  Dumfries; 
after  he  had  served  the  cure  four  complete  years  in 
Peebles,  viz.  from  September  1690  to  September 
1694,  at  which  time  he  was  admitted  to  his  ministry 
in  Dumfries. 

He  left  Peebles  with  great  aversion,  not  only  with 
respect  to  that  parish,  but  also  to  the  country  round 
about.  He  did  foresee  that  his  removal  from  thence 
would  be  of  ill  consequence  both  to  the  parish  and  the 
country-side,  and,  therefore,  upon  a  new  call  given 
him  to  that  place,  struggled  hard  to  be  back  again,  and 
lost  it  only  by  four  votes.  He  never  got  the  legal 
stipend  of  that  place  all  the  four  years  he  was  there; 
so  that  he  lost,  what  by  expense  of  law,  and  not  get- 
ting the  stipend  which  was  legally  due,  above  ten 
thousand  merks,  by  the  potency  of  his  enemies,  and 
the  injustice  of  the  bench,  which  the  old  Duke,  and 
his  son  Lord  William,*  have  to  account  for  to  the  Great 
Judge ;  and,  if  Mr.  Veitch  be  rightly  informed,  it  did 
trouble  the  conscience  of  two  of  his  greatest  opposers 
on  their  death-bed. 

As  Mr.  Veitch  was  greatly  perplexed  with  the  hard 
usage  the  assembly  had  given  him  in  their  illegal  re- 
moving of  him  merely  to  please  the  duke,  when  they 
had  many  strong  reasons  to  the  contrary,  and  to  send 
him  to  Dumfries,  a  place  that  he  heard  wanted  not  its 
own  difficulties,  he  resolved  to  leave  the  nation,  and  so 
publicly  refused  to  submit  to  the  sentence  of  that  judi- 


*  In  1693,  Mr.  Veitch  lost  an  action  before  the  Lords,  against 
Lord  William  Douglas,  the  Duke's  second  son,  for  the  reduc- 
tion of  a  tack,  which  his  predecessor,  Haj',  had  granted  for  be- 
hoof of  his  family.     (Fountainhall's  Decis.  i.  879.) 


463 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


catory,  and  undertook  to  give  ia  his  reasons  for  so 
doing.  The  assembly  being  about  to  rise,  referred  him 
to  the  commission  of  the  kirk  to  hear  him,  to  whom 
he  gave  in  a  whole  sheet  of  paper  of  reasons  why  he 
could  not  submit  to  the  sentence,  with  a  complaint  of 
his  hard  usage  and  unbrotherly  treatment.  After  the 
reading  of  which,  he  being  put  out,  and  the  commis- 
sion considering  the  matter,  instead  of  giving  him 
written  answers  which  he  required,  they  thought  it 
better  to  appoint  a  committee  to  confer  with  him,  to 
see  if  Ihey  could  give  him  satisfaction ;  and  they  nom- 
inated Mr.  Edward  .Tamieson,  Mr.  Gabriel  Semple, 
and  his  brother  Mr.  John,  with  some  others,  to  confer 
with  him,  and  bring  his  answer  to  the  commission. 

In  the  mean  time  his  old  friends  in  England,  hear- 
ing of  these  things,  sent  a  gentleman  to  Peebles  to 
bring  him  back  to  them,  engaging  to  give  him  a  fine 
house  and  yards  to  dwell  in,  to  furnish  him  with  plenty 
of  fire,  and  £60  sterling  per  annum,  well  paid,  beside 
other  things  which  he  knew  they  used  to  give ;  and  the 
gentleman  promised  to  give  his  personal  bond  for  the 
making  all  of  it  good  before  he  went  out  of  Peebles, 
and  would  not  return  to  England  without  Mr.  Veitch's 
going  along  with  him,  which  he  did.  They  would 
have  had  Mr.  Veitch  engaging  to  be  their  pastor  ere 
he  came  back  to  Scotland,  after  he  had  preached  a  Sab- 
bath day  with  them  ;  but  he  refused  till  once  he  should 
handsomely  end  with  the  commission  of  the  kirk. 

When  he  came  back  to  the  commission,  they  having 
heard  of  these  things,  desired  the  committee  foremen- 
tioned  to  deal  earnestly  with  him  not  to  leave  the  na- 
tion, but  to  stay  and  comply  with  the  sentence,  if  pos- 
sible, and  that  because,  among  other  reasons,  it  would 
be  a  very  ill  precedent,  it  being  in  the  entry  of  this 
new  reformation  and  church  establishment,  and  give 
others  afterward  occasion  to  refuse  submission  to  the 
sentences  of  church  judicatories  ;  and  they  hoped  that 
Mr.  Veitch,  upon  that  very  account,  would  be  cautious 


and  wary  to  do  any  thing  that  might  afterward  be 
prejudicial  to  the  church,  and  desired  him  to  do  them 
that  favour  to  go  and  preach  at  Dumfries  four  or  five 
Sabbaths,  and  acquaint  himself  with  the  people  and 
the  state  of  his  affairs  in  that  place,  and  see  if  he  and 
they  could  comply  together  for  his  settlement,  so  as  to 
prevent  an  early  breach  in  the  government,  which 
would  give  much  satisfaction  to  the  commission.  And 
indeed  that  had  been  in  Mr.  Veitch's  thoughts  before 
they  proposed  it,  and  was  the  knocking  argument  per- 
suading him  to  obtemperate  the  sentence.  And  this 
was  a  great  encouragement,  that  after  several  confer- 
ences with  some  leading  persons  in  the  town,  wherein 
he  told  them,  among  other  differences  needless  here  to 
be  mentioned,  that  except  they  would  free  him  of  the 
drawing  of  the  tithes  (with  which  he  had  got  on  the 
finger-ends  at  Peebles,  and  "burnt  bairns  fire  dread") 
and  take  a  tack  thereof  from  him  as  long  as  he  should 
continue  minister  of  the  place,  he  could  not  settle 
among  them, — they  at  length,  consulting  among  them- 
selves, complied  with  this;  and  so  he  set  them  a  tack 
of  them  so  long  as  he  was  to  continue  their  minister, 
at  the  rate  that  they  often  had  told  him  the  tithes  were 
worth,  viz.  twenty-two  hundred  merks  per  annum, 
out  of  which  he  is  obliged  by  charter  from  the  king 
to  pay  the  second  minister  400  merks  -per  annum. 
But  the  tacksmen  considering  among  themselves  that 
they  had  valued  these  tithes  at  too  high  a  rate,  (it 
is  like  to  be  a  temptation  to  Mr.  Veitch  to  embrace 
the  call*)  and  that  themselves  would  afterward  be 
losers,  got  a  bond  from  so  many  substantial  persons  in 
the  town,  every  one  of  them  to  pay  so  much  per  an' 
num  as  they  conjectured  would  save  them  from  being 
losers ;  and  so  both  the  tack  and  bond  continue  to  this 
day,  1714. 


*  He  means,  that  they  had  probably  valued  the  tithes  high, 
with  the  view  of  inducing  him  to  accept  of  their  call. 


SUPPLEMENT 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM   VEITCH. 


The  Memoirs  of  Mr.  Veitch  reach  to  the  year  1714 ; 
but  as  he  has  given  only  a  general  account  of  himself 
from  the  Revolution,  it  may  not  be  improper  to  com- 
mence at  that  period  the  statement  of  the  additional 
facts  which  have  been  collected  relative  to  the  latter 
part  of  his  life. 

Though  the  non-conformist  ministers  enjoyed  con- 
siderable liberty  in  preaching  during  the  last  two 
years  of  the  reign  of  James  II,,  yet  it  behoved  Mr. 
Veitch  to  act  with  great  circumspection,  as  he  was  lia- 
ble, if  found  on  Scottish  ground,  to  be  seized  in  conse- 
quence of  his  banishment,  and  might  be  informed 
against  as  an  accomplice  of  the  Earl  ofArgyle.  The 
Revolution  relieved  him  from  all  apprehensions  of  dan- 
ger; and,  while  it  enlarged  the  sphere  of  his  useful- 
ness, added  in  no  small  degree  to  his  labours.  The 
people  in  that  part  of  the  country  where  he  had  opened 


a  meeting-house,  were  generally  disaffected  to  the 
episcopal  clergy,  and  embraced  the  first  opportunity, 
on  the  change  of  the  government,  or  rather  on  tlie  in- 
ter-regnum,  to  forsake  the  beneficed  clergy,  with  their 
curates,  and  to  flock  to  the  tents  of  such  presbyterian 
ministers  as  were  within  their  reach.  Although  there 
were  no  tumultuous  assemblies  in  the  south,  similar  to 
what  was  called  the  rabbling  in  the  west,  yet  many  of 
the  clergy,  either  apprehending  something  of  this  kind, 
or  influenced  by  some  other  motive,  deserted  their 
churches ;  and  others  were  soon  after  removed  from 
theirs,  for  adhering  to  the  old,  or  refusing  to  comply 
with  the  orders  of  the  new  government.  In  these  cir- 
cumstances, and  when  there  were  neither  ministers 
nor  constituted  authorities  to  provide  for  vacant  par- 
ishes, Mr.  Veitch  found  himself,  for  a  time,  in  the  sit- 
uation of  the  bishop  of  a  diocese,  and  had  to  dispense 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


463 


divine  ordinances  to  a  whole  country-side.  His  activ- 
ity at  this  time,  together  with  the  distinguished  part 
which  he  had  taken  during  the  late  period  of  misrule 
and  oppression,  led  him  to  be  particularly  noticed  and 
abused  by  the  advocates  of  that  party  who  sought  to 
embroil  the  nation,  and  who,  for  several  years,  kept 
two  presses  constantly  employed  in  London,  which 
teemed  with  pamphlets,  containing  accounts  of  the 
hardships  of  the  outed  episcopal  clergy,  and  satires  on 
the  presbyterian  ministers  and  the  proceedings  of  their 
church  courts.  The  object  of  that  party  was,  by  means 
of  their  friends  in  England,  to  prevent  the  court  from 
agreeing  to  the  establishment  of  the  presbyterian 
church  ;  and,  when  they  had  failed  in  this,  to  obtain  a 
legal  and  formal  toleration  of  the  episcopal  church,  un- 
der the  wings  of  which  they  might  carry  on  their  plans 
for  overturning  the  civil  government  and  restoring  the 
exiled  family. 

Speaking  of  the  applications  which  the  presbyterian 
ministers,  who  temporarily  served  the  vacant  churches, 
made  for  an  allowance  from  the  legal  stipends,  the  au- 
thor of  one  of  the  pamphlets  above  referred  to,  says: 
"  Thus  Mr.  William  Voitch  had  been  a  great  sufferer, 
for  why  1  he  had  been  forced  to  appear  actually  in  re- 
bellion against  King  Charles  II.  at  Pictland  hills,  for 
which  he  was  not  hanged  indeed,  but  declared  rebell 
and  fugitive ;  but  now  that  the  fields  were  fair,  and  he 
had  endured  so  much  undeserved  persecution,  would 
he  not  be  to  blame  if  he  had  not  studied  his  own  inter- 
est 1  And,  therefore,  he  petitioned  for  no  less  than 
five  vacancies,  viz.  Creiland,  Eckfurd,  Yettam,  Mar- 
bottle,  and  Oxnam.  'Tis  true,  the  council  were  so 
hard-hearted  as  to  grant  him  only  three  of  them,  viz. 
Creiland,  Eckford,  and  Yettam.  This  was  hard 
enough  ;  but  alas  !  (though  he  had  confidently  affirmed 
in  his  petition  the  contrary,)  it  was  afterwards  found 
that  the  minister  of  Creiland  had  not  been  deprived  be- 
fore Michaelmas  1689.  So  that  Mr.  Veitch  could  not 
get  that  benefice,  which  was  certainly  a  very  disap- 
pointing persecution  to  him."*  Now,  surely,  "  the 
labourer  is  worthy  of  his  hire ;"  and  it  is  not  uncom- 
mon for  a  person  to  state  a  claim  on  different  funds, 
while  yet  he  expects  from  them  only  what  he  is  enti- 
tled to  in  law  or  in  equity.  The  privy  council,  by  their 
act  of  the  24th  December,  1689,  had  suspended  the 
payment  of  stipends  to  such  as  "  were  not  in  the  actu- 
al exercise  of  their  ministerial  function  on  the  13th  day 
of  April  last."|  And  the  parliament,  on  the  7th  of 
June  1690,  declared  the  churches  of  these  persons  to 
be  vacant ;  "  and  that  the  presbyterian  ministers,  exer- 
cising their  ministry  within  any  of  these  parishes,  (or 
where  the  last  incumbent  is  dead)  b}'  the  desire  or 
consent  of  the  parish,  shall  continue  their  possession, 
and  have  right  to  the  benefices  and  stipends  according 
to  their  entry  in  the  year  1689,  and  in  time  coming,  ay 
and  while  (until)  the  church  as  now  established,  take 
farther  course  therewith.":]:  The  parliament,  in  their 
act  reversing  Mr.  Veitch's  forfeiture,  referred  him  to 
their  committee  for  fines,  to  receive  a  lemuneration  for 
his  bygone  losses. || 

A  well-known  lampoon  of  that  period  has  the  fol- 
lowing passage.  "  It  is  known  in  the  shire  of  Teviot- 
dale,  that  Mr.  William  Veitch  murdered  the  bodies  as 
well  as  the  souls,  of  two  or  three  persons  with  one  ser- 
mon ;  for  preaching  in  the  town  of  Jedburgh  to  a  great 
congregation,  he  said,  'There  are  two  thousand  of  you 
here  to-day,  but  I  am  sure  fourscore  of  you  will  not  be 
saved;'  upon  which,  three  of  his  ignorant  hearers,  be- 
ing in  despair,  dispatched  themselves  soon  after."§ 
Those  who  have  read  the  preceding  memoirs  will  not 


*  Account  of  the  late  Establishment  of  Presbyterian  Govern- 
ment by  the  Farliainent  of  Scotland,  anno  1690,  p.  67.  Lond. 
1693. 

f  Collection  of  Papers,  in  Case  of  the  Afflicted  Clergy,  p.  83. 
Lond.  1690. 

\  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  ix.  134.  ||  Ibid.  p.  199.     App.  167. 

§  Scotch  Presbyterian  Eloquence,  p.  15-. 


be  inclined  to  think  it  likely  that  the  author  would 
preach  in  the  manner  which  is  here  imputed  to  him; 
and  his  printed  sermons  are  certainly  of  a  very  different 
complexion.  This  remark  applies  also  to  a  ludicrous 
note  ascribed  to  him  in  another  part  of  the  same  publi- 
cation.* 

Mrs.  Veitch  gives  the  following  account  of  her  hus- 
band's call  to  Peebles. — "  A  friend  of  mine,  being 
thirty  miles  off  the  place  where  I  lived,  wrote  a  letter 
desiring  my  husband  to  come  and  see  her,  for  she  was 
in  a  very  sad  case.  He  was  unwilling  to  go,  but  I 
urged  him  sore  to  go ;  upon  which  he  took  horse,  and, 
riding  all  night,  when  he  came  near  Peebles,  being 
weary  he  asked  an  herdman  on  the  way.  Who  kept  an 
inn  at  Peebles.  He  directed  him  to  Provost  Muir's ; 
and  when  he  came  and  sat  down  and  refreshed  him- 
self a  little,  he  and  some  other  strangers  began  to  dis- 
course about  Teviotdale.  The  provost  hearing  asked, 
if  he  knew  one  Mr.  William  Veitch  that  lived  there : 
he  said,  he  knew  him.  He  asked,  if  he  was  at  home; 
and  he  said,  'No,  he  is  not  at  home.'  My  husband 
asked  him,  what  they  would  do  with  him.  '  They  had 
a  mind  to  call  him  for  their  minister ;  and  they  had 
written  a  letter,  and  hired  a  man,  who  was  going  to  his 
house  to  desire  him  to  come  and  preach  to  them  on  the 
sabbath  day.'  My  husband  told  them,  '  they  needed 
not  to  trouble  themselves  ;  for  they  would  not  get  him 
at  home,  nor  yet  to  be  their  minister  as  he  thought,  for 
he  had  several  calls  in  his  own  country.'  The  provost 
not  knowing  him,  after  some  more  discourse,  asked  at 
my  husband,  if  he  was  the  man  they  were  seeking ;  he 
told  them,  he  was  the  man ;  which  made  them  both  to 
wonder  at  that  piece  of  providence.  He  took  horse 
and  rode  ten  miles  farther  west  to  see  my  friend,  and 
they  engaged  him  to  come  back  that  way  to  preach  to 
them ;  which  he  did.  After  he  came  home,  he  told 
me.  I  was  put  to  wonder  :  I  was  like  Abraham's  ser- 
vant, who  said,  '  it  is  of  the  Lord,  I  can  neither  say 
good  nor  bad.'  They  drew  up  a  call  and  sent  to  him 
to  the  synod,  where  they  condescended  unto  it,  and 
my  husband  embraced  it.  But  out  of  this  pleasant 
rose  there  sprang  many  a  thorn ;  for  both  friends  and 
foes  were  ready  to  reproach  him,  which  was  a  trouble 
to  my  spirit,  to  see  the  people  one  day  idolize  him,  and 
on  another  day  reproach  him,  because  he  would  not 
stay  with  them.  I  went  to  God  with  these  words 
which  David  went  with,  '  Help,  Lord,  for  I  am  become 
a  reproach  unto  them.  Let  them  curse,  but  bless  thou, 
and  let  them  know  it  is  thy  hand,  and  thou  hast  done 
it.'  It  was  my  desire  to  God  that  he  would  show  the 
gospel  a  tuken  for  good  to  Peebles,  that  they  that  hated 
it  might  see  it  and  be  ashamed.  But  the  cloud  grew 
thicker  and  darker;  for  Queensberry  and  his  chamber- 
lain were  great  enemies.  They  came  all  that  length 
as  to  print  a  number  of  lies  against  the  presbytery  and 
my  husband,  because  they  could  not  get  in  one  Mr. 
Knox,  who  was  a  curate.  The  presbytery  had  placed 
him,  according  to  the  act  of  parliament,  so  that  his  ene- 
mies could  find  no  blame  in  it.  He  had  the  call  of  the 
elders,  heritors,  and  town  council,  and  the  generality 
of  all  the  people;  and  he  referred  his  cause  to  the  gen- 
eral assembly,  but  though  two  assemblies  sat,  yet 
not  one  of  them  determined  about  him.""}" 

In  a  publication  against  Mr.  Veitch  (which  appears 
to  be  the  one  referred  to  in  the  preceding  extract)  the 
following  reflections  are  made  on  the  circumstances 
which  led  to  his  call  to  Peebles.  "  To  shake  himself 
loose  of  the  calls  which  were  referred  to  the  synod  of 
Kelso,  he  had  prevailed  with  some  of  his  friends  to 
represent  his  call  to  Peebles  as  the  effect  of  an  imme- 
diate and  extraordinary  providence;  which  they  did  so 
flourish  out  in  the  several  circumstances,  that  it  might 
appear  equivalent  to  a  voice  from  heaven  which  he 
ouffht  not  to  disobey.     Whereas,  it  can  be  evinced  by 


*  Ibid.p.  85. 

t  Mrs.  Veitc.h'a  IVTeiu.  p.  48—54. 


464 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


clear  evidences,  that  it  was  a  draught  and  design  of 
men,  carried  on   underhand  for  a  considerable  time."* 

Mr.  Veitch  has  stated  that  the  Duke  of  Queensberry 
was  the  great  opponent  to  his  settlement  ;f  but  his 
Grace  kept  in  the  back  ground.  The  opposition  was 
managed  by  some  of  the  smaller  heritors  in  support  of 
the  alleged  rights  of  Mr.  Robert  Knox.  He,  according 
to  the  statement  of  his  friends,  had  officiated  as  assist- 
ant or  curate  to  Mr.  John  Hay,  who  destined  him  for 
his  successor.  On  the  death  of  Hay,  which  happened 
about  the  time  of  the  Revolution,  aj^plication  was  made 
on  behalf  of  Knox,  to  Queensberry,  the  patron,  and  a 
favourable  answer  having  been  received,  "upon  the 
17th  of  November  1689,  being  the  Lord's  day,  after 
sermon,  the  session  being  sitting,  and  the  duke's  letter 
read  to  them,  the  whole  heritors,  elders,  and  parish- 
ioners then  present,  did  unanimously  and  cheerfully 
receive  the  said  letter  and  nomination,  and  promised  to 
Mr.  Knox  all  the  encouragement  that  could  be  expect- 
ed from  a  dutiful  people. "ij:  They  acknowledge  that 
he  wanted  the  "  formality  of  institution,"  but  plead 
that  the  steps  taken  were  sufficient  to  constitute  a  rela- 
tion between  him  and  the  parish,  "  in  regard  there  was 
no  legal  ecclesiastical  judicatory  then  in  being"  to 
confirm  it.  That  the  parish  were  by  no  means  so  unan- 
imous in  their  desire  for  Mr.  Knox  as  his  friends  would 
represent  them,  appears  from  an  attempt  which  was 
made  to  prevent  him  by  force  from  entering  the  pulpit ; 
and  from  the  ease  with  which  he  complied  with  the 
first  order  of  the  presbytery  to  desist  from  the  exercise 
of  his  ministry.  11  For,  on  the  24th  of  July  1690^  on  a 
complaint  from  the  magistrates  of  Peebles,  in  the  name 
of  the  parish,  the  presbytery  found,  that  Mr.  Robert 
Knox  had  "  taken  possess  on  of  the  kirk  of  Peebles 
without  any  legal  or  orderly  establishment,"  desired 
him  to  forbear  preaching  there,  and  appointed  one  of 
their  number  to  declare  the  church  vacant ;  all  which 
was  peaceably  done.§  In  consequence  of  a  petition 
from  the  parish,  the  presbytery,  on  the  7th  of  August, 
appointed  Mr.  Robert  Elliot  to  moderate  in  a  call  at 
Peebles;  and,  on  the  2d  of  September,  the  moderator 
reported,  "  that  after  sermon,  the  heritors,  magistrates, 
and  kirk  session,  and  the  heads  of  families,  did  sub- 
scribe a  call  to  Mr.  William  Veitch."  Upon  this  John 
Balfour  of  Kailzie  renewed  a  protest  which  he  had 
taken  on  the  day  of  the  moderation,  "in  the  name  of 
the  Duke  of  Queensberry  and  several  of  the  heritors," 
craving  that,  in  respect  of  the  interest  of  Mr.  Robert 
Knox,  nothing  might  be  done  in  the  affair  until  the 
next  meeting  of  the  general  assembly.  Being  asked 
for  his  commission,  it  was  found  he  had  none  ;  and  the 
presbytery  considering  that  Knox  "had  not  the  least 
shadow  of  a  legal  establishment  as  incumbent  in  Pee- 
bles ;  and  that  Mr.  Veitch's  call  lo  the  ministry  in  that 
place  was  due  and  legal ;  as  also,  considering  the  ur- 
gency of  the  plantation  of  so  considerable  a  place  of 
that  country  with  an  able  minister  of  the  gospel,  and 
that,  in  the  like  cases,  inferior  judicatories  have  pro- 
ceeded notwithstanding  of  appeals  to  their  superiors, 
they  being  always  liable  to  their  censure, — resolved  to 
go  on  in  that  affair,  and  to  be  answerable  to  the  gene- 
ral assembly.  The  moderator  reported  that  he  had, 
according  to  appointment,  written  to  Queensberry,  who 
had  returned  this  answer,  that  they  should  do  in  Mr. 
Veitch's  affair  as  they  should  be  answerable  to  God." 
Accordingly,  the  previous  steps  having  been  taken,  Mr. 
Veitch  was,  on  the  18th  of  September  1690,  admitted 
with  the  usual  solemnities.^ 

In  the  preceding  memoir  we  have  met  with  no  ac- 
count of  Mr.  Veitch's  ordination,  at  his  first  entrance 

»  Information  for  the  Heritors,  Elders,  &r.  of  the  parish  of 
Peebles,  ajfainst  Mr.  William  Veitch,  printed,  in  a  collection 
of  similar  papers,  about  1690,  p.  68. 

f  See  before,  p.  4G1. 

t  Information,  ut  svpra,  p.  66.  ||  Ibid. 

I  Records  of  the  Presbjtery  of  Peebles. 

T  Records,  ut  supra. 


to  the  ministry.  It  was  natural  for  the  presbytery  to 
inquire  into  this  before  his  admission  at  Peebles  ;  and 
the  following  is  the  account  of  that  matter  in  the  min- 
utes. Mr.  Veitch,  being  desired  to  produce  due  tes- 
timonials of  his  ordination  to  the  ministry,  answered, 
"  that  the  hazard  and  danger  was  such  at  the  time  of 
his  ordination,  that  it  was  not  thought  fit  by  his  or- 
dainers  to  grant  testificales,  but  promised  to  bring  a 
tcstificate  from  a  famous  minister's  hand,  now  in  Scot- 
land, who  was  one  of  that  number  that  gave  him  ordi- 
nation ;  upon  which  the  presbytery,  considering  how 
well  known  he  was  in  this  country,  and  that  he  had 
been  admitted  and  owned  as  a  minister  by  the  general 
meeting  of  this  church,  did  rest  satisfied."*  I  have 
no  doubt  that  Mr.  Henry  Erskine  is  the  person  from 
whom  he  offered  to  procure  a  certificate.  In  a  paper 
which  he  appears  to  have  drawn  up  for  the  use  of 
Wodrow,  Mr.  Veitch  states  that  Mr.  Erskine  assisted 
at  his  ordination.!  They  were  intimate  friends  ;  the 
former  was  frequently  at  Mr.  Veitch's  house  in  Nor- 
thumberland ;  and  on  these  occasions  used  to  entertain 
him  and  his  wife  with  anecdotes  respecting  the  straits 
into  which  he  was  often  brought  with  his  numerous 
famil}',  and  the  singular  manner  in  which  he  was  ex- 
tricated from  them.  The  following  is  one  of  these, 
as  related  in  the  paper  referred  to.  "  One  evening  he, 
his  wife  and  children,  went  to  bed  with  a  light  supper, 
which  made  the  children  cry,  in  the  morning  when  they 
awaked,  for  meat.  But  there  being  n(ne  in  the  house, 
he  bade  them  be  still,  and  he  would  play  them  a  spring 
upon  the  citren  (guitar.)  He  played  and  wept;  and 
they  and  their  mother  wept;  they  being  in  one  room, 
and  he  and  his  wife  in  bed  in  another.  But,  before  he 
had  done  playing,  one  raps  at  the  gate;  and  it  proved 
to  be  a  servant-man,  sent  from  a  worthy  and  charitable 
lady,  with  a  horse-load  of  meal,  cheese,  and  beef.":J: 
It  is  probable  that  Mr.  Veitch's  ordination  took 
place  in  the  year  1671,  when  he  settled  at  Falalies.|| 
He  had  preached  in  different  parts  of  Northumberland 
as  early  as  the  end  of  the  year  1668  ;§  and  there  is 
reason  to  conclude  that  he  had  received  license  to 
preach  before  he  left  Scotland,  or  during  one  of  hia 
secret  journeys  into  it  to  see  his  family.  Licenses  and 
ordinations  among  the  nonconformists,  both  in  Scot- 
land and  England,  were  necessarily  conducted  with 
great  secrecy  at  this  period.  Mr.  Robert  Trail,  who 
had  been  chaplain  to  Scot  of  Scotstarvet  was  ordain- 
ed at  London,  in  the  year  1670,  by  presbyterian  min- 
isters.^ Mr.  Thomas  Archer,  who  was  executed  at 
Edinburgh,  received  his  license  when  he  resided  as 
chaplain  in  the  family  of  Lady  Riddel,  and  was  or- 
dained by  Mr.  Fleming  and  other  Scottish  ministers, 
in  Holland.**  William  Macmillan  of  Caldow  was  li- 
censed by  the  presbyterian  ministers  of  the  county  of 
Down,  in  Ireland. ff  Mr.  Patrick  Warner,  minister  of 
Irvine  after  the  Revolution,  a  person  of  high  respectabil- 
ity, and  noticed  when  in  Holland,  by  the  Prince  and 
Princess  of  Orange,  was  licensed  at  Edinburgh,  and  or- 
dained by  the  presbyterian  ministers  of  London,  with  a 
view  of  his  going  out  as  a  chaplain  of  the  East  India 


*  Record?,,  uf  aitpra.,  September  17,  1690. 

f  Remarkable  Providences  concerning  Mr.  Harie  Erskine, 
sent,  an.  1718,  br  Mr.  W.  Veitch:  Wodrow  MSS.  Advocate! 
Library,  Rob.  III.  4,  17.  Mr.  Erskine  became  minister  of 
Chirnside,  in  Berwickshire,  after  the  Revolution.  He  was  the 
father  of  Ebeneier  and  Ralph  Erskine,  two  of  the  first  ministers 
of  the  Secession. 

t  Remarkable  Providences,  ut  Siipra. 

11  See  before,  p.  438. 

}  See  before,  p.  437;  compared  with  Mr.  Veitch's  notes  inhii 
family  Bible. 

1  Wodrow,  i.  442,  App.  117.  In  one  of  Mr.  Trail's  note- 
books, at  the  beginning^  of  a  sermon  on  Heb.  .xii.  29,  is  the  fol- 
lowing no/andum; — "London,  April  22,  1669.  The  first  time 
of  my  preaching  at  London.  On  the  Thursday  before  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper  in  Mr. 
Blaikie's  congregation."  On  another  sermon  is  written:  "Trial. 
A  p.  5,  1669.'^ 

«»  Wodrow,  ii.  258,  653.  ft  Ibid- ii- 408, 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


465 


Company  to  the  coast  of  Coromandel,  where  he  preach- 
ed for  several  years  at  Fort  St.  George  or  Madras.*  Mr. 
Alexander  Shields,  in  the  account  which  he  gave  of 
himself  to  the  general  meeting  of  the  Society  People, 
states,  "  he  went  to  London  with  an  intention  to  be 
amanuensis  to  Dr.  Owen,  or  some  other  great  doctor 
who  was  writing  books  for  the  press,  and  had  a  letter  of 
recommendation  to  one  Mr.  Blakie,  a  Scottish  minister, 
who  having  trysted  to  speak  with  him  at  a  certain 
season,  had  several  ministers  convened,  (unknown  to 
Mr.  Shields)  who  did  press  and  enjoin  him  to  take 
license.  So  he  being  carried  to  it  in  that  sudden  and 
surprising  way,  accepted  of  it  from  the  hands  of  some 
Scottish  ministers  then  at  London,  but  without  impo- 
sitions or  sinful  restrictions."!  In  most  of  these  in- 
stances, the  facts  as  to  license  and  ordination  were 
brought  out  in  examinations  before  the  criminal 
courts. 

Notwithstanding  the  vexation  which  he  received 
from  the  family  of  Queensberry  and  their  dependents, 
Mr.  Veitch  appears  to  have  been  happy  at  Peebles. 
His  brethren  in  the  presbytery  and  synod  repeatedly 
testified  their  esteem  for  him.  Within  eight  days  after 
his  admission,  the  presbytery  elected  him  one  of  their 
commissioners  to  the  first  general  assembly  held  after 
the  Revolution  ;  and  he  was  chosen  to  represent  them 
in  the  assembly  which  should  have  met  on  the  1st  of 
November,  1G91.  On  the  19th  of  April,  1693,  the 
presbytery  appointed  him  as  "  a  correspondent  from 
them,  to  join  other  correspondents  from  several  presby- 
teries, who  are  to  meet  at  Edinburgh  about  the  public 
concerns  of  the  church.":^:  In  the  course  of  the  fol- 
lowing month  he  opened  the  provincial  synod  of  Lo- 
thian and  Tweedale  with  a  sermon  ;  and  was  appoint- 
ed by  them  to  preach  before  his  Grace  the  Duke  of 
Hamilton,  High  Commissioner,  and  the  Estates  of 
Parliament.  II 

On  the  10th  of  June,  1G91,  "  two  gentlemen,  viz. 
Alexander  Porterfield  and  Robert  Pow,"  laid  on  the 
table  of  the  presbytery  of  Peebles  a  call  to  Mr.  Veitch 
from  the  parish  of  Paisley,  with  reasons  for  his  trans- 
portation. They  appear  to  have  been  very  solicitous 
to  obtain  him  as  their  minister ;  for  Mr.  Matthew 
Crawfurd,  minister  of  Eastwood,  attended  the  presby- 
tery on  one  occasion,  and  John  Crawfurd,  bailie  of 
Paisley,  on  another  occasion,  to  prosecute  the  call.  It 
was  carried  before  the  superior  courts,  and  remained 
for  a  considerable  time  undecided. § 

On  the  9th  of  January,  1694,  commissioners  from 
the  presbytery  of  Dumfries,  and  from  the  magistrates, 
town-council,  and  kirk-session  of  that  town,  presented 
a  call  to  Mr.  Veitch,  which  the  presbytery  of  Peebles 
refused  to  read,  as  he  was  absent,  but  promised  that  it 
should  be  read  next  day  ;  upon  which  the  commission- 
ers from  Dumfries  appealed  to  the  general  assembly, 
or  the  synod,  whichever  of  them  should  first  meet.^ 
— At  a  public  meeting  held  in  the  Old  Church,  on  the 
5th  of  February,  1694,  the  magistrates,  town-council, 
and  kirk-session  of  Edinburgh,  elected  and  subscribed 
a  call  to  Mr.  William  Veitch  at  Peebles,  to  be  one  of 
the  ministers  of  that  city,  to  which  the  presbytery 
gave  their  approbation  and  concurrence.**  When  this 
call  was  laid  before  the  presbytery  of  Peebles,  and  prc- 


*  Wodrow,  ii.  249,  250,  624,  625. 

f  Minutes  of  Geaeral  Meeting  of  United  Societie9,ip.  72,  MS. 
in  Advocates  Library. 

I  Records  of  the  Presbytery  of  Peebles. 

II  Two  Sermons— by  IVlr.  William  Veitch.     Edin.  1693. 

5  Records  of  the  Presbytery  of  Peebles,  for  June  10,  July  1, 
and  13,  1691. 

If  Records  of  the  Presbytery  of  Peebles, 

**  The  call  was  subscribed  by  the  provost,  (Sir  John  Hall)  the 
dean  of  g-uild,  treasurer,  and  seventeen  other  members  of  coun- 
cil, and  by  Messrs.  James  Kirktoun,  David  Blaire,  Jo.  Law,  J. 
Moncrieft,  Ja.  Webster.Jo.  Haniiltoune,  ministers,  and  upwards 
of  twenty  elders.  (Records  of  Town-council  of  Edinburgh, 
5th,  6th,  and  9th  of  February,  1694.) 
3  I 


sented  to  Mr.  Veitch,  "  he  would  not  so  much  as  re- 
ceive it  into  his  hand,  and  desired  that  his  refusal 
might  be  marked."  The  reasons  of  transportation 
having  been  transmitted  to  the  magistrates  of  Peebles, 
the}',  in  their  answers,  pleaded  an  act  of  assembly,  in 
virtue  of  which  "  no  inferior  judicatory  of  the  church 
can  be  judges  of  any  such  call  as  this,"  and  protested 
that  the  presbytery  should  proceed  no  farther  in  the 
matter.  The  presbytery  referred  the  whole  affair  to 
the  judges  competent;  and  the  commissioners  from 
Edinburgh  appealed  to  the  synod,  or  to  the  general  as- 
sembly, provided  it  should  meet  first.* 

Mr.  Veitch  attended  the  general  assembly  which  sat 
down  at  Edinburgh  on  the  29th  of  March,  1694,  and 
of  which  he  was  a  member.  Through  the  influence 
of  the  Duke  of  Queensberry,  who  was  now  re-admit- 
ted as  an  extraordinary  lord  of  session,  and  in  great 
favour  with  the  government,  a  final  decision  had  not 
yet  been  given  on  the  objections  to  his  settlement  at 
Peebles.  The  assembly,  at  this  meeting,  took  up  that 
question,  and,  in  their  sixth  session,  passed  an  act,  de- 
claring his  call  and  admission  to  be  legal. f  In  the 
next  session,  they  took  into  consideration  the  three 
calls  from  Paisley,  Dumfries,  and  Edinburgh ;  and 
having  preferred  the  call  from  Dumfries,  appointed 
Mr.  Veitch  to  remove  to  that  town.:|:  As  he  testified 
great  backwardness  to  comply  with  this  decision,  some 
members  were  allowed  to  confer  with  him,  "  but  with- 
out prejudice  to  the  assembly's  sentence ;"  and  a 
petition  from  the  parish  of  Paisley,  requesting  the 
assembly  to  reconsider  thtit  decision,  or  to  refer  the 
matter  to  the  commission,  was  refused. || 

Mr.  Veitch  could  not  be  more  unwilling  to  go  to 
Dumfries  than  his  predecessor  had  been  to  leave  it. 
In  October  1690,  the  general  assembly  translated  Mr. 
George  Campbell  from  the  ministry  of  that  town,  to 
be  professor  of  divinity  in  the  university  of  Edinburgh, 
— ^a  situation  which  he  was  extremely  averse  to,  but  for 
which  he  was  eminently  qualified  by  the  "  learning  and 
modesty"  ascribed  to  him  even  by  the  avowed  detractors 
of  the  presbyterian  ministers  of  that  period. §  It  would 
appear  that  the  parish  had  remained  vacant,  after  his 
translation,  for  four  years,  owing  partly  to  the  scarcity 
of  ministers,  and  partly  to  the  interruptions  suffered 
by  the  supreme  ecclesiastical  judicatory  during  that 
interval.  Mr.  Veitch  removed  to  Dumfries  with  his 
family  in  the  month  of  September  1694.^  "That 
very  day  four  years  after  I  came  to  Peebles,"  (says 
Mrs.  Veitch)  "  that  very  same  day  I  came  out  of  it  for 
Dumfries.  I  would  not  have  wanted  the  experience 
of  God's  goodness,  and  free  love  to  me  and  mine,  and 
the  church,  for  all  the  trouble  I  met  with  in  it."** 

In  October  1695,  Mr.  Veitch  concurred  with  the 
kirk-session  and  magistrates  in  giving  a  call  to  Mr.^ 
Robert  Paton,  minister  of  Caerlaverock,  who  was  ad-' 
mitted  as  his  colleague  in  the  beginning  of  the  follow-' 
ing  year.ff  Mr.  Veitch  appears  to  have  been  much 
respected  in  Dumfries-shire,  and  to  have  enjoyed  the 
confidence  of  his  brethren  as  a  man  of  business.  He 
was  frequently  chosen  moderator  of  the  provincial  syn- 
od.    In  the  end  of  the  year  1695  he  was  appointed  by 


«  Records  of  Presbytery  of  feebl'es,  for  February  f ,  and  28, 
and  March  21,  1694. 

+  Acts  of  General  Assembly  1694,  p.  27. 

X  Ibid.  II  Ibid.  p.  28,  29. 

5  Hist.  Relation  of  General  Assembly,  1690,  p.  47.  Second 
Vindication  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  p.  175.  Mr.  Campbell 
had  been  ejected  from  Dumfries  in  1672;  (Wod.  i.  App.  74.  Vt, 
613.)  and  died  in  July,  1701.  (Rec.  of  Town  Council  of  Edin- 
burgh.) 

IT  The  parish  of  Peebles  was  declared  vacant'on  the  19th  of 
August,  1694.  (Records  of  Presbytery.)  On  the  16th  of  Sep- 
tember, Mr.  Veitch  baptized  a  child  at  Peebles.  Mr.  James 
Thomsone  was  admitted  to  the  ministry  of  Peebles  on  the  25tii 
of  November,  1696.     (Records  of  Kirk-session.) 

**  Memoir,  p.  68. 

+f  Records  of  kirk-session  of  Dumfries,  11th  and  17th  Octo- 
ber, 1695,  and  13th  February,  1696. 

30 


466 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


the  presbytery  "  to  wait  on  the  Duke  of  Queensberry,* 
to  solicit  his  favour  with  respect  to  the  settlement  of 
stipends,  &c. ;  and  reported  a  favourable  and  satisfy- 
ing answer,  not  only  in  respect  of  this  corner,  but  of 
the  g-overnment  in  general."  On  the  10th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1696,  the  "  presbytery,  considering  that  it  is  an 
ancient  and  laudable  custom  of  this  church,  to  send 
some  of  their  number  to  the  place  where  the  parliament 
sits,  to  concur  with  such  other  ministers  as  may  be 
commissionate  from  other  presbyteries,  in  things 
which  may  be  needful  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the 
church's  welfare,  do  hereby  commissionate  and  ap- 
point Mr.  William  Veitch  to  attend  at  Edinburgh  for 
that  effect  during  this  session  of  parliament."f  His 
name  is  on  the  list  of  the  commission  of  the  general 
assembly  annually  from  1694  to  1705. :j: 

A  great  many,  both  ministers  and  people,  who  were 
among  the  heartiest  friends  of  the  civil  government 
and  presbytery,  disapproved  of  some  things  in  the  set- 
tlement of  religion  in  Scotland  at  the  Revolution,  al- 
though they  judged  it  their  duty  to  join,  both  in  Chris- 
tian and  ministerial  communion,  with  the  established 
church.  Their  dissatisfaction  was  increased  by  vari- 
ous measures  which  were  subsequently  adopted  by  the 
ecclesiastical  judicatories,  in  concert  with  or  under  the 
influence  of  the  court ;  particularly,  the  refusal  to  ap- 
prove of  the  laudable  steps  of  reformation  in  former 
times,  and  to  condemn  the  deviations  from  them  ;  the 
loose  terms  on  which  many  of  the  episcopal  clergy 
were  received  ;  the  encroachments  made  by  the  court 
on  the  liberty  of  the  church  in  the  appointing  of  fasts 
and  thanksgivings,  and  in  the  calling  and  dissolving 
of  assemblies  ;  and  the  imposition  of  different  oaths 
on  ministers  and  preachers,  as  qualifications  for  office. || 
These  sentiments  were  entertained  by  several  minis- 
ters in  the  synods  of  Dumfries  and  Galloway,  within 
whose  bounds  there  were  also  many  people  connected 
with  the  United  Societies,  who  kept  aloof  from  the 
Revolution  church,  and  even  disowned  the  civil  gov- 
ernment. In  October  1693,  Mr.  Hepburn,  minister  of 
Urr,  gave  in  a  paper  of  public  grievances  to  the  synod  ; 
and  he  was  subsequently  prosecuted  both  before  the  syn- 
od and  the  general  assembly,  and  even  imprisoned  for 
some  time,  for  freedoms  used  by  him  from  the  pulpit 
in  censuring  the  defections  of  the  church,  and  for 
preaching  and  baptizing  without  the  bounds  of  his 
own  parish. §  He  was  ultimately  deposed,  as  was 
also  Mr.  John  Macmillan,  minister  of  Balmaghie  who 
subsequently  joined  the  Cameronians,  and  organized 
them  under  the  Reformed  Presbytery.  Mr.  Veitch 
was  engaged  in  the  controversial  warfare  with  Mr. 
Hepburn  ;  but  I  have  not  seen  his  pamphlet.f  In 
October  1703,  a  petition  was  laid  before  the  synod  of 
Dumfries,  craving  that  steps  might  be  taken  for  renew- 
ing the  National  Covenant.  The  synod  approved  of 
the  zeal  of  the  petitioners,  and  appointed  some  of  their 
number  to  consult  the  commission,  and  advise  with 
grave,  godly,  and  experienced  ministers;  and  that,  in 
the  mean  time,  all  the  brethren  should  instruct  their 
flocks  in  the  nature  of  the  covenant.  It  was  reported 
at  next  meeting,  that  the  commission  having  risen  sud- 
denly, their  advice  had  not  been  obtained,  but  it  was 
ihe  opinion  of  the  grave  and  experienced  ministers, 
that  it  was  a  very  unfavourable  juncture  for  that  work. 
Another  petition,  presented  by  four  ministers,  for  sub- 
scribing the  directory  and  covenants,  along  with  the 
confession  of  faith,  was  referred  by  the  synod  in  Octo- 
ber 1708,  to  the  general  assembly.**     Similar  propo- 

*  James,  the  second  duke,  whose  father  died  on  the  28th  of 
March,  1695. 

+  Record*  of  the  Presbyterj  of  Dumfrieg. 

I  Acts  of  Assembly. 

I|  See  Memoirs  of  the  Public  Life  of  Mr.  James  Hogg,passim. 

\  Records  of  the  Synod  of  Dumfries  for  the  years  1693 — 
1705.     Acts  of  General  Assembly  during  the  same  period. 

IT  An  answer  by  Mr.  Hepburn  to  a  pamphlet  of  Mr.  William 
Veitch  is  preserved  in  MS.  in  the  Advocates  Library. 

»*  Records  of  Synod  of  Dumfries. 


sals  for  renewing  or  subscribing  the  national  covenants 
continued  to  be  made  at  a  still  later  period,  in  several 
presbyteries  and  synods,  in  the  west  and  north  of  Scot- 
land.* Even  the  statesmen,  cautious  as  they  were, 
had  at  one  time  nearly  engaged  themselves  unwittmg- 
ly  in  the  promotion  of  that  design.  In  the  year  1G96, 
on  the  alarm  produced  by  the  discovery  of  a  plot  for 
assassinating  King  William,  and  by  a  threatened  inva- 
sion from  France,  the  privy  council  of  Scotland  pro- 
posed the  subscription  of  a  bond  of  association  by  all 
well-aft'ected  subjects.  Coming  to  the  knowledge  of 
this,  the  inhabitants  of  the  western  shires  immediate- 
ly drew  up  a  bond,  in  which,  to  the  engagement  to  de- 
fend the  government,  they  added  a  clause  respecting 
the  defence  of  presbytery.  This  alarmed  the  mana- 
gers. "  I  expunged  these  words,  (says  the  Lord 
Justice  Clerk,)  and  withal  desired  they  might  forbear 
to  proceed  hastily  in  the  business." — "  As  to  these  as- 
sociations in  the  country,  (says  the  Earl  of  Argyle,) 
I  think,  suppose  one  here  fur  renewing  the  covenant, 
it  is  most  improper  at  this  time.  I  acknowledge,  I 
incline  not  the  length,  though  I  am  presbyterian."f 

Mr.  Veitch's  daughters  having  married  into  genteel 
and  wealthy  families,  and  his  sons  having  been  pro- 
vided for,  he  felt  himself  placed  in  easy  circumstances 
in  his  old  age,  and  had  it  in  his  power  to  do  favours 
to  some  persons  from  whom  he  had  formerly  expe- 
rienced little  kindness.  Some  lime  after  he  settled  at 
Dumfries,  he  received  a  visit  from  his  old  acquaintance 
Sir  Theophilus  Oglethorp,  who  had  apprehended  him 
in  Northumberland.:!:  Sir  Theophilus  lamented  to  him, 
that  he  had  lost  not  only  what  he  had  received  for  seiz- 
ing him,  and  for  his  other  services  under  the  former 
government,  but  all  his  property  besides.  Mr.  Veitch 
forgave  him  any  injury  which  he  had  done  him,  and 
made  the  humbled  knight  a  handsome  present.||  Ogle- 
thorp's  statement  of  his  case  appears  to  have  been 
correct.  In  1681,  the  parliament  had  granted  to  him, 
colonel  Maine,  and  captain  Cornwall,  "  for  their  good, 
faithful,  and  acceptable  services,"  the  forfeited  lands 
of  Gordon  and  Earlston,  Gordon  of  Craichlaw,  and 
Ferguson  of  Kaitloch.§  Before  1685,  Oglethorp  had 
purchased  the  shares  of  his  fellow-officers ;  T[  and  ac- 
cordingly would  lose  the  money  which  he  had  ad- 
vanced them,  when  the  estates  were  restored  to  their 
original  owners  at  the  Revolution.** 

Mr.  Veitch  appears  to  have  been  of  a  robust  consti- 
tution; but  his  health  began  to  fail  in  1709,  being 
the  seventieth  year  of  his  age.  In  the  beginning  of 
the  following  year,  "being  under  great  indisposition 
of  body,"  he  engaged,  with  the  consent  of  the  session 
and  presbytery,  Mr.  John  Thomson,  and  afterwards 
successively  Mr.  John  Veitch  tj"  (probably  a  relation 
of  his  own)  and  Mr.  Patrick  Linn,  probationers,  as 
his  assistants.     The  last  named  individual  was  or- 


*  Glass's  jVarrative  of  the  Controversy  about  the  National 
Covenanls,  p.  8.  109.  Apolog-y  for  the  Church  of  Scotland, 
by  J.  W.  BRainst  J.  S.  p.  4b.     Lawson's  Letter,  p.  28. 

f  Carstairs's  State  Papers,  p.  287—289. 

{  See  before,  p.  440. 

II  Notices  attached  to  genealog:ical  tree  of  the  family. 

8  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vol.  viii.  p.  323,  492. 

f  Ibid.  p.  586. 

**  Gordon  of  Craichlaw  and  Ferguson  had  previously  com- 
pounded with  hin)  for  a  considerable  sum;  and,  on  their  peti- 
tion, the  Scottish  parliament  recommended  their  case  to  the 
parliament  and  judicatures  of  England,  to  the  end  that  "Colo- 
nel Ogelthorp  may  be  obliged  to  refund  the  above-mentioned 
sum,  paid  upon  a  ground  which  is,  by  act  of  parliament,  gener- 
ally rescinded  in  favours  of  the  subjects  of  this  kingdom."  (Act. 
Pari.  Scot.  ix.  191,  202.)  The  derangement  of  his  aflairg  was 
probably  one  reason  why  these  gentlemen  were  so  long  frus- 
trated in  their  claims,  as  formerly  stated.  (See  before,  p.  440.) 
Sir  Theophilus  Oglethorp  married  Elcanora  Wall,  a  grand- 
daughter of  the  IVIai'quisof  Argyle.  His  three  sons  had  com- 
missions in  the  army  during  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne.  (Thores- 
by's  Leeds,  by  Whittaker,  p.  253.) 

+f  Mr.  John  Veitch,  minister  of  Wbitaom,  was  a  correspond- 
ent from  Merse  and  Tcviotdule  to  the  synod  of  Dumfries,  in 
April  1716. 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


467 


dained  as  one  of  the  ministers  of  Dumfries  on  the  19th 
of  May,  1715;  and  on  the  same  day  Mr.  Veitch  de- 
mitted  his  charge  on  account  of  his  age  and  infirmi- 
ties; reserving,  however,  a  right  to  preach  occasional- 
ly.* After  this  he  sat  no  more  in  the  session,  but  still 
retained  his  seat  in  the  presbytery  and  synod. 

Some  time  previous  to  this,  a  disagreeable  variance 
had  arisen  between  him  and  his  colleague,  Mr.  Paton, 
in  which  Mr.  Linn  came  also  to  be  involved.  It  ori- 
ginated in  a  dispute  about  the  right  to  a  burying- 
ground.  After  being  settled  by  arbitration,  it  again 
broke  out,  in  consequence  (as  Mr.  Veitch  alleges  in 
his  papers)  of  his  colleagues  refusing  to  employ  him 
to  preach,  because  he  bowed  in  the  pulpit,  after  divine 
service,  to  the  English  governor  and  officers,  whereas 
Palon  and  Linn  confined  that  mark  of  respect  to  the 
magistrates.  It  is  pretty  evident,  from  the  manner  in 
which  he  conducted  himself  in  this  quarrel,  and  espe- 
cially at  the  last  stage  of  it,  that  his  temper  and  men- 
tal faculties  had  begun  to  suffer  in  no  small  degree 
from  his  advanced  age.  In  the  year  1719,  he  carried 
the  cause  by  ap})eal  from  the  synod  to  th^  general  as- 
sembly. The  assembly  were  sensible  of  the  impro' 
priety  of  their  giving  judgment  on  it;  but  they  testi 
fied  their  respect  for  Mr.  Veitch,  by  appointing  their 
moderator  to  address  the  following  letter  to  each  of  his 
colleagues.]" 

"  Rev.  and  Dear  Brother, — The  very  Rev.  Mr. 
"William  Veitch  having  laid  before  the  committee  of 
bills,  an  appeal  from  your  synod,  was,  from  a  regard 
to  peace,  and  the  earnest  desire  of  that  committee,  pre- 
vailed upon  to  drop  it,  and  rest  satisfied  with  an  over- 
ture that  the  general  assembly  should  write  unto  you, 
which,  according  to  their  appointment,  1  do  :  signifying 
that  our  worthy  brother  having  served  in  the  work  of 
the  ministry  for  the  space  of  fifty-two  years,  and  during 
the  worst  of  times  ;  and  when  exposed  to  the  greatest 
danger  from  the  violence  of  persecution,  did  acquit 
himself  therein  with  a  distinguished  zeal  and  faithful- 
ness, and  having  demitted  his  charge  by  reason  of  in- 
firmity and  old  age,  with  an  express  reservation  of 
liberty  to  preach  when  he  desired,  the  general  assem- 
bly recommends  unto  you,  to  carry  toward  him  with 
that  endearing  brotherly  love  and  tenderness  which  his 
merit  so  justly  challenges,  and  that,  when  his  strength 
will  permit,  and  he  himself  desires,  and  gives  you 
timeous  advertisement,  ye  may  allow  him  to  preach  : 
and  this  we  hope  will  be  of  use  to  maintain  that  Chris- 
tian love  and  friendship,  which  on  all  occasions  ought 
to  take  place  among  the  servants  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  And  we  question  not  but,  as  an  evidence  of 
your  brotherly  regard  to  him,  all  proper  care  will  be 
taken  by  you  to  have  a  decent  place  of  interment  pro- 
vided for  him  and  his  spouse.  This,  in  name  and  at 
the  appointment  of  the  general  assembly,  is  signed  by, 
R.  D.  B.,  your  affectionate  brother  and  servant  in  the 
Lord, 

(Signed)  James  Grierson,  Mod."  if. 

Mr.  Veiteh  was  able  to  travel  to  Edinburgh  to  at- 
tend that  meeting  of  assembly,  but  he  was  not  present 
at  any  subsequent  meeting  of  his  presbytery  or  synod. 
He  died  in  the  month  of  May,  1722,  on  the  day  after 
his  wife ;  the  former  having  completed  his  eighty- 
second,  and  the  latter  her  eighty-fourth  year.||  They 
had  been  married  fifty-eight  years,  and  were  both  in- 
terred on  the  same  day,  in  the  Old   Church   of  Dum- 

*  Records  of  Presbytery  of  Dumfries  for  Jan.  3,  1710;  and  of 
Kirk-Session  of  Dumfries,  Jan.  ],  and  Dec.  14,  1710;  Oct.  1 
1713;  and  March  29,  1715. 

f  The  letter  was  drawn  up,  at  the  appointment  of  Assembly, 
by  four  ministers,  with  the  advice  of  the  Lord  Justice  Clerk  and 
Lord  Pencaitland. 

X  Papers  of  Mr.  Veitch,  in  possession  of  Mr.  Short,  town- 
clerk  of  Dumfries,  and  obligingly  communicated  by  him. 

II  "Maij  1722.  iVlr.  William  Veitch,  minister  of  the  gospel, 
and  Marion  Fairley,  his  spouse."  (Register  of  Burials  in  Dum- 
fries, between  5th  and  12th  of  May,  1722.) 


fries,  and  in  the  bnrial-place  which  the  kirk-session 
had  allotted  to  them*,  according  to  the  recommendation 
of  the  general  assembly.* 

The  only  printed  work  of  Mr.  Veitch  which  I  have 
seen,  consists  of  three  sermons  preached  by  him  on 
public  occasions. f  They  are  pious  and  sensible  dis- 
courses. He  had  ten  children,  four  of  whom  died 
young.  Elizabeth,  his  second  daughter,  was  married 
to  David  Macculloch  of  Ardwall.:|:  Sarah,  his  third 
daughter,  became  the  wife  of  James  Young  of  G'uilie- 
hill,||  from  whom  Samuel  Denholm  Young,  Esq.  of 
Guiliehill,  is  descended.  And  Agnes,  his  fourth 
daughter,  married  Mr.  John  Somerville,  minister  of 
Caerlaverock.  Mr.  Charles  Sheriff,  the  dumb  minia- 
ture-painter, was  her  grandson ;  and  the  present  re- 
presentative of  the  family  is  W.  Henderson  Somer- 
ville, Esq.  of  Fingask  and  Whitecroft.§ 

Mr.  Veitch's  two  eldest  sons,  William  and  Samuel, 
were  sent  to  him  when  he  was  in  Holland,  and  he  left 
them  behind  him  to  prosecute  their  education  at  one  of 
the  Dutch  universities.  Their  parents  had  destined 
them  for  the  church,  but  the  yoimg  men  chose  the 
army,  and  when  the  Prince  of  Orange  came  over  to 
England  in  16S8,  they  held  commissions  under  him.^f 
Both  of  them  served  in  Flanders  during  the  war  with 
France,  which  broke  out  after  the  Revolution.  Wil- 
liam was  a  lieutenant  in  Angus's  or  the  Cameronian 
regiment,  and  was  wounded  in  1692,  at  the  battle  of 
Steinkirk,  in  which  his  colonel,  the  earl  of  Angus, 
along  with  many  of  his  brave  comrades,  was  killed. 
"  On  the  day  after  the  battle,  he  wrote  to  his  father, 
that  he  was  shot  through  the  left  cheek,  an  inch  below 
the  eye,  and  the  ball  falling  into  his  mouth,  he  spat  it 
out.  The  marks  of  the  blood  from  the  wound  were 
upon  his  letter."  **  Referring  to  the  battle  of  Landen 
or  Nerwinden,  which  was  fought  in  1693,  Mrs.  Veitch 
says  :  "  Word  came,  that  King  William  and  the  King 
of  France  were  going  to  fight ;  and  my  two  eldest  sons 
being  in  the  camp,  when  I  heard  that  there  were  so 
many  killed,  I  was  in  great  fear.  Near  five  weeks 
after,  they  sent  a  letter,  telling  that  they  were  both 
living."  f  j-  On  the  termination  of  the  war  by  the  peace 
of  Ryswick  in  1697,  William  reached  home,  after  es- 
caping from  the  most  imminent  danger  from  ship- 
wreck. His  brother  Samuel  lay  dangerously  ill  in 
Holland,  but  recovering  soon  after,  joined  the  family 
at  Dumfries. :t::^ 

At  the  time  of  their  return,  the  attention  of  the  peo- 
ple of  Scotland  was  engrossed  with  the  projected  set- 
tlement of  a  colony  in  South  America,  under  the  di- 
rection of  the  Indian  and  African  Company,  which  had 
been  incorporated  two  years  before  by  act  of  parlia- 
ment.!] ||  The  scheme  originated  with  William  Pater- 
son,  a  Scotsman  possessed  of  true  genius,  united  to 
great  personal  modesty  and  simplicity  of  character^ 


*  Narrative  attached  to  a  genealogical  tree  of  the  famil}'; 
and  Record  of  Kirk-session  for  Feb.  2,  1721. 

t  The  title  of  the  work  is — "  Two  Sermons  preached  before 
his  Majestie's  High  Commissioner  and  the  Estates  of  Parlia- 
ment. By  the  appointment  of  the  Provincial  Synod  of  Lothian 
and  Tweeddale.  Upon  Sabbath,  the  7th  of  May,  1693.  Unto 
which  is  subjoined,  the  Sermon  preached  at  the  opening  up  of 
the  Synod,  May  2,  1693.  By  Mr.  William  Vetch,  Minister  of 
Peebles.  From  Haggai  ii.  4,  and  Col.  iv.  17.  Edinburgh: 
Printed  by  John  Reid.  Anno  1693."  12mo.  Dedicated  to  his 
Grace  the  Duke  of  Hamilton,  High  Commissioner. — A  copy  of 
this  book  is  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  William  Steven,  a  young 
man  who  has  already  discovered  a  laudable,  and  not  very  com- 
mon, curiosity  to  become  acquainted  with  the  history  of  the 
church  of  Scotland,  of  which  he  is  a  licentiate. 

J  In  a  genealogical  tree  of  the  family,  it  is  stated  that  Eben- 
ezer,  son  of  Elizabeth  Veitch,  married  a  sister  of  Macdowal  of 
French,  afterwards  carl  of  Dumfries. 

II  "  February  23,  1699.  Baptised  William,  lawful  son  of 
James  Young  of  Goolihill  and  Sarah  Veitch,  daughter  of  Mr. 
William  Veitch."     (Records  of  Kirk-Session  of  Dumfries.) 

5  Notes  on  family  Bible;  and  Genealogical  Tree. 

IT  Mrs.  Veitch's  Mem.  p.  9,  32. 

**  Ibid.  p.  55.  tt  Ibid.  p.  61, 62.  U  Ibid.  p.  63. 

nil  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  ix.  377. 


468 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


who  selected  a  spot  on  the  Isthmus  of  Darien,  where 
the  land  separating  the  Atlantic  from  the  Pacific 
Ocean  is  narrowest,  as  the  site  of  a  colony  of  his  coun- 
trymen, which  promised,  to  his  eager  and  discriminat- 
ing eye,  to  become  the  emporium  of  the  commerce  of 
the  world.  All  classes  of  the  nation  embarked  eagerly 
in  this  scheme,  some  actuated  by  the  hope  of  making 
a  fortune,  and  others  by  the  nobler  wish  of  promoting 
the  honour  of  their  country  and  extending  the  gospel. 
Among  others,  William  and  Samuel  Veitch  offered 
their  personal  services,  and  obtained  the  rank  of  cap- 
tain in  the  forces  which  the  company  were  authorised 
by  their  charter  to  raise.  Though  William  Veitch 
had,  in  addition  to  his  rank  in  the  army,  received  a 
commission  to  act  as  one  of  the  council  for  governing 
the  colony,  and  has  taken  the  oath  of  office,  he  was 
prevented  from  going  out  with  the  first  expedition.* 
But  his  brother  Samuel  went  in  the  fleet,  which  con- 
sisted of  three  ships  and  two  yachts,  and  sailed  from 
Leith  Roads  about  the  17th  of  July,  1698,  having  on 
board  1200  men,  of  whom  300  were  gentlemen. |  On 
the  3d  of  November  they  landed  between  Portobello 
and  Carthagena,  at  a  fine  harbour,  four  miles  from  the 
Golden  Island  ;  and  having  taken  possession  of  the 
country,  to  which  they  gave  the  name  of  New  Caledo- 
nia, proceeded  to  lay  the  foundation  of  a  fort  and  a 
town,  called  Fort  St.  Andrew  and  New  Edinburgh.:^^ 
They  made  it  their  earliest  business  to  establish  friend- 
ly treaties  with  the  chiefs  of  the  neighbouring  native 
tribes ;  ||  and  afterwards  sent  deputations  to  the  Span-- 
ish  authorities  at  Panama  and  Carthagena,  to  intimate 
their  wish  to  live  with  them  on  terms  of  amity  and  re^ 
ciprocal  intercourse.§  The  proclamation  of  the  coun- 
cil, made  at  New  Edinburgh,  on  the  28th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1698,  presents  us  with  the  singular  and  interesting 
fact,  of  the  first  colony  established  by  any  European 
people  on  liberal  principles  as  to  trade,  policy,  and  re- 
ligion.    The  following  are  extracts  from  it. 

"  We  do  hereby  publish  and  declare,  That  all  man- 
ner of  persons  of  what  nation  or  people  soever,  are  and 
shall  from  hence-forward  be  equally  free  and  alike 
capable  of  the  said  properties,  privileges,  protections, 
immunities,  and  rights  of  government  granted  unto  us ; 
and  the  merchants  and  merchants'  ships  of  all  nations, 
may  freely  come  to  and  trade  with  us,  without  being 
liable  in  their  persons,  goods,  or  effects,  to  any  man- 
ner of  capture,  confiscation,  seizure,  forfeiture,  attach- 
ment, arrest,  restraint,  or  prohibition,  for  or  by  reason 


*  In  a  scurrilous  pamphlet,  by  one  who  had  been  a  surgeon 
aboard  the  fleet  in  the  first  expedition,  and  who  afterwards 
hired  himself  to  the  English  as  a  writer  against  the  Scots  col- 
ony, Paterson  and  the  counsellors  are  treated  with  the  most  ig- 
norant and  low  abuse.  "  Veach,  a  man  of  no  trade,  but  advanced 
to  this  post  on  the  account  his  father  was  a  godly  minister,  and  a 

glorifier  of  God,  I  think,  in  the  Grass-marfiet.     Veach, 

being  sick  of  the  voyage,  stayed  at  home;  and  on  this  occasion 
William  Paterson  was  assumed  into  the  senate  in  Veach's  place, 
after  we  had  got  so  far  as  the  Madera's  on  our  voyage. — I  had 
almost  forgot  to  tell  you  of  our  clergy,  with  whom  1  ought,  in 
good  manners,  to  have  begun.  Two  ministers,  with  a  journey- 
man to  take  up  the  psalm,  were  commissioned  by  the  General 
Assembly,  with  full  instructions,  I  suppose,  to  dispose  of  the 
Bibles  among  the  Indians. — English  Bibles,  1500;  periwigs, 
4000,  some  long,  some  short.  Campaigns.  Spanish  bobs,  and 
natural  ones,"  &£.  (Defence  of  the  Scots  abdicating  Darien, 
p.  22,  34—37.) 

+  Caledonia  Papers,  series  i.  art.  1.3.  4;  MSS.  in  Advocates 
Library,  Jac.  V.  2.  12.  Carstairs,  State  Papers,  p.  392.  Mrs. 
Veitch's  Mem.  p.  69.  The  fleet  was  composed  of  the  Caledo- 
nia, St.  Andrew,  and  Unicorn,  company's  ships,  and  Dolphin 
and  Endeavour,  advice  yachts  or  tenders. 

{Caled.  Papers,  ser.  i.  art.  17. 
Ibid.  ser.   ii.  art.  39.     Act.  Pari.  Scot.  x.  249.     History 
of  Caledonia,  by  a  Gentleman  lately  arrived,  p.  21—34.  Lond. 
1699. 

6  Letter  from  Council  of  Caledonia  to  the  Governor  of  San- 
ta Maria,  Feb.  15,  1699:  Caled.  Papers,  ser.  ii.  art.  16.  Address 
of  Council  of  Caledonia  to  his  Majesty:  Collection  of  Ad- 
(Iresseg,  &;c.  p.  75.  Peterson's  Letter  to  a  Friend  in  Boston, 
Feb.  18,  1699:  Enquiry  into  Caute«  of  the  Miscarriage  of  the 
Scots  Colony  at  Darien,  p.  74. 


of  any  embargo,  breach  of  the  peace,  letters  of  mark, 
or  reprizals,  declaration  of  war  with  any  foreign  prince, 
potentate,  or  state,  or  upon  any  other  account  or  pre- 
tence whatsoever. 

"  And  we  do  hereby  not  only  grant,  concede,  and 
declare  a  general  and  equal  freedom  of  government 
and  trade  to  those  of  all  nations,  who  shall  hereafter 
be  of,  or  concerned  with  us ;  but  also  a  full  and  free 
liberty  of  conscience  in  matters  of  religion,  so  as  the 
same  be  not  understood  to  allow,  connive  at,  or  in- 
dulge the  blaspheming  of  God's  holy  name,  or  any 
of  his  divine  attributes  ;  or  of  the  unhallowing  or  pro- 
faning the  Sabbath  day. 

"  And  finally,  as  the  best  and  surest  means  to  ren- 
der any  government  successful,  durable,  and  happy,  it 
shall  (by  the  help  of  Almighty  God)  be  ever  our  con- 
stant and  chiefest  care  that  all  our  further  constitutions, 
laws,  and  ordinances,  be  consonant  and  agreeable  to 
the  Holy  Scripture,  right  reason,  and  the  examples  of 
the  wisest  and  justest  nations,  that  from  the  righteous- 
ness thereof,  we  may  reasonably  hope  for  and  expect 
the  blessings  of  prosperity  and  increase."  * 

The  founders  of  the  colony  may  be  thought  to  have 
have  carried  their  ideas  of  liberty  rather  too  far  in 
some  things,  or,  at  least,  not  to  have  attended  duly  to 
what  was  expedient  in  the  case  of  a  new  establish- 
ment, consisting  of  persons  entirely  unacquainted  with 
one  another,  and  strangers  to  the  measures  which  were 
essential  to  their  safety  and  subsistence  in  circumstan- 
ces so  peculiar  and  so  unlike  to  those  in  which  they 
had  hitherto  been  placed.  The  council  were  author- 
ised, or  rather  instructed,  to  call  a  parliament.  The 
fifth  article  of  the  constitution  runs  in  the  following 
terms: — "That  after  their  landing  and  settlement  as 
aforesaid,  they  (the  council)  shall  class  and  divide  the 
whole  freemen,  inhabitants  of  the  said  colony,  into 
districts,  each  district  to  contain  at  least  fifty,  and  not 
exceeding  sixty  freemen,  inhabitants,  who  shall  elect 
yearly  any  one  freeman,  inhabitant,  whom  they  shall 
think  fit  to  represent  them  in  a  parliament  or  council- 
general  of  the  said  colony;  which  parliament  shall  be 
called  or  adjourned  by  the  said  council  as  they  see 
cause,  and  being  so  constitute,  may,  with  consent  of 
the  said  council,  make  and  enact  such  rules,  ordinan- 
ces, and  constitutions,  and  impose  such  taxes,  as  they 
shall  think  fit  and  needful  for  the  good  establishment, 
improvement,  and  support  of  the  said  colony ;  pro- 
viding always  they  lay  no  farther  duties  or  impositions 
of  trade  than  what  is  here  under  expressed."  f  The 
parliament  actually  met,  and  had  at  least  two  sessions. 
During  the  first  session,  on  the  24th  of  April,  1699, 
it  enacted  thirty-four  laws  for  the  regulation  of  civil 
and  criminal  justice  in  the  colony.  Along  with  a  de- 
sire to  preserve  a  high  tone  of  public  morals,  they  dis- 
cover great  jealousy  in  guarding  personal  liberty.  The 
violation  of  women,  though  belonging  to  an  enemy,  is 
made  capital.  The  plundering  of  Indians  is  to  be 
punished  as  theft.  Ingratitude  is  stigmatized.  "No 
man  shall  be  confined  or  detained  prisoner  for  above 
the  space  of  three  months,  without  being  brought 
to  a  lawful  trial."  In  all  cases  criminal,  no  judg- 
ment shall  pass  against  any  man  "  without  the  con- 
sent and  concurrence  of  a  jury  of  fifteen  fit  persons." 
The  person  of  a  freeman  shall  not  be  subject  to  any 
restraint  whatever  for  debt,  "unless  there  shall  be 


*  Caled.  Papers,  ser.  i.  art.  4. 

T  Ibid.  ser.  i.  art.  4.  After  January  1,  1702,  imports  of 
European,  Asian,  or  African  goods,  in  ships  of  Scotland  or 
the  colony,  shall  pay  2  per  cent,  and  in  other  ships  3  per  cent. 
Imports  of  the  growth  and  product  of  American  plantations,  of 
what  nation  soever,  1  per  cent.  Exports  of  growth  of  Asia, 
Africa,  or  America,  in  Scots  or  colonial  vessels,  shall  pay  2  per 
cent,  and  in  other  vessels  4  per  cent.  After  reserving  I -20th 
of  the  lands,  and  of  precious  metals,  stones,  and  wood,  pearl- 
flshing,  and  wrecks,  "  the  company  communicate  to  the  colony, 
and  its  dependencies  which  it  may  plant,  all  their  privileges 
secured  by  act  of  parliament."  (Ibid.) 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


469 


fraud  or  the  design  thereof,  or  wilful  or  apparent  breach 
of  trust,  misapplication,  or  concealment,  first  proved 
upon  him."  * 

On  the  subject  of  the  parliament,  Mackay,  one  of  the 
counsellors,  writes  to  the  secretary  of  the  directors, 
"  We  found  the  inconvenience  of  calling  a  parliament, 
and  of  telling  the  inhabitants  that  they  were  freemen 
so  soon.  They  had  not  the  true  notion  of  liberty  :  the 
thoughts  of  it  made  them  insolent,  and  ruined  com- 
mand. You  know  that  it's  expressly  in  the  encourage- 
ments, that  they  are  to  serve  three  years,  and  at  the 
three  years'  end  to  have  a  division  of  land."  Mackay 
accordingly  signified  it  as  his  opinion,  that  the  parlia- 
ment should  not  be  convoked  till  the  end  of  that  pe- 
riod.")" One  great  objection  to  that  measure,  and  in- 
deed the  principal  cause  of  the  ruin  of  the  colony,  was 
the  character  of  the  greater  part  of  the  settlers.  No 
care  had  been  taken  in  their  selection.  The  young 
men  of  birth,  who  formed  too  large  a  proportion  of 
the  colony,  were  unfit  for  commanding,  and  too  proud 
to  submit  to  authority.  And,  among  the  lower  orders 
were  many  Highlanders  and  others  who  had  taken  part 
against  the  Revolution,  and  were  induced  to  join  the 
expedition  by  dissatisfaction  with  the  government  at 
home.  The  idle,  the  unprincipled,  and  profligate,  were 
at  no  loss  to  find  persons  to  recommend  them  among 
the  numerous  holders  of  shares  in  the  company.  Nor 
were  the  persons  nominated  as  counsellors,  and  espe- 
cially such  of  them  as  were  naval  ofl[icers,  qualified 
for  that  situation.  It  was  not  until  after  a  long  strug- 
gle that  Paterson  prevailed  on  his  colleagues  to  exer- 
cise the  right  vested  in  them,  by  assuming  other  indi- 
viduals into  the  government  along  with  them,  of  whom 
Samuel  Veitch  was  one.:}:  "  There  was  not  one  of  the 
old  council  fitted  for  government,  and  things  were 
gone  too  far  before  the  new  took  place."  || 

That  the  Spaniards  would  be  jealous  of  a  colony 
planted  so  near  their  possessions,  and  would  do  every 
thing  in  their  po\Yer  to  weaken  and  extirpate  it,  was 
what  the  Scots  were  prepared  for ;  but  they  did  not 
expect  the  same  treatment  from  the  Dutch,  whose 
Stadtholder  they  had  lately  made  a  king,  or  (which 
was  still  more  galling)  from  their  neighbours  and 
brethren,  the  English.  Sir  Paul  Rycaut,  the  English 
resident  at  Hamburgh,  had  opposed  a  treaty  of  com- 
merce between  that  town  and  the  Scottish  company  ;§ 
and  the  governors  of  Jamaica  and  the  other  plantations 
of  England  in  the  West  Indies  and  North  America, 
now  issued  proclamations,  prohibiting  all  intercourse 
with  the  colonists  of  New  Caledonia  and  the  furnish- 
ing of  them  with  provisions  or  necessaries  of  any  kind, 
and  tending  to  excite  the  Spaniards  against  them  as 
unauthorised  intruders  on  their  possessions.^  To 
these  discouragements,  and  the  alarm  of  an  attack 
from  Panama,  were  added  the  difficultips  which  every 
infant  colony  must  struggle  with,  and  for  which  the 
most  of  the  settlers,  both  of  the  better  and  poorer  class, 
were  ill  prepared.  A  great  part  of  the  provisions 
which  they  had  brought  with  them  was  found  to  be 
bad  ;  it  was  necessary  to  put  them  on  short  allowance  ; 
the  diseases  to  which  Europeans  are  incident  in  a  tro- 
pical climate  made  their  appearance  ;  a  spirit  of  insub- 
ordination broke  out ;  and  a  conspiracy,  having  for  its 
object  the  seizing  of  one  of  the  vessels  and  leaving  the 

*  Caled.  Papers,  ser.  ii.  art.  37.  This  curious  document  will 
be  found  at  length  in  the  Appendix. 

f  Ibid.  ser.  ii.  art.  4.  iMackay's  letter  was  written  in  Scot- 
land, and  the  parliameut  had  been  called  soon  after  he  left  the 
colony. 

I  Paterson's  Report  to  the  Directors,  on  his  return:  Caled. 
Papers,  ser.  ii.  art.  20. 

II  Paterson  to  Shields,  Edinb.  Feb.  6,  1700:  Ibid.  ser.  iii. 
art.  54. 

5  Collection  of  Addresses,  Memorials,  &c.  relating  to  the 
Company  of  Scotland  trading  to  .\frica  and  the  Indies,  p.  4 — 
32.     Act.  Pari.  Scot.  x.  242,  243. 

IT  Collection,  ut  supra,  p.  77—90.    Act.  Pari.  Scot.  x.  251. 


colony,  and  in  which  some  of  the  counsellors  were  in- 
volved, was  discovered.* 

Soon  after  their  arrival,  Paterson  had  proposed  send- 
ing captain  Veitch  home  to  represent  their  situation  to 
the  directors  ;  but  he  was  overruled,  and  a  Mr.  Hamil- 
ton was  sent,  which  proved  a  great  injury  to  the  col- 
ony, as  he  was  "  accomptant-general,  and  the  only  per- 
son fit  for  that  employment  and  for  the  management 
of  the  cargoes,  at  this  time  in  disorder."!  After  the 
assumption  of  new  counsellors  in  March  following,  the 
discontents  were  checked,  and  the  council  dispatched 
Mackay,  one  of  their  own  number,  to  Britain,  with  an 
address  to  his  Majesty,  and  a  pressing  request  to  the 
directors  to  send  out  with  all  expedition  supplies  of 
provision,  ammunition,  and  men.:|:  But  no  word  ar- 
riving from  home,  and  the  internal  state  of  the  colony 
becoming  worse,  the  council  suffered  themselves  to  be 
hurried  into  the  dastardly  resolution  of  evacuating  the 
settlement,  which  was  carried  into  effect  on  the  23d  of 
June,  1699,  within  eight  months  from  the  time  that 
they  had  taken  possession  of  it.||  This  was  a  blow 
which  almost  ])roved  fatal  to  the  vigorous  intellect  of 
Paterson.  When  the  minute  of  council  agreeing  to 
this  step  was  brought  to  him  to  sign,  he  was  on  board 
the  Unicorn,  to  which  he  had  been  conveyed  some  days 
before,  in  a  high  fever,  brought  on  by  vexation  at  the 
weakness  of  his  colleagues,  and  grief  at  the  sudden 
frustration  of  his  sanguine  hopes.§  The  depression  of 
his  spirits  continued  after  the  fever  had  abated  ;^  but 
having  recovered  the  tone  of  his  mind  at  New  York, 
he  sailed  for  Scotland  to  make  his  report  to  the  com- 
pany, and  give  them  his  best  advice  in  the  further  pros- 
ecution of  their  undertaking.  Samuel  Veitch,  who 
accompanied  him  from  Darien,  remained  at  New  York, 
a  circumstance  which  appears  to  have  made  an  unfa- 
vourable impression  on  the  minds  of  the  directors.** 
His  conduct,  in  subsequently  declining  to  accompany 
his  comrade  Drummond,  even  after  he  had  heard  that 
his  brother  was  on  the  passage  to  Darien,  gives  ground 
to  believe  that,  though  a  brave  and  skilful  officer,  he 
was  deficient  in  that  political  courage  and  resolution 
which  were  requisite  for  discharging  the  difficult  trust 
committed  to  him.f  f 

After  hearing  from  the  council  of  Caledonia,  the  di- 
rectors lost  no  time  in  sending  out  the  requisite  sup- 
plies for  their  colony.  They  had  previously  sent  dis- 
patches and  provisions  by  a  brig  which  sailed  from  the 
Clyde  on  the  24t.h  of  February  1699,  but  which  unfor- 
tunately never  reached  the  place  of  its  desti nation. :j::J: 


*  Letter  from  the  Council  of  Caledonia  to  the  Directors, 
April  21,  1699;  Caled.  Papers,  ser.  ii.  art.  13. 

t  Paterson's  Report  to  the  Directors,  Dec.  19,  1699:  Caled. 
Papers,  ser.  ii.  art.  20. 

\  Ibid.  "  Samuel  Veach"  signs  the  council's  address,  sent  by 
Mackay,  who  left  the  colony  "  on  the  10th  or  11th  of  April." 
Collection  of  Addresses,  &c.  p.  76. 

II  Caled.  Papers,  ser.  i.  71, 

{  "  Captain  Thomas  Drummond  and  captain  Samuel  Veitch 
had  met  with  Pennycook  and  Campbell,  and  held  their  last 
council,  (June  18,)  and  brought  orders  to  Paterson  to  sign  for 
their  departure  by  Boston  to  Scotland."  (Caled.  Papers,  ser.  ii. 
art.  20.) 

IT  "  Sept.  29,  1699.— Meantime  the  grief  has  broke  Mr. 
Paterson's  heart  and  brain;  and  now's  he's  a  child,  they  may 
do  what  they  will  for  him.  (Letter  from  J.  Borland,  Boston: 
Caled.  Papers,  ser.  ii.  art.  19.) 

**  Caled.  Papers,  ser.  i.  art.  74.  In  this  paper  the  Directors 
say,  "  Capt.  Sam.  Veitch  having  thought  fit  to  stay  behind  at 
New  York,  and  giving  us  but  shuffling  accounts  of  the.se  mat- 
ters, (the  cargo)  we  wish  that  Capt.  Drummond,  who  was  the 
only  other  counsellor  there,  would  give  us  the  best  light  he  can 
into  that  matter. 

ff  "  Mr.  Samuel  Veatch  acquainted  me  (says  Paterson)  that 
he  would  look  after  the  effects  put  ashore — and  that  by  that 
means  he  would  be  in  readiness  logo  back  to  the  colony  when 
he  should  receive  the  company's  orders."  (Caled.  Papers,  ser. 
ii.  art.  20.) 

II  Secret  Committee  of  the  Council  General  to  the  Council 
of  Caledonia:  Caled.  Papers,  ser.  ii.  art.  5.  Borland's  History 
of  Darien,  p.  22,  26. 


470 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


On  the  arrival  of  Hamilton,  Jamieson  of  the  Olive- 
Branch,  accompanied  by  another  vessel,  containing 
300  recruits,  well  equipped  with  provisions,  arms,  and 
ammunition,  was  dispatched  with  all  possible  expedi- 
tion.* He  was  followed  by  a  larger  fleet,  consisting 
of  four  ships,  and  containing  1300  men,  which  sailed 
from  the  Isle  of  Bute  on  the  24th  of  September  1699, 
and  reached  Caledonia  Bay  on  the  30th  of  November.f 
With  this  fleet  William  Veitch  went  out,  in  the  Rising 
Sun,  commanded  by  James  Gibson,  and  in  the  double 
capacity  of  captain  and  a  member  of  the  council. :J:  The 
directors  also  sent  off  individuals,  by  difierent  convey- 
ances, with  bills  of  credit  for  the  use  of  the  colony. || 
But  providence  frowned  on  all  their  attempts.  The 
recruits  in  the  Olive-Branch  and  her  consort,  finding 
the  settlement  deserted,  determined  to  repossess  it,  and 
await  the  arrival  of  the  fleet  which  was  to  follow  ;  but 
one  of  their  vessels  having  been  burnt  in  the  harbour, 
they  relinquished  the  attempt,  and  set  sail  for  Jamai- 
ca.§  When  the  fleet  arrived,  those  who  were  on 
board  were  thrown  into  the  greatest  perplexity.  The 
prospect  was  indeed  sufficiently  discouraging  to  per- 
sons who  expected  to  find  a  colony  planted,  and  ready 
to  receive  them.  The  huts  were  burned  down  ;  the 
fort  dismantled  and  dilapidated  ;  the  ground  which  had 
been  cleared,  was  again  overgrown  with  shrubs  and 
weeds ;  and  all  the  tools  and  instruments  of  husbandry 
were  taken  away.^f  A  general  demand  to  be  immedi- 
ately conducted  home  was  raised  in  the  ships,  which 
was  encouraged  by  Byres,  one  of  the  most  forward 
and  bustling  members  of  the  council ;  and  it  was  with 
the  utmost  difficulty  that  captain  Veitch  prevailed  on 
his  colleagues  to  land  the  men.**  In  this  he  was 
greatly  assisted  by  Thomas  Drummond,  an  enterpri- 
sing officer  and  one  of  the  former  counsellors,  who, 
having  learned  at  New  York  that  supplies  were  on 
their  way  from  Scotland,  had  returned  to  the  colony  in 
a  sloop  with  provisions,  and  collected  six  or  seven  res- 
olute fellows  belonging  to  the  Olive-Branch,  who  had 
determined  to  remain  in  the  place,  and  live  among  the 
natives  until  the  Rising  Sun's  party  should  arrive. ff 

As  the  Spaniards  had  openly  testified  their  hostility 
to  the  colony  by  sending  troops  against  the  former  set- 
tlers,:}::^ and  were  now  busily  employed  in  preparations 
for  invading  it,  Drummond  proposed  to  anticipate  them 
by  an  immediate  attack  on  Porto  Bello,  which  they 
could  easily  reduce.  This  bold  measure  would  have 
inspired  the  colonists  with  confidence  in  themselves, 
and  supplied  them  with  the  resources  which  they  were 
most  in  want  of.  It  met  with  the  approbation  of  Veitch, 
but  was  defeated  by  the  timidity  of  some  of  his  col- 
leagues, and  by  the  factious  disposition  of  Byres,  who 
delighted  to  thwart  the  views  of  Drummond,  and  who, 
taking  advantage  of  certain  words  in  the  instructions 
of  the  directors,  rendered  ambiguous  by  the  recent  de- 


♦  Sailed  from  Leitb,  May  12,  1699.  Caled.  Papers,  ser.  ii. 
art.  14. 

+  Caled.  Papers,  sen.  ii.  art.  30.  The  fleet  consisted  of  the 
Rising  Sun,  Hope.  Duke  Hamilton,  and  Hope  of  Borrowston- 
ness.  Just  as  they  were  about  to  set  sail,  intelligence  of  the 
evacuation  of  the  colony  reached  the  Directors,  who  sent  an 
express  to  stop  them;  but  they,  "  for  reasons  best  known  to 
themselves,"  had  sailed  hastily,  twenty-four  hours  before  Mac- 
kay,  one  of  the  former  counsellors,  could  reach  Bute  with  ad- 
ditional instructions  founded  on  his  local  knowledge.  (Ibid, 
ger.  i.  art.  74.) 

X  Ibid.  ser.  i.  art.  83.     Mrs.  Veitch's  Mem.  p.  71. 

11  Ibid.  Short  and  Impartial  View,  p.  9—13. 

6  Caled.  Papers,  ser.  i.  art.  74.  Borland's  History  of  Darien, 
p.  28. 

H   Borland,  p.  29. 

**  Caled.  Papers,  ser.  iii.  art.  67. 

++  Caled.  Papers,  ser.  ii.  art.  8.  Borland,  25,  30,  34.  The 
court  of  directors  expressed  their  warmest  approbation  of 
"these  gentlemen's  frankness  and  merit,  in  having  so  just  and 
tender  a  regard  to  the  honour  of  their  country,  and  the  interest 
of  our  company  and  colony."  (Caled.  Papers,  ser.  i.  art.  74.) 

IX  Captain  James  Montgomery  defeated  a  party  of  Spaniards 
within  the  territories  of  the  Indian  captain  Pedro,  on  the  6th 
of  February,  1699.  Caled.  Pap.  ser.  ii.  art.  2. 


Sertion  of  the  settlement,  succeeded  in  excluding  him 
from  the  council.* 

Two  ministers,  Messrs.  James  and  Scot,  had  been 
sent  out  with  the  first  expedition,  one  of  whom  died  on 
the  passage,  and  the  other  soon  after  his  arrival  at 
Darien.  The  council  having  written  home  to  the  di- 
rectors, regretting  the  death  of  their  ministers,  and 
begging  that  others  might  be  sent  to  supply  their 
place,  the  commission  of  the  general  assembly,  at  the 
particular  desire  of  the  board  of  directors,  missioned 
the  well-known  Mr.  Alexander  Shields,  and  three 
other  ministers,  who  sailed  in  the  last  fleet. f  They 
were  instructed,  on  their  arrival,  with  the  advice  and 
concurrence  of  the  government,  to  set  apart  a  day  for 
solemn  thanksgiving;  to  form  themselves  into  a  pres- 
bytery ;  to  ordain  elders  and  deacons ;  and  to  divide 
the  colony  into  parishes,  that  so  each  minister  might 
have  a  particular  charge.  After  which  it  was  recom- 
mended to  them,  "  so  soon  as  they  should  find  the  col- 
ony in  case  for  it,  to  assemble  the  whole  Christian  in- 
habitants, and  keep  a  day  together  for  solemn  prayer 
and  fasting,  and  with  the  greatest  solemnity  and  seri- 
ousness to  avouch  the  Lord  to  be  their  God,  and  dedi- 
cate themselves  and  the  land  to  the  Lord."  They 
were  also  particularly  instructed  to  "  labour  among  the 
natives,  for  their  instruction  and  conversion,  as  they 
should  have  access. "4^  The  circumstances  in  which 
they  found  the  colony,  precluded  them  from  thinking 
of  carrying  the  most  of  these  instructions  into  execu- 
tion. Two  of  them,  however,  preached  on  land,  and 
one  of  them  on  board  the  Rising  Sun,  every  Sabbath; 
but  the  irreligion  and  licentiousness  which  prevailed 
among  the  colonists,  in  addition  to  the  unfavourable 
aspect  of  their  external  affairs,  oppressed  their  spirits, 
and  paralysed  their  exertions.  They  undertook  a  jour- 
ney into  the  interior,  in  company  with  lieutenant  Turn- 
bull,  who  had  a  slight  knowledge  of  the  Indian  lan- 
guage, with  a  view  of  becoming  acquainted  with  the 
natives ;  and  having  spent  some  nights  with  them  iu 
their  cabins,  brought  back  the  first  word  to  the  colony 
of  the  approach  of  the  Spaniards. || 

When  apprised  of  all  the  circumstances,  the  direc- 
tors felt  indignant  at  the  conduct  of  those,  who,  on  such 
slight  grounds,  had  left  the  settlement  desolate,  and 
"  whose  glory"  (to  use  their  own  emphatic  language) 
"  it  would  have  been  to  have  perished  there  rather  than 
to  have  abandoned  it  so  shamefully."  In  their  letters 
to  the  new  counsellors  and  officers  they  implored  them 
to  keep  the  example  of  their  predecessors  before  their 
eyes  as  a  beacon,  and  to  avoid  those  ruinous  dissen- 
sions and  disgraceful  vices  on  which  they  had  wrecked 
so  hopeful  an  enterprise.  They  blame  the  old  council 
for  deserting  the  place,  "without  ever  calling  a  parlia- 
ment or  general  meeting  of  the  colony,  or  consulting 
their  inclinations  in  the  least,  but  commanding  them  to 
a  blind  and  implicit  obedience;  which  is  more  than 
they  ever  can  be  answerable  for.  Wherefore  (con- 
tinue they)  we  desire  you  would  constitute  a  parlia- 
ment, whose  advice  you  are  to  take  in  all  important 
matters.  And  in  the  mean  time  you  are  to  acquaint 
the  officers  and  planters  with  the  constitutions,  and  tlie 
few  edditional  ones  sent  with  Mr.  Mackay,  that  all  and 
every  person  in  the  colony  may  know  their  duty,  ad- 


*  Queries  by  Drummond,  in  his  accusation  of  Byres:  Caled. 
Papers,  ser.  i.  art.  66.  Borland,  44.  The  committee  appointed 
by  the  board  of  directors  to  inquire  into  this  afl'air  decided 
against  Byres,  and  appealed,  among  other  proofs,  to  the  letters 
of  Shields.  Caled.  Papers,  ser.  iii.  art.  44.  He  afterwards  at- 
tempted, but  without  success,  to  vindicate  his  conduct,  in  "A 
Letter  to  a  Friend  in  Edinburgh  from  Rotterdam — by  James 
Byres;"  printed  anno  1702.  Byres  was  a  merchant.  Caled. 
Pap.  ser.  iii.  art.  42. 

t  Caled.  Papers,  ser.  ii.  art.  7,  31,  32.  Letter.  Robert  Wy- 
lie  to  Mr.  Shields:  MSS.  in  Advocates  Library,  Rob.  IIL  3,  6, 
art.  145.     Borland,  22,  34. 

{  Copy  of  the  Commission  to  the  Presbytery  of  Caledonia, 
in  Borland,  p.  34—37. 

11  Caled.  Paoers,  ser.  iii.  art.  43.     Borland,  38, 40, 44—49. 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


471 


vantages,  and  privileges."*  Alarmed  at  the  accounts 
which  they  soon  after  received  from  Darien,  the  coun- 
cil-general of  the  company  dispatched  a  proclamation, 
declaring  that  it  shall  be  lawful  to  any  person  of  what- 
ever degree  inhabiting  the  colony,  not  only  to  protest 
against,  but  to  disobey  and  oppose,  any  resolution  to 
desert  the  colony;  "  and  that  it  shall  be  death  either 
publicly  or  privately  to  move,  deliberate,  or  reason 
upon"  any  such  desertion  or  surrender,  without  special 
order  from  the  council-general  for  that  etfect.  And 
they  order  and  require  the  council  of  Caledonia  to  pro- 
claim this  solemnly,  as  they  shall  be  answprabie.| 
But  before  these  orders  were  issued,  the  event  wliich 
the  company  dreaded  so  much  had  taken  place. 

Though  the  men  were  now  busily  employed  in  re- 
building the  huts  and  repairing  the  fort,  strenuous  ef- 
forts to  discourage  the  work  continued  to  be  made  in 
the  council,  by  the  faction  which  sought  the  evacua- 
tion of  the  settlement.  It  was  with  difficulty  that  cap- 
tain Veitch  was  allowed  to  protest  against  some  of  their 
resolutions  ;:j:  and  for  opposing  them  with  warmth,  cap- 
tain Drummond  was  laid  under  arrest.  Speaking  of 
the  latter,  Mr.  Shields  says, — "  Under  God  it  is  owing 
to  him,  and  the  prudence  of  captain  Veitch,  that  we 
have  staid  here  so  long,  which  was  no  small  difficulty 
to  accomplish. "II  And  in  another  letter,  written  a  few 
days  after,  he  says, — "If  we  had  not  met  with  him, 
(Drummond,)  at  our  arrival,  we  had  never  settled  in 
this  place  :  Byres  and  Lindsay  being  averse  from  it, 
and  designing  to  discourage  it,  from  the  very  first : 
Gibson  being  indiiferent,  if  he  get  his  pipe  and  dram  : 
only  Veitch  resolved  to  promote  it,  who  was  all  along 
Drumraond's  friend,  and  concurred  with  his  proposal 
to  send  men  against  the  Spaniards  at  first,  and  took 
the  patronizing  of  his  cause  as  long  as  he  could  conve- 
niently, but  with  such  caution  and  prudence,  as  to 
avoid  and  prevent  animosity  and  faction,  (which  he 
saw  unavoidable,)  threatening  the  speedier  dissolution 
of  this  interest,  if  he  should  insist  on  the  prosecution 
of  that  plea,  and  in  opposition  to  that  speat  that  was 
running  against  Drummond,  But  now  Fanabj  com- 
ing, who  was  Drummond's  comrade  and  fellow-officer 
in  Lorn's  regiment  in  Flanders,  he  is  set  at  liberty ."§ 

In  the  mean  time  the  Spanish  troops  from  Panama 
and  Santa  Maria  advanced  by  land  against  the  colo- 
ny, being  conducted  through  the  woods  by  Indians  and 
Negroes.  Captain  Campbell  of  Fanab,  at  the  head  of 
200  men,  drove  them  back  in  a  skirmish  in  which  he 
was  wounded  ;  but  a  fleet  of  eleven  ships,  under  the 
command  of  Don  Juan  Pimienta,  the  governor  of  Car- 
thagena,  having  blockaded  the  harbour,  and  landed  a 
reinforcement  at  some  distance,  they  again  advanced, 
and  invested  the  fort.**  Being  cut  off  from  water,  re- 
duced by  sickness,  and  in  despair  of  relief  from  home, 
the  garrison  -Weie  loud  in  their  demands  for  a  capitu- 
lation, to  which  the  council  w^ere  constrained  to  agree. 
Accordingly  captain  Veitch,  being  duly  authorised  by 
his  colleagues,  entered  into  a  capitulation  with  the 
Spanish   commander,  to  evacuate   the   settlement  on 


*  Caled.  Papers,  ser.  i.  art.  74. 

f  The  proclamation  bears  to  have  been  "Given  at  the  Com- 
pany's house  in  Edinburgh,  the  3d  day  of  June,  1700."  Caled. 
Papers,  ser.  i.  art.  69.  "  The  unaccountable  manner  in  which 
your  predecessors  left  the  settlement  has  been — detestable  to 
this  nation  in  general,  and  to  our  company  in  particular,"  say 
the  directors  to  the  council.  Ibid.  ser.  i.  art.  93.  Owing  to  the 
"  unaccountable  conduct  and  intolerable  insolence  in  their 
double  capacities,"  of  the  commanders  of  the  first  ships,  the 
directors  had  come  to  the  resolution  that  none  of  the  counsel- 
lors should  have  any  other  capacity.  Ibid.ger.  iii.  art.  65. 

t  Ibid.  ser.  i.  art.  66,  69,  ii.  29. 

II  Letter  about  the  beginning  of  March,  1700:  Caled.  Papers, 
ser,  iii.  art.  68. 

5  Alexander  Campbell  of  Fanab  had  been  Lieut.  Colonel,  and 
Thomas  Drummond,  a  Captain,  in  Argyle's  regiment.  (Act. 
Pari.  Scot.  xi.  174.  App.  61.) 

f  Caled.  Pap.  ser.  iii.  art.  67. 

**  Ibid.  ser.  iii.  68.     Borland,  59. 


honourable  terras.*  The  inhabitants  having  gone  on 
board,  with  all  their  goods  and  provisions,  they  weigh- 
ed anchor  on  the  11th  of  April,  1600,  and  sailed  foi 
Jamaica,  after  having  occupied  Caledonia  about  four 
months  and  a  half.  During  the  siege  "  captain  Veitch 
had  the  great  burden  of  aflfairs  lying  on  him,  because 
captain  Gibson  tarried  most  part  aboard  his  ship ;" 
and  the  other  counsellors  either  were  dead,  had  left  the 
colony,  or  refused  to  act.j-  Having  sailed  in  the  com- 
pany's ship  the  Hope,  Veitch  died  at  sea,  before  the 
vessel  was  wrecked  on  the  rocks  of  Colorades,  on  the 
western  coast  of  Cuba.  All  parties  agreed  in  paying 
an  honourable  tribute  to  the  memory  of  captain  Wil- 
liam Veitch.  "  He  was  a  sober,  discreet,  and  prudent 
man,  (says  Borland)  but  broken  with  the  many  crosses 
and  burdens  he  met  with  in  his  undertaking.":]:  And 
Byres,  whose  measures  he  had  all  along  resisted,  says, 
"  I  know  that  captain  Veitch  was  very  faithful,  and 
laid  out  all  he  received  on  the  company's  goods  duly 
for  the  men's  provisions. "|j  The  Rising  Sun  was 
wrecked  on  the  bar  of  Carolina,  and  the  captain,  crew, 
and  passengers,  with  the  exception  of  sixteen  persons 
who  had  previously  landed,  were  lost.§ 

Thus  unfortunately  terminated  the  only  attempt  at 
colonization  ever  made  by  the  nation  of  Scotland.  Its 
failure  produced  a  ferment  at  home,  which  it  required 
all  the  arts  and  influence  of  the  court  to  allay .^  The 
scheme  was  ruined  by  the  first  desertion  of  the  settle- 
ment, and  that  was  owing  chiefly  to  disunion  and  want 
of  energy  in  the  council.  If  the  directors  had  taken 
care  to  put  the  government  of  the  colony  at  first  into 
good  hands;  if  they  had  placed  a  man  of  capacity  at 
their  head  for  a  limited  time  ;  if  they  had  sent  out  ad- 
vices and  supplies  early  and  frequently  ;  and  if  Eng- 
land had  acted  with  a  moderate  share  of  liberality,  or 
foresight,  it  would  not  have  been  in  the  power  of  Spain 
to  mar  the  success  of  the  settlement.  And  if  it  had 
succeeded,  who  can  estimate  the  extent  of  the  changes 
which  it  would  have  produced  on  the  state  of  the 
American  continent,  the  British  settlements,  and  the 
commerce  of  the  world  1  In  that  case,  the  author  of 
the  scheme,  instead  of  being  regarded  merely  as  an  in- 
genious speculator,  would  have  had  his  name  enrolled 
among  great  men  and  the  benefactors  of  their  species. 
William  Paterson  possessed  the  patriotism  and  love  of 
liberty  which  distinguished  his  friend  and  coadjutor, 
Andrew  Fletcher  of  Salton,  without  the  strong  shade 
of  national  partiality  which  narrowed  the  views  of  that 
celebrated  politician.  He  was  defrauded  of  the  hon- 
our due  to  him  in  the  formation  of  the  Bank  of   Eng- 


*  The  resolution  to  capitulate  was  agreed  to  on  the  18th  of 
March  at  a  meeting  of  council  in  the  fort,  attended  by  the  land 
and  sea  officers.  (Caled.  Paper.«,  ser.  i.  art.  83.)  The  follow- 
ing is  the  commission  to  Veitch: — "We  undersubscribing, 
counsellors  of  Caledonia,  doe  hereby  empower  you.  Captain 
Williani  Veitch,  one  of  our  number,  to  goe  to  the  Spanish 
ramp,  and  there  with  his  Excellencie  Don  Juan  Pimienta,  gen- 
eral of  the  army  and  governor  of  Carthagena,  to  treat,  capitu- 
late, and  agree  upon  what  articles  you  shall  find  most  conve- 
nient lor  our  leaving  our  settlement  here,  and  what  you  doe 
herein  we  obleige  ourselves  to  perform.  In  testimony  where- 
of." &c.  March  21,  1700.  (lb.  i.  97.)  The  articles  of  capitula- 
tion, which  were  subscribed  on  the  31«t  of  March,  are  publish- 
ed by  Borland.     (Hist.  p.  66—68.) 

f  Borland,  65. 

\  Ibid.  84.  He  came  on  board  the  Margaret  of  Dundee  on 
the  8th  of  July;  (Caled.  Papers,  ser.  iii.  art.  SO.)  and  probably 
died  soon  after.  Lieutenant  Turnbull,  in  his  deposition  given 
in  to  the  Directors  of  the  Company  after  his  return  to  Scotland, 
"  declares  that  when  Captain  William  Veitch  died  on  board  of 
the  Company's  ship  the  Hope,  he  had  two  bags  of  money  in  his 
chest,  belonging  (as  he  believes  upon  credible  grounds)  to 
Archibald  Stewart ;"  that  the  key  was  given  him  by  the  de- 
ceased; that  he  did  not  think  himself  at  liberty  to  deliver  it  or 
the  money  up,  except  to  Veitch's  father  or  the  Directors;  but 
that  Captain  Colin  Campbell,  as  eldest  officer,  requiring  it  "  in 
a  conmranding  manner,"  he  was  forced  to  yield,  after  taking  a 
protest  before  witnesses.     (Caled.  Papers,  ser.  iii.  art.  43.) 

II  Byres's  Letter  to  a  Friend  in  Edinburgh,  p.  93. 

}  Borland,  79—81. 

T  Laing's  Hist,  of  Scotland  Ji..244—6,.250. 


472 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


land,  by  persons  who  viere  as  inferior  to  him  in  genius 
as  they  were  in  generosity  ;  but  instead  of  wasting  his 
time  in  declaiming  against  the  ingratitude  of  mankind, 
he  directed  his  great  powers  to  the  opening  up  of  ano- 
ther channel  for  promoting  their  good.  And  when 
that  also  failed,  he  did  not  seek  to  abate  his  mortifica- 
tion, or  to  vindicate  his  fame,  by  throwing  the  blame 
of  its  miscarriage  on  the  directors  who  had  undertaken 
to  manage  it ;  but  he  went  to  these  very  individuals, 
and  submitted  to  them  a  new  plan  of  public  utility  less 
calculated  to  alarm  men  of  timid  minds;  and  in  order 
the  more  effectually  to  secure  its  success,  he  proposed 
to  admit  to  a  large  share  of  its  advantages  that  very 
nation  which  had  so  ungenerously  thwarted  his  favour- 
ite and  most  splendid  scheme.*  These  are  proofs  of 
something  which  is  greater  than  genius,  and  to  which 
few  men  of  genius,  alas  !  now-a-days  at  least,  have 
a  title  to  lay  claim. 

The  reader  will  excuse  this  digression.  1  have  been 
drawn  into  it  by  the  interesting  nature  of  the  subject, 
and  by  regret  at  the  unsatisfactoriness  of  the  accounts 
of  it  which  are  before  the  public.  The  modern  ac- 
counts of  the  colony  at  Darien  are  chiefly  borrowed 
from  Sir  John  Dalrymple,f  who,  in  liis  Memoirs,  pro- 
fesses to  have  taken  his  facts  from  the  unpublished 
papers  of  the  company.  But  so  far  from  having  avail- 
ed himself  of  these  documents,  he  has  given  a  very 
imperfect  and  inaccurate  representation  of  what  is  con- 
tained in  the  printed  narratives.  All  that  he  has  done 
is  to  throw  an  air  of  romance  over  the  story,  and  to 
tinge  it  with  his  own  prejudices.  He  talks  ridiculous- 
ly of  the  first  fleet  sent  out  by  the  company,  as  suffi- 
cient "  to  have  gone  from  the  northmost  part  of  Mexico 
to  the  southmost  of  Chili,  and  to  have  overturned  the 
whole  empire  of  Spain  in  the  South  Seas.":j:  He  rep- 
resents the  Spaniards  in  the  new  world,  as  showing 
kindness  to  the  Scottish  colonists  after  they  left  Dari- 
en :  when  it  is  well  known  that  such  of  them  as  hap- 
pened to  be  shipwrecked  on  their  coasts,  were  treated 
with  great  barbarity,  and  detained  for  years  in  Spanish 

Erisons.jl  He  speaks  of  colonel  Campbell  of  Finab 
aving  "dissipated  the  Spanish  force  with  great 
slaughter,"  when  there  were  only  eight  or  nine  of  the 
Spaniards  killed,  and  three  taken  prisoners,  in  the  skir- 
mish referred  to ;  and  he  represents  that  officer  as 
bravely  conducting  the  defence  of  the  fort,  when  he 
was  in  fact  lying  sick  on  board  one  of  the  vessels. § 
His  whole  account  of  the  conduct  of  the  ministers  sent 
out^by  the  church  of  Scotland  is  pure  rodomontade  ;^ 
and  had  he  looked  into  the  papers  of  the  company,  he 
would  have  found  all  his  statements  on  this  head  flatly 
contradicted.  How  could  the  ministers  find,  "  when 
they  arrived,  the  officers  and  gentlemen  occupied  in 
building  houses  for  themselves  with  their  own  hands," 
when  they  all  arrived  at  the  same  time  1  It  is  true 
that  one  of  the  ministers,  in  a  printed  history  of  the 
colony,  states  that  they  could  not  get  huts  erected  for 
them  during  the  whole  of  their  stay,  and  were  obliged 
to  live  on  board  the  ships,  which  prevented  them  from 


•  Carstairs,  State  Pajiers,  p.  631,  645,  656.  Paterson's  Last 
Plan:  Caled.  Pap.  uer.  i.  art.  77.  Dalryniple,  Mera.  App.  to  P. 
iii.  B.  vi. 

f  This  asserrion  is  not  intended  to  apply  to  Mr.  Laing; 
though  prepossessed  with  the  idea  that  the  Darien  colony  was 
of  the  satne  character  as  the  South  Sea  and  Mississippi  schemes, 
fae  has  not  treated  it  with  his  usual  research  and  penetration. 

I  Memoirs  of  Great  Britain,  vol.  iii.  p.  133.  8vo. 

II  Carstairs,  State  Papers,  p.  676.  Scotland's  Grievances  re- 
lating to  Darien,  p.  8.  Graham,  one  of  the  persons  wrecked  in 
captain'  Pinkerton's  shfp,  depones  that  they  were  stripped — put 
in  a  dungeon — starved — made  to  work  with  slaves — put  in  irons 
at  Havannah — sent  in  irons  to  Cadiz — sent  in  irons  in  a  small 
boat  to  Seville — coP'Iemned  as  pirates — and  kept  in  irons  till 
liberated  in  Septeraoer,  1700.  (Caled.  Papers,  ser.  rii.  art.  48. 
comp.  i.  85.)  The  treatment  which  the  crew  of  the  Little  Hope 
met  with,  after  the  capitulation,  was  simitar.  (Act.  Pari.  Scot. 
xi.  App.  114.) 

6  Dalrymple's  Mem.  ut  supra,  p.  140.  Carstain,  p.  612 — 
615.     Borland.  58. 

T  Dalrymple,  p.  136— 143. 


a  proper  discharge  of  their  duty  ;  but  there  is  no  evi- 
dence whatever  that  they  "  complained  grievously" 
that  these  were  not  "  immediately  built  for  their  accom- 
modation." So  far  were  they  from  wishing  to  quit  the 
settlement,  and  from  fomenting  discontent,  that,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  they  supported  those  counsellors 
and  officers  who  were  most  anxious  to  remain.  If 
they  complained  of  the  licentiousness  of  many  of  the 
officers  and  gentlemen,  this  was  no  more  than  the  court 
of  directors  did  upon  the  best  information.  "  It's  a 
lasting  disgrace  (say  they)  to  the  memories  of  those 
officers  who  went  in  the  first  expedition,  that  even  the 
meanest  planters  were  scandalized  at  the  licentiousness 
of  their  lives,  many  of  thc-m  living  very  intemperately 
and  viciously  for  many  months  at  the  public  charge, 
whilst  the  most  sober  and  industrious  among  them 
were  vigilant  in  doing  their  duty.— Nor  can  we,  upon 
serious  reflection,  wonder  if  an  enterprise  of  this  na- 
ture has  misgiven  in  the  hands  of  such  as  we  have  too 
much  reason  to  believe  neither  feared  God  nor  regard- 
ed man."*  The  directors  found  reason  soon  after  to 
express  an  opinion  not  much  more  favourable  of  the 
successors  of  the  first  colonists. | 

The  same  paper  bears  honourable  testimony  to  the 
character  of  the  ministers.  In  a  letter  to  captain  Tho- 
mas Drummoiid,  Paterson  says,—"  I  have  wrote  to 
Mr.  Alexander  Shields.  Pray  converse  with  him,  and 
take  his  advice ;  for  you  will  find  him  a  man  of  cour- 
age and  constancy,  and  that  does  not  want  experience 
of  the  world.  I  hope  much  from  him  and  you.":^ 
"  Pray  remember  me  kindly  to  Mr.  Shiels,  (says  one 
of  the  leading  directors,)  whose  joining  with  captain 
Thomas  Drummond's  motion  for  attacking  Portobell 
makes  him  so  valued  and  beloved  here  that  it  will 
never  be  forgot."!)  Writing  to  the  officers  of  the  col- 
ony, the  directors  say,  "  You  have  the  advantage  of 
having  good  ministers  to  watch  over  you ;  and  we 
hope  you'll  give  them  no  occasion  by  any  indecent 
behaviour,  to  repine  at  their  having  gone  such  a  voyage, 
which  we  are  assured  nothingcan  make  them  do  so  much 
as  the  contempt  of  ordinances.  We  hope  better  things 
of  you."§  To  the  council  they  write  : — "  We  earnest- 
ly press  and  recommend  you,  to  suppress  riot  and  im- 
moralities :  but  especially  that  you  encourage  virtue 
and  discourage  vice  by  the  example  of  your  own  lives, 
and  give  all  the  necessary  assistance  to  your  ministers, 
in  establishing  discipline  and  good  order  among  your 
people."^  There  are  three  letters  by  the  directors  to 
"  the  moderator  and  remanent  members  of  the  church 
of  Caledonia,"  written  in  the  most  respectful  and  con- 
fidential strain.  They  tell  them,  that  they  were  in 
hopes  to  hear  from  them  ;  that  they  were  sorry  to  learn 
that  divisions  had  again  broken  out  in  Caledonia;  that 
they  had  no  doubt  of  the  patience  and  constancy  of  the 
ministers  ;  and  trusted,  they  would  urge  and  admonish 
all  to  unity,  and  in  due  time  would  prove  the  happy 
instruments  of  conveying  the  gospel  to  the  natives  of 
that  country.  "  As  for  what  concerns  you  in  particu- 
lar," continue  they,  "  we  shall  not  only  perform  our 
engagements,  but  contribute  to  make  your  present  sta- 
tions easy,  by  enjoining  all  under  your  charge  to  have 
a  due  regard  to  good  discipline  and  order.  We  are 
heartily  sorry  for  the  death  of  Mr.  Dalgliesh  ;  and 
that  amongst  many  other  disappointments,  you  should 
be  under  such  discouragements  in  the  execution  of  your 
charge,  from  the  cold  indifference  of  some,  and  the  vi- 
cious lives  of  others  of  your  people.  We  have  writ- 
ten fully  to  the  council  about  this  matter."**     Mr. 


*  Directors  to  the  Overseero  and   remanent  Officers  in  the 
Colony,  Feb.  10, 1700:  Caled.  Papers,  ser.  i.  75. 
-  +  Ibid.  ser.  i.  art.  76. 

I  Ibid.  ser.  iii.  art.  55.     Comp.  art.  53,  54. 

II  Letter  from  Sir  Francis  Scot  of  Thirlstane  to  captain  Daniel 
Mackay,  Edin.  June  13, 1700:  Caled.  Pap.  ser.  iii.  art.  51. 

5  Ibid.  sei.  i.  art.  75. 

T  Ibid.  ser.  i.  art.  74.     Comp.  art.  72. 

»•    Ibid.  ser.   i.  art.  76.      "In   respect  that  the  company 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


473 


Shield's  account  of  the  situation  of  himself  and  his 
two  brethren,  is  written  with  a  feeling  which  is  an  in- 
ternal evidence  of  its  truth.  "  Our  meetings  amongst 
ourselves  are  in  the  woods  ;  where  the  chattering  of 
parrots,  mourning  of  pelicans,  and  din  of  monkeys, 
is  more  pleasant  than  the  hellish  language  of  our  coun- 
trymen in  their  hutts  and  tents  of  Kedar;  and  our  con- 
verse with  the  Indians,  though  with  dumb  signs,  is 
more  satisfying  than  with  the  most  part  of  our  own 
people.  Severals  of  them  came  to  our  meetings  for 
worship,  and  we  have  exercised  in  their  families,  when 
•ravelling  among  them,  where  they  behaved  themselves 
very  reverently  ;  but  we  have  neither  language  nor 
interpreter.  But  our  people  doe  scandalize  them  both 
by  stealing  from  them,  and  teaching  them  to  swear  and 
drink."* 

Sir  John  Dalrymple  inveighs  against  the  ministers 
for  interfering  officiously  in  the  settling  of  the  terms  of 
capitulation  ;f  but  he  takes  care  not  to  state  the  facts, 
which  are  highly  honourable  to  them.  One  of  the  ar- 
ticles proposed  by  Veitch  was,  "  That  the  Indians  who 
have  been  friendly  to  us,  and  conversed  with  us,  since 
we  came  hither,  shall  not  be  molested  on  our  account." 
To  this  the  Spanish  commander  refused  to  accede ; 
and  some  of  the  Indian  chiefs  who  had  been  most 
friendly  to  the  colony,  were  taken  from  the  side  of  the 
Scottish  ships  and  made  prisoners.  The  ministers, 
pitying  the  poor  natives,  drew  up  a  petition  in  their 
favour,  and  sent  it  to  the  Spanish  fleet  by  Mr.  Shields. 
When  he  was  enforcing  the  petition,  Pimienta,  who 
was  of  an  irascible  temper,  said  to  him  in  Latin, 
"  Mind  your  own  business  ;"  to  which  Shields  replied, 
"  I  shall  mind  it,"  and  retired.  The  conduct  of  the 
council,  in  leaving  their  Indian  allies  exposed  to  the 
vengeance  of  the  Spaniards,  was  much  condemned  by 
some  of  the  colonists. :[: 

To  return  to  S&muel  Veitch — he  joined  the  army  in 
New  England,  and  was  advanced  to  the  rank  of  colo- 
nel. He  came  to  Scotland  in  the  year  1706,  on  a  visit 
to  his  parents,  but  soon  returned  to  the  New  World. || 
In  1710,  he  was  ordered  to  join  the  expedition  under 
General  Nicolson,  which  was  sent  against  the  French 
possessions  in  Nova  Scotia,  where  they  took  the  town 
and  fort  of  Port-Royal,§  to  which,  in  honour  of  the 
Queen,  they  gave  the  name  of  Aimapolis.^     Colonel 


(say  the  directors  to  the  council  of  Caledonia)  has  an  en- 
tire confidence  in  the  zeal,  capacity,  and  integrity  of  Mr.  Alex- 
ander Shieis,  our  council-general  do  rrcommend  to  you,  to — 
admit  him  to  be  present  in  your  council,  that  when  you  find  it 
necessary  you  may  take  his  advice  in  anj'  important  aflairs  that 
may  occur."     (Ibid.  ser.  i.  art.  94.) 

*  Alexander  Shields  to  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Andrews,  Cale- 
donia Bay,  Feb.  2,  1700.  Christian  Instructor,  vol.  xviii.  p. 
478. 

•)•  Memoirs,  iii.  101. 

i  Borland,  67.  Caled.  Papers,  ser.  iii.  art.  78.  Mr.  Shields 
died  at  Port  Royal  in  Jamaica  on  the  14th  of  June,  1700,  of  a 
malignant  fever.  (Borland,  78.)  Mr.  Stobo,  another  of  the 
ministers,  settled  in  Carolina;  (Ibid.  21 — 23.)  and  Mr.  Borland 
returned  to  Scotland,  where  he  wrote  a  narrative  of  the  expe- 
dition. 

II  Mrs.  Veitch's  Mem.  p.  114. 

5  "  When  the  Queen  sent  over  my  son,  Samuel,  and  General 
Nicolson  went  over,  to  take  in  Jamaica,  she  gave  him  a  com- 
mission to  be  governor  there,  if  he  took  it  in. — At  length  they 
yielded  the  place  without  much  bloodshed."  (Mrs.  Veitch's 
Mem.  p.  117.)  Mrs.  Veitch  must  have  confounded  Port  Royal 
in  North  America  with  Port  Royal  in  Jamaica,  which  last  place 
would  be  impressed  on  her  memory  b}- the  circumstance  of  her 
eldest  son  having  died  off  it. 

IT  "Minehead,  Dec.  11.  A  vessel  came  in  on  the  9th,  five 
weeks  from  Boston,  gives  an  account  that  Colonel  Nicholson 
had  taken  Port  Royal  in  Acadia,  belonging  to  the  French,  with 
the  loss  often  men  killed,  and  of  a  transport  vessel  wherein  the 
captain  and  the  men  were  drowned.  He  says  that  Colonel 
Nicholson  was  returned  to  Boston,  before  he  left  that  port, 
having  left  Colonel  Vich  and  Sir  Charles  Hobby  with  500  Eng- 
lish troops  in  garrison  in  the  Fort,  in  which  were  50  or  60 guns; 
the  French  governor  with  200  men  being  made  prisoners-of- 
war.  He  reports  that  Colonel  Nicholson  had  sent  2  gentlemen 
to  Quebeck,  to  inform  the  governor  of  that  jjlnce,  tnat,  if  ac- 
cording' to  his  use,  he  should  encourage  the  Indians  barbarouslv 

3  K 


Veitch  was  made  governor  of  that  place.*  In  the 
month  of  June  next  year  he  was  recalled  from  Annap- 
olis to  Boston, f  to  take  the  command  of  two  regiments 
of  New  England,  which  were  to  join  the  armament  un- 
der Major-General  Hill,  and  Admiral  Sir  Hovenden 
Walker,  intended  for  the  reduction  of  Quebec  and  Pla- 
centia.  The  fleet  consisted  of  ten  ships  of  war,  and 
abovo  sixty  transports,  having  on  board  5000  troops 
from  Flanders  and  Britain.:}:  They  sailed  from  Boston 
in  the  end  of  July,  and  entered  the  River  of  St.  Law- 
rence ;  but  encoimtered  a  severe  storm,  in  which  seve- 
ral of  the  transports,  with  the  troops  on  board,  were 
lost.lj  In  consequence  of  this  and  the  want  of  provi- 
sions to  sustain  the  troops,  if  they  should  be  locked  up 
in  Quebec  by  the  frost  during  the  winter,  it  was  re- 
solved by  a  council  of  war  to  abandon  the  enterprise 
and  return  home.§  Colonel  Veitch  enjoyed  the  confi- 
dence both  of  the  general  and  admiral,  the  latter  of 
whom  speaks  very  highly  of  his  skill,  zeal,  and  activ- 
ity in  the  expedition.^f  He  returned  to  his  government 
at  Annapolis,  and  ultimately  settled  at  New  York, 
where  he  married  a  grand-daughter  of  the  well-known 
Mr.  John  Livingston,  by  whom  he  had  a  daughter  call- 
ed Aleda,  who  married  an  American  gentleman  of  the 
name  ofPinknie,  near  Philadelphia.** 

It  only  remains  to  say  a  few  words  respecting  Ebe- 
nezer,  Mr.  Veitch's  youngest  son.  He  was  trained  for 
the  ministry  of  the  church,  and  appears  to  have  been  a 
young  man  of  uncomnion  piety.  After  being  licensed 
to  preach,  he  was  the  first  person  who  received  the  ap- 
pointment to  a  lectureship  in  Edinburgh,  on  what  was 
called  M'AUa's  mortification,  which  still  subsists. 
David  Mackall,  or  M'Alla,  was  a  merchant  who,  in 
testimony  of  his  gratitude  for  success  in  business,  be- 
queathed in  the  year  1639,  besides  other  legacies  for 
pious  uses,  a  sum  of  money,  the  interest  of  which  was 
to  be  applied  by  the  magistrates  and  town  council  of 
Edinburgh,  as  a  salary  to  one  who  should  preach  every 
Sunday  morning  in  the  Tron  church. ff     A  number  of 


to  scalp  the  English  prisoners,  he  would  use  the  same  severity 
upon  the  French  inhabitants  in  Port  Royal,  who  are  about  500 
in  number."  The  capitulation  was  signed  by  Francis  Nichol- 
son, Esq.  and  M.  de  Subercase,  on  the  2d  of  October,  1710. 
(The  Scots  Courant,  No.  823.  Monday,  18th,  to  Wednesday, 
20th  December,  1710.) 

*  A  Journal,  or  full  account  of  the  late  Expedition  to  Can- 
ada.    By  Sir  Hovenden  Walker,  Kt.  P.  114,  142.  Lond.  1720. 

t  Ibid.  p.  68,94. 

\  Ibid.  p.  106—108.  The  Scots  Courant,  Nos.  868—897. 
"  Boston,  New  England,  July  24, 1711.  On  the  25th  past  ar- 
rived here  Admiral  Walker's  squadron,  with  the  land  forces  un- 
der Brigadier  Hill.  The  New  English  forces,  consistingof  two 
regiments,  those  of  Hampshire  and  Rhode  Island,  commanded 
by  Colonel  Walton,  and  the  Massachuset's  Bay,  by  the  Hon'''*- 
Colonel  Vetch,  who  commands  both  regiments,  will  be  ready 
to  embark  the  25th  instant,  and  will  sail  the  first  fair  wind." 
(The  Scots  Courant,  No.  941.     Monday,  September  24, 1711.) 

II  Seven  transports,  and  victualler  of  New  England,  were 
wrecked,  and  884  men  lost.     Walker'-s  Journal,  p.  128. 

5  Scots  Courant,  Nos.  950 — 954.  Walker's  Journal,  p.  26, 
141,302. 

IT  Walker's  Journal,  p.  26, 93,94.  In  p.  116,  is  a  letter  from 
colonel  Veitch  to  the  Admiral,  stating  his  suspicions  of  a  French 
pilot,  and  ofiering  to  proceed  to  Cape  Breton,  "in  order  to  set 
the  course  of  the  fleet,  when  they  come  up,  in  case  it  be  foggj'." 

**  Mrs.  Veitch's  Mem.  p.  115;  and  Genealogical  Tree  of  the 
Family. 

ft  "Be  it  kend — me  David  Mackall,  merchant  burges  of  Ed- 
inburgh, for  sa  meickle  as  it  has  pleased  God  to  bless  me  in  my 
calling — whairupone — I  vowed  and  promised  to  the  Lord  my 
God  to  dedicate  some  portioun  of  the  meanes  and  substance 
bestowed  upon  me  to  pious  uses.  Thairfore,  and  in  humble 
performance  thereof,  1,  in  the  tenor  heirof,  give,  dott,  and  dis- 
pone:— Item,  thrie  thousand  and  five  hundred  merkis  money 
foresaid,  to  be  emploj'ed  upon  land  for  annual  rent  to  the  be- 
hoove of  ane  sufficient  and  qualified  minister  or  preatchcr,  to 
mak  prayers  and  preatching  every  Suaday  in  the  morning,  in 
the  south  eist  kirk  that  is  building  at  Nuddries  wjMid  heid, 
quhilk  pretching  and  prayeries  sail  be  doone  everie  Sundaj'  in 
the  morning,  conforme  to  the  Trew  reliarioun  establishit  present- 
lie  profest  within  this  kingdome,  without  any  alteration,  addi- 
tioun,  or  diminishing  therfra  in  anie  sort,  bot  onlie  to  be  doone 
as  it  is  now  usit,  without  adding  of  any  unnecessar  ceremonie 


'^'4 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


years  elapsed  before  that  church  was  ready  for  public 
worship  ;  and  when  it  was  opened  the  magistrates  did 
not  establish  the  lectureship,  although  they  were  in 
possession  of  the  funds  appropriated  to  its  support,  so 
that,  at  length,  it  came  to  be  forgotten  that  any  such 
bequest  had  been  made.  But  the  fact  having  been 
discovered  in  the  year  1701,  the  town  council  appoint- 
ed a  committee  to  inquire  into  the  matter,  and  on  their 
report  agreed  immediately  to  carry  the  will  of  the  do- 
nor into  effect,  by  applying  the  legal  interest  of  a  thou- 
sand pounds  sterling  to  the  support  of  a  preacher.* 
Accordingly,  on  the  17th  of  June,  1702,  they  presented 
"  Mr.  Ebenezer  Veitch,  preacher  of  the  gospel,  to  the 
office  of  performing  preaching  and  jjrayer's  in  the  Tron 
church,  at  the  time  and  in  manner  appointed  by  Mr. 
M'Alla's  mortification ;"  and  recommended  to  him  fur- 
ther to  preach  one  diet  on  the  Lord's  day,  as  he  shall 
be  employed  by  any  of  the  ministers  of  the  burgh. f 
Subsequently  he  engaged,  at  the  desire  of  the  town 
council  and  presbytery,  "  to  visit  the  sick  of  the  parish 
of  the  Tron  kirk  when  called  thereto,  to  ease  the  rev- 
erend Mr.  George  Meldrum  of  that  part  of  his  ministe- 
rial function  ;"  he  having  been  lately  appointed  profes- 
sor of  divinity  in  the  university,  on  the  death  of  Mr. 
George  Campbell,:}: 

In  May,  1703,  he  left  Edinburgh,  having  received  a 
call  to  be  minister  of  Ayr;j|  and  he  soon  after  married 
Margaret,  daughter  of  the  venerable  Mr.  Patrick  War- 
ner, minister  of  Irvine,§  a  j'^oung  lady  remarkable  for 
personal  beauty.  Having  gone  to  Edinburgh  in  De- 
cember, 1706,  to  attend  the  commission  of  the  general 
assembly,  he  obtained  leave  of  absence  for  a  few  days 
to  dispense  the  communion  to  his  people.  On  his  re- 
turn to  the  capital  he  was  seized  with  a  dangerous 
sickness.  For  some  time  before  this,  his  friends  had 
abserved  that  his  thoughts  turned  much  on  death,  and 
that  when  engaged  in  prayer,  both  in  public  and  in  his 
family,  he  appeared  more  like  a  person  in  heaven  than 
on  earth.  His  wife  hurried  from  Ayr  as  soon  as  she 
received  notice  of  his  illness.  Hearing  him  talk  of  his 
willingness  and  desire  to  die,  she  asked  if  he  would 
not  wish  to  live  with  her,  and  serve  the  church  on 
earth,  a  little  longer  ;  to  which  he  replied  in  the  nega- 
tive, recommended  her  to  God,  who  had  been  all  in  all 


thairto,  that  was  laitlie  )yk  to  be  brocht  in  the  kirk,  and  no 
utherwayes.  And  I  inak  and  constitut  the  provost  and  bailies 
of  the  said  burgh,  present  and  to  cum,  patrones  for  presenting 
of  the  said  minister  to  the  said  kirk,  with  consent  of  my  aires 
and  successors  in  all  tyrae  cuming."  (Records  of  Town  Coun- 
cil of  Edinburgh,  Dec.  28,  1639.  vol.  xv.  f.  109,  110.) 

»  Records  of  Town  Council,  Sept.  5,  1701.  vol.  xxxvi.p.  890 
— 892.  Maitland,  who  has  given  a  short  account  of  this  bene- 
faction, after  saying  that  the  council  appropriated  "  the  income 
of  one  thousand  pounds  of  the  said  money"  to  the  support  of 
preaching  in  the  Tron  Church,  adds,  "  but  how  vhe  remaining 
part  of  the  money  is  applied,  is  to  me  unknown."  (Hist,  of 
Edinburgh,  p.  166.)  This  was  owing  to  his  own  carelessness. 
For  in  the  minute  just  referred  to,  the  interest  of  the  money  is 
calculated  from  the  death  of  the  donor  down  to  the  year  1701, 
and  when  this  is  added  to  the  principal,  the  whole  sum  does 
not  amount  to  quite  18,000  merks  Scots  or  lOOOi.  Sterling;  so 
that  there  was  no  surplus  to  be  applied  in  any  wa)',  and  the 
magistrates  acted  in  every  respect  honourably  in  the  trust. 

f  Records,  ul  supra,  vol.  xxxvii.  p.  174. 

i  Ibid.  Oct.  9,  1702.  vol.  xxxvii.  p.  308. 

II  On  the  12th  of  May,  1703,  Mr.  James  Abtoun,  preacher  of 
the  gospel,  was  chosen  successor  to  him  in  the  lectureslii|>. 
(Records  of  Town  Council,  vol.  xxxvii.  p.  891.)  The  Town 
Council  came  to  a  resolution,  on  the  17th  of  November,  1703, 
that,  instead  of  one,  two  persons  should  be  appointed  to  this 
office,  to  lecture  ;>er  vices;  and  that  the  annual  rent  should  be 
divided  between  them.  The  reason  assigned  for  this  new  ar- 
rangement is,  that  they  had  found  by  experience  •'  tlie  great 
good,  blessing,  and  usefulness  of  the  said  morning  lecture  not 
only  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  citie,  but  to  the  preachers  them- 
selves, who  have  great  opportunity  to  exercise  and  make  known 
their  cifts  and  qualifications  for  the  ministrie,  so  that  severals 
alreaJie  have  been  called  from  that  charge  and  settled  in  con- 
siderable congregations:  and  that  the  said  lecture  became  lyke 
a  kind  of  seminerie  to  some  part  of  the  church."    (Ibid.  p.  686.) 

}  On  the  8th  of  January,  1692,  the  town  council  o(  Edin- 
burgh subscribed  a  call  to  "  Mr.  Patrick  Vcrnour,  Diiuister  of 


to  him,  and  gave  her  a  parting  embrace.  Then  turn- 
ing to  the  ministers  who  were  present,  he  said,  "  Pas- 
sengers for  glory,  how  far  think  you  am  I  from  the  new 
Jerusalem  ?"  "  Not  far,  Sir,"  replied  one  of  them. 
"Then  I'll  climb  till  I  be  up  among  that  innumerable 
company  of  angels  and  the  spirits  of  just  men  made 
perfect."  They  removed  his  wife ;  but  just  as  he  was 
a-dying,  she  burst  into  the  room  and  came  to  his  bed- 
side, when,  waving  his  hand,  he  said,  "  I  will  not  look 
back  again,"  and  expired.* 

This  Supplement  to  Mr.  Veitch's  Memoirs  shall  be 
closed  with  the  following  account  of  his  children, 
copied  from  a  writing,  in  his  own  hand,  on  the  margin 
of  his  family  Bible.f 

"  I  was  maryed  at  Lanark  by  Mr.  Ro'  Birnie — jf. 
twenty-third  day  of  Novr  1664. 

"  Mary,  my  first  child,  was  born  on  Monday  the  23 
of  Sepf  1665,  at  the  Hills  of  Dunsyre,  and  baptised  at 
Lintoun,  by  M^  Rot  Eliot.||  She  dyed  March  9, 1666, 
and  was  buried  at  Dunsyre  kirk. 

"  William,  my  2<i  child,  was  born  on  Tuesday  the 
2d  day  of  April,  1667,  at  the  Hills  of  Dunsyre,  botnot 
baptised  untill  the  16  day  of  August  following,  and 
that  at  Smalholm,  by  Mr  Thomas  Donaldsone.§  Wit- 
nesses were  John  Murray  of  Ashiesteel,^  John  Brown, 
merchant  in  Kelso,  and  M""  John  Vetch,  minister  of 
Westruther. 

"  Samuel,  my  third  child,  born  on  Wednesday,  at 
Edenburgh,  being  the  ninth  day  of  December^  1668, 
and  baptised  the  threttenth  by  M'  John  Blackadar,  a 
Minister  in  Galaway;  the  laird  of  Westshiel,**  Andrew 
Stevenson,  and  M'  William  Livingstoun,f  f  merchants 
in  Ed"^  were  witnesses. 

"  James,  my  fourth  child,  was  born  at  Edenburgh, 
on  Thursday  March  9  day,  1671 ;  baptised  the  18  day, 
by  M'  Thomas  Hog.:}^:}:    He  dyed  at  Arnistoun  with  the 


Irvine,"  to  be  one  of  the  ministers  of  this  city.  (Records  of 
Town  Council.)  The  names  Vemor  and  IFarner  are  used  in- 
terchangeably in  documents  of  that  period. 

*  Mrs.  Ve'itch's  Mem.  p.  111—114.  Mrs.  Ebenezer  Veitch 
was  afterwards  married  to  Mr.  Robert  Wodrow,  the  historian. 
"  This  marriage  was  assented  to  by  her  father-in-law,  Mr.  Wil- 
liam Veitch,  whom  she  came  to  consult  about  its  propriety  all 
the  way  from  Air  to  Dumfries,  before  it  was  solemnized." 
(Gencal.  Tree  of  the  Famiiy.) 

+  This  Bible  is  now  in  Dumfries,  in  the  possession  of  Mrs. 
Nicholas  Denholm,  relict  of  the  Reverend  William  Wightman, 
late  minister  of  Dalton. 

I  Mr.  Robert  Birnie,  minister  at  Lanark,  was  a  nonconform- 
ist to  prelacy.     (Wodrow,  i.  App.  75.) 

II  Messrs.' Robert  Elliot,  father  and  son,  were,  in  1672,  in- 
dulged to  Lintoun.  Wodrow's  list  of  nonconformists  contains 
Mr.  Robert  Elliot  at  Linton,  presbytery  of  Peebles,  who  sur- 
vived the  Revolution.     (Ibid.  i.  App.  138,  72.) 

{  Mr.  Thomas  Donaldsone  was  confined  to  his  own  parish  of 
Sniailholm.     (Ibid.  i.  App.  73.) 

IT  "The  laird  and  lady  Ashiesteil"  were  cited  to  appear  be- 
fore the  privy  council,  along  with  several  other  gentlemen  and 
ladies,  for  being  present  at  a  conventicle,  in  the  parish  of  Gala- 
shiels, which  was  surprised  by  Claverhouse  in  1679.  (Wod- 
row, ii.  40.)  "John  Murray  of  Eshlesteill"  was  commissioner 
of  excise  for  Selkirk,  in  1661. — "  Eshiesteill  lyand  in  Etterick 
forest  and  shirretT-donic  of  Selkirk."  (Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vii.  91 ; 
viii.  356.) 

*»  "Sir  William  Denholm  of  Westshields  was  a  religious 
gentleman,  of  excellent  abilities,  of  a  plentiful  fortune,  ana  got 
to  heaven  some  years  ago,  after  all  his  troubles."  He  was  for- 
feited by  the  criminal  court,  along  with  Mr.  Gilbert  Elliot, 
July  16, 1685;  (Wodrow,  ii.  493;  Founlainhall's  Decis.  i.  366;) 
was  restored  after  the  Revolution;  and  sat  frequently  in  Parlia- 
ment as  member  for  Lanarkshire.  (Act.  Pari.  Scot,  vol.x.  and 
xi.  passim.) 

+t  Mr.  William  Livingston,  son  of  Mr.  John  Livingston,  min- 
ister at  Ancrum,  was  imprisoned,  Feb.  22, 1682,  for  "  collecting 
and  distributing  money  to  rebels,"  (prisoners)  and  "  for  import- 
ing and  vending  several  seditious  books."  He  was  liberated 
on  caution.  (Wodrow,  ii.  256.)  Dec.  13,  1700.  The  town 
council  settled  a  pension  of  "  200  merks  yearly  on  ■ 
Veitch,  relict  of  Mr.  William  Livingstoun,  late  clerk  to  the  ses- 
sions of  the  good  town."  (Records  of  Town  Council  of  Edin- 
burgh, vol.  xxxvi.  p.  704,  705.) 

\\  Among  the  nonconformists  were  two  ministers  of  the 
name  of  Thomas  Hog;  the  one  at  Larbert  and  Dunipace,  in  the 
presbytery  of  Stirling,  and  the  other  «X  Kiltearu  in  Rosa  shire. 


MEMOIRS  OF  WILLIAM  VEITCH. 


475 


nurse  April  tenth,  and  was  buried  at  the  Temple  the 
twelfth  day,  1672.* 

"  John,  my  fifth  child,  was  born  on  Friday,  at  Fal- 
lowlees,  in  the  parish  of  Roadberrie  in  Northumber- 
land, July  19,  1672,  (having  removed  thither  the 
Lambes  preceding,)  baptised  by  M"^  Wychliffe  |  the 
thirty  of  that  Moneth,  befor  thes  witnesses  George 
Harle  and  William  Zealile.  He  died  at  Stanton  hall 
about  Mertimasse  1684,  and  was  buried  at  Nether 
Witton,  4  miles  from  Morpeth. 

"  Elizabeth,  my  sixth  child,  was  born  at  Harnam, 
in  the  parish  of  Bolam  in  Northumberland,  the  20  day 
of  May,  1674,  and  was  baptised  on  the  31,  being  the 
Sabbath,  in  the  meeting  house 

M'  George  Horsley,  witness,  of  Millburn  Grange,:^: 
(his  mother  being  name-mother,)  and  William  Zealile. 
She  was  maryed  to  David  McCulloch  of  Ardwell,  the 

7  day  of  June,  1710  years  at  Dumfries. 

"  Ebenezer,  my  seventh,  born  at  Harnam  the  16  day 
of  March,  1676,  being  thursday,  hora  4  post  merid. 
and  baptised  in  the  Meeting  hous  ther  by  M"^  John 
Owen,||  the  26  day.  He  was  educate  at  Ed''  and  Saint 
Andrewes  philosophy  colledges,  and  at  Ed'  Divinity 
colledge  under  the  learned  Mr.  George  Campbell,  pro- 
fessor thereoff.  He  passed  his  tryalls  befoir  that  pres- 
bitery  with  great  approbation,  and  was  settled  as  lec- 
turer on  Sabbath  Morning,  in  the  trone  church,  betwixt 

8  and  9  in  the  Morning,  upon  Mf  M'Ala's  mortifica- 
tion, new  found  out,  tho'  done  60  years  befoir,  and 
continued  there  from  till  Whitsunday 
1703.  he  was  called  to  the  Ministry  in  the 
towne  of  Air,  and  ordained  May  13  that  year.  He 
died  at  Ed'  the  13  day  of  dec'  1706,  a  member  of  the 
commission,  and  his  uncle  M'  John  Vetch,  minister  of 
Westruther,  died  at  Dalkeith,  going  home  from  the 
Commission,  dec'  1703. 

"  Sarah,  my  eight  child  and  third  daughter,  was 
born  at  Stantoun  hall  in  the  parish  of  Longhorslie  in 
Northumberland,  on  Wednesday,  betwixt  3  and  4  in 
the  Morning,  the  7""  day  of  Nov'  1677,  having  removed 

(Wodrow,  i.  App.  72,  73.)  There  is  a  printed  Memoir  of  the 
last-mentioned  person. 

*  It  should  be  1671.  See  before  p.  438.  "  Having  born  four 
children  ere  I  came  out  of  Scotlana,  two  of  them  died  in  the 
land,  the  other  two  I  brought  with  me."  (Mrs.  Veitch's  Mem. 
p.  3.) 

+  Ralph  Wiclif,  ejected  from  Whatton  in  Northumberland, 
was.  at  the  Restoration,  a  member  of  Mr.  Ralph  Ward's  con- 
gregation at  Hartbourne,  and  was  "  afterwards  ordained  a  min- 
ister by  the  presbytery  at  Morpeth,"  When  Mr.  Ward  was 
removed,  a  part  of  his  congregation  adhered  to  Mr.  Wicklif, 
who  continued  among  them;  but  he  complains  that  there  was 
"  such  a  fickleness  and  itching  humour  in  some  old  professors, 
that  if  a  stranger,  (a  young  raw  Scotchman,)  should  come  and 
say  he  was  a  minister,  away  some  of  them  would  run,  by  his 
door,  perhaps  three,  four,  or  five  miles,  notwithstanding  the 
hazard  he  had  run  by  his  entertaining  them  in  dangerous  times." 
(Palmer,  ii.  270.)  "  Nether  Witton  chapel,"  where  Veitch's 
child  was  buried,  was  attached  to  "  Hartbourn  vicarage." 
(Hutchinson's  Northumberland:  State  of  Churches,  p.  44.) 

X  See  before,  p.  451. 

II  Mr.  John  Owen,  ejected  from  Stannerton,  Northumber- 
land, preached  frequently  in  his  own  house,  and  in  those  of  the 
neighbouring  gentlemen,  for  which  he  was  fined  and  imprison- 
ed. He  was  induced  to  accept  of  a  settlement  at  Hounam  in 
Scotland,  procured  for  him  by  the  Duke  of  Lauderdale.  (Palm- 
er, ii.  270.) 


from  Harnam  thither  the  first  day  of  May  preceding, 
and  was  baptised  the  5  da)'  of  dec'  in  my  own  hous, 
by  Mr.  Ed"*  Ord,  sometyme  minister  at  Noram*  in 
Northumberland,  old  M'  Fennick  of  Stantoun,f  with 
his  lady,  (who  was  name-mother)  and  his  youngest 
son,  M'  Thomas,  being  witnesses. 

"  Agnes,  my  ninth  child  and  fourth  daughter,  was 
born  at  Stantonhall  the  20  day  of  January,  1680,  being 
tuesday,  about  10  o'clock;  she  was  baptised  the  29 
of  April  (my  shaking  ague  hindering  till  then)  by  my 
brother,  M'  Vetch,  minister  of  Westruther  in  Scotland ; 
the  Laird  and  Lady  witnesses.if:     She 

was  maryed  to  M'  John  Somervel,  minister  of  Carla- 
verock,  the  16  day  of  April  1701. — She  bore  unto  him 
6  children,  one  son  and  5  daughters,  and  died  of  the 
7"'  child,  not  brought  to  bed,  (the  two  youngest  daugh- 
ters died  before  herself)  the  14  of  Agust,  1712;  and 
when  midwives,  chirurgeons,  and  doctors  could  doe  no 
good,  after  several  dayes  unsuccessful  pains,  she  said, 
'  Now  I  see  God  calls  me  to  die  and  leave  this  world 
and  all  my  relations,  which  I  am  most  willing  to  doe.' 
Then  taking  her  leave,  with  the  greatest  composure 
and  deliberation,  of  her  parents,  children,  and  servants, 
and  of  her  husband,  who  had  been  fetching  more  help, 
leaving  her  blessing  to  every  one  that  was  there,  and 
to  those  that  were  absent  far  and  near,  like  one  that 
had  left  all  to  God  [goe  ?]  to  her  heavenly  husband, 
with  her  eyes  lifted  up  to  heaven,  she  cryed,  '  O,  my 
beloved,  be  thou  as  a  roe  and  as  a  young  hart  upon 
the  mountains  of  division,'  &c.  Then  she  begged  that 
we  wold,  (if  we  had  any  moyen  with  God)  pray  that 
he  wold  mitigate  her  torment  out  through  her  voyage, 
and  land  her  in  her  wished  port ;  and  her  pain  was 
abated  or  prayer  was  done,  so  she  went  off  with  great 
quietness,  closing  her  eyes  with  her  own  hand  a  little 
after. 

"  Janet,  my  tenth  child  and  fifth  daughter,  was  bom 
upon  Sunday  the  30  of  January,  1682,  and  baptised 
there  also,  at  Stantonhall  in  England,  by  her  uncle 
Master  John  Vetch,  Minister  of  Westruther,||  in  the 
Mers,  who  came  there  to  doe  it  on  purpose ;  her  father 
was  at  London.  She  died  on  Sabbath  the  26  day  of 
March,  1693,  near  eight  o'clock  at  night,  at  Peebles, 
in  Tweedale,  Scotland,  and  was  buried  there  the  day 
following."  § 


*  "Norham  vie.  Mr.  Edward  Ord."     (Palmer,  ii.  266.) 

+  See  Surtees's  Durham,  App.  clii. 

t  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fenwick  of  Stanton,  most  probably." 

II  "Mr.  Veech,  minister  of  Westruthers,  wrotte  for  me  ane 
descriptione  of  Berwick  shyre  in  the  Merse,  two  sheet  and  a 
halfe."  (Sibbald's  Repertory  of  Manuscripts,  MS.  p.  26.  Adv. 
Library.)  This  is  inserted  in  Sibbald's  MS.  Collections,  from 
p.  198  to  p.  215.  "  That  parish  (says  the  author,  in  his  account 
of  Westruther,)  of  old  had  great  woods  with  wild  beasts,  fra 
quhilk  the  dwellings  and  hills  were  designed;  as  WoolstrutJier, 
Roecleugh,  Hindside,  Hartlaw,  and  Harelaw."  (W.  5,  17.  p. 
208.  Adv.  Library.)  It  was  stated  before,  (see  p.  428,  note,)  that 
his  brother,  Mr.  James  Veitch,  was  appointed  to  answer  the 
arguments  against  hearing  the  indulged  ministers.  In  the  Ad- 
vocates Library  is  a  MS.  entitled  "  Ane  Sober  Inquirie  into  the 
lawfulnes  of  the  presbyterian  ministers  their  acceptance  of  a 
libertie  to  preach  the  gospel  upon  the  indulgence,  and  the  peo- 

Rle's  duty  to  hear  them.     By  Mr.  James  Veitch,  minister  at 
lauchlin."  41  pages  in  fours.  (Rob.  III.  5,  9.  art.  16.) 
}  "1693.  March  27.  Jennet  Veitch."     (Register  of  Burials 
in  the  Parish  of  Peebles.) 


END  OF  THE  MEMOIRS    or  WILLIAM   VEITCH. 


NARRATIVE 


OF   THE 


RISING  SUPPRESSED  AT  PENTLAND: 


WRITTEN  BY 


COLONEL   JAMES  WALLACE: 


WITH 


NOTICES   OF    THE   WRITER. 


a  "m  t' .  I T 


liOA^l  J  A  W 


NOTICES 


OF 


COLONEL   JAMES  WALLACE. 


Colonel  Wallace  is  called  "  James  Wallace  of 
Achens,"  or  "  Auchanes,"  in  the  record  of  his  trial  after 
the  battle  of  Pentland.*  Auchans,  the  family  seat  of 
his  ancestors,  is  situated  within  the  parish  of  Dundon- 
ald,  in  Ayrshire.  "  Opposite  to  the  village  and  castle, 
(of  Dundonald)  is  a  very  beautiful  bank  of  wood,  up- 
wards, in  most  places,  of  100  feet  in  height,  aud  ex- 
tending near  a  mile  to  the  north-west.  In  a  grand  cur- 
vature of  this  bank,  and  on  a  gentle  eminence,  stands 
the  house  of  Auchans,  for  a  long  period  the  residence 
of  the  Wallaces  of  Dundonald.  About  1640  this  es- 
tate came  into  the  possession  of  Sir  William  Cochrane 
of  Lowdon  (Cowdon)  knight,  who  was  afterward  cre- 
ated earl  of  Dundonald.  At  the  Auchans  are  the  re- 
mains of  a  small  orchard  which  was  once  in  liigh  rep- 
utation. The  pear,  known  in  Scotland  by  the  name  of 
Auchans,  derived  that  name  from  this  place. "f 

The  Wallaces  of  Dundonald  were  a  branch  of  the 
ancient  family  of  Craigie.  William  Wallace,  second 
son  of  Hugh  Wallace  of  Craigie,  was,  in  1525,  tutor 
of  Craigie;  and  in  1526,  had  a  charter  under  the  great 
seal  of  the  lands  of  Dundonald.  His  oldest  son,  Wil- 
liam, having  succeeded  to  the  estate  of  Craigie,  his 
second  son  John,  styled  also  of  Inchgotry,  got  a  char- 
ter of  the  lands  of  Dundonald  in  1543,  and  married 
Lady  Margaret  Kennedy,  relict  of  William,  Lord  Her- 
ries.  John  Wallace,  grandson  of  William  Wallace, 
tutor  of  Craigie,  is  the  first  who  was  styled  of  Auchans 
and  Dundonald ;  and,  as  appears  from  charters  granted 
in  1573  and  1574,  he  married  Janet  Stuart,  daughter 
of  Sir  John  Stuart  of  Minto.  In  1599  John  Wallace 
of  Craigie  obtained  a  charter  of  the  lands  of  Dundon- 
ald.:!; Yet  subsequently  to  that  period  we  find  John 
Wallace  of  Dundonald  mentioned  in  the  records.}) 
Whether  the  family  retained  their  former  style  after 
the  loss  of  their  estate,  or  whether  a  part  of  the  estate 
still  remained  in  their  possession,  does  not  appear. 

James  Wallace,  the  writer  of  the  following  narra- 
tive, appears  to  have,  early  adopted  the  military  profes- 
sion, and  having  distinguished  himself  in  the  parlia- 
mentary army  during  the  civil  war,  was  raised  to  the 
rank  of  Lieutenant-Colonel.§  He  belonged  to  the 
Marquis  of  Argyle's  regiment,  which  was  sent  to  Ire- 

*  Wodrow,  i.  app.  p.  91,  93,  109. 

f  Statiiitiral  Account  of  Scotland,  (Parish  of  Dundonald,) 
vol.  yii.  p.  620. 

t  Notes  communicated  by  John  Riddell,  Esq. 

II  "May  5,  1601. — Joannes  Wallace,  senior,  de  Dundonald 
haeres  niasculus  taliie  et  provisionis  Robert!  Wallace  de  Col- 
lane."  (Inq.  Retorn.  Perth,  73.)  In  1640  the  lands  of  Dun- 
donald became  the  property  of  Sir  William  Cochrane  of  Cow- 
don. (Act.  Pari.  Scot.  V.  656:  conii).  V.  28.)  The  landsof  Au- 
chans and  Dundonald  were  acquired  from  the  Earl  of  Dundon- 
ald in  1724,  by  Robert  Wallace,  of  HoUnston,  W.  S.  who  sold 
them  in  1726  to  the  Karl  of  Eplinton. 

}  Burnet's  Own  Tinie.s,  i.  341.     E.liii.  1753. 


land  in  1642,  and  was  recalled  in  1645,  to  oppose  t'ae 
victorious  progress  of  Montrose.*  He  was  taken  pris- 
oner at  the  battle  of  Kilsyth. |  When  Charles  II.  came 
to  Scotland  in  1650,  the  Parliament  ordered  two  regi- 
ments of  Life  Guards  to  be  embodied,  one  of  horse  and 
the  other  of  foot,  to  be  composed  of  "  the  choicest  of 
the  army,  and  fittest  for  that  trust."  Lord  Lorn  was 
appointed  Colonel,  and  Wallace  Lieutenant-Colonel, 
of  the  foot  regiment  of  guards. :f  Wallace  was  present 
at  the  battle  of  Dunbar,  so  disastrous  to  the  Scots,  and 
was  taken  prisoner  on  that  occasion. ||  In  a  petition 
read  in  Parliament  on  the  30th  of  December  that  year. 
Lord  Lorn  says,  "  In  respect  my  Lieutenant-Colonel 
has,  in  God's  good  providence,  returned  to  his  charge, 
whose  fidelity  in  this  cause  is  well  known  both  in  Ire- 
land and  in  this  kingdom,  and  that  his  losses  are  very 
many  and  great,  I  do  humbly  desire  that  your  Majesty, 
and  this  high  Court  of  Parliament,  may  be  pleased  in 
a  particular  manner  to  take  notice  of  him,  that  he  may 
not  only  have  a  company  appointed  him,  but  likewise 
something  may  be  done  for  his  satisfaction  of  his  for- 
mer losses."  Upon  this  petition  the  committee  of  bills 
reported  "  that  Lieutenant-Colonel  Wallace  may  be  re- 
ferred to  the  Committee  of  Estates,  that  he  may  be  as- 
signed to  some  partof  the  excise,  or  maintenance,  forth 
of  the  shire  of  Ayr,  or  any  other  of  the  shires  in  the 
south  ;"  and  the  house  referred  the  petition,  and  the 
several  members  thereof,  to  the  consideration  of  the 
Committee  of  Estates,  "that  such  course  may  be  taken 
thereanent  as  they  shall  think  fitting. "§ 


*  Carte's  Ormond,  i.  310.     Baillie's  Letters,  ii.  274. 

f  "Lieutenant-Colonel  Wallace"  is  mentioned  among  the 
prisoners.  (Monteith's  Hist,  of  the  Troubles,  218.)  He  is 
called  "Colonel  Wallace"  in  the  iVIemoirsof  Montrose,  p.  171. 
Ed  in.  1819, 

I  Sir  James  Balfour's  Annals,  iv.  84,  85.  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vi. 
568. — "At  his  Majesty's  command,  Sir  James  Balfour,  Lord 
Lyon  King  at  Arms,  set  down  the  devices  upon  the  ensigns  and 
colours  01  his  Majesty's  foot  regiment  of  Life  Guards.  Those 
of  the  Lieutenant-Colonel  were  azure,  an  unicorn,  arg.;  and  on 
the  other  side  "  in  grate  gold  letters,"  these  words,  "  Covenant 
for  Religione,  King,  and  Kingdomes." — (Balfour's  Annals,  v^. 
iv.  p.  85.) — When  Wallace  alterwards  appeared  at  Pentland,  it 
could  scarcely  be  said  that  he  deserted  his  standard,  or  changed 
his  device. 

\]  Among  the  prisoners  mentioned  in  Cromwell's  despatch 
are,  "  Lieutenant-General  Sir  James  Lorasden — Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Wallis — Lieutenant-Colonel  Arthur  Forbis,"  &c. — 
(Letter  from  the  Ijord  General  Cromwell  to  the  Parliament  of 
England,  concerning  his  proceedings  with  their  army  in  Scot- 
land, and  the  late  victory  God  hath  given  them  over  the  Scot- 
tish army  there.  Printed  at  Corcke,  in  the  yeare  of  our  Lord 
God  1650.) 

}  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vi.  568.  On  the  10th  of  June  1651,  the  com- 
mittee recommend  that  certain  sums  be  given  "  from  the  con- 
tributions through  the  country,"  to  Colonel  William Luoisidcn, 
and  some  other  officers  taken  at  Dunbar,  "on  account  of  their 
sufferings  and  deserving?."     But  Wallace  is  not  among  them. — 

475 


480 


NOTICES  OF  COLONEL  WALLACE 


It  is  probable  that  he  lived  retired  after  the  Restora- 
tion, until  the  year  1666,  when  his  attachment  to  the 
Presbyterian  religion,  and  the  liberties  of  his  country, 
induced  him  to  take  part  with  those  who  had  recourse 
to  anus  in  defence  of  that  cause.  On  joining  them  he 
was  unanimously  chosen  as  the  person  best  qualified 
to  take  the  command,  although  his  modesty  has  made 
him  pass  over  this  circumstance  in  his  narrative.* 

In  ihe  appearance  which  he  made  at  this  time,  and 
in  accepting  the  dangerous  post  to  w-hich  he  was  cho- 
sen, Wallace  could  be  actuated  only  by  the  most  disin- 
terested motives.  He  had  no  private  quarrel  to  re- 
venge ;  he  had  given  no  personal  offence  to  the  govern- 
ment; and,  as  he  was  not  involved  in  the  circum- 
stances which  led  to  the  first  rising,  he  had  no  cause 
to  be  alarmed  for  his  own  safety.  The  prospects, 
■when  he  first  engaged  in  the  design,  were  far  from  be- 
ing flattering,  especially  to  one  of  his  knowledge  and 
experience  in  military  affairs,  and  he  had  it  in  his 
power  to  retire,  as  others  did,  after  he  reached  the 
■west,  and  saw  the  real  state  of  those  who  were  in  arms. 
Nor  was  his  conduct,  during  the  short  time  that  he 
commanded,  discreditable  to  his  military  talents  ;  espe- 
cially when  we  take  into  consideration  the  small  num- 
ber of  men  which  he  had  under  him,  the  miserable 
manner  in  which  the  most  of  them  were  equipped,  and 
the  want  of  inferior  officers  to  conduct  them.  "  Wal- 
lace himself  was  a  gentleman  godly  and  resolute;  but 
such  an  undertaking  was  for  a  man  of  miracles."f  By 
the  line  of  march  which  he  chose,  he  gave  an  oppor- 
tunity to  the  friends  of  the  cause,  in  the  most  populous 
counties,  if  they  had  been  disposed,  to  join  its  stand- 
ard. He  prevented  General  Dalziel  from  obtaining 
that  advantage  which  he  sought,  for  attacking  him 
during  his  march. :|;  If  the  government  had  been  dis- 
posed to  suppress  the  insurrection  without  bloodshed, 
he  gave  them  an  opportunity  of  accomplishing  this  by 
the  moderate  letter  whicli  he  sent  to  the  General  of  the 
royal  forces.  The  ground  which  he  chose  on  Rullion 
Green,  and  the  disposition  which  he  made  of  his  men, 
was  the  very  best,  when  he  had  to  oppose  an  enemy 
three  times  the  number  of  his  own  troops.  By  fight- 
ing at  the  time  he  did,  instead  of  delaying,  as  he  knew 
he  could  easily  do,  he  provided  for  the  better  escape 
of  his  men,  in  the  event  of  their  being  worsted  ;  and, 
indeed,  the  loss  actually  sustained  was  less  than  it 
would  in  all  probability  have  been,  if,  without  enga- 
ging, he  had  disbanded  his  army  during  the  night. 
The  battle  of  Pentland-hills  was  a  well-fought  field, 
not  a  disgraceful  rout,  like  that  which  aftefvvards  hap- 
pened, under  a  very  different  leader,  at  Bolhwell- 
bridge. 

On  the  loss  of  the  battle.  Colonel  Wallace  left  the 
field  in  company  with  Mr.  John  Welsh,  and  taking  a 
north-westerly  direction  along  the  hilis,  escaped  the 
pursuit  of  the  enemy.  After  riding  to  a  sufficient  dis- 
tance, they  turned  their  horses  adrift,  and  slept  during 
the  reniainder  of  ihe  night  in  a  barn.  Having  conceal- 
ed himself  for  some  time,  W^allace  at  last  got  safely 
out  of  the  kingdom. II  The  battle  of  Pentland  was 
fought  on  the  28th  of  November,  and  on  the  4th  of 
December,  the  Privy  Council  issued  a  proclamation 
prohibiting  all  persons  from  harbouring  or  correspond- 
ing with  Colonel  Wallace,  or  any  of  those  who  had 
been  in  arms  with  him,  under  pain  of  being  treated  as 
accessary  to  the  late  rebellion.  And,  on  the  15th  of 
August,  Wallace,  and  six  others  who  had  absconded, 
were  found  guilty  and  condemned  to  be  executed  as 
traitors,  when  they  shall  be  apprehended,  and  all  their 
lands  and  goods  to  be  forfeited  to  his  Majesty's  use.§ 


(MS.  Register  of  the  Committee  of  Estates,  January — March, 
1651,1).  54.) 

»  Kirkton,236.     Wodrow,  i.  247;  app.  p.  107. 

+  Ibid.  245. 

i  Council's  letter,  apiid  Wodrow,  i.  247. 

jl  Kirkton,  244,245.  Wodrow,  i.  252. 

{  Wodrow,  i.  app.  book  ii.  Nos.  8  and  15. 


This  sentence  was  ratified  by  Parliament  in  1669,* 
and  was  rescinded  at  the  Revolution. f 

For  several  years  Colonel  Wallace  was  obliged  to 
wander  from  one  part  of  the  continent  to  another  for  the 
sake  of  security.  For  the  same  reason  he  assumed  the 
name  of  Forbes.:^:  In  the  year  1670  he  was  on  the 
borders  of  Germany.]]  When  he  thought  the  search 
after  him  had  relaxed,  he  took  up  his  residence  at 
Rotterdam ;  but  he  was  not  allowed  to  remain  there 
undisturbed.  On  the  27th  of  June  1676,  Charles  II. 
wrote  to  the  States  General,  requiring  them,  agreeably 
to  an  article  in  a  treaty  between  the  two  countries,  to 
cause  W'allace,  with  Mr.  Robert  Macward  and  Mr. 
John  Brown,  ministers,  to  remove  from  their  territories, 
as  persons  guilty  of  lese-majesty  against  the  King  of 
Great  Britain. §  Mr.  Brown,  in  a  paper  of  information 
which  he  gave  in  to  the  States  General,  after  referring 
to  the  refusal  of  the  States  to  comply  with  a  similar 
demand  in  1670,^  mentions  that  the  present  applica- 
tion had  been  instigated  by  one  Henry  Wilkie,  whom 
the  King  had  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Scottish  factory 
at  Campvere,  who  was  displeased  because  many  of 
his  countrymen,  with  the  view  of  enjoying  the  ministry 
of  Messrs.  Macward  and  Brown,  had  repaired  to  Rot- 
terdam, and  brought  their  shipping  there,  in  preference 
to  Campvere,  by  which  means  his  salary  was  impair- 
ed. Mr.  Brown  denies,  that  either  he  or  his  colleague 
was  ever  convicted  of  treason,  and  begges  the  States 
to  require,  from  Sir  William  Temple,  the  English  am- 
bassador, a  copy  of  the  sentence  pronounced  against 
them  ;  as  this  would  show  that  the  article  in  the  treaty 
did  not  apply  to  them,  and  might  be  the  means  also 
of  freeing  Wallace  from  a  prosecution,  which  had 
commenced  principally  on  their  account.  "  But  (con- 
tinues he)  it  may  be  hinted  to  Sir  William  Temple, 
that  James  Forbes,  a//a»  Wallace,  is  a  brave  and  skil- 
ful soldier,  and  may  create  more  trouble  to  the  King 
at  home  and  Scotland,  if  he  be  forced  to  remove  hence, 
than  he  can  do  by  remaining  here  in  the  Netherlands, 
and  discharging  the  office  of  an  eider  in  the  Scottish 
church  at  Rotterdam."**  The  States  General  were 
satisfied  that  ihey  were  not  bound  by  the  treaty  to  re- 
move the  ministers  ;  and  they  instructed  Lord  Beun- 
ingen,  their  ambassador  at  the  court  of  England,  to 
represent  to  his  Majesty,  that  they  hoped  he  would  not 
require  them  to  put  away  persons  who  had  complied 
with  the  sentence  of  banishment  pronounced  against 
them;  and  to  wave,  in  the  best  and  discreetest  manner, 
the  forementioned  matter,  as  being  in  the  highest  de- 
gree prejudicial  to  their  country.jf  But  instead  of 
the  affair  being  dropped,  other  letters  were  sent  from 
Entrland  repeating  the  demand  in  stronger  language, 
and  Sir  William  Temple  left  Nimeguen,  where  he 
was  employed  in  the  negociations  for  a  peace  then 
going  on,  and  came  to  the  Hague,  for  the  express  pur- 
pose of  urging  a  categorical  and  speedy  answer.:^^ 

*   Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vii.  562.  See  before,  p.  445. 

t  Art.  Pari.  Scot.  ix.  165. 

f  Wodrow,  i.  434.  Mr.  John  Carstairg,  In  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Macward,  August  16,  1675,  says  "  I  salute  worthie  Mr.  For- 
bese."  And  in  another  letter  to  the  same, — February  16, 1676, 
he  i^ays,  "  1  kindly  salute — Mr.  Forbese."  (Wodrow  MSS.  in 
Adv.  Lib.  No.  lix,  art.  36  and  47.) 

II  "Where  did  ye  see  James  Wallace  last  ?"  ^nt.  "Towards 
the  borders  of  Germany  some  years  ago."  (Examination  of 
Mr.  James  Mitchel  before  the  Commissioner  and  Council,  Feb- 
ruary 1674,  in  Naphtali,  p.  374.     Edin.  1761.) 

5  Macward  MSS.  in  Advocates  Library:  Jac.  V.  i.  10,  no.  72. 

II  This  demand  related  to  Messrs.  Robert  Trail,  elder,  John 
Neave.  and  Roljert  Macward.  (Il)id.  no.  70:  comp.  Sir  Wil- 
liam Temple's  Letters,  ii.  226,  235,  237.) 

**  Inforniatio de  statu  tt  conditione  Joannis  Brown:  MSS.  t«l 
stipru,  no.  64. 

t-f-  Extract  from  the' Register  of  States  General,  apud  Wod- 
row, i.  434,435. 

X\  MSS.  «/  svpra,  no^  75  and  77.  Besides  the  above-men- 
tioned affair,  it  was  mve  obiect  of  the  ambaos'x'or's  vi«it  to  the 
Hague  to  have  a  private  interview  with  the  Prince  of  OrangCj 
and  to  obtain  a  pledge  from  him  that  he  was  friendly  to  a  gen- 
eral p«ace,  and  averse  to  the  Dutch  concludin<;  a  sej)arate  treaty 


NOTICES  OF  COLONEL  WALLACE. 


481 


Upon  this  the  States  General,  to  prevent  a  quarrel  with 
Great  Britain,  judged  it  prudent  to  yield  ;  but  they 
f.iiled  not  to  represent  their  sense  of  the  injustice  of 
the  claim  made  upon  them.  Li  their  letter  of  the  22d 
of  January  1677,  they  say  : — "  We  are  willing  to  tes- 
tify how  sensible  we  are  of  the  honour  of  your  friend- 
ship and  good  will,  and  that  we  prefer  it  to  all  other 
considerations,  assuring  your  majesty  that  we  will  not 
fail  to  cause  the  said  Macward,  Brown,  and  Wallis,  to 
depart,  within  the  time  mentioned  in  the  treaties,  from 
the  bounds  of  this  country.  We  find  ourselves,  how- 
ever, obliged  to  represent  to  your  Majesty,  that  we  be- 
lieve  you  will  agree  with  us  that  the  obligation  of  the 
treaties  is  reciprocal ;  and  that,  according  to  the  laws 
of  this  country,  we  cannot  by  our  letters  declare  any 
person  fugitive  or  a  rebel,  unless  he  has  been  recog- 
nised as  such  by  sentence  or  judgment  of  the  ordinary 
criminal  court  of  justice,  and  that  your  Majesty  could 
not  pay  any  regard  to  any  letters  of  ours  making  a 
similar  declaration,  unless  accompanied  by  such  sen- 
tence or  judgment.  And  as  thus  we  cannot  require  of 
your  Majesty  to  remove  any  one  from  your  kingdoms 
as  a  rebel  or  fugitive  on  a  simple  declaration  made  by 
our  letters,  so  we  assure  ourselves,  Sir,  that  your  Ma- 
jesty will  not  in  future  require  us  by  simple  letters  to 
remove  any  person  from  our  territories,  before  he  be 
declared  a  fugitive  or  rebel,  according  to  the  ordinary 
forms  of  the  laws  and  customs  of  your  Majesty."* 

The  following  is  the  resolution  to  which  the  States 
General  came,  as  translated  from  an  authenticated 
copy  of  the  original  in  Dutch.  "  By  tho  resumpt  de- 
livered on  the  report  of  M.  M.  van  Heuckelom  and 
others,  their  High  Mightinesses'  commissioners  for 
foreign  affairs,  having,  in  compliance  with,  and  for 
giving  effect  to  that  Resolution  Commissorial  of  the 
16th  instant,  examined  and  discussed  the  memorial  of 
Sir  Temple,  baronet,  envoy  extraordinary  of  his 

Majesty  the  king  of  Great  Britain,  requesting  their  H. 
M.  would  be  pleased  to  ordain  their  said  commissioners 
to  enter  into  a  conference  with  him  ;  as  also  a  missive 
of  the  king  of  Great  Britain,  dated  at  Whitehall  the 
29th  of  December  last,  stilo  ^ngliae,  respecting  his 
Majesty's  former  letters  of  the  27th  June  and  18th  of 
November  before,  concerning  t'nree  Scotsmen,  .lames 
Walles,  Robert  Macward,  and  John  Brown;  and  hav- 
ing conferred  with  the  said  Amb.  Ext.,  Temple,  re- 
garding the  contents  of  it,  and  having  also  seen  the 
refroacta,  and  exhibited  and  heard  read  a  draught  of  a 
missive,  drawn  out  and  committed  to  paper  by  the 
commissioners  of  their  H.  M.  for  an  answer  to  the 
missives  of  his  Majesty  of  Great  Britain  of  the  27th 
of  June,  18th  November,  and  29th  December  last, 
respecting  the  foresaid  Scotsmen  :  It  is  found  good 
hereby  to  declare,  that  although  the  foresaid  three 
Scotsmen — have  not  only  not  behaved  and  comported 
themselves  otherwise  than  as  became  good  and  faith- 
ful citizens  of  these  states,  but  have  also  given  many 
indubitable  proofs  of  their  zeal  and  affection  for  the 
advancement  of  the  truth,  which  their  H.  M.  have 
seen  with  pleasure,  and  could  have  wished  that  they 
could  have  continued  to  live  here  in  peace  and  se- 
curity ; — considering  the  risk  they  run,  however,  and 
considering  with  what  pressing  earnestness  his  Majes- 
ty has  repeatedly  insisted,  by  three  several  missives, 
and  verbally  through  his  envoy  extraordinary,  and  with 
great  reason  apprehending  a  breach  between  his  M. 
and  these  States,  as  Sir  Temple  has  expressed 

himself  on  the  subject  in  terms  that  cannot  be  mis- 
taken, they  feel  themselves  necessitated,  in  order  to 
obviate  so  great  an  evil  at  this  conjuncture,  to  cause 
the  foresaid  three  Scotsmen — withdraw  from  this  coun- 
try; and  that  consequently  notice  shall  be  given  to  the 
foresaid  James  Walles,  Robert  Macward,  and  John 

with  France.  (Sir  William  Temple's  Lettei-s,  vol.  iii.  p.  258, 
278.) 

*  Au  Roy  de  la  Grande  Bretagne.    MSS.  ut  supra,  no.  78. 
3  L 


Brown,  in  order  that  they  may  be  able  to  avail  them- 
selves of  the  good  intentions  of  their  H.  M.  in  having 
their  property  properly  disposed  of  before  the  5th  of 
March  next; — and  for  this  end,  an  extract  of  this  re- 
solution of  their  H.  M.  shall  be  sent  to  the  counsellours 
of  the  States  of  Holland  and  Westfriesland,  in  order 
that  due  notification  may  be  given,  and  the  foresaid 
James  Walles,  &c.  may  regulate  their  proceedings  ac- 
cordingly. They  shall  also  find  enclosed,  for  their 
behoof,  separate  instruments  ad  omncs  populos,  word 
for  word  with  the  following,  which  shall  be  sent  to  the 
foresaid  commissioners  of  the  Council  of  the  H.  and 
M.  the  States  of  Holland,  to  be  put  into  the  hands  of 
the  foresaid  James  Walles,  &c.  The  instrument  or 
testimonial  referred  to  in  the  preceding  decree  runs  in 
the  following  terms  : — "  The  States  General  of  the 
United  Netherlands,  to  all  and  every  one  who  shall 
see  or  read  these  presents,  health.  Be  it  known  and 
certified  that  James  Wallace,  gentleman,  our  subject, 
and  for  many  years  inhabitant  of  this  state,  lived 
among  us  highly  esteemed  for  his  probity,  submission 
to  the  laws,  and  integrity  of  manners.  And  therefore 
we  have  resolved  affectionately  to  request,  and  hereby 
do  most  earnestly  request,  the  Emperor  of  the  Romans, 
and  all  Kings,  Republics,  Princes,  Dukes,  States,  Ma- 
gistrates, or  whomsoever  else  our  friends,  and  all  that 
shall  see  these  presents,  that  they  receive  the  said 
James  Wallace  in  a  friendly  manner,  whensoever  he 
may  oome  to  them  or  resolve  to  remain  with  them, 
and  assist  him  with  their  council,  help,  and  aid  ;  tes- 
tifying that  for  any  obliging,  humane,  or  kindly  offices 
done  to  him,  we  shall  be  ready  and  forward  to  return 
the  favour  to  them  and  their  subjects  whensoever  an 
opportunity  offers.  For  the  greater  confirmation  where- 
of, we  have  caused  these  presents  to  be  sealed  with  our 
seal  of  office,  and  signed  by  the  president  of  our  assem- 
bly, and  have  ordered  them  to  be  countersigned  by  our 
first  secretary,  in  our  assembly,  the  sixth  day  of  the 
month  of  February,  in  the  year  one  thousand,  six  hun- 
dred, and  seventy-seven."* 

With  what  reluctance  the  States  took  this  step  ap- 
pears from  the  report  which  Sir  William  Temple  made 
to  his  court.  "  The  business  of  the  three  Scotch  min- 
isters* (says  he)  hath  been  the  hardest  piece  of  nego- 
ciation  that  I  have  ever  yet  entered  npon  here,  both 
from  the  particular  interests  of  the  towns  and  provin- 
ces of  Holland,  and  the  general  esteem  they  have  of 
Mackaird  being  a  very  quiet  and  pious  man ;  but 
chiefly  from  the  firm  persuasion  they  have  of  not  being 
obliged  to  it  by  any  bare  letter  of  his  Majesty,  without 
any  sentence  having  passed  against  them,  by  which 
they  are  adjudged  rebels  and  fugitives.  And,  on  the 
contrary,  after  a  sentence  of  banishment  against  Mac- 
kaird and  Brown,  which,  they  say,  is  by  all  writers 
esteemed  wholly  to  extinquish  their  subjection,  and 
consequently  his  Majesty's  right  of  declaring  them 
rebels  after  they  are  banished  and  become  subjects  to- 
another  state.  But  I  have  found  the  king's  honour  &o 
far  engaged  in  this  matter,  by  three  several  letters 
whichi  must  have  been  public,  that  I  have  left  no  sort 
of  arguments  unessayed  with  the  prince,  the  pensioner, 
and  deputies  both  of  the  provinces  and  towns,  to  pro- 
cure his  Majesty's  satisfaction,  and  make  it  pass  for  a 
thinsr  so  necessary  to  despatch,  that  it  hath  taken  up 
two  long  debates  in  the  States  of  Holland  these  two 
days  past,  though  their  meeting  was  intended  but  for 
five  days,  and  for  no  other  business  but  the  levies  of 
monies  necessary  for  the  campaign.":j: 


*  Extract  uijt  het  Register  der  Resolulien  vande  Ho.  Mo. 
heeren  Staten  General  der  Vereenighde  Nederlanden.  Sab- 
bathi  den  6.  Februarii  1677.  (Signed)  J.  De  Mauregnault, 
Rt.  (and  below)  H.  Fagel.— (MSS.  ut  svpra,  no.  81.) 

f  Wallace  is  here  spoken  of  as  a  minister,  though  it  is  evi- 
dent from  the  correspondence,  that  both  parties  were  quite 
aware  of  his  real  profession. 

J  Sir  William  Temple's  Letters,  vol.  iii.  p.  291,  292:  comp. 
248,268,311. 

31 


482 


NOTICES  OF  COLONEL  WALLACE. 


Mr.  Brown  was  allowed  to  remain  in  the  country, 
on  the  attestation  of  a  physician  that  his  health  would 
be  endangered  by  his  removal.*  It  is  not  improbable 
that  Mr.  Macward  also  remained,  in  the  way  of  keep- 
ing himself  concealed  for  a  s-hort  time;  but  Wallace 
was  obliged  to  remove,  and  took  up  his  residence 
either  on  the  borders  of  France,  or  of  the  Spanish 
Netherlands.  During  this  seclusion  he  addressed  the 
following  pious  and  well-written  letter  to  "  the  Lady 
Caldwell." 

•'  Elect  Lady,  and  my  worthie  and  dear  Sister, 

"  Your's  is  come  to  my  hand  in  most  acceptable 
tyme.  It  seems  that  all  that  devils  or  men  these  many 
years  have  done  (and  that  has  not  been  lytle)  against 
yow,  to  dant  your  courage,  or  to  make  yovv  in  the 
avoweing  of  your  master  and  his  persecuted  interests 
to  loore  your  sailes,  hes  prevailed  so  lytle,  that  your 
fayth  and  courage  is  upon  the  groweing  hand,  ane  evi- 
dence indeed  as  to  your  persecuters  of  perdition,  hot 
to  yow  of  salvation  and  that  of  God.  It  seems  when 
you  at  first  by  choyce  tooke  Christ  by  the  hand  to  be 
your  Lord  and  portion,  that  yow  wist  what  yow  did  ; 
and  that,  notwithstandeing  of  all  the  hardnesses  yow 
have  met  with  in  bydeing  by  him,  your  heart  seems 
to  cleave  the  faster  to  him.  This  sayes  yow  have 
been  admitted  unto  much  of  his  company  and  fellow- 
ship. My  sowle  blesses  God  on  your  behalf,  who 
hath  so  caryed  to  yow  that  I  think  yow  may  take  those 
words  amongst  others  spoken  to  yow,  '  Yow  have  con- 
tinued with  me  in  my  aflictions:  I  apoynt  unto  you  a 
kingdom.'  It  seems  suffering  for  Christ,  loseing  any 
thing  for  him,  is  to  yow  your  glory,  is  to  yow  your 
gayn.  More  and  more  of  this  spirit  maye  yow  enjoye, 
that  yow  may  be  among  the  few  (as  it  was  said  of 
Caleb  and  Joshua)  that  follow  him  fullie,  among  the 
overcomers,  those  noble  overcomers  mentioned,  Revel, 
ii.  and  iii.  among  those  to  whom  only  (as  pickt  out 
and  chosen  for  that  end)  he  is  sayeing,  '  Yow  are  my 
witnesses.'  Lady,  and  my  dear  sister,  I  am  of  your 
judgement ;  and  I  blesse  his  name  that  ever  he  count- 
ed me  worthie  to  appear  in  that  roll.  It  is  now  a  good 
many  years  since  the  master  was  pleased  to  even  me 
to  this,  and  to  call  me  forth  to  appear  for  him  ;  and  it 
is  trew  those  fortie  years  bygone,  (as  to  what  I  have 
mett  with  from  the  world)  I  have  been  as  the  people 
in  the  wildernes  ;  yet  I  maye  saye  it,  to  this  howre,  I 
neuer  repented  my  ingadgraents  to  him,  or  any  of  my 
owneings  of  him  ;  yea  these  rebutes,  to  say  so,  I  gott 
from  men  wer  to  me  my  joye  and  crowne,  because  I 
know  it  was  for  his  sake  I  was  so  dealt  with  ;  and  this, 
it  being  for  his  sake,  I  was  ready  in  that  case  (as 
Christ  sayes)  when  men  had  taken  me  upon  the  one 
cheek,  for  his  sake,  to  turn  to  them  the  other.  Never 
was  I  admitted  to  more  neernes,  never  was  my  table 
better  covered,  than  since  I  left  Rotterdam.  Let  us 
take  courage,  and  goe  on  as  good  soldiers  of  Jesus 
Christ,  endureing  hardnes.  O  for  more  fayth  !  O  for 
more  fayth  among  his  people  !  As  to  this  people,  there 
is  nothing  to  be  seen  in  their  waye  that  is  promiseing 
of  any  good  ;  hot,  on  the  contrar,  O  !  I  feare  the  Lord 
hes  given  them  up  unto  their  own  hearts'  lusts.  They 
doe  indeed  walke  in  their  owne  counsels.  That  same 
spirit  of  persecution,  and  these  same  principles,  that 
are  among  yow  are  heir;  hot  as  God  is  faythfull,  they 
shall  be  all  brocken  to  pieces,  and  turned  backc  with 
shame,  that  hate  Zion.     Wayt  but  a  lytle;  they  are 


»  MSS.  ut  supra,  art.  65.  83.— Mr.  John  Brown,  in  his  Tes- 
tament, April  2,  1676,  bequeathed  100  e^uincas  to  the  poor  of 
the  Scots  congregation.  lu  a  codicil  dated  11th  September, 
the  same  year,  he  appointed  the  above  sum  to  be  put  into  the 
hands  of  Jlfr.  Wallace,  to  be  given,  out  by  him  to  such  as  he 
knoweth  indigent  and  honett.— "  For  a  toaken  to  Mr.  Macward, 
I  leave  the  Coinplutensian  Bible,  six  volumes,  and   the  half  of 

the  remanent   gold   which  I  have, Ihe  other  half  to  Mr. 

Wallace." — Mr.  Brown,  having  survived  Colonel  Wallace,  has 
drawn  his  pen  through  the  worat  in  Italics.  (Macward  MSS. 
Jac.  V.  i.  10,  art.90.) 


diggeing  the  pit  for  themselves.  The  Lord  hath  found- 
ed Zion,  and  the  poore  of  the  people  shall  trust  in  it. 
Let  us  mynd  one  another.  My  love  to  all  friends 
whom  you  knowe  I  love  in  the  Lord.  God's  grace  be 
with  yow,  and  his  blessing  upon  your  lytle  ones,  whom 
he  hath  been  a  father  to.     In  him  I  rest. 

Your's  as  formerly,  Ja.  Wallace."* 

The  good  lady  to  whom  this  letter  was  addressed 
was  the  widow  of  William  Mure  of  Caldwell, |  an 
intimate  friend  of  Wallace,  and  a  defender  of  the  same 
cause,  who  died  at  Rotterdam  on  the  9th  of  February 
1670.  A  collection  of  his  dying  sayings  has  been 
preserved  by  one  of  his  friends,  who  apologizes  for 
not  having  done  justice  to  the  speaker,  by  setting  his 
words  down  with  "  that  order,  liveliness,  and  elegance 
of  phrase  wherein  he  had  a  peculiar  happiness."  Re- 
ferring to  the  cause  of  his  banishment,  he  said,  "  I  am 
in  perfect  peace  and  quiet  of  mind.  There  is  no  in- 
consistency between  obeying  of  God  and  man.     Help, 

0  Lord  !  we  can  have  no  liberty  but  what  is  clogged 
(as  we  apprehend)  with  great  slavery.  If  we  can- 
not get  living  in  the  world  like  men,  let  us  be  helped 
to  die  like  men,  in  the  avowing  of  the  truth  of  our  God. 

1  desired  help  and  liberty  to  the  kingdom,  that  sub- 
jects might  have  leave  to  live  without  the  daily  hazard 
of  their  lives.  I  desired  ever  to  be  on  truth's  side. 
It  is  very  sad  that  the  rule  of  conscience  should  be  the 
will  of  men.  We  refer,  O  Lord,  the  pleading  of  our 
right  to  thee.  If  we,  or  other  poor  people,  that  own  a 
principle  of  subjection  to  magistrates  according  to 
truth,  and  binding  to  obedience  in  all  things  that  can 
he  called  for  from  us  in  the  Lord,  have  committed  any 
wrong,  or  given  such  ground  of  offence  that  thereby 
the  authority  of  magistrates  seems  to  be  much  demol- 
ished and  blasted,  we  seek  pardon  ;  if,  I  say,  we  have 
given  any  such  ground  of  offence,  whereof  we  are  not 
yet  convinced,  though  we  do  confess  we  be  much  un- 
fitted many  times  to  express  the  truth  of  matters,  so  as 
might  take  off  the  mutual  jealousies  that  are  crept  in 
upon  the  spirits  of  all  flesh.":!: 

Colonel  Wallace  ventured  back  to  Holland  and  died 
at  Rotterdam  in  the  year  1678,  "  lamented  of  ail  the 
serious  English  and  Dutch  of  his  acquaintance,  who 
were  many  ;"  and,  in  particular,  the  members  of  the 
congregation  of  which  he  was  a  ruling  elder,  bemoan- 
ed "  his  death,  and  their  loss,  as  of  a  father."  To  the 
last  he  testified  his  attachment  to  the  public  cause 
which  he  had  owned,  and  his  satisfaction  in  reflecting 


*  This  letter  is  addressed  on  the  back,  "  For  the  Ladv  Cald- 
well, at  Glasgow."  (MSS.  in  Advocates  Library,  Jac.  V.  2,  26, 
art.  19.) 

+  William  Mure  of  Caldwell  succeeded  his  brother  James  in 
1654,  and  married  Barbara,  daughter  of  Sir  William  Cunning- 
hameof  Cunninghanihead.  (Inq.  Retor.  Renfrew,  144.  Craw- 
ford's Renfrew,  307.)  In  1666  he  came  out  at  the  head  of  a 
company  with  the  intention  of  joining  Colonel  Wallace,  but 
was  unable  to  eflect  his  purpose,  as  will  be  found  staled  in  the 
subsequent  Narrative.  Having  made  bis  escape  into  Holland, 
he  was  forfeited  in  absence,  and  his  estate  given  to  General 
Dalziel.  (Wodrow,  i.  app.  nos.  xvi.  xviii.)  An  inquest  {/e^«- 
sess.  quinq.  of  the  lands  of  Caldwall  was  granted  in  favour  of 
Daliiel,  September  3^  1675.  (Decrt- 1.  Cone.  Seer.  comp.  Inq. 
de  I'oss.  Quinq.  no.  4.^  Mrs.  Mure  having  neglected  to  take 
infeftment  before  the  forfeiture,  was  deprived  of  the  liferent 
provided  for  her  by  her  marriage-settlement;  in  consequence 
of  which,  she  was  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  supporting  her- 
self with  the  labour  of  her  own  hands.  Having  returned  to 
Scotland  after  her  husband's  death,  she  was  imprisoned,  along 
with  one  of  her  daughters,  on  suspicion  of  having  had  a  con- 
venticle in  her  house,  and  treated  with  great  inhumanity. 
(Wodrow,  ii.  285,  286.) 

John  Caldwell  of  Caldwell  appeared  along  with  Mure,  and 
shared  the  same  fate.  In  the  indictment  he  is  styled  John 
Caldwell  of  Caldwell,  younger;  and,  by  the  witnesses,  Good- 
man of  Caldwell,  younger.  (Wodrow,  i.  aup.  109.  110.)  His 
father  was  the  representative  of  an  ancient  out  decayed  family, 
and  he  himself  appears  to  have  been  the  last  of  the  line.  (Craw- 
ford's Renfrew,  44.  Wodrow,  i.  268;  ii.  423,  424,  478:  comp. 
Fountainhall's  Decisions,  i.  317.) 

t  Account  of  the  dying  expressioDi  of  the  Laird  of  Caldwell 
MSS.  ul  svpra,  art.  23. 


NOTICES  OF  COLONEL  WALLACE. 


483 


on  what  he  had  hazarded  and  suffered  in  its  defence.* 
He  left  behind  him  a  son;  and  it  appears  that  the  sen- 
tence of  forfeiture  against  him  had  not  been  carried  in- 
to execution  during  his  life-time.t 

It  has  been  asserted  by  some  writers  that  the  rising 
suppressed  at  Pentland  was  premeditated,  and  the  re- 
sult of  a  plan  concerted  with  the  Whigs  of  England 
and  the  Republicans  of  Holland.  That  the  people, 
goaded  by  oppression,  had  talked  among  themselves 
of  resisting  the  impositions  and  pillages  to  wliich  they 
were  exposed,  it  is  natural  to  suppose  ;  and  it  appears 
also,  that  some  of  the  better  classes  had  held  consul- 
tations on  the  propriety  or  practicability  of  redressing 
the  wrongs  of  their  injured  country.  It  has  been  men- 
tioned in  a  preceding  part  of  this  work,  that  a  plan 
was  formed,  in  July  1666,  for  seizing  on  the  principal 
forts  in  the  kingdom,  but  that  the  plot  had  miscarried. :|: 
By  subsequent  inquiries  I  have  ascertained  that  the 
persons  embarked  in  this  scheme  had  carried  on  a  cor- 
respondence with  the  government  of  the  United  Prov- 
inces, then  at  war  with  Great  Britain,  and  received 
promises  of  assistance  from  that  quarter.  This  appears 
from  the  following  extract  from  the  register  of  the  se- 
cret resolutions  of  the  States  General,  dated  July  15, 
1666.  "  It  was  notified  in  the  assembly,  that  over- 
tures had  been  made  by  certain  friends  of  religion  in 
the  dominions  of  the  king  of  Great  Britain,  who  had 
resolved,  without  delay,  to  seize  upon  the  first  good 
opportunity  for  vindicating  from  constraint  and  oppres- 
sion the  reformed  worship  of  God,  to  take  arms,  and 
to  do  their  utmost  to  get  possession  of  some  one  or 
more  towns  or  fortresses  lying  in  the  foresaid  King  of 
Great  Britain's  dominions.  Their  High  Mightinesses 
therefore  feel  themselves  here  called  upon  to  give  as- 
surance, that  how  soon  soever  they  shall  be  masters 
of  one  or  more  such  towns  or  forts,  assistance  shall  be 
promptly  sent  to  them,  and  arms  and  munition  of  war 
expedited  to  such  town."  Among  the  articles  to  be 
sent  are  the  following  :  For  the  foot,  3000  muskets, 
1000  match-locks,  1500  pikes,  with  side-arms  for  the 
musketeers  and  pike-men,  and  ten  brass  field-pieces  : 
For  the  cavalry,  2000  brace  of  pistols,  all  with  snap- 
locks,  and  1000  horsemen's  carabines.  Besides  the 
supplies  in  arms  and  ammunition,  a  subsidy  of  150,000 
gulden  was  promised.  The  extract  is  signed  by  the 
president.  Van  Vrijbern  :  and  the  pensionary,  De  Wilt, 
intimates  formally,  that  "  no  time  shall  be  lost  in  get- 
ting every  thing  ready  in  conformity  with  tlie  resolu- 

*  See  Macward's  letter  to  Blackadder,  December  —,  1678. 
giving  an  account  of  Wallace's  death,  in  the  Appendix. 

f  "  Anent  a  petition  presented  b^-  Sir  William  Ker,  derecter 
of  his  Majesties  chancellarie,  shewing;  that  the  petitioner  being 
ingadged  as  cautioner  for  the  deoeast  Earle  of  Louthane,  his 
father,  for  severale  debts  and  sounies  of  monej',  and  particularly 
for  the  sounie  of  four  thousand  merks  and  annualrents  due  to 
Wallace,  sone  to  Collonel  Wallace  who  command- 
ed at  Pentland,  1664;  and  albeit  that  there  was  a  procesof  for- 
faulture  intented  before  the  justice  court  against  him  for  his  ac- 
cession to  the  said  rebellion,  yet  the  samen  having  Ij'en  so  long 
over,  he  hath  now  made  a  conveyance  of  the  foresaid  soume  to 
some  confident  for  his  own  behoofe,  who  threatens  to  imprison 
and  apprehend  the  petitioner,  unles  he  make  present  payment 
of  the  foresaid  soumes,  thinking  therebj'  to  frustrat  his  Majes- 
tie  and  his  donator  of  any  benefite  they  may  have  by  the  said 
forfaultnre;  and  which,  with  their  joyneing  with  other  small 
creditors  of  the  petitioners,  does  incapacitat  the  petitioner  from 
attending  his  office;  and  therefor  humbly  supplicateing  that  the 
council  would  appoint  the  advocat  to  insist  in  the  forsaid  pro- 
cess of  forfaulture;  and  in  the  mean  time,  to  grant  to  the  peti- 
tioner the  councills  protection  for  such  a  considerable  time  as 
the  councill  shall  think  fitt.  The  Lords  of  his  Majesties  privy 
[council]  haveing  heard  and  considered  the  foresaid  petition, 
doe  hereby  grant  licence  to  the  petitioner  to  goe  about  his 
affaires  untill  the  first  day  of  November  next,  discharging  mes- 
sengers at  amies,  officers  within  burghs,  and  others,  to  put  an}' 
letters  of  caption,  or  acts  of  warding,  in  execution  against  the 
petitioner,  for  any  civill  cause  or  debt  during  the  said  space, 
out  prejudice  of  execution  for  his  Majesties  dues,  or  upon  bonds 
granted  for  the  same."  (Decret.  Secret.  Concil.  Sept.  3, 
1680.) 

\  See  before,  p.  433,  note. 


tion  of  the  States  General,  when  wanted."*  There 
are  letters  from  Macward  to  Brown,  written,  as  late  as 
September  and  October  that  year,  in  a  concealed  style, 
but  evidently  referring  to  the  above-mentioned  transac- 
tion.f  They  speak  of  a  Mr.  Wallace;  but  as  the 
other  names  are  obviously  fictitious,  this  affords  no 
ground  for  supposing  that  the  colonel  was  the  person 
referred  to.  \Vho  were  the  leading  men  in  Scotland, 
in  whose  names  this  correspondence  with  Holland  was 
carried  on,  or  by  what  means  they  expeeted  to  get 
possession  of  the  forts  alluded  to,  I  have  not  been  able 
to  discover. 

It  does  not  seem,  however,  that  there  was  any  con- 
nexion between  that  plot  and  the  rising  in  Galloway, 
which  appears  to  have  originated  solely  in  the  acci- 
dental scuffle  between  a  small  party  of  soldiers  and 
some  countrymen,  to  which  it  has  been  usually  as- 
cribed. The  privy  council  were  unable,  by  all  their  in- 
quiries, aided  by  the  utmost  severities  of  the  torture,  to 
elicit  or  extort  the  slightest  evidence  of  previous  concert 
among  those  who  betook  themselves  to  arms,  or  of  any 
correspondence  bet^ween  them  and  foreigners  ;  and  be- 
ing at  last  convinced  that  the  insurrection  was  uncon- 
certed,  they  resolved  on  abandoning,  or  at  least  miti- 
gating that  system  of  arbitrary  and  intolerable  oppres- 
sion, which  had  driven  the  people  to  extremities. 
Bishop  Burnet  represents  "  some  fiery  ministers," 
whom  he  names  as  the  "  chief  incendiaries.":f:  The 
following  statement  by  one  of  those  whom  he  accu.ses, 
which  bears  internal  marks  of  candour,  goes  to  show 
that  the  ministers,  instead  of  inflaming,  endeavoured 
to  restrain  the  spirit  of  the  people.  It  will  serve  also 
as  a  proper  introduction  to  the  subsequent  Narrative, 
by  supplying  a  new  and  summary  account  of  what 
took  place  in  Galloway  and  at  Dumfries,  before  colonel 
Wallace  joined  the  party. 

"  The  soldiers  drove  the  ministers  out  of  Galloway 
and  Niddisdale,  where  the  meetings  were  most  fre- 
quent. So,  many  of  them  came  privately  to  Edinburgh 
and  lurked  there,  and  preached  more  privately.  At 
which  time  soldiers  did  sadly  distress  the  country,  where 
the  meetings  had  been,  and  those  that  went  not  to  church, 
by  fining,  imprisoning,  driving  of  their  cattle,  which  did 
much  exasperate  the  people  ;  so  that  some  of  them  were 
busy  to  traffic  through  their  own  country,  and  the  west, 
and  other  places,  for  some  appearance  for  their  own 
relief  and  deliverance  from  the  persecution.  Several, 
both  gentlemen  and  others,  did  regret  the  same ;  and 
after  going  to  and  from  for  advice  and  assistance,  and 
consulting  about  the  same,  and  seeking  the  Lord  there- 
in, some  were  for  appearing  in  an  hostile  way,  and 
some  not ;  and  so  it  was  put  off  from  one  time  to  ano- 
ther. At  last  I  was  advised  by  some  friends  to  go  pri- 
vately into  Galloway  or  the  borders  of  it,  to  be  inform- 
ed of  their  case  and  what  they  designed  to  do,  and  to 
report  at  Edinburgh.  I  went  accordingly,  and  met 
with  several  of  their  leading  men,  who  were  longing 
for  an  opportunity  of  appearing  together  for  their  de- 
fence. I  told  them,  it  was  not  rashly  to  be  done,  but 
well  advised  with  others  in  other  places.  So  we  sent 
to  the  west  and  elsewhere  for  counsel  in  the  matter, 
and  to  come  back  within  ten  days.  In  the  mean  time 
excellent  Monrieff,  a  laird  in  Galloway,  the  greatest 
Christian  that  I  knew  in  his  station,  going  to  Edin- 
burgh, came  to  me  where  I  was  privzitely.  I  desired 
him  to  tarry  for  the  next  meeting,  and  told  him  when 
and  where  it  was,  which  he  did.  So  we,  going  to  the 
place  of  meeting  at  the  time  appointed,  and  being  met 
together,  they  told  us,  that  Barscobe  and  some  others 
of  the  people  were  fallen  foul  with  some  of  the  soldiers 
quartered  in  the  country,  and  had  hurt  some  and  se- 
cured several  of  them  ;  the  report  of  which  going  to 


*  Extract  uit  het  Register  der  Secrete  Resolutien  van  Ho.  en 
Mo.  Heeren  Staten  Generael  der  Vereenichde  Nederlanden. — 
(Macward  Papers.    Jac.  V.  i.  10,  art.  42.) 

t  Ibid.  Jac.  V.  i.  11,  art.  8  and  9. 

i  History  of  his  Own  Times,  i.  341. 


484 


NOTICES  OF  COLONEL  WALLACE. 


other  places  of  the  country,  the  people  did  the  like 
with  their  soldiers.  The  first  occasion  of  this  outfall 
as  I  learned  was,  that  they  were  offering  to  torture  at 
the  fire  some  honest  men  that  did  not  comply  with 
them ;  and  Barscobe  said  soberly  to  them,  '  Why  do 
you  use  the  honest  man  so  V  and  looked  about  a  little. 
Whereupon  some  of  the  soldiers  offered  to  them  vio- 
lence. Upon  which  a  woman  cried  to  Barscobe, 
'Turn,  what  are  you  doing?'  And  when  he  looked 
and  saw  what  they  were  doing  against  them,  he  drew 
a  pistol,  wherein  there  was  only  tobacco-stapples,  and 
shot  at  one  of  them  ;  at  which  the  soldier  fell,  but  I 
do  not  remember  that  he  was  killed.  So  it  began,  and 
they  secured  the  rest  there  and  elsewhere.  Monrieff 
and  I  were  grieved  with  this  accident,  and  knew  not 
what  advice  to  give  them  in  the  case.  Some  knew 
not  what  to  say,  but  the  most  forward  said,  there  had 
been  talking  enough  upon  that  affair,  that  it  was  fit  to 
take  that  opportunity  to  appear,  which  if  they  did  not, 
Sir  James  Turner,  that  was  at  Dumfries,  would  come 
with  all  his  men  and  destroy  the  country  ;  and  that  it 
was  best  to  prevent  that  by  marching  to  Dumfries  and 
securing  of  him.  I  was  truly  Laban  in  the  case;  but 
I  told,  if  they  were  so  resolved,  I  should  go  straight 
to  the  west  to  acquaint  friends  there;  which  I  did, 
riding  all  night  to  get  soon  there.  So  they  went  for 
Dumfries,  and  chused  one  Mr.  Gray  for  their  head,  and 
they  came  and  took  Sir  James  Turner  prisoner,  and  set 
him  upon  a  low  beast,  without  his  best  raiment,  and 
carried  him  through  the  town  in  a  despicable  manner, 
where  the  providence  of  God  was  to  be  seen  of  that 
sudden  change.  There  he  had  been  reigning  like  a 
king,  and  lifted  up  in  pride,  with  insolency  and  cruelty 
over  the  poor  people,  and  so  they  carried  him  alongst 
with  them  to  the  west.  He  told  them,  if  that  rising 
was  general  they  would  carry  it ;  if  it  were  but  in 
that  corner  they  could  not  do  it.  The  old  Register, 
Primrose,  (I  heard,)  said,  that  the  party  that  had  been 
80  favourable  to  spare  Sir  James  Turner,  would  not 
do  the  business  ;  they  had  not  a  spirit.  And  a  worthy 
knowing  minister  spoke  to  the  same  purpose  to  me 
after  the  defeat.  I  replied  to  him,  they  had  a  spirit  for 
that  for  which  they  were  raised  up,  to  give  an  innocent 
testimony  for  the  Lord  and  his  oppressed  work  and 
people,  which  had  not  been  given  before ;  neither  did 
the  king  and  the  court  know  the  case  of  the  country, 
and  the  temper  of  the  people.  For  they  were  made  to 
believe,  that  if  a  few  gentlemen  were  kept  in  security, 
and  a  few  ministers,  he  would  have  perfect  peace.  So 
that  appearance,  with  the  meetings  that  followed, 
occasioned  the  relaxation  and  liberty  which  was  given 
by  the  Indulgence.  This  was  observable  of  that 
rising,  that  several  of  those  who  did  encourage  it  in 
discoursing,  and  seemed  to  be  frank  for  it,  yet  drew 
back  when  it  came  to  be  made  effectual.  And  if  those 
gentlemen  and  ministers  in  the  west  had  risen,  when 
thpy  were  there  that  came  from  Galloway,  it  might 
have  done  the  business  ;  for  to  speak  humaniius,  after 
the  manner  of  men,  five  hundred  more  men  might  have 
obtained  a  victory  ;  there  was  such  a  general  dissatis- 
faction with  the  alteration  of  the  church  government, 
and  the  persecution  it  occasioned.  They  had  many 
thousand  well-wishers  at  Pentland,  that,  if  they  had 
thought  they  could  have  carried  with  their  assistance, 
would  have  been  there  ;  and  so  the  Commissioner  then 
observed,  that,  if  they  had  prevailed  but  a  little,  they 
would  have  got  many  thousands  to  join  with  them. 
Yea,  a  great  man  (I  heard)  said  to  that  purpose,  who 


proved  a  great  adversary  afterward  when  he  became 
greater."* 

One  reason  why  the  insurgents  were  not  more  nu- 
merous was,  that  the  government  had  previously  im- 
prisoned on  suspicion  the  principal  gentlemen,  especi- 
ally in  the  western  shires,  who  were  known  to  be 
warm  friends  to  presbytery,  and  even  some  indi- 
viduals of  a  different  description,  who  happened  to  be 
dissatisfied  with  the  measures  of  the  administration. 
Among  these  were  Major-General  Montgomery,  broth- 
er to  the  Earl  of  Eglinton  ;  Sir  Hew  Campbell  of  Ces- 
nock  ;  Major-General  Holborn  of  Menstrie ;  Colonel 
Robert  Halket,  brother  to  Sir  James  Halket  of  Pitfer- 
ran ;  Sir  John  Cheisly  of  Carswell ;  Sir  James  Stew- 
art, late  Provost  of  Edinburgh  ;  James  Dunlop  of  that 
ilk ;  William  Ralston  of  that  ilk ;  and  Sir  George 
Munro,  "  who  had  taken  both  the  oath  of  supremacy 
and  declaration."!  To  these  may  be  added  the  per- 
sons mentioned  in  the  following  extract,  from  a  paper 
which  appears  to  have  been  drawn  up  by  Sir  William 
Cunningham  of  Cunninghamhead. 

"  In  the  foresaid  year  1666  no  less  was  the  illegal 
procedure  against  several  honourable  gentlemen,  taken 
up  at  their  own  houses,  where  they  were  living  peace- 
ably, by  parties  of  soldiers  haling  them  to  prisons  as 
malefactors;  such  as  were  the  late  Sir  William  Cun- 
ninghame  of  Cunninghame-head,  father  to  the  present 
Sir  William  ;  the  late  Mr.  George  Maxwell,  father  to 
the  present  Sir  John  Maxwell  of  Pollock,  and  one  of 
the  Senators  of  the  College  of  Justice ;  and  the  late 
Sir  William  Muire  of  Rowallane,  grandfather  to  the 
present  Countess  of  Glasgow,  and  several  others.— 
Though  never  any  accusation  was  brought  against 
them,  yet  Cunninghamehead,  Pollock,  and  Rowallane, 
were  three  years  and  some  odd  months  detained  pris- 
oners in  the  castle  of  Stirling,  to  the  prejudice  both  of 
their  health  and  estates.  Yet  could  they  never  learn, 
even  when  they  were  dismissed,  the  reason  why  they 
were  imprisoned,  neither  can  it  be  alledged  that  they 
had  access  to  the  insurrection  that  unhappily  fell  out 
that  year,  they  being  imprisoned  some  months  before 
there  was  any  such  appearance  ;  and  it  is  to  be  observ- 
ed, that  many,  if  not  all,  of  these  gentlemen  were  so 
loyally  and  zealously  affected  for  the  royal  family, 
that  during  the  time  of  the  usurpation,  their  estates 
were  sequestrated,  and  they  obliged  to  retire  for  the 
safety  of  their  persons.":}: 

*  Life  of  Gabriel  Sempil,  written  by  himself,  MS.  p.  38—43. 
Mr.  Gabriel  Sempil  was  the  second  son  of  Bryce  Sempil  of 
Cathcart,  and  brother  of  Sir  William  Sempil.  (Douglas,  Bar. 
p.  468.)  Both  his  father  and  brother  were  great  loyalists,  and 
the  latter  was  with  Montrose  at  Philiphaugh.  "  Withm  a  short 
time  after,  he  fell  in  a  great  con.sumplion,  whereof  he  died;  but 
before  his  death  he  took  a  great  remorse  for  his  malignancy 
and  following  that  way,  and  testified  the  same  to  all  ni»  ac- 
quaintances that  came  to  visit  him  in  his  sickness."  Mr.  Ga- 
briel Sempil  was  minister  at  Kirkpatrick-Durham  in  Galloway 
at  the  Restoration,  and  after  the  Revolution  at  Jedburgh.  He 
married,  1st,  Alison,  daughter  of  Sir  Walter  Riddell  of  that 
ilk;  and,  2dlv,  Margaret,  daughter  of  Sir  Robert  Car  of  (Ual,  in 
Northumberland.  His  death  happened  on  the  8th  of  August 
1706,  in  the  75th  year  of  his  age. — (Life  of  Mr.  Gabriel  Sempil, 
MS.) — Sir  Robert  Carr  of  Etal  is  the  gentleman  mentioned  by 
Mr.  Veitch,  under  the  name  of  "  Ittall." — (See  before,  p.  451.) 
— The  Earl  of  Errol  is  now  the  representative  of  that  family. — 
(Douglas,  Peerage,  i.  554,  556.) 

+  Account  of  Atlairs  in  Scotland,  from  1659  to  1675.  MS.  in 
the  Library  of  theCollegeofEdinburgh, p.  185.  Wodrow,i.224. 

X  Account  of  the  suflerings  of  the  Lady  Caldwell,  of  the 
Highland  Host,  &c.  by  Sir  W.  C.  of  C.  MSB.  in  Advocates 
Library,  No.  xxxiii .    Jac.  V.  i.  25,  art.  67. 


END  OP  NOTICES   OF    COLONEL   WALLAOC. 


NARRATIVE 


RISING  AT  PENTLAND. 


BY    COLONEL    WALLACE. 


[Colonel  Wallace's  Narrative  is  introduced  by  the 
following  sentence  in  the  manuscript  in  which  it  has 
been  preserved.  "  Immediately  after  the  action  (of 
seizing  Sir  James  Turner)  they  sent  two  gentlemen  to 
Edinburgh,  to  give  friends  account  thereof,  who  met 
with  some  honest  men,  and  gave  them  the  foresaid  ac- 
count of  the  business  ;  and,  what  followed,  see  by  this 
account  written  by  him  that  commanded  in  chief,  Wal- 
lace, who  was  at  this  meeting  and  went  from  Edinburgh 
to  the  west,  where  he  met  the  rest."] 


After  several  men's  minds  were  inquired  what  was 
fitting  to  be  done,  it  was  resolved,  (because  that  night 
was  far  spent)  that  to-morrow  morning  we  should  all 
meet  at  Mr.  Robertson's  chamber  at  seven  o'clock. 
In  the  mean  time  it  was  seriously  recommended  to 
every  man  to  be  serious  with  God  about  this  particular, 
that  God  might  direct  and  determine  us  herein.  Being 
met  to-morrow,  without  any  farther,  every  man's  judg- 
ment was  asked  what  should  be  our  carriage  in  this 
case,  and  what  every  man  in  particular  was  clear  to  do 
for  himself.  All  was  clear  that  it  was  our  duty  to 
own  our  brethren  in  Galloway,  yea,  and  to  go  to  them, 
and  to  take  share  with  them  in  what  should  be  their 
lot,  according  to  their  capacity  :  and  this  every  man 
spoke  freely,  to  the  great  encouragement  of  one  anoth- 
er; only  Kaitloch,*  he  spoke  so  low,  that  few  heard 
what  he  said  ;  but  it  is  said,  that  what  he  said  was 
something  of  his  unclearness  to  join,  as  the  matter  was 
stated.  After  prayer  again,  we  parted,  presently  to 
make  off  the  town.  That  day,  being  Friday,  Mr. 
Robison  and  I  went  towards  Libberton,  where  he  as- 
sured me  there  were  forty  well-mounted  good  fellows, 
upon  some  few  hours  warning,  ready  to  go  alongst. 
But  when  we  had  stayed  till  to-morrow  at  night,  our 
party  came  but  to  seven  or  eight.  Always,  that  night, 
being  Saturday,  or  Sabbath  morning,  (being  to  act 
something  by  the  way,  if  some  man's  promises  held) 
we  went  away  straight  to  Linton  Bridges.  Before  we 
came  that  length,  Mr.  Robertson  and  I  parted  that  day, 
he  went  away  towards  Lesmahagow  and  these  parts, 
and  one  or  two  with  him,  and  I  went  in  by  Dunsire,f 
and  the  rest  with  me.  We  rested  a  while  at  Dunsire, 
and  prayed,  and  after  a  while  we  got  a  guide  and  made 
towards  the  place  where  Mr.  Robertson  had  appointed 


*  William  Ferguson  of  Kaitlocb,  or  Caitlocb,  printed  by  mis- 
take, Kaittoch,  in  p.  431. 
f  See  before,  p.  431. 


to  meet  me ;  but  we  found  him  in  his  sister's,  where 
we  stayed  that  night;  only  Mr.  Robertson  left  us 
that  night,  and  went  to  try  the  business  above  men-- 
tioned,  desiring  us  to  stay  until  he  either  came  or 
sent  to  us.  That  same  night  being  Sabbath  night, 
at  eight  o'clock,  came  sure  intelligence  that  Wick- 
etshaw*  was  marched  away  that  same  night,  with 
a  considerable  number  of  Carluke  parish,  towards  the 
Galloway  people,  and  that  several  other  particular  per- 
sons were  gone  with  them.  There  we  waited  till 
Monday  morning  at  day  light,  and  then  getting  a  guide, 
we  make  away  straight  to  Mauchline,  and  by  the  way 
sent  the  guide  to  Robert  Lockhart's  house, f  to  inquire 
of  Mr.  Robertson  where  he  was,  where  we  got  notice 
where  he  was,  but  that  he  was  going  away  to  the  par- 
ty. We  thought  strange  he  should  have  left  us  in 
such  a  condition.  While  we  were  coming  towards  the 
place,  we  met  one  who  told  us  he  feared  they  were 
gone ;  and  when  we  came  to  the  house  they  were  gone : 
but  about  that  house  I  saw  two  men,  one  whereof  I 
perceived  was  Andrew  Gray.  He  was  in  so  uncouth 
a  posture,  with  such  a  beggar  like  habit,  and  looking 
with  such  an  abashed  countenance,  I  was  astonished 
and  could  not  speak  for  a  long  time.  Always  he  for- 
bids me  to  be  afraid  ;  he  tells  me  the  Lord  had  favour- 
ed them  with  good  success  in  the  attempt  upon  Dum- 
fries, and  that,  howbeit,  after  the  business  was  done, 
many  came  and  owned  it,  that  never  'appeared  before, 
when  it  was  most  to  be  hazarded  upon;  yet  all  or 
most  of  these  gentlemen  and  countrymen  had  left  it, 
and  gone  to  their  houses,  as  if  there  had  been  no  more 
ado  ;  whereupon  he  had  left  them  to  look  to  his  own 
safety,  being  in  a  very  insecure  condition  then,  having 
been  the  chief  actor  in  the  business.ij:     Upon  this  first 


*  "  December  26th  1663.— Willielmus  Lockhart  de  Wicket- 
schaw,  haeres  Wilielirii  Lockhart  de  Wicketschaw,  patris." 
(Ret.  Inq.  Gen.  4752;  comp.  Kirkton,  234.) 

f  Kirkton  calls  him  "  Captain  Robert  Lockhart."  (Hist.  p. 
234.  Robert  Lockhart  of  Birkhill,  and  Robert  Lockhart  of 
Bankhead,  were  forfeited  for  being  in  arms  at  Bothwel.  The 
latter  begged  mercy,  and  offering  to  take  the  test,  appears  to 
have  obtained  a  remission  for  life.  (Wodrow,  ii.  159,  323,324. 
Act.  Pari.  Scot.  ix.  165.  Inq.  Retorn.  Lanark,  430.) 

t  Kirkton,  in  his  account  of  the  seizing  of  Sir  James  Turner, 
says,  "  He  who  was  chief  in  the  party  that  took  him  was  one 
Andrew  Gray,  ane  Edinburgh  merchant,  who  immediately  de- 
serted them,  as  did  many  more."  (Hist.  p.  232.)  We  have 
already  met  with  him  at  Newcastle,  where  he  was  "  in  straits," 
and  indebted  to  Veitch  for  relief.  (See  before,  p.  436.)  This 
is  not  very  consistent  with  the  story  of  his  having  retired  with 
the  money  and  baggage  which  he  had  taken  from  Sir  James 
Turner,  as  told  by  Andrew  Symson  of  Kirkinner.  (Descrip- 
tion of  Galloway,  184.)      Indeed,  Blackader  tells  us  that  there 

485 


486 


WALLACE'S  NARRATIVE  OF 


account  he  gave  us,  we  were  uncoutlily  commoved. 
But  when  I  began  to  gather  my  thoughts,  I  persuaded 
myself  that  Andrew  had  taken  the  pett ;  and  that  when 
going  to  their  houses  after  the  service,  was  that  they 
might  settle  their  affairs  before  they  should  go  forth 
again.  Upon  this  I  concluded  Andrew  had  taken  his 
leave,  or  came  away  very  briskly ;  but  that  they 
would  not  appear  again  was  not  rational,  especially 
severals  having  been  gone  and  going  to  them  whose 
standing  we  were  no  less  concerned  in  than  theirs. 
Upon  this  a  grieved  and  discontented  man,  I  parted 
with  Andrew  Gray,  fearing  what  ill  he  might  and 
would  do. 

Away  we  came  to  atow^n  within  two  miles  of  Evan- 
dale,  where  we  stayed  that  night.  To-morrow  morn- 
ing at'ter  several  children  being  baptized,  and  after 
meeting  with  Andrew  Rob  of  Wailslie,*  whom  we 
found  not  clear  enough  to  join,  though  his  health 
would,  which  he  pretended,  but  slenderly,  to  be  the  lett. 
He  told  us  likewise  that  Blackwood  would  not  be  sud- 
den, and  that  he  would  expect  to  hear  from  us  ere  he 
moved.  Here  came  likewise  one  Mr.  Archibald  Young, 
from  his  brother  the  chamberlain, j"  offering  by  com- 
mission from  his  brother,  that  if  we  would  certify 
where  he  might  meet  us,  and  satisfy  him  in  this  point, 
who  commanded  in  chief,  he  would  come  himself  and 
bring  the  whole  parish  of  Evandale ;  but  we  knew 
well  enough  what  we  might  expect  from  him.  After 
this  we  go  straight  towards  Mauchline,  overtaking  by 
the  way  severals  from  Clydesdale,  and  captain  Arnot, 
whom  we  had  been  necessitated  to  part  with  the  day 
before,  by  occasion  of  his  horse  running  away  aftrr 
he  had  fallen  off  him.  By  the  way  we  got  notice  of 
the  party's  being  at  Ayr.  That  night  being  Tuesday, 
we  stayed  at  Mauchline,  where  our  dear  friend  John 
Ross  (who  is  now  in  glory)  gave  us  notice  that  there 
was  so  much  hazard  from  Drunilanrick  and  others,  in 
and  about  Cumnock,  as  might  cause  us  not  to  be  se- 
cure. That  same  day  had  colonel  Montgomery  :J:  and 
Gadgirth  gone  towards  Eglington,  where  they  expect- 
ed Dayell  should  have  been.      This   was  the  counte- 


was  little  to  seize,  and  that  Sir  James's  trunks  '*  were  much 
emptied,  having  sent  the  money  he  had  exacted  in  oppression 
to  Glasgow  before,  (as  I  have  heard  say)  in  some  loads." 
(Crichton's  Biackader,  p.  139.) 

*  Mr.  John  Dickson,  urg-ing  Mr.  Macward  to  use  his  influ- 
ence in  favour  of  fielti  meetings,  and  pointing  out  the  proper 
persons  to  whom-he  should  write,  mentions  "  for  Clidsdale,  An- 
drew Robe  in  Walesly,  very  streight."  (Wodrow  MSS.  lix. 
Jac.  V.  i.  26,  art.  108.)  "  Mr.  John  Rob,  son  to  Andrew  Rob 
in  Walsley,"  in  the  parish  of  Evandale,  was  imprisoned  in 
1683,  and  his  name  is  in  the  fugitive  roll  of  1684.  (Wodrow, 
ii.  307,  app.  110.) 

f  "  December  4,  1684.  James  Young  of  Linbank,  Duke  Ha- 
milton's bailie  in  Stralhaven,"  being  brought  before  the  privy 
council,  from  Edinburgh  prison,  was  "  examined  on  his  libel  for 
reset,  contributing  money,  &r.;  and  it  being  restricted  to  an  ar- 
bitrary punishment,  he  adjected  sundry  alleviating  qualities  to 
his  confession;  but  the  clerk  not  having  minuted  them  as  frivo- 
lous, he  refused  to  sign  his  oath  and  deposition."  On  the  10th 
of  December,  he  and  eight  other  Clydesdale  gentlemen  peti- 
tioned for  license  "to  transport  themselves  and  their  families 
to  the  plantations  of  East  New  Jersey."  This  the  Lords  thought 
reasonalile;  "  but  the  fligh-treasurerstopt  it,  in  regard  his  Maj- 
esty might  get  L.10,000  sterling  by  their  fines,  for  their  bygone 
delinquencies,  and  then  would  dispose  of  their  bodies  by  send- 
ing them  to  the  plantations  thereafter."  (Fountainhall's  Deci- 
sions, i.  317,319.)  He  was  afterwards  fined  in  10,000  merks. 
—(Wodrow,  ii.  428:  comp.  306.     Inq.  Retor.  Lanark,  216.) 

\  This  was  Major  General  Robert  Montgomery,  according  to 
Kirkton.  (Hist.  235.)  He  was  the  fifth  son  to  Alexander,  sixth 
Earl  of  Eglinton,  and  fought  in  the  parliamentary  army  during 
the  civil  war.  (Doufjlas,  Peer.  i.  508.  Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vi.  243, 
557,  587.)  In  a  petition  presented  to  the  Privy  Council,  Janu- 
ary 22, 1667,  he  says,  that  he  had  "  remained  (excepting  a  lit- 
tle time)  now  by  the  space  of  two  years  and  four  months,  in  the 
Castle  of  Stirling."  (Wodrow,  i.  280.)  It  is  possible  that  he 
might  be  out  of  confinement  when  Wallace  went  to  the  west 
country.  But  it  is  more  probable  that  the  person  referred  to 
in  the  text  was  the  Major  General's  brother.  Colonel  James 
Montgomery  of  Coilsfiefd,  whose  eldest  daughter,  Margaret, 
was  marriea  to  John  Chalmers  of  Gadrirth  in  Ayrshire,  (Craw- 
furd'f  Renfrew,  by  Robertson,  p.  258.) 


nance  we  were  to  expect  from  them.  As  we  marched 
through  the  country  towards  Ayr  upon  the  Wednesday, 
the  ministers  were  living  securely  in  their  own  houses, 
no  more  moved  than  if  they  had  not  been  concerned. 
Now  when  it  was  so  with  these,  what  could  be  sup- 
posed would  be  the  carriage  of  the  country? 

When  we  came  to  Ayr  the  party  was  at  a  rendez- 
vous beyond  the  Bridge  of  Doon.  In  our  going  out 
to  the  party,  there  was  a  desire  had  come  from  some 
friends  in  Cunninghame,  that  a  party  might  be  present- 
ly sent  to  them,  for  bringing  up  of  some  that  were  ready 
to  come,  yet  durst  not  adventure  to  meet  without  this 
party.  Captain  Arnot  was  presently  sent  away  with 
a  matter  of  30  or  40  horse,  and  to  meet  us  the  morrow 
at  Ochiltree,  or  where  else  we  should  leave  him  word. 
After  this  we  go  straight  to  the  party,  and  after  salu- 
ting them,  the  party  marched  off  towards  Ochiltree;  but 
because  it  was  far  in  the  day,  we  were  necessitated  to 
quarter  between  Gadgirth  and  Ochiltree.  By  this 
time  we  got  sure  intelligence  that  the  General's  forces 
were  come  to  Glasgow,  and  so  found  ourselves  con- 
cerned to  look  to  our  guards.  To-morrow  morning, 
being  Thursday,  we  marched  away  to  the  rendezvous 
place,  on  the  road  to  Ochiltree,  where  Mr.  Sempel 
preached  while  the  party  convened.  After  that  we 
marched  in  towards  Ochiltree,  liaving  left  the  great 
part  of  the  horse  in  the  country  to  the  west  hand  of 
Ochiltree,  and  nearest  the  bridge  of  Barskimen,  the 
only  passage  of  the  water  at  the  time  :  the  rest  of  the 
horse  we  sent  to  the  east  of  Ochiltree,  to  guard  on  that 
hand  :  the  foot  we  kept  in  the  town.  The  officers 
were  quartered  in  the  laird's  house,  where  we  had  but 
very  cold  welcome  ;  but  I  hope  whatever  incivility  we 
had  from  the  lady,  she  had  none  from  us.  She  saw  us 
at  our  first  entry,  and  said,  we  have  a  good  cause,  and 
she  loved  our  cause  and  our  persons,  but  she  did  not 
see  our  call.* 

That  night  we  were  alarmed  from  our  guard  at  Bar- 
skimin,  that  the  enemy  was  come  with  a  party  to 
Mauchline.  We  sent  away  and  strengthened  the 
guard  both  by  foot  and  horse  at  the  bridge,  and  caused 
them  to  send  off  this  same  John  Ross  towards  Mauch- 
line, to  see  what  certainty  there  was  therein.  John 
Ross  returns  us  word  that  it  was  only  Mr.  John  Guth- 
rie t  with  some  Tarbolton  folks,  and  a  brother  of  Gad- 
girth's  with  them,  one  Robert  Chalmers. :J:      For  intel- 


»  Sir  John  Cochrane  of  Ochiltree's  lady  was  Margaret,  sec- 
ond daughter  of  Sir  William  Strickland  of  Boynton  in  York- 
shire. (Playfair's  Brit.  Family  Antiq.  vol.  vi.  p.  327.  Doug- 
las, Peer.  i.  474.)  The  Strickland  family  were  favourable  to 
ejected  ministers.  (Rennet's  Chronicle,  p.  899.)  Walter 
Strickland,  (Lady  Cochrane's  uncle)  who  had  been  agent  of  the 
Parliament  of  England  at  the  Hague,  was  no  friend  of  the  Pres- 
byterians, as  appears  from  the  following  extract  of  a  letter  of 
his,  dated  June  6th  1650:  "  One  piece  of  the  cure  (viz.  of  the 
dangers  that  threaten  your  New  State)  must  be  phlebotomy,  but 
then  yon  must  begin  before  decumbency,  and  then  it  will  be  fa- 
cile to  prevent  danger,  &c.  They  are  here  most  of  all  afraid 
of  your  High  Court  of  Justice,  which  they  doubt  may  much 
discourage  their  partv.  But  whosoever  that  court  condemns, 
let  them  De  as  alreacly  dead,  &c.  But  let  them  be  most  free 
in  rutting  the  Kena  Ccphalica  (that  is,  the  Presbyterian  party) 
for  the  Basilica  (or  Royal  party)  will  be  latent.  The  Median 
(or  Levellers)  wou'd  be  spaired  as  much  as  may  be,  that  the 
body  be  not  too  much  emaciated.  Besides,  the  blood  is  most 
corrupt  in  the  Ccphalicks  (or  Presbyterians)  and  is  the  very 
caitsa  continens  of  our  disease.  You  need  not  fear  to  take 
freely  of  this  vein,  &c," — (Presbyterian  Loyalty,  306,  307.) 

t  He  was  brother  to  Mr.  William  Guthrie,  minister  of  Fen- 
wick.  Having  been  seized  with  a  violent  fit  of  the  gravel, 
through  cold  and  fatigue,  he  was  obliged  to  be  carried  off  from 
the  army  at  Bathgate,  and  was  not  present  at  Pentland.  Not- 
withstanding this,  he  was  tried  and  forfeited,  August  16,  1667. 
(Wodrow,  I.  248;  app.  110,  111.)  It  appears  that  he  was  dead 
before  November  1,  1676;  for  on  that  day  the  privy  council 
send  "Mary  Haldane,  relict  of  Mr.  John  Guthrie,  minister  at 
Tarbolton,"  and  another  minister's  widow,  to  prison,  "  until 
they  shall  find  caution,  under  a  thousand  merks  each,  to  remove 
from  the  town  of  Edinburgh,  and  six  miles  round  it."  (lb.  p. 
427.) 

\  He  was  forfeited,  but  obtained  a  remission.  (Wodrow,  i. 
268;  app.  113.) 


THE  RISING  AT  PENTLAND 


487 


ligence  they  could  only  give  us,  that  there  was  a  strong 
report  the  Duke's  troop  was  come  to  Kilmarnock ;  but 
they  hoped  that  night  we  should  get  the  certainty  of  it, 
because  they  had  caused  John  Ross,  with  three  more, 
to  go  towards  Kilmarnoch,  to  get  certain  intelligence. 
That  night,  after  prayer  to  God  for  direction  what  to 
do  next,  it  was  concluded  that  we  should  march  east- 
ward. For  there  was  no  staying  where  we  were,  and 
there  was  no  expectation  of  any  farther  help  from  the 
south  and  southwest  hand  ;  Carrick  having  sent  none, 
for  ought  I  know,  except  some  odd  one  or  other;  as  for 
Cunninghame  and  Renfrew,  we  had  ground  to  expect 
any  they  would  send  would  come  to  us,  with  captain  Ar- 
not  and  others  we  had  sent  to  advertise  them  and  bring 
them  up.  Besides  this,  there  was  an  earnest  invita- 
tion sent  us  from  Clydesdale,  in  particular  from  Black- 
wood, to  come  thither  ;  promising  us,  besides  what  we 
might  expect  in  the  country,  himself  and  one  hundred 
men  with  him.  Now,  we  knew  the  enemy  would  be- 
stir themselves  to  meet  with  us  before  our  friends 
should  come  at  us,  and  labour  to  take  us  at  the  weak- 
est, for  they  wanted  not  intelligence  that  same  night 
we  came  to  Ochiltree,  by  the  laird  of  Barskimen,  who 
had  gone  towards  them  from  Ochiltree,  as  we  were 
certainly  informed.* 

Upon  the  morrow,  being  Friday,  we  marched  to- 
wards Cumnock,  but  before  we  came  that  length,  John 
Millar  in  Glasgow,  who  liad  been  one  of  those  sent  off 
for  intelligence,  came  and  told  us  that  John  Rossj  and 
the  rest  of  that  party  were  taken  prisoners  by  the 
Duke's  troop,  and  that  he  himself  had  hardly  escaped, 
having  lost  his  horse  and  arms.  This  day  the  enemy's 
whole  body  came  to  Kilmarnock.  From  Cumnock  we 
marched  the  same  night  to  the  Moorkirk,  in  a  most  vi- 
olent rainy  night,  and  a  piece  of  miserable  way,  two 
hours  within  night,  and  what  accommodation  in  that 
condition  we  could  have  there,  is  known  to  any 
who  knows  that  place.  The  poor  foot  were  forced  all 
night,  as  wet  as  if  they  had  been  drenched  in  water,  to 
lie  in  the  kirk,  without  victuals  or  much  fire.  That 
night  came  the  goodman  {alias  Mr.  Andrew  M'Cor- 
mack)  to  me,  about  10  o'clock  at  night,  from  his  quar- 
ters, two  miles,  to  acquaint  me  that  Mr.  Robertson  and 
Robert  Lockhart  had  come  to  that  place,  and  had  been 
earnestly  dealing  with  him  and  Mr.  Brysone,  {alias 
Mr.  Gabriel  Scrapie)  to  follow  the  business  no  farther, 
for  there  was  no  ground  to  expect  any  help  either  from 
Clidesdale  or  any  where  else,  that  might  give  us  any 
ground  to  follow  it  farther ;  and  tiierefore  their  advice 
was,  that  we  would,  the  fairest  way  and  the  handsom- 
est we  could,  dismiss  the  people,  and  let  every  one  see 
to  himself,  while  (until)  the  Lord  gave  some  better 
opportunity.  This  was  so  pressed  by  them,  that  the 
goodman  was  constrained  to  come  away  to  me,  and 
these  with  me,  the  same  night.  This  was  the  comfort 
we  had  from  him  and  Robert  Lockhart,  under  that  sad 
condition  of  a  foul  night  and  ill  quarter  we  were  in. 
Always  that  same  night,  I  sent  away  Murreif  ::j:  and 

*  "  Since  I  wrote  this,  I  have  information  that  the  Council 
of  Scotland  have  sent  2000  foot  and  500  horse  to  quell  the  reb- 
els; expecting  a  conjunction  of  more  forces  from  the  Duke  of 
Hamilton,  my  Lords  Anandil,  Dunilarick,  [Drumlanrick]  and 
others,  assuring  us  they  would  be  able  to  master  them  present- 
ly."— (Lord  Arlington  to  the  Duke  of  Orniond,  Whitehall,  No- 
vember 26,  1666;  in  Brown's  Miscell.  Aulica,  p.  429.) 

t  John  Ross  was  executed  at  Edinburgh,  December  7, 1666. 
He  is  one  of. seven  who  sign  a  declaration  and  testimony,  pre- 
served in  the  Wodrow  MSS.  No.  Ix.  art.  43,  which  difiers  in 
the  arrangement  from  that  which  is  published  in  Naphtali, 
though  the  tenour  of  the  two  papers  is  the  same. 

J  John  Maxwell,  younger  of  Murreif  (Monreith)  was  forfeit- 
ed for  being  in  arms  at  Pentland.  (Wodrow,  i.  app.  109,  111.) 
His  father,  William  Maxwell  of  Monreith,  was  appointed  a 
Commissioner  of  Supply  for  Wigton,  January  23,  1667,  a  short 
time  after  the  suppression  of  the  rising.  (Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vii. 
544.)  It  is  doubtful  whether  Wodrow  had  the  father  or  the 
son  in  his  eye,  when  he  gives  an  account  of  a  narrow  escape 
which  "Maxwell  of  Monerief  made  in  1668,  by  concealing 
himself  in  a  meal-tub,  on  which  one  of  the  soldiers  rapped  with 
his  hand  as  he  passed  it,  swearing  in  jest,  that  the  Whig  might 


the  goodman  to  Mr.  John  Guthrie,  who  was  at  Mr. 
John  Reid's  house,  a  mile  off,  to  acquaint  him  there- 
with. To-morrow  morning  when  we  met,  hearing  that 
captain  Arnot  was  coming  up  with  two  hundred  men 
out  of  Cuninghame,  and  that  there  were  a  hundred  more 
coming  out  of  Galloway,  after  prayer,  it  was  conclu- 
ded to  march  towards  Douglas,  and,  by  the  way  or 
there,  spend  some  considerable  time  together  upon  Mr. 
Robertson  and  Robert  Lockhart's  proposal.  So  we 
marched  towards  Douglas,  having  sent  back  a  party 
for  intelligence,  and  to  wait  upon  captain  Arnot's  up- 
coming, who  came  up  ;  but  his  two  hundred  was  not 
forty  more  nor  he  carried  with  him.  We  came  to 
Douglas  on  Saturday  at  night,  (Nov.  24)  and  ordered 
the  whole  troops  to  come  in,  after  they  had  suppered 
themselves  and  their  horses,  to  the  town,  and  bring 
some  forage  with  them  ;  and  the  troops  to  lie  together, 
at  such  a  place  appointed  for  rendezvous,  while  (until) 
day ; — the  whole  foot  being  in  the  kirk.  We  were 
advertised  by  friends  that  we  would  be  alarmed  that 
night,  so  therefore  we  strengthened  ourselves  beyond 
our  ordinary  guards. 

When  these  things  were  done,  we  met  all  together, 
and  after  most  serious  incalling  of  the  name  of  God, 
the  matter  as  spoken  by  Mr.  Robertson  and  Robert 
Lockhart,  both  the  thing  itself  and  all  the  arguments 
they  did  urge  it  by,  were  held  forth  ;  and  after  a  long 
time's  speaking  to  the  full  upon  the  business,  first  the 
ministers'  own  voices  were  desired,  and  afterthem  every 
particular  gentleman's  own  mind  was  asked.  With- 
out one  contrary  voice  all  resolved  on  this,  that  the 
coming  forth  to  own  that  people  in  Galloway,  they 
were  clear,  was  of  the  Lord,  and  in  that  they  had  done 
nothing  but  followed  his  call.  Second,  many  friends 
had  promised,  yea,  not  only  solemnly  promised,  but 
most  effectually  laboured  with  others,  to  come  forth. 
"  If  these  now  shall  leave  us,  betwixt  them  and  their 
master  be  it ;  but  as  for  me  (said  every  one)  while  the 
Lord  himself  that  bade  me  come,  bid  me  likewise  go, 
I  will  not  go.  Our  master  whom  we  serve  (we  know 
well,  if  ever  there  was  a  handful  about  whom  he  exer- 
cised a  providence,  it  is  about  us)  he  needs  no  men,  or 
if  he  will  make  use  of  men,  we  will  not  want ;  and  who 
knows  but  the  service  he  will  have  is  but  of  so  many 
whom  lie  has  particularly  designed  ]  And  before  we 
should  now  so  shamefully  and  cowardly  turn  our  back 
on  him,  and  steal  away  from  his  cause,"  (they  knew 
that  it  was  but  death,  if  not  worse,  any  life  they  could 
have  else,)  "  we  should  follow  on  till  he  should  do  his 
service  by  us,  and  though  we  should-all  die  at  the  end 
of  it,  we  think  the  giving  of  a  testimony  enough  for 
all."  So  there  was  no  more  of  that.  Only  there  was 
two  things  proposed  :  The  one  was,  the  renewing  of 
the  covenant,  which  was  to  have  been  to-morrow,  be- 
ing the  Lord's  day,  at  some  kirk  by  the  way  towards 
Lanark  :  but  hearing  that,  the  general's  forces  were 
come  to  Straven,  we  thought  it  not  safe  nor  convenient: 
The  other  was  what  course  should  be  taken  with  Sir 
James  Turner.  Though  there  was  no  quarters  given 
him,  yet  because  of  some  words  by  the  gentlemen  that 
took  him,  and  because  of  his  being  now,  after  so  long 


be  there.  (Wodrow,  i.  292.)  Mr.  Senipil  informs  us  that  he 
went  to  Ireland,  some  time  after  the  battle  of  Pentland,  with 
the  lairds  of  Monereif  and  Sundewal,  whom  he  sty  If  s  "  two  as 
serious,  tender,  and  public-spirited  Christians,"  as  he  ever  knew. 
At  Dublin,  Monreith  contracted  a  tympany,  of  which  he  died  at 
Beiibarb  or  Armagh.  (Sempil's  Life,  MS.  p.  49.)  Mrs.  Good- 
all  mentions  an  escape  which  he  made  in  her  house  at  Armagh. 
"  The  officers  are  sent  for  my  husband,  and  coming  in  to  our 
house  to  the  fire-side  (where  my  husband  was  sitting  with  Mr. 
Maxwell,  the  laird  of  Monerief  [Monreith]  in  Galloway,  who 
was  but  newly  come  to  visit  us)  saj-  to  him,  '  Mr.  Goodall.you 
are  the  King's  prisoner.'  My  husband  went  hastily  with  them, 
and  whispered  into  my  ear,  '  My  dear,  dispatch  Mr.  Maxwell 
out  of  our  house,  lest  he  be  sent  for  next.'  So  my  husband  was 
imprisoned,  and  Mr.  Maxwell  got  safely  escaped  into  the  coun- 
try." (MS.  Memoir,  «<  *u/)ra,  p.  10.)  John  Maxwell  of  Mon- 
reith, younger,  is  the  person  referred  to,  both  by  Mr.  SempH 
and  Mrs.  Goodall.     (Cfomp,  Inq.  Retor.  Wigton,  164,  165.) 


488 


WALLACE'S  NARRATIVE  OF 


a  time,  spared  ; — for  these  reasons,  this  motion  of  pis- 
toling him  was  slighted,  alas  !  it  is  to  be  feared  too 
much. 

As  we  marched  the  morrow  morning  towards  Les- 
mahago,  being  the  Sabbath  day,  (25th)  Knockbreck's 
two  sons  *  came  to  us,  with  some  few  others.  These 
were  the  hundred  men  we  had  heard  were  coming  from 
Galloway,  for  we  saw  no  other.  We  marched  close 
by  Robert  Lockhart's  house,  where  Mr.  Robertson  was 
with  Mr.  Robert  Lockhart.  None  of  them  came  out 
(though  it  was  but  three  or  four  paces  from  the  house) 
to  countenance  us  so  much  ;  yet  some  of  our  company, 
in  the  bycoming,  spoke  with  them,  such  as  Mr.  Brys- 
son,  Sundaywell,  and  old  worthy  Robert  Bruce  of 
Skellietoun  ;j"  who  most  freely  and  faithfully  acquitted 
themselves  to  them,  in  particular  to  Mr.  Robertson. 
That  day  we  perfected  the  modelling  of  our  forces, 
wherein  we  found  great  want  of  officers,  there  not  be- 
ing, to  the  few  number  we  had,  half  of  the  officers  re- 
3uisite,  not  above  four  or  five  that  ever  had  been  sol- 
iers  before.:}:  After  this  we  marched  towards  Lanark, 
crossing  the  water  hard  by  the  town. 

After  our  settling  the  guards,  quartering  the  rest, 
having  given  intimation  that  to-morrow  morning  (God 
willing)  we  intended  to  renew  the  covenant,  and  desir- 
ing that  every  one  of  them  would  seriously  mind  that 
work  that  night,  and  come  hither  again  about  day-light 
for  that  end,  we  dismissed  them  totheirquarters  and  sev- 
eral posts.  That  night  the  officers  and  ministers  met, 
and  after  incalling  on  he  Lord,  hearing  there  were 
some  arms  and  ammunition  to  be  found  in  the  town, 
we  caused  make  search,  but  found  few  or  none.  The 
morrow  morning  (26th)we  drew  together  in  the  ren- 
dezvous-place at  the  head  of  the  town.  While  we  are 
together,  news  comes  that  the  enemy  are  within  two 
miles.  Some  were  against  meddling  with  the  renew- 
ing of  the  covenant,  the  enemy  being  so  near;  but  the 
devil  prevailed  not  herein,  though  gladly  would  he, 
that  that  had  not  been  done.  Having  sent  one  with  a 
matter  of  ten  or  twelve  horse  over  the  water  to  discov- 
er the  enemy,  and  having  a  settled  guard  upon  the  water- 
side, and  upon  the  boat,  we  went  about  it.  The  foot 
were  drawn  up  about  ihe  tolbooth  stairs,  where  Mr. 
Guthrie  did  stand  :  the  horse  at  the  head  of  the  town, 
where  Mr.  Brysson  and  Mr.  Crookshanks  were  actors. 
It  was  done  with  as  much  joy  and  cheerfulness  as  may 
be  supposed  in  such  a  condition.  They  prefaced  with 
speaking  on  some  place  of  Scripture.|| 


*  John  and  Robert  Gordon,  sons  of  Alexander  Gordon  of 
Knockbreck,  were  executed  at  Edinburgh.  (Wodrow,  i.  257.) 
Their  names  are  s  jbscribed  to  the  testimony  formerly  mention- 
ed. (See  before,  p.  487.)  The  sufterings  of  their  father,  both 
before  and  after  tney  took  up  arms,  are  noticed  by  Wodrow. 
(i.  257,  265,  425.) 

■f-  Skellietoun  is  perhaps  in  Lesmahag-o  parish,  where  there  is 
a  Skelliehill.  (Fug.  Roll.  Wodrow,  ii.  107.)  In  1662.  Wil- 
liani  Bruce  of  Skellietoun,  elder  and  younger,  were  fined  be- 
tween thera  in  L.600.  (Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vii.  423.)  "  Robert 
Bruce  in  Hamiltone,  one  shaken  with  indulged  counsels,  though 
a  serious  Christian,"  is  mentioned  in  a  letter  of  Dickson  to 
Macward.     (Wodrow  MSS.  No.  lix.     Jac.  V.  i.  26,  art.  108.) 

X  The  following  persons  acted  as  oflncers  under  Colonel  Wal- 
lace: Major  Joseph  Learmont;  Andrew  Arnot,  John  Paton,John 
M'Lellan  of  Barscob,  John  Maxwell,  younger  of  Monreith,  and 
Robert  M'Lellan  of  Baluiag^achan,  captains;  Robert  Gordon, 
younger  of  Knockbreck,  a  cornet  of  norse;  and  Mr.  George 
Cruickshanks,  who  had  a  "con)mand."  (Wodrow,  i.  app.  99, 
109;  Samson's  Riddle,  37,38.)  It  is  highly  probable  that  Major 
John  M'Culloch,  who  was  executed  for  being  at  Pentland, 
(Wodrow,  i.  app.  92,)  was  also  one  of  the  officers.  He  was 
Root-master  (Master  of  Horse)  for  Wigton  and  Kirkcudbright 
in  1645.  (Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vi.  194.)  "  Major  M'Cullo  of  Bar- 
holme"  was  fined  L.800,  by  Middleton's  act,  in  1662.  (lb.  vii. 
428.)  The  suflferings  of  his  family  are  noticed  by  Wodrow. 
(Vol.  i.  p.  257,  425:  romp.  Inq.  Retor.  Kirkcudbright,  384.) 

II  "  After  they  had  sent  out  their  scouts,  the  foot  gathered 
together  upon  the  High  Street,  and  Mr,  John  Guthrie,  stand- 
ing upon  tnc  tolbooth  stairs,  preached  to  them,  and  thereafter 
read  the  covenant,  to  which  they  all  engaged,  solenmly,  with 
uplifted  hands,  and  great  affection.  The  horse  convened  at  the 
town-head,  where  Mr.  Gabriel  Seniple  and  Mr.  John  Cruik- 
■banks  preached,  and  then  read  and  renewed  the  covenant  in 


There  were 

but  very  few  others  than  ourselves  at  the  doing  of  it : 
none,  that  I  know  of,  of  any  place  or  quality  in  that 
town  or  about  it  being  with  us.  That  morning  imme- 
diately before,  came  Mr.  Thomas  Scott,  minister  of 
Hawick,*  and  Major  Gilgour,  who  joined  with  us  in 
the  work. 

Immediately  after  that  we  had  drawn  up  the  whole 
body,  it  was  resolved  (because  of  our  friends  herea- 
bout that  were  to  come  to  us  that  day,  and  because  of 
many  more  expected  from  West  Calder,  Shotts,  Bath- 
gate, and  other  parts  farther  off  )  that  we  should  march 
towards  Bathgate.  After  we  had  marched  away,  a 
party  commanded  by  Captain  Arnot  was  sent  to  wait  a 
considerable  time  on  the  water-side  and  to  keep  out 
scouts  to  watch  the  enemy's  motions;  and,  after  a 
while's  stay,  to  break  the  boat  and  come  away,  he  and 
the  other  party  that  watched  in  the  time  of  renewing  the 
covenant.  Severals  did  indeed  come  in  that  day,  more 
than  had  three  days  before.  That  day  the  laird  of  Black- 
wood came  thither.  He  was  most  kindly  embraced  by 
severals  who  supposed  he  had  come  to  join,  and  had 
brought  his  folks  with  him  ;  hut  he  told,  he  was  come 
thither,  sent  by  my  Lord  Duke  Hamilton,  to  see  if  pos- 
sible effusion  of  blood  might  be  shunned,  and  what  we 
would  be  at.  This,  I  heard,  he  spoke  of  to  some.  He  pre- 
tended to  no  written  commission  but  only  verbal  ;  nei- 
ther did  he  apply  himself  to  any  amongst  us  who 
were  at  that  time  specially  concerned  to  be  spoken  to ; 
only,  by  way  of  regret  to  Mr.  Brysson  and  some  few 
others  of  his  acquaintance,  he  did  express  himself 
how  grieved  the  Duke  was  for  the  condition  of  things 
as  they  stood  ;  and  what  it  was  we  would  be  at  before 
we  laid  down  arms.  These  things,  Mr.  Brysson  and 
others  said,  he  had  been  very  overly  speaking  of;  but 
he  never  desired  a  meeting  of  those  wiiom  it  most 
concerned,  and  of  whom  he  might  receive  his  answer. 
But  how  he  came  and  how  he  went  I  know  not,  nor 
any  else,  for  ought  I  know.  That  day  he  leaves 
us,  having  never  tabled  formally  any  such  thing. 
This,  as  it  was  great  simplicity  in  us  to  suffer  any  man 
come  from  an  enemy  to  return  at  his  pleasure,  so  is  not 
his  carriage  handsome ;  for  to  inditTerent  persons  he 
may  be  justly  looked  upon  as  one  abusing  the  credit 
he  had  with  us,  to  the  emboldening  him  to  come  in 
amongst  us,  to  see  our  condition  and  strength,  and 
to  make  an  account  hereof  to  the  enemy  ;  for  he  left  us 
without  good  night,  and  went  back  to  the  enemy. 

While  near  night-falling,  a  strong  body  of  the  ene- 
my's horse  dogged  our  rear:  but  night  falling  on  they 
fell  back.  When  we  came  to  Bathgate,  two  hours 
within  night,  we  can  have  no  accommodation,  nay,  no 
cover  from  an  extraordinary  rain.  We  went  into  a 
house,  such  as  it  was,  and  after  prayer  did  consider 
what  we  should  do  next :  back  we  might  not  go,  the 
enemy  being  in  our  rear.  After  much  debate,  it  was 
thought  fit  that  we  should  march  to-morrow  early  on 
the  way  towards  Edinburgh;  being  confident  that,  be- 
fore we  could  come  that  length,  we  would  hear  from 
our  friends  at  Edinburgh ;  as  likewise  our  friends  in 
West  Calder  and  Shotts,  or  thereabouts,  would  come 
to  us  that  way,  and  meet  us  to-morrow.  But  within  a 
very  little  after  the  meeting  is  dissolved,  we  get  an 
alarm  from  some  of  our  guards  ;  and  though  it  was  a 
dreadfully  dark  (though  but  a  little  past  the  height  of 
the  moon,)  and  foul  night,  yet  after  that  long  weari- 
some march  that  day  before,  we  were  necessitated  to 


id 
may 


like  manner.  Mr.  Semple,  in  his  sennon,  cited  and  applie 
Prov.  xxiv.  11,  12,  which  much  affected  the  people,  and,  it  ma 
be,  persuaded  some  to  join  them."     (Kirkton,  238.) 

«  He  was  employed  in  preaching  in  Northumberland,  along 
with  Welsh.  Semple,  Ac  in  the  year  1677;  (Wodrow,  i.  436;) 
and  on  the  28th  of  August  1678,  he  was  moderator  of  a  presby- 
tcrial  meeting  at  Edinburgh,  which  dealt  with  Mr.  Richard 
Cameron  •4l)out  his  forwardness,  especially  in  his  opposition  to 
the  indulged  ministers,  and  in  exhorting  the  people  to  desert 
thera.  (MSS.  in  Advocates  Library.  Jac.  V.  1.  10,  art.  100.) 
He  married  Marion  Livingston.     (Inq.  Retor.  Gen.  7970.) 


THB  RISING  AT  PENTLAND. 


489 


draw  forth,  and  calling  in  the  guards,  to  march  at 
twelve  o'clock  at  night,  in  one  of  the  darkest  nights 
(I  am  persuaded)  that  ever  any  in  that  company  saw. 
Except  we  had  been  tied  together,  it  was  impossible 
to  keep  together ;  and  every  little  hurn  was  a  river. 
We  came  near  tiie  new  bridge*  about  fair  daylight; 
(27th)  hut  O,  whnt  a  sad  sight  was  it  to  sec  the  con- 
dition we  were  in,  so  scattered  and  utterly  undone, 
what  with  one  thing  and  what  with  another !  Yet 
within  an  hour  or  two,  far  beyond  our  expectation, 
most  part  were  gathered  together;  howbeit,  many 
got  never  up.  All  this  time  we  never  heard  lessor 
more  from  our  friends  in  Edinburgh,  which  we  thought 
more  than  wonderful ;  neither  came  there  any  further 
help  to  us  from  the  west,  whence  we  expected  it. 
When  we  drew  up  on  the  east  side  of  the  new  bridge, 
except  some  of  the  chief  officers,  there  was  not  a  cap- 
tain present  with  the  horse,  save  one  ;  and,  in  the  mean 
time  cometh  an  alarm  that  the  enemy  was  hard  at  hand, 
marching  unto  the  same  bridge.  .Indge  any  man  of 
the  posture  we  were  in,  having  no  officers  to  com- 
mand the  few  we  had  together.  Always,  a  party  is 
sent  off  presently  to  make  good  tlie  bridge ;  and  the 
body  is  marched  off  to  take  irp  some  fit  ground  or 
other  to  fight  on. 

While  we  were  marching  to  a  little  height  above 
the  bridge,  Blackwood  cometh  and  assures  us,  that  it 
was  but  a  false  alarm,  and  that  the  general  was  not 
nearer  than  Calder,  if  there.  After,  the  party  was 
sent  away  to  Colington,  for  to  Edinburgh  (nofe  hearing 
any  thing  from  there)  we  thought  it  not  safe,  especial- 
ly hearing  that  severals  in  the  country  were  in  arms 
against  us  ;  for  they  had  caused  the  word  to  go  that 
there  were  40  ships  from  Holland  come  to  Dunbar, 
and  that  we  were  upon  our  march  thither  to  join  with 
them.  We  heard  likewise  in  the  country,  that  Edin- 
burgh and  Leith  were  all  in  arms.)"  Now,  having  no 
intelligence  from  our  friends,  we  resolved  to  march  to- 
wards Colington  bridge.  The  party  being  gone,  Black- 
wood then  desires  to  speak  with  the  commanders  and 
others.  All  that  he  had  to  say  was,  in  short  to  see  if 
he  could  persuade  us  to  lay  down  arms  upon  an  act  of 
indemnity  which  the  duke  (said  he)  would  labour  to  pro- 
cure, fie  had  no  written  commission  from  any  :  what  he 
spoke  to  this  purpose  he  spoke  it  not  only  as  sent  from 
the  duke,  but  it  was  his  own  judgment  we  should  accept 
of  the  offer,  and  that  it  would  be  our  best ;  for  in  all 
probability  we  would  not  be  able  to  stand  before  them, 
both  in  respect  of  the  number  of  their  men,  and  of 
their  appointment  every  way.  He  spoke  something 
likewise  of  our  sending  on  to  deal  for  a  cessation  for 
some  few  days,  until  matters  were  understood.  We  ask- 
ed, if  he  had  any  such  motion  from  them  to  us  :  he 
answered,  not.  After  some  freedom  nsed  to  himself, 
to  take  good  heed  in  his  carriage  in  that  matter,  as  be- 
ing no  small  concernment  to  him  so  to  do,  being  looked 
upon  by  us  as  a  real  friend  and  servant  to  that  interest  we 
were  here  for,  to  see  well  that  he  walked  strarghtlyin 
his  dealings  both  with  us  and  them — after  this,  without 
any  thing  done,  we  parted  with  him,  seeing  no  ground 
whereupon  we  could  do  any  thing. 

We  sent  away  some  few  horsemen  to  bring  in  some 
victuals,  in  case  the  quarters  at  night  had  not  been 
well  provided.  Now,  having  had  such  a  weary  jour- 
ney from  Lanark,  and  from  Bathgate,  having  gotten  so 
little  rest  and  refreshment — for  these  reasons  we  re- 
solved, Colington  being  the  most  secure  place,  to  let 
the  horse  go  out  a  mile  with  bilgets,  to  refresh  them- 


*  "  They  came  forward  through  Bathgate,  east  through  Brox- 
burn, and  along  the  New  Bridge,  and  thence  towards  ColHng- 
ton."     (Life  of  Alexander  Reid,  p.  16,17.) 

t  November  23, 1666,  the  town  councilof  Edinburgh  caused 
make  a  proclamation  for  preventing  and  discovering  the  joining 
with  those  now  in  rebellion.  Their  treasurer  is  appointed  to 
pay  "  six  horse  hire  that  went  to  Lithgow  with  anmnniitioii. 
The  pri-vy  council's  order  for  taking  notice  of  such  as  pass  at 
r.eith  sent  down  to  the  bailies  thereof."'  (Record  of  Town 
Council.) 

3  M 


selves  and  horses;  and  return  before  night  fall,  briirgr 
ing  some  forage  with  them.  Accordingly  we  did, 
having  provided  the  best  way  we  could  for  the  foot 
within  the  town,  and  furnished  such  as  wanted  with 
what  we  sent  for  from  the  country.  Guards  being  set, 
the  officers  went  to  their  quarters.  We  were  not  well 
there  when  Blackwood*  comes  again,  and  the  laird 
of  Barskiming  with  him.  It  was  thought  ver}'  strange 
how  he  or  any  man  had  passed  the  guards,  but  men 
not  knowing  discipline  are  not  to  be  looked  upon  as 
others.  Besides  the  renewing  the  same  things  ho 
spoke  of  before,  Blackwood  added  that,  in  reference 
to  what  he  had  been  speaking  of  our  seeking  a  cessa- 
tion for  some  time,  that  the  general  had  parolled  to 
him,  that,  till  his  coming  back  to-morrow  morning  ear- 
ly, that  he  might  bring  our  answer,  the  general  should 
not  encroach  upon  us,  nor  wrong  us ;  and  that,  upon 
the  general's  dcing  this,  he  himself  had  taken  upon 
him,  in  our  names,  to  parole  the  like  for  us,  that  we 
should  not  encroach  upon  him,  nor  wrong  him,  while 
that  time  ;  which  (as  he  thought)  would  be  about 
eight  or  nine  hours  in  the  morning.  Barskiming  in- 
deed added,  that  wc  should  not  enlarge  our  quarters  : 
but  Blackwood  himself  flouted  at  that.  All  that  we 
said  to  Blackwood  that  night  was,  as  to  his  parolling 
in  our  name ;  we  did  nnt  understand  this  way  of  his ; 
howbeit,  it  was  very  like  there  would  none  of  us 
w-rong  other  that  time,  being  both  dark  and  foul ;  and 
if  he  stayed  that  night  he  might  see  it*  He  seemed  to 
be  feared  for  our  going  to  Edinburgh  or  Leith,  from 
which  we  heard  nothing  from  our  friends  ;  only  in  the 
country  we  heard  they  were  all  in  arms  ;  and  that 
considerable  persons  were  gone  from  the  country  to 
join  with  Dalyell  :  that  the  ports  were  all  shut. 

Upon  Wednesday  morning,  (28th)  about  daylight, 
Blackwood  calls  to  be  gone;  now  Barskiming  had 
slipped  away  very  early,  and  stayed  not  upon  him,  yet 
I  am  confident  Blackwood  knew  of  his  going.  Now, 
because  of  the  condition  we  were  in,  being  not  above 
800  or  900  men,  and  these  most  part  without  arms,  and 
now  being  out  of  expectation  of  any  supplies,  except 
what  little  help  Major  Gilgour  had  told  us  of,  w-e  might 
expect  from  Tiviotdale,  which  was  both  very  uncertain 
and  inconsiderable  ;  and  considering  the  miserable 
condition  of  the  weather  we  had  gotten  all  that  eight 
days  before,  and  the  sore  marches  night  and  day  in  our 
seeking  to  call  out  and  gather  together  our  friends  ; 
and  what  influence  these  things  had  upon  our  spirits  to 
discourage  and  break  us,  besides  the  influence  they  had 
on  our  bodies — for  these  reasons  we  were  to  have  sent 
one  of  onr  number  with  Blackwood  to  the  general 
Dalyell,  by  whom  we  might  represent  our  grievances 
and  the  grounds  of  our  thus  appearing  in  arms ;  but 
because  we  had  none,  whom  we  might  spare,  fit  for 
the  employment,  but  one,  whom  Blackwood  told  us, 
not  being  a  law-biding  man,  would  not  be  acceptable, 
for  this  cause  we  forbare,  and  resolved  (Blackwood 
being  coine  to  us  without  any  formal  commission,  only 
pretending  he  was  sent  to  us  to  speak  what  I  told  you 
before)  to  write  back  to  Dalyell  with  him,  though  he 
had  not  written  at  all  to  us.  Accordingly  the  letter  is 
drawn  to  this  purpose  ;  that,  because  of  intolerable  in- 
solencies  of  the  prelates  and   their  insupportable  op- 


*  William  Lawrie  married  Mariot  Weir,  heiress  of  Black- 
wood, and  was  tutor  of  Blackwood  c!uring  the  minority  of  his 
son  and  grandson.  (Douglas,  Bar.  155.  Inq.  de  Tutela,  1056.) 
He  was  imprisoned  inimediafely  after  the  battle  of  Pentland, 
probably  on  account  of  the  intercourse  he  had  heki  with  the  in- 
surgents; and  after  a  gradual  relaxation,  was  liberated  from 
confineni€nt  on  the  9th  of  October,  1667,  on  enacting  liimself 
to  keep  the  peace  under  pain  of  5000  nierks.  (l)ecreta  Seer. 
Cone.  March  7  and  21,  Aug.  l^and  Oct.  9, 1667.)  He  was  one  of 
the  witnesses  against  Colonel  Wallace.  (Wad.  i.  ap.  107.)  In 
1683  he  was  brought  to  trial  for  intercourse  with  the  rebels  at 
Bothwell  Bridge,  and  condemned  to  be  executed;  a  sentence 
which  excited  ijreat  alarm,  but  which  was  not  carried  into  ex- 
ecution. (Fount.  Dec.  i.  213—215.  Wod.  ii.  293—295.  Act. 
Pari.  Scot.  viii.  app.  33—35.) 


490 


WALLACE'S  NARRATIVE  OF 


pressions,  all  ways  of  remonstrating  or  petitioning  be- 
ing taken  from  us,  we  were  necessitated  to  draw  togeth- 
er, that  jointly  we  might  the  more  securely  petition 
his  Majesty  and  council  for  redress ;  but  in  respect 
that  his  excellency  was  not  there,  by  whom  we  intend- 
ed to  present  our  supplication,  to  interpose  for  a  fa- 
Tourable  hearing  thereof,  and  that  we  knew  not  when 
the  council-day  would  be,  we  did  desire  of  his  excel- 
ency  not  only  to  be  acquainted  with  the  diet,  but  that 
we  might  have  a  blank-pass  to  a  person  whom  we 
might  send  with  our  petition  ;  and  we  had  desired  the 
same  gentleman  who  had  come  tons  from  his  excel- 
lency, might  have  the  answer,  who  would  be  careful 
of  its  coming  to  onr  hands.  In  the  close  there  was 
mention  of  one  of  our  soldiers  killed  in  our  quarters, 
notwithstanding  the  parole  mentioned  by  Blackwood. 
The  letter  was  subscribed  by  Wallace,  and  sent  away 
by  Blackwood,  who  promised  with  all  speed  to  have  the 
return  at  us  very  soon ;  and  because  he  was  uncer- 
tain where  he  might  find  us,  we  bade  him  hasten  back 
to  his  own  house,  and  he  should  know  where  to  find 
us.     Away  he  goes  hopeful  to  bring  us  up  this  pass. 

We  marched  away  strait  to  Inglistown  Bridge,  in 
about  the  point  of  Pentland  Hills,  and  sent  off,  as  be- 
fore, some  for  bringing  in  provisions  by  the  way. 
Some  we  sent  to  Tiviotdale  to  signify  our  being  here, 
and  our  expecting  them.  Now  Major  Gilgour  and  Mr. 
John  Scoit  had  left  us  that  night  we  came  from  Bath- 
gate, upon  what  account  they  knew  best  themselves  ; 
always,  it  had  been  better  for  us,  and  (I  fear)  for  them- 
selves both,  and  others  of  that  kind,  that  they  had  not 
come  at  all  to  us,  than  to  come  and  leave  us  in  the  con- 
dition we  were  in. 

Being  necessitated  at  such  a  place,  because  several 
both  horse  and  foot  were  straggling,  to  draw  up,  we 
were  not  well  together  when  there  is  a  report  of  a  body 
marching  towards  us,  through  a  glen  that  comes  from 
Calder  through  Pentland  Hills  towards  Pennicuick.* 
Because  it  was  hard  by  us,  we  went  but  two  or  three 
paces  farther  up  on  the  brae,  when  we  discover  them 
within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  us.  Now  there  was  a 
great  glen  betwixt  us,  so  as  neither  of  us  could  have 
access  to  other.  There  we  stood  brandishing  our 
swords.  Now  their  foot  was  not  come  up,  only  were 
coming.  A  party  of  their  horse  (I  think  to  the  num- 
ber of  fifty  or  thereabout)  seeing  they  could  not  come 
at  us  here,  they  take  away  westward.  A  party  of 
ours,  much  to  the  same  number,  were  commanded  to 
march  the  same  way.  Both  parties  marches  thus 
along  the  side  of  their  own  hill,  towards  an  even  place 
of  ground,  to  which  both  of  them  came.  They  were 
not  long  asunder,  when  once  they  were  there.  After 
they  had  discharged  their  fire,  they  closed,  and  for  a 
considerable  time  stand  dealing  with  swords ;  at  last 
the  enemy  runs  ;  and,  if  they  had  not  retired  by  a  way 
that  there  was  no  dealing  with  them,  alongst  the  side 
of  a  steep  hill,  it  is  like  there  had  not  many  of  them 
gone  home.  In  this  first  assault  fell,  with  the  first 
fire,  Mr.  John  Orookshank  and  Mr.  Andrew  M'Cor- 
mick,  two  main  instruments  of  the  attempt,  two  Ire- 
land ministers. j-  Now  this  party  behoved  to  be  cho- 
sen men,  for  they  were  well  appointed,  and  indeed 
made  an  uncouth  attempt;  (being  in  the  reverence  of 
our  whole  horse,  though  none  meddled  with  them  but 
the  first  party)  and  this  they  did  their  alone,  neither 
was  there  any  of  their  own  near  them  to  second  them. 

•  "  Whitehall,  December  1,  1666.  My  Lord,  ginre  my  last 
my  Lord  ofLaudenlail  hath  received  two  expresses  from  Scot- 
land, the  rffect  of  which  were,  that  his  Majesty's  forces  under 
General  Diel  were  preparing  themselves  to  attack  the  enemy, 
and  doubted  not  of  beinp:  quickly  masters  of  them."  (Lord  Ar- 
lington to  the  Duke  of  Ormond,  in  Brown's  Miscell.  Aulica,  p. 
429,  430.) 

+  See  before,  p.  434.—"  Andrew  M'Corniick  at  Macheraly," 
was  one  of  the  Irish  ministers  with  whom  Mr.  John  Livingston 
was  acquainted  in  1656.  (Life  of  Mr.  Joho  Livinnton,  p.  42. 
Ed.  1727.)  *^ 


They  being  beaten  back  thus  with  some  loss  of  men 
on  both  hands,  there  was  a  party  of  our  foot  command- 
ed toward  that  place  where  they  and  the  rest  of  their 
horse  stood,  being  no  ways  accessible  for  horse  to  do 
them  any  hurt.  Upon  the  foot's  approach  they  were 
forced  to  quit  that  side  of  the  glen  that  lay  on  the  west 
hand,  and  to  go  over  to  the  east  side  of  the  glen,  where 
they  stayed  till  their  foot  came  up.  In  this  condition 
we  stood  foreagainst  other :  neither  of  us  could  well 
come  at  other  where  we  stood.  When  their  foot  came 
up,  their  whole  horse  and  foot  came  down  off  the  hill 
towards  a  moor  beneath  us  on  our  right  hand  ;  and 
there  they  drew  up  in  battle  array,  thinking  to  provoke 
us  to  quit  our  ground,  and  to  fight  them  on  even  ground. 
We  perceiving  how  numerous  they  were,  being  at 
least  (whatever  they  were  more)  in  all  three  times  our 
number,  resolved  we  would  not  quit  our  ground.  There 
we  stood  only  fronting  other. 

After  this,  we  perceive  a  party  of  their  horses  on 
their  right  hand  advancing  towards  us.  After  some 
mutual  communion  what  was  fit  to  be  done,  whether 
to  fight  them,  if  put  to  it,  that  same  night,  because,  if 
we  delayed  that  night,  (as  we  readily  might,  if  we 
had  pleased)  we  might  expect,  whatever  we  might  be 
fewer,  the  enemy  would  be  no  fewer;  after  prayer  it 
was  resolved,  that,  if  the  Lord  in  providence  did  order 
so  as  we  were  put  to  it,  we  should  put  ourselves  in  his 
hand,  and  quit  ourselves  of  our  duty  ;  resolving,  in  his 
strength,  never  to  break  till  he  that  brought  us  to- 
gether 4)reak  us,  and  though  we  should  serve  for  no 
more  but  to  give  a  testimony,  and  it  were  by  leaving  our 
corpse  there,  to  adventure  it.  The  party  that  we  had 
seen  advancing  to  us  before  prayer,  came  up  so  near 
that  we  found  ourselves  called  to  give  them  a  meeting, 
and  so  a  party  of  near  as  many  were  sent  down  from 
our  left  hand  to  meet  them ;  and,  in  respect,  there  had 
come  a  few  of  their  foot  upon  tiie  flanks  of  their  party, 
a  few  of  our  foot  were  sent  off  with  ours  to  rencounter 
them.  The  two  parties  meets,  and  after  fire  given  on 
both  sides,  they  fall  to  it  with  swords.  Whilst  the 
two  troops  are  dealing  it  thus  betwixt  them,  our  foot 
party  makes  theirs  run.  Immediately  their  horse  runs 
likewise.  So  soon  as  the  enemy  see  their  horse  put  to 
flight,  immediately  there  is  another  party  commanded 
off  their  right  hand,  and  quickly  advances  towards  the 
relief  of  their  own  men.  Upon  this,  another  party  is 
sent  down  from  our  left  hand  to  meet  them.  After 
these  two  fresh  bodies  had  grasprd  awhile  together, 
the  enemy  runs,  and,  in  the  view  of  all,  this  party  of 
ours  did  so  hotly  pursue  them  that  they  chased  them 
far  away  by  their  body.  Upon  this,  advances  the  rest 
of  their  horse  that  were  on  their  right  hand,  and  forc- 
ing back  our  party,  a  party  of  our  horse  on  the  right 
hand  were  sent  off.  Now  their  whole  body  of  horse 
on  their  left  hand  were  unbroken ;  and  upon  these  two 
parties  being  engaged,  their  whole  left  hand  of  horses 
advances,  ^fow  we  had  no  more  but  a  matter  of  four- 
score horse  to  meet  with  their  whole  left  hand.  Al- 
ways, all  marches  up  towards  other,  hut  being  op- 
pressed with  mullitude  we  were  beaten  back;  and  the 
enemy  coming  in  so  full  a  body,  and  so  fresh  a  charge, 
that  having  us  once  running,  they  carried  it  so  strong- 
ly home,  that  they  put  us  in  such  confusion  that  there 
was  no  rallying,  but  every  man  runs  for  his  own  safe- 
ly. If  the  Lord  had  not  in  providence  so  ordered  that 
we  had  greatly  the  advantage  of  the  ground,  being  at 
a  pretty  lieight  above  them,  and  that  it  was  growing 
dark,  and  close  upon  the  edge  of  Pentland-hills  whither 
we  fled,  in  all  probability  there  had  been  a  greater  des- 
truction than  there  was.  There  was  not  above  a  hun- 
dred killed  and  taken  prisoners  by  the  enemy  :  what 
assistance  the  country  made  that  night  to  the  enemy 
is  well  known.* 

Although  this  poor  handful,  thus  defeat,  had  trav- 


*  "  Whitehall,   4th    December,   66.      My  Lord,  yesterday 
morning  his  Majesty  received  a  particular  account  from  Scot- 


THE  RISING  AT  PENTLAND. 


491 


elled  much  to  gather  their  friends,  and  to  give  oppor- 
tunity to  the  lovers  of  the  truth  to  show  themselves  in 
defence  thereof,  yet  none  came  from  any  other  place 
that  was  any  thing  remote  from  them.  Only  some 
were  making  ready  to  tlieir  assistance,  none  of  which 
appeared,  save  Moore,  laird  of  Caldwell,*  who 

had  gathered  forty  or  fifty  horse,  and  the  Sabbath 
night  before  the  defeat  he  began  to  march,  following 
Wallace  to  have  joined  with  him,  and  came  as  far  as 
Glasford  parish  ;  but  could  not  win  forward  to  their 
friends,  the  enemy  being  fallen  in  between  them.  Yet 
had  they  marched  to  Both  well  Bridge,  and  not  to  Glas- 
ford, they  might  have  come  at  them ;  but  they  had  no 
intelligence,  so  having  attempted  (but  in  vain)  to  cross 
Clyde,  it  being  great  with  the  rains  tliat  had  fallen, 
they  returned  home  again.  In  this  troop  was 
Maxwell  of  Blackston,  son  to  the  laird  of  Newark, 
Ker  of  Kersland,  John  Cuninghame  of 
Bedland,f  Mr.  Gabriel  Maxwell,  misister  of  Dundon- 
ald,  deposed  by  the  bishop,  and  Mr.  John  Carstairs, 
minister  of  Glasgow,  of  whom  before,  who  had  been 
lurking  all  this  time  till  now,  that  these  gentlemen 
urged  him  (and  that  partly  against  his  will)  to  rise 
alongst  with  them.  These  were  the  most  noted  per- 
sons, with  others,  making  up  a  troop,  commanded  by 
the  laird  of  Caldwell.  After  the  defeat,  Blackston,^ 
persuaded  thereto,  came  to  the  council  and  declared 
his  own  and  the  other  gentlemnn's  rebellion,  (as  they 
called  it)  manifesting  all  he  knew  of  the  other  gentle- 
men's carriage  in  that  business  ;  he  was  imprisoned  a 
while,  and  thereafter  set  at  liberty.  Caldwell,  Kers- 
land, 11  and  Bedland,  were  sought  for,  and  their  houses 
barbarously  rifled  and  plundered  by  the  soldiers,  them- 


land  of  his  forces  havine;  beaten  and  routed  the  rebels  near  Ed- 
inburgh, killing  and  taking  near  500  of  them,  their  chief  also 
ilain  in  the  action,  the  sum  of  which  will  come  to  your  hands 
by  the  inclosed.  His  Majesty  bids  me  tell  your  Grace  he  hath 
written  unto  Scotland  to  nave  severe  punishment  inflicted  upon 
the  offenders,  and  strict  inquiry  to  be  made  into  the  contrivance 
of  their  design,  and  the  correspondence  they  might  have  had 
with  other  parts,  and  accordingly  recommends  to  your  Grace 
the  having  special  care  taken  to  seize  all  persons  that  may  have 
fled  from  their  party  into  Ireland,  or  held  correspondence  with 
them."     (Arlington's  Letters  to  Ormoud,  ut  svpra,  p.  430.) 

»  See  before,  p.  482. 

f  The  family  of  Bedland  was  a  branch  of  the  Cunninghanies 
ofCraigends,  and  more  remotely  of  the  noble  house  of  Glen- 
cairn.  Mr.  John  Cunninghame  of  Bedland  was  served  heir  to 
his  father,  March  18,  1664.  (Inn.  Retor.  Ayr,  537.)  Being 
forfeited  for  accession  to  the  rebellion  in  1666,  he  was  transfer- 
red from  one  prison  to  another  during  many  years,  and  after 
different  petitions  was  at  last  liberated  on  a  declaration,  that 
he  had  "  resolved,  by  his  future  deportment  and  behaviour,  to 
witness  the  deep  sense  he  hath  of  his  gracious  Majesty's  great 
clemency  ;"  he  having  found  caution  under  5000  merits  to  re- 
enter into  prison  when  required.  (Decret.  Sec  Concil.  May 
2, 1677.  Act.  Sec.  Concil.  Aug.  2, 1677.)  "  Mr.  John  Cuning- 
hani,  sometime  of  Bedland,"  is  mentioned  among  those  engaged 
in  the  rebellion  at  Bothwell,  in  the  proclamation  against  the 
rebels,  June  26.  1679;  (Wodrow,  ii.  93,  app.  27;)  and  several 
persons  are  afterwards  proceeded  against  for  conversing  or  cor- 
responding with  him.     (Ibid.  p.  281,  298,  426,) 

t  John  Maxwell  of  Blackston  was  the  third  son  of  Sir  Pat- 
rick Maxwell  of  Newark  and  Blackston,  and  his  only  daughter 
married  Alexander  Napier,  a  grandson  of  the  celebrated  inven- 
tor of  the  logarithms.  (Crawfurd's  Renfrew,  90,  119,  377.) 
Notwithstanding  his  turniflg  informer  against  his  associates,  he 
did  not  escape  trouble.  On  the  25th  of  March,  1667,  he  was, 
after  several  months'  iniprisonment,  removed,  on  his  petition, 
from  the  tolbooth  to  the  castle  of  Edinburgh,  "  if  the  Lord  Lyon 
can  accommodate  him."  (Deer.  Sec.  Concil.)  And  on  'the 
21st  of  November  that  year,  he  was  ordered  to  be  set  at  liberty 
on  his  giving  bond  to  keep  the  peace  under  i.lOOO  Scots. 
(Wodrow,  i.  280.)  He  is  said  to  have  died  at  sea  on  his  way 
to  Carolina.     (Ibid.  p.  248.) 

II  Captain  Thomas  Crawfurd  of  Jordanhill  (who  surprised  the 
castle  of  Dumbarton  in  1571)  married  Janet,  heiress  of  Robert 
Ker  of  Kersland,  the  representative  of  a  very  ancient  family  in 
Ayrshire.  (Crawfurd's  Renfrew,  71.)  His  eldest  son,  Daniel, 
succeeded  to  the  title  and  estate  of  Kersland,  and  was  succeed- 
ed by  his  son  Hugh.  (Inq.  Retor.  Renfrew,  68,  209;  Ayr,  179, 
238.)  Hugh  was  alive  in  1644,  (Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vi.  133,)  and 
was  either  the  father,  or  (which  is  more  probable)  the  grand- 
father of  "  Robert  Ker  of  Kersland,  younger,"  who  was  at  the 


selves  fled  off  the  kingdom,  and  were  forfeited  of  life 
and  estate  at  Lammas  next.  Their  rents  were  uplifted 
by  two  ruflians  appointed  by  Daiziel  and  Drummond, 
who  trusted  his  Majesty  would  not  deny  them  their 
estates  for  their  good  service  ;  but  they  were  both  dis- 
appointed ;  and  these  their  chamberlains,  were  forced 
to  make  their  accounts  to  the  Exchequer,  who  appoint- 
ed the  laird  of  Housle*  to  uplift  these  rents,  and  to 
make  account  to  the  said  lords  of  Exchequer. 


battle  of  Pentland.  In  a  list  of  the  rents  of  certain  forfeited 
estates  made  in  1669,  Kersland  is  valued — "  Victual  119  bolls, 
deducing  to  Old  Kersland  60  bolls."  (MSS.  in  Adv.  Lil).  folio 
No.  xxxii.  M.  6, 14,  art.  78.)  Robert  Kerof  Kersland,  younger 
was  a  commissioner  of  supply  in  1661.  (Ibid.  vii.  92.)  His  es- 
tate was  given  to  Lieulenant-General  Drummond,  after  his  for- 
feiture, which  was  ratified  by  Parliament  in  1669,  and  rescinded 
by  it  in  1690.  (Wodrow,  i.  268;  app.  No.  xvi.  Samson's  Rid- 
dle, 139,  144.  Act,  Pari.  Scot.  vii.  562;  ix.  199.)  His  escape 
to  Holland,  his  apprehension  on  his  return  to  Scotland,  his  sec- 
ond escape  after  a  long  imprisonn>ent,  and  his  death  at  Utrecht 
Nov.  14,  1680,  are  recorded  by  Wodrow.  (i.  423—425.)  There 
is  preserved  a  draught  of  a  petition  to  the  Privy  Council,  in 
which  the  petitioner,  after  mentioning  that  he  had  been  confined 
for  five  years  in  difl'erent  prisons,  says,  "  in  the  very  coldest  of 
this  season,  and  in  such  a  time  when  some  of  them  were  wrest- 
ling under  heavy  and  sad  sickness,  others  enduring  pains  of  the 
stone-gravel  so  excessive  as  cannot  be  expressed,  were  my  thus 
pained  children  extruded  out  of  the  castle  with  all  the  rest,  ex- 
cept one  daughter,  who,  with  myself  and  tender  wife,  and  one 
servant,  were  thrust  up  to  another  room,  that  is  known  to  be  in- 
tolerable for  smoke  and  cold."  The  petition  concludes  with  a 
request  for  "a  change  of  imprisonment  to  Edinburgh  castle," 
with  the  view  of  having  an  operation  performed  on  the  child 
afflicted  with  the  stone.  The  name  of  the  petitioner  has  been 
carefully  deleted,  but  on  a  narrow  inspection  appears  to  be 
"  Robert  Ker  of  Kersland,"  prisoner  in  the  "castle  of  Stirling." 
The  date,  which  has  been  altered,  was  originally  1675.  In  a 
note  on  the  back  of  the  petition,  in  a  different  hand-writing,  and 
apparently  Kersland's,  the  petitioner  signifies  that,  after  the 
draught  was  made,  he  hesitated  as  to  its  being  his  duty  to  pre- 
sent It,  "  being  diffident  of  treating  or  tampering  with  these  so 
dreadfully-given-up  men."  (MSS.  in  Adv.  Lib.  Jac.  V.  2,  26, 
art.  30.)  A  letter,  which  appears  to  be  written  by  the  same 
person  to  Macward,  is  dated,  "  From  ray  closs  prison  at  Stir- 
ling castle,  the  31st  Dec.  1673."  The  writer  says,  "  though  I 
know  not  if  Forbes  (Colonel  Wallace)  be  there,  yet  about  a 
week  ago  I  wrote  to  him,  which  was  my  second.  I  wrote  also 
to  the  good  old  provost."  He  mentions  that  he  had  been  visit- 
ed by  Mr.  Thomas  Forrester,  curate  of  Alva,  "  to  whose  recan- 
tation my  Rob.  Jea.  and  Meg,  with  a  great  gathering  of  honest 
people,  were  auditors."  MSS.  ut  supra,  Jac.  V.  i.  26,  art.  28.) 
Robert  Ker  left  a  widow,  Barbara  Montgomery,  a  son,  Daniel, 
and  three  daughters.  Daniel  being  killed,  in  1692,  at  the  bat- 
tle of  Steinkirk,  John  Crawfurd  of  Fergushill,  a  cadet  of  the 
family  of  Crawfurdland,  who  married  Anna,  eldest  sister  of 
Daniel  Ker,  assumed  the  surname,  title,  and  arms  of  the  house 
of  Kersland.  He  is  the  author  of  the  book  known  by  the  name 
of  Kersland's  Memoirs.  (Diet,  of  Decisions,  4755.  Lelter 
prefixed  to  Kersland's  Memoirs.  Robertson's  Ayrshire,  244.) 
*  The  person  here  referred  to  is  James  Dunlop  of  Househill, 
whose  father,  Thomas,  (fourth  son  of  James  Dunlop  of  that  ilk) 
purchased  the  lands  of  Househill  in  1646.  (Crawfurd's  Ren- 
frew, 45,  328.  He  was  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  Renfrew,  and 
a  commissioner  of  supply  in  1661  and  1678.)  (Act.  Pari.  .Scot, 
vii.  94,  506;  viii.  224.)  But  he  did  not  escape  the  severities  of 
that  time,  being  fined  for  negligence  in  suppressing  conventi- 
cles in  1676,  obliged  to  withdraw  for  refusing  to  take  the  bond 
in  1678,  and  imprisoned  for  reset  in  1683.  (Wodrow,  i.  427, 
486;  ii.  306.)  What  is  stated  in  the  text  respecting  the  forfeit-, 
ed  estates  committed  to  his  management  is  only  correct  in  part. 
His  commission  to  that  purpose,  dated  Oct.  12,1667,  is  inserted 
in  Wodrow,  i.  app.  No.  xvii.  It  is  probable  that  the  rents  of 
these  estates  had  been  illegally  lifted  by  the  agents  of  General 
Daiziel,  &c.  and  that  the  lords  of  the  treasury  obliged  them  to 
account  for  their  intromissions  to  the  laird  of  Househill;  but 
these  estates  were,  in  the  year  1670,  gifted  by  the  crown  to 
Daiziel,  Drummond  and  others.  (Samson's  Riddle.  Wodrow, 
i.  app.  No.  xviii.  Crawfurd's  Renfrew,  301,302.)  During  the 
time  that  they  were  under  Househill's  management,  an  attempt 
was  made  to  secure  them  to  the  respective  families,  by  com- 
pounding with  the  government.  There  is  a  letter,  dated  May 
27,  1669,  from  Sir  George  Maxwell  of  Nether  Pollock,  (then  a 
prisoner  in  Stirling  castle)  to  Mr.  Thomas  Hay,  one  of  the 
clerks  of  Privy  Council,  proposing  a  composition  for  the  lands 
of  Caldwell,  Kerseland,  Quarellton,  Baidland,  and  of  Alexan- 
der Porterfield,  Quarellton's  brother,  for  which  Sir  George 
promises  to  be  cautioner  for  a  limited  time.  In  another  letter 
to  Hay,  not  intended  for  "  public  use,"  Sir  George  tells  him, 
"this  I  understand,  that,  besides  the  20,000  merks  in  it  (the 


498 


WALLACE'S  NARRATIVE  OF 


As  there  were  not  many  come  to  help  this  honest 
party  from  other  sliires,  so  the  several  rendezvous  in 
the  shires  for  helping  to  suppress  the  rebels  were  but 
very  slack,  and  these  that  met  (according  to  the  public 
order)  came  so  accoutred,  as  testified  they  minded  not 
to  do  the  rebels  much  harm.  Only  the  three  Lothians 
were  very  active  in  and  about  the  time  of  the  skirmish, 
and  after,  in  the  flight,  took  many  more  than  Dalziel's 
men  di<l,  and  killed  severals  also  in  their  escaping ;  for 
which  they  iriay  look  for  a  scourge  in  due  time  for  their 
savage  cruelly,  from  him  in  whose  sight  the  blood  of 
the  saints  is  precious.* 

The  country  barbarians  of  Lothian  had  good  exam- 
ple of  their  chief  city,  Edinburgh,  whose  provost,  Sir 
Andrew  Ramsay,  with  all  the  citizens,  showed  them- 
selves very  active  against  these  poor  people,  that  were 
coming  eastward  with  no  ill  will  against  them,  but  to 
present  their  desires  to  the  council,  for  freedom  from 
intolerable  oppression  of  the  prelates  ;  but  these  furi- 
ous townsmen  mind  nothing  of  the  quarrel,  but  in 
their  madness  and  folly  (to  show  their  loyalty)  puts  all 
in  arms  to  resist  the  rebels,  if  they  should  offer  to  en- 
ter the  town;  and  for  more  security,  the  provost  de- 
sires a  new  oath,  causing  the  several  captains,  and 
their  companies,  to  swear  it  to  this  purpose. 

[ "The  Lord  provost  presented  me  ane  act 

of  privie  counsell  for  securing  the  toun,  conforme 
whereto  the  wholl  capitanes,  except  Capitan  Bell,  who 
is  not  in  ye  cuntrie,  took  ye  oath  that  they  should  be 
trew  and  faithfull  to  ye  king,  and  that  they  should  de- 
fend his  authority,  and  maintain  the  same  against  this 
insurrectione  and  rebellion,  and  any  other  that  shall 
happen  with  the  haiseard  of  their  lives  and  fortuns, 
and  the  counsell  appoynted  the  respective  capitans  to 
take  the  oathes  of  the  rest  of  the  officers  and  wholl 
souldiers,  as  lykwayes  conforme  to  the  said  order,  the 
counsell  appoynts  sex  companies  to  keep  watch  night 
and  day  by  turns. "f] 

But  with  all  this  preparation,  they  had  no  more  to 
do  but  receive  the  prisoners  of  that  honest,  though 
broken,  party,  who  were  brought  in  that  night  after 


public  letter)  expressed,  vou  shall  havcjbr  your  pains  io  get  it 
done,  5000  merksr  (M^S.  Adv.  Lib.  No.  xxxu".  M.  6,  14,  art. 
79.) 

*  On  this  occasion,  the  influence  of  some  of  their  clergy  was 
not  wanting  to  inflame  the  minds  of  the  people.  Mr.  Andrew 
Cant,  minister  at  Libberton,  it  appears,  had  been  very  violent  in 
his  declarations  from  the  pulpit,  particularly  by  appfj'ing  to  the 
insurgents  the  following  words  of  the  prophet  :  "  They  shall 
pass  through  it  hardly  bestead  and  hungry,  and  it  shall  come 
to  pass,  that,  when  they  shall  be  hungry,  they  shall  fret  them- 
selves, and  curse  their  king  and  their  God,  and  look  upward." 
Cant,  in  a  reply  to  Mr.  John  Nevay,  who  had  remonstrated 
with  him  on  his  conduct,  says— "  That  place  of  Isa.  viii.  21,  I 
did  indeed  accommodat  to  the  west  countrie  men  the  Sabbath 
immediately  preceding  theire  defeat,  and  though  Naphtalis 
blood  ferment  all,  even  to  the  bringing  his  rayling  accusation 
against  me  for  this,  and  yovv  are  pleased  to  refer  me  to  the 
Dritch  annotations  for  the  right  meaning  of  the  text,  I  find  no 
reason  to  repent  what  I  spoke,  the  hand  of  God  without  all  jjer- 
advcnture  being  in  it,  for  before  I  went  up  I  made  acconipt  of 
saying  nothing  like."  (A.  Cant  to  John  Nevay,  Libberton,  Oc- 
tober— 68,  and  Edinburgh,  November  18, — 68:  Wodrow  MSS. 
No.  lix.  Jac.  V.  1,  26,  art.  7.) 

t  In  the  MS.  a  blank  is  left  for  taking  in  the  oath.  What  is 
inclosed  in  brackets  is  extracted  from  the  Records  of  Town 
Council,  November  21,  1666. 

In  the  month  of  May  following,  when  a  Dutch  squadron  ap- 
peared in  the  firth  of  Forth  and  fired  into  Leith,  the  writer  of 
the  History  In  which  Wallace's  Narrative  is  embodied,  says, 
"  The  men  of  Edinburgh  went  downe  in  companies  to  defend 
Leith,  but  they  loved  not  General  Dayell  his  command,  who 
yet,  for  as  wicked  as  he  was,  could  cast  up  to  them  their 
naughtiness.  '  When  yonr  countrey  folks  (sayes  hce  to  them) 
the  Whig«  were  up,  ye  were  busie  then  who  might  run  fastest; 
but  now  when  the  common  enemie  appeirs,  yee  cannot  be  got- 
ten out  of  your  houses.'  Thug  he;  ana  that  not  without  cause, 
for  the  alarm  cam  at  ten  o'clock  at  night,  but  for  all  the  rlrunis 
beating  and  common  bell  ringing,  it  was  the  nioiTow  at  4  o'clock 
in  the  morning  ere  an)'  of  them  came  to  Le'rth.  Indeed,  in  the 
other  case,  when  those  honest  people  came  to  Colintonne,  they 
raged  like  mad  men;  but  hecr  they  wer  tame  eneuch." — (MS. 
Ml  tupra,  p.  271.) 


the  defeat  by  Dalyell's  men,  having  their  hearts  bro- 
ken with  the  reproaches  and  blasphemies  which  these 
jeering  atheists  spued  out  against  God,  godliness,  re- 
ligion, and  all  fear  of  God,  by  the  way  as  they  came 
in,  naked  and  many  bleeding  in  their  wounds.  The 
dead  were  spoiled  of  their  clothes,  and  laid  naked  be- 
fore the  moon  by  night  and  the  sun  by  day,  by  the  sol- 
diers and  the  barbarians  of  Lothian,  as  if  the  victory 
had  been  gotten  over  Turks ;  but  the  godly  women  of 
Edinburgh  came  out  the  morrow  with  winding  sheets, 
and  buried  them.  Yet  worthy  Mr.  Crookshank's  body 
was  not  found  among  them,  nor  yet  M'Cormick's. 
Report  went  for  a  year  after,  that  Mr.  Crookshanks 
was  yet  alive  ;  but  thereafter  it  was  concluded^  that 
there  was  no  truth  in  it. 

The  town  received  the  prisoners,  which  the  godlr 
people  of  the  town  esteemed  the  saddest  sight  that  ever 
Edinburgh  had  seen,  which  drew  tears  in  abundance 
from  the  eyes  of  all  that  feared  God,  considering  what 
vast  difference  there  was  between  the  persons  and  the 
cause  on  the  one  side  and  the  other  ;  and  surely  a  most 
astonishing  dispensation  it  was,  to  see  a  company  of 
holy  men  (for  such  were  the  greatest  part,  yea,  but 
few  otherwise)  and  that  in  a  good  cause,  given  up  into 
the  hands  of  a  most  desperate  crew  of  scoffing,  prophane 
atheists.  But  God  had  called  them  together  (it  seems) 
to  have  a  testimony  at  their  hands  ;  and  that  he  missed 
not,  for  he  helped  them  to  glorify  him  in  their  suffer- 
ings, which  made  their  cause  more  lovely  throughout 
all  parts  of  the  land,  even  in  the  eyes  of  enemies  and 
neutrals,  than  their  victory  would  have  done. 

The  provost  caused  imprison  them  all  together  in  an 
old  kirk  called  Haddow's  Hole,  where  the  charity  of 
the  godly  people  of  the  town  appeared  in  furnishing 
them  with  all  necessaries,  both  for  maintenance  and 
the  healing  of  their  wounds.  There  were  about  fifty 
prisoners ;  but  by  accession  of  these  whom  the  Lothi- 
an barbarians  had  taken,  there  were  within  two  or 
three  days  after  about  eighty  prisoners.  The  chief 
whereof  were  captain  Andrew  Arnot,*  brother  to  the 
laird  of  Lochridge  in  Stewarton  of  Cunninghame,  ta- 
ken by  some  wicked  men  of  Tranent ;  Mr.  Alexander 
Robison,  treacherously  betrayed  by  the  laird  of 

Morton  after  he  had  delivered   his  arms   upon 

treaty,  to  let  him  go  freely  where  he  pleased  ;  f  Mr. 


*  The  Parliament  in  1649  appointed  "Captain  A ndro  Arnot 
to  be  Root-master"  to  the  troop  of  horse  in  the  sheriffdom  of 
Fife  and  Kinross,  commanded  bv  Lord  Elcho. — (Act.  Pari.  Scot, 
vi.  389,  392.)  He  subscribed  the  protestation  against  the  meet- 
ings of  the  General  Assembly,  in  1651  and  1652,  which  approved 
of  the  Public  Resolutions. — (Representation — and  Protestation, 
p.  18.)  In  1661,  "Captaine  Arnot  in  Lochrig"  was  fined  alonr 
with  others,  to  repair  the  injuries  sustained  by  the  Ear!  oi 
Qneensberry  and  his  son  in  1650.     (Act.  Pari.  Scot.  vii.  96.) 

f  The  person  who  apprehended  Robison  was  Sir  John  Gib»- 
son  of  Pentland,  (second  son  of  President  Durie)  who  "pos- 
sessed all  and  sundrie  the  lands  of  Mortoun  and  Mortoun-hall." 
(Act.  Pari.  Scot.  viii.  273.)  He  was  one  of  the  clerks  of  Ses- 
sion; and  that  he  was  alive  at  the  time  here  referred  to,  appears 
from  the  following  act  of  sederunt  respecting  his  son.  June 
20th  1676,  the  Lords  "  nominated  Mr.  Alexander  Gibson  to  con- 
tinue in  that  chamber,  wherein  his  father  and  he  does  serre." 
(Acts  of  Sederunt,  n.  125.) 

Two  persons  of  the  name  of  Robison,  or  Robertson,  are  men- 
tioned in  this  narrative.  The  ont  nrcompanied  Colonel  Wal- 
lace from  Edinbui^h,  left  him  on  the  way  to  the  west,  and  never 
joined  the  party  in  arms.  Kirkton  calls  him  Mr.  Alexander 
Robison.  (Hist.  p.  234,  236.)  The  other  was  taken  by  the 
laird  of  Morton  and  executed  at  Edinburg-h.  That  he  was  a 
different  pprson  from  the  former  appears  from  his  trial.  "  The 
assize  unanimously,  in  one  voice — finds — Mr.  Alexander  Robert- 
Bone  to  be  guilty  of  ryseing  and  joyning  in  arms  with  the  reb- 
ells,  and  that  he  was  one  of  those  that  went  to  Dumfries  and 
seized  on  Sir  James  Turner,  and  that  he  went  alangst  with  the 
rebells  to  Aire,  and  that  he  was  at  Lanark,  and  took  the  cove- 
nante  with  the  rest  of  that  party  there,  and  came  allnngst  with 
them  to  Colli ngtoune  and  Pentland  hills;  and  that  he  was  ib 
urmes  at  the  conflict  with  Captaine  Arnote  against  his  Majes- 
ties forces,  and  that  he  had  a  drawen  sword  there  and  discharg- 
ed his  pistols  in  the  fight." — (Samson's  Riddle,  36, 37.)  He  ad- 
dressed the  following  letter  to  Captain  Arnot.-probably  on  the 
morning  of  the  lattcr's  execution:   "DEAR  Frixnd,  noW  iu 


THE  RISING  AT  PENTLAND. 


493 


Hugh  M'Kell  son  to  Mr.  Matthew  M'Kell,  minister 
of  Bothwell,  taken  also  by  the  country  people  about 
Braidscraigs.  All  these  three  were  put  up  in  the  tol- 
booth.  Thomas  Paterson,  merchant  of  Glasgow,  died 
in  Haddow's  Hole  of  his  wounds,  within  four  or  five 
days  after;  and  the  provost  having  caused  instruments 
to  be  taken  that  he  was  dead,  some  honest  men  caused 
warn  their  neiglibours  to  the  burial  privately  ;  lest  if 
Burnet,  bishop  of  Glasgow,  had  got  notice,  he  should 
have  impeded  his  burial,  or  done  some  violence  to  his 
corpse.  Thus  was  his  body  buried  honestly  in  the 
Greyfriars,  which  was  no  sooner  interred,  than  the  said 
bishop  sent  to  the  grave,  and  thereupon  protested,  that 
the  said  Thomas  Paterson,  rebel,  his  dying  unforfault- 
ed  of  life  and  estate,  might  not  prejudge  his   Majesty 

tears,  bot  ere  long  in  joy,  I  drink  this  cup  to  you:  but  the  cup 
of  salvation  will  be  your  draught  ere  long.  I  have  had  much 
libertie  for  j-ou  this  night.  Run  the  race  with  courage;  make 
stepping  stones  of  your  wife  and  children;  it  is  an  excellent 
change  and  niffer  you  are  to  make:  Instead  of  the  wife  ofyour 
bosome,  handsome  and  heartsonie,  enjoyment  of  Christ  without 
intermission;  instead  of  peace  with  the  world,  peace  with  God, 


of  the  escheat  of  his  goods,  moveables,  and  all  that 
appertained  unto  him.* 

and  peace  of  conscience  which  will  give  you  the  true  enjoyment 
of  just  peace  with  God.  You  are  credited  with  that  which 
hath  been  the  desire  of  precious  godly  men,  and  yet  the  Lord 
wold  not  make  use  of  them  as  vessels  to  pour  such  liquor  into; 
and  he  hath  chosen  you.  O  give  him  thanks  !  O  praise,  O 
blesse,  blesse,  blesse  him  !  Ye  have  the  forestart  of  me;  O  if 
I  were  counted  worthie  !  Noe  more,  being  in  hast,  but  leaves 
you  to  him  who  will  wype  away  all  tears  from  your  eyes  with 
the  napkin  of  pardoning  mercie. 
I  rest, 
Your's  in  Christ, 

Alex.  Robertson,  with  you  in  prison." 

The  letter  is  addressed  "  For  his  dear  friend,  in  the  same 
bonds  with  me,  (though  I  be  not  credited  with  the  same  work) 
Captain  Arnot."  (MSS.  in  Adv.  Lib.  No.  xxxii.  M.  6,  14,  art. 
63.) — Captain  Arnot  was  executed  on  the  7th  of  December, 
1666.  Mr.  Alexander  Robertson  was  tried  on  the  10th,  and  ex- 
ecuted on  the  14th,  of  the  same  month. 

*  Judging  from  internal  marks,  I  am  of  opinion  that  Colonel 
Wallace's  Narrative  ends  with  the  description  of  the  battle;  but 
I  have  thought  it  proper  to  continue  the  account  to  the  place 
where  the  first  distinct  break  in  the  manuscript  occurs. 


END   OP  WALLACE'S   NARRATIVE 


NARRATIVE 


RISING  AT   BOTHWEL   BRIDGE, 


BY    JAMES    URE    OF     SHARGARTON.* 


I  WENT  to  Rugland  [Rutherglen]  upon  the  Lord's 
day,  [June  8,  1679,]  about  the  first  preaching  going 
to,  which  was  the  Sabbath  after  Loudon  hill,|  and 
when  I  came  there,  one  Mr.  Kemp  was  preaching,  and 
one  Mr.  Douglas  preached  afternoon.  They  spoke 
much  against  the  Indulgence  and  the  defection  of  the 
time.  The  rest  of  the  ministers  were  preaching  too  ; 
for  there  was  a  very  great  convention  of  people  there 
trora  the  country  and  Glasgow.  Our  forces  about  this 
time  were  about  two  thousand  foot  and  seven  troops  of 
horse.it:  They  were  commanded  by  Robert  Hamilton, 
as  general,  and  by  one  Henderson,  Paton,||  Ross,§ 
Cleland,1f  and  Weir;**  the  horse  by  Balfour,  Hacks- 
toun,  Mr.  Waller  Smith,  and  Mr.  Kemp  as  I  suppose, 
had  also  a  troop  of  horse.  There  went  with  me  first 
about  fifty-two  men  well  armed. 


*  111  the  MS.  it  has  the  following  title: — "A  true  relation 
of  the  late  aftnirs  in  the  west,  given  by  a  person  of  very  good 
credit,  who  was  eai-e  and  eye  witnesse  and  actor  in  the  west- 
land  forces.  This  is  Shergetonn's  account."  (MSS.  Adv.  Lib. 
No.  Ix.  Jac.  V.  1,  10,  art.  110.) 

f  The  skirmish  at  Lou'lon  Hill  or  Drumclog  happened  on 
Sabbath,  the  1st  of  June,  1679. 

\  "  We  were  betwixt  5000  and  6000  horse  and  foot,  drawn 
up  on  the  moor  besouth  Glasgow  the  Saturday  night  before, 
(June  7,)  all  as  on  man  and  of  on  mynd»  to  own  the  Rugland 
testimony  against  all  its  opposers."  (Robert  Hamilton's  Notes 
on  Ure's  Narrative.)  Hamilton's  notes  are  afterwards  marked 
R.  H. 

IJ  Paton  is  mentioned  before,  p.  434. 

t  Alexander  Ross,  major  in  the  rebel's  army,  was,  on  the  19th 
of  July,  1680,  convicted,  on  his  own  confession,  of  having  been 
at  Bothwell,  and  condemned  to  be  executed,  but  reprieved  on 
his  agreeing  to  take  the  oaths  and  bond.   (Wodrow,  ii.  116.) 

IT  William  Cleland  has  been  mentioned  already,  p.  447.  In 
November  1680,  he  was  sick  in  Holland.  (MSS.  in  Adv.  Lib. 
No.  lix.  Jac.  V.  1,  26,  art.  138.)  James  Niinino,  who  had  been 
under  concealment  since  the  battle  of  Bothwell,  came  from  Ber- 
wick in  1685  to  take  a  passage,  along  with  his  faniiVy,  to  Hol- 
land. "The  ship  (says  he)  was  lying  at  Bruntislantl,  and  we 
went  first  night  to  Leith  and  took  a  passage  boat  next  day,  some 
friends  accompanying  us;  and  when  we  came  over,  there  were 
four  of  Argyle's  captains  in  the  house  whereto  we  went  (hat 
were  in  the  same  circumstances,  viz.  William  Cleiland,  John 
FuUerton,  James  Bruce,  and  John  Campbell,  who  were  singing 
and  making  merry  as  they  could,  that  they  might  not  be  dis- 
covered; and  so  passing  that  day,  the  23d  of  November,  about 
11  at  night,  we  went  abroad.  Upon  the  4th  of  December  we 
landed  at  Amsterdam  in  health  and  safety."  (Life  of  James 
Nimmo,  written  by  himself  for  his  own  satisfaction,  MS.  p. 
127.  128.) 

**  Thomas  Weir. — "August  3, 1682.  There  was  sent  in  from 
the  Duke  of  Hamiltoune  some  petitions  addressed  to  him  by 
rebels,  viz.  Thomas  Weir  in  Greerig,"  &c.  (Act.  Secr.Concil.) 
From  a  preceding  part  of  that  minute  it  appears  that  leiiitv  was 
to  be  shown  to  such  only  as  were  "content  to  take  the  test." 
Greenrigg  is  in  the  Duke  of  Hamilton's  retour;  (I.anark,  149, 
239;)  and  Weir  was  probably  a  feuar. 


After  sermon  Mr.  Barclay  took  me  in  where  Robert 
Hamilton  and  the  rest  of  the  ministers  were  going  to 
supper.  They  made  me  very  welcome,  and  in  our 
discourse  they  were  inquiring  if  there  were  any  more 
to  come  out  of  our  country.  I  told  them,  that  we  heard 
that  Cameron  was  here,  and  that  was  the  stay  ;  and  if 
he  had  been,  I  would  have  presently  returned  ;  but  if 
we  had  known  that  Mr.  Welsh  and  Mr.  Barclay  *  had 
been  here,  we  would  have  been  upward  of  two  hun- 
dred men.  Robert  Hamilton  spake  nothing  against 
me  ;  but  he  and  his  faction  kept  an  eye  still  upon  me, 
and  afterwards  they  told  me,  that  Cameron  was  in  Hol- 
land ;  and  I  prayed  God,  that  all  his  faction  were  with 
him.  I  went  back  to  Glasgow  that  night,  and  so  did  a 
regiment  of  foot  and  four  troops  of  horse.  Upon  the 
morrow,  [Monday,  the  9th]  they  came  all  into  the 
town,   and   so  we  stayed  till   the  day   at 

night.  They  marched  two  miles  to  a  park  towards 
Hamilton  where  we  abode.  I  abode  that  night  in  the 
town  myself;  for  that  day  that  they  marched,  there 
came  to  me  from  our  country  upwards  of  seven  score, 
for  the  most  part  well  armed  :  these  that  wat)ted  I  got 
thetn  pikes,  so  that  our  company  was  upward  of  two 
hundred  well  appointed,  two  parts  with  gnns,  and  the 
third  part  with  pikes.  There  was  at  first  several  that 
wanted  arms,  (near  to  thirty,)  but  they  were  still  slip- 
ping away  home,  so  as  we  had  arms  enough  ere  all 
was  done. 

They  kept  a  very  strict  guard  that  night  in  the  town  ; 
and  there  was  a  knave  in  the  town,  a  finer  of  wool, 
who  came  to  the  captain  of  the  guard,  and  told  him,  he 
knew  of  one  who  had  several  arn;s  hid  in  his  house. 
He  gave  liim  four  persons  to  go  with  him  and  see. 
When  they  came,  he  caused  them  to  stand  at  the  door. 
He  w^ent  into  one  W^alkingshavv's  house,  and  drew  his 
sword  and  threatened  to  kill  him,  if  he  would  not  give 
him  two  dollars,  the  which  he  gave  him  ;  and  when 
he  returned,  he  said,  he  [Walkingshaw]  had  put  them 
away.  Upon  the  morrow,  he  knowing  whose  men 
they  were,  came  to  me  and  told  me  all,  and  if  ho  had 
sought  100  dollars  he  behoved  to  have  given  them. 
I  thought  very  much  shame,  because   they  were  my 


*  Mr.  George  Barclay  preached  for  some  lime  in  the  fields 
both  in  the  east  and  west  of  Scotland.  (Woch-ow,  i.  436. 
Walker's  Peden,  p.  79,91,  95.  Rem.  Passages,  p.  150.)  In  the 
beginning  of  1679  he  was  taken  at  a  search  in  Edinburgh,  but 
escaped.  (Wodrow,  ii.  14.)  On  the  toleration  in  1687  he 
preached  at  Glentirran,  in  a  meeting-house  erected  for  the  ac- 
commodation of  the  parishes  of  Kippen  and  Gargunnock,  and 
after  the  Revolution  became  minister  of  Uphall,  where  he  con- 
tinued upwards  of  twenty  years,  greatly  respected.  (Statist. 
Account  of  Scotland,  (Kippen,)  vol.  xviii.  p.  331.  Life  of  Alex- 
ander Reid,  p.  26,  66.) 

495 


496 


URE'S  NARRATIVE  OF 


men,  and  because  of  my  relation  to  his  wife.  I  intreat- 
ed  him  to  find  him  out,  the  which  he  did  ;  and  when  I 
got  him,  I  got  but  one  dollar  with  him,  for  he  had 
drunk  the  other.  I  delivered  it  hack  and  carried  him 
bound  with  me  to  Hamilton.  The  day  that  the  butch- 
er was  shot,  his  Ingg  was  nailed  to  the  gallows.*  We 
went  all  to  Hamilton,  and  the  morrow,  [Thursday,  the 
12th,]  we  kept  a  council  of  war,  and  there  the  butch- 
er was  brought  and  was  condemned  ;  for  the  witnesses 
deponed  they  saw  him  follow  the  man  in  at  the  close- 
head  with  a  fork  in  his  hand,  which  he  lifted  off  the 
causeway,  still  crying,  "  Fy,  hold  the  dog,"  and  when 
he  came  ba^k  the  nvin  was  dead.  When  his  sentence 
was  read  to  him,  he  called  for  a  minister,  to  whom  he 
confessed  bestiality  several  times,  but  nothing  as  to 
the  killing  of  the  man,  which  we  can  all  declare.  Mr. 
Welsh,  and  all  the  ministers,  and  raanj"^  more  of  us, 
would  have  had  witnesses  brought  and  his  confes- 
sion subscribed  by  him,  and  sent  him  to  Glasgow  ;  but 
they  would  not,  and  so  about  two  afternoon  he  was 
shot,  and  died  most  obdurately.")" 

At  our  council  they  made  an  act,  that  what  officers 
could  not  discharge  duty  should  continue  pro  fempore.^ 
This  they  did  when  they  f)und  us  dividing  from  them  ; 
for  there  were  with  Robert  Hamilton,  of  his  faction, 
one  Balfour,  Hackstnn,  Paton,  Henderson,  Cleland, 
Ross,  Carmichael,  who  lives  at  Winsbruch, II  xMr.  Wal- 


*  Speaking  of  this  giiliows.  Swift,  in  his  J\Iemoirs  of  Cap(a'n 
Crtighton,  says,  "The  rebels  had  set  it  up  in  the  middle  of  their 
camp, — in  order  to  hang  up  the  king's  sokhers."  This  gi'atiii- 
tous  and  improbable  supposition  has  been  since  repeatedly 
brought  forward  by  writers  of  a  certain  description, as  il  it  vver» 
founded  on  undoubted  evidence.  All  the  contemporary  writeri- 
who  mention  the  gallows  speak  of  it  as  «  matter  of  course,  in 
the  sau)e  way  as  they  would  do  of  any  other  post  or  monument 
which  marked  a  particular  spot.  Blackader  says  the  piMsoners, 
after  the  battle,  "  were  all  gathered  together  about  a  gallmos 
that  stood  there."  (Memoirs,  p.  249.)  Another  acconirt  siiys, 
"  Amongst  the  rest  of  the  prisoners  at  the  foot  of  the  gallows, 
where  we  were  gathered  together  in  Hamiltone  moore,  after 
quarter  was  given,  one  man  rising  up  in  great  extremitie,  call 
ing  for  a  drink  of  water,  was  immediately  shot  dead  by  one  of 
the  soldiers."  (MSS.  in  Adv.  Lib.  No.  Ix.  Jac.  V.  1,  10,  art. 
107.)  The  covenanters  did  not  even  make  use  of  it  as  an  in- 
strument of  death  ;  for  the  butcher  was  not  hung,  but  shot,  for 
the  murder  of  one  of  their  men.  There  is  no  reason  to  doubt, 
that  this  was  the  ordinary  place  where  criminals  uere  executed 
by  order  of  the  Sheriff-court  of  the  Lower  Ward  of  Lanark. 
Willian»  Hamilton  of  Wishaw,  having  stated  that  the  shire  of 
Lanark  anciently  con)prehended  the  whole  sherifldora  of  Ren- 
frew, adds  :  "  Because  of  the  largeness  of  its  extent,  it  was  di- 
vided into  two  wairds,  called  the  upper  and  the  nether  waird  ; 
and  the  burgh  of  Lanerk  declared  to  be  the  head  burs:h  of  the 
upper  waird,  and  Rutherglen  of  the  nether  waird.  And  since 
the  dissolving  of  the  shire  of  Renfrew  from  the  sherifdome  of 
Lanerk,  the  burgh  of  I,anerk  is  the  head  burgh  of  the  sheriff- 
dome  of  Lanerk,  and  Rutherglen  the  head  burgh  of  the  ii€ther 
waird  thereof.  About  the  year  1455,  upon  the  1st  of  July,  the 
Duke  of  Hamilton's  predecessor,  then  Lord  Hamilton,  became, 
by  eift  of  King  James  JI.,  heritable  sheriff  of  the  sherifedome. 
And  by  their  deputes  ay  symyne  are  in  use  to  hold  their  sheriff 
courts:  one  at  Lanerk,  and  the  other  at  Hamiltone,  fis  being 
more  centrall  for  the  nether  wainJ  than  the  burgh  of  Ruther- 
glen. The  present  Sheriffe  deputes  are  John  Hamilton  ot 
Westoun.  upper  waird,  and  John  Hamilton  of  Barncluth  for 
the  nether  waird."  (Description  of  Sherfffdom  of  Lanark,  in 
Sibbald's  Collections;  Scots  Shires:  MS.  Adv.  Lib.  M.  6,  15.) 
May  23,  1609.  James,  Marquis  of  Hamilton,  is  retoured  heir 
of  his  uncle  Jacues,  Earl  o(  Arran,  in  "officio  Viceconiitis  Vice- 
coniitatus  de  Lanerk,  cum  fcodo  20  L.  et  aliis  feodis  etdivoriis 
dicto  officio  pertinentibus, — baronia  de  Mackaneschyre  unitis." 
(Inqnis.  Ret.  Lanark,  88.)  "  Dalserfc  was  anciently  called  the 
baronie  of  Mackinshyre. — James,  Duke  of  Hamilton,  at  (fesyre 
of  King  Charles  the  first,  resigned  that  office  in  favour  of  the 
king,  since  which  time  the  Dul<e  and  Duchess  of  Hamilton  are 
only  sheriffs  by  commission  from  the  king."  (Description  of 
Lanark,  u/  supra.) 

t  "  One  Watson,  a  fleshcr  in  Glasgow,  was  ordained  to  be 
shot  for  murdering  one  of  their  brethrcij."  (Russell's  Account, 
appended  to  Kirkton's  Hist.  p.  457.) 

t  "The  reason  of  this  act  was — that  if  better  shoald  come 
and  own  the  Lord's  cause,  Uicre  might  be  a  door  op«n  for  tbeir 
due  preferment  to  places  in  the  army."     (R.  H.) 

II  William  Carmichael  appears  to  have  been  one  of  six  per- 
sons chosen  to  be  officers,  on  the  17th  of  June,  at  Shawneld 
inooi,  ftnd  is  called  "old  Major  Carmichael,''   and   "a  ruling 


ter  Smith,*  and  one  Fowler,f  whom  Robert  Hamilton 
made  a  captain,  who  was  once  his  man  ;  of  ministers, 
Mr.  Douglas,  Kemp,  Cargill,  Kid.  For  it  was  their 
intention  to  have  put  us  off  who  owned  Mr.  Welsh, 
that  they  might  have  gotten  their  business  carried  in 
the  council  of  war  :  for  there  were  near  as  many  of  ns 
as  were  of  them,  but  they  being  at  Loudon,  we  came 
only  in  to  them,  and  so  they  kept  still  the  command 
till  the  Galloway  forces  came.  All  the  rest  of  the 
ministers  were  with  us,  and  several  others,  [elders  1] 
it  being  not  needful  to  name  them.  As  fir  Mr.  King, 
he  was  still  for  peacpmaking,  and  was  not  so  bent  for 
us  as  he  should,  which  I  told  him  several  times;  but 
he  still  kept  company  with  us. 
The  morrow  we  met  again  in  the  moor,  about  putting 
out  a  declaration.  We  divided  about  it,  for  they  would 
have  had  the  steps  of  defection  of  the  church  in  it, 
expressly  the  Indulgence  and  sins  of  the  land,  king, 
and  others.  As  for  the  kingf,  we  told  them,  if  we 
owned  the  covenant  we  were  bound  to  defend  him,  and 
that  w"e  \vere  not  his  judge  ;  and  as  for  the  indulgence, 
it  was  to  come  in  by  way  of  grievance  and  nrt  decla- 
ration ;  neither  were  they,  the  indulged  ministers,  to 
he  condemned  until  they  were  heard  ;  neither  were  we 
a  parliament  nor  general  assembly.  Then  they  would 
have  had  a  day  of  humiliation  appointed,  and  the  rea- 
sons. We  told  them  that  the  declaration  wa<  first  to  be 
done.  So  we  left  other  very  hot  on  both  sides  that  night. 
Robert  Hamilton  sent  out  for  me  to  sup  with  him. 
When  I  came,  there  was  none  with  him  but  Mr.  Doug- 
las, and  G  red  den  :^  came  in  afterward.  He  was  ex- 
traordinar)^  kind  to  me  ;  he  inquired  many  things  at 
me,  but  the  drift  of  all  was  to  see  if  he  could  have  got- 
ten me  brought  over.  He  tidd  me  how  unanimous  they 
were  before  the  ministers  came  to  them,  and  that 
they  would  do  no  good  until  they  were  removed, 
and  that  they  were  for  not  owning  of  the  king,  who 
had  deprived  us  of  the  jrospel  and  was  seeking  our  de^ 
struction  both  of  soul  and  body.  I  gave  him  no  an- 
swer at  all,  but  beard  all,  and  afterward  returned  to 
my  men,  who  were  lying  in  the  cb  se,  whert  were  Mr. 
Welsh  and  the  rest  of  the  brethren  for  penning  of  the 
declaration.  I  went  to  him  and  told  him  all  that  had 
past,  and  I  desired  him  to  put  forth  a  declaration  that 
would  give  satisfaction  to  the  multitude;  for  if  we 
meddled  with  the  king  or  with  the  indulgence,  it  would 
hinder  many  to  come  who  would  he  as  willing  as  we  and 
were  waiting  till  they  saw  ii,  and  would  make  friends 
to  become  enemies  ;  and  no  fear  what  Robert  Hamil- 
ton and  his  party  could  do  :  that  if  he  was  clear  there- 
in as  in  the  sight  of  God,  I  should  stand  by  him  as 
long  as  my  life  was  in  me,  and  so  would  most  part  of 
the  army;  and  if  he  yielded  to  them,  I  woiiM  leave 
them  all  and  go  home.  He  told  me,  my  advice  was 
very  refreshing  to  them  at  that  nick  of  time.  With 
that  they  were  resolved  ||  to  do  so, —  they  desired  gftp 


elder."     (Wilson's  Bothvreil,  p.  87,  93.     Life  of  AKx.  Reid.p. 
38.) 

»  JUr.  Waller  Smith,  whose  parentage  and  choracter  arie 
given  by  Wodrow,  (Hist.  ii.  186,)  fought  at  Drumclog,  and  was 
at  present  clerk  to  the  council  of  war.  (Russtl's  Acco.  p.  443. 
Wilson's  Bothwcll,  p.  77.)  After  the  break,  having  lied  to 
Hollanil.  (see  before,  p.  9,)  he  returned  and  was  with  Cargill 
at  the  Torvvood  excommunication,  and  finally  suffered  with 
him,  27th  July,  1681.  (Wodrow,  vl  supra.)  He  was  the 
esteemed  friend  of  Alexander  Reid  in  Broxburn.  (Reid'sLife, 
p.  42,  48.) 

,f  John  Fowler  is  mentioned  ptirticularly  in  Robert  Hamil- 
ton's Notes,  and  is  probably  the  person  who  was  killed  at  Airds 
jMoss,  July  22,  16C0,  and  whose  head  was  cutoff  by  mistake  £ar 
Michael  Cameron's.     (Walker's  Rem.  Passagts.  p.  54.) 

\  George  Hume  of  CJreddiii  is  in  the  proclamation  against 
reb«  U.  (Wodrow,  ii.  App.  p.  27.)  He  was  an  heritor  of  the 
parish  of  Karhtoun.  (Act.  I'arl.  Scot.  vii.  85.)  The  opprf- 
hension  of  "Greden  Hume"  was  the  occasion  of  the  scuffle  in 
which  Thomas  Ker  of  Hay  hope  (whose  tlecy  was  written  by 
Colonel  Cleland)  was  killed  by  Colonel  Struther's  (ja»ty.  (True 
Account  of  the  cruel  Murlher  of  Thomas  Ker.  brother  to  the 
Laird  of  Chirietrees.  MS.  /Vdv.  Lib.  No.  xxxii.  M.  6, 14,  art. 
175.)  II  When  they  were  rcsolvetl,  &c. 


THE  RISING  AT  BOTHWEL  BRIDGE. 


497 


to  come  to  them  to-morrow  and  I  should  see  what  I 
they  had  done ;  and  so  I  came,  and  it  isjave  me  and 
the  army  all  satisfaction,  except  Robert  Hamilton  and 
his  faction. 

The  morrow,  [Friday  the  13th,]  when  we  met  at 
the  moor,  and  when  it  was  read  to  them,  they  were 
offended  that  Mr.  Douglas  and  the  rest  were  not  with 
them,  and  [asked]  how  they  could  take  it  upon  them 
to  do  it  without  their  consent.  They  would  not  hear 
of  it,  but  still  desired  a  day  of  humiliation  to  be  ap- 
pointed and  the  reasons  condescended  upon,  which 
were,  the  steps  of  defection  of  the  church  since  the 
year  1648,  and  sins  of  the  land  till  this  day.  We  told 
them,  it  was  very  needful  the  declaration  should 
first  be  put  out,  because  many  would  not  stay  still  till 
they  saw  it,  who  were  as  willing  to  hazard  life  and 
lands  as  we.  After  long  debating,  we  offered  presently 
to  depart  from  them,  if  they  would  not  condescend  to 
it.  When  they  saw  we  was  resolved  they  cond6- 
scended,  but  would  have  in  it  acknowledgment  of  sins 
and  engagement  of  duty,  which  abode  a  long  debate 
before  we  condescended  to  it,  because  it  could  not  be 
brought  in  handsomely.  The  reason  to  have  it  in,  as 
we  thought,  was  to  keep  out  gentlemen  of  quality  till 
they  would  give  satisfaction,  if  they  had  heard  indulg- 
ed men,  or  taken  the  bond,  or  paid  the  Cess,  or  were 
hearers  of  curates,  that  they  might  not  have  been  lead- 
ers in  the  army.  Also  we  told  them,  they  were  mnre 
taken  up  with  other  men's  sins  than  they  were  with 
their  own,  and  that  it  were  our  duty  first  to  begin  with 
ourselves.  They  spake  likewise  of  putting  off  of  of- 
ficers, and  did  put  off  him  who  was  captain  to  the  men 
who  came  from  the  east  eud  of  Stirlingshire.*  But 
he  who  was  made  captain  was  also  with  us,  for  he  was 
my  comrade  formerly,  although  he  was  very  near  re- 
lated to  Robert  Hamilton.  If  he  had  not  been  very 
stout,  (he  resisted  and  told,  who  made  them  officers 
more  as  we,  and  that  our  men  would  follow  none 
other,)  they  would  have  put  us  all  off.  We  removed 
back  again  to  the  west  end  of  the  Monklands,  to  a 
park  within  four  miles  of  Glasgow,  where  we  abode 
all  night.  Mr.  Welsh  with  his  troop  and  the  rest  of 
the  brethren  slipped  off  to  Glasgow  and  caused  print 
the  declaration.! 

On  the  morrow  [Saturday  the  14th]  we  removed 
east  a  mile  to  the  old  kirk  of  Monkland,  where  we 
abode  three  nights.  We  met  upon  a  moor  about  half 
a  mile  be-east  the  kirk.  Robert  Hamilton  lay  in  the 
Hags,:|:  and  we  about  the  kirk.  While  we  lay  here, 
Major  Learmonth  came  to  us  in  a  council  in  the  Hags, 
Learmonth  was  made  lieutenant  colonel ;  for  Robert 
Hamilton  took  nothing  on  him  but  the  name  of  colo- 
nel, but  it  was  rowned  ]]  to  Learmonth  a  lieutenant 
general,  they  repented  afterwards,  for  he  sided  with 
Welsh.  Upon  the  Sabbath,  [the  15th]  when  we 
were  convened  in  the  muir  to  hear  sermon,  they  called 
a  council  of  war  and  called  the  whole  ministers,  and 

*  "This  was  not  a  deed  of  the  council  of  war  but  of  the  sol- 
diers themselves."  (R.  H.) 

\  "  Robert  Hamilton  and  some  others  condescended  only  to 
let  it  be  proclaimed  for  giving  them  (Welsh's  friends)  satisfac- 
tion, upon  their  promise  to  enlarge  it  to  our  minds  before  it 
should  be  printed,  which  promise  they  broke.  As  also,  Mr. 
King  should  have  intimated  this  much  at  the  proclaiming  there- 
of; but  instead  of  him,  they,  contrary  to  promise,  caused  Mr. 
David  Hume  and  Mr.  Welsh  do  it,  who  displeased  Robert  Ham- 
ilton and  the  rest,  that  had  condescended  to  tli«m,  which  ever 
after  they  regretted."  (R.  H.)  The  declaration  is  printed  in 
Wodrow,  ii.  No.  25. 

I  In  Old  or  West  Monkland  is  "  the  Haggs,  lately  pertaining 
to  Sir  Alexander  Hamilton,  baronet,  descended  of  the  family 
of  Orbistone."  (Hamilton  of  Wishaw's  description  of  Lanark, 
MS.  nt  supra.) 

II  Rounded,  i,  e.  whispered.  The  meaning  appears  to  be,  that 
Hamilton's  friends  hinted  privately  to  Learmont  that  he  would 
be  Lieutenant  General,  but  that  they  were  sorry  for  having  done 
this,  when  they  found  that  he  took  the  opposite  side. — "  Major 
Learmonth  came  not  into  us  till  the  Sabbath  afternoon  in  time 
of  sermon."    (R.  H.) 

3N 


told  them,  if  they  did  not  preach,  name  and  sirname, 
against  the  indulgence,  they  should  preach  none. 
They  [the  ministers]  thought  it  very  hard  to  be  kept 
within  guard,  and  to  be  commanded  what  to  preach. 
They  told  them,  they  were  to  receive  their  commission 
from  Jesus  Christ  what  to  preach,  and  not  from  them. 
When  we  heard  of  it,  we  came — for  they  never  call- 
ed us  if  we  came  not  of  ourselves.  We  told  them, 
that  it  was  the  height  of  supremacy  to  give  instructions 
to  ministers  what  to  preach  ;  we  would  hear  no  such 
doctrine.  With  this  confusion  this  day  was  well  spent, 
and  when  they  saw  us  own  them,  (the  ministers)  and 
that  they  could  not  prevail,  they  slipped  their  way ; 
and  so  they  went  and  preached,  and  every  man  went 
to  hear  him  whom  he  liked  best.  At  this  debate  there 
was  one  minister  left  us,  and  never  returned  again,  but 
was  a-coming  upon  the  Monday  when  we  were  bro- 
ken; for  he  declared  to  me,  when  he  was  let  out  with- 
out the  guard,  that  he  thought  they  were  set  to  take 
their  lives. 

The  morrow,  [Monday  the  16th,]  we  met  again  on 
the  moor,  and  because  of  the  tain  we  went  to  a  barn.* 
We  held  our  council.  We  were  hugely  confused  :  for 
they  were  angry  that  the  declaration  was  printed  till 
they  had  gotten  more  added  to  it,  especially  the  indul- 
gence and  the  sins  of  the  times.  There  was  one  Cap- 
lain  Carmichael,  (not  he  before  named,)  a  very  for- 
ward gentleman,!  and  Learmont,  and  I,  that  stood  and 
told  them  what  sort  of  judicatory  they  would  be; 
for  ought  that  we  saw,  we  were  come  here  to  fight 
among  ourselves ;  and  if  they  would  get  their  wills, 
we  would  be  a  reproach  as  long  as  the  world  stands ; 
for  we  were  reproached  already  as  to  what  was  done 
to  king  Charles  the  first;  and  for  ought  we  saw,  they 
intended  to  make  the  whole  world  our  enemies.  So 
we  desired  them  to  do  what  they  pleased,  but  we 
Would  not  join  with  them.  They  desired  us  to  begone 
then,  so  we  arose  and  would  have  gone  out;  but  the 
guard  at  the  door  would  not  let  us,  so  we  went  to  the 
other  end  of  the  barn  and  sat  down,  and  the  rest  of 
our  company  came  to  us.  So  when  we  were  going  to 
part,  Mr.  Welsh  canre  and  told  them,  the  brethren  re- 
fused to  come  with  him,  for  they  were  of  greater  fear 
of  them  who  were  their  friends  than  they  were  of  their 
avowed  enemies  ;  but  for  him  he  had  a  little  more 
courage  :  they  might  do  with  him  what  they  pleased, 
he  should  be  satisfied  whether  to  be  their  prisoner  or 
not.  We  told  him,  there  should  no  body  harm  him, 
or  else  we  should  die  for  it,  and  desired  him  to  speak 
his  mind  freely  as  in  the  sight  of  God  ;  the  which  he 
did  very  freely,  and  so  we  left  other  in  a  great  confu- 
sion. We  all  requested  them  to  go  leave  them,  and  to 
go  to  Glasgow  ;  the  brethren  told  us  they  were  loth  to 
do  it,  for  it  would  encourage  the.enemies  and  discour- 
age friends,  and  would  wholly  break  us,  but  desired  us 
to  have  patience  till  the  Galloway  forces  came  ;  for  we 
were  expecting  them  every  day.  We  marched  after 
that  about  a  long  mile  north  from  the  moor,  towards 
Cumbernauld  ;  and  when  they  came  there,  they  called 
a  council  of  War,  and  we  marched  immediately  back 
again  the  way  we  came  to  the  moor,  and  over  to  Ham- 
ilton town.  When  they  marched  the  same  way  along 
time,  I  admired  what  they  meant ;  fori  was  not  at  the 
council.:}:     In  this  confusion  five  hundred  horse  might 


*  The  council  met  in  Shawhead  muir  on  Monday,  but  was 
adjourned  to  next  day,  on  account  of  the  great  rain  and  the  ab- 
sence of  the  ministers  and  matiy  of  the  officers.  (Russell's  Ac- 
count, 400,  401.  Wilson,  92.)  Hamilton's  notes  on  Ure's  account 
of  this  meeting  of  the  council  contain  nothing  but  what  is  print- 
ed already  in  Russell  and  Wilson. 

•f-  This  was  James  Carmichael,  son  of  John  Carmichael,  cham- 
berlain to  the  Earl  of  Wigton,  and  portioner  of  Little  Black- 
burn. He  was  tried  along  with  Ure,  but  obtained  a  remission, 
because  his  father  "had  faithfully  served  the  king  in  his  army 
at  Stirling,  and  the  battle  at  Worcester."  (Records  of  Justi- 
ciary Court,  January  17,  1682.) 

X  "  There  was  no  council  of  war;  but  the  army  having  march- 
ed to  Airdrie  without  orders,  thej*  were  brought  back  to  Ham- 
32 


498 


URE'S  NARRATIVE  OF 


have  broken  us  all,  for  when  they  marched  in  the  night 
time,  they  were  as  if  they  had  been  fleeing.  Our 
train  was  lying  at  the  place  of  the  Haggs.  There 
went  the  most  part  of  our  army  alongst  Bothwel  Bridge, 
and  I  and  captain  Learraonth's  company  followed  till 
it  was  so  dark  that  we  knew  not  where  to  go  ;  so  we 
abode  on  the  other  side  of  the  water  forgainst  the 
Haggs  all  night.  Our  disorder  this  night  was  un 
speakable  ;  for  I  do  really  think  we  were  500  fewer  on 
the  morrow,  partly  through  our  division  and  our  disor- 
der, and  the  false  alarm. 

On  the  Tuesday*  we  met  all  again  in  the  evening  at 
Hamilton  moor,  and  on  the  morrow  we  held  another 
council  where  we  were  as  ill  as  before,  and  a  little 
before  night  we  were  fully  resolved  to  separate  from 
them.  We  were  so  hot  on  both  sides,  that  we  ex- 
pected still  to  have  gone  by  the  ears.  We  intreated 
them  to  stand  to  the  declaration,  to  let  us  go  on 
against  our  enemy,  and  to  let  all  debates  alone  till  a 
free  parliament  and  a  general  assembly.  They  told 
us,  we  were  for  an  indulgence,  and  they  would  sheathe 
their  swords  as  soon  in  them  who  owned  it  as  they 
would  do  in  many  of  the  malignants.f  We  wished  that 
we  had  known  that  sooner.  We  said,  we  told  them 
we  were  not  for  an  indulgence  more  nor  they,  and 
we  would  subscribe  it  if  they  would  not  believe  us. 
Robert  Hamilton  told  us,  that  they  owned  Cameron, 
and  were  of  his  judgment  plainly.  I  arose  and  told 
Robert  Hamilton,  that  I  had  a  wife  and  five  children, 
and  that  I  had  a  little  bit  of  an  estate,  and  that  I  was 
come  to  hazard  all  and  my  life,  to  get  the  yoke  of  pre- 
lacy and  supremely  removed  ;  but  for  ought  that  I  saw, 
they  intended  to  tyrannize  over  our  consciences,  and 
lead  us  to  a  worse  snare  nor  we  were  into ;  and  for  my 
part,  I  would  fight  till  the  last  drop  of  my  blood  be- 
fore I  went  one  step-length  with  them.  And  I  told 
Mr.  Cargill,  he  rendered  himself  odious  by  his  naugh- 
ty principles.  He  was  very  much  offended  with  me. 
When  they  saw  we  were  resolved  to  leave  them,  they 
drew  by,  and  when  they  came  to  us  they  condescended 
to  stand  to  the  declaration,  and  to  let  all  debates  alone, 
and  to  give  it  under  their  hands  ;:J:  so  we  were  all  glad 
and  merry.  Mr.  Douglas,  the  first  time  we  were  in 
Hamilton  park,  on  a  week  day  in  his  sermon  spake 
very  bitterly  against  the  king :  and  it  coming  in  my 
mind,  I  told  them  I  had  one  word  to  speak  to  the  min- 
isters. I  desired  them  to  forbear  their  reflecting  lan- 
guage against  the  king :  I  repeated  what  he  said, 
which  is  not  need  to  set  down.  He  denied  it  be- 
fore Mr.  Welsh,  and  then  I  would  have  been  to  have 
proved  it;  but  they  desired  me  to  forbear,  lest  it 
would  have  raised  new  debates.  I  told  them,  I  would 
hear  none  such  doctrine,  and  that  it  gave  great  offence 
to  many  :  so  he  was  very  much  ashamed. 

It  being  so  late,  we  could  not  get  it  subscribed  that 
night:  so  the  morrow  they  shifted  us  likewise,  and  on 
Friday,  [the  20th]  about  ten  hours,  the  Galloway  for- 
ces came  in.  They  would  havebeen  near  1000  horse  and 
foot,  when  they  were  settled  a  little,  and  met  all  in  the 
town  ;  and  they  (Hamilton's  party)  met  into  the  park. 
So  we  told  the  Galloway  gentlemen  all  our  debates  ; 
and  when  they  engaged  to  subscribe  with  their  hands, 
we  did  write  it  down,  and  desired  them  to  stand  to  the 
printed  declaration,  and  let  all  debates  be  till  a  parlia- 
ment and  general  assembly.  When  we  had  done  it,  there 
was  none  had  will  to  go  to  them  with  it.  I  desired  some 
to  go  with  me  and  I  should  deliver  it.  At  length  Craich- 


,  ly,*  a  Galloway  gentleman,  and  Bankhead,f  went  with 
me  to  the  park,  where  they  were  all  together  with  their 
council,  and  I  delivered  it.  Robert  Hamilton  read  it 
and  gave  it  to  Mr.  Douglas,  who  did  write  on  it,  and 
declared  to  me  that  they  desired  to  know  wherein  the 
differences  were  between  us,  as  if  he  had  not  known 
them ;  so  I  returned.  They  were  all  satisfied  with 
the  answer ;  for  they  gave  me  no  answer  what  either 
they  would  stand  to,  or  what  they  had  promised  the 
day  before.  The  morrow  we  met  all  together  in  the 
moor,  it  being  Saturday,  [the  21st,]  where  we  had  a 
great  council ;  for,  of  ministers  and  others  that  day, 
we  would  have  been  near  to  fifty.  The  ministers  sat 
not  with  us  but  when  we  called  them.  The  first  thing 
we  did  was  to  choose  a  preses,  for  Robert  Hamilton 
was  still  preses  there  before  this.  When  we  were  vo- 
ting it,  Robert  Hamilton  started  up  and  said,  "  Gentle- 
men, we  who  are  not  of  your  judgment  will  remove, 
and  he  that  will  go  with  me  let  him  go."  So  there 
followed  him  about  twelve  men.:}:  Of  our  number 
there  was  one  John  Spreul,  apothecary  in  Glasgow,||who 
owned  Robert  Hamilton  strongly,  but  we  command- 
ed him  to  be  silent;  so  we  sat  still  about  sending  a 
petition  to  the  duke  ;  so  we  drew  up  a  draught  and  de- 
sired them  to  look  at  it  and  tell  us  their  opinion  of  it. 
They  said  it  was  not  ri^ht,  for  the  enemy  might  see  by 
it  that  we  were  afraid  for  them,  it  was  so  humbly 
drawn.  After  long  debating  to  and  fro,  they  and  we 
condescended  to  refer  it  to  four  gentlemen  and  four 
ministers  ;  and  so  they  agreed  at  length,  and  it  was  to 
have  been  drawn  up  that  night  and  sent  to  the  duke  ti- 
meously  on  Monday.  For  aught  as  I  know,  they  were 
altogether  against  the  sending  of  any  ;  for  they  did 
not  desire  us  to  agree  :  what  they  meant  by  it  the  Lord 
knows.  Our  men,  with  ourdivisions,  slipped  away  still 
from  us :  for  it  was  our  common  discourse  that  we 
could  do  no  good.  So  after  this  we  went  all  into  the 
park  and  town  of  Hamilton. 

We  were  not  well  settled  when  there  came  a  post 
to  Mr.  Welsh,  showing  that  the  enemy  was  marching 
towards  us.§     We  were  not  concerned  with  an  enemy, 


ilton  muir,  as  the  place  formerly  condescended  on  for  keeping 
the  fa«t  day."     (R.  H.) 

•  "This  was  Wednesday."     (R.  H.) 

f  "R.  Hamilton  said,  he  thought  it  our  duty  to  appear  against 
all  the  defections  of  the  times,  and  not  to  lay  down  arms  (if  the 
Lord  prospered  us)  till  our  Lord  were  redressed  of  all  the  af- 
fronts done  to  him."     (R.  H.) 

I  "This  J  remember  not  of;  but  1  am  sure  they  all  de- 
nied afterwards  that  they  condescended  to  such  a  tbing^."     (R. 


*  See  befoi-e  p.  440, 466.  James  Gordon  of  Craichlaw,  young- 
er, was  forfeited,  Feb.  18, 1680.  (Wodrow,  ii.  115.)  His  name 
is  in  the  act  of  parliament,  July  4,  1690,  rescinding  forfeitures; 
(Act.  Pari.  Scot.  ix.  165;)  but  he  appears  to  have  been  dead  •  . 
Jul}'  7,  1691,  when  William  Gordoun  of  Craichlaw  (probably 
his  son)  is  retoured  heir  to  William  Gordoun  of  Craichlaw,  his 
grandfather.     (Inq.  Ret.  Kirkcudbright,  p.  373.) 

f  It  is  uncertain  whether  this  was Forrester  of  Bank- 
head,  whose  name  is  in  the  proclamation  against  the  rebels, 
June  26,  1679;  (Wodrow,  ii.  app.  27;)  or  Robert  Lockhart  of 
Bankhead,  who  was  indicted  at  the  circuit  court  of  Ayr,  June 
22,  1683,  confessed  his  rebellion,  offered  to  take  the  test,  and 
was  sentenced  to  be  beheaded,  but  probably  obtained  a  pardon. 
(lb.  ii.  323,  324.)  The  name  of  the  latter  is  in  the  act  rescind- 
ing forfeitures.     (Act.  Pari.  Scot.  ix.  166.) 

}•  "There  went  from  them  eighteen  officers."     (R.  H.) 

11  An  account  of  Spreul's  process,  torture,  and  liberation  from 
the  Bass,  is  given  by  Wodrow,  ii.  163,  &c.  612. 

{  The  depositions  in  Lord  Melville's  trial,  in  the  year  1685, 
throw  light  on  this  message.  From  these  it  appears,  that  on 
Saturday  the  21st  of  June,  (the  day  before  the  battle  of  Both- 
well  bridge,)  his  Lordship,  who  was  in  the  king's  army,  sent 
John  Miller  in  Watersaucn,  with  letters  and  a  message  to  Mr. 
John  Welsh  and  Mr.  David  Hume,  informing  them  that  the 
royal  array  was  at  hand  and  in  treat  strength,  and  imploring^ 
them  to  send  a  petition  to  the  Duke  of  Monmouth,  the  com- 
mander, from  whom  they  might  expect  good  terms.  Miller 
"  behoved  to  creep  upon  his  hands  and  feet  near  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  from  the  king's  camp,"  and  was  accompanied  three  miles 
on  his  way  by  William  Hamilton  of  Wishaw,  Having  come  to 
Dalzell-ford,  which  was  guarded  by  a  party  of  the  rebels,  Ro- 
bert Fleming  of  Auchinnne,  who  commanded  them,  sent  John 
Lockhart  of  Bar,  and  Alexander  Lockart,  along  with  him  to 
Hamilton,  where  he  met  with  Mr.  John  King,  who  conveyed 
him  to  Welsh  and  Hume,  by  whom  he  was  conducted  to  a 
meeting  of  officers  in  the  moor.  Lockhart  of  Mar  dep  ned, 
that  "had  it  not  been  for  th  intelligence  brought  br  the  said 
Miller,  the  king's  army  had  urprized  the  rebels,  and  got  all  of 
them  as  it  were  in  a  hose  net."  Lord  Melville  told  the  met 
senger,  that  "  if  he  were  at  Mc  John  Welsh,  he  would  sit  down 
on  his  knees  and  beg  them  to  lay  down  their  arms;"  for,  "if 
they  will  not  follow  advice,  and  these  people  be  broken, 


THE  RISING  AT  BOTHWEL  BRIDGE. 


499 


as  if  there  had  not  been  one  within  1000  miles  of  us. 
There  were  none  went  through  the  army  to  see  if  we 
wanted  powder  or  ball.  1  do  really  think  there  were  few 
or  none  that  had  both  powder  and  ball  in  all  the  army 
to  shoot  twice.  My  men  were  well  provided,  for  we 
brought  upwards  of  two  stone  of  powder  from  home 
with  us,  and  I  put  to  hand  when  we  went  from  home 
first.  I  did  take  the  lead  and  cast  ball  when  we  lay  in  the 
Monkland  ;  so  that  we  were  best  provided  of  them  all. 
And  we  went  presently  to  the  moor  and  stood  to  our 
arms  all  night,  and  a  little  before  day  we  saw  the  ene- 
my kindling  their  matches  a  great  way  off.  There 
were  two  companies  at  the  bridge,  and  they  came  and 
desired  me  to  go  down  and  assist  them ;  so  I  went, 
and  the  other  company  of  Stirlingshire  men  and  Glas- 
gow company.  I  drew  up  hard  upon  the  water-side 
against  the  west  end  of  the  bridge.  Glasgow,  when 
they  came  down,  drew  up  on  my  right  hand,  and  Len- 
nox on  my  left ;  there  came  also  down  about  200  Gal- 
loway foot :  they  had  no  ather  arms  but  pikes  and  hal- 
berts,  with  four  pair  of  colours,  and  took  ground  on 
our  right  hand  farthest  from  our  enemy.  There  came 
one  troop  of  their  horse  and  drew  up  behind  us,  and 
then  our  cannon  was  drawn  down,  being  a  field  piece 
and  two  muskets  of  found  unmounted:*  so  these  were 
not  made  use  of. 

About  three  hours  in  the  morning  [Sabbath,  June 
22d,]  there  advanced  from  the  west  side  of  Bothwel 
kirk  four  companies  of  dragoons,  and  the  king's  troop 
of  the  guard,  and  the  duke  William's  troop ;  and  so  they 
advanced  close  to  the  bridge.  The  rest  of  their  army 
was  near  a  mile  off,  but  marching  north-west,  for  they 
came  about  because  of  their  cannon  which  was  with 
them.  They  sent  down  near  to  the  bridge  six  men, 
who  fired  upon  our  men  at  the  bridge,  and  we  gave 
them  a  return.  We  received  no  hurt  but  one  man 
wounded  on  the  foot ;  and  I  believe  some  of  them  were 
wounded,  if  not  killed  ;  for  they  lay  down  where  they 
fired,  but  I  never  saw  them  rise  again.  Robert  Ham- 
ilton and  Mr.  Hume  came  to  us,  and  several  others. 
They  sent  over  a  drummer  with  a  petition  ;  so  there  was 
a  cessation  for  near  one  hour.  The  mean  while  the 
enemy  came  hard  to  the  bridge-end  and  spoke  to  us 
and  vi'e  to  them.  They  desired  us  to  come  over  and 
they  would  not  harm  us,  and  called  for  Mr.  Hamilton 
to  speak  with  him  ;  so  Mr.  David  Hume  f  went  over, 
and  another  gentleman  with  him,  and  spoke  with  the 
duke,  and  desired  his  Grace  if  he  would  prevent  the 
effusion  of  blood.  He  told  them,their  petition  should 
have  been  more  humbly  worded,  and  said,  lay  down 
our  arms  and  come  in  his  mercy,  and  we  should  be 
favourably  dealt  with  r  so  he  returned  and  told  us. 
When  Robert  Hamilton  heard  it,  he  laughed  at  it, 
and  said,  "and  hang  next."  So  we  sent  over  word, 
we  would  not  lay  down  our  arms.  He  bade  us 
likewise  advise  us,  but  would  not  grant  a  cessa- 
tion ;  so  they  fired  over  a  cannon  amongst  our  men, 
and  killed  two  horses  but  no  men.  We  fired  our  can- 
non, and  muskets  played  on  both  sides.  When  our 
cannon  shot  they  left  their  cannon,  fled  both  horse  and 
foot,  near  five  pair  of  butts.  If  we  had  had  any  per- 
son to  have  commanded  us,  we  might  have  gained 
their  cannon  ;  but  if  I  should  have  gone  without  com- 
mand, if  they  should  have  turned  on  me,  there  would 
none  have  relieved  me.  So  they  came  back  and  man- 
ned their  guns  again,  and  shot  other  three  cannons 
amongst  us,  but  did  no  harm.  My  Lord  Lithgow's 
son  came  down  to  the  bridge  with  about  500  of  red 


will  ruin  the  presbyterian  interest,"  (Act.  Pari.  Scot.  viii.  app. 
57 — 59.     See  also  above,  p.  447,  note.) 

*  These  appear  to  have  been  a  kind  of  large  muskets  too  un- 
wieldy for  the  arm,  and  usually  supported  by  a  frame,  which  in 
the  present  instance  was  wanting. 

+  Mr.  David  Hume,  minister  at  Coldingham,  was  intercom- 
muned,  in  1676,  for  preaching  in  the  fields.  (Wod.  i.  420.  App. 
73.  Reid's  Life,  26.)  July  9, 1664,  he  was  retoured  heir  to  Alex- 
ander, his  immediately  younger  brother.  (Inq.  Ret.  Gen.  4804.) 


coats  too,  and  we  still  fired  on  both  sides.*  They 
charged  again  their  caimon  and  shot  them  down  at  the 
bridge  :  then  they  fled  and  left  it.  The  two  companies 
that  was  out  (not)  of  Glasgow^  they  left  us  :  also 
Glasgow  company  followed  them,  and  one  of  our  com- 
panies from  my  left  hand  also.  They  fired  their  can- 
non again  :  I  do  not  know  what  harm  it  did.  Lith- 
gow's son  came  advancing  to  me,  and  they  firing  still 
upon  me  from  the  other  side.  I  was  necessitated  to  re- 
tire ;  so  I  returned  back  over  the  bell  of  the  brea]  about 
four  pair  of  butts,  and  halted  and  charged  again.  Lith- 
gow's son  was  the  first  that  came  over  the  bridge,  with 
300  foot  and  a  troop  of  horse  upon  his  rear.  So  they 
advanced  towards  us,  upon  which  I  desired  our  men  to 
face  about  and  let  them  see  that  we  were  not  flying ; 
and  so  I  went  back,  and  there  followed  me  at  first  but 
about  thirty-four  of  my  men,  and  the  rest  advanced 
after  them.  The  enemy  fired  about  100  muskets  at  us  : 
we  clapped,  and  so  escaped  all  hazard  of  that  fire,  and 
immediately  advanced  again  still  forward,  resolving 
not  to  fire  till  we  were  in  their  bosom.  They  seeing 
us  advance  so  resolutely,  their  horse  retired  first  and 
then  their  foot,  so  that  there  was  none  of  them  in  this 
side  of  the  gates.  Upon  which  retreat  we  made  fire 
upon  them,  and  the  rest  of  my  men  coming  down  fired 
also.  The  enemy  faced,  and  fired  at  me  from  the  other 
side,  and  from  the  bridge,  upwards  of  500  shot ;  and 
likewise  their  cannon  played.  With  the  first  shot 
they  killed  two  men  to  me,  and  there  was  another  kill- 
ed with  a  musket;  and  I  saw  none  coming  to  assist. 
I  was  forced  to  retire  to  the  moor  to  the  rest.  On  my 
retiring  there  was  some  of  theirs  pursued,  and  killed  a 
man  that  had  been  wounded  on  the  bridge.  I  caused 
my  party  face  about,  and  chased  them  back  ;  but  ihey 
outran  us  to  their  party.  When  we  came  from  the 
bridge,  for  ought  that  I  know  or  can  hear,  there  was 
none  of  my  men  killed  but  one  man,  and  my  three, 
and  the  man  that  was  wounded. 

In  all  this  hot  dispute,  our  commanders  never  own- 
ed us.  As  for  Robert  Hamilton,  I  never  saw  him  from 
the  time  he  went  from  the  bridge,  when  the  treaty  was 
given  up.  Immediately  the  enemy  advanced  sharply 
alongst  the  bridge.  Presently  I  drew  up  in  the  moor 
my  men,  and  attended  Lerraont's  X  command  ;  for  I 
saw  none  but  him  to  give  orders.  Because  he  had 
drawn  up  the  foot,  he  commanded  me  to  draw  up  upon 
the  left  hand,  and  so  I  did.  He  came  within  a  liitle 
and  desired  me  to  draw  down  my  men,  and  lay  them 
in  an  ambush  that  was  in  an  hollow  burn,  and  so  I  did, 
and  left  rny  picked  men  that,  with  Learmont's  men, 
was  to  keep  the  dragoons  from  flanking  our  horse.  I 
got  my  horse  a  little  before  this.  When  I  placed  my 
men  I  leaped  on  my  horse  to  see  the  enem3''s  order  of 
battle.  What  number  they  were  I  know  not,  but  I  am 
sure  they  were  three  times  our  number;  so  I  rode 
alongst  their ^^tle  within  shot  of  them  a  great  way, 
and  came  bci^ralfmgst  to  our  men  again  ;  and  so  I 
came  encouraging  them  what  I  could  for  I  saw  none 
to  do  it.  After  this  I  rode  to  my  men  down  the  brae 
side.  The  two  armies  was  no  more  but  two  cara- 
bine's shot  asunder ;  and  my  men  was  betwixt  on  the 
left  hand.     I  lighted  to  fasten  my  girth,  and  knew  not 


*  In  this  and  other  instances,  Hamilton,  in  his  notes,  ascribes- 
the  honour  of  resisting  the  advance  of  the  army  to  Fowler  rather 
than  Ure. 

\   Veal  na  hruaich;  (Gael.)  the  brow  of  the  hill. 

I  Major  Joseph  Learmont,  whom  Law  (on  what  evidence  I 
know  not)  represents  as  havmg  been  originaHy  a  tailor,  (See 
above,  p.  431,)  was  proprietor  of  the  lands  of  Newhohiit,  which- 
lay  partly  in  the  shire  of  Peebles  and  partly  in  that  of  Lanark. 
(Samson's  Riddle,  148.)  After  his  forfeiture  for  being  in  the 
rising  at  Pentland,  in  consequence  of  a  con)posi(ion.  William 
Hamilton  of  Wishaw,  writer  in  Edinburgh,  obtained  a  donation 
of  the  estate  of  Newholme,  for  the  behoof  of  the  Mojor's  fam- 
ily. (Deer.  Seer.  Cone.  May  7,  1673.)  They  were  brothers- 
in-law,  being  married  to  daughters  of  John  Hamilton  of  Uds- 
ton,  called  in  a  former  note  (p.  435)  Aiddstain  or  Auttane^ 
(Douglas,  Baron,  p.  467,  479.) 


500 


URE'S  NARRATIVE,  &c. 


that  the  dragoons  was  so  near  at  hand,  advancing  up 
the  brae.  In  the  mean  time,  Balfour  being  on  the  left 
hand,  seeing  the  cannons  presented  to  them,  wheeled 
about  and  went  through  all  an  open  that  there  was 
some  foot  coming  to  fill  up  ;  but  the  rear  of  his  horse 
troubled  the  foot,  and  they  went  back  a  little.*  While 
he  was  retiring,  my  men  fired  on  the  dragoons,  and 
they  at  them,  and  their  cannons  played  ;  the  foot,  hear- 
ing this,  and  being  troubled  a  little  with  the  horse,  fled ; 
and  so  they  all  fled,  and  not  a  man  was  standing  on  all 
the  left  hand.  I  cried  to  my  men  to  make  away.  The 
right  hand  stood  a  little,  but  not  so  long  as  to  put  on  a 
pair  of  gloves  ;  so  they  all  fled,  and  I  turned  with  all 
my  speed.  Indeed,  I  was  beholden  to  my  horse.  We 
were  not  at  this  day  past  4000  foot  and  2000  horse  :  if 
we  had  agreed  we  would  have  been  the  triple,  but 
when  they  came  the  one  day  they  went  away  the  next. 
The  Lord  took  both  courage  and  wisdom  from  us. 

This  is  what  I  saw  and  heard,  and  is  a  truth  ;  but 
there  is  many  things  that  were  done  amongst  us,  which, 
if  I  had  had  the  help  of  another  who  was  witn&ss  to  this, 
we  might  have  set  it  more  fully  down.  As  for  Mr. 
Kidjf  although  I  had  set  him  down  to  be  of  the  fac- 


*  "  This  was  Tho.  Weir,  and  Carmichael,  designed  by  the 
author  a  forward  gentleman.  If  the  author  were  not  stated  in 
prejudice  against  Ro.  Hamilton,  he  might  have  seen  him  meet 
these  two  gentlemen,  and  reprove  them  sharply  for  this  foul  act 
of  theirs,  which  was  the  first  beginning  of  our  break.  As  for 
Balfour,  his  troop  was  not  within  the  array  that  dajr,  having 
been  four  miles  out  that  night,  by  order  of  the  council  of  war, 
and  came  in  at  this  time:  himself  reproved  Tho.  Weir,  and  was 
after  this  wounded,  the  author  being  gone."     (R.  H.) 

t  Mr.  John  Kid  and  Mr.  John  King  were  executed  at  Edin- 
burgh, on  the  14th  of  August,  1679.  the  day  on  which  the  in- 
demnity was  published.  (Wocl.  ii.  83 — 87.)  The  former  is  re- 
presented by  Walker  a:  having  preceded  Cameron  in  preach- 


tion,  X  never  saw  him  open  his  mouth ;  and  for  Mr. 
Kemp,  he  went  from  us  at  Glasgow.  What  they  stir- 
red up  the  rest  to  do  I  know  not,  but  it  was  Douglas  * 
and  Cargill  that  we  were  still  crossed  with.  Although 
this  be  not  so  set  down  in  order  as  some  have  it,  I  have 
set  it  down  as  it  was  acted  ;  and  I  hope  ye  will  give 
credit  to  it.  I  say,  be  who  they  will  that  will  say  this 
or  that  in  it  is  a  lie,  I  declare  he  is  a  liar ;  for  there  is 
no  advantage  to  me  to  lie,  since  the  world  knows  it. 

We  continued  at  the  bridge  from  three  hours  to  six 
hours,  and,  when  we  fled  all,  it  would  have  been  eight 
hours.  A  better  dispute  than  we  had  was  not  readily 
heard  of  :  there  was  none  saw  it  that  thought  but  there 
had  been  1000  men  killed  :  when  we  fled  there  was 
not  ten  men  killed  of  us  all. 

There  were  not  three  times  so  many  in  the  whole  army 
of  firemen  as  were  in  our  three  companies  :  there 
were  not  better  like  men,  and  better  armed  men,  than 
our  company  were. 


ing  separation  from  the  indulged  ministers.  (Rem.  Passages, 
147.)  Both  of  them,  in  their  dying  testimonies,  profess  their 
loyalty  and  their  aversion  to  divisive  courses.  f^Naphtali,  427, 
428,  437,  438.) 

*  Mr.  Thomas  Douglas  was  at  the  burning  of  the  acts  of 
parliament  at  Rutherglen,  on  the  29th  of  May  preceding,  and 
preacheratLoudon-hill,  when  Claverhouse  was  repulsed.  (Rus- 
sell's Acco.  p.  439,  441.)  Having  escaped  to  Holland, (see  be- 
fore, p.  428,)  he  returned  and,  after  preaching  for  some  time  in 
the  fields  in  Scotland,  retired  to  England.  (Reid's  Life,  p.  47. 
Walker's  Rem.  Pass.  100,  101,  102.)  On  the  11th  of  August, 
1682,  the  United  Societies  agreed  to  invite  him  home,  that  he 
might  preach  to  them,  "  if  no  exceptions  be  found  against  him 
— but  if  there  be  any,  his  charges  to  be  paid,  and  himself  dis- 
missed." He  wrote  back  from  England  "giving  some  reasons 
of  his  not  coming,  which  were  not  altogether  satisfying."  (Acts 
and  Conclusions  of  the  United  Societies:  MS.  Adv.  Lib.  No. 
xvii.  Rob.  HL5,  18.  p.  26,30.) 


NOTES 


NARRATIVE  OF  COLONEL  WALLACE. 


No.  I. 

[MS.  in  Bibl.  Jurid.  Edin.  No.  LVTIl.  Jac.  V.I.  111. 
art.   95.] 

Extract  of  a  Letter  from  Mr  Macward  to  Mr  Blekeier,  an 
Colonel  Wallace's  Death. 

Decer.  JL  78. 

— I  DorBT  not  but  you  have  heard  of  the  removeall  of  wor- 
thy and  great  Wallace,  of  whom  I  have  no  doubt  it  may  be 
said,  he  hath  left  no  man  behind  him  in  that  church,  minister, 
nor  professor,  quho  hath  gone  thorow  such  a  varietie  of  tenta- 
tions,  without  turning  aside  to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left. 
He  died  in  great  serenitie  of  soul.  He  had  lived  abroad  such 
an  ornament  to  his  profession,  as  he  was  not  more  lamented 
by  us  than  by  all  the  serious  English  and  Dutch  of  his  ac- 
quaintance (who  were  many)  as  haveing  lost  the  man,  who  as 
a  mean  was_  mad  use  of  by  the  I^ord  to  keep  life  amongst 
them;  yea,  the  poor  ignorant  people  of  the  congregation  of 
Rotterdam  (besids  the  more  serious  and  knowing  amongst 
them)  bemoan  his  death  and  their  lose  as  of  father.  And 
they  have  good  reason ;  for  I  must  say,  he  was  the  most  faith- 
full,  feckfull,  compassionat,  diligent,  and  indefatigable  elder  in 
the  work  of  the  Lord,  that  ever  I  knew  at  home  or  abroad ; 
and  as  for  his  care,  solicitude,  and  concerned ness,  in  the  work 
and  people  of  God,  I  may  say,  the  care  of  all  the  churches  lay 
more  upon  him  than  upon  hundreds  of  us,  so  that  the  Church 
of  God  hath  lost  more  in  the  removeall  of  that  man  than  most 
will  suffer  themselves  to  believe.  Onely  we  who  know  it,  have 
this  to  comfort  ourselves,  that  the  residue  of  the  spirit  is  with 
him  quho  made  him  such,  and  that  the  Great  Intercessour 
lives  to  plead  his  own  cause,  and  the  causes  of  his  peopls 
soul.  I  forgot  to  tell  you,  that  when  the  cause  for  which  he 
had  suffered  was  mentioned,  when  it  was  scarce  believed  he 
understood  or  could  speake,  there  was  a  sunshine  of  serene 
joy  looked  out  of  his  countenance,  and  a  lifting  up  of  hands 
on  high,  as  to  receive  the  confessor's  crown,  togither  with  a 
lifting  up  of  the  voice  with  an  aha,  as  to  sing  the  conque- 
rour's  song  of  victorie.  And  to  close,  I  must  tell  you  also,  he 
lived  and  died  in  a  deep  detestation  of  that  wretched  indul- 
gence, and  of  all  the  wayes  of  supporting  it ;  and  this  abrupt 
account  of  his  death  you  may  give  to  our  friends.  In  a  word, 
as  a  compound  of  all,  he  fell  asleep  in  the  furnace,  walking 
with  the  Son  of  God,  and  now  his  bones  will  rise  up  with 
the  bones  of  the  other  great  witnesses  burried  in  a  strange 
land,  as  a  testimony  against  the  wrong  done  to  Christ,  and 
the  violence  used  against  his  followers  by  this  wicked  gen- 
eration, whom  the  righteous  Lord  in  his  time,  from  him  who 
sitteth  upon  the  throne  to  the  meanest  instrument  that  hath 
put  the  mischeifs  he  framed  into  a  law  in  execution,  will 
make  a  generation  of  his  wrath,  of  speciall  wrath,  which 
must  answer  and  keep  proportion  unto  the  wrongs  done  to  the 
Mediator. — 


Mackward  to  Mr  Cargill,  (Ibid.  art.  94.) 

[No  dale.] 
— Gbeat  Wallace  is  gone  to  glory,  I  shut  his  eyes  while  he 
went  out  of  my  sight,  and  was  carried  to  see  God,  enjoy  him, 
and  be  made  perfectly  like  him  in  order  to  both.  Forget  not  to 
give  me  a  particular  account  whether  there  be  any  such 
agreement  amongst  these  young  men  lately  licensed  amongst 
you.* 


*  It  appears  from  the  following  extract,  that  Wallace  escjipeil  from 
confinement  after  the  battle  of  Dunbar.  "Leiutenant  CoUoneU 
Wallace  is  escaped,  and  come  to  us  this  daye."  (Letter  from  W. 
Rowallane,  younger,  to  the  Laird  of  Rowallane, — Dunifreis,  Octob. 
13, 1650.)  Robert  Riddell,  Esq.  has  just  favoured  me  with  the  follow- 
ing notice,  which  brings  the  line  of  the  family  of  Achanes  nearer 
the  Colonel  than  any  thing  I  have  yet  met  with.  "  I,  Matthew  Wal- 
lace of  Auchands,  grant  me  to  be  justlie  adebted  to  Mr  John  Ander- 
eon  of  Stobcors,  the  gum  of  y<  oounds,  Scots  money,"  &c.    Dated 


No.  n. 

[MS.  in  possession  of  Reverend  John  Willison, 
minister  of  Forgandenny.] 

Extracts  from  the  Diary  of  Sergeant  James  Nisbet.* 

I  WAS  born  in  the  month  of  Feberuary,  1667,  of  parents 
both  of  them  realy  and  eminently  religious;  but  the  times 
were  extreamly  unhappy,  because  of  ane  ilegal,  tyrannical, 
prelatical  persecution,  begun  and  carried  on  by  Charles  the 
Second,  Middleton  and  Lauderdale,  in  the  state,  and  treacher- 
ous, perfiduous  Sharp,  and  some  others,  in  the  church.  Be- 
cause of  which,  though  my  parents  were  persons  of  consider- 
able worldly  substance,  yet  they  could  not  get  the  benefit  of 
school  education  for  their  children,  and  so  I  got  little  or  none 
but  what  I  acquired  at  mine  own  hand  when  under  my  hide- 
ing.  For  before  I  was  bom,  my  father,  with  others,  being  set 
on  by  the  enemy  at  Pentland-hills,  1666,  when  they  were 
standing  up  in  defence  of  the  gospel,  and  was  by  the  ene- 
my routed,  and  many  of  them  slain,  and  my  father  received 
wounds,  but,  lying  close  among  the  dead  till  night,  got  of 
with  life.  The  enemy  came  to  his  house  in  quest  of  him, 
but  missing  him,  they  held  a  drawn  sword  to  my  mother's 
breast,  who  had  me  in  her  belly,  threatening  to  run  her 
through  unless  she  would  discover  her  husband.  She  weep- 
ing, told  them,  that  for  any  thing  she  knew,  he  was  killed,  (for 
she  had  heard  that  it  was  so,)  and  that  she  had  not  seen  him ; 
so  they  took  what  made  for  them  in  the  house,  and  went  off. 
But  some  days  after,  getting  notice  that  he  was  still  ahve,  they 
returned  'with  greater  fury  then  before,  and  threatened  her 
with  present  death,  first  with  a  drawn  sword  at  her  breast,  and 
also  with  a  bended  pistol ;  and,  contrair  to  all  law  divine  and 
humane,  they  dragged  her  alongst  with  them  with  a  burning 
candle  in  her  hand,  through  all  the  rooms  of  the  maine  house, 
and  then  through  all  the  office-houses,  they  still  ^  rage- 
ing  with  their  drawn  swords  and  bended  pistols ;  but,  after  all 
their  search,  they  missing  my  father,  beat  the  servants,  to  strike 
the  greater  terrour  on  my  mother  to  tell  where  her  husband 
was  ;  but  she  could  not.  Then  they  took  a  young  man,  "call- 
ed David  Finlay,  alongst  with  them  to  where  their  chief  com- 
mander lay,  called  General  Dalziel.  He  caused  the  said 
David  Finlay  to  be  shot  to  death  in  less  than  half  ane  hour's 
warning,  and  carried  away  all  niy  father's  stock  of  moveable 
effects,  which  was  considerably  great ;  and  for  half  a  year 
there  was  hardly  a  day  ever  passed  bot  they  were  at  the  house, 
either  in  the  night  or  day,  in  search  of  my  father. — 

— In  the  year  1678,  there  was  a  great  host  of  Highlanders 
came  down  in  the  middle  of  the  winter  to  the  westren  shires. 
The  shire  of  Air  was  the  centre  of  their  encampment  or 
cantooning,  where  they  pillaged,  plundered,  theeved,  and 
robbed  jiight  and  day ;  even  the  Lord's  day  they  regarded  as 
little  as  any  other.  At  their  first  coming,  four  of  them  came 
to  my  father's  house,  who  was  overseeing  the  making  of  his 
own  malt ;  they  told  him  they  were  come  to  make  the  Fig 
(so  they  termed  the  Presbyterians)  to  take  with  God  and  the 
king.  This  they  came  over  again  and  again.  They  pointed 
to  their  shoes,  and  said  they  would  have  the  brogc  off  his 
foot,  and  accordingly  laid  hands  on  him,  but  he  threw  himself 
out  of  their  grips,  and  turning  to  a  pitch-fork  which  was  used 
at  the  stalking  of  his  corn,  and  they  having  their  broadswords 
drawn,  cryed,  "  Clymore,"  and  made  at  him ;  but  he  quickly 
drove  them  out  of  the  kilne,  and  chaseing  them  all  four  a 
space  from  the  house,  knocked  one  of  them  to  the  ground. 


21st  June,  1634,  and  registered  5th  Dec.  1637.  (Volume  of  Bonds, 
&c..  from  October  1636,  to  December  1639:  Records  of  Commissariot 
of  Glasgow. 

*  He  was  son  to  John  Nisbet  of  Hardhill,  who,  after  escaping  for 
many  years  the  pursuit  of  the  government,  was  taken  and  executed 
alEdinburgh  in  1685.  (Scota  Worthies.)  The  sergeant  died,  about 
the  year  1726,  in  Edinburgh  Castle.  (Walker's  Life  of  Peden,  73.) 
His  Diary  is  chiefly  religious,  and  contains  a  collection  of  letlere 
wriltwn  by  him  to  his  Christian  acquaintances. 

r>oi 


502 


NOTES. 


The  next  day  about  twenty  of  them  came  to  the  house,  but 
he  not  being  at  home,  they  told  they  were  come  to  take  the 
Fig  and  his  arms.  They  plundered  his  house,  as  they  did  the 
house  of  every  other  man  who  was  not  conform  to  the  then 
laws ;  and  such  W£is  their  theevish  dispositions,  and  so  well 
versed  were  they  at  the  second  sight,  that,  let  people  hide 
never  so  well,  these  men  would  go  as  straight  to  where  it  was, 
whether  beneath  the  ground  or  above,  as  though  they  had 
been  at  the  putting  of  it  there,  search  for  it,  dig  it  up,  and 
away  with  it. 

— When  my  father  came  [to  Drumclog],  the  good  people 
who  were  met  to  hear  sermon,  and  the  enemy,  were  drawn  up 
in  battle  array,  in  order  to  fight.  Five  or  six  of  the  gentle- 
men who  came  to  hear  sermon,  that  were  most  fit  to  com- 
mand the  country  people,  took  upon  them  to  command, 
because  some  of  them  had  been  formerly  in  the  military,  as 
likewise  my  father  had  been.  Two  of  whom  went  to  meet 
my  fatlier  when  within  sight,  and  gave  him  an  account  how 
matters  was,  and  pointed  out  to  him  where  Mr  King  was 
guarded  on  the  left  hand  of  the  enemy,  by  ane  officer  and  four 
dragoons,  and  the  officer  had  orders  to  shoot  Mr  King  if  they 
lost,  and  if  the  country  people  lost,  all  that  was  or  should  be 
taken  prisoners  was  to  be  hanged  immediately  after  battle. 
My  father  being  a  strong,  bold,  and  resolate  man,  went  on 
boldly  and  briskly  in  all  the  parts  of  the  action,  especially  in 
the  relief  of  Mr  King,  whom  he  set  at  liberty ;  which  bold- 
ness and  activity  of  his  was  much  taken  notice  of  by  the 
enemy.  The  enemy  lost  the  day,  and  about  30  or  35  of  their 
number  slain,  whereof,  they  said,  my  father  killed  seven  with 
bis  awn  hand,  which  much  exposed  him  and  alibis  to  their  after 
revenging  fury. — 

— 1682.  The  cruel  enemy  got  my  dear  brother  into  their 
hands.  They  examined  him  concerning  the  persecuted 
people  where  they  haunted,  or  if  he  knew  where  any  of  them 
was,  but  he  would  not  open  liis  mouth  to  speak  one  word  to 
them ;  they  spoke  him  fair — they  offered  him  money  to  speak 
and  tell  them,  but  he  would  not — they  held  the  point  of  a 
drawn  sword  to  his  naked  breast — they  fired  a  pistol  over  his 
head — they  set  him  on  horseback  behind  one  of  themselves, 
to  be  taken  away  and  hanged — they  tyed  a  cloath  on  his  face, 
and  set  him  on  his  knees  to  be  shot  to  death — they  beat  him 
with  their  swords  and  with  their  fists — they  kicked  him 
several  times  to  the  ground  with  their  feet;  yet,  after  they  had 
used  all  the  cruelty  they  could,  he  would  not  open  his  mouth 
to  speak  one  word  to  them ;  and  although  he  was  a  very 
comely  proper  child,  going  in  ten  years  of  age,  yet  they  called 
him  a  vile,  ugly  dumb  devil,  and  beat  him  very  sore,  and  went 
their  way,  leaving  him  lying  on  the  ground,  sore  bleeding  in 
the  open  fields. 

— 1683.  Being  the  14  year  of  my  age,  in  July,  one 
morning  at  five  o'clock,  I  went  out  to  a  wood,  and  within  a 
little  I  heard  the  sound  of  people  among  the  trees  drawing 
near  to  me.  I  looked  up  and  saw  men  cloathed  in  red,  and 
as  I  got  to  my  feet,  one  of  them  bade  me  be  shot  I  said  to 
him,  "  What  good  will  my  blood  do  to  you  V  And  when  he 
cocked  his  pistol,  another  of  them  said,  "  Hold,  man,  do  not 
shoot  the  bonny  lad."  The  man  with  the  pistol  said,  "  He  is 
a  Whig ;  I  saw  him  on  his  knees."  They  asked  my  name,  and 
I  told  them  my  new  name.  They  said  to  one  another,  they 
had  none  in  their  list  of  that  name.  The)'  asked  me,  who 
learned  me  to  pray.  I  told  them,  my  Bible.  He  that  com- 
manded them,  I  think  he  was  a  sergeant,  said,  "  Since  we 
have  none  of  that  name,  let  him  alone."  The  first  man  that 
came  unto  me,  swore  again,  that  he  would  have  me  shot,  but 
two  of  them  would  not  let  him.  There  were  about  twelve  of 
them  in  all,  but  none  of  them  spoke  to  me  but  three,  and 
two  of  these  were  for  sparing  my  life,  and  so  they  went  off 
and  left  me. — 

— 16S5,  April  2Q. — In  the  morning  the  servants  went  to 
work  in  the  fields,  and  I  was  with  them.  A  little  before  nine 
of  the  clock  in  the  forenoon,  we  saw  a  troop  of  dragoons 
coming  at  the  gallop.  Mr  Peden  and  these  that  was  with  him 
in  the  house  fled,  which  we  at  work  knew  nothing  of,  but  we 
ran  every  one  as  Providence  directed  ;  and  the  watchful 
providence  of  God,  which  was  ever  kind  to  me  led  me  as  by 
the  hand  to  a  moss  near  two  miles  from  where  we  were  work- 
ing, to  which  moss  .Mr.  Peden,  and  those  that  were  with  him, 
were  fled  for  shelter,  which  I  knew  notliing  of.  The  way  to 
it  Was  very  steep  and  ascending  ground.  Two  of  the  ilra- 
goons  pursued  me  very  hard,  l)ut  spying  another  man  in  their 
pursuit  of  mc,  him  they  pursued  off  at  the  right  hand  of  my 
way :  they  fired  at  him,  but  it  pleased  the  Lord  he  escaped 

THE 


at  that  time.  Then  other  two  of  them  came  in  chase  of  mc. 
I  was  sore  put  to  for  my  life.  The  day  was  very  hot,  the  sun 
bright  in  my  face,  and  the  way  mountainous,  yet  the  Lord 
was  very  kind  to  me,  and  enabled  me  to  run.  I  had  manj' 
thoughts  of  turning  to  this  or  that  way,  and  often  I  had 
thoughts  of  diving  in  moss-water  pits,  and  saving  my  head 
in  the  rush  bushes ;  and  yet  I  was  overpowered,  beyond  my 
inclination,  to  keep  on  in  my  way  to  the  moss  where  Mr 
Peden  and  the  rest  were,  at  the  edge  of  which  there  was  a 
bogg  or  morass,  about  seven  or  eight  yards  broad,  to  which  my 
good  guardian  kind  Providence  brought  me  at  last ;  and  here 
the  Lord  was  a  present  help  in  the  time  of  need  to  me,  for  just  as 
I  was  drawing  myself  out  of  the  bogg  by  the  heather  of  the 
moss,  the  two  dragoons  came  to  the  other  side  of  the  bogg, 
and  seeing  they  could  not  get  through  with  their  horses  to 
me,  they  called  on  me,  "  Stand,  dog,  and  be  shot"  By  this 
time  I  was  got  out  of  the  bog  to  my  knees  on  the  heather. 
They  fired  upon  me,  but  God  directed  the  ball  by  my  left  ear, 
so  close  that  it  carried  off  some  of  my  hair.  I,  finding  that  I 
had  escaped  the  shott,  ran  farther  into  the  moss,  kind  Provi- 
dence leading  me  where  Mr  Peden,  with  alwut  twenty  more 
of  the  persecuted  peeple,  were,  in  meeting  with  whom  I  was 
gladly  surprised  ;  but  I  was  so  outrun,  that  it  was  sometime 
before  I  could  speak  any.  We  stayed  there  a'oout  three 
hours,  till  there  came  another  troop  of  the  enemy  to  join  the 
first  troop,  and  seeing  them  dismount  their  horses,  to  lake  the 
moss  on  tlieir  fool  to  search  us  out,  after  some  firing  on  both 
sides,  where  was  no  execution  done,  we  drew  off,  and  travelled 
the  midst  of  the  moss.  They  seeing  this,  horsed  again,  and 
pursued  us  by  the  edges  of  the  moss ;  but  we  allways  kept 
ourselves  on  such  ground  where  horses  could  not  pass.  We 
ran  that  day  about  thirty  miles,  the  enemy  still  pursuing  us. 
Wc  got  no  manner  of  refreshment  all  that  day  but  moss- 
water,  till  night,  that  each  of  us  got  a  drink  of  milk.  Mr 
Peden  left  these  that  were  with  him,  and  went  one  way,  and 
I  left  them  and  went  another  way.  I  lay  all  night  far  from 
any  house,  amongst  heather;  to-morrow,  when  I  awaked,  after 
the  sun  arost,  I  saw  about  200  horse  and  foot  searching  all  the 
country  far  and  near ;  but  I  seeing  no  way  of  escape  unobser- 
ved by  the  enemy,  clapt  closs  amongst  the  heather;  and  so 
kind  and  condescending  was  the  Lord  to  me,  that  not  one  of  the 
enemy  did  touch  at  the  place  where  I  lay. — 

— Within  three  or  four  days,  Graham  of  Claverhouse,  a 
violent  persecutor,  came  for  a  general  search  with  100  horse 
and  300  Highlandmcn.  They  got  sight  of  seven  of  us  about 
the  middle  of  the  day.  They  pursued  us  all  that  day  for 
thirty-two  miles,  till  midnight,  but  the  Lord  preserved  us  from 
these  blood-thirsty  men.  We  got  no  refreshment  all  that  daj-, 
except  a  few  mouthfulls  of  bread  and  cheese  and  moss-water ; 
but  the  horse  getting  before  us,  and  the  foot  being  behind  us, 
and  we  very  much  fatigued,  we  were  brought  to  a  straight 
what  to  resolve  upon.  But  at  last  finding  my  comrades 
resolving  still  to  run,  I  told  them,  that  the  Lord  had  preserved 
me  these  days  past  by  runnijig,  but  now,  if  he  hid  me  not 
some  other  way,  I  must  fall  a  sacrifice  to  the  enemy  ;  so,  after 
prayer,  my  friends  and  I  parted  in  the  fields  before  the  sun 
rose.  Then  I  went  to  as  obscure  a  place  iis  I  could  think  on, 
and  clapt  as  closs  as  I  could. — The  enemy  pushed  by  me  on 
both  sides  of  the  place  where  I  lay,  like  sons  of  Lucifer,  tlicir 
father  ;  but  He  who  made  them  held  their  eyes,  that  they  saw 
me  not,  although  they  were  throe  times  within  pistol-shot  of 
me. — 

— Afler  this  I  languished  some  days,  and  then  was  seized 
with  a  high  and  violent  fever.  I  got  in  to  a  poor  man's 
house,  and  his  wife  made  me  a  bed  in  the  byre,  beside  the 
cows,  that  her  husband  might  not  see  me,  that  so  he  might  be 
free  to  give  his  oath  that  he  harboured  no  whiggs.  The  very 
next  day,  one  Colonel  Buchan  came  with  two  troops  of  dra- 
goons to  search  that  country  a  second  time.  He,  with  five 
more,  dishorsed,  and  came  into  the  poor  cottage  where  I  was 
lying,  and  asked  the  poor  woman,  what  men  was  in  this  den. 
She  answered,  she  bad  no  men,  but  a  young  lad  of  her  own 
lying  sick,  at  the  point  of  death.  Then  they  came  where  I 
was,  and  he  lifted  up  my  head  by  tlie  hair,  and  a  bended  pis- 
tol in  his  right  hand.  He  looked  me  broad  in  the  face,  and 
said  to  these  that  were  with  him,  "  There  is  notliing  here  but 
a  young  creature  dying  ;"  and  so  let  my  head  fall  out  of  his 
hand  and  went  away ;  but  I  was  then  so  sick,  that  I  was  not 
capable  of  fear  at  tlie  danger  nor  of  joy  at  the  escajw.  The 
poor  woman  conceived  such  fear,  lest  she  came  to  trouble  on 
my  account,  would  not,  for  any  persuasion,  let  mc  stay,  and 
so  I  was  canied  a  great  way  to  another  i>oor  man's  house. — 
END. 


-<. 


Ik 


FOURTEEN  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 


Z!:^!^:!i^^*ira  subiect  to  tamadiate  recall. 


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